May 11, 2015

New Link for 5,000 Point ($50) Signup Bonus on Fidelity American Express Credit Card

Back in September, I wrote about how there was a 5,000 point (or $50) signup bonus on the Fidelity American Express Credit Card but now the link from that post seems to have died. While doing research for my next round of credit card applications, I was able to find a new working link for the 5,000 point signup bonus if you spend $500 within 60 days of account approval. The offer is valid through July 29, 2015 and the offer code for this bonus is VACD37.

Click here for the link to apply.

For those questioning why I am posting about a measly $50 signup bonus offer, it is rare to see a no annual fee card that earns 2% cash back on ALL spending, with no caps or category restrictions, to have a signup bonus. In fact, the only other time I know of a publicly available signup bonus on a 2% cashback card was the same offer on the Fidelity card back in September. The main competitor to the Fidelity American Express is the Citi Double Cash which does not have a signup bonus nor has ever publicly offered one.

If I were to chose one 2% cash back no annual fee card, I would chose the Fidelity American Express since there is an actual signup bonus on the card. The signup bonus is the equivalent of spending $2,500 on the Citi Double Cash. What would you rather do – spend $500 on the Fidelity American Express for $60 cash back ($500 x 2% + $50 bonus) or $3,000 on the Citi Double Cash ($3,000 x 2%) for the same $60?

The main arguments for the Citi Double Cash are greater acceptance (due to being a MasterCard) and not needing a Fidelity brokerage account. While slightly annoying to create a Fidelity account first, I don’t consider that a deal-breaker especially since the cashback, which gets deposited into your Fidelity account, can be swept to your normal bank account easily online. I think the whole lack of Amex acceptance is overblown and unless you only shop at small mom & pop shops out in the countryside, I think it is very rare you will run into a problem with a vendor not accepting American Express in the United States (don’t think of using this card or the Citi Double Cash overseas due to the foreign transaction fees).

Lastly, there are some benefits to having an American Express card that is not issued by American Express but that’s for another time and place.

May 9, 2015

The 75,000 Point Offer on the American Express Business Gold Card is Now Easier to Get!

Update (5/12): This appears to be more targeted than previously thought. My apologies for getting anyone’s hopes up.

Back in November, I’m pretty sure I was the first blogger who discovered a way to get either a 50,000 or 75,000 signup bonus offer to appear on the American Express Business Gold card. Then, in March I posted an update on how to get that offer still as some thought it was dead but that wasn’t the case.

Since then, it has gotten harder for others to duplicate as it did involve using incognito browsers and/or opening the link on mobile devices or tablets. However, The Reward Boss points out there is now a better link that shows the 75,000 offer every time!

Click here for the link to apply.

75,000 Points for Spending $5k in 3 months

Key Details:

75,000 Membership Rewards Points for Spending $5k in 3 months
Annual Fee of $175 Waived for 1st Year
Choose one of the following categories to earn 3x on purchases (can change once a year)
- Advertising in Select Media
- Gas Stations
- Airfare (when purchased directly from the airline)
- Shipping
- Hardware, Software and Cloud Computing purchases from select vendors
Purchases in the remaining 4 categories will earn 2x
All other purchases earn 1x
Offer ends June 30, 2015

It has been a good month for business card signup bonuses as Chase increased the offers on the Ink Cash to 30k , Ink Plus to 60k and now American Express has made it easier to get the 75k offer on the Business Gold card. The Reward Boss also notes that the 100k Business Platinum offer I wrote about earlier seems to still work. If you have been waiting to apply for a new business card, now seems the time.

April 5, 2015

Roundup of Recent Cuts to Credit Card Benefits to Club Carlson, Virgin Atlantic, American Express & Chase Ink Cardholders

By now, most of us are aware of the big changes coming to Club Carlson credit cardholders, which I think is the single devaluation thus far in 2015. However, in the past week or so there have been other cuts to benefits for cardholders carrying the Chase Ink cards, Virgin Atlantic MasterCard, American Express Business Platinum card and Fairmont card. Here is a quick roundup of all the recent cuts in benefits.

