Category: Gift Cards

  1. Do this now: Register for Wyndham’s promotion for 7,500 bonus points on two night or longer stays through January 20, 2026, max 30,000 bonus points.
  2. Meijer stores have $10 off of $150+ in Visa gift cards through Tuesday, digital coupon clip required. These are usually re-clippable after each transaction.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  3. The AmaZing Business Visa card issued by California Bank & Trust, Vectra Bank of Colorado, Zions bank of Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming, and Nevada State Bank has an increased sign-up bonus of $1,000 of 100,000 points after $5,000 spend. A few things to know:

    – The points aren’t special, they’re effectively penny points
    – The approval and application for these cards is extremely manual
    – There’s been (limited) success in the past for getting both cards

    None of these cards have annual fees and none of them report to your personal credit report, so they’re 5/24 friendly. Also, random side note, doesn’t “Zing” mean gotcha?

  4. The Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card, known for it’s boundless ability to leave you #bonvoyed, has a heightened sign-up bonus for:

    – 125,000 Bonvoy points
    – 50,000 point free night certificate
    – Free drinking fountain access at participating Marriott hotels

    The bonus requires $3,000 spend in three months, and if you wait a couple of days will probably be available via referrals too. (Thanks to DDG)
  5. American Express offers has offers for:

    – $60 off of $300+ at Alaska Airlines through December 30
    – $200 off of $1,000+ at Waldorf Astoria, LXR, Nomad & Signia through December 31
    – $150 off $750+ at AKA Hotels through March 15, 2026

    Gamers gonna game.

The (Ama)ZingBot 4000 application approval “robot”.

  1. Celtic Bank’s Mesa Visa card has a heightened sign-up bonus for 50,000 bonus points after $12,000 spend with promo code SEPT50, no referral shenanigans required.

    Churners like the card for earning points on mortgage payments and sometimes “mortgage” payments, and for transfer partners like SAS EuroBonus and Air Canada Aeroplan.
  2. The Chase Aeroplan Visa has a heightened, tiered sign-up bonus:

    – 75,000 points after $4,000 spend in three months
    – 25,000 points after $20,000 spend in 12 months

    I did the math so you don’t have to, 75,000+25,000 = 100,000. You’re welcome.
  3. The Rove Miles shopping and travel booking portal has two transfer bonuses:

    – 20% to AirFrance / KLM FlyingBlue through December 31
    – 20% To Finnair Avios through October 22

    Rove often has good mileage earning through their shopping portal, but points also take 30-90 days to post so earning to use a transfer bonus like these can be challenging, that is unless you started earning 30-90 days ago.
  4. Safeway, Albertsons, Vons, and other Just4U stores have 10x points on Zift cards through Saturday.

    Some of these can be converted to Amazon or Home Depot gift cards.
  5. Office Depot / OfficeMax stores have $15 off of $300+ in Mastercard gift cards through Saturday.

    These are Pathward / Black Hawk Network gift cards.

Happy Monday!

Flexing math skills even further.

  1. Do this now: Enroll in the new American Express Platinum and Business Platinum credits and hotel status boosts, and use quarterly benefits like Lululemon and Resy credits before September 30.
  2. The Chase Southwest Performance Business Visa card has an increased sign-up bonus of 120,000 Rapid Rewards after $10,000 spend in three months with a scheduled end date of October 22, and will probably be available via referrals by Monday. As long as you apply next month and wait until January to finish your minimum spend, this will be a Companion Pass valid for the lesser of:

    – 24 months
    – When Elliott management decides to kill the Companion Pass

    What’s the downside? Well, not only will you be flying Southwest, you’ll be flying the new Southwest.
  3. Meijer MPerks has a promotion for 50,000 points with the purchase of most third party gift cards including Best Buy through September 30. There’s a limit of 50,000 points per MPerks account, but you don’t let that nuance stop you, do you?

    Best Buy gift card resale rates are currently hovering at around 94%.
  4. Kroger has a 4x fuel points promotion on third party gift cards excluding Amazon and fuel services cards, through September 30. There’s a similar promotion for fixed value Visas and Mastercards, but I’d stick to the online version of those for 5% back through Saturday.

    Something something Best Buy something something.
  5. American Express changed a couple of additional items with yesterday’s refresh:

    – There’s a mostly worthless Oura ring coupon: $200 off
    – The digital entertainment credit is now $25 monthly
    – The Business Platinum has an offer of up to 300,000 Membership Rewards with the right gyrations (vpn/incognito/mobile/clown), including via referral – this link might work too but you won’t get a referral bonus
    – The Morgan Stanley Platinum and Charles Schwab Platinum cards have increased bonuses of 125,000 Membership Rewards after $8,000 spend

    You can get the old generation of the Oura for $200, but I’ve got great odds that it’ll end up in the trash or a junk drawer in a couple of months. (Thanks to Holly)
  6. Chase tweaked its Sapphire Reserve cards’ hotel benefits, but neither starts until 2026:

    – One time $250 credit on two night stays at some hotels booked through the Chase portal
    – Each $250 “The Edit” credit, which isn’t the same as the previous credit, can be used any time through the year

Have a nice weekend!

