During an on - going analysis of hotel loyalty programs, I decided to take a look
at the credit card bonuses each offered.
Not exact matches
«If you sign up to get really great
bonus points with an airline, it may not be your best
card in the long run if you don't use that airline,» points out Amber Stubbs, senior managing editor
at credit card comparison site CardRatings.com.
In its survey, WalletHub also singled out the Lufthansa
credit card as the best for airline rewards, due to its signing
bonus of 35,000 miles if you spend
at least $ 1,000 in the first three months — a value of about $ 780 in airfare, according to WalletHub's calculations — as well as the lack of foreign transaction fees.
The
card offers a
bonus of 25,000 points when you make
at least $ 1,000 in net purchases within 60 days of your account opening which can be redeemed for a $ 250 statement
credit towards travel purchases.
Some travel
credit cards have no
bonus at all, but the best travel rewards
cards offer
bonuses of up to 100,000 miles or points, sometimes worth thousands of dollars in free travel.
50,000
BONUS POINTS after you spend $ 4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening $ 300 Annual Travel
Credit as reimbursement for travel purchases such as airfare and hotels charged to your
card 3X points on travel and dining
at restaurants worldwide & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
Some fixed rate cash back
cards, like the Citi ® Double Cash
Credit Card, don't offer any introductory
bonuses at all.
The Sapphire Preferred's sign - up
bonus is
at its lowest redemption level worth $ 500 in statement
credit cards, but your 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points are worth $ 625 in travel if you redeem through Chase's travel portal.
Coming in
at just $ 200 (when used as statement
credit towards travel purchases), it is higher than virtually all cash back
credit card bonus offers.
Depending on the way a rewards program is structured, you may be able to earn points by using your
credit card to book flights and pay for other travel expenses, shopping through your
card's online
bonus mall and making purchases
at certain retailers, hotels and restaurants.
The Bank of America ® Travel Rewards
credit card offers 1.5 points on every dollar spent and a signup
bonus: 20,000 online
bonus points if you make
at least $ 1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening - that can be a $ 200 statement
credit toward travel purchases.
The sign - up
bonus for the Marriott Rewards ® Premier Business
Credit Card is often similar to the personal version
at around 80,000 Marriott Rewards points.
This
credit card dishes out a lucrative $ 150 new cardholder cash rewards
bonus offer and one of the lower spending thresholds we've come across, requiring cardholders to spend
at least $ 500 on purchases in the first 90 days.
Individuals with a rock - solid
credit history have a wealth of high - quality
credit cards at their disposal, including those with the largest new member
bonuses, highest cash - back rates, and longest 0 % intro APR offers.
To get the
bonus points, you'll have to charge
at least $ 5,000 to your new
credit card within the first three months from account opening.
For instance,
at Bank of America, customers with $ 25,000 across their checking, savings and investment accounts get a 25 % rewards
bonus on a Bank of America
credit card, a $ 200 discount on mortgage fees, and a 0.25 % interest - rate deduction on auto loans.
Generally, it is recommended that if you spend
at least $ 24,000 + per year with your
credit card, the FlexPerks Travel rewards
card is the better
card between the two (U.S. Bank grants a 3,500 FlexPoints
bonus at this level that can cover the annual fee).
The
card also dishes out a big new cardholder
bonus worth $ 500 in travel statement
credits (50,000
bonus miles), when spending
at least $ 3,000 on new purchases within three months of account opening.
The Capital One ® Quicksilver ® Cash Rewards
Credit Card, unlike the NHL ® Discover it ® Card, comes with a $ 150 bonus if users spend at least $ 500 in purchases within the first 3 months of card members
Card, unlike the NHL ® Discover it ®
Card, comes with a $ 150 bonus if users spend at least $ 500 in purchases within the first 3 months of card members
Card, comes with a $ 150
bonus if users spend
at least $ 500 in purchases within the first 3 months of
card members
card membership.
Currently, the welcome
bonus on the Marriott Rewards ® Premier
Credit Card stands
at 100,000 points.
To qualify for the early spend
bonus on the Capital One ® Venture ® Rewards
Credit Card you must spend
at least $ 3,000 within the first 3 months of account opening.
We rank the Chase Sapphire Reserve ® as the
credit card with the one of the best sign - up
bonus, which we value
at $ 750.
I've also picked up two new
cards — the Amex Blue Cash Preferred
card (which is top dog in my current
credit card strategy and the Chase Sapphire Preferred
card which hopefully will get
at least half of my family to our cruise port next year (due to a big sign - up
bonus.)
To find dozens of sign - up
bonuses valued
at up to $ 1,000, you can use our tool to sift through
credit card sign - up
bonuses.
The Ritz - Carlton Rewards ®
Credit Card grants you quite unusual signup
bonus — E-certificate for 2 complimentary nights
at Tier 1 - 4 Ritz - Carlton hotels instead of regular reward points.
In fact, some cash back
credit cards offer no
bonuses at all.
