Category: Credit Cards

  1. Do this now: Register for Hyatt’s promotion for 3,000 bonus points per night at Hyatt Vacation Club properties between December 1 and March 30, 2025 with a maximum of 30,000 bonus points.
  2. Kroger has a 4x fuel points promotion on third-party gift cards excluding Amazon, and fixed value Visas and Mastercards through December 3.

    Holiday demand for third party gift cards is soaring, and fuel points demand remains steady.
  3. The Barclays JetBlue Plus Mastercard has an offer for 80,000 TrueBlue points after $1,000 spend and paying the annual fee within the first 90 days in the mobile app. I can’t make this appear on desktop without some trickery, but it appears on the front page of the mobile app even if you’re not signed in. (Thanks to abhirpduttamit)
  4. Staples in-store has fee-free $200 Visa gift cards starting Sunday and running through the following Saturday, limit nine per transaction.
  5. The personal United cards from Chase all have an increased sign-up bonus for those of you light on MileagePlus miles. Yes, the increased bonus even includes the stupidest United card of all, the Quest:

    – Gateway: 30,000 miles after $1,000 in three months, no annual-fee
    – Explorer: 60,000 miles after $3,000 in three months, $95 annual fee is waived
    – Quest: 70,000 miles and 500 PQP after $4,000 in three months, $250 annual fee
    – Club: 90,000 miles after $5,000 spend in three months, $525 annual fee

    Only the Club’s bonus gives enough miles for a one-way long-haul partner redemption from the US to Europe or Asia, which should tell you something about the actual value of these cards especially as compared to an Ink. Each card does get you XN award space access, which is great for domestic economy awards I guess. Each card also earns an extra 5,000 bonus miles for adding an authorized user within the first three months. (Thanks to DDG)
  6. Hy-Vee stores have $10 off of $150 or more in Visa gift cards through Monday. You can repeat this with back-to-back-to-back transactions until either the police are called or they run out of stock.

    These are Pathward gift cards.

More weekend catchup (?) fun.

  1. US Bank launched the stupidly named Smartly card yesterday and is now accepting applications, and unfortunately applications for the Altitude Reserve have been taken down.

    The Smartly card is a 2-4% everywhere uncapped cash back card, with the cash back amount determined by the assets held in either a Smartly savings or a self-directed investment account. $100,000 average funds over 90 days in either is enough for 4%, and you have to have a Smartly savings account open even if most of the assets are in an investment account to qualify.
  2. Wells Fargo Deals has new travel-related card linked offers:

    – 5% back on British Airways through November 29, up to $45 back
    – 10% back at Renaissance Hotels through November 18, up to $75 back
    – 10% back at Fairfield Inn through December 1, up to $38 back
    – 10% back at Westin through December 1, up to $68 back

    Gamers gonna blah blah blah gift cards at the front desk or blah blah blah blah something else. (Thanks to Mike at Cheapskate Travel)
  3. The Citi Double Cash has $100 off of $300+ in hotels booked through the Citi travel portal by December 6. I don’t think this is targeted, but double check that you see a banner under the search page advertising the credit after selecting your Double Cash card.
  4. Chase has several targeted offers for $400+ in hotel booked through the Chase portal:

    – 20,000 Ultimate Rewards with $500+ spend
    – 10,000 Ultimate Rewards after $400+ spend
    – $100 statement credit after $400+ spend

    Book by January 31, 2025 for stays through August 31, 2025.

Rejected US Bank Smartly Visa card design.

  1. Do this now: Register for the American Express Shop Small promotion for 10% back on up to $150 in spend at Shop Small restaurants through December 31.

    Don’t miss that you can link many offers including this one to any third party issued American Express cards at AmEx Connect.
  2. The Charles Schwab American Express Platinum card has an increased sign-up bonus of 125,000 Membership Rewards after $8,000 spend in six months, which is an all-time high.

    The main feature of this card is the ability to cash-out up to 1,000,000 Membership Rewards annually at 1.1 cents per point.
  3. Staples stores have fee-free $200 Visa gift cards starting Sunday and running through the following Saturday, limit nine per transaction.

    These are Pathward gift cards.
  4. Alaska is sending targeted applications for either 80,000 or 100,000 MileagePlan miles for the Bank of America Alaska personal card with $4,000 and $8,000 spend required, respectively. Look for the email subject: “Earn up to [80,000 or 100,000] bonus miles + Alaska’s Famous Companion Fare™”

    If you’ve got one, consider combining it with a business card application or two.
  5. MasterCardGiftCard.com has fee-free purchases through the end of November with promo code NOFEES24. You won’t earn points and spend won’t count toward sign-up bonuses with first party AmEx cards at any Incomm site.

    These are Incomm gift cards.
  6. I have an aversion to the blogosphere’s growing need to post random churning related rumors, especially when the rumor’s source is single comment on reddit from someone with little to no post history. At best these are wrong half of the time, which I guess means half of the time they’re right? (For the second time this week: No I’m not bitter, you’re bitter!)

