Category: Quick Hits

  1. Do this now: Enroll in your targeted Q4 United MileagePlay promotion. Mine was 5,000 bonus miles with a single trip in a premium seat with a base airfare of $200+ booked and flown by December 22.
  2. Do this now: Register for Accor ALL’s Q4 promotion for 2x points on 2+ night stays in North America and Brazil.

    Don’t worry guys, they have an Accor in Bentonville that’s a combination museum and hotel for extra culture and complimentary night time haunting.
  3. Kroger stores have 4x fuel points earning on third party gift cards excluding Amazon and fuel gift cards today through Sunday.

    The resale market for BestBuy, Home Depot, and Apple gift cards remains strong, and the resale market for fuel points, uhhh, is still present.
  4. TheGiftCardShop.com has fee-free custom Visa and Mastercard gift cards with promo code SHOPEARLY25 through November 16. Its sister site MasterCardGiftCard.com has 50% off of purchase fees with the same promo code in case you’re more concerned about capacity than cost.

    These are Vanilla / Incomm gift cards.
  5. Stop & Shop, Giant, and Martins stores have 10x points on Zift Zillions gift cards through Thursday, and apparently there’s no limit on earn at Stop & Shop, but a limit on $2,000 spend at the other stores. Little brother Giant Food only earns 8x.
  6. The Celtic Bank Mesa Visa has a promotion for a free year of Instacart+ which stacks with Chase’s free memberships.

Have a nice weekend!

A combination museum and hotel’s night time lighting (I assume).

  1. Do this now: Register for your Q4 Marriott targeted Q4 promotions, including:

    – Five bonus elite nights, usable 2x for stays through January 31, 2026
    – Extra elite night for all stays through December 31
    – 15,000 bonus points every five stays, up to 3x through January 31, 2026
    – 2,000 bonus per stay at AC, Courtyard, or Four Points properties through February 16, 2026
    – 2,025 bonus points per stay, up to 3x through January 10, 2026
    – 2,000 bonus points per stay, up to 3x at Outdoors properties through January 10, 2026

    Some of those numbers look big, but remember they’re still Bonvoy points.
  2. Staples stores have fee-free $200 Visa gift cards through Saturday, limit nine per transaction.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards. (Thanks to GCA)
  3. Staples.com has fee-free virtual $200 Visa gift cards, limit four per account. Sometimes obscure portals work on these too, sometimes.

    These are also Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  4. American Express has a few new offers, all of which are valid through December 31:

    – Virgin Atlantic: $250 off of $1,800+
    – Hilton Cards (variation 1): Earn 6,000 bonus points for a $3,000+ purchase (up to 3x)
    – Hilton Cards (variation 2): Earn 20,000 bonus points for a $10,000+ purchase (up to 3x)
    – Qatar: $200 off of $850+ through AmEx Travel

    I’m told “gamers gonna (allegedly) game”. (Thanks to Stowe)

Happy Tuesday!

“Allegedly”

  1. The Citi Strata Elite Card has a public heightened sign-up bonus of 100,000 ThankYou points after $6,000 spend in three months, no weird links or other in-branch shenanigans that may or may not involve eating pudding with a fork are needed.
  2. The AA eShopping portal currently has giftcards.com at 2.5x earning. You may be surprised to learn that giftcards.com sells things like gift cards.

    AA in particular is interesting because you’ll also earn Loyalty Points toward status through the shopping portal.
  3. Discount airlines are running sales:

    – Frontier: Sale on paid and award bookings made today, travel through December 18
    – American Express Offers for Frontier: $50 off of $200+ by December 31
    – Southwest: Sale on paid and award bookings made today, travel 21 days out

    The Frontier deals will be specifically great for churning legend Alan, but have utility outside of Alan too.
  4. Blit Rewards (sp) added Etihad Guest as a 1:1 transfer partner. I’m glad to see new partners, but this one adds about as much incremental value as mayonnaise does to pizza.

Happy Thursday!

Bilt adds Etihad, but as a pizza.

  1. US Bank has a $1,200 business checking bonus for accounts opened through January 14, 2026 with promo code Q4AFL25. To get the bonus, you need to:

    – Deposit $25,000 within 30 days (ideally on day 29 probably)
    – Hold at least a $25,000 balance for the next 60 days
    – Have five transactions, like $1 ACHs or something

    If you hold the money in the account for exactly 60 days, you’re earning an effective APR of about 28.8%, which isn’t bad in this economy. These accounts are scalable with a bit of creativity, and churnable on a per-business basis 12 months after closing.
  2. Marriott Bonvoy has a 15% transfer bonus to AirCanada Aeroplan through October 31. With the bonus, 60,000 Bonvoy points convert to 28,000 Aeroplan miles.
  3. American Express has a new targeting code for upgrades to Business Platinum cards with 120,000 bonus Membership Rewards after $10,000 spend in three months. Upgrades are available from Business Greens and Business Golds.

    With last week’s link, you’ve got least two muppet games to play.
  4. American Express offers has an offer for a $225 statement credit with $1,500+ at Icelandair through December 31 for US originating flights booked in US dollars (sorry, it’s not always that easy).
  5. AirFrance / KLM’s FlyingBlue program has discounted business class award tickets to Europe from Washington Dulles for 45,000 miles each way between November and February.

