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:
-Updated Delta links.
-Added Iberia link.
-Chase Ink Cash offering $500 bonus.
-Starwood Business card dropped from 35,000 to 25,000.
-Removed Barclays Arrival for now (until new version is available).
-United down from 55,000 to 45,000.
-FlexPerks Olympic offer ended.
-Cathay Pacific up to 60,000 with more spending.
-LATAM card added 5,000 more miles for multiple transactions.

 

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 It’s a little outdated but many basic questions can still be answered there.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 (April 2nd 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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Nerds With Inks

Sunday through Saturday, nerds with Inks can head nerdily to Office Depot/Max again. The deal is their $10 off $300+ in gift cards promo. It’s for Mastercards this time. As always, the idea is using an Ink (or Amex SimplyCash Plus) to take advantage of 5 points per dollar at office stores. The best option is buying a pair of $200 cards and seeing how many times you can sweet talk your way into repeating it. In-store only. Historically, the people willing to walk into more stores and make friends with more employees have done best with these. Have a great weekend, nerds!

Hotel Promo

If you have no excitement about the options available with your ThankYou points…the $50 promo for hotels in the Citibank Travel Center is worth looking at. Code CITI50 gets you 50 bucks off for 2 nights. And you can use points to cover the balance. I brushed this deal off, but after talking to a few readers about it yesterday, I stand corrected. The math gets pretty good for those looking at low-priced properties. Some of you did exceptionally well with it in places like Thailand.

 

United Promo

Thanks to reader Julie for sharing another targeted United promo. Each offer will vary (mine was pretty average – 7,500 bonus miles for booking a flight, checking a bag, and shopping). I can’t remember exactly when we saw the last one of these, but we’ve seen it before. Definitely worth investing 10 seconds to see what your offer is.

Take Screenshots

I’ve heard from a few people this year who didn’t get credit card bonuses they were promised. Some instances were about misreading the terms. One reader just forgot to meet the spend in time. But the rest all seemed to have legitimate complaints. I posted some tips a few years ago on how not to get screwed over. Those might help. But, for everyone, I strongly recommend taking a screenshot of the terms whenever you apply for credit cards. It only takes a few seconds and will make your life much easier when you have issues with a bonus. Personally, I just keep a Word document called “Screenshots” and dump everything there.

The main culprit lately seems to be American Express. Some of their card offers don’t have any “once in a lifetime” language in the terms. But I’ve seen (on multiple occasions) people being denied a bonus because they were previous cardholders. This is either incredibly shady or incredibly disorganized. You just can’t promise a bonus in writing and then deny it months later by making up new terms after the fact. Amex needs to figure out why this keeps happening. And you guys need to protect yourselves. One great way to do that is by taking screenshots of the terms. Do it every single time you apply for a card. Read the terms. Take a screenshot. Rest easy.