Posts Tagged With: Chase

Check for bonus categories on your Chase and Citi cards

Posted on March 24, 2023 by 2btravel

The Chase Freedom and Freedom Flex, US Bank CashPlus and Discover cards all have quarterly rotating bonus categories in which you can earn 5x points/5% cash back for the specified quarter.  What some folks don’t know is that often your airline or hotel co-branded Chase cards will have bonus spending as well.  To see if you’ve been targeted, go to http://chase.com/mybonus and fill in your name, last four digits of the card and your zip code and you may be pleasantly surprised.  I got the same bonus on four of my Chase co-branded cards: Hyatt, IHG, Marriott and United.  All offer 5x points on gas, groceries and restaurants.  These bonuses are valid April 1 – June 30, 2023 and for up to $1500 in purchases.

In addition, I received a piece of mail from Citi offering bonus points on my Premier card from now through May 31.  My mailpiece gave me a website and an invitation number to register.  You can also register via the phone or with the provided QR code.  The 5x points are for purchases from Consumer Electronic Stores, Department Stores, Home Improvement Stores and Home Furnishing Stores.  You may earn up to 2500 bonus points which works out to bonuses on $500 in purchases.  Remember that, in particular, Home Improvement stores sell gift cards so you can buy gift cards there and essentially earn 5x points at many other places!

In the end

Regardless of whether you actually use one of these cards for any of these categories on a regular basis, go ahead and sign up for the bonus.  You never know when you might use it and there’s no sense leaving points on the table!

Categories: Chase, Citi Premier, Citibank, Credit Card Promos, Credit Cards, IHG Rewards Card, Marriott Rewards Card, United Card, World of Hyatt Card | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A New Credit Card Links Page

Posted on November 14, 2020 by 2btravel

I’ve added a new page containing referral links in case you want to sign up for credit cards. These are not commissioned links given by the credit card companies to some bloggers but are the normal referral links any card member has. That may mean that these links do not have the best available signup offers. Therefore before using any of these links I suggest you check Frequent Miler’s page of best available signup bonuses. Greg and his team do a great job of providing the best available link regardless of whether or not it earns them a commission, something I appreciate very much. A direct link to his page is available on our Credit Cards page. You’ll find a link to that in the upper right-hand corner of this page.

Unfortunately Citibank, US Bank and Barclays don’t offer refer-a-friend bonuses so I don’t have any links for those products.

Categories: American Express, Chase, Credit Cards, Discover | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Upgrades to the Chase Freedom Unlimited

Posted on September 8, 2020 by 2btravel

The Chase Freedom Unlimited (CFU) is already a pretty great card. It has no annual fee and offers 1.5 Ultimate Rewards (UR) points on each purchase. Those URs can be exchanged for 1 cent per point (cpp) on your credit card statement or, if you have one of Chase’s premium UR-earning cards, the Sapphire Preferred (CSP) or the Sapphire Reserve (CSR), the UR points can be transferred to one of Chase’s hotel or airline partners or redeemed for travel purchases through the Chase portal at the rate of 1.25 cpp (CSP) or 1.5 cpp (CSR).

Starting Sunday, September 13th the earning rate gets even better.

When you purchase travel products through the Chase portal and pay with your CFU card you’ll now receive 5x UR points! This is a fantastic rate though you’ll need to be aware of two things. First, the CFU *does* impose foreign transaction fees of 3% so you’d only want to use this card for purchases on US-based airlines. Second, your purchase will be made through Expedia, on online travel agency, so that’s another layer between you and the airline should your travel plans change. Hopefully that will never be an issue but I always want to point that out.

Next, the CFU will now earn 3x UR points for Dining, which includes not only restaurants but take out delivery services. In addition, you’ll get complimentary 3 months of DashPass which is DoorDash’s subscription service that offers $0 delivery fee on orders over $12. After your 3 months are up you’re automatically enrolled in DashPass for the remaining 9 months at 50% off.

The third upgraded category is drugstores where you’ll now earn 3x UR points per purchase.

Additionally if you use your CFU for Lyft you’ll earn 5x UR points on Lyft rides through March 2022.

If you don’t have the Freedom Unlimited the current signup offer is an easy one to meet. Once you’re approved and spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months after approval you’ll earn 20,000 UR points (equivalent to $200 cash back). If you are approved via this link I will also earn a small commission.

More to Come?

