Search Results for: preferred rewards

  1. There are shopping portal spend bonuses at Southwest and United, and giftcards.com currently shows up on both. Coincidentally some types gift cards are again easy to liquidate at an old favorite payment processor with the right type of target.

    – Southwest: 2,000 bonus miles after spending $550 or more plus 2x per dollar
    – United: 2,500 bonus miles after spending $600 or more plus 2x per dollar

    Likely Alaska’s portal and AA’s portal will add similar back-to-school bonuses shortly, so keep an eye out.

  2. Chase is now giving out retention offers on even more co-brand cards. We’ve recently seen:

    – Hyatt $95 statement credit
    – Sapphire Preferred $100 statement credit
    – Sapphire Reserve $200 statement credit
    – Marriott Premier Plus: $100 statement credit
    – United MileagePlus Explorer: $50 statement credit

    It’s probably worth calling Chase when you’ve got a minute and saying something like: “I’m considering canceling my Chase Credit Card Type, and I’m wondering if there’s any spend bonus or retention offer available?” (Thanks to Sharky’s reports via MEAB slack)

  3. Kroger will do something this weekend that they’ve done every single weekend for the last month-and-a-half, and frankly I’m surprised they keep doing it: 4x fuel points on third party gift cards and fixed value Visa and Mastercard gift cards, Friday – Sunday.

    The continued Kroger fuel points promos have effectively killed most of the major buyers’ capacities for the first time in a very long time. I don’t expect much traction this weekend, and if you want to take advantage of the deal you may find that selling fuel points on ebay is your best bet, which is almost never the case in the normal, right-side-up world. (Thanks to GC Galore)

Cheering for the Tuesday Triple.

  1. The Citi Premier card’s 80,000 points bonus offer is back with a $4,000 spend requirement within three months. The card carries a $95 annual fee, and Citi will typically waive that annual fee after the first year if you call and ask. Remember that it’s possible to double dip this bonus thanks to Citi’s awesome IT infrastructure.
  2. The Chase Sapphire Reserve’s sign-up bonus is 70,000 Ultimate Rewards if you already have a chase.com login, but the public offer is now 60,000 Ultimate Rewards without a login. You may also be able to pair this with a Sapphire Preferred 80,000 Ultimate Rewards bonus in-branch with a Modified Double Dip for a total of 150,000 Ultimate Rewards, but call your local branch ahead of time to see if they can pull up the 80,000 point offer for your account, at this point it’s very ymmv.
  3. The American Express Personal Gold card has a publicly available offer for 100,000 Membership Rewards after $4,000 spend in six months. As always, it’s worth checking to see if earning a referral offer combined with the referral sign-up bonus is better than the public offer. (Thanks to DDG)
  4. Do this now: Register for Hyatt’s summer promotion of 1,000 bonus AA miles on every stay of two nights or more in select cities through August 31. Award stays should work too.
  5. Do this now: Register for Best Western’s summer promotion for a free night certificate after staying two nights before September 4. The certificate expires on February 16 and is valid for only Sunday through Thursday nights, and of course you have to stay at a Best Western, so it’s of dubious overall value.

    Technically the promotion is for AAA members, but there’s no check for AAA membership. (Thanks to Mithridel)

  6. Today is the last day to pay your Q2 2022 estimated taxes. This can be a decent method for cashing out gift cards, or for sign-up bonus spend at a relatively low rate (between 1.85% and 1.97% for credit cards, less for debits). The Frequent Miler has a complete guide.

In case you were wondering what Best Westerns in Texas are like, here’s Kilgore’s, TX property on Monday.

Several months ago an astute reader (MattyB) let me know that the Morgan Stanley no-annual fee American Express card, a Miles Earn and Burn Unsung Hero, had vanished and links to the application led to a garbage page.

The card was great because:

  • It had no annual fee
  • It allowed you to deposit Membership Rewards to a Morgan Stanley account at 1.0 cents per point
  • It had bonus categories for spend

I’ve tried unsuccessfully to find zombie links to the card, and I’ve asked American Express directly about the card. I was told it’s now end-of-life and that if you didn’t get it before you’re out of luck. They do have a replacement product in its place though, the Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred, which carries a $95 annual fee that can turn into a -$5 annual fee with spend. The interesting attributes:

  • $300 sign-up bonus
  • Waived annual fee the first year
  • $100 statement credit after spending $15,000 in a calendar year
  • 6% back on grocery stores up to $6,500 in spend per calendar year

Notably though, this card does not allow you to cash out Membership Rewards, so it’s really just a co-brand with no direct benefits from the co-brand. If you spent exactly $15,000 in a calendar year with at least $6,500 at grocery stores, you’d get $575 back including the statement credit which makes it a 3.8% cash back card averaged over the total spend for a $95 annual fee. Worth it? I guess, but it’s not exciting.

