Month: November 2016

November 24, 2016

Deal Alert: 100k Signup Bonus American Express Platinum Card + Increased Bonuses on Other Amex Cards

Update (11/24): 100k Platinum offer is dead! Congrats to those that got it. 

One of the big offers that I know a lot of my readers (looking at you Justin) are interested in is back and it is the 100,000 point signup bonus on the American Express card. I don’t know if this offer will last long so if you’ve never had a personal Platinum card before, I’d strongly consider jumping on this offer soon just in case.

100kplatinum

Here is the direct link to the landing page of this offer. You might have to use incoginto/private browseing mode to get this offer to appear. I’ve discussed this card & offer before but the 100,000 points (worth ~$1,500), $200 airline credit (yes gift cards work for some airlines), lounge access, Global Entry credit, hotel elite status at Starwood, Marriot and Hilton more than offset the $450 annual fee for the first year.

One IMPORTANT Note: DO NOT put any manufactured spend on this card or you risk Amex freezing your account which they have been known to do. Also do not close the card right after you get the points – keep it open until the 10th/11th month or so if you don’t plan to keep it longterm.

On top of this offer, there are increased offers on many other Amex cards. Here are some of the offers though I’d recommend reading this Reddit thread on all of the increased offers.

Thanks Amex for the early Thanksgiving gift!

H/T Doctor of Credit & Reddit

November 9, 2016

Datapoint: The New Chase Ink Preferred Business Card is Subject to the 5/24 Rule

This is probably not a surprise to most of you reading this but I can now confirm that the new Chase Ink Preferred business card is subject to the 5/24 rule as I got my denial letter in the mail yesterday.

chase-ink-preferred-5_24-rule

For a bit of background, the Chase Ink Preferred is a new business card from Chase that technically isn’t available to the public yet. It will have a 80,000 point signup bonus though it does not offer 5x categories. Interestingly, just as it happened with the Sapphire Reserve before it officially launched, last week two rouge links were found (and posted to this Reddit thread) that allowed you to apply for the card. The big unknown was whether this card would be subject to Chase’s 5/24 rule even though the prevalent thought was it would be, based on other Ink products being subject to this rule.

That said, this was potentially a big development as folks who applied for the Sapphire Reserve via those leaked links before it was officially launched were able to bypass the 5/24 rule and get the 100k signup bonus. There was hope that these links for the Ink Preferred would follow those some guidelines and give folks like myself who are way over 5/24, a chance to get the card. In this case, the landing page showed no mention of the signup bonus but I felt confident (along with others) that Chase would match the bonus so I wasn’t worried about that. Instead, I gambled that the chance of this link working to bypass the 5/24 rule and earn 80k Chase UR points was worth the cost of a hard pull.

In the end, I obviously lost out but for me, it was still worth the gamble as frankly, one hard pull doesn’t matter much to me at this point and the potential reward was almost $1,500 worth of points depending how you value them. Just remember, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take” — Wayne Gretzky — Michael Scott.

 

November 2, 2016

A Fellow Blogger Just Spent One Million SPG Points to Throw Out the First Pitch at Game 7 of the World Series Tonight 

File this under one of the most amazing/ unique use of points but DansDeals just posted he won an SPG auction to throw out the first pitch tonight at…Game 7… of the World Series. Ya know arguably one of the biggest sporting events in recent memory with the Cubs looking to break a 108 year curse and the Indians looking to win for the first time in 68 years!


If we assume a 2.5 cent value per point, Dan “spent” ~ $26,500 worth of points to enjoy this once in a lifetime experience. I don’t normally advocate the use of points for non-travel but I have to admit this is pretty freaking cool – I’m definitely a bit jealous. I’m sure he will remember this for  the rest of his life. Congrats Dan!

Here is the press release from SPG:

“November 2nd, 2016 – Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG(r)), the award-winning loyalty program now a part of Marriott International, Inc., is excited to announce the highest-ever bid on its SPG Moments platform.

Today, SPG Member Daniel Eleff redeemed 1,060,500 Starpoints to throw out the first pitch at Game 7 of the World Series tonight in Cleveland. The redemption amount is equivalent to over a month of free nights in a superior room at the St. Regis New York.

The SPG Moments program gives SPG members once-in a-lifetime experiences and VIP access to premier sporting events, concerts, culinary experiences, and more.

Eleff, founder of the deal blog DansDeals.com, will take the mound this evening at Progressive Field to kick-off the final match-up of the 2016 World Series between the Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs.

This record-breaking point redemption reflects the historic nature of this World Series and, as the official hotel and resort loyalty partner for Major League Baseball(r), SPG is proud to create this once-in-a-lifetime experience for Mr. Eleff.”