The Top 25 Credit Cards

Time for the monthly edition of my Top 25 Credit Cards. Again, if you’re a newbie, make sure you read The Newbie Guide. Many of your questions will be answered there. Basic things like not applying for 3 Chase cards at the same time should be known before you continue. For people running out of cards, remember there’s often a Business card option. I listed a few here but not many, so it might be worth exploring more Business cards. Also, “churning” might be an option. The dates here are a guideline but things always tend to vary individually.

Miles and points aren’t an equal currency. 50,000 Delta Skymiles are worth less to me than 50,000 miles from pretty much any other airline. 25,000 Hyatt points are worth a ton more than 25,000 Hilton points. And so on. These links work right now (July 17th at midnight). If you read this later, many of the offers will have changed. Things move fast in this game so read the offer details before applying. Here we go! My Top 25 current credit cards in order are…

 

  • American Airlines Executive (Citibank)
    • Spend $10,000 in 3 months. Get 100,000 miles.
    • Lounge access plus $200 statement credit.
    • Big $450 fee is worth it for this amount of miles.
    • Dead. Since it might work again, I’m posting the Flyertalk link. Read the first post Wiki.
    • Lesser 75,000-mile version is here.
  • Ink Bold and/or Ink Plus (Chase)
    • Spend $5,000 in 3 months. Get 50,000 points.
    • The points transfer to United, Southwest, British, Hyatt, etc.
    • 5 times the points on purchases at office stores.
  • Sapphire (Chase)
    • Spend $3,000 in 3 months. Get 40,000 points.
    • Still very valuable points. See Ink cards above.
    • One of my favorite cards to use when I don’t have any spends to meet.
  • Starwood Preferred Guest aka SPG (American Express)
    • Spend $5,000 in 6 months. Get 25,000 points.
    • Incredible card. I really, really love cash + points for hotel stays.
  • Barclay Arrival (Barclays)
    • Spend $3,000 in 3 months. Get 40,000 miles.
    • One of the best cards for actual spending, as discussed here.
  • American Airlines cards (Citibank)
    • Spend $3,000 in 3 months. Get 50,000 miles.
    • Read the Flyertalk wiki post for the most current links.
  • US Airways (Barclays)
    • Spend $1. Get 40,000 miles.
    • It’s a good time to grab your American and US Airways miles.
  • Mercedes Benz Platinum (American Express)
    • Spend $3,000 in 3 months. Get 50,000 Amex Membership Rewards points.
    • Big $475 fee but benefits like global entry credit and $200 airline fee credit.
    • A no-fee for the first year Platinum card  is here.
  • Platinum (American Express)
    • Spend $3,000 in 3 months. Get 40,000 points.
    • Temporary increase from the usual 25,000 points.
    • Incredible benefits, but $450 annual fee. $200 in credits does help.
  • Marriott (Chase)
    • Spend $1,000 in 3 months. Get 70,000 points and a free night.
    • These point are a little underrated. Also a Business card option here.
  • Hilton Honors Reserve (Citibank)
    • Spend $2,500 in 4 months. Get 2 weekend nights. Best Hilton card.
    • Gold status while you have the card. Upgrades, breakfast, internet, etc.
    • They just added a $100 statement credit to this offer.
  • British Airways (Chase)
    • Spend $2,000 in 3 months. Get 50,000 points.
    • 100,000-point offer recently ended (for now).
  • Club Carlson Premier (US Bank)
    • Spend $2,500 in 90 days. Get 85,000 points.
    • Great hotel card and not from the usual issuers.
  • InterContinental Hotel aka IHG aka Priority Club (Chase)
    • Spend $1,000. Get 80,000 points.
    • One of the most underrated hotel cards out there.
    • This is now a MasterCard. Watch the 90 second video using code MIAMBXWF09.
  • Hyatt (Chase)
    • Spend $1,000 in 3 months. Get 2 nights at any Hyatt.
    • Even more valuable after the point devaluation.
