What does credit card unicorn hunting look like in 2025? Well, unicorns come in many forms and are often very tied to different manufactured spend techniques. But once you’ve moved past sign-up bonus hunting, you should be looking for some combination of:

  • Credit cards that take lots of different types of payments
  • Good base earning multiples
  • Category specific earning multiples unique to your situation
  • Bill payment methods that earn rewards
  • An issuer that doesn’t mind cycling

You’re not going to find the full deck with American Express, Chase, or other giant banks, but you’ve got a great shot of finding your own unicorn by scouting credit unions and regional banks. Always be probing.

Have a nice Tuesday friends!

Right idea, but too literal, 2/10.

  1. Discover has a 15% discount when redeeming points for Apple gift cards through August 31. With resale rates on those cards at approximately 91%, this route gives an indirect cash out of 1.07 cents per Discover post.
  2. US Bank has increased sign-up bonuses for new business checking accounts with promo code Q3RPS25 through September 30:

    – Business Essentials: $400 bonus with $5,000 deposited
    – Platinum Business: $1,000 bonus with $25,000 deposited

    Both require five transactions (even five $1 ACHs is fine), and that you have the money present between days 30 and 60 after opening. If you’re good with a calendar, both of these are slam dunks, earning either 8% or 4% respectively with a 30 day money lock-up.
  3. Hyatt has new targeted promotions, you can look for one on your Hyatt Offers dashboard, or try the following links compiled by DDG if you like disappointment:

    – Tiered bonuses for up to 90,000 total bonus points
    – 20% back on points redemptions up to 30,000 points
    – 2x points for two night stays
    – 2x points for three night stays
    – 3x points for two nights stays
    – 3x points for three night stays
    – Category 1-4 free night certificate for two night stays
    – Category 1-4 free night certificate for three night stays
    – Suite upgrade award for five night stays
    – Suite upgrade award for 10 night stays
    – Double elite qualifying nights, up to 20x
    – 1,000 bonus points per night, maximum 10
    – 1,500 bonus points per night, maximum 10
    – 1,500 bonus points per night, maximum 20
    – 2,000 bonus points per night, maximum 10
    – 2,000 bonus points every two nights, maximum 10 nights
    – 3,000 bonus points every two nights, maximum 10 nights
    – 3,000 bonus points every five nights, maximum 50 nights
    – 5,000 bonus points for every five nights, maximum 25 nights
    – 10,000 bonus points for every five nights, maximum 25 nights
    – 10,000 bonus points for every 10 nights, maximum 30 nights

    I got exactly zero of them to work on my account, does that mean I win?
  4. Safeway, Albertsons, Vons, and other Just4U rewards stores have a digital coupon for 10x points on Zift Zillions cards through Saturday. If you’re going for this deal, the blue ones tend to work best. Why those? I guess because they’re made with genuine artificial Zillions powder.

Happy Monday!

Unlike Zillions, these are made with real powder.

I didn’t realize that July 31 was national weird credit card offer day, but here we are. Since we’re not savages, we’ll start with a Hyatt promotion as an amuse bouche before the deluge.

  1. Do this now: Register for Hyatt’s promotion for 15% back on points booking at Under Canvas properties between August 8 and December 1.
  2. The Marriott Bonvoy American Express card line-up has increased bonuses, and all are available through referrals so go that route first:

    – Brilliant: 185,000 Bonvoy points after $6,000 spend in six months
    – Bevy: 155,000 Bonvoy points after $5,000 spend in six months
    – Business: 125,000 Bonvoy points after $8,000 spend in six months

    These are all time high offers, but Marriott properties are also at all time high points redemption cost, so maybe check a couple of bookings to decide if these really make sense for your travel patterns.
  3. The Citi Shop Your Way Rewards card has new beginning of month targeted spend offers for online and in-store “retail, including Sears” spend, and each is valid for three months, so you can get the maximum statement credit monthly in August, September, and October). We’ve seen:

    – 10% back on $800+ (max $80 back monthly)
    – 10% back on $800+ (max $100 back monthly)
    – 10% back on $1,000+ (max $100 back monthly)
    – 15% back on $1,000+ (max $175 back monthly)

    They’ve excluded grocery, wholesale clubs, and home improvement stores from the promotion, but explicitly included office supply stores, department stores, and miscellaneous general merchandise stores as eligible, in addition to some more niche merchant types. (Thanks to K, Shmuel, Fish, Matt, and Josh)
  4. There are increased sign-up bonus for the American Express Business Gold and Platinum cards, some of which are no-lifetime language (NLL):

    – Business Gold (via referrals): 200,000 Membership Rewards after $15,000 spend in three months
    – Business Platinum (via referrals): 250,000 Membership Rewards after $20,000 spend in three months
    – Business Gold (NLL): 175,000 Membership Rewards after $15,000 spend in three months

    If you don’t have another player for a referral, reach out to a churning friend and use theirs.
  5. The FNBO Amtrak card has an increased sign-up bonus of 40,000 points after $2,000 spend in three months for applications through August 13. Unlike the all-time high bonus for this card, the $99 annual fee is not waived with this bonus.

