Category: Gift Cards

  1. The Synchrony Virgin Mastercard has an all time high sign-up bonus of 60,000 FlyingClub miles and a $100 statement credit after $4,000 spend in 90 days, available on the checkout screen of any booking at virginatlantic.com.

    I checked and couldn’t find any dummy fares to Preston Smith International.
  2. Meijer MPerks has 75,000 MPerks Points with the purchase of $500 in third party gift cards excluding Amazon through August 9, limit one per MPerks account.

    I don’t want to call this the grocery store deal of the year, but it’s likely to be in the top 10 if you’re good at scaling.
  3. The Rove Miles portal has boosted earnings of 4x at giftcards.com through August 5. With Rove’s transfer partners, this is effectively 2.67x Accor or 4x Vietnam Airlines LotusMiles after transfer. There are other partners including Qatar Avios, but you can do better directly on the BA travel portal at 6x for those.

    If you don’t already have a Rove account, find a friend’s referral link and use theirs, you’ll each earn 500 bonus miles. If you don’t have a Rove friend, you can reach out to me and I’ll share someone’s referral.
  4. JPMorgan Chase is apparently nearing a deal to acquire the Apple Card portfolio from Marcus. If you’re shutdown at Chase, getting an Apple Card now may be a way back in (There is old precedent for Chase and bank acquisitions leading to unbanning, but past performance may not predict future results.)
  5. The Barclays Hawaiian card will continue to exist even after the HawaiianMiles program has been sunset on October 1. This is interesting principally because it will be a 2x Alaska miles earner at grocery stores, unlike the Bank of America Alaska lineup.
  6. American Express offers has new targeted offers for:

    – Virgin Atlantic: $250 back after $2,000+ through September 23
    – Delta: $100 back on $500+, up to two times through October 15
    – Wyndham: $100 back after $500+ through October 31
    – Turo: $30 back after $150+ through December 31

    They’re all gameable in some form, but Turo is a bit of a hot-potato in underground circles so toss carefully?

The Turo hot scorched potato.

  1. I don’t normally report on rumors unless they’re funny or actionable, and this one probably qualifies as both: The Chase Southwest Visa portfolio’s annual fees are probably increasing according to referral links and losing the annual $75 Southwest credits:

    – Plus: $69 → $99
    – Premier: $99 → $149
    – Priority: $149 → $229
    – Premier Business: $99 → $149
    – Performance Business: $199 → $299

    If you want one of these cards, I’d apply for it ASAP (obviously not via referral), unless the referral is worth more to you than the annual fee increase and lack of a $75 Southwest credit.
  2. Kroger stores have a 4x fuel points promotion on third party gift cards on Friday only. Amazon gift cards are excluded and will still only earn 2x. Sometimes weird things happen with gebits on these sales too.

    Pepper at this point is probably dead forever, and the gift card resale market seems to have fully healed across all brands. Yes, there is a Pepper post-mortem post coming. When? Post this post, when they’re confirmed dead forever.

Happy Thursday!

Another actionable or funny rumor.

  1. The Imprint Rakuten Visa credit card launched with no annual fee and a market trailing $25 or 2,500 Membership Rewards bonus after $500 spend in 90 days. Earnings:

    – 4x through the portal up to 28,000 miles
    – 2x at grocery and restaurants
    – 1x elsewhere

    The commentary about this card is negative, but you can link it to your Membership Rewards account and it has plenty of utility as an uncapped RAT-free grocery 2x earner and as a third party American Express. (Thanks to David)
  2. The Chase United Business Visa cards each have an increased sign-up bonus of 100,000 MileagePlus miles and 2,000 PQP after $5,000 spend in three months:

    – United Business: $150 annual fee
    – United Business Club: $695 annual fee*

    *Also gives unlimited cheese cubes when visiting a United Club, participation may vary.
  3. The Delta SkyMiles Shopping portal has a bonus of 2,000 SkyMiles after $600+ spend through August 11. Giftcards.com is there too at 1x, making exactly $600 in spend approximately a 4.3x earner.
  4. The more “modestly appointed” US airlines are running fare sales, ordered by fewest blackout dates to most:

    – JetBlue: 25% off base fares with promo SAVE25 booked by Thursday for travel August 12 through November 20
    – Breeze: 35% off base fares with promo LETSROLL booked by Friday for travel August 8 through January 31
    – Southwest: $39+ fares booked by Friday for travel between August 12 and January 26

    It ended yesterday, but even Avelo ran a base fare sale this week. Taken in sum I think this tells you a lot about the low-end airline industry’s economic outlook.
  5. Southwest’s seat assignments take affect on January 27, 2026, and you’ll be able to book those assignments starting on Tuesday. In a move surprising no-one, bookings for travel between January 27, 2026 and March 4, 2026 also become available on Tuesday.

