Category Archives for Credit Cards.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card was the ‘it’ card several years ago and it remains just as good. It had a generous initial bonus, earned double points on travel and dining, came with primary collision coverage when you rent cards, and points transfer to a variety of airline and hotel points programs.
So why the need to increase the bonus to 60,000 points after $4000 spend in the first 3 months of cardmembership?
The mobile payments market is going to converge on a much smaller number of players. Success requires adoption at scale, and while it may not be a winner take all market — Visa, Mastercard, American Express and even Discover have been able to co-exist and both Apple Pay and Samsung Pay are stronger — there’s not room for every entrant to succeed.
American Express is offering a 40% bonus on transfers from Membership Rewards to British Airways through October 1. They’re also offering the same 40% bonus on transfers to Iberia and to Aer Lingus, all of which are owned by the same company. I find that you need to log in to your Membership Rewards account to see the transfer bonuses.
A little over four years ago I first covered the City National Bank Crystal Visa Infinite Credit Card.
At the time it was the only Visa Infinite card you could apply for in the United States. It was interesting because the card offered a $250 airline fee credit, not just to primary cardholders but also to no annual fee authorized users, and also because it offered a Priority Pass for lounge access without guest limits. It’s not a great card for spending but there are other rich benefits as well.
She’s proposing to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to require credit scores to take into account more types of payments. Paying rent, cell phone bills, and utility bills on time would give you a better credit score. And a better credit score gives you better access to credit, the theory goes.
I’m going to show you one of the remarkable uses of Citi points. Would you believe 60,000 points is enough for (8) flights to Hawaii — and not just from the West Coast, but including connections from the East Coast as well?
Barclays has just increased the initial bonus offer for its AAdvantage Aviator Red Mastercard to (what’s tied for) a best-ever bonus offer of 60,000 miles after first purchase within 90 days and paying the card’s $99 annual fee — there is no minimum spend — but added on an unprecedented $99 companion ticket also after first purchase within 90 days.
I have a companion ticket from my Aviator Silver card and was just lamenting that I have only one as I plan a few domestic trips with my wife and infant daughter where American Airlines travel makes the most sense.
Capital One has just announced a 25% bonus on all miles transferred to Avianca LifeMiles in July.
Already on their fourth transfer bonus of the year, having just launched transferable points, and Capital One notes “limited-time offers like this will be another major perk for Venture and Spark Miles account holders to take advantage of.” So we can certainly expect to see more.
The 20% redemption discount is interesting, It could be well worth upgrading from a base United Explorer to this card — but wouldn’t be worth spending money on this card over more compelling alternative transferable points products.
Gone effective September 22 are rental car insurance; trip cancellation and interruption; travel accident insurance; trip delay; baggage delay; lost baggage; price rewind; 90 day return protection; Medical Evacuation coverage; Missed Ticket Protection; roadside assistance dispatch service and travel and emergency assistance.
Reader Daniel asks, how can Citi even do this?
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 »
