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Chase Freedom Visa: $200 Signup Bonus is Back

June 17, 2011 ccwatcher Cash Back Cards, Chase, Signup Bonuses

While there are reports that a lucky few are getting targeted for a more lucrative offer, this is one of the better Chase Freedom deals that has been available to the general public. Under this promo, you’ll earn a $200 cash back bonus when you spend $1,500 within the first 6 months of opening a new account.

As is standard for the card, it carries no annual fee and you’ll earn 5% in categories that rotate quarterly. For instance, from July 1 through September 30, 2011, you’ll earn 5% on up to $1,500 in spending on gas, hotel and airline purchases. All other purchases earn 1% cash back.

Link

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Citi ThankYou Preferred Card: $250 in Gift Cards

June 14, 2011 ccwatcher Citibank, Signup Bonuses, Travel Cards

Citi ThankYou Preferred Card: $250 in gift cards In addition to the 50,000 bonus ThankYou point promo Citi is offering on its Premier Card, Citi has temporarily sweetened its deal on the ThankYou Preferred Card. ~~Until June 30, 2011, you’ll earn 26,000 bonus ThankYou points, redeemable for $250 in gift cards when you open a new Citi ThankYou Preferred Card and spend at least $1,000 within 3 months.~~
(Update 5/15/12: Currently, you’ll earn 25,000 points redeemable for $250 in gift cards once you spend at least $2,000 within 4 months of opening a Citi ThankYou Preferred Card account.)
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Citi ThankYou Premier Card: 50,000 Bonus Points Worth $665 in Airfare

June 10, 2011 ccwatcher Citibank, Signup Bonuses, Travel Cards

Note: As of 8/15/11, this 50,000 bonus ThankYou points offer has expired. To see the current Citi ThankYou deals, see the following links:

Citi has just launched a brand new limited-time offer: you’ll earn 50,000 bonus ThankYou points for spending $2,000 in the first 3 months of opening a new Citi ThankYou Premier Card account. This signup bonus is enough for $665 worth of airfare when you redeem your points through the ThankYou Travel Center. Alternatively, you could exchange your 50,000 points for $500 in gift cards or other rewards.

You’ll also earn 1.2 points per $1 when you use the card at gas stations, supermarkets, drugstores, and at commuter transportation and parking merchants. Everywhere else, you’ll earn 1 point per $1 spent.

In addition, some of the card’s other benefits include:

No foreign exchange fees
Earn points for the miles you fly when you purchase a ticket with your Citi ThankYou Premier Card.
Earn an anniversary bonus based on the number of points earned from purchases every year. The longer you remain a cardholder, the larger your bonus percentage will be.
Receive a complimentary domestic companion ticket each year

The Premier Card does carry a $125 annual fee which is not waived for the first year under this offer. The annual fee is permanently waived, however, if you are a CitiGold customer. For this reason alone, the current Chase Sapphire deal is the better value at this time for non-CitiGold customers if you were only going to apply for a single card. Nevertheless, this 50,000 bonus ThankYou points promo is still an attractive option.

Note 8/15: This promo has now expired. For the latest Citi ThankYou deals, see the following links:

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Visa Signature Cardholders: Free Gold Hilton HHonors Status + 5000 Points

June 9, 2011 ccwatcher Visa

For a limited time, Visa Signature cardholders can get Gold Hilton HHonors status instantly by registering their card at www.hhonors.com/visasignature by August 31, 2011. If you’re not already an HHonors member, you’ll need to first join the program by visiting www.hhonors.com or calling 1-800-HHonors. If you also have 3 Hilton stays by August 31, 2011, you’ll extend your Gold membership through March 2013. After that time, you’ll need to fulfill the standard requirements to maintain your status.

If you already have Gold or Diamond Elite status, you’ll receive 5,000 free Hilton HHonors points just for registering your card. In addition, a glitch in the system currently allows you to register twice. You can enroll the first time to get Gold status, then re-enter your card info to get the 5,000 points. Even without double dipping, however, this is a very nice deal. See this link for the benefits of HHonors Gold membership.

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How to Cash In Your Cap One Matched Miles Fast

June 6, 2011 ccwatcher Capital One, Travel Cards

Did you sign up for the Capital One “Match My Miles” promo while it was still alive? If so, someone on SD has discovered a loophole that will allow you to cash out your miles almost immediately without incurring additional travel expenses or forcing you to redeem them for gift cards.
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PenFed Premium Travel Rewards Amex: 5x Points on Hotel and Dining

May 23, 2011 ccwatcher Pentagon Federal, Travel Cards

Through August 31, 2011, PenFed is running a promotion where you’ll receive 5x points on all hotel and dining purchases with your PenFed Premium Travel Rewards Amex. That’s in addition to the 5x points that you normally receive on airfare purchases.

