Category: Credit Cards

We tend to focus quite a lot on Chase, Bank of America, American Express, Citi, and Capital One because they offer good products for manufactured spenders and churners, and because their products are available to most any US Citizen.

That said, there are more than 4,500 banks and more than 4,700 credit unions in the US, and we spend nearly all our time talking about fewer than 10 of them in total partially because 97% of these institutions primarily serve only small geographies. It’s a mistake to ignore other banks and credit unions though, because they have financial products too, and some of them are just as generous as those you’ll find at the big usual suspects.

To up your game, consider spending time strolling around your local banks and credit unions (they’re usually one district over from the hammock district), and look into their:

  • Credit cards with rewards or cash back
  • CDs that may be funded in various ways
  • Bank accounts that may offer a sign-up bonus, rewards, or a money order target
  • Loans that you can find in various payment systems
  • Teen spending products
  • Business banking offerings

As far as I’m concerned, who cares if Holy Trinity Baptist CU shuts me down when I’m trying something with MoneyGram and their credit card that I’d never dare try with a Chase card?

Have a nice weekend!

Even Lubbock Telco FCU has better offers than AmEx at times (Thanks to Reader Ben for the photo)

  1. Albertsons, Safeway, and Vons stores have a promotion for $10 off of a future purchase good for seven days with a $50 purchase in several third party gift card brands through October 10. Lowe’s is the best one for resale rates, currently averaging somewhere around 89%.

    It’s possible that this is a regional only deal so double check your ads, though I suspect it’ll work everywhere. (Thanks to GCG)
  2. Shoprite stores have $10 in grocery credits $150 or more in Mastercards through Saturday, limit one per account. The credit is valid starting Saturday and running for a week, and recent reports suggest Shoprite stores putting $7.95 fee cards on the rack, because of course they are. (Thanks to DoC)
  3. Do this now: Sign-up for the waitlist for the future TAP Portugal American Express card. Getting on the waitlist means you’ll get a bigger bonus if you decide to apply for it when it launches, but doesn’t obligate you to anything.
  4. Do this now: Check chase.com/mybonus for targeted offer of 5x-10x on spend on grocery, utilities, fitness, internet, and/or phone services on your personal co-branded cards.
  5. In a move that should surprise no-one, Delta devalued partner awards to and from Mexico, the Caribbean, Central, and South America. Award prices for business class have risen by approximately 40%, and economy prices have risen more modestly by approximately 15%. When asked to comment on this change, Delta again used a single word response: “Budgeting”, but this time they played the wah-wah trombones while speaking.

    As of this devaluation, the rule of thumb for non-expert travel hackers is that Delta SkyMiles are mostly only good for US economy awards. There is slight value to be had outside of that paradigm, but it diminishes regularly.

Delta’s PR team discussing the most recent award ticket redemptions.

  1. JetBlue has an above-average status match promotion for Delta elite members running through October 31 that closely mirrors Alaska’s status match from Monday. If you hold a JetBlue credit card you’ll be automatically matched for status through 2024, otherwise you’ll have a status challenge.

    This one is better than average because you’ll get tier benefits with the match for things like New York helicopter transfers, Mint upgrade certificates, and gifted TrueBlue points. If you’re a Delta Diamond or Platinum and have future travel on a route that features Mint, this is easily worth a few thousand dollars.
  2. Chase Offers has a card linked offer for 10% back at Kimpton Hotels, up to $860 in spend through November 15. There are multiple ways to play this one, and not all of them are shooting straight. (Thanks to duideh)
  3. Bank of America’s Alaska personal card currently has a public sign-up bonus of 62,000 miles, but there are two better non-affiliate link offers:

    – 70,000 MileagePlan miles after $3,000 spend in 90 days via a google referral
    – 65,000 MileagePlan miles after $3,000 spend in 90 days via in-flight offer

    Update: Note that the 70,000 miles offer may require you to switch IPs to pull it up, and may even be geographically targeted at the West Coast. That’s what VPNs are for, right? While you’re at it, don’t forget to clown around with Bank of America. (Thanks to Welcome Offer via MEAB slack)
  4. Do this now: Register for Accor Hotel’s Q4 promotion for:

    – 500 bonus points after one stay
    – 2,500 bonus points after a second stay
    – 3,000 bonus points after a third stay

    Book by October 17 for stays between October 10 and December 20. Sorry folks, there aren’t any Accor Hotels in Lubbock, TX.

Happy Wednesday!

Plotting the relative value of status matches, you know, for science.

