Category: Quick Hits

  1. The Citi Custom Cash Mastercard is being discontinued. It’s a great card for 5x at $500 spend a month, but a nearly useless card for the modern heavy hitter. Still, you’ve got (reportedly) until the end of the week to product change if you want more of these in your life. (Thanks to David)
  2. Bilt Rewards has a transfer bonus between 5% and 125% to TAP Air Portugal on June 1 (Monday). A few things to consider:

    – You’ve still got time to earn before Monday
    – TAP Miles&Go doesn’t give you additional saver availability on TAP metal, and their award chart isn’t great, especially in business, though there are a few award prices that beat US carrier pricing (Thanks to Gary at VFTW for corrections here)

    If you like gambling though, there’s a non-zero chance that these will turn into Miles&More miles at some point. But there was also a non-zero chance that JetBlue and Spirit’s merger would go through, so make sure you’ve got downside protection.
  3. Wells Fargo Offers has new offers for:

    – 10% cash back at Hiltons in the US, up to $650 spend
    – 7% cash back at Hyatt House and Hyatt Studios, up to $400 spend
    – 7% cash back at Hyatt Places, up to $400 spend
    – 10% cash back at Marriott properties, up to $800 spend

    Each of these expires on June 30, and as usual the simplest gamer move is gift cards at the front desk.
  4. Kroger stores have a 4x fuel points promotion through June 9 on gaming and digital content cards. A couple of surprises on this one:

    – Online sports books gift cards are coding at 2x
    – Apple is coding at 4x

    It’s probably a bit early to stock up on Apple gift cards for the iPhone 18 but there’s still utility here.
  5. Chase updated its Ink Business referral program. They’ve upped the per-referral award to 40,000 Ultimate Rewards the total rewards earned at 200,000 Ultimate Rewards annually.

Happy Thursday!

Selected other works from the software engineer that designed Kroger’s coding.

  1. The Imprint Shell Mastercard card launched with a $50 after $500 spend sign-up bonus, which whatever, but its earning structure and other soft aspects are pretty great:

    – 3% cash back on restaurants and groceries, uncapped
    – 2% cash back everywhere else

    And on the plus side, if you get shutdown by Imprint the only real consequence is that you’re shutdown by Imprint.
  2. The Chase United Business card has an offer for:

    – 100,000 MileagePlus miles after $5,000 spend in three months
    – 10,000 MileagePlus miles for adding an employee card in three months
    – 5,000 MileagePlus miles for entering a United Agent’s promo code
    – 2,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQP)

    That’s 115,000 total miles, double check offers before you apply. To get an agent code, either call United or chat on their website and ask the agent for one. If you chat, you may get the code directly or may get a URL that has it at the end.
  3. Meijer stores have 10,000 bonus points on $50 in third party gift cards excluding Amazon, Apple, and betting cards. The promotion is tomorrow and Sunday only, and limited to one per mperks account. (Thanks to Nathan)
  4. Stop & Shop, Giant, and Martins  have 10x points on Zift Zillions cards through Thursday. Some of these cards are convertible to high value brands like Amazon and Home Depot. The current variant is limited to $500 per loyalty account.

    Wanna know what a Zillion is? A big number. A Zift? No idea.
  5. Giant Food has 2x points on Mastercard gift cards through Thursday, limit $1,500 per loyalty account.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  6. Rakuten In Store’s card linked program has 5% back on CVS purchases, seemingly unlimited.

Have a nice holiday weekend friends!

More explainable than Zift.

Today’s drinking game: Take a sip every time someone mentions the Hyatt devaluation. Actually, don’t do that, I don’t want you to die. Here’s the non-Hyatt update:

  1. Citi ThankYou points has two new transfer bonuses:

    – 25% to Wyndham through June 13
    – 30% to I Prefer through June 13

    There’s decent value in both especially outside of the US.
  2. The Fidelity Visa card has an increased sign-up bonus of $150 after $1,000 spend in 90 days. The card is a workhouse for its 2% everywhere rewards, its no-annual fee, and because it’s issued by Elan. The downside is that one shutdown at an Elan issuer is a shutdown at all Elan issuers, including US Bank.
  3. The TD Business Solutions Visa card has an increased sign-up bonus of $400 after $3,000 spend in 90 days. This one also earns 2% everywhere and has no-annual fee, but isn’t issued by Elan. It also does report to personal credit. (Thanks to FM)
  4. The US Bank issued Korean SkyPass Visas have historically high offers:

    – Select Visa Signature: 60,000 miles after $5,000 spend in 90 days
    – Visa Signature: 40,000 miles after $4,000 spend in 90 days
    – SkyBlue Visa: 10,000 miles after 1,000 spend in 90 days

    The bonus multipliers aren’t amazing, but 2x on airlines, hotels, car rental, and dining is … there. The award chart also isn’t amazing, and also is … there; think 62,500-92,500 miles for business redemptions and 80,000-120,000 for first, both one way. Finally, let’s talk about their business class product for US flights: it’s … there. (Thanks to David)

Happy Wednesday!