To receive the
bonus, you must: (i) qualify for a Checking account; (ii) open a new Checking account with a deposit of $ 25 or more; (iii) satisfy one or more of the following account requirements within the first full calendar month after account opening: have a minimum individual balance of $ 5,000 or minimum household balance of $ 10,000, make 5 or more purchases of
at least $ 15 with your CEFCU Debit Mastercard linked to this new Checking account, or have direct deposits totaling $ 500 or more on this Checking account or associated Savings account; (iv) agree to receive your CEFCU account statements electronically, via CEFCU eStatements (excludes
Credit Card eStatements), (v) maintain your open Checking account in good standing as of the
bonus fulfillment date, and (vi) have a valid Social Security or Tax Identification number.
For frequent travelers looking for a generous rewards rate — 5x points per $ 1 spent on airfare purchased directly from airlines or booked through American Express Travel and on hotels booked on amextravel.com — as well as high - end perks like $ 200 a year in
credit to offset airline incidental expenses, a 60,000 point welcome
bonus, and Gold status
at Hilton and Starwood hotels, the Platinum
Card ® from American Express is a card that should definitely be on your ra
Card ® from American Express is a
card that should definitely be on your ra
card that should definitely be on your radar.
Unsurprisingly, we found that Chase was
at the top of the list when it comes to the best
credit card bonus offers.
Our study encompassed
credit cards with
bonuses span the gamut from zero to round - trip international tickets that can be valued
at $ 3,000 + for some of the premium
credit cards.
Despite this first year promotional rewards rate, the value will not surpass most decent introductory
bonuses from competing
credit cards unless cardholders spend
at least $ 1,000 per month.
Kenneth Lin, from CreditKarma.com, says he himself opens and closes
at least one
card per year in order to snag
bonus miles and cancel the account before annual fees are assessed and that turning over 10
cards in a short period of time is likely to push a good
credit score into an average or poor one.
Otherwise, the Chase Sapphire Preferred emerges as the better general travel
credit card because of its higher earnings rate, 25 % travel redemption
bonus, and the ability to transfer miles
at a 1:1 ratio to other loyalty programs.
These limited time offers would, no doubt, affect the average
credit card bonus at any point in time.
The perks include: unlimited free transactions
at non-U.S. Bank ATMs, up to a $ 1,000 discount on a home mortgage, no annual fee for a home equity line of
credit, up to 25 free trades with a new self - directed brokerage account through U.S. Bankcorp Investments, an affiliate of the bank, free DepositPoint transactions, and a new account
bonus when you open a select U.S. Bank or FlexPerks
credit card.
However, you should check to see if your loyalty
credit card pays extra
bonus points for shopping
at its corresponding shopping portal.
The median
credit card bonus, within the data we examined, is valued
at $ 150.
By contrast, the old JetBlue
credit card came with a bonus of just 20,000 TrueBlue points which, at a value of $ 0.012 per point, totals just $ 240 — 52 % lower than the Chase Sapphire Preferred ® Card bo
card came with a
bonus of just 20,000 TrueBlue points which,
at a value of $ 0.012 per point, totals just $ 240 — 52 % lower than the Chase Sapphire Preferred ®
Card bo
Card bonus.
Apply for a Wyndham Rewards
credit card to get a 15,000 - point sign - up
bonus and earn 5 points per $ 1 spent
at Wyndham Rewards properties, 2 points per $ 1 spent on grocery and utility stores, and 1 point per $ 1 spent on all other purchases.
Even if you are taking advantage of the abovementioned relationship
bonus at its peak, you will have to spend around $ 57,000 with the Bank of America Travel Rewards
credit card before it starts making up the difference in
bonuses between it and the Barclays Arrival Plus ® World Elite Mastercard ®.
To qualify for the early spend
bonus on the Capital One ® Venture ® Rewards
Credit Card you must spend
at least $ 3,000 within the first 3 months of account opening.
If you have just one purchase to make
at Bass Pro Shops in the next three months, it will be better to get the Chase Freedom ® and get the
bonus, instead of earning the 5 % through the Bass Pro Shops ® Outdoor Rewards ®
Credit Card.
The BankAmericard Travel Rewards
card comes with a 1.5 % rewards rate on all purchases, and a decently sized welcome
bonus of 20,000 rewards points (worth $ 200 as statement
credit towards travel purchases)- to qualify, users must make
at least $ 1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of
card membership.
Among other things, Platinum Elite Status membership entitles users to complimentary room upgrades (subject to availability), and a 50 %
bonus to base points (the ones received from simply staying
at IHG properties, not the
credit card rewards points).
If you spend
at least $ 10,000 on your Sprit
credit card annually, you'll receive an extra 5,000 anniversary
bonus miles.
This
card also has up to 1,200
bonus ThankYou Points per year for paying on time and staying under your
credit limit and you can earn points for every $ 1 spent
at restaurants, books, music, movies and 1 point for every $ 1 spent on all other purchases.
Most other Amex reward
credit cards make up for this fact by increasing the rate
at which you earn points with every purchase, or offering welcome
bonuses.
But if you want to just stay on the surface and do one
credit card bonus at a time to get easy rewards every few months, that's okay too.
At first I wasn't so sure about about this «2 Months Interest» thing because I never paid any
credit card interests, where does the
bonus come from?
Earning a 1 % reward rate on all purchases is better than all the monthly
bonus offers from store
credit cards as a household can only spend so much money
at one retailer each month.