A few bloggers have dropped hints recently about new credit card offers coming our way. They had met with some of the top banks to discuss credit card offers, but had apparently promised not to divulge the secrets. Luckily, I’ve made no such promise to anyone, so I feel free to speculate…
Million Mile Secrets
In June, Daraius, from Million Mile Secrets, wrote about “Visiting the Banks in New York”. In that post, he gave some hints as to what we should expect regarding credit card offers. First, he told us about general trends we will see:
We’re also going to see offers which require higher spending to get the full sign-on bonus (think Chase British Airways & Chase Ink Bold), offers which require you to hold the card for a second year (think 60,000 point Citi Thank You Premier), limited time offers to persuade folks to sign-up immediately (AMEX Business Gold and Platinum), and cards which offer a benefit which makes the card worth keeping after the 1st year (think free bags or free hotel nights with certain cards).
Then, he dropped a couple of bomb-shells:
There may be a new business credit card (as opposed to their current charge card) coming out soon in Q3 (July to September) with a decent sign-on bonus from a bank which offers the boldest business cards in the market.
And:
If a credit card had a history of increasing the sign-up bonuses during a certain period, that pattern may be repeated again – as early as this summer.
Frugal Travel Guy
Yesterday, Rick (Frugal Travel Guy) reported the following:
Insider News
I have it from a reliable “inside source”, we can look for a new product in the portion of the frequent flyer game where I earn the majority of my miles. It is to be announced in about two weeks. I promised that is all I would say, but I think we will all be pleased.
Frequent Miler’s Take
I have no inside information about this at all. In fact, I’ve avoided asking Daraius or Rick any follow-up questions because they probably would have asked me to keep the answers quiet (if they told me anything). So, now I’m free to tell you what I think is on it’s way. Time will prove me right or wrong:
New Ink Bold!
The Ink Bold is technically a charge card instead of a credit card. It seems clear to me from Daraius’ post that Chase will be introducing a credit card version of the Ink Bold! Why am I excited? Last time Chase introduced a change to the Ink Bold, they treated it as a new product. That meant anyone who signed up for the new product was eligible for the sign-up bonus even if they had received the sign-up bonus before (for the old product). Personally, I’ve received 110,000 Ultimate Rewards points from two Ink Bold sign-ups!
- Timing: Daraius reported that the new card would come out in Q3 (July to September). Rick reported tat a new product would be announced in about two weeks. Was Rick talking about the same product? My guess is yes. I’m guessing we’ll see the new card around July 30 or so.
- What to do: If you already have an Ink Bold (the one with 5X categories), then just wait to see what happens. If you don’t yet have the Ink Bold (or you have an old non-5X version), then I’d recommend signing up before the new card appears. We don’t know if Chase will continue to offer the current charge card, or if they’ll replace it entirely with the new card. If the latter, this could be your last chance to get the current signup bonus and the new one. The other reason to sign-up now is that we don’t know if Chase will continue the 5X categories with the new card. I expect that they will, but only time will tell. For tips on how to sign-up for the Ink Bold (and whether you qualify for it), see “How to sign up for the Ink Bold”. I will also soon write-up some great techniques for meeting Ink Bold minimum spend.
Increased SPG Bonus
Last year, in late July and through most of August, Amex increased the usual signup bonus for the SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) card from 25K to 30K. I think Daraius’ comment about a summer promotion being repeated is this one. It may not sound like a huge bump, but SPG points are really valuable so it’s pretty exciting to me. If this happens and you signup for both the business and personal versions of the card, you will earn 60,000 SPG points. When you add in points earned when using the card, it won’t be long before you can take an all expense paid vacation with a redemption like Starwood’s Night’s and Flights. With this option, you can redeem 60,000 Starpoints to get 5 nights in a category 3 hotel and you’ll get 50,000 airline miles to cover your flight! Or, redeem 70,000 Starpoints for 5 nights in a category 4 hotel and 50,000 miles. This is just one example of the many great redemption options available through SPG.
What do you think?
Do you have any guesses as to what’s coming? Did I guess right? Daraius? Rick? Others? Feel free to comment below.