  • Fairmont Hotel (Chase)
    • Spend $3,000 in 3 months. Get 2 nights and breakfast at any Fairmont.
    • Again, many of these hotels are very expensive.
  • Business Gold Rewards (Amex)
    • Spend $5,000 in 3 months. Get 50,000 points.
    • Offer is usually less, but occasionally reaches 75,000 points with a $10,000 spend.
  • United Airlines (Chase)
    • Log in and see if you are targeted for the 50,000-mile offer.
    • A good business version can be found here.
  • Alaska Airlines (Bank of America)
    • Spend $1. Get 25,000 miles.
    • Possible 30,000-mile offer here. 40,000 for elites.
    • Bank of America cards can be MUCH more “churnable” than most.
  • Virgin Atlantic (Bank of America)
    • 50,000 miles for spending $2,500 and adding users.
    • Again, Bank of America is more churnable than most.
    • Global Entry credit if you’re looking to save the TSA PreCheck fee.
  • SimplyCash Business (Amex)
    • A very strong cashback card option.
    • 3% on chosen category (including gas) and huge 5% at office stores.
  • Premier Gold (Amex)
    • Possible 50,000 points, rather than the usual 25,000.
    • A bit of a pain, but you can see if you’re targeted.
  • Propel (Wells Fargo)
    • Spend $3,000 in 3 months. Get 40,000 points.
    • A decent new offering, and again, it’s always good to see cards from different banks.
    • Here’s a solid Business card from Wells Fargo.
  • Hawaiian Airlines (Barclays)
    • Spend $1,000 in 3 months. Get 35,000 miles.
    • Business version is here.
  • FlexPerks (US Bank)
    • Spend $3,500. Get 20,000 FlexPoints.
    • Thanks to Christopher F. for getting me to add this card to the list.
  • Venture (Capital One)
    • Spend $3,000 in 3 months. Get 40,000 miles.
    • Up from 20,000 miles.
  • Frontier Airlines (Barclays)
    • Spend $500 in 3 months. Get 40,000 miles.
    • Frontier miles aren’t for everyone.
  • Thank You (Citibank)
    • Weird offer. 20,000 points for spending $2,000 in 3 months. Then 30,000 more points for spending $3,000 in first 3 months of 2nd year.
    • Bonuses on this card go up/down often.
  • Ritz Carlton (Chase)
    • Spend $2,000 in 3 months. Get a free night.
    • Huge $395 annual fee, but nice benefits including $200 airline credit.
    • 2 MUCH better possible offers here. One with no fee and the other for 140,000 points.
  • Korean (US Bank)
    • Spend $1. Get 15,000 miles.
    • Down from 30,000-mile offer.
    • Business card is here.
  • Delta (American Express)
    • See if you’re targeted for a 50,000 mile offer.
    • Delta Skymiles are…well…not good.
  • Wyndham (Barclays)
    • Spend $1,000 in 90 days. Get 45,000 miles.
    • Offer goes up and down. We’re in an “up” time right now.
  • Hilton Honors (American Express)
    • Spend $750 in 3 months. Get 40,000 points.
    • Hilton points are definitely not what they used to be.
  • Hilton Honors Surpass (American Express)
    • Spend $3,000 in 3 months. Get 60,000 points.
    • Get the previous card, and you’ll get tons of offers to upgrade to this one.
  • Hilton Honors (Citibank)
    • Spend $1,000 in 4 months. Get 40,000 points.
    • Between the 4 cards, you have LOTS of Hilton options.
    • They added a $50 credit for this one.
  • Prestige (Citibank)
    • Spend $2,000 in 3 months. Get 30,000 points.
    • Nice benefits including $200 credit, but huge $450 annual fee.
  • Freedom (Chase)
    • Worth having in your collection for the 5% quarterly bonuses.
    • No reason to close this one.
  • Virgin America (Comenity)
    • 2 different card offers I discussed here.
    • Issued by Comenity Bank, which is the best thing about these cards.
  • LAN (US Bank)
    • 20,000 miles for opening. 3 upgrade coupons each year.
    • Down from a 40,000-mile offer.
  • Choice Hotel (Barclays)
    • You’re truly running out of cards if you’re still reading this far.
    • I keep this as the last card mostly out of tradition.

