Via Miles to Memories, and many other blogs reporting this currently, American Express has now added the “once per lifetime” rule to the terms and conditions of its business card applications. Because this rule was already in place for personal cards, this effectively ends all credit card churning with American Express.

Going forward, I advise against applying for any American Express credit cards unless there is an increased bonus promotion or you receive a targeted offer. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

1. Targeted offers (usually received via postal mail) often do not contain the “once per lifetime” language, and can potentially be churned. Check the terms and conditions carefully if you receive one in the mail.
2. Many American Express increased bonus offers are semi-targeted. The links, which I have on my Credit Cards page, will not always show you the best offer when you click on them. Sometimes you need to open them in an incognito window to see the better offer, and sometimes you won’t be able to see the better offer at all, no matter what you try.

Also, for the time being, I’ve removed the direct links to the Platinum and Business Platinum cards on my Credit Cards page. I will continue to do this for any American Express offerings that I consider to be subpar.

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Direct Link (must be recognized as an existing U.S. Bank customer by their system to apply, which can take up to 35 days after opening an account with them)

U.S. Bank has launched a new credit card called the Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card. Its signup bonus is 50,000 points (worth $750 in travel) after $4,500 spend in 90 days.

Major features include:

• $400 annual fee
• $325 in travel credits every cardmember year
• 3x points on mobile wallet purchases (Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay, Microsoft Wallet)
• 3x points on travel purchases (airlines, hotels, car rentals, taxis, limousines, passenger trains, cruise lines)
• Points worth 1.5 cents each toward airfare, hotels, car rentals when booked through U.S. Bank’s Rewards Center
• Primary auto rental collision damage waiver
• $100 fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓
• No foreign transaction fees

The travel credits make the annual fee on this card effectively $75. Whether this card is worth keeping long-term will depend on how much value you can get from the bonus categories, particularly the 3x points on mobile wallet payments, which is unique.

There are some other benefits, such as a Priority Pass membership, Gogo Inflight Wi-Fi passes, etc., but I don’t value those much because you can get similar or better from other credit cards.

The post U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card – 50,000 Point Signup Bonus (Worth $750 in Travel) appeared first on Miles Briefs.

Starting June 1, 2017, this refund will be reduced to 35%, reducing the effective value of MR points to 1.538 cents per point. There will also be a new cap of 500,000 points rebated per year. In most cases, MR points will be best used for transfers to airline partners, which is how it was before this benefit was added.

Discussion

Any flights booked prior to June 1, 2017 will continue to receive the 50% rebate, even if you are flying at a later date.

The amount of time it takes for the rebate to post is also being increased, though we currently don’t know by how much.

New cardholders (including those who have upgraded from another type of card) who applied between October 6, 2016 and May 31, 2017, will still receive the old benefits (50% rebate, no cap) for one year from the date their cards were issued.

HT: The Points Guy & Doctor of Credit

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One more catch-up post from my vacation.

American Express has announced two new enhancements to their Platinum card lineup, one for their personal card and the other for their business card.

Link to Press Release

American Express Platinum Card (Personal)

Effective October 6, the Platinum Card will now earn 5x Membership Rewards points on flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel.

This is a pretty straightforward benefit, though one key takeaway is that purchases through United’s MileagePlus X app will likely qualify for 5x points. I’ll try out a test purchase and report back later.

American Express Business Platinum Card

Also effective October 6, Business Platinum cardholders will now earn 50% points back when using Membership Rewards Pay with Points through American Express Travel to book a flight with their selected airline. They will also receive the benefit when booking a first or business class ticket with any airline.

This benefit should be very lucrative for many people, as Membership Rewards points are now effectively worth 2 cents per point when redeemed for travel. There are, of course, the following caveats:

• The flight must be with the same airline you choose for the annual $200 airline fee credit or in business/first class, in which case it can be with any airline.
• If the flight is with Southwest or Spirit Airlines, you must call (800) 553-9497 to activate this benefit.
• The flight cannot be part of a travel package or booked with the American Express U.S. Representative Travel Network.

It was also announced that Business Platinum cardholders will now earn 1.5x Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on any purchase of $5,000 or more, though I don’t find this new perk as exciting as the other two above.

The post Upgrades to American Express Platinum & Business Platinum Cards appeared first on Miles Briefs.

For those of you who aren’t new to this game, I’ve also included a reference toward the bottom called Which Miles Should I Use? to show you the best miles to use for different regions of the world in economy, business, and first class.

And, lastly, a new page I’ve added today is called How To Save Miles By Knowing Your Geography. Many mileage programs just don’t agree what part of the world certain countries are in. American places the Canary Islands in their Europe region, even though they’re off the coast of Africa, where United considers them to be. This makes awards there considerably cheaper with American than with United. On that page, I list the discrepancies I’ve found so far, and I’ll continue to update it as I add more mileage programs to this website.

The post Which Credit Card to Get & Saving Miles with Geography appeared first on Miles Briefs.