    Post-change, the major Southwest seating challenge will be trying to convince a stranger in your seat that in fact “A” and “F”, not “C” or “D”, are the window seats. (Thanks to Brain M)
  6. Hy-Vee grocery stores have $10 off of $150+ in Visa and Mastercard gift cards through Tuesday.

    These are Pathward gift cards.
  7. The Incomm gift card sites have fee-free Visa and Mastercard gift cards:

    – MasterCardGiftCard.com: Use promo NOFEESMC25 through August 24
    – VanillaGift.com: Use promo VGBTS25 through August 24
    – TheGiftCardShop.com: Use promo BTS25 through August 31

    These sites won’t earn points on first party American Express cards, and they can be a pain to liquidate online. These are Sutton gift cards, but not the good kind.

Coming soon to Cleveland passengers: “No, C21 is the gate, not your seat.”

  1. Do this now: Register for Hyatt’s promotion for triple points at hotels in Latin America and the Caribbean for stays in August, September, and October.
  2. The Chase Aeroplan card, the hot honey of credit cards, has an increased sign-up bonus of 85,000 Aeroplan miles after $4,000 spend in three months.

    If you hit that all in the 3x grocery category, you’ll have 97,000 Aeroplan miles which is almost enough for a Lufthansa First Class ticket.
  3. The (hopefully temporarily) discontinued Citi Shop Your Way Rewards Mastercard, the (hopefully) 2022 Sriracha of credit cards, sent mid-month offers out for online spend. This round:

    – $100 statement credit with $1,000+ cumulative
    – $45 statement credit with $500+ cumulative

    (Thanks to SPX and shamuel)
  4. The Alaska Airlines shopping portal has a “two days after Bastille Day” celebration bonus of 1,000 MileagePlan miles after $550+ spend by August 4.
  5. Kroger has a 4x fuel points promotion on third party gift cards starting on Friday, and running all the way through *checks notes* Friday night. Amazon gift cards remain excluded.
  6. American Express Offers has an offer for $80 off of $400+ at MGM properties by September 25. Two things:

    – Return fraud is still return fraud
    – If you’re going to stick it to a company, a casino is a great choice

    This may not be the triumphant return of the dirty castle that some churners mourn, but it’s something.
  7. Yesterday, an old bill payment service finally realized it’s been doubling down on payments inadvertently and started reversing deposits in waves. I know you didn’t ask for my advice, but I’m going to share it anyway: To avoid problems with both the payment service and your banks, make sure the reversal goes smoothly.

Happy Thursday!

Moldly Interesting fact: Old Sriracha gets moldy, sorry SYWR fans.

  1. Do this now: Register for Hyatt’s promotion for 777 bonus points per night at casino hotels through September 30. (Un)fortunately, the dirty castle is no longer part of Hyatt’s portfolio and the Rio is a poor stand-in.
  2. Do this now: Make backup bookings for any existing Advantage car rental reservations because they may be in the midst of collapse.
  3. Staples has fee-free $200 Mastercards in store through Saturday, limit nine per transaction.

    These are Pathward gift cards.
  4. US Bank has a $450 checking bonus for new Smartly checking accounts with $8,000+ spread over two direct deposits, or over two “direct deposits”, the first of which has to happen in 30 days. This is mainly interesting for establishing a Smartly account for higher payouts on the related but different US Bank Smartly credit card.

    If you’re not in US Bank’s footprint, opening a brokerage account first will get your foot in the door for other products.
  5. Bilt Blit is losing their relationship with Wells Fargo in favor of Cardless with three tiers of cards in (probably) June 2026. After the transition, it’ll probably switch from the Mastercard network to the American Express network. Is that a net positive or negative? Depends on your game I suppose, but at least Cardless dropped its one card per lifetime rule.
  6. American Express Offers has a targeted offer for $40 off of $200+ at Caesars through October 31.

Happy Monday friends!

