Category: Gift Cards

  1. Do this now: Register for Choice’s promotion for triple points on stays through March 31.
  2. Capital One acquired Brex. The action items:

    – Get a Brex account if you qualify and you’re banned by Capital One
    – Finish off those Brex plays, they’re likely short for the world

    Brex likes venture funded technology companies apropos of nothing.
  3. The Chase IHG Premier card has an increased bonus of 175,000 points after $5,000 spend in three months, and an extra 10,000 points and $100 statement credit after $20,000 spend in the first year.

    This card will likely be available via referrals on Monday, so probably wait until then to make a friend’s day or get an even bigger bonus in two-player mode. If you don’t have a churning friend yet, George at TBB makes a good one.
  4. The American Express Marriott Bonvoy Business card has a sign-up bonus of three 50,000 point night certificates after $6,000 spend in six months. The sign-up bonus isn’t great, but American Express cobranded business cards have a special place in a churners wallet because reasons.

    This one is available via referrals, so use one.
  5. Kroger has a 4x fuel points sale on third party gift cards excluding gas cards and Amazon for today only. Sometimes Friday only coupons stack in unexpected ways, always be probing.

Have a nice weekend friends!

Hot tip: Today is a great day to spot a Marcus / Kroger churner in the wild.
(Thanks to Fish for the photo)

  1. Do this now: Register for Hyatt’s new promotion for 5,000 bonus points per 5+ night stays at Hyatt House and Hyatt Studios through 2026, up 50,000 total bonus points.

    If you’re like me you’re not planning on staying at those properties, but if your house floods and you need to be somewhere for a couple of weeks while it’s getting fixed, well, Hyatt House might be where you end up.
  2. The Bank of America AirFrance/KLM FlyingBlue Mastercard has an increased sign-up bonus of 70,000 miles and 100XP after $3,000 spend in 90 days. The card will soon be a Visa.

    The 100XP earns FlyingBlue Silver and SkyTeam Silver status, but doesn’t fully stack if you’ve got more than one card.
  3. H-E-B stores have a promotion for a $20 H-E-B gift card with the purchase of a $100+ Visa, Mastercard, or American Express gift card through Tuesday. You’re limited to one of each per loyalty account.

    Last I checked in 1989, technology hadn’t progressed far enough for us to easily have multiple email addresses with multiple loyalty accounts. Presumably nothing’s changed. (Thanks to GCA)
  4. Kroger stores have a coupon for fee-free $150+ Visa and Mastercard variable load gift cards through Tuesday, and this one is also limited to one per loyalty account.
  5. The Capital One Venture Rewards Visa has a sign-up bonus of 75,000 miles and $250 in Capital One Travel credit after $4,000 spend in three months.
  6. The Bilt 2.0 2.0v2 2.0v3 debacle gets funnier (worse) every single day, though it does fit the company’s slogan:

    “Simplify everything by adding complexity and owning the basement dwelling Redditors!”

    Yesterday, they announced that Bilt Cash would have alternative cash-outs that include options like $10 monthly GrubHub or Lyft credit and $5 monthly off of parking at “Bilt Neighborhood Parking” lots. There are also Blacklane and Blade credits, but it’s unclear yet how much Bilt Cash things will cost, I think it’s not safe to assume that it’ll be 1:1. Don’t worry though, at least you can count on it being neither easy, nor obvious, nor straight-forward.

Happy Thursday!

Real world simulation of the disappointment in a Bilt press release.

We’ve had enough time in January to learn what works for the annual-fee-endowed American Express Platinum and Business Platinum card $200 calendar year airline incidental credits. So, how do we make those incidental credits worth something? The best quasi-cashout options seem to be:

  • United: Buy TravelBank credit directly. It expires in five years and can be used to pay for United flights. You can usually sell this for 88%+, and with a little trickery you can turn them into flexible credits good for other people and on other airlines  [more info]
  • Delta: Buy airfare and pay partially with a gift card or travel credit, pay for the remainder with your card (don’t go over $200 though). Alternatively if you have a co-branded American Express Delta card and are eligible for Pay with Miles with, pay partially with miles and the remainder will be credited provided it’s less than $250 [more info]
  • Alaska: Buy a seat upgrade after booking and chat your “seat selection fee” doesn’t post, buy a flight paid partially with Alaska wallet funds and partially with your AmEx (less than $100), then refund to your wallet after 24 hours, or change a ticket to a higher fare as long as its less than $200 in additional cost [more info]
  • American: Buy cheap airfare, then change it to a flight that you really want that costs more and pay with your credit card (don’t go over the credit amount though). If you want to gamble, you’ve got roughly even odds that award taxes and fees will count [more info]
  • Southwest: Buy a flight less than $109, or book an international flight with taxes under $109 per ticket, then refund to a travel credit. Combine with the Choice Extra fare bucket to get around name-locking  [more info]
  • JetBlue: There aren’t new 2026 datapoints yet, but likely 2025’s version still works: Buy a flight less than $137 then cancel the flight after 24 hours and refund to your JetBlue wallet. For best results, $74 Blue Basic fares will have approximately $99 Blue fares (thanks to Brian C) [more info]
  • Spirit: Gutsy choice friend! I’ll be surprised if Spirit is still around by April, so make it quick. A Big Front Seat upgrade works, and airfare below approximately $60 also works [more info]

For bonus points, you’ve still got time to cash out your travel credits using last year’s selected airline, get reimbursed, and then change to a new airline online by January 31.

Have a nice Wednesday friends!

Haven’t had enough of 2026 style yet? Here’s 2026 fashion, apparently.

  1. The Chase Hyatt Visa card has a tiered sign-up bonus:

    – Three category 1-4 free-night certificates after $5,000 spend in three months
    – Two more category 1-4 free-night certificates after $15,000 in six months

    Personally I’d rather have the points, but I’m not you. Also, I’d wait until Monday when it’s likely also available via referrals, but I’m still not you.
  2. The Chase Avios family of cards have increased bonuses of 90,000 points after $5,000 spend in three months.

    Monday will probably bring a referral bonus on these cards too. Before you get too excited though, consider that the typical high bonus on these is 100,000 Avios and they’ve been as high as 125,000 Avios.
  3. The Citi ThankYou Mastercard sent mid-month spending offers for spend through February 14. We’ve seen:

    – $75 back on $1,000 in online spend
    – $50 back on $750 in online spend
    – 11,500 ThankYou Points for $1,000 in online spend

    No, this card still isn’t available if you don’t already have it. (Thanks to Adam and Charlie)
  4. Stop & Shop, Giant, and Martins  have 8x points on Zift Zillions cards through Thursday. Some of these cards are convertible to high value brands like Amazon and Home Depot.

    I’m sure you know the punchline by now, but Giant Food stores, part of the same corporate umbrella, only earns 2x during the same period.
  5. Wyndham has a tiered promotion for US and Canada paid stays booked by February 16 for nights through May 31. Discounts are 10% for one night stays, 15% for two night stays, or 20% for longer.

Pictured: The corporate umbrellas choose favorites.

  1. Do this now: Check for targeted spend bonuses on Chase co-brand cards. Offers are 6,000-10,000 bonus points for $6,000-$10,000 spend by March 31.
  2. Do this now: Register for your targeted United MileagePlay bonus. I got 32,000 bonus miles after taking two premium cabin flights of at least $650 each booked and flown by March 9, which is a solid “meh”.
  3. Reportedly the Chase Freedom Unlimited card has an in-branch only offer for $300 after $500 spend in three months and 5x on gas and groceries for the first year through Thursday.

    I’m sure you can think of a way or two to make 5x at gas and grocery profitable, and remember, not all the ways rhyme with shmift shard. (Thanks to DoC).
  4. United launched its 2026 status match opportunity, and for the first time in a decade, you can match to 1K. Status is valid for four months and includes reduced tiers to maintain status.

    Generally Star Alliance Gold is a valuable status to hold especially for lounge access, but less so on United. (Thanks to FM)
  5. Staples stores have fee-free $200 Visa gift cards through Saturday, limit nine per transaction. If you can’t find cards at your store, someone probably hid them behind another gift card because people can be monsters.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.

Happy Monday friends!

What a human Monster might look like.

  1. Hyatt’s 2026 corporate status match, which instantly awards Explorist status through February 2028 and offers a fast track to Globalist with 20 nights in 90 days, is now available.

    You’ve got to have a big company email address to make this work, or you’ve got to be creative. Or, ¿por qué no los dos?
  2. The Chase Ink Business Preferred card has an increased sign-up bonus of 100,000 Ultimate Rewards after $8,000 spend in three months, and the $95 annual fee is not waived in the first year.

