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Feb
It’s been more than a couple of months since I’ve summarized the best credit card offers, some of the offers change and several of the links to get the best bonuses have changes, so I’ve put together an updated list.
For folks with reasonably good credit (and see my thoughts on the effects of credit card signups on credit scores, in many cases it can actually help), the banks still want you to travel around the world in a premium cabin almost for free.
A plurality of all miles are earned through credit cards, and the big bonuses offered remain the best, fastest, easiest, and most lucrative way for most people to earn miles.
The biggest changes since I last put together a top 10 list are that there’s now a ‘landing page’ that actually shows the bonus you’ll get for the American Airlines credit cards, there are new methods for getting 55,000 points from the United Visa, and there are new 50,000 point links for the Southwest Visas.
Here’s what I consider the current 10 best credit card signup bonuses currently available, hopefully helpful in planning your own signups:
- Ink Bold charge card and Ink Plus credit card are small business cards that both offer 50,000 point signup bonuses after $5,000 spend within 3 months. They have a $0 fee the first year, $95 thereafter.
Points transfer to United, British Airways, Korean Airlines, Southwest, Hyatt, Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Priority Club, and Amtrak. They earn quintuple points on wireless/telecommunications services, cable and satellite TV and radio, and office supply stores and double points on hotels and gas stations up to 200,000 points per year.
Many folks can get small business cards, it’s fine to be a sole proprietor. That just means you list your own social security number under the place for tax ID. And you may have some side income in addition to your job, or are planning to and want to keep your expenses separate. That’s your business income (whether from consulting or selling stuff on Craigslist).
- Chase Sapphire Preferred offers a $0 fee the first year ($95 thereafter), 40,000 points after $3000 in spend within 3 months, no foreign currency conversion fees, double points on travel and dining, points transfers to United, Hyatt, Southwest, Amtrak, British Airways, Korean Airlines, Marriott Priority Club, and Ritz-Carlton. Probably the best all-around credit card, and with a great signup bonus.
- Citi American Airlines American Express, Visa, or Business Visa: 50,000 bonus points after $3000 spend within 4 months, no fee the first year. Plus you get a $150 statement credit with your first American Airlines purchase within a year, and 2 Admirals Club lounge passes. You also get a 10% rebate on miles redeemed, up to 10,000 per year. The annual fee is $0 the first year, $85 thereafter. Sadly the ‘two browser trick’ where you could get two of these cards at the same time no longer seems to be working.
This link, with an expired landing page, has been posted on FLyertalk and at Million Mile Secrets and reports are that it works just fine.
- British Airways Visa Signature® Card 50,000 points after $1000 in purchases within 3 months; 25,000 more points after $10,000 in purchases within the first year; 25,000 more points after your next $10,000 in purchases within that year.
And if you spend $30,000 on the card in a calendar year you earn a companion certificate so you can redeem miles and a second passenger travels on the award for no additional miles (but does pay the taxes and fuel surcharges).
British Airways offers family accounts so you can pool your miles. One person could get the card, spend $30,000 on it this year and earn 137,500 points (full bonus plus 1.25 points per dollar for spending). A second person gets the card, and gets only the first 50,000 point bonus. Together they then have 188,750 points that can effectively be used twice for 377,500 points worth of travel as long as they fly together and exclusively on British Airways.
- US Airways Mastercard 40,000 points after first purchase and fee waived the first year. This is from Barclay’s Bank so gets a plus for not being Chase/Amex/Citibank, and has been churnable in the past — you can get the bonus more than once in a lifetime for this card. My 10,000 mile annual retention bonus posted a month before the annual fee on the card hit.
The offer does say it is for ‘Chairmans Preferred members’ of the Dividend Miles program, that’s who it’s targeted at and intended for but I haven’t heard of anyone being denied the card who didn’t have that status. I don’t have the status and I got the card. The application now also has a box for ‘Employee Number’ and says “Only employees of US Airways and US Airways wholly-owned subsidiaries are eligible.” Again, while this scares some off, it’s fine to leave this field blank.