The Dining category on this free card is now better than the $95-per-year Sapphire Preferred and equivalent to the $550-per-year Sapphire Reserve so the general consensus is that there will be upgrades coming to those cards soon.  Personally I use the Discover Card and the Chase Freedom card during quarters they offer 5%/5x points and the American Express Gold Card which offers 4x points on Dining but as a fall back I’ve used the CSR.  It would be great to see upgrades to the points categories for the CSP and CSR soon.

Categories: Chase, Credit Cards, Freedom Unlimiited | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Bonuses Galore

Posted on May 1, 2020 by 2btravel

Chase, American Express and Citibank have each unleashed a slew of new bonuses for those who carry their travel-related cards. Since folks aren’t spending money on travel, they’ve increased the bonus points earned at groceries on cards you might not otherwise be using there. Amex and Citibank are also giving you different ways to spend the travel credit that come with some of their premium cards.

All of these changes are temporary as we deal with this virus. While it’s great to have these options, let’s hope they don’t have to come up with more creative ways to incentivize us to use their cards once these offers run out. That will mean we are or will soon be traveling again. Continue reading →

Categories: Chase, Citi Prestige, Citibank, Credit Card Promos, Credit Cards, Delta Amex, Hilton Aspire, Hilton Surpass, IHG Rewards Card, Marriott Rewards Card, Membership Rewards, Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

IHG Devalues their Card, Pick Up the Old Card Today

Posted on April 5, 2018 by 2btravel

We knew it would happen sooner or later. One of the best card benefits on the market is being reduced. IHG is the Intercontinental Hotel Group, the power behind Intercontinental, Holiday Inn, Kimpton, Crowne Plaza and others. Their credit card, issued by Chase, had one of the best benefits out there: a free night at any of their properties worldwide. Even better was that the card only cost $49 annually so even if you never spent a dime on it (after meeting minimum spend and getting your sign-up bonus) it was still a great deal.

This week I received a letter from Chase stating that the free night benefit was changing:

Currently, we award this Anniversary Free Night each year after your anniversary date, and it is redeemable at any IHG property. Going forward, Anniversary Free Nights issued after May 1, 2018 will be redeemable at eligible IHG hotels with a redemption value up to and including 40,000 points.

So even though all other benefits remain the same, this is still a huge loss. I’ve got an upcoming trip in October where we’ve already used last year’s certificate for one night, we’re using points for the second night and had planned to use this year’s certificate for the third night. But I won’t get this year’s certificate until July and the hotel costs 50,000 points so I won’t be able to use it there. So we changed our plans and will stay at a different hotel the third night.

Notice the highlighted bit in the quote about eligible IHG hotels? There is a list of excluded properties and some of those go for 40,000 points or less. Summer at Mommy Points has more details in her post though she’s since had an update saying that all 40,000 point (or less) hotels will be available for the certificate. But we’ll have to see. I’m a little skeptical.

If you sign up for the old IHG card by today you can still get the certificate good for any IHG hotel in the world on your anniversary date but only for the first year. Certificates issued after that will have the 40,000 point limit.

Part of the reason for this cut back is that IHG is issuing two new cards, IHG Premier and IHG Traveler. The Traveler is the base card with an annual fee of only $29 and the sign-up bonus is 60K points after spending $2000 in the first 3 months after approval. The Premier card has an $89 annual fee and earns you 80K points after spending $2000 in the first three months. Both cards earn bonus points at IHG hotels (10x for the Premier, 5x for the Traveler), 2x at gas stations, grocery stores and restaurants and 1x everywhere else. There are other benefits regarding hotel status, savings on points purchases and bonus points based on spending thresholds. Nick at Frequent Miler has a terrific post today laying out each card’s benefits. But neither of these cards is as good as the current (old) card with it’s $49 annual fee and free night – even capped at 40K points.

Both Frequent Miler and Mommy Points include screen shots of Twitter conversations where the Chase reps say that cards approved today will get the uncapped anniversary night so bookmark those pages and sign up for the new card today. Frequent Miler has a card sign-up link in the post and on the Best Offers page.

Categories: Chase, Credit Cards, IHG Rewards Card | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Need A Credit Card?

Posted on November 14, 2015 by 2btravel

I earn far more miles from credit cards than I do from flying or from hotel stays. Credit card sign-up bonuses can give a big boost to anyone’s account! While I’m not one of the big bloggers who gets a cash comission from the credit card issuers, the credit card companies will allow regular members to receive a referral fee (of points/miles) if they refer someone to the card.

