As you know, April 3rd was the last day for the 50,000 point Chase Sapphire Preferred offer. Today I received the new offers and a surprise. First, the new offer is as we expected, 40,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards points for spending $3,000 dollars in the first 3 months of card membership. What I had not expected was a Chase Sapphire Preferred MasterCard to be in the mix. I’ve known that if you asked, it was possible to get a Chase Sapphire Preferred MasterCard, but it has not been actively marketed by Chase until now that I’m aware of. So here’s the new lineup.

Chase Sapphire Preferred^SM Card

Note: The Chase Sapphire Preferred MasterCard offer has been expired.

Even though the new offer is a little less than before, these cards still represent an amazing value and the Ultimate Rewards program is among the best. The utility of transferring your points to great mileage programs like MileagePlus and hotel programs like Hyatt and Marriott is awesome. I love my Chase Sapphire Preferred card, and I think you will too.

Disclosure: If you apply for and receive a card through one of the above links I will receive a referral bonus.  

Posted here previously, and this will be the last time I post about it. The 50,000 bonus point offer for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is going away Tuesday, April 3rd. Chase’s own website now advertises a 40,000 point offer, so I assume that’s what the new affiliate offer will be on April 3rd. For now, you can still get the 50,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards points if you use my link. The positive benefits of this card for travelers have been widely posted about both on MJ on Travel and on other blogs, so I won’t repeat the same here.

Disclosure: If you apply for and receive a card through my link, I will receive a referral bonus.

Note: Affiliate links removed temporarily as of 4/3/12 pending new offer.

The bloggerverse has been alive with speculation about the status of the 50,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards point offer for new Chase Sapphire Preferred accounts going away. Chase’s own website now offers 40,000 bonus points, but for whatever reason, the bonus for affiliates like myself remains at 50,000 points for $3,000 in spend in the first 90 days. It was only a matter of time before this changed and now it has. Like Lucky, I have received word that the current bonus offer available through my links will cease next Tuesday, April 3, 2012.

If you are in the market for a Sapphire Preferred card, it’s time to apply. If you want and need a card, the Sapphire Preferred card is my favorite right now. Double Ultimate Rewards points for travel and dining spend, one point for all other. A 7 percent points rebate annually, no foreign transaction fees, Ultimate Rewards mall (to pad your points account), all for an annual fee of $95 dollars which is waived the first year. At this point, The Sapphire Preferred Card and the American Express Platinum card are the 2 card products that I am most likely to always carry…at least as long as I am traveling and the benefits remain comparable to what they are today.

You can apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card by clicking here, or apply for the American Express Platinum Card here.

Disclosure: If you apply for and receive a credit card through the links in this post, I will receive a referral bonus. If you are aware of a better offer than those provided here, please apply for the offer that is most beneficial to you. I value your readership, no matter what!

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.

Just in from US Airways:

Buy an annual membership in the US Airways club and get 2 free months. Additionally, you will receive 2,500 Preferred Qualifying Miles as a bonus.

Enroll online at usairways.com

Enter promotion code CLB14

Here are the Terms and Condtions

“Offer valid March 28 – April 3, 2012. Offer available to new US Airways Club annual memberships and US Airways Club memberships that are eligible for renewal. Promotion code ‘CLB14’ must be mentioned or entered when enrolling or renewing the membership in the US Airways Club to receive the bonus miles. New club members and club members renewing that use promotion code ‘CLB14′ will receive a 14 month membership and 2,500 bonus Preferred-qualifying miles. For new club member enrollments, the $50 initiation fee will be waived. This offer cannot be combined with any other offer. Purchase must be made online. Please allow up to 7 days for processing. All US Airways Club and Dividend Miles terms and conditions apply.”

I would only take advantage of this offer if I were thinking about joining the club anyway. 2500 PQMs are icing on the cake. I access the US Airways Club with my Amex Platinum so a club membership would not be worth it for me at this point in time. Of course, if they offered this late in the year, and I was 2,500 PQMs short of status…..well, you know.

You may have heard me say that I was flipping Citi AAdvantage cards before I knew card flipping had a name. I’ve earned at least 250,000 miles from playing the card game, and if I’d had sense enough to start learning the miles game before I did, I’m sure that number would be 1 million miles. That said, I’ve had some fun and earned a few miles in my time before Citi shut down the real flipping game. A year or so back I applied for a couple of Citi cards and was turned down because I’d had a Citi AAdvantage card before.

Now that it’s been a couple years since I had an account, AND more importantly, because my AAdvantage balance is downright puny now, I decided to give Citi a try again. I applied for the Citi AAdvantage Visa and was immediately approved. $3,000 dollars in charges in 4 months and then I’ll have 50,000 miles in my account. A little 2-browser action could net you 100,000 miles if you apply for another Citi AAdvantage card, but I admit, I didn’t go for that this time.

