Keeping an eye on the best credit card offers
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Citi/AAdvantage credit card, Citi and AA are offering a 20% discount on MileSAAver awards redeemed between June 1 and June 30 for travel between August 22 and November 16, 2007, and an exclusive cardmember auction that begins June 8 for high-end travel packages and experiences.
See this link for more details.
This is another targeted offer for select Starwood Amex cardholders, distinct from the concurrent Starwood Amex promotion running from April 15, 2007 to June 15, 2007.
This promotion runs from May 15, 2007 to June 15, 2007 and is good for up to a maximum bonus of 7,500 Starpoints. You can check if you are eligible by using the following links:
You must enroll by June 15, 2007 to receive the bonus.
From now until August 16, 2007, when you apply for a Choice Privileges Visa and make purchases of at least $150 within 75 days of opening your account, you’ll receive enough points for two nights at over 1,000 Choice Hotel properties. Properties include Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, Clarion, MainStay Suites, or Suburban Extended Stay locations in North America.
“Offering not the usual one, but instead two free nights, is a stand-out offer that will really appeal to current and potential guests,” said Bill Carlson, senior vice president, consumer revenue growth for Choice Hotels.
Note that the promotion is for 16,000 bonus points, which may not be enough for two nights at all Choice hotels. For more information, visit this link.
This promo represents a significant upgrade over the standard PremierPass Elite offer, with 25,000 bonus points awarded after first purchase and a 0% balance transfer for 15 months, compared to 15,000 points and 12 months, respectively. There is still a 3% balance transfer fee associated with the initial balance transfer, with a min of $5 and a max of $250. Note that there is a $75 annual fee with the Elite level of the card.
The standard version of the PremierPass card does not carry an annual fee, and as part of the same promotion, offers 10,000 bonus points and a 15 month 0% balance transfer, compared with the regular offering of 5,000 points and 12 months.
The link for this promo is here. (Via FW)
Please note that this offer has expired. For the current offer, see this link.
Per FT, there’s another bonus promo Amex is running from April 15, 2007 to June 15, 2007. This particular offer is for select Starwood Preferred Guest credit card holders.
You’ll earn a 25% Starpoint bonus on all purchases made during the promo period on your SPG Amex. If you are eligible, you can enroll by visiting http://www.americanexpress.com/starwoodbonus1 or calling 1-800-794-1308 and entering promo code 086650001.
If you were a Delta SkyMiles Credit Card holder solicited for this offer, you can enroll online by entering the RSVP code found printed inside your mailing at http://www.americanexpress.com/delta2x. Or you can enroll by phone, by calling 1-800-794-1308 and entering code 086450001.
You’ll earn double miles on eligible spending posted to your account between April 15 and June 15, 2007. You must register for this promotion by June 15, 2007. See full terms and conditions on Amex’s site.
There are a couple of prerequisites for this deal:
You can sign up for the Continental.com gift account and apply for the credit card through Continental’s website. Registering qualifies you for the standard 15,000 miles after first purchase, as well as a $150 deposit into your gift accocunt. As with the standard offer for the Continental WorldCard, you are also eligible for a 5% discount on qualifying Continental flights during the first 12 months after you open your account. This offer expires April 3, 2007.
Please do note that there is an annual fee of either $85.00 or $65.00, depending upon the level. Credit goes to FW.
Note 10/22/2010: This offer is no longer available. For a list of current Chase credit card offers, see this link.
This thread at FW notes a very interesting offer: The Elite Level version of Citi PremierPass is being offered with the annual fee of $75 waived. The offer also includes the standard 15,000 bonus points. The link to this offer can be found here.
Note that the linked page says “Annual Fee Waived.” It’s unclear whether it’s referring to merely the first year of the annual fee being waived or if it would be waived permanently. If you open up the application and then look at the terms and conditions, under the heading of “Annual fees” it says “None.” That might lead you to believe that the fee waiver is permanent.
It’s a little puzzling, however, because then one wonders why Citi would even bother placing both the Elite level and the standard level of the card on the same promotional web page. Without the annual fee, the standard PremierPass has no advantage over the Elite level, as the Elite PremierPass has superior points earning capabilities, among other things. Based on this reasoning, my guess is that the intention of the offer is that only the first year’s annual fee is waived. I believe anyone who applies with the expectation that they will be forever exempt from the annual fee will be disappointed, but I would be happy to be proven wrong.
If you have a Starwood Amex, you’ll want to be aware of the upcoming changes to the Starwood Preferred Guest program, as they can significantly impact your plans to redeem your Starpoints.
While the changes don’t amount to a 25% devaluation as originally speculated, Starwood is introducing a new top tier of hotel awards, Category 7 hotels, that require 30,000 Starpoints per night in low season and 35,000 Starpoints per night in high season. In cases where there are only suite awards available at a given property, the minimum cost will be 60,000 Starpoints per night in low season and 70,000 Starpoints per night in high season; however, depending upon the type and configuration of the suite, it could run even higher in a few instances. This new category is currently confined to only the priciest of Starwood’s properties:
This new category is due to be put into effect in February. At the same time, Starwood will also be re-evaluating the category placements for all hotels, and we have been forewarned that there will be many hotels that will increase in redemption cost. Anyone with travel plans would be well advised to book their award stays before February to lock in the 2006 redemption levels. Note that you can book your award stays up to 18 months in advance of your arrival.
Another recent change, effective this year, is that it now takes two Starpoints instead of one, to get a Continental mile. Apparently, Chase/Continental was tired of people choosing the SPG Amex instead of their Chase Continental card, and essentially forced this change to remove that temptation. As other airlines’ contracts with Starwood come up for renewal in the near year or two, it’s not unreasonable to expect similar devaluations to come.
The bottom line is that while the SPG Amex still appears to be a worthwhile card, like every points-based program, it needs careful watching, as the value of your points can be easily diluted over time.
Related links:
American Express has introduced a new benefit to reimburse cardholders in cases where they have purchased event tickets, but cannot attend due to unexpected circumstances:
With the Event Ticket Protection Plan, you may be eligible for coverage when you cannot attend an eligible Event for certain reasons covered by the Plan. Some eligible Covered Incidents would be a Medical Emergency, a Transportation Accident in which you are involved, the theft of a Ticket, or jury duty.
The free benefit is available to consumer and business Gold, Platinum and Centurion cardholders. More information can be found here.