[DEAL GONE] 70k Delta SkyMiles + $100 statement credit + 10k EQMs - Delta Amex Business card

2/2/2017 This deal has expired.

The 70,000 mile sign-up bonus offer available mid-2016 has expired, but it is still available thru Feb 1 via referral offer.

If anyone is interested in earning Delta SkyMiles, or interested in earning Delta elite flyer status vai earning Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs), this is an excellent offer for both of those purposes.  Please contact me offline or via the comments if you would like to receive this referral offer via email.


Offer Details

• Must apply by Feb 1, 2017, using the link in the referral email
• 70,000 Delta SkyMiles when meeting minimum spend
• 10,000 Delta Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) 
• Earn the sign-up bonus by spending $5,000 or more within the first 3 months
• $100 statement credit after a $100+ Delta purchase on the card in first 3 months
• $195 annual fee (NOT waived the first year)

FYI:  This is the BUSINESS version of the card.  This means a couple of things:

• It is a separate product from the PERSONAL Delta Amex Platinum card.  You can get approved for, and earn the bonus on, the business version even if you hold or previously held the personal version.
• As a business card, this card does not hit one's personal credit report and therefore does not worsen one's situation with regard to Chase's 5/24 rule.

Good background article on HOW (and why) to apply for a business credit card:

http://millionmilesecrets.com/2015/09/13/how-to-qualify-for-a-small-business-credit-card-and-why-you-should-get-one/

Card Benefits / Details

• Earn an additional 10,000 SkyMiles AND 10,000 MQMs by spending $25,000 on the card in a calendar year.  Spend $50,000 and earn an additional 10,000 MQMs
• Priority Boarding (Zone 1) on Delta flights for cardmember and others on same reservation
• Card benefits - first checked bag free on every Delta flight.
• Earn 1 SkyMile per dollar spent.  Earn 2 SkyMiles per dollar on Delta purchases
• 20% off eligible in-flight purchases via statement credit (meals, food, alcoholic beverages, headsets; in-flight wi-fi and charitable donations excluded)
• Spend $25,000 or more on the card in a calendar year to waive Delta's revenue requirement component of elite status qualification.

Bottom Line
Great card, top-notch sign-up bonus.  Highly recommended.

• This is the highest offer I've ever seen on this card.
• The usual bonus on this card is about half this good - typically 35k SkyMiles and 5k MQMs.
• This card is a business card and will not show up on your personal credit report.  Nor will it count toward your Chase 5/24 limit.

Chicago to Mumbai from $622 round trip

Chicago (ORD) to Mumbai (BOM) from $622 round trip on Etihad!  May 2017 and other dates

Great price on roundtrip flights from the Midwest to India.

• Good routing - just one stop, in Abu Dhabi (AUH)
• Etihad flies the Boeing 777 ORD>AUH and Airbus A380 AUH>BOM
• Last departure date with $623 round trip pricing is May 11, 2017.
• Can return thru June and into early July at this low pricing.
• Search Google Flights for more information.  www.google.com/flights
• New Delhi (DEL) available from $666 round trip
• Numerous dates are available, but not every day during the date range.

Google Flights Sample Searches (roundtrip pricing)

• March 11 - April 3.  ORD>BOM  $623 per person.  LINK
• May 11 - June 5.  ORD>BOM 6 people for $3,738 total ($623 per person).  LINK
• March 9 - April 3.  ORD>DEL $666 per person LINK

Detroit to Mumbai India Roundtrip $807 and up thru May/June 2017

hat tip to Fare Deal Alert.

Flights on United and other Star Alliance partner airlines are as low as $807 roundtrip, Detroit (DTW) to Mumbai (BOM) now thru May 2017 or a bit later.

• Last departure date with sub-$900 round trip pricing is June 1, 2017.
• Can return thru June and into early July at this low pricing.
• Search on Google Flights for more information.
• Delta (SkyTeam Alliance) seems to have matched these sale fares.
• Numerous dates are available, but not every day during the date range.
• Some routings are 2-stop but some 1-stops are available - e.g. Detroit (DTW) to Newark (EWR) to Mumbai (BOM) on United Airlines.

Sample search on Google Flights June 1 depart, July 3 return $819 and up round trip.  

[DEAL GONE] Europe on sale again: Many U.S. Cities from $477 Roundtrip Now thru Early Dec 2017

UPDATE 1/10/2017 330PM.  This fare sale has expired.  Prices outlined in this post are no longer available.