One of the best direct cash out for Membership Rewards is now gone, but there are still other options.

Chase’s Jamie Dimon mocks the lack-luster offerings of a competitor’s credit card offerings with a “good job, kid!”

Today we’re going with an all-economy post, Southwest style:

  1. Southwest has a longstanding, unofficial policy for letting you convert recently expired travel credits into LUV vouchers for a $100 fee when you call and ask. LUV vouchers are more flexible than regular travel credits because they’re not tied to a particular name, but the fee associated with creating one has been an impediment.

    The impediment is temporarily going away according to Flyertalk though. Reportedly Southwest has implemented a new policy for funds that have recently expired or will expire before the end of the year: You can convert them to a LUV voucher without paying a fee, and the voucher will be good for six months from issuance. This policy is scheduled to last through December 31, so call as late as possible for the longest expiration possible. (Thanks to Brian M via MEAB slack)

  2. While we’re talking about Southwest, let’s discuss a loophole that’s been working for a few weeks. With Southwest’s new Wanna Get Away Plus fares, you can move a name-locked ticket or credit to someone else easily. To transfer it to anyone else, book a Wanna Get Away Plus fare of roughly the same value as the original credit, and then you can immediately transfer and rebook at will, a feature of the new fare class.
  3. Finally, let’s add a Southwest twist to the Chase Modified Double Dip: It works for other cards too, not just Sapphires. If you want a companion pass, you can use the Modified Double Dip with two of the increased Southwest credit card 75,000 bonus point offers instead of with the Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve. Any of two the Southwest cards will do.

The Southwest transcontinental and transpacific economy dining experience. This looks great for a seven hour flight, right?

Rhetorical random thought: Why is a college quad called a quad? If you know don’t tell me, I’m currently living in ignorant bliss on the matter and wish to keep it that way.

  1. If you have an American Express EveryDay card, check your account dashboard for a targeted upgrade offer to the EveryDay Preferred card with a 40,000 Membership Rewards bonus. You’ll have an annual fee of $95 to pay in exchange for those 40,000 points.

    For a level two churner, I’d also ask for a retention offer from AmEx the day after upgrading the card since you’re going to have to keep it open for a year anyway to stay out of the penalty box.

  2. Check your inbox for targeted spend bonuses from Discover, offering an extra 2% on spend through July 31 for up to $2,000 in spend (of course I’d only knock this out stacked with Q2 and Q3 5x spend).
  3. Giant, Stop & Shop, and Martin’s stores have 10x points on Apple gift cards through tomorrow, up to $2,000 in spend per loyalty account. Resale rates are in the 92% range right now, so this is a nice way to gin up some bonused grocery spend at above break even. (Thanks to GC Galore)
  4. Kroger has a 4x fuel points sale running Friday through Monday on third party gift cards. Unfortunately for resellers there’s been effectively some form of 4x, 6x, or 12x running all month which has depressed rates, likely through the middle of June.
  5. Graduate Hotels (a boutique hotelier with unique properties scattered across the US and Europe) is running an award sale today starting at 12 PM Eastern for hotel rooms at $30 per night, plus taxes for stays through July 31. The sale runs for 30 hours, but my guess is that the truly great options will sell out long before that. (Thanks to FM)

For some reason Washington University didn’t contact me before naming this “the quad”. I guess it is more catchy than “the polygons” though.

We’re already off to a great start for the week:

  1. The original MEAB Unsung Hero, the Rakuten Visa card, sent out targeted spend offers to cardholders over the weekend. The offers require activation so be sure to double check your email inbox. Some of these offers are approaching “deal of the quarter” territory, especially if you have the Membership Rewards earning version of the Rakuten Visa — we’ve seen:

    – An extra 5% or 5x on all spend through May 15, provided you have at least 5 transactions over $10 (effectively a 6x everywhere card, or 8x+ through the shopping portal)
    – An extra 2% or 2x on all spend, provided you spend at least $500 through May 15 (effectively a 3x everywhere card, or 5x+ through the shopping portal)
    – $50 off of $2,000 in spend
    – $20 off of $500 in spend

    I got the +2x offer, giving me a 3x everywhere Membership Rewards earning Visa. You can bet that I’ll be scaling that one.

