Category: Quick Hits

  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.

Let’s dive in with the more important stuff:

  1. Do this now: Check for spend offers on existing Chase cards. Most are 5x-7x or 5%-7% back on up to $1,000 spend at grocery, restaurants, and gas stations, the higher bonuses are when paying with Apple Pay. Sorry Androidians.
  2. In a move that should surprise no one, Delta increased its checked bags fees after JetBlue and United did last week. That leaves American, Southwest, and Alaska to stagger their fee increases enough that it doesn’t look like anything to do with collusion or an oligopoly. (I’m not salty, you’re salty!)

    Now for my degens, where’s the Kalshi line for the other airlines increasing checked bag fees by next week? Prediction markets aren’t always just arbitragey fun and games.
  3. The Melio bill payment service has two new user bonuses through the end of April, though I think you can only get one or the other. Some existing accounts are also targeted for the international version on the Melio dashboard after clicking the first link and then logging in from that page:

    – $500 gift card with a $1,000 international payment but, see the note below
    – $200 cash back with a $500 domestic payment

    The second one is available via affiliate links too, so find your favorite affiliate blogger and use their link if you want to support them. I’ll give the MEAB Gold Seal of Approval™ to any affiliates that list the $500 gift card version of the sign-up bonus even though it doesn’t pay them. EDIT: Greg at Frequent Miler pointed out that there’s a stated limit of 100 participants in the international payments version of the promo, and there’s no counter to show the number that have participated.
  4. American Express offers has an April version of $200 off of $1,000 spent with Delta Vacations through June 30.
  5. The Rove travel booking platform and shopping portal added Virgin Red as a 1:1 transfer partner, which is (I guess) something. Accor, Lufthansa, and SAS are typically much better options, the latter of which has a 20% transfer bonus that expires today.
  6. The Barclays JetBlue’s Premier Mastercard added new bengifts:

    – A companion pass worth either $500 with $15,000 spend or $1,500 with $75,000 spend
    – A 25 Tile annual status credit
    – 15% off of TrueBlue award flights

    The three taken in sum make this a compelling card for New England or SoCal residents that have a penchant for Mint.
  7. I’ve avoided covering last week’s United’s media blitz until the dust settled, and I guess here we are. Some of the most interesting announcements included bad news buried by updates:

    – Polaris business class tickets will soon have a Basic option with no-seat assignments, lounge access, and no free ticket changes, talk about elevated
    – CRJ-200s are being converted to premium heavy “CRJ-450s“
    – 787-9s will have an upgraded interior called “Elevated“
    – The front row of some international flights will have bigger suites called “Polaris Studio“

    Currently award tickets are exempt from Polaris Basic, just like how AA, Southwest, and Alaska is currently exempt from increased checked bag fees.

And a couple of items that are barely worth mentioning, but like they say “Cs get degrees”:

  1. There are two hotel promotions of limited utility:

    – IHG: 3x points in some non-Americas countries, book by Saturday, stay by May 22, registration required
    – Wyndham: 5,000 points on two night stays at Caesars Rewards properties booked by the end of the month for stays through September 1

    Neither works for award stays.
  2. JetBlue has 20% off of Tuesday and Wednesday domestic economy fares booked by today for travel through May 20 using promo code SPRING20.

Happy Wednesday!

The creation that won its maker the previous MEAB Gold Seal of Approval™.

  1. Do this now: Register for National’s Spring promotion for a free rental day with every two rentals between April 6 and June 7. Promotional free days must be used by the end of the year.
  2. Staples stores have fee-free $200 Mastercard gift cards through Saturday, limit nine per transaction.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  3. There are multiple reports that Cardless now allows holding three cards. You can’t get the Celtics card anymore, so just make sure you dial back that enthusiasm by 8x, or is it 6x?

Happy Monday!

DIY short and sweet.

  1. The Chase IHG Business card has an increased sign-up bonus of 200,000 points after tiered spend:

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

    This should also be available via referrals in a couple of days. (Thanks to ArchEveNix)
  2. Wyndham is updating its hotel award tiers on April 15. Apparently 8% of hotels are moving to a lower tier and 4% to a higher tier. That means you’ve got until April 14 to book any Wyndham aspirational stays in anticipation of the price increasing.

