Yesterday, the public offer for the American Express Premier Rewards Gold credit card was officially bumped up from 15,000 points to 25,000 points! While the initial spend increased from $1,000 to $2,000 in the first 3 months, I am glad to see this offer finally be somewhat acceptable compared to the other cards out there. While 25,000 points is by no means a “great” offer right now compared to some other offers out there, it is still a great card and I am on a high of loving American Express right now. The $175 annual fee is also waived for the first year. Application link.

For a publicly available offer, 25k points is the best we have seen in awhile – 15k has been the norm for well over a year and Amex has done away with bumping offers to match those of targeted offers. If you are in the market for this card, first see if you have been targeted by a better offer. Non-existing American  Express card members have reported being able to see special offers from AMEX which include: an American Express Premier Rewards Gold offer for 75,000 points and an American Express Delta Gold offer for 77,500 points. Follow these instructions to see if you have a better targeted offer:

• Access American Express via this link
• Click the “Not a Cardmember Yet?” button
• Enter your personal information and click “See My Special Card Offers”

Unfortunately, I am already an existing card member, so am not able to fully detail what the screen will look like if you are targeted, but it is definitely worth a try. If you’ve been eying this Amex card, then this is a great offer which should be considered as there is little indication that we will see a better publicly available offer in the near future. I suspect this 25k offer will be around for a few months, but that is pure speculation. I personally haven’t received a targeted offer yet, so I am not holding my breath.

Earning & Bonus Categories

Many times this card is referred to as the “3-2-1 Amex card.” That is because you earn 3x points on ALL airfare, 2x points on gas and groceries, and 1X points on everything else. I actually do not have this card in my wallet, but Mr. Deals was able to snag the business version of this card last fall during a one day only 75,000 point offer and the bonus categories have really paid off. Mr. Deals flies a decent amount for work and luckily is able to use his own personal credit card, not a company corporate card – phew! This card has allowed him to earn 3x points on all airfare. It is also the card we use for all our personal travel as well. Even if you do not purchase airfare much, 2x points on gas and groceries is huge.

The American Express Premier Rewards Gold card should be your #1 go to when it comes to airfare, gas and groceries. However, if you have the Chase Freedom + Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Ink Bold combo (prior blog post if you have no clue what this means!), all gas and grocery spend should be shifted to your Chase card during the specific quarterly bonus time frame (Q1 and Q3 for gas and Q2 for groceries).

Redeeming

The best redemption is transferring points to a partner airline, which includes: Air Canada, Singapore, ANA, British Airways, Iberia, Delta, Air France/KLM Flying Blue, Alitalia, Aeromexico, Airtran (until 2/29/12), Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America, El Al, Frontier, JetBlue, Hawaiian. Unlike Chase Ultimate Rewards, transferring to hotels has a pretty poor transfer rate (i.e., Amex to Starwood transfers at 3:1) – thus making airlines your #1 transfer opportunity. While this might be limiting for some, there are many programs and Amex often runs some pretty unbelievable bonus offers when transferring your points over. This past year we have seen, for example, 40% bonus to Delta + MQMs, 25% bonus to AirFrance/KLM, 20% bonus to Iberia, 20% bonus to British Airways, and probably many more that I am forgetting. Those bonus opportunities make Amex points invaluable and allows for some amazing redemptions!

Key links:

• American Express Premier Rewards Gold card application

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links where I get paid a small commission if you apply and get approved for a credit card. I will only list the best credit card offers as my goal is for you to travel for free!

TODAY ONLY, JetBlue is running a 20% off promotion for all travel between May 1st and June 13th. This is a great promotion and one that JetBlue runs every so often. If you are not 100% sure of your plans, you can go ahead and book with the 20% off and cancel your travel within 24 hours of booking with no penalty. This is a new policy for JetBlue and you will get the full refund back on your credit card. You can cancel via online or over the phone, but need to ensure to request this option to avoid receiving a JetBlue credit. This cancellation policy is only applicable if the fare was booked more than 7 days of your departure date.

To book:

• Go to JetBlue’s reservation booking site
• Enter your departure and arrival city, along with dates within the promotional time period (5/1-6/13)
• Enter promo code SPRING12
  
• Select the desired flight for the discount to appear – the discounted amount will appear in the itinerary subtotal column on the right side of the site

Terms:

• Flight must originate in a US JetBlue city (including Puerto Rico) – however, I tried a one-way flight from Costa Rica back to the US and it gave me the 20% discount
• Not valid on previous bookings
• For round-trip flights, both the departure and return must fall between 5/1-6/13 – if one one flight is within this period, book two separate one way flights (just remember though, if you need to change your flight, each one-way will be charged the change fee)

I received an email earlier today offering $10 off your first month for unlimited internet access on all American Airlines flights (that have wifi capability on board). Typically, the cost is $34.95, but this promotion will bring it down to $24.95 for one month. Purchasing Gogo for each segment can get pricey, especially if you are flying cross country. Prices are: $4.95 (for flights up to 1.5 hours), $9.95 (for flights between 1.5 and 3 hours), and $12.95 (for flights over 3 hours). Mr. Deals and I recently purchased a monthly subscription and have both been able to take advantage of the wifi on our numerous flights throughout this month. The good thing about monthly Gogo subscriptions is that it is a username and password and not tied to a specific computer.

This offer expires March 18, 2012. Just make sure that you cancel your subscription (for no fee) after the one month time as it could potentially auto-renew at $34.95/month. Click here to purchase with this $10 off discount.