1. Club Carlson Cardholders Lose Bonus Award Night – The big news of the week was the massive devaluation of the Club Carlson program when they chose to eliminate the Bonus Award Night feature for Club Carlson Visa Cardholders. To me, this basically cuts the value of Club Carlson points in half if you maximized the Bonus Award Night benefit properly. You can view this post when I expand upon my thoughts on losing this benefit. The CliffsNotes version is this rivals the Hilton Devaluation Massacre a few years ago.

To make up for this benefit, Club Carlson is offering members a 30,000 point bonus if you have a paid stay by August 31st and is adding a new benefit for cardholders of 1 free night for a US hotel annually if you spend $10,000 or more and pay the annual fee. I don’t think that benefit is worthwhile as the US footprint for Club Carlson hotels is not impressive and I will be cancelling both my card and my wife’s shortly.

2. Virgin Atlantic Cardholders Lose Regus Gold Membership – While probably not the most popular benefit, I recently received a letter from BofA stating Virgin Atlantic is ending its partnership with Regus effective May 22, 2015 and as a result cardholders will no longer have a complimentary Regus Businessword gold membership.

Sorry for the bad scan of the letter from BofA

For those that don’t know, Regus is a network of lounges (not just airports) and offices around the world and having Gold membership, entitled to you complimentary access to any lounge or office which had free refreshments and wifi. This was a great benefit if you needed to get work done or need a space for a quick business meeting when you were away from your office. The listed price is $59/month for a Gold membership so if did use this benefit consistently, this could be a big loss for a few cardholders. You can still signup by May 22nd to get one last year of Regus membership.

3. American Express Business Platinum Cardholders Lose Pay with Points 20% Rebate – I don’t usually use my American Express Membership Rewards points this way but for a long time, Business Platinum cardholders could redeem their points directly for travel and get a 20% rebate for doing so. Starting July 1st, American Express is now removing this benefit for cardholders. This is an unsurprising move as Amex cut this benefit a while back from the personal Platinum card. You will still be able to redeem points for travel directly at a rate of a penny per point – it is just the 20% rebate that is going away after July 1st.

4. Chase Ink Cardholders Lose Lounge Club Membership – Continuing the trend this week, Chase has decided to cut Lounge Club membership as one of the benefits from the Chase Ink family of cards. The Lounge club is a network of 350 mostly independent airport lounges scattered across the world. LoungeBuddy does a good job detailing what Lounge Club is all about.

If you haven’t signed up yet, you can still do by April 30th, 2015 at this link using code CHASEINK to get a one year membership. You will receive the first two visits free to any lounge in the Lounge Club network and additional visits after that are $27.

5. Chase Fairmont Cardholders Lose Lounge Club Membership – Just like the Chase Ink cards above, Chase has also cut this benefit from the personal Fairmont credit card as well. You have until April 30th to enroll at this link here by using code fairmont. Once enrolled, the first two visits are free and are $27 each after that. (H/T to Doctor of Credit for notifying me on this change).

Let’s hope these changes above are the last negative ones for a while though based on recent history this probably won’t be the case.

March 11, 2015

The Citibank Prestige Credit Card: Why I Think It Is Better than the American Express Platinum Card

I recently applied for the Citibank Prestige credit card in branch after an offer for 60,000 Thank You Points for being a Citigold customer which is an offer all Citigold customers can get. If you read enough blogs in the points/miles community you’ll see the American Express Platinum card continuously mentioned and advertised while there is little to no mention of the Citi Prestige card. I’ve had various Platinum cards for the last 3 years but after looking at the benefits of the Citi Prestige, I believe the Citi Prestige card is a better fit for most people who want/need/have a premium credit card with a large annual fee. Here is my argument for the Citi Prestige over the American Express Platinum card.

