Wednesday Stuff

Lots to catch up on after yesterday’s Top 25…

  • If you haven’t joined American’s Business Extra program yet, now is a good time. You can collect points there and earn regular miles when flying. Stacking is good.
  • Get 50% off some reward nights from IHG. I might have already posted this. If so, just remember that I’m old and possibly senile.
  • Thanks to reader Dan, I have a few Southwest drink coupons expiring at the end of the year. First few people to email me early this morning will get one. As always, they’ll go very fast. If you don’t hear back by noon, you won’t be hearing back. Gone.
  • 250 points for Starwood mobile check-ins. Not a lot of points and not a lot of effort.
  • THIS IS CRAZY BUT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 3 MINUTES, THERE IS A JETBLUE SALE.
  • Also one from Alaska. Apologies for the yelling. After deep personal reflection for the last 12 seconds, it appears I am a weirdo.

 

 

The Top 25 Credit Cards

(If you see any errors, please let me know. I try to keep a full list, but it’s a lot of information and I do make mistakes)

 

Significant Changes Since Last Month:
-Added American Business link from Barclays.
-Removed Starwood Business link.
-Cathay Pacific up to 60,000 for more spending.
-There’s a new Barclays Arrival card but it’s not good enough for the list.
-$500 on the Amex SimplyCash Plus card. Plus the usual 5% at office stores.
-The Chase Freedom Unlimited deal is very strong for the right person.
-Multiple readers seeing 100,000-point Ink Preferred offer in-branch at Chase.
-Southwest personal cards are down to 40,000.

 

Before Playing This Game:
-Find a new hobby until you can pay off all balances each month.
-Take a second to look at what you’re applying for and confirm a bonus is what you expect.
-Get a screenshot of the bonus description in case you have issues collecting it later.
-Take 2 minutes to read the small print before applying.
(Look for “once in a lifetime,” “no bonus for cardholders in last 24 months,” etc.)
-Keep everything very organized in a spreadsheet. You’ll thank me later.

 

Time for my monthly Top 25 Credit Cards. It’s called “Top 25” out of tradition, but you’ll get many more links than that below. Again, if you’re a rookie, make sure you read The Newbie Guide. It’s a little outdated but many basic questions can still be answered there. For people running out of cards, remember there’s often a Business card option. Also, “churning” (getting the same card more than once) might be an option. The dates here were a guideline but things always tend to vary individually. If you’re new, it might be wise to start with Chase cards because of the limitations they’ll place on you soon.

Miles and points are far from an equal currency. 50,000 Delta SkyMiles are worth less to me than that amount from Alaska Airlines. 25,000 Hyatt points mean way more than the same number from Hilton. And so on. These links work right now (May 1st at midnight). If you read this later, many of the offers will have changed. Things move fast so read offer details and terms before applying. Especially all that small print when you’re trying to get bonuses more than once on the same card. Ok, enough chatter…here we go! My “Top 25” current credit cards are below.

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InterContinental PointBreaks

The not-as-good-as-before-but-totally-worth-looking-at IHG PointBreaks list is going to be ready here later today. Again, these aren’t 5,000 points across the board anymore. There are three price levels now (10,000 and 15,000 have been added). Obviously, if you find a good fit (the tough part), these can still be a hell of a deal. The new list should pop up by the afternoon.

10% Flight Discount, Round Two

I think I’ve written back to everyone who reached out about the first round of this deal. I’m happy to say the provider is ready to move on to round two (with a lower minimum). Again, here’s how it works:

  • The deal is for a 10% discount on any flight.
  • There’s no limit to how many times you can take advantage of it.
  • Any class of service.
  • Any airline other than Southwest.
  • The minimum purchase is now $1,000. Multiple passengers to reach that total is fine.

Not sure if there will be another round past this one. I think there’s a good chance this is as low as the minimum will get.  If you’re ready to go, send me an email and I’ll tell you how to get it done. Have a great weekend, nerds!

Pair Of Flight Deals

Los Angeles to New York is obviously a popular round-trip. I’ve based that sentence on zero actual statistics. It would be nice to talk about all the ways I carefully track how many readers mention that route…but, let’s be serious, I don’t even know what I had for breakfast today. Or yesterday. The point is…LA to New York (or vice versa) gets mentioned all the time. JetBlue has it available for an unusually low price this fall. Just under 200 bucks on nonstop flights is awesome. The main “catch” is being willing to fly in/out of Ontario airport (40 to 50 miles outside of Los Angeles).

If you’d rather use dongs (and go to the Caribbean), then this one from Delta is a nice deal too. Round-trips for as low as 12,000 miles.