From US Bank’s FAQ: Even they understand that direct deposits are often “direct deposits”

  1. The Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select personal Mastercard has a heightened offer of 80,000 AA miles after $3,500 spend in four months, and the annual fee is waived for the first year.
  2. Kroger stores have a 4x fuel points sale on third party gift cards excluding Amazon, and fixed value Visa and Mastercard gift cards tomorrow only.

    For those keeping track at home: Kroger had more days with 4x fuel points earning in the last two months than days without. In a turn everyone could have predicted, that’s flooded the fuel points market pushing points rates way down.
  3. Canadian carrier Porter Airlines tickets can now be booked with Alaska MileagePlan. Carry-on bags are included. (Thanks to FM)

Happy Thursday!

The inspiration for this summer’s Kroger “(Almost) Everyday Sale Price” 4x promotions.

  1. The American Express Business Platinum has a new no-lifetime language (NLL) offer for 200,000 Membership Rewards after $20,000 spend in three months.

    Gamers can often find regular links with 250,000 Membership Rewards and manage to get approved despite lifetime language, but there’s utility in the easy game too. (Thanks to DDG)
  2. American Express offers has an offer for $255 off of $1,250 at ITA Airways through September 7.
  3. Rakuten In-Store has new manufactured spender favorite promotions for July (just make sure you link your credit cards used in store to your Rakuten wallet):

    – 1x at Food Lion
    – 1x at Stop & Shop

    Each promotion is limited to $10 cash back or 1,000 Membership Rewards per transaction, and each must be re-activated an hour after first use. Both stores sell gift cards.
  4. American Express Membership Rewards has a 15% transfer bonus to Avianca Lifemiles through July 31. These miles are great for Star Alliance awards when the program sees the space, but there’s plenty of Star Alliance space hidden by the program so I guess trust but verify?
  5. Southwest has a fare sale for “up to 50% off” of base fares with promo code BIGDEAL for travel between August 4 and December 17 booked by Thursday night. There are of course blackout dates around when you really want to fly, and the promotion applies only to Basic and Wanna Get Away Plus fares.

    I guess technically “0% off” falls within “up to 50% off”, so blackout dates are only imaginary.
  6. Office Depot / OfficeMax stores have $15 off of $300 in Visa gift cards through Saturday. For best results:

    – Buy in even multiples of $300
    – Try for multiple transactions back-to-back
    – Different cards have different fees

    These are Pathward gift cards.

Happy Tuesday friends!

At least the promo code is fun to type.

  1. Do this now: Register for 8,000 bonus points after two stays at Choice Hotels through September 2. Yes, they sell this as a $50 gift card, but that’s because (1) they’re bad at marketing, and (2) 8,000 points can be cashed out for a gift card.
  2. Meijer stores have $10 off of $150+ in Mastercard gift cards through Saturday, coupon clip required.

    Meijer sells both Pathward and Sunrise gift cards.
  3. Mandatory reporting requirements for financial services are changing:

    – 1099-K reporting limits increased to $20,000 for 2025 and beyond
    – 1099-MISC reporting limits increased to $2,000 for 2026 and beyond

    Manufactured spenders sending money to themselves should be particularly excited about the former. Bank bonus chasers may be happy about the latter, but you’re still required to report bank bonus income even in the absence of a 1099-MISC. As always, I’m not a tax professional and I’m definitely not your tax professional. Don’t take my advice about anything, ever. (Thanks to DoC)
  4. The Chase Sapphire Reserve Business card is now available via referrals from other Ink cards. After October 17, in theory referrals will only work to people without existing Chase Business cards. Prior to October 17 though we gucci.
  5. The Chase United card family has an offer for 1,500 MileagePlus miles after five digital wallet purchases, registration required. A couple of notes:

    – You can buy five bananas at self check out, right?
    – Costco cashiers will generally happily oblige to “can I charge $1 to this card”

    There are other games too, be creative (but not too creative, it’s only 1,500 miles).
  6. American Express offers has an offer for $60 off of $300+ at Alaska Airlines. To game it, you could:

    – Book non-basic economy, cancel to your wallet after 24 hours
    – Book non-basic economy, cancel to an emailed wallet code after 24 hours, which is separately useful

    Yes, you can get deeper if you want.
  7. Citi Offers has an offer for a $50 statement credit with $200+ at JetBlue through August 31. Citi usually lets you redeem these on multiple cards too.

Happy Monday!

Digging deeper, ocean style.