I had a different post planned for today, but a late night news item worth your time made me switch it up. As a result, we’re missing lots of the normal MEAB color, so sorry not sorry I guess. Let’s go:

  1. I’ve got it on good authority that Southwest’s Tuesday promotion for its Week of Wow is almost certainly a sale of ~50% off of bases fares on both paid and award travel, and it’s the kind of sale where you can use the website to change to your existing flight to capture the discount. Update: It’s out. Use promo code WOW50.

    This will likely have restrictions around the holidays and to certain destinations, but it’s worth double checking anyway. (Thanks to the WN Maestro, Brian M)
  2. Office Depot and OfficeMax stores have $15 back on $300 or more in Mastercard gift cards through Saturday in stores. You may find even better results by stacking more in a single transaction. Always be probing. (Thanks to FM)
  3. American Express has a gamable offer for $200 off of $1,000 or more at Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, and LXR hotels in Mexico, the US, Anguilla, and French Polynesia. (Thanks to DoC)
  4. Breeze airways has a bonus $50 in points and 25% off of of base fares over $150 for travel through January 31, 2024 booked by Thursday using promo code SOEXTRA.

    I don’t see any specific blackout dates called out in the terms, so you may get lucky with this one on Holiday or Christmas travel. Remember though that Breeze flys almost exclusively strange routes, like today’s dartboard line from Hartford, CT to Bradenton, FL.

Happy Tuesday!

Life reaching out to MEAB right before bed. Yes, it was creepy thanks for asking.

September 22 is apparently National Elephant Appreciation day, and to celebrate banks went wild with credit card news. Let’s dive in!

  1. Reader Jim encouraged me to find a way to score credit cards with a single number on an arbitrary scale for quick comparison, and I decided to try it with yesterday’s dump-truck load of new credit card offers. Let’s see how it goes, on a scale of 0 to 37:
  2. An American Express Personal Gold authorized user offer for 5,000 Membership Rewards after adding a user and spending $2,000 has resurfaced from the dead with the same POID as before (K41C:9994). You can usually earn a bonus once per POID per primary card. (Thanks to Parts_Unknown-)
  3. American Express has a targeted no-lifetime language (NLL) Blue Business Plus 75,000 Membership Rewards offer with $15,000 spend in 12 months and no annual fee. If you get an error after logging in, that means you’re not targeted. [Rating: 21/37] (Thanks to George)
  4. Newly issued Truist credit cards are printed and mailed, but don’t work. Make sure you’re always carrying at least a single backup from a second bank, and also make sure Truist is only used for shenanigans, never for anythig critical. [Rating: -2/37]

Have a nice weekend!

Pictured: September 22.

  1. The Citi Shop Your Way Rewards Mastercard, an Unsung Hero, has sent out targeted mid-month offers via email for online spend through October 14, and these will stack with other offers too. We’ve seen:

    – $50 back on $750 or more
    – $30 back on $400 or more
    – 200,000 Shop Your Way Points on $600 or more
    – 7,000 ThankYou Points on $600 or more

    (Thanks to 5, David, JEB, and BB_Pcola)
  2. Capital One has a 15% mileage transfer bonus to Avianca LifeMiles through the end of September.

    – US to and from South America in business class for 50,000 points
    – East coast to Lisbon in business class for 35,000 miles
    – East cost to Zurich in economy for 16,500 miles
    – To and from Europe in business class while tacking a coach leg onto the end
    – Economy flights to or from the Caribbean for 12,500 miles each way
    – Short haul domestic US economy for 7,500 miles each way

    In related news, I haven’t been able to find one of the 37 blog posts in the last week about how Membership Rewards transfers to LifeMiles aren’t working. Has anyone else been able to find one of these?
  3. AirFrance/KLM’s FlyingBlue program has an unannounced promotional sale for business class flights to and from the New York area to Europe for 41,250 miles each way. (Thanks to FM)
  4. Do this now (if you hold a Citi Dividend card): Register for 5% back in Q4 at grocery stores. The spend window started on September 15 which is obviously not yet part of Q4 in the real world, but completely fits the calendar in the Citi magical fairy world.
  5. Meijer has 50,000 MPerks points with a $500 third party gift card purchase through September, limit one per MPerks account. Amazon cards are excluded, but other popular brands for resale like Apple and BestBuy are eligible for the promotion. (Thanks to GCG)

Where Citi creates its calendar rules.