Speaking of things that are … there, Lubbock TX.

  1. AirFrance / KLM FlyingBlue has a new leader, and the most surprising part is that the leader is a relatively well-known travel hacker, Tiffany Funk. Tiffany co-founded point.me, ran a paid award booking service, and oversaw parts of the business operations at One Mile at a Time.

    My crystal ball is famously nothing more than a ball made of crystal; but it tells me that this is bad news for serious travel hackers and good news for the median regular family putting all their spend on Delta credit cards and booking economy awards with SkyMiles to Rome. I do think we’ll see more business class availability on the worst routes at the worst times, but less availability when and where you want to fly in premium cabins. I sure hope I’m wrong. Today’s action Well, remember that the site’s name ends in “and Burn”.
  2. SoFi has a 2% ACATS transfer bonus on both new and existing pre-tax or post-tax accounts, limit $5 Million in transferred funds.

    To keep the bonus, you’ve got to hold the funds for 5 years otherwise you may pay out more in penalties than the original bonus.
  3. American Express has more targeted offers for upgrading a Business Gold or Business Green card to a Business Platinum. You’ll earn 120,000 Membership Rewards after $10,000 spend in three months, and you’ll be effectively locked into the card for a year unless you like pop-up jail.
  4. Meijer mPerks has 50,000 bonus points with the purchase of a $500 third party gift card other than Amazon and phone cards through today, limit 50,000 points per mPerks account.

    This is what economists call a great value, which is defined as when capitalism accidentally does something nice. (Thanks to GCA)
  5. OfficeDepot / Office Max has $15 off of $300+ in Mastercards through Saturday. As usual, buy in even multiples of $300 for the best oomph.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  6. If you’re a Frontier flyer, register for a bonus 5,000 miles per round-trip flight through August 31 with a maximum of 20,000 bonus miles earned.

    You’ll need to rebook existing travel to qualify for the promotion, otherwise known as when capitalism does what it’s supposed to.

Happy Tuesday friends!

The fine print matters.

  1. The Capital One Quicksilver Mastercard is changing:

    – Moving cardholders from Mastercard to Discover (possibly targeted)
    – Adding 3x categories at grocery stores and gas stations

    There’s been a lot of hate about the change, but for a manufactured spender’s perspective this is great because: You’ll have 3x unlimited gas and grocery transferrable miles when paired with another Capital One card, and if you don’t like the Discover transition, you can opt out by May 4th, just as the Star Wars gods foretold.
  2. According to the Wall Street Journal, Spirit and the government are negotiating a $500 Million rescue package.
  3. Kroger has 4x fuel points on third party gift cards other than Amazon and flexible fuel gift cards, since the preceding two weeks’s promotion for the same thing wasn’t enough.

    It turns out that when fuel prices soar, fuel points are worth more. Wild right? Oh wait, no it’s not.
  4. AirFrance and KLM’s FlyingBlue program has a promotion for 10,000 bonus miles for paid economy flights from the US to Amsterdam or Paris and beyond on AirFrance or KLM metal. Book by May 3 for travel through September 30 and credit to your US FlyingBlue account.
  5. JetBlue has a promotion for double elite tile earning (yes, it’s silly to even write “that in a sentence “double elite tile”). Book $1,000+ before taxes and fees by tomorrow and stay by August 31.
  6. Meijer MPerks has 7,500 points with the purchase of $100+ in Visa gift cards, but the promotion is limited to one per MPerks account, also known as 🤏.

Have a nice Thursday friends!

Sample Star Wars god.