    Amtrak points are worth about 2.6 cents per point. (Thanks to hic2482w)
  6. The Chase Freedom Flex card was pulled for new applications on June 30, but it’s again available for applications and for product changes. Let’s hope the Shop Your Way Rewards card comes back too.
  7. Reader Oslo let me know that Kroger’s 4x fuel promotion has a new third-party gift card exclusion: In addition to Amazon, all fuel retailer cards are also excluded.
  8. Chase Offers has a targeted offer for $100 back on $600+ travel portal spend in a single transaction through September 30.

Happy Thursday!

Confirmed: The gorilla foot car store codes as general merchandise, rest easy friends.

  1. Yesterday (and if you’re lucky still now), SoFi Banking had a bonus of $400 or 40,000 Membership Rewards on Rakuten, in addition to a $325 sign-up bonus from SoFi with $5,000 in direct deposits.

    If you already have a SoFi account, maybe this is a good indication that it’s time to close it to set yourself up for the future.
  2. Kroger has a 4x fuel points promotion on third party gift cards excluding Amazon and fixed value Visa and Mastercards gift cards running through Tuesday, August 12. The big brain play here is gift card reselling, but there’s a slightly less big brain play made popular on reddit a few days ago too.
  3. Alaska is running an award sale for fares booked tonight and flown between August 19 and December 17. This one has:

    – Transcons from 7,500 miles
    – Mexico from 7,500 miles
    – Alaska from 17,500 miles
    – Hawaii from 7,500 miles

    Based on my searches, Delta is quietly matching this fare sale to and from Delta hubs.
  4. You’ve now got another Card Pointers free alternative in addition to  faux-cardpointers amex-load-offer.js. The US Credit Cards 101 Chrome plugin adds a button to the American Express offers dashboard to add an offer to all cards on the same login simultaneously, rather than just to a single card.

    One day, credit card issuers will learn about database atomicity, but we’re not there yet.

Happy Thursday!

The American Express technology team’s unofficial poster.
(Sorry, sometimes database humor can’t be helped)

  1. The Synchrony Virgin Mastercard has an all time high sign-up bonus of 60,000 FlyingClub miles and a $100 statement credit after $4,000 spend in 90 days, available on the checkout screen of any booking at virginatlantic.com.

    I checked and couldn’t find any dummy fares to Preston Smith International.
  2. Meijer MPerks has 75,000 MPerks Points with the purchase of $500 in third party gift cards excluding Amazon through August 9, limit one per MPerks account.

    I don’t want to call this the grocery store deal of the year, but it’s likely to be in the top 10 if you’re good at scaling.
  3. The Rove Miles portal has boosted earnings of 4x at giftcards.com through August 5. With Rove’s transfer partners, this is effectively 2.67x Accor or 4x Vietnam Airlines LotusMiles after transfer. There are other partners including Qatar Avios, but you can do better directly on the BA travel portal at 6x for those.

    If you don’t already have a Rove account, find a friend’s referral link and use theirs, you’ll each earn 500 bonus miles. If you don’t have a Rove friend, you can reach out to me and I’ll share someone’s referral.
  4. JPMorgan Chase is apparently nearing a deal to acquire the Apple Card portfolio from Marcus. If you’re shutdown at Chase, getting an Apple Card now may be a way back in (There is old precedent for Chase and bank acquisitions leading to unbanning, but past performance may not predict future results.)
  5. The Barclays Hawaiian card will continue to exist even after the HawaiianMiles program has been sunset on October 1. This is interesting principally because it will be a 2x Alaska miles earner at grocery stores, unlike the Bank of America Alaska lineup.
  6. American Express offers has new targeted offers for:

    – Virgin Atlantic: $250 back after $2,000+ through September 23
    – Delta: $100 back on $500+, up to two times through October 15
    – Wyndham: $100 back after $500+ through October 31
    – Turo: $30 back after $150+ through December 31

    They’re all gameable in some form, but Turo is a bit of a hot-potato in underground circles so toss carefully?

The Turo hot scorched potato.

  1. Our miracle doctor friends at USCardForum shared a link for an online application for the Citi Strata Elite card with 100,000 points after $4,000 spend in three months. Reportedly this may be pulled at the end of the week.