    I’d like to see the same numbers out of Hyatt in May. I’d also like a new, free Gulfstream Jet which seems equally likely.
  3. American Express Offers has an offer for $250 off of $1,000+ at Marriott Homes & Villas through May 24.
  4. Lufthansa’s Allegris business class seats have now been certified after years of complications. Watch for quite a bit more Lufthansa business availability dropping in the next week, though probably only with the airline’s own miles.
  5. Singapore KrisFlyer has 30% off of both economy and business class redemptions to and from many destinations for travel booked by the end of March and flown in April. Destinations in the US aren’t currently advertising reduced business class rates though.

Happy Tuesday!

The Allegris seats certification issue: Footwell made emergency egress hard.

  1. It’s time to register for Q2 rotating category card bonuses:

    – Chase Freedom and Freedom Flex: Amazon, Chase Travel, and Feeding America
    – Discover IT: Restaurants and Home Improvement
    – Citi Dividend: Grocery and Citi Travel
    – US Bank Cash+: I choose utilities and electronics

    Every one of these has a way to manufactured spend your way to your $1,500 quarterly. I’d suggest knocking these out on day one so you don’t have to think about them, but you do you.
  2. The Chase Freedom Unlimited no-annual fee card has an increased sign-up bonus of $250 after $500 spend in three months via referrals only.

    The sign-up bonus isn’t great, but there are a number of use-cases for 1.5x Ultimate Rewards everywhere. Its 3x categories have niche use-cases too.
  3. Citi ThankYou Points sharing between different accountholders is ending on May 17. If this doesn’t sound like a big deal, it’s not really because the limits were 100,000 points annually. You’ll just have to join team QR now.
  4. The American Express Bevy and Brilliant Marriott Bonvoy cards have new language restricting eligibility for cardmembers that:

    – Have or had a Chase Marriott card in the last 30 days
    – Opened an American Express Boundless, Bold, or Bountiful card in the last 90 days
    – Got a sign-up bonus for a new Boundless, Bold, or Bountiful in the last 24 months

    Can gamers still game? Undoubtedly. Or should I say, Bundoutably?
  5. There was a time when PayPal Bill Pay games could amount to huge profits in a short period of time. Then there was another period with different games, and yet another period with even more games. PayPal has thrown in the towel now, BillPay is completely gone from the app and website.

    Other FinTechs that use the same backend have been going through interesting changes recently too. Coincidence? I doubt it.
  6. Office Depot / OfficeMax stores have $15 off of $300+ in Mastercard gift cards through Saturday, limit nine per transaction.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.

Have a nice Monday friends!

Even playing the whah-whah trombones for PayPal BillPay died.

  1. Chase Ultimate Rewards can’t be deposited to an external account starting March 27, instead you’ve got to redeem as a statement credit or to a Chase account.

    There are generally only a couple of good reasons to have a Chase deposit account, but those are overshadowed with a really bad reason to have one after you’re established.
  2. Chase Offers has new offers for:

    – $100 back on $600+ in Chase Travel spend
    – 10% back on up to $320 spend at Best Western properties

    Look, not all Best Western properties are bad, but also there’s a reason that we poke fun at them.
  3. Wells Fargo launched two new versions of the Autograph Journey card for Premier clients, but in-app only. They’re exactly like the regular Autograph Journey cards, except for:

    – There’s a 100,000 point sign-up bonus instead of a 60,000 point sign-up bonus
    – There are different colors available
    – They’re more, uhhh, fun

    There’s still a $2,500 Wells Fargo Premier banking bonus through April 14 and brokerage accounts work for it too, so if the fun of the Autograph Journey gold edition moves the needle, I bet it moves even more with a cool $2,500 added on.
  4. Alaska Atmos has a coach award sale for flights booked by February 27 and flown through May 12. Because Alaska is trying to be like the other major US carriers, they added blackout dates around spring break too:

    – Helsinki Finland: 17,500 miles each way
    – Copenhagen Denmark and Vienna Austria: 20,000 miles each way
    – Hokkaido Japan: 20,000 miles each way
    – Munich Germany and Prague Check Republic: 30,000 miles each way

    If you’re cool with flying coach: (a) uh, wow; and (b) check cash fares before booking, they’re often pretty cheap right now.