For those who prefer a non-targeted version of the offer, you can get 40,000 miles after first purchase without the first year fee waived and without the promise of additional miles in a year.
- Mercedes-Benz American Express Platinum card: 50,000 American Express Membership Rewards points after $1000 spend within 3 months, $475 annual fee.
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus and Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus Business each offer 50,000 points after spending $2000 within 3 months, points are worth up to $835 in travel. It’s a big bonus number but for someone like me looking to use miles for international premium class travel it isn’t high on my list, plus they’re Chase cards and there are better ones to accomplish my goals. But I list them because for folks for whom Southwest works it’s a lucrative offer. The annual fee for each card is $69.
- United Explorer 50,000 miles after $1000 spend within 3 months also offers an additional 5000 miles for adding an authorized cardholder to the account. I list this offer lower than otherwise because not everyone is able to make it come up for their account. I love that the card comes with primary collision damage waiver benefits for rental cars.
- A troika of free hotel night credit card offers:
- The Hyatt Visa offers two nights at any Hyatt in the world after $1000 in spend (Platinum members also get 2 confirmed suite upgrades for use on paid nights, Diamond members get their two signup nights in a suite) and a $100 statement credit which more than covers the $75 annual fee for the card. I used mine at the Grand Hyatt Singapore but could just as easily have used them at the Park Hyatt Maldives.
- The Fairmont Visa offers 2 free nights at any Fairmont, including breakfast.
- The Citi Hilton Reserve Visa comes with Gold status (upgrades, breakfast, free internet) and 2 free weekend nights after $2500 spend, (a handful of Waldorf=Astoria and properties without standard rooms are excluded). An amazing deal when Gold status stays as long as you keep the card.
Note that I almost include the Club Carlson credit cards in this group, but the signup bonus is less than two nights at their top tier properties, though you do get your last night free on multi-night award redemptions as a cardholder.
- The Hyatt Visa offers two nights at any Hyatt in the world after $1000 in spend (Platinum members also get 2 confirmed suite upgrades for use on paid nights, Diamond members get their two signup nights in a suite) and a $100 statement credit which more than covers the $75 annual fee for the card. I used mine at the Grand Hyatt Singapore but could just as easily have used them at the Park Hyatt Maldives.
- Starwood American Express and Starwood American Express Business card each has up to 25,000 points as a signup bonus. The cards also come with 2 stays and 5 nights towards elite status, and $30,000 spend gets you Gold. These cards make the list despite having the lowest signup bonuses because of their value and flexibility — points transfer to the largest array of airline programs of any card, and when you transfer 20,000 miles at once you get 5000 bonus miles (so it’s like earning 1.25 miles per dollar on all spend).
I usually try to grab no more than one card from each issuer at a time, though often I’ll grab a personal and small business card and those will be treated separately. The really advanced churners will pay attention to which issuers pull credit reports from which companies in their home state to try to spread out their credit inquiries, I don’t worry about it to that same degree.
Are there any better offers for these cards that I’ve missed? Please share those in the comments.
(Several of the links in the list above offer referral credit to me if you are approved for cards after applying through them. I greatly appreciate it when you do choose to use them. Of course I always want to share the best available offers no matter what, so several links such as those for the main US Airways card, American Airlines card, Mercedes Benz card, etc. aren’t my links and do not provide credit to me.)
Steven said,
Thanks Gary, great summary!
FlyingBear said,
I wouldn’t stay at a top tier hotel for one night, so Club Carlson cards would be on par with others for me, with a bonus of leftover points. By the way, once you get the 85,000 points, you are only $500 dollars of spend away from getting enough points for 2 nights like others.
FEV7 said,
Gary – what are your thoughts on the Marriott Visa card?