Chase's 5/24 Rule: With most Chase credit cards, Chase will not approve your application if you have opened 5 or more cards with any bank in the past 24 months. To determine your 5/24 status, see: 3 Easy Ways to Count Your 5/24 Status. The easiest option is to track all of your cards for free with Travel Freely. |
Chase 5/24 semantics ("Subject to" vs. "Count towards"): Most Chase cards are subject to the 5/24 rule. That means the rule is enforced in making approval decisions. In other words, you probably won't get approved if your credit report shows that you opened 5 or more cards in the past 24 months. Meanwhile, most business cards (such as those from Chase, Amex, Barclaycard, BOA, Citi, US Bank, and Wells Fargo) are not reported on your personal credit report. These cards do not count towards 5/24. Example: Chase Ink Business Preferred is subject to 5/24, so you likely won't get approved if over 5/24. If you do get approved, it won't count towards 5/24 since it won't appear as an account on your credit report. |
Amex credit and charge card limits: If you apply for a new Amex credit card, you may get turned down if you already have 5 or more Amex credit cards; or 10 or more Pay Over Time (AKA charge) cards. Both personal and business cards are counted together towards these limits. Authorized user cards are not counted. See also: Which Amex Cards are Charge Cards vs. Credit Cards? |
Applying for Business Credit Cards Yes, you have a business: In order to sign up for a business credit card, you must have a business. That said, it's common for people to have businesses without realizing it. If you sell items at a yard sale, or on eBay, for example, then you have a business. Similar examples include: consulting, writing (e.g. blog authorship, planning your first novel, etc.), handyman services, owning rental property, renting on airbnb, driving for Uber or Lyft, etc. In any of these cases, your business is considered a Sole Proprietorship unless you form a corporation of some sort. When you apply for a business credit card as a sole proprietor, you can use your own name as your business name, use your own address and phone as the business' address and phone, and your social security number as the business' Tax ID / EIN. Alternatively, you can get a proper Tax ID / EIN from the IRS for free, in about a minute, through this website. Is it OK to use business cards for personal expenses? Anecdotally, almost everyone I know uses business cards for personal expenses. That said, the terms in most business card applications state that you should use the card only for business use. Also, some consumer credit card protections do not apply to business cards. My advice: don't use the card for personal expenses if you're not comfortable doing so. |
Manufacturing Spend Caution: Many, many things can go wrong when manufacturing spend. If you suddenly increase credit card spend, your accounts may get shut down. If you cycle your balance often (e.g. spend to your limit, pay the bill, repeat) within a billing cycle, your accounts may get shut down. If you repeatedly pay your credit card bill from an anonymous bill payment source, your accounts may get shut down. If you buy lots of gift cards you may lose money due to gift card fraud, theft, loss, or simply mishandling those gift cards (e.g. maybe you thought you already used a gift card and tossed it into your “used” bin). If you rely on only one method to liquidate gift cards, you may be stuck unable to pay your credit card bill when that method gets shut down. In other words, don’t try this at home unless you know what you’re doing, and you understand and accept the risks.. |
Chase Ultimate Rewards points are super valuable and super flexible. At the most basic level, points can be redeemed for cash or merchandise, but you'll only get one cent per point value that way. A better option is to use points for travel. When points are used to book travel through the Ultimate Rewards portal, points are worth 1.25 cents each with premium cards (Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred, for example) or 1.5 cents each with the ultra-premium Sapphire Reserve card. Another great option is to transfer points from a premium or ultra-premium card to an airline or hotel program when high value awards are available (see this post for details). If your points are tied to a no-fee "cash back" Ultimate Rewards card, then first move those points to a premium or ultra-premium card before redeeming them in order to get better value. |
Amex Membership Rewards points can be incredibly valuable if you know how to use them. In general, if you use Membership Rewards points to pay for merchandise or travel, you won't get good value from your points. One exception is with the Business Platinum card where you'll get a 35% point rebate when using points to book certain flights. This gives you approximately 1.5 cents per point value, which is pretty good. Another exception is with the Business Gold Card where you'll get a 25% point rebate when using points to book certain flights. This gives you approximately 1.33 cents per point value. If you don't have either card, then your best bet is to transfer points to airline miles in order to book high value awards. More details can be found here: Amex Membership Rewards Complete Guide. |
Marriott points can be redeemed for free night awards, travel packages, airline miles, or experiences. 5th Night Free Awards: When redeeming points for free nights, the 5th night within a single reservation is free. Airline miles: Points can be converted to airline miles at a rate of 3 points to 1 mile. With many programs, a bonus is added on when you transfer 60,000 points at a time, such that 60,000 points transfers to 25,000 miles. Also, you'll get a 10% bonus when transferring points to United Airlines. Everything you need to know about Marriott's rewards program, Bonvoy, can be found here: Marriott Bonvoy Complete Guide |
Editor’s Note: This guest post was written by the same guy who showed you how to fly round trip to Africa (DC to Senegal) for 50,000 points, how to book business class to Europe for 80,000 miles roundtrip, and more. You can find John’s website and award booking service here: theflyingmustache.com/awardbooking. -Greg The Frequent Miler |
Amex Application Tips
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Chase Application Tips
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Citi Application Tips
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Bank of America Application Tips
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Barclays Application Tips
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Capital One Application Tips
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Discover Application Tips
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TD Bank Application Tips
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US Bank Application Tips
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Wells Fargo Application Tips
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Under certain circumstances consumer Visa cards don't work with Plastiq. The following payments are fine:
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In order to meet minimum spend requirements, people often look for options to increase spend in ways that result in getting their money back. These techniques are referred to as "manufacturing spend". American Express has terms in their welcome offers that exclude some manufactured spend techniques from counting towards the minimum spend requirements for the welcome bonus offer. For example, most new cardmember bonuses have terms like this:
Eligible purchases to meet the Threshold Amount do NOT include fees or interest charges, purchases of travelers checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, purchases of gift cards, person-to-person payments, or purchases of other cash equivalents.That said, many techniques for meeting minimum spend are perfectly fine. Here are some techniques that are safe for meeting Amex minimum spend requirements (click each link for more information): |
We have added this to our running list of Black Friday deals, which will be constantly updated through Cyber Monday with a mix of gift card deals, merchandise deals, and travel deals. Check back often. |