Key benefits of the Citi Prestige:

Signup Bonus: 60,000 Thank You Points with a reduced annual fee of $350 for Citigold Customers with 15% Annual Relationship Bonus (otherwise 30,000 Thank You Points with $450 annual fee is the standard offer) for spending $3,000 in 3 months and $15,000 total within the first year
Type of Points: Thank You Points, which transfer to 11 foreign airlines and Hilton. The points can be used directly towards travel on American/US Airways at 1.6 cents per point and all other airlines at 1.33 cents per point. Note: Points do not actually transfer to AA, rather you redeem them at a rate of 1.6 cents per point via Citibank’s travel portal.
Airline Credit: $250 Annual Airline Credit with no restrictions (for example, you can buy airline tickets and use the credit that way)
Spending: 3x Bonus Category on Air Travel & Hotels, 2x Bonus Category on Entertainment & 1x on Everything Else
Airline Lounge: American Airlines Admiral Club Access for you and immediate family or up to 2 guests
Other Lounge Access: Priority Pass Select Membership for you and immediate family or up to 2 guests
Hotel Benefit: 4th Night Free on any hotel booked through Citibank’s travel provider, Carlson Wagonlit Travel
Elite Status: Avis Preferred (due to being a World MasterCard)

Other benefits include $100 Global Entry credit, 3 free rounds of golf annually, trip protection, price protection, concierge service, no foreign transaction fees and more.

Key benefits of the American Express Platinum:

Signup Bonus: 40,000 Membership Rewards Points with annual fee of $450 after spending $3,000. Some people earlier this year have reported success getting 100,000 point offer via the CardMatch tool but I wouldn’t expect many people to see this offer
Type of Points: Membership Rewards, which has a strong portfolio of airline transfer partners. There are also a few hotel transfer options, none of which are appealing. Points can be also be redeemed towards travel at a rate of 1.25 cents per point if you have the Business Platinum card
Airline Credit: $200 Annual Airline Credit. Must choose just one airline. Meant to be for actual fees but airline gift cards in specific dominations on some airlines will trigger the credit
Spending: 1x on Everything
Airline Lounge: Delta SkyClub access for cardholder only. Additional guests are $29 each.
Other Lounge Access: Centurion & Airspace Lounges. Priority Pass Select Membership though additional guests are $27 each.
Hotel Benefit: Fine Hotel & Resorts
Elite Status: Starwood Gold, Hertz Gold Plus, Avis Preferred and National Rent a Car Executive Status.

Other benefits include $100 Global Entry credit, free wifi via Boingo (personal card) or GoGo (business card), OPEN savings (business card), car rental coverage, concierge service, no foreign transaction fees and more.

So Which Card Would You Rather Have?

Looking at the various categories I defined above, it seems the Citi Prestige is a clear winner in 5 categories including signup bonus with lower annual fee, airline credit, spending, airline lounge and other lounge access. I will give the nod to the Platinum card in 2 categories including type of points and elite status while I’m calling the hotel benefit category a draw since both have their respective good uses.

I think for most people the Citi Prestige is better “premium” card as for $100 less annual fee, I think you actually get more benefits than the American Express Platinum. This is especially true if you are an American Airlines flyer as there is no way to transfer American Express points to AA. Being able to redeem Thank You Points at a rate of 1.6 cents per point and earn elite miles/redeemable miles for flying on American is a great perk. On top of that, I like that I can generate additional points with the category bonuses, making this card better for spending compared to the American Express Platinum.

The bigger selling points to me are the significantly better airline credit and lounge access program. Not only is the airline credit $50 greater, I like that I can actually buy an airline ticket to use my credit or that I can use my credit across many different airlines instead of just one per American Express. Additionally, the lounge access for me personally is better since I tend to fly American more and I can bring my wife in with me no problem. While I do lose out on the Centurion lounges, there are only a handful of them spread across the country and I’ve yet to visit one.

The Platinum card does still make sense for those loyal to Delta since it includes Delta SkyClub access and Membership Rewards points transfer to Delta. That said, the Platinum card should not be used for everyday spending since there are many better cards out there for spending (not just the Prestige). Admittedly, I do prefer the airline transfer partners in Membership Rewards over Thank You Points as I could only see myself transferring points to Singapore in the Thank You Points Program while I’ve transferred Membership Rewards to Delta, British Airways, JetBlue, Virgin America and Hawaiian in the past (mostly to top off for award redemptions). Lastly, the SPG Gold elite and rental car elite status is worthwhile if you frequently stay at Starwood hotels or rent cars frequently. I do wish the Prestige would add more benefits regarding elite status.

