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.
- 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.
- Ink Bold and/or Ink Plus (Chase)
- Spend $5,000 in 3 months. Get 60,000 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.
- 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.
- Southwest (Chase)
- Spend $2,000 in 3 months. Get 50,000 points.
- Business card links are at the same link. Scroll to the bottom.
- You don’t want to wait much longer to start the Companion Pass process.
- Lufthansa (Barclays)
- Through the end of June, spend $5,000 in 90 days. Get 50,000 miles.
- This one comes and goes pretty often.
- Mercedes Benz Platinum (American Express)
- Spend $3,000 in 3 months. Get 50,000 Amex Membership Rewards points.
- Giant $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.
- Starwood Preferred Guest aka SPG (American Express)
- Spend $5,000 in 6 months. Get 25,000 points.
- Incredible card. I always hold either the Personal or Business version.
- I really, really love cash + points for hotel stays.
- 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 as long as 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 $1,000 in 3 months. Get 2 nights and breakfast at any Fairmont.
- Again, many of these hotels are very expensive.
- Barclay Arrival (Barclays)
- Spend $1,000 in 3 months. Get 40,000 miles.
- One of the best cards for actual spending, as discussed here.
- 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)
- Virgin Atlantic (Bank of America)
- 50,000 miles for spending $1 and adding users.
- Again, Bank of America is more churnable than most.
- Just added a Global Entry credit, in case you’re looking to save the TSA PreCheck application fee.
- SimplyCash Business (Amex)
- A very strong cashback card option.
- Get 3% on chosen category (including gas stations) 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 solid 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.
- 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 30,000 miles.
- Good until the end of May.
- Delta (American Express)
- See if you’re targeted for a 50,000 mile offer.
- Delta Skymiles are…well…not good.
- 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.
- 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.
- Freedom (Chase)
- Worth having in your collection for the 5% quarterly bonuses.
- No decent sign-up bonus right now, so no good spot on the list.
- Choice Hotel (Barclays)
- You’re truly running out of cards if you’re still reading this far.
- I leave this as the last card mostly out of tradition.
Recently Dropped:
- LifeMiles (US Bank) – Dropped from 40,000 to 20,000 miles.
- AirTran (Chase) – This one looks to be gone for good.
- Venture (Capital One) – 50,000-mile offer ended.
- Wyndham (Barclays) – Because, who really cares?
- Business Gold Rewards (American Express) – No good bonus. You’ll see one soon.
- Best Western (Barclays) – Again, who really cares?