Direct Link

Key Benefits

• 50,000 points (worth $500) after $3,000 spend in 90 days
• $95 annual fee (not waived the first year)
• $100 airline incidental statement credit (baggage fees, etc.)
• $100 Global Entry or TSA Pre✓ credit every four years
• 2% back on travel and 1.5% back elsewhere
• No foreign transaction fees

My Take

The signup bonus is good, clearly, but subtracting the annual fee leaves you with a net $405. On the other hand, depending on how easy the $100 airline incidental credit is to redeem, this might bump the card back up to near $505 in value.

2% back on travel and 1.5% back everywhere is only interesting if you have $50,000+ on deposit with Bank of America or Merrill Edge. I’ve covered this on this blog before, but with that much in assets, you can qualify for Bank of America’s Preferred Rewards Tiers (link), boosting your credit card rewards by 50% (for $50,000 to $99,999) or 75% (for $100,000+). This would bring your total cash back to:

• Platinum ($50,000 to $99,999 in assets): 3% cash back on travel and 2.25% cash back everywhere else
• Platinum Honors ($100,000+ in assets): 3.5% cash back on travel and 2.625% cash back everywhere else

There is a no annual fee version of this card (link). The main differences are:

• Smaller ($200) signup bonus
• No $100 airline incidental credit
• No bonus earnings on travel purchases (1.5% cash back everywhere, boosted to 2.25% or 2.625% with Platinum or Platinum Honors)
• Points redeemed only as statement credit against travel expenses (not that difficult, but still an extra step)

Lots of cards have Global Entry credits and no foreign transaction fees nowadays, so I don’t care about those.

Overall, this card is worth getting for the bonus. It’s worth keeping if you have $50,000+ on deposit with Merrill Edge or Bank of America and the $100 airline incidental credit is easy for you to redeem. If you have $50,000+ on deposit but have trouble redeeming the airline incidental credit, you can consider downgrading to the no annual fee version of this card when your annual fee comes due. Anyone else should cancel.

The post New Bank of America Premium Rewards Credit Card with $500 Signup Bonus ($95 Annual Fee) appeared first on Miles Briefs.

Direct Link

This promotion is pretty simple. Schedule six or more recurring rent/mortgage payments, as far in the future as you like, and pay with a MasterCard. You’ll see the 1.75% fee automatically. Offer ends (i.e. you must finish setting up your recurring payments by this date) September 30, 2016 at 11:59 PM PST.

Tip: You will get errors if you try to schedule payments that go beyond your credit card expiration date. Double-check this if you get a message telling you to call in.

This is potentially useful for meeting minimum spend on a MasterCard and a moneymaker if you have the Citi AT&T Access More card, which has been confirmed to earn 3x TYP on Plastiq transactions.

Here’s a referral link for Plastiq (we both get a few bucks out of it, nothing serious).

The post Plastiq Promotion: Reduced 1.75% Fee When Paying Rent / Mortgage with MasterCard appeared first on Miles Briefs.

“I have and keep this card because of the free anniversary night every year you pay the annual fee.”

Update: Via Doctor of Credit, after you are approved, you may be able to match to this targeted higher offer if you send Chase a secure message via their website.

The post Increased 80,000 Point Offer for Chase IHG Rewards Club Select Card appeared first on Miles Briefs.

There is no online application currently. Call (800) 328-1935 to apply.

Quick Summary

• 3% cash back first year, 2.5% after that
• $59 annual fee, waived the first year
• No foreign transaction fees

Link to Terms and Conditions

Discussion

There is no signup bonus, but you can get this card without a hard pull if you are an existing cardholder of their Visa Platinum or Platinum Rewards card, as long as your credit limit is currently over $10,000.

3% cash back is great of course, but that’s only good for the first year. For year two and beyond, the break-even point compared to a 2% cash back card is $11,800 in annual spend.

Do remember that there is also the BankAmericard Travel Rewards card, which gives you 2.625% back if you can quality for Platinum Honors, which requires $100,000 on deposit with Bank of America and/or Merrill Edge.

HT: FatWallet Finance

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Direct Link

The bonus is tiered as follows:

• 50,000 Avios after $3,000 spend within first 3 months
• 25,000 Avios after $10,000 total spend within your first year
• 25,000 Avios after $20,000 total spend within your first year

The amounts are cumulative, meaning if you spend exactly $20,000 in your first year, you’ll have 100,000 Avios from the bonus + 20,000 Avios (i.e. one Avios per dollar of normal spend) for a total of 120,000 Avios. The $95 annual fee is not waived the first year.

The bonuses on the British Airways and Iberia credit cards have also been increased to match. All three cards are roughly the same, at least as far as worthwhile benefits are concerned (imo).

100,000 miles for $20,000 spend in a year is a nice bonus that we’ve seen quite a few times from Chase. It’s a good time to apply if you want more Avios right now, but you can also feel free to wait, as this offer will likely come around again in the future.

HT: Doctor of Credit

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