The last widespread US > Europe fare sale lasted about a week.  This one lasted about 24 hours.  The upshot is, you never know how long a sale will last.  Book now and think later!  Make use of the 24-hour cancelation window.  Get ahold of friends and family members, and work on other arrangements (hotels, rental cars, rides to the airport, etc) AFTER you book.  Nothing bugs me more than hearing someone say, 'I didn't book it because I was waiting for so-and-so to get back to me, so I missed the deal' or 'I couldn't get my brother to commit right away and when I tried to book, the deal was over.'  Don't make this mistake!

This fare sale started yesterday.  Last night I booked a flight for a family of six friends from Detroit to London for $596 round trip during August 2017 -- summer travel to Europe for < $600 each roundtrip is very good.  This morning, I checked again and the same prices were available from Grand Rapids!  So I booked new flights from GRR and will cancel the flights from Detroit since there's always 24 hours to cancel flights (as long as the departure date is at least 7 days away).

This is a very widespread fare sale -- the prices look to be the same for most dates thru the end of the current airline schedules in early December 2017.

• Spring break?  Yes
• Summer?  Yes
• Any other time thru early December 2017?  Yes

Google Flights (google.com/flights) is the easiest way to search, then click thru to book directly with the airlines.

If you are somewhat of a risk taker, try searching on www.momondo.com which shows results from many various online travel agencies.  These OTAs often have cheaper airfares than what are offered directly by the airlines.

Amsterdam, Paris, London, Madrid -- all of these cities are showing availability for $477-$550 range roundtrip on MANY dates.

If you can't find what you are looking for from GRR, try Detroit (DTW) or Chicago (ORD or MDW) for more options.

Two days left to get $2,100+ in travel for a single $450 annual fee credit card

The Chase Sapphire Reserve sign-up bonus is being reduced from 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to 50,000 points after January 11, 2017.

If you:

• have gotten fewer than 5 new credit cards from ANY credit card issuer in the past 24 months (business credit cards from most banks are not counted in this limit)
• have a solid credit score (mid 700s for sure, although low 700s may work)
• are interested in traveling for free

Then it's a no-brainer, for you and your significant other if applicable, to apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card from Chase in the next couple days.

More background information about this deal is in my post from 9/22/2016:

Chase Sapphire Reserve article Sept 2016

Depending on your comfort level signing up for multiple new cards, you also may want to apply for the Chase Ink Preferred card first, then apply for the Sapphire Reserve after being approved for the Ink Preferred.

The Ink Preferred offers 80,000 point sign-up bonus.  Application link:  CLICK HERE

(The reason to apply first for the Ink Preferred card is that Chase does not count its own business credit cards toward the 5/24 card limit it uses to restrict people from being approved who have gotten 5+ new cards in the past 2 years.)

My blog does not have affiliate credit card links.  If you would like to apply, Google Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Ink Preferred.  Or you may consider visiting one of my favorite blogs, Ann Arbor-based Frequent Miler.  The Chase section of this page has a Chase Sapphire Reserve application link:  Frequent Miler best current credit card offers 

[DEAL GONE] $375 & up roundtrip now thru Oct 2017 - Many/Most U.S. Cities to Major European Cities

UPDATE 11/25 8:30am ET.  Sale appears to be over.  Flights from smaller airports are pricing much higher now.  You can still find sub-$500 round trips from big airports such as Chicago O'Hare (ORD), Detroit (DTW), Newark (EWR), Washington Dulles (IAD), New York (JFK), but not as widespread or as cheap as during the sale.

UPDATE 11/22 1050pm ET.  Deal is still going.  Flights found as low as $375 round trip!  United Airlines and other Star Alliance carriers getting involved, along with American and Delta.

Some summer fares have disappeared, but tons of $390-$460 round trips from all over the US to many different European cities are still available during many months from now thru Oct 2017.

West Coast flights are near $400, same as other areas of the US.  Salt Lake to Zurich $395 in May.  San Francisco, LA, etc to cities even in Eastern Europe for sub-$450.  13k miles roundtrip makes for great elite mileage runs.

This is a massive, widespread fare deal from American and Delta.  Fares from most U.S. cities starting at $393 roundtrip, including from smaller cities such as Grand Rapids (GRR) for a few dollars more.

These fares are good for almost anytime, as long as you include a Sunday overnight stay.  Spring break, summer, etc -- it's all in play on this widespread sale.

Book now and think later!  You have 24 hours to cancel flights booked with U.S. airlines.