  2. Meijer MPerks has $10 back as a Meijer gift card when you buy $100 in Happy cards running through April 23, limit one per account. While this isn’t an amazing deal by itself, multiple accounts can help turn it into a nice windfall. I’d buy a few thousand in Happy cards that can be converted to Home Depot for resale if you can find them, and if I were anywhere near a Meijer this week. (Thanks to Larry for helping clarify this deal)
  3. The Chase Sapphire Preferred reportedly has a targeted 100,000 Ultimate Rewards sign-up bonus through their Chase Credit Journey site. On the other-hand, the Ink Preferred card always has a 100,000 Ultimate Rewards sign-up bonus and is churnable, so no need to try and game the Journey site.

Happy Monday!

A screenshot from the Chase Credit Journey (before it gets weird).

I hope you’re able to rest for the deluge of batches of 99 American Express employee cards headed your way. I know I’ll be ramping up the spend on my prior batch of 99 cards to try and finish them off before the next batch arrives in the mail in a week or so.

There are a few noteworthy items before you jump:

  1. Parts_Unknown put together a nice list of no-lifetime language (NLL) American Express cards including a new offer for the Blue Business Plus. They’re currently all at relative highs:

    – Blue Business Plus: 30,000 Membership Rewards for $5,000 spend plus another 10,000 for $1,000 spend on an employee card
    – Business Gold: 90,000 Membership Rewards for $10,000 spend plus another 10,000 for $1,000 spend on an employee card
    – Business Platinum: 150,000 Membership Rewards for $15,000 spend plus another 10,000 for $1,000 spend on an employee card

    To answer a question you didn’t ask: As long as you can meet the spend, the best time to apply for a no-lifetime language American Express Business card is when you still have fewer than 10 AmEx charge cards or fewer than 5 AmEx credit cards. There almost certainly won’t be a pull on your credit report as long as you’ve already got an AmEx, and it won’t show up on your report when you’re approved either. (Note that those limits are 11 and 6, respectively for some people. What makes them special? 🤷‍♀️)

  2. Do this now: Register for a bonus 5,000 points per stay at Raddison Hotels Americas.
  3. The Chase Sapphire Preferred is one of the most overrated credit cards in the churning space in my opinion. That said, it is a good beginner card and it may be worth churning in other certain, limited scenarios. In case you find yourself looking for one, note that the public sign-up bonus has increased to 80,000 Ultimate Rewards. The 80,000 bonus is also showing via referral links and the referrer gets 15,000 Ultimate Rewards on successful application. Hello P2!
  4. If you work for a big company you may be eligible for a Hyatt Globalist status challenge with a reduced 20 nights in 90 day requirement, just enter your email address and see if you’re eligible. Status lasts through February 2024. (Thanks to Kyle)

Have a nice weekend!

One of the limited scenarios in which the Chase Sapphire Preferred is worth your time.

Let’s wander through a few loyalty programs today:

  1. ITA Airways has a status match promotion running through April 15. The status is good through mid-April 2023 and recognized by the SkyTeam alliance. The major benefits of SkyTeam Elite status are free checked bags and preferred seating access on SkyTeam carriers like Delta, and SkyTeam Elite Plus members also get lounge access (including a guest) when flying internationally too.
  2. IHG is running an award sale for 20% off of stays through May 25, provided you book by April 5.

    Conventional wisdom says that buying points rarely makes sense (and I have plenty of thoughts on that for another day) — but IHG is often an exception to that rule. You’ll often find that buying points using the cash+points trick if needed and redeeming them will save you 25-50% off of cash rates at nicer properties; just don’t expect a huge discount at the Holiday Inn Express in Lubbock, Texas.

  3. Qatar Airways joined the Avios program, and to celebrate they’re currently offering 2,000 2,500 (thanks to just meer for the correction) Avios for signing up for Privilege Club with code FLYQR3. You can transfer these to British Airways Avios (or Iberia Avios) where there’s a nice economy award chart for short-haul flights (redemptions start at 4,500 miles outside of the US and 7,500 miles inside the US on AA or Alaska.) That means this bonus is:

    – 55.5% of an economy short haul ticket redemption outside the US
    – 33.3% of an economy short haul ticket redemption inside the US

    Not bad. (Thanks to crowd79)

  4. Point.app has a new streak for a 1,000 bonus points after making a purchase five days in a row before March 31, provided the sum of the purchases is at least $50. Debbit is a good way to knock these out with automation, and combine this with other Point store boosts when possible.

    If you don’t have the Point debit card yet and want to get one, ask around for someone that can refer you for a sign-up bonus of $150 after spending $200. The public sign-up bonus is either $10 or non-existent depending on how their IT is behaving, so do seek a referral.

    MEAB Note: Normally 1,000 points (worth $10) would be below the threshold for showing up on the site, but in this instance the referral bump to $150 pushed it above the line. Was that the right call? Ehh, I’m not so sure but here we are. At least it’s at the bottom.

I can say with certainty that taking a picture of a shark without protective gear in open waters isn’t the right call.