Category Archives for Credit Cards.
Chase already has current transfer bonuses to Marriott and British Airways. They had a transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic last month.
Now they’re running a 50% bonus on transfers to IHG One Rewards through August 15. You shouldn’t take advantage of this bonus (and definitely shouldn’t ever transfer Chase points to IHG without a bonus).
Wells Fargo claims Autograph is their “best points card ever.” I’m surprised their lawyers allowed the claim, because it’s so obviously not accurate.
Capital One launched its entertainment portal in March, and there have been some exceptional deals for cardmembers on Major League Baseball on the back of the card issuer’s 9-figure sponsorship deal. Also in March Capital One launched their new dining portal with curated restaurant recommendations and set-aside tables in 11 U.S. cities.
Both of these have in common special opportunities for being a Capital One cardmember in bigger and more branded ways than Capital One has offered in the past. And they help Capital One become more of a lifestyle brand for its cardmembers, creating more than a transactional relationship.
Bilt Rewards, which only just launched its travel portal with Expedia last week, has another big partnership out already with Amazon.com. They’re offering points for linking accounts and for first redemption with Amazon.
Bilt has come a long way now that they not only keep adding transfer partners and redemption options but (1) have Wells Fargo backing as their card issuer, (2) have partnered with Expedia, and (3) also now with Amazon. They’ve gone from program launch to the big leagues in just one year.
Cardmembers earn a total of ten points per dollar using their card for international purchases (purchases made outside the United States) between July 1 and September 30, 2022, up to 15,000 points ($1500 spend). No registration required.
Bilt has launched a travel portal so that – in addition to transferring points to partners like American, United, and Hyatt – Bilt Rewards members can book their preferred trip (whatever it is) and pay with points instead of cash.
Each point is valued at 1.25 cents apiece when spent this way. That beats most credit card portal values, and matches Chase with its Sapphire Preferred Card.
The President of Cardless was once an intern at The Points Guy so bringing a travel card into his portfolio of products is certainly a big deal there. This isn’t LATAM’s first U.S. co-brand. They were partners with U.S. Bank. So Cardless taking on the LATAM product is another sign of strength for the startup.
The new LATAM products make earning elite status easy.
British Airways “Travel Together” vouchers can be earned using the airline’s co-brand credit cards. They let a companion travel for no additional miles when redeeming points. The first passenger pays normal miles, taxes and surcharges while the second passenger is charged taxes and surcharges but no miles.
They can now be used for a solo traveler to save 50% off the miles for an award.
Bilt Rewards – even if you don’t have their credit card, which lets you earn points for paying rent – has publicly launched the option for residents of participating buildings to have their on-time rent payments reported to their credit. This is expected to generate an average credit score increase of 60 points for those who opt in.
The United ClubSM Infinite Card is the best way for most United flyers to gain access to United’s clubs. It has a $525 annual fee and currently has an offer to earn 100,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That makes getting the card a no-brainer for many who can do so.
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 »
