Category Archives for Credit Cards.
I may have mentioned this before, but I don’t think so. Via Free Frequent Flyer Miles, Northwest’s co-branded Visa product is matching the standard signup incentives offered by United and American — 20,000 miles with first purchase (though US Bank won’t waive the fee for the first year like Chase and Citibank will). Still, if you’re going to sign up for a Northwest Visa this looks like the best offer.
Delta American Express card holders should try this link. There’s a targeted ‘renewal bonus’ of 7500 miles. It’s not clear who or how many personal cards are eligible. I would have expected folks who are coming up on their renewal date to be the ones targeted — get 7500 miles a couple months after your card renews — but according to Flyertalk even someone with a brand new card was eligible. It’s a free 7500 miles if you’re able to successfully register your card.
American Express is offering a 20% bonus (up to 10,000 bonus miles) on spending with their Delta card from March 1 through April 30, 2006. Registration is required by April 30, and bonus miles should post eight to twelve weeks after that.
Chase is offering the United Visa free the first year with a 20,000 mile signup bonus and an additional 5000 bonus miles when you fly a paid United roundtrip by March 15. Certainly the first purchase bonus will post for everyone, and the fee will be waived for anyone using the link. The 5000 mile bonus for a paid roundtrip is something of a question mark — since the fine print of the offer indicates a United promotion code (MPGJ15) it may be only for members whose Mileage Plus accounts have been pre-registered. So your mileage may vary on this piece. (Hat tip to Don.)
The Priority Club Visa is available through February 28 offering 30,000 points with first purchase and fee waived the first year. Since it only offers one point per dollar spent it’s not a great place to put spending. The offer is three points per dollar at Priority Club hotel properties, however, and there’s a 10,000 point bonus for spending $15,000 on the card in a year.
The new USAirways Visa site is operational. It looks like a pretty sweet card, especially for the first year of cardmembership: 15,000 bonus miles with first purchase Up to 10,000 bonus miles for balance transfer 10,000 miles towards Preferred® status No fee for 2 years 1.5 miles per dollar spent for the first year Preferred check-in and boarding One complimentary US Airways Club® pass per year $75 off one annual US Airways Club® membership 0% introductory APR for 6 months on balance transfers No annual mileage cap Annual Certificate redeemable for two $99 Companion tickets
I’ve written previously about USAirways dumping Bank of America in favor of Juniper Bank (over $400 million cash infusion from the new bank certainly helps with that decision). The credit card was supposed to be available January 1, but the website still shows a ‘coming in 2006’ graphic. I’m anxiously awaiting details like annual fee, signup bonus, and elite qualifying miles for reaching a spending threshold, but I do know that it will offer 1.5 miles per dollar spent for the first 12 months of cardmembership and it will give 3 miles per dollar spent with USAirways (industry standard is 2).
Continental is giving away elite status to people signing up for their co-branded Mastercard. Register on the Continental website with offer code 58038 (for Platinum status) then go to the ‘Apply Now’ page and enter your OnePass account number and PIN code and complete the application by December 31, 2005 (so hurry – just 5 days left). You need to make your first purchase by March 1, 2006. Other offer cards are 58039 for Gold status and 58040 for Silver status. The offer is intended to be targeted. The terms and conditions say This offer is non-transferable and is intended only for the person to whom it was sent. However, the website lets anyone register for the promo. So this one is a big ‘Your Mileage May Vary’. Print out the registration confirmation and all…
As a companion to the best ever American Airlines Mastercard offer, Citibank is also offering 20,000 bonus miles and fee waived the first year on its Business Mastercard.
There’s a new Priority Club Visa offer which is better than the standard 10,000 points with first purchase: 15,000 bonus points with first purchase Free $20 statement credit with first purchase 10,000 bonus points after spending $15,000 on the card each year No fee the first year ($29/year thereafter) Gold status in the Priority Club program (which doesn’t offer much) It’s still not a great card to put large amounts of spending on. It only offers 1 Priority Club point per dollar spent (3 per dollar at Priority Club hotel properties, e.g. Intercontinental and Holiday Inn). I’d take almost any other card’s earning strength. But the offer is an improved one and the signup bonus is nice. And the earning isn’t bad when earning 3 points per dollar spent or if you put exactly the…
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 »