The new Southwest.

  1. Today is the last day to pay Q3 2025 estimated taxes, a manufactured spend level 102 move. A quick reminder about fees:

    – Pay 1040: 1.75% most credit cards, $2.15 most debit cards
    – ACI Payments: 1.85% personal cards, 2.95% business cards, $2.10 personal debit card

    Wrapping a card with higher fees in something like PayPal will often lower them.
  2. The American Express Business Platinum card has increased targeting on at its public upgrade link 120,000 Membership Rewards after $10,000 spend in three months for existing Business Gold or Green cardholders.
  3. You’ve got until Thursday to:

    – Apply for new American Express Platinum or Business Platinum cards before the annual fee jumps by $200
    – Book any remaining Fine Hotels and Resorts bookings to capture the annual $200 credit before the credit changes to $300 semi-annually and (presumably) resets
    – Use the above upgrade link before the annual fee jumps
    – Finalize preparations for National Cheeseburger Day

    I’d suggest you take 10 minutes and knock these out now so you don’t forget, but you do you.
  4. Staples stores have fee free $200 Visa cards through Saturday, limit nine per transaction.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawkNetwork cards.

Happy Monday!

Flying Spirit on National Cheeseburger Day? There’s a burger for that.

Apparently it’s promo dump weekend:

  1. Celtic Bank’s Mesa Visa card has a storied past with sign-up bonuses, and they’re continuing that legacy with another harebrained scheme:

    – 5,000 bonus points for one Mesa referral
    – 5,000 additional bonus points for another referral
    – 50,000 bonus points after two referrals and spending $10,000 in 90 days

    The card recently became a churning classic because: (1) you earn points for your, err *cough* mortgage, even if you don’t use the card to pay it, and (2) they have interesting transfer partners like SAS EuroBonus and Air Canada Aeroplan.
  2. The Chase Ink Cash and Ink Unlimited Visa cards have heightened sign-up bonuses of 90,000 Ultimate Rewards after $6,000 spend in three months. Both cards are no-annual fee cards.

    These are available via referrals and you’ve still got a few weeks left before October 7, when Chase’s referral rules mean there’s no referral bonus if the card applicant already holds a Chase business card.
  3. Chase Ultimate Rewards has a 20% transfer bonus to AirFrance / KLM FlyingBlue through September 30.
  4. Citi ThankYou Points has a 25% transfer bonus to Wyndham Rewards through September 20.
  5. Stop & Shop, Giant Foods, and Martins stores have 2x points earning on Mastercard gift cards through Thursday.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  6. Kroger stores have 4x fuel points earning on third party gift cards excluding Amazon and fuel cards, and on fixed value Visa and Mastercard gift cards.

    Since for some reason we don’t talk about Kroger 4x without talking about Pepper: They’re still quasi-dead, which is to say they’ve been a few days away from relaunch for months.
  7. Kroger online has 5% off of Visa and Mastercard e-gift cards with promo code BDAY2025 through September 21. Mastercards had been absent from Kroger since they switched issuers from US Bank, but they’re now back.

    These are generally interesting because they earn Kroger fuel points, not because it codes as grocery (it doesn’t). These are Pathward / Incomm gift cards.
  8. Marriott Bonvoy, the loyalty program that takes inspiration from Delta SkyMiles, has removed Asiana Club as a transfer partner.
  9. Several banks have emailed targeted spend bonuses:

    – Discover: $10 off $100+ spend with a virtual card number
    – Bank of America: $75 or 7,500 points with $2,500 spend
    – Chase Freedom: Extra earn with spend thresholds

    (Thanks to Dave and T)

Have a nice weekend friends!

Marriott had to drop support for Asiana transfers to implement this correctly.

  1. Accor has registration open for a Q3 promotion for 500-1,000 bonus points on two night or longer stays including a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday through October 26, but the bonus can only be earned one time. (Thanks to FM)
  2. Hilton silently devalued many of its high-end properties, in some cases award redemption prices went up by more than a third.

    Valuations are notoriously hard and opinionated, but I’d suggest that you drop your own Hilton valuation by at least 25-30% unless you have your own private unicorn. Personally, I’m treating them as worth 0.3 cents each.
  3. Southwest has a 50% off of base fares sale for both paid and award tickets with promo code MILLIONS.

    It’s worth checking existing travel plans that were booked after May 27 because you’ll be operating under the same fare and checked bags scheme. For travel plans booked before, ymmv.
  4. Stop & Shop, Giant Foods, and Martins stores have 8x points on both Amazon and Zift Zillions gift cards through Thursday, limit $2,000 spend per account.

Have a nice Wednesday!