Available destinations for < $450 roundtrip include Barcelona (BCN), Madrid (MAD), Amsterdam (AMS), Warsaw (WAW), Krakow (KRK), Bucharest (OTP), Paris (CDG), Milan (MXP), Rome (FCO), Copenhagen (CPH), Oslo (OSL), Dublin (DUB), Zurich (ZRH), and others.

These are not oddball, midweek, long layover, undesirable routings; the schedule is pretty much wide open from now until Oct 2017, most days of the week, short layovers (although longer layovers in NY or other places can be researched if desired), etc.

The Flight Deal has a couple good posts about it.  More background there:

Search using Google Flights.  Example spring break 2017 Fri 3/31 to Sun 4/9 - GRR to Brussels, Zurich, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Milan -- numerous flight options for $400-420 per person roundtrip.

Google Flights search - GRR to Brussels/Amsterdam/Copenhagen/Zurich/Milan March-April 2017.  $401 and up.

Google Flights search - Detroit to Dublin May 4-14.  $375 and up!

http://www.theflightdeal.com/2016/11/21/delta-386-406-united-states-barcelona-madrid-spain-roundtrip-including-all-taxes/

http://www.theflightdeal.com/2016/11/21/american-in-the-400s-united-states-spain-france-italy-netherlands-roundtrip-including-all-taxes/

Highest Ever Sign-up Bonuses on 2 Hilton Credit Cards, and Why You May Want to Wait

Two Hilton co-branded credit cards have the largest sign-up points bonus ever offered on these two cards:

• Amex Hilton HHonors Surpass card - 100,000 Hilton HHonors bonus points after $3,000 in purchases during the first 3 months of cardmembership.
• Citi HHonors Visa Signature card - 75,000 Hilton HHonors bonus points after $2,000 in purchases during the first 3 months of cardmembership

Why You May Not Want to Sign-up Right Away for the Amex Card

Two days ago, Amex posted links to two of their Hilton credit cards with even higher bonuses:

• 125,000 points for the HHonors Surpass ($3k spend in first 3 months; $75 annual fee).  Current offer is 100k
• 100,000 points for the regular version of the card which has no annual fee ($1,000 spend in first 3 months).  Current offer is 75k

These links were taken down quickly, but it is likely that Amex will post these as public offers in the near future.

Fine Print for Amex HHonors Surpass

• Limited time offer: Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in purchases on the card within your first 3 months of card membership. Offer ends 11/30/2016.
• Enjoy complimentary Hilton HHonors Gold status with your card.
• Earn 12x bonus points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged directly with a participating hotel or resort within the Hilton portfolio.
• $75 annual fee

Bottom Line

• My recommendation is sign up now for the Citi HHonors Visa Signature and wait a week or two to find out if the Amex HHonors cards go public with the higher offers that were briefly available recently.  Offers are valid thru 11/30/2016, so there's time to wait and see
• After meeting the minimum spend on the Citi card, you'll have around 80,000 HHonors points.  80k HHonors points can get you 2 nights at a fairly nice Hilton property, or 4-8 nights at less expensive properties in certain locations.
• Hilton HHonors Gold status can be very useful, as it includes free breakfast for 2 people at all properties in the Hilton portfolio and also provides higher points earning rates on paid stays.
• Get the Citi card for the sign-up bonus and no annual fee, but use the Amex card for longer-term spending as it offers superior points earning vs. the Citi card in all categories

Links to Apply

• Citi 75k link (The Points Guy)
• Amex 100k link (direct on Amex website)

Fine Print for Amex HHonors Surpass

• 12 HHonors bonus points per $1 spent at any participating hotel within the Hilton portfolio
• 6 HHonors bonus points per $1 spent at restaurants, supermarkets, and gas stations in the U.S.
• 3 HHonors bonus points for all other eligible purchases on your Card.
• HHonors Gold status as long as you are a cardmember.
• $75 Annual Fee

Fine Print for Citi HHonors Visa Signature

• 6 HHonors bonus points for each $1 spent at any participating hotel within the Hilton portfolio.
• 3 HHonors bonus points for each $1 spent on purchases at supermarkets, drugstores and gas stations.
• 2 HHonors bonus points for each $1 spent on all other purchases.
• HHonors Silver status as long as you are a cardmember.
• No annual fee

Further Reading

• Good summary from The Points Guy LINK
• More info on the higher Amex Hilton card bonuses at Danny Deal Guru LINK
• This landing page on Hilton website has links to all of the current public offers from both Citi and American Express http://hhonors3.hilton.com/en/earn-use-points/credit-cards/index.html.  (NOTE:  the Citi HHonors Visa Signature offer is only 40k points on this page.)