In the interest of broadening our points base, I’m working on getting MrsMJonTravel (and the rest of my family that will listen to me) onboard with the Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa. I’ve been carrying the Sapphire card for a few months now, and it really is my go-to card. 2 points per dollar on travel expenses (including things like taxis and SuperShuttle) as well as dining expenses really make this an attractive card. Better yet, there are no foreign transaction fees. I just wish Chase would add a real “Chip and PIN” option for foreign travel!!! With widespread evidence that the great 50,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards points offer may now be going away, it may be the time to make a move on this card if you are interested in acquiring it. While a 40,000 bonus point offer has appeared on the Chase website, you can still earn 50,000 bonus points when you spend $3,000 dollars in the first 90 days if you apply through my affiliate link.

Disclosure: If you apply for and receive the Chase Sapphire Preferred card through my affiliate link, I will receive a commission. I do not receive a commission for the AAdvantage card. Apply for the card you need most. I appreciate your readership no matter what!

It appears that the 50,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards points offer for new cardholders will be departing soon. As you can see on Chase’s website, they are already offering only 40,000 bonus points for new card applications. However, if you apply through my affiliate link, you can still receive 50,000 bonus points if you spend $3,000 dollars in the first 3 months of card membership.

As you know, the Sapphire Preferred card is my go-to card right now. Look for a future post on the virtues of carrying it.

Disclosure: If you apply for and receive a card through the link I provided, I will receive a referral bonus. Please know I appreciate your readership whether you apply through my link or not!

As the last blogger in the new world to talk about this, I won’t bother with hat tips….. there are too many. That said, it appears that the ever popular 50,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards points for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card may be dropping slightly to 40,000 points. Right now, affiliate links like mine are still offering 50,000 points. Who knows how long this will last? If you’ve been sitting on the fence about getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, there’s no time like the present to apply for this great card. It is my go-to card right now, and for the foreseeable future.

Apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card here.

Disclosure: If you apply for and receive the card through the links provided here, I will receive a referral bonus.

Hilton HHonors’ Q2 promotion is available for registration. Double HHonors points or double miles. Take your pick here and earn some extra points or miles. This offer is valid between 4/1/12 and 6/30/12, and there is a not so small list of non-participating properties. That said, worth signing up for.

Don’t forget, you can enhance your Hilton HHonors points balance with the Citi Hilton HHonors Visa

Disclosure: If you apply for and receive a credit card through the link provided, I will receive a referral bonus.

Now that about 2.4 million bloggers have weighed in with what a great deal the US Airways Dividend Miles hotel transfer bonus was or wasn’t, I thought I’d throw in my 2 cents. Like all things in the traveling life, this is a YMMV situation. Ric has one of the best analyses of anything miles/points related I’ve ever read. That said, I moved some Starpoints over to Dividend Miles. Why? I have a specific reward in mind, and I’ve been concentrating on pumping up my Dividend Miles account. For me, 37,500 Dividend Miles for 20,000 Starpoints seems like a swell deal. For you? Well, not to sound cliche’, but your mileage may vary. Spend those miles wisely.

All that said, this is just one more reason why I think the Starwood Preferred Guest program is evolving into one of the better values out there for travelers. Look for a post in the near future as to why I feel that way.

Just catching up on a few things. As the absolute last person on earth to blog about AA Elite Rewards 2012, AA’s Double EQM offer for folks from certain states, and who knows what else, I thought a “catch up” post was in order. Hat tip to Gary and MommyPoints.

As Gary notes, AA’s Elite Rewards 2012 has been announced. It’s nice that they announced early this year as opposed to late summer last year. Note that the rewards are based on elite qualifying points (EQPs), and not miles. If you can fly this much, the rewards are quite nice, especially for Executive Platinums who can choose 2 rewards ranging from 35,000 bonus miles, 2 EVIP certificates (systemwide upgrades), Admirals Club membership, or gifting Gold status to a friend. Notice I said you can choose 2….so you could theoretically get 4 EVIP certs for hitting the rewards threshold which in the case of Executive Platinums is 125,000 EQPs. Of course, 70,000 miles might be more valuable to you in some cases…… but I really like those 4 EVIP certs….. too bad I can only day dream of being Executive Platinum for the time being. Click here, and then register with code ELTA2.

MommyPoints shares good news on double elite qualifying miles (EQMs) from American for residents in certain states. American had previously announced a promotion for residents of California, Illinois, and Texas to earn double EQMs for flights between Chicago O’Hare (ORD) and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO). Better yet, flights between ORD and Orange County, CA (SNA) have now been added to the promotion. From Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), flights to LAX and SFO qualify. Click here to register.

As for me, I’m off to Atlanta tomorrow morning for a quick 2-night business trip. The whole world knows I prefer any of the three Atlanta area W Hotels to most anything else, but unfortunately, none of them are within walking distance of my job site in the A-T-L. And this week, that trumps everything since I’m packing a week’s worth of work into 2.5 days. So it’s back to my old standby, the Embassy Suites. Hey, at least I’ll be collecting triple Dividend Miles. My Delta Medallion upgrade has cleared, and life is good.