    Sometimes though there’s a rumor that: (1) has enough noise behind it that seems to be more than just echo-chamber repeats, (2) has big enough consequences that most churners ought to know, and (3) makes complete fiscal sense for the company involved; a rumor that meets all three criteria is that US Bank may sunset new Altitude Reserve applications early next week. I’d suggest giving the rumor and your churning needs a few minutes of consideration.

Have a nice weekend!

Bread that’s more fully cooked than the majority of churning rumors.

  1. Bank of America’s +2x or +2% More Rewards Day on all spend up to $2,500 per card promotion, colloquially known by no-one but me as BankAmeriDay, is today and no registration is required. May the fraud alert gods tilt in your favor.
  2. Giftcards.com has 5% off of $100 Visa Virtual gift cards with promo code EARLYJOY. This pairs nicely with the major airline portal’s spend bonuses, the best of which (United) earns +4.16x on $1,200 spend in addition to +2x base earning and credit card spend earning.
  3. American Express offers has a $100 statement credit with $500+ at Best Western hotels in the US and Canada through January 1, 2025. Please don’t use this one for realsies if you’re in a medium or large-sized city; I guarantee that the Best Western isn’t the best option for a stay. (Thanks to Ok-Anywhere6998)
  4. Kroger has a 4x fuel points promotion running through Tuesday on One4All and Choice gift cards and fixed value Visa and Mastercard gift cards.

    The fuel points market remains unseasonably strong because: (1) Pepper has flooded the market so there are fewer buyers at Kroger, and (2) lots of Kroger stores have put all high-value third party gift cards behind the customer service counter. One of those things will probably change soon.

BankAmeriGuy makes his fifth blog appearance for BankAmeriDay.

  1. There’s a new public link on the front page of Delta.com for increased sign-up bonuses on American Express cobranded cards. There’s a second link buried at creditcard.delta.com too, so try both if one doesn’t work. Unlike most times when the blog-o-sphere is saying “more people targeted” because someone said so on reddit, this time it actually appears to be true; No, I’m not bitter, you’re bitter! Anyway:

    – Reserve: 100,000 miles after $5,000 spend in six months
    – Platinum: 90,000 miles after $3,000 spend in six months
    – Gold: 70,000 miles after $2,000 spend in six months
    – Reserve Business: 110,000 miles after $10,000 spend in six months
    – Platinum Business: 100,000 miles after $6,000 spend in six months
    – Gold Business: 80,000 miles after 4 $4,00 spend in six months, waived annual fee

    If you get the popup, try the other link which often has different popup criteria.
  2. If you have money locked up with Yotta or Juno thanks to the Synapse FinTech collapse, check your email for a payout link from one of the underlying banks that was servicing accounts, Evolve. There are multiple reports of payments being correct and several where people are short, at least one by over $94,000, though it’s not clear whether that money was put at Evolve by Synapse or put somewhere else. To find the email, look for one of:

    – Email: [email protected]
    – Subject: Return of Synapse Brokerage’s End User Funds

    Don’t forget to add “in:anywhere” to your search to look through spam and other folders in your inbox. If you don’t have your email yet, there’s a completely unverified rumor that it may take until the 16th to send all emails.

    In related news, apparently Evolve’s CTO and CEO/President have been terminated. I’m not saying that’s unjustified especially after Evolve leaked customer information in a data-breach, but it’s strange to see everyone going after Evolve leadership instead of Synapse leadership.
  3. Capital One has a 20% transfer bonus to British Airways Avios, and by extension all airlines that use Avios through December 1. (Thanks to jtevy)
  4. The American Express Centurion Business card will have a cap on its 50% airfare booking rebate at 3 Million rebated points annually starting on February 1.

You can’t hold someone accountable if they can’t account I guess?

  1. Bask Bank has long offered savings accounts that earn AA miles. In the past era of ZIRP, the earning potential relative to regular savings account interest was huge, but ZIRP is a distant memory and Bask has devalued several times since.

    Don’t worry though! Bask is devaluing again today because of “a range of economic factors and current market conditions”, where now they’ll only pay out 2 miles for every dollar saved annually, down from 2.5 miles per dollar. I guess because still high interest rates mean they can collect a bigger spread? That’s #BaskMath. As of this writing they haven’t updated their website to reflect the devaluation, so that’s double awesome. I’m out.
  2. Choice Hotels will have a lower cost saver level award tier of 6,000 points, allow for award bookings at 50 weeks in advance, and allow for redeeming points for room types other than base rooms. But, and here’s the kicker, not until early 2025.
  3. Staples in-store has fee-free $200 Mastercard gift cards starting Sunday and running through the following Saturday, limit nine per transaction. For those playing sportsball at home: Yes, they’re really tweaking the per-transaction size, from five, to eight, to seven, and most recently to nine. What’s next, 7.5?

