Category Archives for Credit Cards.
American AAdvantage has a 40th anniversary promotion which runs June 7 through July 17 where AAdvantage members with co-brand credit cards issued by Santander Bank earn about 5 miles per dollar. This is one of the richest credit card promotions I have seen, ever, at least that wasn’t based on a mistake of sorts.
There are (3) things I did not realize about this card when I wrote about the 60,000 point initial bonus offer and the ability to spend towards elite status this year. All three are good for cardmembers.
Bank of American is offering 67,000 miles for a new Alaska Airlines Visa Signature: 42,000 after $2000 spend within 3 months, and 25,000 more miles after $8000 total spend within 6 months.
This is the biggest offer I’ve ever seen for an Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan card. And it also comes with a companion ticket.
American Express issues a small business card with Amazon, and Synchrony Financial issues the Amazon store card. Both issuers are bidding on the Amazon consumer co-brand business.
Vox runs a piece repeating the old trope that credit card rewards benefit the rich at the expense of the poor, because credit card processing fees result in higher prices – including for people who don’t pay by credit card. There’s a unique twist to the piece though since they call for taxing card rewards.
It comes with a TikTok making the argument, which turns out to be highly misleading.
This week only a new no annual fee rewards card, offering as much as 5x return in some categories, is offering a $500 initial bonus which is fairly unprecedented for this type of product. I interviewed the card issuer’s President to understand the strategy.
The American Express Black Card (Centurion Card) has a $5000 annual fee and you pay a $7500 initiation fee your first year as a cardmember, too.
They send cardmembers occasional gifts. How about a $500 gift card to use, because you’re rich and can afford an expensive credit card?
Cardless gives us a glimpse into how FinTech can disrupt credit card rewards. There hasn’t been a new major issuer since 1994. Now it’s possible to issue cards with smaller brands at lower cost, and rebate more to the customer.
Frontier Airlines won’t offer you business class award tickets to the Seychelles. But if you live in a Frontier Airlines city, and you’re reasonably likely to fly them, the credit card can be a great deal because every purchase on the card counts towards elite status with $1 of spend earning 1 elite qualifying mile.
And Frontier’s elite program offers real benefits – top tier 100,000 mile flyers see no fees at all, which is impressive with a fee-based ultra-low cost carrier.
What if I told you there’s a way to earn an effective 6% back on rideshare, streaming services, and some of your restaurant spend – on a no annual fee card – and you’ve never heard of it?
That’s because if you came across the new Manchester United Credit Card from fintech startup Cardless you might have skipped right over it, but that would have been a mistake.
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 »
