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Offer extended to October 15, 2025
The no annual fee Mesa card is great. You earn points for your mortgage and don’t even have to pay the mortgage with the card.
- You just tell them how much your mortgage is, and they award you the points as long as you spend $1,000 on the card each month.
- And that’s pretty easy to do, because they have some amazing 3x earning categories. And the points transfer to some good partners.
Plus there’s a lot of value in the statement credits they offer (like for Costco membership and at Lowe’s), which is pretty much unheard of on a no annual fee card. They’re paying for my Costco membership so that’s real value. There’s also a $30 quarterly statement credit with Lowe’s, a $200 home maintenance credit with Thumbtack (also can be used for house cleaning or Christmas tree removal), and several more.
If there’s a knock on the card it’s that there hasn’t been an initial bonus offer most of the time, other than 5,000 bonus points for being referred to the card by an existing customer. (I think of the mortgage points as a signup bonus you receive every month, month after month, and not just for the first year.)
I got the card with no bonus, because it was such strong value. But right now there actually is a bonus, and it’ll be around for less than two weeks: through September 30 they are offering 50,000 points after $12,000 spend within 3 months when you apply and use promo code SEPT50.
The card earns 3x with home improvement expenses; heat, gas, electric, cable/internet utilities; home maintenance like cleaning, lawn care, pest prevention; decor and furniture; insurance and taxes; and daycare. Daycare, insurance and taxes are pretty amazing accelerators. Groceries and gas earn 2x. $12,000 is big spend but insurance, taxes and daycare will make it possible for many of you. The card is worth it without the bonus. A high spend requirement to earn one is much better than usual.
Here are their points transfer partners so far – they say they are adding more:
| Partner | Program | Transfer Rate |
| Accor | Accor Live Limitless | 1.5 : 1 |
| Air Canada | Aeroplan | 1 : 1 |
| Air India | Maharaja Club | 1:1 |
| Finnair | Finnair Plus | 1:1 |
| Hainan Airlines | Fortune Wings Club | 1:1 |
| SAS | EuroBonus | 1:1 |
| Thai Airways | Royal Orchid Plus | 1:1 |
| Vietnam Airlines | LotusMiles | 1:1 |
Their points are great to transfer to Avios, or for short haul United redemptions through Air India (which start at just 3,500 points for coach and 7,000 for domestic first class).
However Aeroplan is arguably the best Star Alliance frequent flyer program with highly accessible points and they partner broadly so wherever you have your points in various transferable currencies you can pool them here.
If your mortgage is $4,000/mo and you have to charge $1,000/mo presuming you are able to spend all of that on purchases that otherwise would have been unbonused then your overall return is 5x spend and you’d be earning 60,000 points/year.
Given you can earn 4,000 points/mo just off the $1,000 spend with the US Bank Smartly that’s a lot of effort and mental bookkeeping for 12,000 points/year vs applying for a card that gives you 100,000 points upfront. And this assumes your mortgage is $4,000, you totally optimize your spending, Mesa doesn’t change the rules in the next 8 year, discontinue the program or go out of business.
I’ve been on the waitlist for months. Do they ever clear people off it or is it like the AA upgrade list?
It’s worse because anyone can get a free card that pay 2 points/$1 on Amex, Cap1 and Citi.
So you are only getting 3k points per month extrea = 36k points per year.
Is that worth it?
Now consider the SUB $12k spend for 50k Mesa points. But instead you could be putting that spend towards a massive SUB on an Amex Biz card or Chase Biz card or even the Cap1 card, all of which have better transfer partners.
So is it worth wasting a 5/24 slot with the current slew of great card offers?
@Keith – just apply
Link no workie…
@gary when I go to apply, it just takes me to the app, which still says I’m on the waitlist.
Their functionality is a hot mess. Both P2 and I applied on 9/30 and eventually went from we’ll let you know to “Join the waitlist!”. At least it still shows the app is pending but I called literally about 20 times on 9/30 to even get someone on the line. And the additional number they have buried in T&Cs for you to call if you need to report card lost of stolen doesn’t work. It goes nowhere in a loop and the call eventually drops. Hopefully they get their act together because I’m willing to jump through these hoops for the card.
I click apply and it directs me to the app, where I downloaded it and created an account, and it asked me to join a wait-list.
I like @Tom’s earlier use of the phrase ‘no workie’… we need more ‘joy’… be like Tom.
How do I apply? It just takes me to the app and there’s only an option to join the waitlist. I don’t see where to apply.
Someone else should say what everyone else has said so far but slightly differently and maybe nothing will also happen again.
What are the benefits if you have no mortgage payment?
@DJ then use it to pay your ‘mortgage’…
@GlobaliseLaReconquista — Quite the reference. Are you trying to take back al-Andalus?
@ Gary — Are those United awards actually possible anymore? I thought that UA had pretty much eliminated space available to partners?
@Gene – United saver awards for partners were never great on domestic flights, but my sense is that the changes to inventory have largely been about international business class
This company is retarded. Make you sign up on the web, then install the app to apply, you install the app, and then it says waitlist. Only want it for SAS transfer.