    I think this link won’t cause any murders shutdowns with Citi. If you apply, I hope you’re front row approved. (Thanks to SPX)
  2. The US Bank Altitude Reserve card may be changing on December 15:

    – 3x earning on mobile wallet limited to $5,000 spend monthly
    – Transfer partners may be coming
    – Non-travel real-time rewards won’t be boosted value
    – Annual $325 travel credit only works for travel portal bookings
    – Travel redemptions drop to 1 cent per point

    Yes yes, I said just last week that “I don’t normally report on rumors unless they’re funny or actionable”, and this one definitely isn’t funny, though it is possibly actionable 🚴‍♀️. (Thanks to nutella)
  3. American Express has freshly targeted offers for 15,000 Membership Rewards after $4,000 spend in six months for adding employee cards to Business Platinum cards, limit five cards and 75,000 bonus Membership Rewards. I couldn’t find a listed a POID in the terms and conditions, but the targeting code is WOC15KMR24. (Thanks to George)
  4. JetBlue has 500 free TrueBlue points when opting in to JetBlue / Dunkin donuts emails. There are other games to play to earn up to 7,500 bonus TrueBlue points too, but don’t forget that 7,500 bonus TrueBlue points isn’t worth much more than $80 and that’s only if you ever redeem them.

Happy Tuesday!

Leaked Altitude Reserve home purchase program benefit guide, starting December 15.
(Thanks to nutella)

  1. Citi ThankYou Points added AA as a 1:1 transfer partner for the Citi Prestige, Strata, and Strata Elite cards.

    Don’t worry, I checked so you don’t have to. AA Does fly to Preston Smith International Airport.
  2. The Citi Strata Elite card launched over the weekend with a 100,000 ThankYou Point bonus in branch or an 80,000 ThankYou Point sign-up bonus online after $4,000 spend in three months and a $595 annual fee. The card’s highlights:

    – 6x on restaurants on Friday and Saturday nights (Eastern Time)
    – 3x on restaurants the rest of the time
    – 1.5x elsewhere
    – $300 annual hotel credit through Citi Travel
    – Four AA Admirals Club day passes annually

    There are spend bigger bonuses for booking through the often price-inflated Citi Travel portal, and other, lamer coupons and duplicative features too. Personally, I’d just stick with the $95 annual-fee Strata Premier with better bonus categories and (often) an 80,000 point sign-up bonus.
  3. Existing US Bank Smartly card holders transition to the new Smartly earning scheme on September 15, which only offers boosted cash-back on up to $10,000 spend a month, and excludes categories like education, business, and third party bill payment services from earning.

    This was a smartly move for US Bank and a lamely move for the rest of us. (Sorry, the fruit was just too low hanging, I couldn’t help myself.)
  4. Bilt’s Rent Day promotion for August 1 is a 20%-100% transfer bonus to Avianca LifeMiles depending on your status. Why mention it now? You’ve still got today and maybe tomorrow to earn more Bilt points.

Happy Monday!

The last fire at Preston Smith was Southwest, not AA. So probabilistically speaking …

  1. The Delta American Express SkyMiles cards have new, targeted no-lifetime language (NLL) offers:

    – Personal Gold: 70,000 SkyMiles after $3,000 spend in six months, annual-fee waived
    – Personal Platinum: 100,000 SkyMiles after $5,000 spend in six months
    – Personal Reserve: 100,000 SkyMiles after $6,000 spend in six months
    – Business Gold: 90,000 SkyMiles after $4,000 spend in six months, annual-fee waived
    – Business Platinum: 110,000 SkyMiles after $6,000 spend in six months
    – Business Reserve: 125,000 SkyMiles after $10,000 spend in six months

    Obviously the business cards are better options for most. (Thanks to DDG)
  2. The AAdvantage eShopping portal has a back-to-school spend bonus for 2,000 extra miles after $1,200+ cumulative spend through August 11.

    If you’re buying, uh let’s say screwdrivers, from giftcards.com, you can think of this as +1.67 miles per dollar on exactly $1,200 worth of screwdrivers, but +0 bonus loyalty points because bonuses don’t count for those.
  3. The annual fees on the Southwest personal cards all jumped yesterday, and in case you missed it, they also dropped their annual $75 Southwest credit in exchange (I guess?). The bonuses are all heightened at 100,000 Rapid Rewards points, but we’ve seen that on personal Southwest cards in the past with lower fees and with the annual credit, so let’s just file this as lame. Notes:

    – You have five months to hit the sign-up bonus
    – The offer lasts through September 17
    – The offer is also available via referrals

    If you wait until mid-September to apply via referral and wait until January to finish the bonus spend, you’ll earn the points in 2026 setting you up for a huge Companion Pass head start. That of course assumes the Companion Pass will still exist then, I wouldn’t put it past them to #bonvoy you somehow, Lubbock style.
  4. HawaiianMiles, and their ability to be used to upgrade flights on Hawaiian metal, will be gone on October 1. After that date, your Hawaiian credit cards will earn Alaska MileagePlan miles. (Thanks to revenue_management)

Have a nice weekend friends!

Unboxing your giftcards.com purchase.