    Using calendar view by not choosing a start date and trying various major European cities is a good way to find availability. (Thanks to LL)
  6. Rakuten will apparently be partnering with Bilt to allow you to earn Bilt points instead of cash back or Membership Rewards, though the mention was pulled from the site late last night.

    Hopefully the ratio of Rakuten points to Bilt Rewards will be 1:1, but given Richard Kerr’s involvement I wouldn’t call that a foregone conclusion. Go ahead Richard, prove me wrong.

  7. Tickets booked through Southwest’s vacation site, the annoyingly named Getaways by Southwest, still get two free checked bags. This doesn’t help you with points bookings though. (Thanks to FM)

Happy Tuesday!

Designing bathroom doors isn’t always easy either.

  1. The American Express Hilton cards have increased sign-up bonuses, though the increased bonuses don’t make up for recent devaluations:

    – Honors: 100,000 points after $2,000 spend in six months
    – Surpass: 155,000 points after $3,000 spend in six months
    – Aspire: 175,000 points after $6,000 spend in six months
    – Business: 175,000 points after $8,000 spend in six months

    These are available via referrals, use another player or another churner’s referral. Don’t apply head-on, make a churner’s day.
  2. It’s October transfer bonus time:

    – American Express 20% to AirFrance/KLM FlyingBlue through October 31
    – American Express 30% to Marriott Bonvoy through November 30
    – Chase 30% to British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Iberia Avios through October 31
    – Chase 80% to IHG through October 31
    – United 30% incoming transfer bonus from hotels, registration required, through October 31 (Marriott becomes 60,000:35,000)

    Even with the transfer bonuses IHG is an awful value, and Marriott Bonvoy is of dubious value, though it does offer a roundabout way to convert Membership Rewards to United MileagePlus which after the two bonuses will shake out to 1,000:758 (let’s call this a 6-7).

  3. Royal Jordanian is selling a 12 month long membership to oneworld airline lounges status match to oneworld Sapphire (Gold Sparrow) for $149. You can match with status from most non-oneworld airlines. Oneworld Sapphire gets access to AA and Alaska lounges when flying domestically, including AA Flagship lounges.

    The IATA code for Royal Jordanian is RJ (fixed, thanks to Kevin), which believe me will be helpful to know if you’re trying to use this for US domestic lounge access.
  4. Meijer MPerks has a clipable coupon for $10 off of $150+ in Mastercards through Tuesday.

    Meijer sells both Sunrise and Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  5. The Chase Sapphire Reserve’s Pay Yourself Back categories for Q4 are grocery, gas, department stores, and annual fees for 1.25 cents per point. The “select charities” option at 1.5 cents per point is still around too.
  6. American Express Offers has lots of new offers:

    – Viator $30 statement credit with $300+ through October 31
    – Best Western $50 statement credit with $250+ through December 31
    – Marriott Brands (various): $200-$300 off of $500-$750+ through December 31

    Most things bookable on airbnb experiences are also bookable on Viator, so you may find organic opportunity on that one.
  7. The Barclays Lufthansa Miles&More Mastercard has an all time high tiered sign-up bonus of 50,000+20,000 miles after $3,000 spend in 90 days and $12,000 spend in the first year, respectively.

    There is a Swiss First niche where this card can make sense if you’re good at ignoring opportunity cost. Apropos of nothing, where are my FNBO JAL groupies at? (Thanks to pizza42bob)

Happy Thursday!

The Membership Rewards United backdoor, as a mug.

  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. The US Bank Triple Cash Rewards and Leverage business cards have heightened sign-up bonuses:

    – Triple Cash Rewards: $750 after $6,000 spend in 180 days, $0 annual fee (Thanks to Jason for the 180 day correction)
    – Leverage: $750 after $7,500 spend in 120 days, $95 annual fee

    Mini FAQ: Churnable? Yes. Both? Yes. Multiple? Yes. ASL? Ok boomer.
  2. There are now multiple confirmed private and public data points that the American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts credit refresh on September 18 is a new $300 second half of the year credit whether or not the earlier $200 annual credit was redeemed. So, either way you’ve got a fresh $300 in Fine Hotels and Resorts coupons credits.
  3. Citi ThankYou Points has two transfer bonuses:

    – Avianca Lifemiles: 25% through October 18
    – Virgin Atlantic: 30% through October 18
    – Turkish Miles&Smiles: 50% through October 18

    Make sure with both Lifemiles and Miles&Smiles that space is actually available before booking, both have issues with phantom award space or missing partner award space.
  4. American Express has a somewhat widely targeted bonus for 70,000 Membership Rewards or $700 credit. Requirements:

    – Deposit $15,000 in 30 days
    – Keep an average balance ≥ $15,000 for the next 60 days
    – Make five transactions (five $1 ACHs will do fine)

    Links: 70,000 Membership Rewards, alternate 70,000 Membership Rewards, $700 credit. (Thanks to DDG for the most recent link)

Happy Tuesday!

The secret code to booking Miles&Smiles phantom space: B, R.5, Z

  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.