Jack said,
Isn’t Club Carlson cards bonus of 85K actually work out to more than two nights free since you get the second night free on a two night award? It looks like you only need 50K to get two nights free if the second night on a two night stay is free.
Trent said,
So you get an additional 50k Avios if you add a second cardholder with a separate BA account? Where does it state that in the T&C?
iahphx said,
A couple of years ago, my wife and I grabbed that “crazy” BA credit card deal where you got the full 100,000 miles with a low spend (a couple thousand, I recall). We cancelled it in a year. Since it’s a Chase card, I’ve assumed we couldn’t get a second sign-up bonus. But is that true? Is there a period of time after which Chase would consider us eligible?
Meanwhile, I think you’re underselling the Carlson card. I resisted getting it, too, but that second-night free on award stays is a game-changer in my opinion. There are some amazing good deals that way. Obviously, it doesn’t work for every hotel stay, but it’s an extremely valuable tool in the low-cost travel arsenal.
Gary said,
@iahphx officially you should only get the 100k bonus for the BA card once but some folks have reported success in getting it a second time
Gary said,
@Trent no the second person would get their own card, I was suggesting that you just wouldn’t need them to hit spend for the full 100k
Gary said,
@FEV7 – thoughts on Marriott Visa coming later in the week, it works for some but I’m not a huge fan for several reasons
LK said,
I agree that Club Carlson should be included.
bluecat said,
@iahphx, To give you a bit more info than what Gary prvided, I have heard that you need to wait two years after yiu close your BA card in order for Chase to “forget” that you had it before. I’ve made the mistake of following a blogger’s vague encouragement to apply again, only to be frozen out of the signon bonus.
FEV7 said,
Thanks, Gary. Look forward to hearing more. I keep waivering on that card.
DBest said,
Thoughts on the AA/US merger? Do airlines typically merge their miles into a single currency and award chart? If so, is now the time to get either/both the US or AA signup bonuses while they’re separately offered?
Gary said,
@DBest yes, and my guess is then that a merger will mean a rush to get the US Airways card before that one goes away (regardless of who the surviving bank is)
Blokus said,
You’re assuming that you can redeem a single roundtrip BA ticket for 188,750 miles, when you say you can get 377,500 miles value of travel, correct? My understanding is that the BA companion ticket is only a one-time use thing, in contrast to say Southwest’s companion pass.
Jack said,
From your linked post about the Club Carlson Card: “And then I read through the terms and conditions more closely and realized one killer app benefit… On a two night award stay, it’s two for the price of one. Redeem 2 nights at a top tier property, and it’s 50,000 free points every time, up to 50 free nights per year.”
It is also from U.S. Bank which is a different bank from the ones we are always applying to (Chase, Citi, AMEX, Barclays). That is another reason that it is as valuable as the other three hotel cards in your list.
Gary said,
@Blokus yes one-time use, you blow all the points on one big trip
Jen said,
Just got an offer yesterday in the mail for the United Explorer Card with 50,000 mile sign up bonus with no minimum spend, plus 5,000 miles for adding an authorized user, plus 10,000 miles for spending $25K/year.
Gary said,
@Jen that’s the offer I link to in the post above which some people are able to replicate online but not everyone can
Tony said,
@Dbest yes, once a merger happens it usually takes about a year for the FF programs to merge together, however, history has shown that the new program is slightly different from the other two programs.
Nick said,
I have the old United Platinum visa (with the up to valuable 15K qualifying miles which count towards 1k) what are my chances of getting the United Explorer card as well?
Kalboz said,
I got my Citi AA MC in April 2012, when will I be eligible to apply for the above-mentioned Citi AA AMEX? Thank you!