Recently Dropped:

  • Southwest (Chase) – Dropped from 50,000 to 25,000 points. Should bounce back soon.
  • Lufthansa (Barclays) – 50,000-mile offer ended. Again, I expect it to come back.
  • LifeMiles (US Bank) – Dropped from 40,000 to 20,000 miles.
  • AirTran (Chase) – This one looks to be gone for good.
  • Best Western (Barclays) – Again, who really cares?

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Making Your Voice Heard

Today, Marriott devalued a brand new program that was already pretty weak. United hammered us recently. Hilton sucks more than ever before. And Delta is an absolute joke.

You’re tired of it, right?

Even Southwest points are worth less than they were a year ago.

So, what’s the point?

Well, it’s pretty simple. You guys have power and aren’t using it. I’m tired of seeing mute sheep everywhere I look. Whining and being passive is for children. Grow up. Be loyal to hotels like Starwood and Hyatt, rather than Hilton and Marriott. Don’t give any of your hard-earned cash to Delta. And try complaining about devaluations instead of going with the flow. If you don’t speak up (with your mouth and your wallet), part of the blame needs to fall on you.

This goes for everything. I’m talking about an all-purpose way of life. If you don’t like something, STOP SUPPORTING IT. That should be common sense, but there’s way too many complainers who don’t actually do anything. Are you tired of ruthless, bow-tie wearing dorks who kill every deal? Then STOP READING THEIR BLOG. Sick of Kim Kardashian? Hmm…maybe you should QUIT WATCHING HER SHOW. An employee was rude to you? Oh, I don’t know…LEAVE A NEGATIVE REVIEW. Or maybe TAKE YOUR BUSINESS ELSEWHERE.

My point is simple. If you don’t like something, take some action. Stop being part of the problem.

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Nice Ritz Offer

Some of you are always on the lookout for Ritz Carlton promos. You know what? I can’t blame you. Ritz continues to be incredible…truly one of the best hotel chains around. If you do have stays coming up, take a look and see if you’re targeted for the promo here. With 5 stays before November, you’ll pick up a bonus 50,000 Marriott/Ritz Carlton points. This can be doubled for 100,000 points if you have 10 stays coming up. Definitely not a great one for most of you, but a few should really benefit.

ritz-carlton

Big American Offer Still Going

I got some emails about the 100,000-mile offer dying. One of them was borderline hysterical. Is it dead? Is it? Huh? The answer is “not for now.” But, as with every other deal, death is only a matter of time. There aren’t many huge offers in this game, guys. You have to hit certain things hard if you want the big benefits. Getting one of these cards is fine, but you might be able to do (much) better. Keep updated with the always-snarky Flyertalk conversation here. The Wiki first post will have any working links for you. Good job to all you heavy hitters on this one.

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Meeting

I’ve had a bunch of jobs in my life. Most of them were…how do I say it…

…shitty.

But, to be fair, I’ve had some incredible experiences along the way too. Looking at it, I realize that my favorite jobs all seemed to involve teaching in some way. Teaching kids…teaching adults…teaching tennis. It always came back to teaching. Man, I love those memories. I think it’s probably the reason for this blog. I’ve lost more money than I’ve made here, so it’s really about you guys. This cycle of learning…teaching…giving and taking. It just feels right to me.

Over the last few months, my interactions with MileNerd readers has reached an all-time high. Throughout every day, I’m having multiple conversations over all media with you guys. I used to think this would get old, but it really hasn’t. Actually, it’s invigorating me. So, I want to take baby steps into the next evolution of the blog. As some of you know, I grew up in West Virginia. I’ll be visiting my family soon and would like to offer to sit down with my readers in the Morgantown area. Depending how it goes, I’ll continue this to Los Angeles and a few other travel stops. I’ve been asked to do this kind of thing before, but chose not to. What can I say, times have changed. Let’s see how it goes…

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