  1. Delta’s rumored SkyClub changes have been announced. The summary is that if you get credit card access, you’ll get a limited number of SkyClub visits unless you spend $75,000 on that card within the calendar year. Additional changes:

    – Basic Economy tickets don’t qualify for credit card lounge access
    – Delta Platinum and Delta Business Platinum cards can no longer co-pay for access
    – Delta Reserve and Delta Business Reserve cards will only get 10 visits per year
    – American Express Platinum and Business Platinum cards will only get (probably) six visits per year

    On the other hand, I’d estimate that your average churner has or churns through at least six Platinum or Business Platinums a year, which probably means 6*6 = 36 visits per year without any extra spend required.
  2. Delta’s Medallion Elite qualifying changes for status year 2025 have also been announced. Unlike AA’s Loyalty Points, the only Delta currency here is MQDs (medallion qualifying dollars). You’ll earn one MQD for:

    – Each dollar spent on base airfare, car rentals, hotel stays, or vacations booked through Delta
    – 10 dollars spent on a Delta Reserve or Business Reserve card
    – 20 dollars spent on a Delta Platinum or Business Platinum card.

    To manufactured spend your way status with the newly announced thresholds, that means you’ll have to spend on Delta cards:

    – Silver: 7,000 MQDs ($70,000 spend on Reserve, $140,000 spend on Platinum)
    – Gold: 12,000 MQDs ($120,000 spend on Reserve, $240,000 spend on Platinum)
    – Platinum: 18,000 MQDs ($180,000 spend on Reserve, $360,000 spend on Platinum)
    – Diamond: 35,000 MQDs ($350,000 spend on Reserve, $700,000 spend on Platinum 🤡)

    Yes, this is still gameable either with discount partner Business Class paid flights or with American Express 99 employee card offers)
  3. There are a few new, interesting card linked merchant offers:

    – Chase Offers has for 10% back on Southwest flights, up to $40 cash back
    – AmEx Offers has 3,000 or 6,000 Membership Rewards with a $300 Delta gift card purchase
    – AA’s SimplyMiles has 230-460 bonus miles with a Kroger purchase $50 or more 🤏

    Each of these should be gameable.

Happy Thursday!

The guy who’s manufacturing $700,000 spend on his SkyMiles Platinum card.

The reaction to yesterday’s budgeting post was next-level. Thanks to everyone who wrote in! Today’s post is a biggie, so buckle up:

  1. Do this now: Register for Hyatt’s Bonus Journeys promotion for 3,000 bonus points for each three qualifying nights up to seven times, valid for nights between October 6 and November 30.

    If you have a Chase Hyatt credit card, there’s an additional 1,000 bonus points for every three nights at certain properties with the same promotion, but the properties are mostly outside of the US.
  2. Do this now: Register for Marriott’s Go Your Way promotion for 1,500 bonus Bonvoy points for every three paid nights between September 12 and December 6.
  3. Do this now: Register for Choice’s More Destinations, More Adventures promotion for 8,000 bonus points for every two paid stays completed by November 6.
  4. Southwest’s next schedule extension for travel between April 9 and June 3, 2024 happens tomorrow, and covers both some spring break travel and Memorial Day weekend. (Thanks to the legendary Brian M, who keeps a closer tab on Southwest than Herb Kelleher did)
  5. The Capital One VentureX Business 150,000 points sign-up bonus after $30,000 spend in three months is now available online. The $395 annual fee is not waived the first year but does include an easily redeemable $300 travel credit.

    For the math challenged, you’ll earn 7x on $30,000 in spend which is hard to beat for big spenders. (Thanks to DDG)
  6. Southwest’s Rapid Rewards shopping portal has 2,000 bonus points when spending $400 in cumulative purchases through September 18. Fortunately, as a collective society we once again we know how to easily earn these kinds of bonuses.

    With the fees you’ll pay for two $250 egift cards, you’ll be effectively buying 3,000 Rapid Rewards points at 0.396 cents per point, minus whatever value you’ll earn for spending $500 on your credit card. Of course there’s a Citi Merchant offer for 3% back that gives even more upside. (Thanks to FM)
  7. There’s a new fast-track to Hyatt Globalist status for higher level AA elites. Platinum Pro and Executive Platinum elites will earn Globalist(-lite) with 20 nights within 90 days of registration, and you must register by November 12.

    With a little grit, or dare I say, true grit, you can earn Globalist(-lite) in exchange for 70,000 Ultimate Rewards utilizing this promotion.

Happy Wednesday!

An avid churner navigates today’s post from the comfort of home.