Gary said,
@Kalboz best guess (that is, if nothing changes) then around january 2014
Lark said,
@ Gary:
I know you don’t like Marriott vs. your other hotel chains of choice… But, the Marriott Visa currently:
– 50,000 Points after 1K spend in 3 months
– 1 free CAT 1-4 night (does not have to be used on a weekend, but yes, not a lot of great CAT 4′s in the US)
– 15 elite night credits (so you only need 60 more to qualify for Plat). Plus 1 elite night credit for every $3K spend
Alternatively, I have the Ritz Visa which has some nice benefits of it’s own:
– Ritz / Marriott Gold status first year (subsequent years with $10K annual spend)
– $200 airline credit annually good on any airline
– currently 70,000 point bonus after $2K spend in first three months
Again, for those like me who appreciate Marriott / Ritz, these are great options.
tim said,
The Citi AA visa link says expires Jan 31, 2012. Any reports of people still able to get the sign-up bonus?
Paul S. said,
Just applied for the BA card, waiting on a decision (I think they need to move my credit around on my other Chase cards). I don’t think I’ll bother with the companion pass since it’s only BA flights and all of those originating from the US charge $700 in fuel surcharges or whatever. I’ll use my avios for domestic and South America on AA. If I get the card I’ll start paying my mortgage with Vanila/Bluebird to hit the min spend for 100k miles.
Paul S. said,
Whats your opinion of the Priority Club visa with 80k signup bonus and free annual night at any club hotel with the $49 annual fee? Should it be included in the hotel cards at least as a one time card?
Steve said,
The top tier Club Carlson card is looking pretty good. Just a touch over the minimum spend gets you enough points for 2 nights in their top level hotels. And the best perk is a free award night added to any award reservation. So you could get 2 2-night stays at the top level hotels out of the sign up bonus!
Steve said,
Also a note on the club carlson card: since they give 5 points per $ on any spend, putting $3k on the card to slightly go over the minimum spend will give you 100k points, enough for two 2-night stays at the top tier hotels. Great option for London or other European stays. Also they’ve got a very highly rated hotel in Sydney.
Jack said,
@Steve – Yep, with 3k of spend the Club Carlson Card gives you 4 nights free (two 2-night stays) at the top tier hotels.
M said,
I am not seeing the Hyatt offer with $100 statement credit – or any offer for that matter, when going through the process of booking a room.
Maita said,
The Citi AA visa link says expires Jan 31, 2012. Does anyone know if it still works? (question posted on 02.06.13)
Jack said,
@M – it worked for me this morning. You have to go most of the way through the proce3ss but you get the offer on the lower right in a box before you have to pay.
Gary said,
@Maita yes it does
Gary said,
@Paul S – patience, you’ll hear more on that one come Friday
Gary said,
@Lark the Marriott Visa has a *70k offer* which I will write up shortly but I believe it is inferior.
Tony said,
@PaulS With the Chase cards why play the Bluebird card game, the Well Fargo pre=paid card is a better deal, you can go on the WF website and used your CC to load the pre-paid card… It works with Citi cards too, however, the cards thinks you are doing a cash advance and you will get a fee for that.
DanR said,
Dan’s Deals is reporting today that he’s been told to remove the Chase Hyatt VISA card offer Wednesday at 5pm.
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/24571
Gary said,
@DanR – yes, but I’m sharing an offer that is better than the affiliate one. I was told the same thing but I do not promote an affiliate link for the Hyatt Visa since you can get a $100 statement credit if you follow my instructions instead
Joel said,
I thought that the 70K Marriott offer was dead. If not, please let us know.
brl said,
@view, you get hyatt plat with the card hyatt visa as well.
brl said,
@tony can you explain a little more about the WF prepaid card. Where can you buy reloads on cc?
Anita said,
Thanks for a great review Always get something from you blog, tha I can use.
My question :
We closed our US AIR MC’s in August 2011
Can were apply now & get the 40 K bonus this time, too ?
Willwe be lucky ?
