Delta SkyMiles Amex Adds Priority Boarding, In-Flight Discounts
American Express and Delta Air Lines announced today two new benefits–priority boarding and in-flight discounts–for Delta SkyMiles credit card holders.
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Author Archives: ccwatcher
Starwood Amex: 30,000 Points Bonus is Back (Expired)
For a limited time, the Starwood American Express is offering up to 30,000 bonus Starpoints as a signup bonus — enough for 3 free nights at a Category 4 hotel (or 10-15 nights at a Category 1 hotel). You’ll earn 10,000 bonus Starpoints after your first purchase and another 20,000 bonus Starpoints after spending at least $4,500 in your first 3 months of cardmembership. In addition, the annual fee of $65 will be waived for the first year.
Even without its generous signup bonus, however, the SPG Amex is one of my favorite travel credit cards.
Note: As of August 22, 2011, this 30k bonus Starpoints offer has expired.
Note #1: If you click through to the application and don’t see the 30k Starpoints offer, you may need to clear your cookies, then try again.
Note #2: If you’re applying for a new Starwood Amex, don’t include any additional cardmembers as part of your application. Instead, apply and get the card first, then use this link to add additional users. It will allow you to earn 1,000 additional Starpoints when you add an Additional Cardmember to your account and they spend $150 in the first 3 months (up to 2 additional cardmembers).
Note #3: For a limited time, Amex is also running a referral program for this same 30k offer. If you know someone who already has an SPG card, you can ask them if they received a referral offer. If they did, they can send you a link for this 30k offer and if you sign up under their link, they will receive 5k Starpoints as well.
It Just Became Easier to Get Your Credit Score for Free
It’s generally common knowledge that you are eligible for a free credit report every twelve months from annualcreditreport.com. It’s also fairly well known that you can get a free copy of your credit report when you’ve been turned down for credit. Up until now, however, getting a hold of your credit score for free hasn’t been so easy.
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Amex Starts Offering Deals on Facebook
American Express is embracing social media with both arms. In addition to its recently revealed partnership with FourSquare, Amex is now rolling out a new Facebook application that promises to offer cardmembers deals based upon their profile information.
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Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card – 50,000 Bonus Points, Enough for 2 Flights
For a limited time, Chase and Southwest have brought this excellent offer back: Under this promo, you’ll receive 50,000 bonus points with your first purchase — enough for 2 free flights (up to $833 towards Wanna Get Away fares).
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Best Balance Transfer Credit Cards
Looking for a deal on a balance transfer? The good news is that there are much better deals available now compared to a year ago. The bad news is that some of the best offers are not open to everyone.
With that in mind, here’s a list of credit cards currently offering the best balance transfer deals:
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Link your Amex to Foursquare for Couponless Savings
Amex and social networking site Foursquare recently announced a partnership to offer their users special discounts at selected merchants. Under this system, Foursquare users with an American Express account can sync their accounts together and then receive “check-in” discounts without the need to print or clip a coupon.
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Ink Business Credit Cards from Chase: $250 Signup Bonus
Chase is now offering up to $250 as a signup bonus on the Ink Cash Business Card. You’ll earn 15,000 bonus points after your first purchase (worth $150 in cash), plus another 10,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 within the first 3 months (redeemable for another $100 in cash back).
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Capital One Venture Rewards Card: 25,000 Bonus Miles
While not nearly as nice as their earlier “Match Your Miles” promo, Cap One has just sweetened its signup bonus on its Venture Rewards credit card, from 10,000 miles to 25,000 miles, good for $250 towards travel. You’ll earn your 25,000 bonus miles once you spend $1,000 within the first 3 months of opening your account.
As is standard for the Venture Rewards card, you’ll earn 2% back on all purchases that can only be redeemed towards travel. If you choose to instead redeem your miles for cash, they’ll instead be redeemed at a 1% reward rate. Another nice feature of the card is that, like all Cap One cards, there are no foreign transaction fees.
The card does carry a $59 annual fee, but it’s waived for the first year.
For more info, or to apply, see capitaloneventure.com.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card: 100,000 Bonus Points?
According to a new thread on FW, there is now a targeted promo offering 100,000 bonus points after you spend $500 within the first 3 months, worth either $1250 towards free flights or $1000 in cash. To be eligible for the deal, you must have received a personalized invitation number from Chase in the mail. While the vast majority of us will not be lucky enough to receive this offer, there is still some very good news.
If you’ve taken advantage of the current 50,000 bonus point offer (which is quite generous as it is), it appears that Chase may be willing to basically match the targeted offer. A poster on SD reports:
I applied chase preferred sapphire card a few days ago with 50k bonus points after spending 3000$ in three months. Now I hear there is a better target promotion that is Earn 100,000 bonus points when you spend $500 within the first 3 months. I sent a secure message and asked them to match this offer, and they kindly offer me extra 50K points. Now the 50k points are shown in my account and I can earn extra 50k bonus points after spending 3000$ in three months. Hope you can get it as well!
If you applied recently, it certainly seems worth contacting Chase to see if the offer can be matched.
Edit 6/19: It seems many SD users who applied for the card recently are reporting success getting an additional 50k bonus points. The key appears to be logging into your Chase account and sending a secure message online to ask for the additional points, rather than calling and talking to a rep. Good luck!
Edit 6/22: Based on multiple reports, it appears that this deal is now dead. As of yesterday, people asking for the 100k deal to be matched were being turned down. The 50k point offer, however, is a very good deal, available to everyone and still alive.