Through June 30, 2011, you can also transfer balances fee-free at 4.99% for the life of the balance.

Read a more detailed review of the card here.

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Chase Sapphire Preferred Card: 50,000 Bonus Points

May 16, 2011 ccwatcher Chase, Signup Bonuses, Travel Cards

Chase is now offering 50,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 within the first 3 months of getting your Chase Sapphire Preferred card. That’s double the number of points it was previously offering, enough for 2 airline tickets or a statement credit of $500.

Redeeming Your Chase Sapphire Points
With Chase Sapphire points, you have a number of redemption options. You can convert your Chase Sapphire points into BA miles, Continental miles or Hyatt miles at a 1:1 ratio at any time you want. Point transfers are also possible to Amtrak, Priority Club and Marriott at lower conversion ratios.

If you convert your 50,000 points to one of these programs, what does that get you?

With 50,000 BA miles, for instance, you can get 2 tickets within the continental United States and Canada on American Airlines.
50,000 Continental miles are also enough for 2 tickets on Air Canada, Continental, United or US Airways.
50,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points, on the other hand, can be redeemed for between 2-10 free hotel nights with no blackout dates, depending on hotel category and room type.

Alternatively, if you use Chase’s online travel portal, you can redeem your 50,000 points towards $625 worth of airfare or hotel accommodations.

For those who aren’t into travel or prefer cold hard cash, you can also redeem the 50,000 points for a $500 gift card or a $500 statement credit.

The annual fee of $95 is waived for the first year. You can also downgrade to the standard version of the card after a year, which does not carry an annual fee.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card also earns double the number of points per dollar spent on travel (including air, hotel, car rental, trains, travel agencies, taxis, etc.) and on dining purchases (from fast food and coffee shops to fine dining).

In addition, there are no foreign exchange fees when you use the card overseas and you’ll earn a 7% annual points dividend on any points you earned during the year, so you actually earn 1.07 points per dollar spent on regular purchases and 2.14 per dollar spent on travel and dining, making it a particularly excellent choice for the international traveler.

Update 4/3/12: The 50,000 point offer has expired and has been replaced by an intro offer for 40,000 points, making this deal slightly less lucrative. 40,000 points is still enough to redeem towards a $400 statement credit or $500 in travel when redeemed through Chase’s Ultimate Rewards portal.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Application Link

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American Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card: 50,000 Bonus Points + No Annual Fee for 2 Years

May 14, 2011 ccwatcher American Express, Signup Bonuses

amex premier rewards gold card Under the terms of this offer, you’ll receive 50,000 Membership Rewards bonus points when you spend $500 within the first three months of opening a new Premier Rewards Gold card account. In addition, the annual fee of $175 will be waived for the first two years of your membership. Other benefits of the card remain the same, including: earn 3x points on airfare, 2x points on gas and groceries and 1x points on everything else.

Note: According to SD, this offer appears to be targeted to Columbia 2011 and 2012 MBA students, so YMMV on receiving your bonus points.

Link

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Free 1000 AA Miles for Citi AAdvantage Cardmembers

May 9, 2011 ccwatcher Citibank, Travel Cards

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the AAdvantage program, AA has lined up a deal a day for 30 days. Its deal of the day for tomorrow, May 10, 2011, is 1,000 bonus AAdvantage bonus miles simply for having a Citi AAdvantage credit card.

In order to be eligible for the promotion, you must have an open Citi Aadvantage credit card or CitiBusiness AAdvantage credit card on or before May 8, 2011. To register and reserve your bonus miles, visit www.aa.com/AAdvantage30 on May 10, 2011, starting at 12:01am CST. Note that this promo is valid for one day only, so don’t miss it!

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Blue Cash Rebate Calculator

May 2, 2011 ccwatcher American Express, Cash Back Cards

With Amex’s recent introduction of two new Blue Cash cards, you may be wondering which one is better for you. Or, if you’re a current cardholder, you probably want to know whether it makes sense to convert your old Blue Cash card to one of the new versions. Does it make sense to pay an annual fee for the Preferred card? How much of a rebate can you expect from each of the cards?

Check it out: Amex Blue Cash Rebate Calculator

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