Jack said,
@ brl – You reload the WF with your credit card. No reload cards to buy. There is a big thread on flyertalk about it. You can order a card here: https://www.visaprepaidprocessing.com/WellsFargo/PrePaidCard/Pages/Home.aspx
iahphx said,
Thanks for the info about churning the BA card. Looking through my records, it appears that the “great 100,000 BA mile offer” was launched in November 2009. And I remember using the card during X-mas of that year. So that would mean that I (and many other folks reading this thread) would probably have cancelled our cards in late 2010. So if “waiting 2 years” is required, we should be golden if we reapply now. I guess I’ll check the ff forums to read the reports. It should be a popular app at this time.
tassojunior said,
Citi gets both AA & US soon.
Citi has too much invested in AA to ever let it go.
Once the merger with SW started, Air Tran left Barclays for Chase quick. US will leave Barclays for Citi soon after the merger is agreed.
Brian L. said,
@tassojunior – I think it will depend on whether or not a merger happens while AA is in bankruptcy (w/ Dougie & his cronies in charge) or after exiting bankruptcy (w/ Horton & current management in charge). If the former, I think the combined carrier goes with Barclays, if the latter, I think they stick with Citi. It’ll be determined by whose management team is calling the shots. Of course, we don’t know what the contracts between US/Barclays and AA/Citi say, and that could have an effect in the outcome.
Now, if they do end up going with Barclay, Citi is in trouble in terms of rewards programs, since TY points can only be transferred to Hilton, and Hilton is also their only co-branded travel card. If that happens, they’ll have to make TY points transferable to other programs or find a new co-branded card partner. Or both, although I think Citi is too conservative in their thinking to do that. Look at how long it took them to introduce baggage and boarding benefits on their AA cards, or a premium card granting lounge access.
If they decide to get a new co-branded card partner, they’ll have an interesting dilemma, since the major US airlines are already spoken for. So are the hotels. In that case, do they try to poach a program from another card issuer, or do they try to attract a foreign airline that doesn’t have a US credit card, like Flying Blue, or SAS?
Jef said,
The AA link provided doesn’t say the 10& rebate, I am planning to use my 140k miles for family trip to Asia, which card should I apply to get the rebate? Thanks!
Gary said,
@Jef – all AA cards now provide this standard, not as a function of a signup offer
Gary said,
@Anita – most likely that will be fine
Rui N. said,
What about the Barclays NFL card with $400 in statement credit after $1000 minimum spending? Seems a pretty good deal to me!
Gary said,
@Joel the offer is back, I have a post on Friday about it
Gary said,
@Rul N each of the cards above seem better to me than that, but again just this author’s opinion
Paul S said,
@Tony, My mortgage company only accepts checks and bank transfers, no debit or credit cards. That’s why I’d have to go with bluebird to pay my mortgage. The WF prepaid would be a good option for my daycare though, which accepts debit but not credit. Although a local grocery chain has a rewards program with a local gas station chain and the result is that if I spend $6 on a $500 gift debit card, I get $8-$10 off a tank of gas, so I’ll keep using those gift debit cards for my daycare transactions.
Sandy said,
Suggestion: I wish your blog posts included the year in the date so it’s easy to tell how old the info is. I know this one is fresh, but others I’ve had a hard time figuring out.
Sandy said,
Just realized I can see the year in the URL…
Kalboz said,
@ Joel, the 70K Marriott card offer is back as it was reported on here: http://milepoint.com/forums/threads/marriott-credit-card-70k-points-1-free-night.20246/page-2#post-1841555
So is the 80K PC card offer: http://milepoint.com/forums/threads/priority-club-visa-80-000-points-just-after-one-use.20750/page-3#post-1848877
Tony said,
@BRL here is Gary’s link for the Well Fargo Pre-paid card
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/2012/08/15/using-wells-fargo-prepaid-visa-cards-to-meet-credit-card-minimum-spend-requirements/
this should be able to answer all questions.
Lantean said,
@Kalboz
I wish these were not Chase, again.
