Category Archives for Credit Cards.
Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is being sued by JPMorgan Chase over an unpaid United MileagePlus credit card balance of $11,078—after 17 months without a payment. If the allegation sounds familiar, it’s because the same mix of arrogance and mismanagement defined her time in office.
Everyone debates which credit card is “best,” but most people are solving the wrong problem. This simple framework cuts through the noise, showing how to decide which card actually fits your spending, benefits, and goals.
Four premium cards dominate the space right now: Amex Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Capital One Venture X, and Citi Strata Elite. Let’s break down lounges, credits, earn rates, and transfer partners—then show which card (or pair) actually makes sense for how you travel and spend.
Chase just launched the biggest-ever Marriott Boundless bonus: 5 Free Night Awards after $3,000 in 3 months, valid up to 50,000 points per night (and you can top off each with 15,000 points). There is also a 2026 airline statement credit up to $100, and the no-fee Marriott Bold now offers 2 Free Night Awards after $1,000 in spend.
The Citi Strata Elite got a major boost — a 100,000-point welcome offer after $6,000 spend in three months, plus earning rates up to 12X and the only transferable link to American AAdvantage. Add credits that can be double dipped in the first cardmember year, Admirals Club passes, and full travel protections, and Citi’s new flagship card is suddenly a must-watch player in the premium rewards space.
Four premium cards, all with $600+ annual fees, might sound crazy — but they more than pay for themselves. Between stacked credits, lounge access, and reward strategies, here’s exactly how I turn those fees into profit every year.
Bilt will unveil a refreshed card lineup next week, but details are already leaking—including a three-card structure and new annual fees. The biggest change may be how “fee-free” rent and mortgage payments work: the perk appears to become conditional on enough non-rent spending (or offset with Bilt Cash), which radically changes the math for how you use the card.
Here’s why having a lot of authorized users, and why making mid-cycle payments to a card, can look like fraud. And behaviors undertaken by bad actors look suspicious when they’re legitimately undertaken by the rest of us.
A self-described Bilt investor is out with an unverified preview of what Bilt Card 2.0 could look like when the new Cardless-issued lineup is unveiled January 14, including rumors about how earning might change, whether benefits depend on Bilt status, and if the current five-transactions rule could be replaced by a minimum monthly spend requirement.
Your premium rewards cards come with a pile of credits, and as the year ends a lot of them are about to go unused. Here are practical ways readers are cashing out Chase, Amex, and Citi perks right now—even if you have no interest in the merchants the benefits are supposed to steer you toward.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