    These are Pathward gift cards.
  4. American Express Offers has $20-$50 off of $300-$750 in gift cards at amexgiftcard.com, and you can combine this with promo code SHOPEARLY24 for free shipping. As usual, the main use for these is shifting spend, but of course gamers gonna game. (Thanks to Stephen at FM)
  5. Rakuten in-store has card linked offers for:

    – 1% back at Lowes stores (no maximum specified)
    – 1% back at Stop & Shop stores (max $10 back per transaction)
    – 1% back at Food Lion stores (max $10 back per transaction)

    The terms on this are regular for Rakuten, but weird: After activating, you’ve got 75 days to use the offer. After the first purchase, the offer will only work for another hour. After that hour, you can usually re-add the offer again until Rakuten pulls it in several weeks. Link your cards to your Rakuten profile here.
  6. Giant, Giant Foods, Martins, and Stop & Shop stores have 4x, 5x, or 6x points (chain dependent) on third party gift cards November 21, limit $2,000 per account. Apple and BestBuy are the cards are likely your best choice if your’e not buying for personal use. (Thanks to GCG)

More #BaskMath courtesy of John K.

  1. The TD Business Solutions Credit Card, a 2% everywhere no-annual fee Visa, has a tiered, heightened sign-up bonus worth $750:

    – $250 after $1,500 spend in three months
    – $500 after $10,000 spend in six months (technically this is 5% back on up to $10,000 spend)

    This card unfortunately does report to your personal credit unlike most business cards. (Thanks to terpdeterp)
  2. Bilt has a targeted 50-100% transfer bonus to British Airways Avios on Friday. Why talk about it today? So you’ve got time to earn more Bilt points if the deal is enticing, which unfortunately for me it is, slightly (but only slightly), especially now that Qatar is part of the Avios family.

    For December, I want Bilt to have a transfer bonus to Hyatt. Go on Kerr, I dare you, and I promise to burn a holiday sugar-cookie in your honor.
  3. American Express offers has a new offer for $100 off of $300+ at most North American Radisson Blu and Cambria Hotels by December 31. A list of eligible properties is here. (Thanks to Mike from Cheapskate Travel Tips)
  4. Gift of College gift cards at giftcards.com now cost $5.95 and stopped earning 2% in giftcards.com cash too. The portal double dip is still alive though. #bonvoyed

Happy Tuesday!

Let’s be honest, imma light this thing on fire whether or not we see a Hyatt transfer bonus in December.

  1. The Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Mastercard has a heightened sign up bonus of 70,000 AAdvantage miles after a single purchase in 90 days. The $99 annual fee is not waived for the first year.

    This card is useful beyond the sign-up bonus because it can eventually be product changed into the AAdvantage Silver card, but only after a year thanks to the CARD act.
  2. Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, and other Just4U stores have 10x points on Zillions and Zillions Zift cards through Saturday. On Saturday when the “surprise” weekend gift card 4x event is released, you’ll get 12x. (Spoiler alert to Safeway management: Surprises that happen reliably every week with the same offer and same duration cease to be surprises at some point.)
  3. Meijer MPerks has a bonus of 10,000 points with the purchase of a $150+ Visa or Mastercard gift card through November 9, limit one per account.

    Meijer sells both Pathward and Sunrise gift cards.
  4. Giftcards.com has Gift of College gift cards available with no purchase fee. You might earn 2% back in giftcards.com rewards after registering for their program through the end of October, though Gift of College is technically excluded from that program. You will earn portal cash back if you’re sly. Always be probing, Gift of College has been ripe for weirdness in the past but eventually the money does need to end up in a 529 account.
  5. Office Depot / OfficeMax stores have $15 off of $300 or more in Visa gift cards through Saturday, limit 10. For best results:

    – Link your credit cards to Dosh
    – Buy in even multiples of $300
    – Look for lower fee variants if you know how to liquidate them

    These are Pathward gift cards.
  6. Chase Ultimate Rewards has a heightened redemption for Apple products at a rate of 1.5 cents per point for the Sapphire Reserve or 1.25 cents per point for the Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred cards (or less on other, stupider cards). The promotion runs through the end of November.

    These rates beat regular Pay-Yourself-Back rates, especially if you’re in the reselling game.
  7. There are two small business merchant processing sign-up bonuses:

    – Bank of America $1,000 after $100,000 processed in 90 days
    – US Bank $1,000 offer after accepting charges monthly for three months

    Since we’re MEABers around here, let’s caution a few items: (1) running more than a few gift cards will almost certainly get your account shut down and banned from the processor which could have repercussions on future real businesses; (2) running your own credit cards will almost certainly get your credit cards shut down, sometimes even same-day with banks like AmEx; and (3) you’ll get a 1099 for payments processed. So always be probing, but know when a fence is electrified too, and this one is.

    My advice is to keep these accounts completely above board if you’re going for the bonus. If you don’t have a real business for merchant processing, consider selling a few things on Facebook Marketplace. Combine with the previous item for extra #flair.

Happy Monday!

Stupider cards, prolly.