Bruce said,
It’s cheaper right now to spend ~$1800 and BUY AA MILES 60,000+30,000 = 90,000…! Why bother with a card when you need to spend more for fewer miles…??? This, by the way, is often the case. Also, no credit score impact to worry about.
Gary said,
@Bruce – most people will meet the minimum spend by buying things that they would otherwise buy. I do not think most would agree that buying 50,000 miles is a better deal than getting a 50,000 mile credit card signup bonus.
Anita kreitman said,
Gary, in regards to perks for the Ritz Carlton cc. They offer $200 back from the annual fee for making certain purchases. Is this likened to the Amex Platinum $200 that can be used to offset airline fees?
Gary said,
@Anita kreitman – yes and in fact the rules are more relaxed in practice for getting the $200 from the Ritz-Carlton card than for the Amex Platinum
Anita Kreitman said,
Would one actually be able to purchase a $200 gift card to use with United Airlines ticket purchases? If yes, that with concierge level cert upgrades makes the card very attractive!
Gary said,
@Anita Kreitman I would probably do (2) $100 gift cards
In Under the Wire: Should You Get the US Airways and American Credit Cards Now Before Any Merger? - View from the Wing said,
[...] my discussion last week about the ten best credit card signup bonuses, many of the reader comments centered around what’s looking likely to be a merger between [...]
Hubbel said,
Any thoughts on the Hilton Honors card from Amex?
Basic Principles for Earning Free Travel Through Credit Cards - View from the Wing said,
[...] big bonuses for signing up that can be used for free or inexpensive trips. I blogged last week the Best Current Credit Card Signup Bonuses. Flexible points which transfer into the currencies of several airlines — like Chase Ultimate [...]
robertw said,
@Bruce credit score hits due to inquires or new cards are nothing to worry about. The point bonuses are worth far more than that temporary minor hit. Over time your score goes up with more of the cards.
@Brian L. I can guarantee you that the Citi partnership with AA stays. Last Year 2012 Citi bought a ton of miles from AA. They knew the financial situation at AA and I am sure they have a contract to protect them in case of a takeover. I recently got the Barclays card myself. Over time I am sure that one gets the boot. Citi does a far better got marketing their product.
Owen G said,
Looks like the Chairman’s offer is gone.
robert smith said,
when you get the companion pass from BA and the 187000 pts, can you use the pass more than once or do you plan a trip that uses all 187k.also is the 50k from the other persons card transferable to the person who has the orig 137k?
Gary said,
@robert smith – it is one time use
Gary said,
@Owen G – wow, so it is!
Points loverrrr said,
For some quick clarification… For AA cards – if the two browser trick is gone, can I still get a personal and biz card at the same time for 100k miles total?
Jeff said,
I had the AA personal citi visa for a few years — I got the 75k AA miles bonus a while back.
Can I sign up for the AA Citi Business cards and get the 50k bonus now? Or do I need to cancel for 2 years and then it will work?
United MileagePlus Explorer Card 50,000 Mile Credit said,
[...] note, apparently if you call Chase and talk to a representative they will almost always give you next-day shipping on your credit card for free. Unfortunately I didn’t learn about this until after I got the card. Posted in Credit [...]
Steve said,
Just received my Marriott card. For those who care, it is chip and signature.
I’m Platinum and so I get 10X plat bonus and 5x for this card. That’s 15x, so a few nights that adds up to $1k (typical bill)is 15K points.
Over the year, that’s an extra 50-75k points. That’s a lot of free nights at some very nice hotels.
3 Credit Cards for the Business Traveler | Award Travel for Good said,
[...] the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Ink and SPG American Express to your [...]
50,000 Mile Virgin Atlantic American Express is Back - View from the Wing said,
[...] know how long the offer will be available for. If it sticks around it probably makes my next top 10 credit card signup bonus list largely because of the headline bonus figure and that it isn’t from one of the major rewards [...]
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