  1. American Express Offers has new targeted offers for:

    – AirFrance / KLM: $250 or $400 back on $1,000+ or $2,000+ spend through May 31
    – Marriott: $50 or $150 off of $250+ or $500+ spend through August 22
    – Hilton: $40 off of $200+ spend through August 15

    For the hotel offer, a gift card is an easy game to play. For the airline offer, its not as easy but just like Jurassic Park taught us: gamers uh, find a way.
  2. Wells Fargo Offers and US Bank Cash-Back Deals have new offers at various Marriott properties:

    – Renaissance: 15% back up to $75 on $100+ through April 30
    – TownPlace Suites: 15% back up to $57 on $100+ through April 30
    – Le Meridian: 15% back up to $57 on $100+ through April 30
    – Marriott: 10% back up to $80 on $100+ through May 15

    These are usually a lot easier to deal with than American Express Offers.
  3. Staples stores have fee-free $200 Visas through Saturday, limit nine per person.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  4. ANA and Japan Airlines both set their fuel surcharges on the two month rolling average of the cost of Singapore Kerosine, which you might be surprised to learn, is a lot higher than it was a few months ago. As a result, the surcharges for both airlines have approximately doubled. You can find discussion and a few data points here.

    Someone please queue the whah-whah trombones for me.

Apparently the Japanese whah-whah trombones also have new fuel surcharges.

  1. Do this now: Check for targeted Hyatt Q2 promotions on your ‘My Offers’ tab. Offers reportedly include award redemption rebates, earned points multipliers, and double elite nights.
  2. Over the weekend, discount codes for Synchrony’s offer for $100 off of $100+ on bookings through the Synchrony travel portal were sent. As expected, there’s no minimum booking value to use the code and rental cars work. Eligible cardholders can still register.
  3. Office Depot / OfficeMax stores have a promotion for $15 off of $300+ in Visa gift cards through Saturday. As usual:

    – Look for the lower fee Everywhere cards if you know how to liquidate them
    – Even multiples of $300 work even better
    – Yes, zero is an even number if you want to be technical, but you’re trying too hard

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  4. Applying for a Chase Freedom Unlimited via Rakuten has $25 or $75 additional cash back depending on whether or not you’re an existing Chase customer.
  5. Citi ThankYou Points has a 25% transfer bonus to Leading Hotels of the World through May 16, putting the transfer ratio at 1,000:250. Leading Hotels redemptions are typically worth between 7.0 and 8.5 cents each, making each ThankYou point redemption value between 1.75 and 2.12 cents per point.

Have a nice Monday friends!

The other Synchrony coupon.

  1. Synchrony is introducing their own travel portal because exactly zero of their customers asked for one. If you have a Synchrony card and sign up for communications about the travel portal, they’ll send you $100 off of future hotel bookings, rental cars, or activities booked by July 31 with apparently no minimum.
  2. Bank of America’s Rakuten links have increased bonus offers on both cards:

    – Travel Rewards: $150 cash back plus the card’s sign-up bonus
    – Customized Cash: $150 cash back plus the card’s sign-up bonus

    The business versions of these are still equal or higher bonuses and arguably better in every way, especially for churners and manufactured spenders. For those that like (n+1)/24 these are great though.
  3. Southwest is raising their checked bag fees *pretends to be shocked*. Someone please start a pool for guessing which day AA and Alaska follow, and someone else please convince me that the US signaling that it’ll allow more airline mergers is a good thing for anyone other than shareholders.
  4. AirFrance / KLM’s FlyingBlue has a status match program that now includes eligibility for US and Canadian citizens, but it excludes the Platinum status tier for those countries which can only match up to Gold (SkyTeam Elite Plus) because we’re all a bunch of gamers.

    SkyTeam Elite Plus status will get you lounge access on international SkyTeam flights and an increased checked bag allowance, but the real benefit for a match is pushing you closer to Platinum status with lower XP requirements.
  5. Two airline shopping portals have spend promotions:

    – Alaska MileagePlan Shopping: 500 bonus miles on $100+ through April 17
    – United MileagePlus Shopping: 500 bonus miles on $100+ through April 15

    Giftcards.com is usually the easiest to knock these out, especially when you combine it with other shenanigans.
  6. Kroger brand stores have a digital coupon for 4x on third party gift cards excluding Amazon and flexible fuel gift cards through April 21. RIP the April bulk brand resale market.
  7. The American Express Business Gold card has a new, targeted no-lifetime language (NLL) link with 200,000 Membership Rewards after $15,000 spend in three months.
  8. American Express Offers has an offer for $150 off of $375+ at Marriott properties in North America through July 22.

    Gift cards at the front desk is one of several ways to play this.

Happy Thursday!

Airline behavior is about as obscured as the meaning of this car’s license plate.