Happy Thursday friends!

Wells Fargo marketing shows off fun outfit ideas for your new fun credit card.

  1. Best Western has a promotion for 2,600 bonus points for stays through May 10 booked by Sunday, registration required.

    Best Western havsa separate promotion for a $50 gift card with 3+ night stays through May 10, registration is also required. The promotions will stack.
  2. Bilt’s rent day promotion on Sunday has a tiered transfer bonus of 25%-100% to Accor ALL depending on your Bilt status. Platinum Kerr Kash Bilt Cash holders can redeem $75 for an extra 25% bonus too. A few reminders about Accor:

    – Accor ALL points are worth a fixed 2 eurocents, or approximately 2.4 cents
    – You can transfer Accor ALL to Qantas at a 1:1.25 ratio
    – For more on the program, see the MEAB FAQette.

    Honestly, if you’ve decided to get out of the Bilt ecosystem this is probably the best case cash-out you could hope for, at least assuming you travel outside of the US.
  3. I wouldn’t normally write about content monster fodder like this, but I’m too happy to see it gone to help myself. So:

    Southwest boarding groups are gone, they only have assigned seating now. Ding dong, the witch is dead.

Happy Wednesday

You’ve gotta figure it out on your own today.

  1. Do this now: Register for Q1 5x rotating categories:

    – Chase Freedom and Freedom Flex: Dining, up to $1,500
    – Discover IT: Grocery, wholesale clubs, select streaming up to $1,500
    – Citi Dividend: Amazon, select streaming up to $1,500
    – US Bank Cash+: I choose utilities and electronics because reasons

    Chase had a few other categories that weren’t mentioning to, but clearly I do want to mention that I didn’t mention them.
  2. Do this now (if you have a Chase United card): Check for targeted spend offers. Most are an extra 2x, 2.5x, or 3x up for between $2,000 and $10,000 in spend.
  3. On Saturday, the British Airways shopping portal listed Kate Spade at 250 miles per dollar, and several other portals were in the 100+ miles per dollar range too. This triggered, in order:

    – A Kate Spade churner shopping spree (buying miles at 0.4 cents each is a steal; and oh yeah, you get a bag too)
    – A quick examination of Kate Spade return policies
    – Some happy P1 and P2 Kate Spade fans
    – Sadness, when the portals actually tracked at 2x-4x

    If you’re stuck holding both the literal and metaphorical bag, I’d suggest first opening a case with the portal, but know that it probably won’t go anywhere. Next, I’d reach out to Kate Spade directly, which also probably won’t go anywhere. Finally, either consider whether the miles are worth your time to pursue even further, or just return your purchase. If you want to chat with others about the issue, I’ve created a Telegram group for discussion, it’s open to all churners but meant to be specific to this issue, not a long lived general room.
  4. The Citi ThankYou Mastercard, which has been nominated as a MEAB Unsung Hero but is still stuck in committee, sent year long spend bonuses for the third year in a row. We saw:

    – $160 back on $2,000 spend at gas, grocery, or dining (monthly)
    – $150 back on $1,500 spend at gas, grocery or dining (monthly)
    – $120 back on $1,200 spend at gas, grocery or dining (monthly)
    – 5% back on up to $1,600 spend at lots of places with lots of merchant codes (monthly)

    A few notes: $160 * 12 months = $1,920, and you also earn ThankYou points. Also, unfortunately no you can’t apply for this card. (Thanks to Matt M, Michael, and K)
  5. The Citi AA Platinum Select Mastercard has a heightened bonus of 80,000 AAdvantage miles after $1,000 spend in three months. This offer is from inflight AA applications and requires a flight attendant code. Any six digit code starting with ’00’ should work.
  6. AirFrance / KLM’s promo awards for January includes:

    – Business: Orlando, Montreal, St. Martin
    – Premium Economy: Chicago, Seattle, and Mexico City
    – Economy: New York, Houston, Miami, Atlanta, and Las Vegas

    There are business class opportunities in my spot checks on some of the economy and premium economy cities too, but they’re sparse.

Happy Monday!

Pictured: The MEAB Unsung Hero committee in deep deliberation.