Several credit cards are currently offering higher-than-usual signup bonuses. For all cards, to get the signup bonus the cardholder must spend a certain amount within the first few months of holding the card.
These cards are offering bonus amounts at or near their respective highest signup bonus and therefore now is a good time to jump on any of these cards. At one time or another, I've held all of these cards and personally recommend all of them as solid cards, especially with these increased signup bonuses.
- Citi ThankYou Premier - 50,000 ThankYou points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred - 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points
- SPG Amex Business - 35,000 Starpoints
- Delta Amex Platinum personal and business - 70,000 SkyMiles + $100 statement credit
- Delta Amex Gold personal and business - 60,000 SkyMiles + $50 statement credit
- Mercedes-Benz Amex Platinum - 60,000 Membership Rewards points
Citi ThankYou Premier - 50,000 ThankYou points
- 50,000 ThankYou points after $4,000 spend in first 3 months
- Annual fee $0 first year, $95 per year thereafter
- Earn 3X travel and gas - this is HUGE to get 3 points per dollar on travel and gasoline
- Earn 2X dining and entertainment
- Earn 1x everywhere else
- This is one of the best travel credit cards because of the great bonus categories and travel-related benefits for spending and the flexibility of Citi ThankYou points
- This card had a 50k signup bonus a couple years ago, but then it dropped to 40k and for many months the card had ZERO signup bonus because of its popularity
- More info here: http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2018/02/25/50k-points-w-citi-thankyou-premier-back
Chase Sapphire Preferred - 60,000 + 5,000 Ultimate Rewards points
- 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points after $4,000 spend in first 3 months
- $95 annual fee NOT waived the first year
- Earn 2x on travel and dining
- Earn 1x everywhere else
- Similar to the Citi ThankYou Premier - great all-around points-earning card with excellent travel-related benefits, but not as strong for bonus category earning
- If you do not want to pay the annual fee, use my referral link for 55k points total signup bonus with no annual fee first year. 50k points signup bonus with $4k spend in first 3 months. Additional 5k points when adding an authorized user (free) and making 1 purchase with AU card in first 3 months https://www.referyourchasecard.com/6/1LVJ1ZR9X6
- More info here: http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2018/02/26/65k-ultimate-rewards-w-new-sapphire-preferred-signup-bonus
SPG Amex Business - 35,000 points
- Offer ends 3/28/2018
- Spend $7,000 in purchases within first 3 months
- Annual fee $0 first year, $95 per year thereafter
- Starwood (their loyalty program is SPG, or Starwood Preferred Guest) was bought by Marriott, so the SPG-branded Amex credit cards will no longer be offered at some point in the not-too-distant future, so this is probably the last chance to get this card with what is tied for the highest every signup bonus.
- Starpoints are considered the most valuable of all travel points programs anywhere. Points can be used for Starwood hotel group (Westin, Sheraton, etc) properties and also transferred into most airline mile programs at 20k Starpoints to 25k airline miles
- Earn 2x Starpoints on eligible purchases at SPG and Marriott properties
- Earn 1x Starpoints everywhere else
- Get credit for 2 stays and 5 nights toward elite status
- Sheraton Club Lounge Access when staying at Sheraton properties with a club lounge
- More info here: http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2018/03/01/new-35k-starpoints-offer
Delta Amex Platinum personal & business - 70,000 SkyMiles + $100 statement credit
- The personal and business version are two different cards with the same signup bonus and benefits. A person can hold both cards at the same time
- 70,000 Delta SkyMiles + 10K MQMs (elite status miles) after $3K spend in first 3 months
- $100 statement credit after Delta purchase in first 3 months
- $195 annual fee NOT waived in first year
- 10K bonus miles and MQMs (towards elite status) after $25K spend and + second 10K bonus miles and MQMs after $50K spend per calendar year
- Free domestic economy companion certificate after first year. (Yes, this certificate really works. Once it is in your SkyMiles account, you can use it regardless of whether your Delta Amex Platinum credit card account is open.)
- Priority boarding and free checked bags.
- Offer expires 4/11/2018
- TIP: *Any* spend with Delta, such as a $2 headphone or $8 snack box during a flight, should trigger the entire statement credit; you do not need to spend $100 to get the $100 credit
- The personal and business version are two cards with the same signup bonus and benefits. A person can hold both cards at the same time
- Referral link: Please consider applying via my friend's referral link. The signup bonus is the same, and Nick will earn 10k SkyMiles when you are approved. http://refer.amex.us/NICHOBlQdJ?XL=tw39
- More info here: http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2018/03/01/four-new-offers-70k-60k-skymiles
Delta Amex Gold personal & business - 60,000 SkyMiles + $50 statement credit
- The personal and business version are two different cards with the same signup bonus and benefits. A person can hold both cards at the same time
- 50,000 Delta SkyMiles after $2,000 in purchases in first 3 months
- 10,000 Delta SkyMiles after $1,000 more in purchases in first 6 months
- $50 statement credit after making a Delta purchase in first 3 months
- Annual fee: $0 first year, $95 per year thereafter
- TIP: *Any* spend with Delta, such as a $2 headphone or $8 snack box during a flight, should trigger the entire statement credit; you do not need to spend $50 to get the $50 credit
- More info here: http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2018/03/01/four-new-offers-70k-60k-skymiles
Mercedes-Benz Amex Platinum - 60,000 Membership Rewards points
- 60,000 Membership Rewards points after $5,000 spend in first 3 months
- This card is being discontinued Jan 2019, so time is running out on signing up for it
- Annual fee $550. Very steep annual fee but may still be worthwhile for some folks because of the strong travel benefits
- $200 travel incidental credit - get automatic statement credit for bag fees and other in-flight purchases. Airline gift cards work as well, if you know what you're doing
- $200 annual Uber credits ($15 per month + $35 in December)
- Includes automatic Hilton Gold status, SPG Gold status, National Executive status
- This card is a good pick for people who can make use of the free airline lounge access - 1) Amex Centurion Club lounges (only a handful of locations in the U.S. but VERY plush lounges) 2) flying Delta same-day for Delta SkyClub lounge access 3) Priority Pass Select program
- $100 Global Entry credit (application fee reimbursed via statement credit)
- TIP: Add 3 authorized users for $175 total. All 3 users each get $100 Global Entry credit and lounge access. Just use the card to pay for any person's (does not need to be the cardholder) Global Entry application fee and receive $100 statement credit.
- This Mercedes-Benz version of the Amex Platinum card is one of several different Amex Platinum personal cards. Each is a separate product, so you can get the signup bonus on the Mercedes version even if you have had the 'regular' Amex Platinum or other versions of the Amex Platinum such as the Schwab Amex Platinum
- More info here: http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2018/03/02/mercedes-benz-platinum-discontinued-get-60k-can/
DISCLAIMER: Know the rules of the game!
If you have signed up for new credit cards in the past couple years, make sure you understand the rules of each card issuer. Examples:- Citi will not give you the signup bonus if you have opened or closed a card within a card family within the past 24 months. This means that if you have opened or closed this card or the Citi ThankYou Preferred or Citi Prestige card within the past 24 months, you are not eligible for the signup bonus.
- Chase will reject all applications for most of their cards, including the Sapphire Preferred mentioned in this blog post, if their data shows that you've signed up for more than 4 new credit cards - from ANY credit card company - in the past 24 months