Bottom Line – The Citigold & Citi Prestige Combo is the Way to Go

While I opened my Citigold account to take advantage of the 30k American Airlines offer, I also did it knowing I was going to apply for the Citi Prestige in the next month or two. By applying for the Prestige now, I lock in a $100 savings on the annual fee as well as the 15% Relationship Bonus. Once the miles post, I will downgrade my checking account to Basic to avoid any fees. I don’t remember where I saw this but someone reported still getting Citigold benefits after downgrading their account and reps even thanked him for having a Citigold account, though it really wasn’t a Citigold account (if you remember who posted about it, please share in the comments). If that’s true, the net annual fee for the Citi Prestige after the annual credit is just $100 which is a fantastic price to pay for American Airlines lounges access and you still get to enjoy the other benefits of the card.

For opening one bank account and one credit card, I’ll gain 30,000 American miles + ~75,000 Thank You Points after hitting the minimum spending amounts. Just the Thank You Points alone are worth $1,200 if redeemed for American Airlines flights while I’ll conservatively value the 30,000 AA miles at $450. I’ll also earn $500 in airline travel credit (since it is a calendar year benefit I can take advantage of this benefit twice) and another year of AA lounge access (worth $450, which is perfect since I just cancelled my AA Executive card). My total benefits earned are about $2,600 and it only cost me $350, which is a great deal. For those considering an American Express Platinum card, I’d strongly consider doing this combination (there is also an offer for 40k Thank You Points) before pulling the trigger on the Platinum card.

Note: I have no affiliate links anywhere on my site. This post is an attempt to bring an undermentioned card some more publicity since the bigger bloggers tend to ignore it while pumping the American Express Platinum card even though I think the Prestige is a better card, especially when combined with a Citigold account. And when they do post about the Prestige, they do not mention the way to get this much better signup offer as well as the extra cash or miles from the Citigold account.

March 2, 2015

The 75k American Express Business Rewards Gold Offer is Still Alive!

Update 5/9: See this post for latest details, including new link that works a LOT better.

Back in November, I discovered the hack to get a 75,000 point offer to appear on the American Express Business Gold Rewards card and it is my most viewed post all time on PointsCentric. If someone couldn’t get a 75,000 offer to appear, they almost certainly were able to get a 50,000 point offer to appear which was still double the standard offer of 25,000 points. Over the past few weeks though, I have been unable to get any confirmed reports of a 75,000 offer from either my clients or readers so I updated that post to remark 50,000 points is the best current offer. I’m happy to report that a new client last night confirmed she was able to get the 75,000 point offer to appear and successfully apply for it! I tried it out myself this morning and I was approved as well!

Direct Link – https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/credit-cards/business-gold-rewards

The hack, as I mentioned in my initial post about this offer, involves opening up the link for the offer on a mobile or tablet device, generally in private or incognito mode. A few people reported success getting to appear on the computer but I heard many more success stories on mobile devices (seems like Google Chrome, incognito worked the best). Interestingly enough, my client last night used Windows XP on an old desktop (I guess it pays to have an old computer laying around) and she got it to appear. She even sent me the screenshot below.

The 75k Offer is Still Working for Some

This is a big YMMV situation. In fact, I was only able to pull up a 75,000 point offer on my work computer but not my home nor any mobile devices. It might be that an older computer or a computer/device you typically don’t use to sign into your Amex account that has a greater likelihood of getting the offer to present itself – I really don’t know. That said, it might be worth trying to get the offer to appear again since I have a confirmed report of the link still presenting a 75,000 offer that I was able to replicate this morning as well. If you only get the 50,000 offer, that’s not a terrible offer and since you can still churn the Business version, it could make sense to apply for it if you need American Express Membership Rewards points now. If you don’t need the points/have other cards to apply for, then maybe another 75,000 point offer will come around and I would wait for that.

My approval this morning…I called to confirm the 75k offer was on the card

(HT to Alanna!)