Delta Gold CardI’m a little late putting this one out there, but from now through this Tuesday, November 17, 2015, if you’ll allow me to refer to to the Gold Delta Amex card, I’ll earn bonus miles if you’re approved. You’ll get 50,000 bonus miles after using the card to make $2000 in purchases within the first three months after the approval date (not the date you receive the card). If you make a Delta purchase with the first three months you’ll also get a $50 statement credit. To refer you, just send me your first name and your email address to 2btraveling@gmail.com.

NOTE: You may be able to get an offer for 60K miles + $50 statement credit. You can find instructions here. Also, it is not open to those who currently have this card or have had it in the past. I believe the $95 annual fee is waived for the first year but cannot guarantee that.

Marriott Credit Card
If you don’t need Delta SkyMiles, what about hotel points? I’m also allowed to refer folks for the Chase Marriott Visa. I value this card if only for the reason that it offers a free night stay each year that you renew the card. The free night is good at any category 1-5 Marriott, so that pays for the annual fee right there. This card does not have foreign transaction fees, making it a good one for international travel.

In addition, this card earns 2x points for purchases from airlines, car rental companies and restaurants and 5x points for Marriott purchases. Plus for every $3000 in purchases, you get one credit toward elite status – that’s in addition to the 15-night credit you get each year at your account anniversary!

You’ll get 50,000 bonus points if you spend $2000 in the first three months after account approval. The annual fee is waived the first year and is only $85 after that.

If you think you’d be interested in this card, just send me an email at the address above and I’ll send you the phone number and the codes you need to get this offer.

Note that there is an alternate version offering 80K after $3K spend, but the $85 annual fee is not waived. Application Link. I won’t get bonus miles for this but it is a better offer so I wanted to be sure it was out there. Neither of these offers is available to those who currently have the card or have received the new cardmember bonus in the last 24 months.

Categories: American Express, Chase, Delta, Delta Amex, Marriott, Marriott Rewards Card | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

3x Points on Dining Today With Chase Sapphire Preferred – But That’s Not The Best Option

Posted on April 3, 2015 by 2btravel

CSPQuick reminder that today you’ll get 3x Ultimate Rewards points on purchases at restaurants today if you use your Chase Sapphire Preferred card. But that’s not the card I’ll be using today.

The no-fee Chase Freedom card is offering 5x Ultimate Rewards points at Restaurants throughout April, May and June so that’s a better rate than the CSP. The Ultimate Rewards points earned with the Freedom card can be combined with those of the Sapphire Preferred so that you’ll have a single pool of points.

Chase FreedomIf you don’t have a Freedom card but do have a Sapphire Preferred, why not sign up for one now? There’s no annual fee and even though the sign-up bonus isn’t great (10K points after spending $500 in 3 months) you can also get a 2500-point bonus for adding an authorized user and then you’ll have access to the quarterly rotating bonus categories.
Note: I do not have any affiliation with Chase and do not receive any compensation for any credit cards opened via these links. It will benefit another deserving blogger, however.

Categories: Chase, Credit Cards, Freedom, Sapphire Preferred | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Activate Today for Q1 Bonuses and Sign Up for Q2 Bonuses Tomorrow

Posted on March 14, 2015 by 2btravel

2014-12-08 Freedom 2015 BonusToday is the last day to get 5% bonuses by using the Chase Freedom card at Grocery Stores, Movie Theaters and Starbucks or by using one of the Discover Cards at Gas Stations and for Ground Transportation.

2015-03-14 Discover Q2 Bonus Categories
Starting tomorrow you can register for Q2 (April-June) bonuses for the Freedom card which includes bonuses on Restaurants.  Registration for the Discover card is already open and it will give bonuses on Restaurants and Movies.

I loved the Freedom bonus at Grocery Stores and quickly maxed that out. In my area there aren’t many (any?) gas stations that will allow me to purchase gift cards with a credit card so I struggle with that category.

I eat out a lot so restaurants are a great category for me – but I’m really bummed that both cards are offering the bonus in the same quarter. I can’t even remember the last time I went to a movie theater so that doesn’t help me but I was surprised to see that both Netflix and RedBox count in the movie category for the Discover card.

Both of these cards limit the bonus to the first $1500 in purchases in all of the bonus categories. To sign up for these bonuses, log into your account at chase.com or discover.com and you’ll see the link for the promotion.

Categories: Chase, Credit Card Promos, Discover, Freedom | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

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