    This offer is also available via referrals, but only for new Chase Business customers.
  3. The Rakuten American Express card has a heightened sign-up bonus of $100 after $1,000 spend in 90 days, and the card carries no annual fee. The ability to earn unlimited 2x Membership Rewards (or temporarily Bilt Rewards) at grocery makes this card an Unsung Hero candidate.
  4. The Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa has an increased sign-up bonus of five free-night certificates after $3,000 spend in three months, and the $95 annual fee is not waived the first year. Each certificate is worth up to 50,000 points. Remember with Marriott you’ll still pay resort fees and for parking on award stays, and 50,000 points probably doesn’t get you the kind of hotel you think it should.

    This offer should be available for referrals on Monday.
  5. There’s a targeted offer for $50 back on $250+ in airfare for existing Marriott Bonvoy Boundless cardholders, and its usable once between now and the end of June, and then once more between July and December.
  6. PSA: There’s a link floating around major blogs for the Bank of America Atomos Ascent Visa with a sign-up bonus of 80,000 miles after $4,000 spend in 120 days. This link isn’t generic, it’s someone’s referral link.

    If you’re interested in the card, use a friend or another player’s referral link instead for the same offer, and they’ll get 10,000 miles too. 👏 Always know the provenance of links you’re using.👏
  7. Stop & Shop and Giant stores have 2x points on Mastercard gift cards through Thursday.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.

Have a nice weekend friends!

Paid parking on award stays? Non-issue at the Courtyard Anaheim because at 74,000 points/night, your certificate won’t even work. #bonvoyed

  1. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Marcus Apple Card portfolio will be moving to Chase with a deal inked yesterday. There’s a chance that current Apple Card holders banned by Chase may find their way back as part of the acquisition based on prior deals, but it’s definitely not a guarantee. (Thanks to mforch)
  2. The Nilson report for credit card purchase volume in 2024 by issuer was leaked on reddit yesterday. I believe the data to be dubiously accurate.

    Two questions: (1) Do you have a card from every issuer on the list? And (2), why not? If banned from Chase, see the previous item.
  3. Kroger has a 4x fuel points promotion on third party gift cards and fixed value Visa and Mastercards through Tuesday, January 20. As usual, Amazon and third party fuel gift cards are excluded from the promotion.

    In a Pepper-free, lame-Newegg world, market rates are surprisingly good for a January.
  4. Southwest has a fare sale for travel between January 26 and May 13 booked by tonight using promo code DREAMBIG. Yes, someone at Southwest dreamt of blackout dates, and yes they made that dream real.

Happy Thursday!

The Marcus-Chase card deal contract, with banana for scale.

  1. Expired free night certificates used to be worth 10,000 points for a category 1-4 certificate, or 20,000 points for a category 1-7 certificate if you called Hyatt right after expiration and asked, as long as those certificates were from the Hyatt program and not a partner like AA or Chase. That was nerfed, with the new values:

    – Category 1-4 expired certificate: 2,500 points
    – Category 1-7 expired certificate, 5,000 points

    It beats the devaluation points for Club Upgrade Award certificates for Globalists I guess.
  2. Chase Pay Yourself Back on the Sapphire Reserve Business card removed all bonus categories except for “Select Charities”, and the boost on that category dropped from 50% to 25%. #bonvoyed

    The personal Sapphire Reserve is unaffected. (Thanks to Chris)
  3. Staples stores have fee-free $200 Mastercard gift cards through Saturday, limit nine per transaction.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network cards.
  4. Stop & Shop, Giant, and Martins  have 10x points on Lowes gift cards through Thursday. Of course their little brother Giant Food is only 4x. Why? Because reasons.
  5. JetBlue has 26% off of base fares booked by tomorrow for travel between January 13 and February 28 using code GO26. Of course there are blackouts, and also all Fridays and Saturdays are #NOGO26. You can stack this with a Citi Merchant offer for $50 off of $200+ too.

    Did I hear you want discounted Mint or transatlantic, or worse, discounted Mint+transatlantic? JetBlue was quoted as saying “That’s a nah from me dawg. Just ask Giant Food.”

Have a nice Tuesday!

It’s not all sadness at Giant Food though, their seasonal section carries this beauty.