New perk: This Hilton Garden Inn’s 30% award rate increase comes with complimentary fire (included with resort fee)

  1. Chase has new targeted offers for both its Freedom cards and United cards, you can check your eligibility at chase.com/mybonus, ideally in a new incognito window for each card. Offers include 3x-5x earning at gas, EV charging, and groceries on up to $1,500 spend through November 30, a fixed bonus on 20 purchases monthly for three months, and 10,000-15,000 bonus points on $3,000-$4,000 spend.
  2. The American Express Delta cards have heightened sign-up bonuses, coming back a short three days after the targeted NLL versions expired. The Gold and Reserve offers beat the last round’s bonuses, while the Platinum cards are each slightly lower. Spend requirements were tweaked slightly too:

    – Personal Gold: 80,000 SkyMiles after $3,000 spend in six months, annual-fee waived
    – Personal Platinum: 90,000 SkyMiles after $4,000 spend in six months
    – Personal Reserve: 125,000 SkyMiles after $6,000 spend in six months
    – Business Gold: 90,000 SkyMiles after $6,000 spend in six months, annual-fee waived
    – Business Platinum: 100,000 SkyMiles after $8,000 spend in six months
    – Business Reserve: 125,000 SkyMiles after $15,000 spend in six months

    All of these are available via referral, and you should use another player’s referral or a churning buddy’s referral when applying. There are also modest upgrade offers for existing cards available.
  3. Iberia Avios has an award sale for economy travel between the US and Europe booked by Thursday for travel between October 1 and December 5. Basic economy fares start at 6,400 miles with decent availability, and regular economy fares start at 10,000 miles.

    Normally you can transfer miles freely between British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Iberia, but that’s currently broken with no official ETA on a fix.
  4. Capital One has two business banking new account bonuses for existing business card holders without an existing Capital One Bank account with promo code Q3BONUS1000. The offers:

    – $500 with $5,000 in deposits held for 60 days (effectively a 60% APR when annualized)
    – $1,000 with $30,000 in deposits held for 60 days (effectively a 20% APR when annualized)

    Both require 10 transactions, but $1 ACHs back and forth will do. These bonuses are churnable every 180 days. (Thanks to DDG)
  5. The Chase IHG Business card has a heightened sign-up bonus of 200,000 IHG points split into two tiers:

    – 140,000 points after $4,000 spend in three months
    – 60,000 points after $9,000 spend in six months

    This card’s annual free-night certificate is for nights up to 40,000 points. The offer is available via referral, so use another player’s or another churner’s referral instead of the public link.
  6. Southwest will have free-WiFi onboard starting on October 24. This sounds great, other than that they’ll still have their legacy inflight internet system which was already really slow when < 10% of the plane was using it. So, I guess each passenger will get to relive the 2,400 baud internet speeds of the early 1990s?
  7. Staples in-store has fee-free $200 Mastercard gift cards, limit nine per transaction through Saturday.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.

Happy Monday friends!

Emulating the Southwest WiFi experience at home.

  1. Do this now: Register for Hyatt’s targeted promotion for up to 20,000 bonus points on stays at Hyatt Regency properties through November 23. For the sole purpose of annoying you, they’re making you register through the mobile app though (Account → Offers for You).
  2. The Chase British Airways Visa personal card has increased sign-up bonus of 100,000 Avios after $7,500 spend in six months. The $95 annual fee is not waived in the first year.

    Normally I’d just get an Ink, but there’s value in this card with (1) an award companion pass valid for all cabins on British Airways metal after $30,000 spend, (2) a 10% discount on paid British Airways fares, and (3) a $100-$200 statement credit for award fees per booking, but maxed out at $600 per year.
  3. The Synchrony Virgin Red Mastercard has an increased sign-up bonus of 75,000 points after $4,000 spend in three months. The bonus is only valid through tomorrow night, and is an all-time high. The card earns 2x at grocery, dining, and other less interesting categories.

    If you think this card is a snooze-fest, you may want to take another look, at least if you live near an airport served by Virgin Atlantic or by a Virgin Hotel.
  4. Stater Bros grocery stores have an instant $10 off of groceries promotion with a $50 One4All Ultimate gift card, which can be converted to Home Depot, until October 7 (!). This one requires a physical coupon available both in store and via mailer. (Thanks to GCA)
  5. A quick, unfortunate timely tip for people axed by Synchrony yesterday: Apply for the same card quickly, you’ll probably be approved.
  6. Rove Miles has two hotel stay promotions for your first booking through the platform:

    – 2,500 bonus miles on a $250+ hotel booking with promo code STAYCATION
    – 5,000 bonus miles on a $500+ hotel booking with promo code BACKTOSCHOOL

    Rove already earns 10x-20x miles for hotel stays, so for the right use case there’s value here, but if you’re never paying cash for hotels, this probably doesn’t move the needle. If you’re going to sign-up for Rove, use a referral link and both the referrer and referred will get 1,000 bonus miles and there’s an extra 10% boost on earning for the referrer.

Happy Thursday!

The average churner’s picture of the Virgin Red Mastercard.