Happy Sunday everyone,
Welcome to the first bi-weekly newsletter. Thanks for being our first few subscribers!
In our newsletter, you will find links to our latest posts as well as the latest credit card news, transfer bonuses, award travel ideas, and more! Please participate in the poll at the end of the newsletter to help us prioritize our upcoming articles.
Recent Articles
Read about Amex’s Fine Hotels & Resorts (FHR) booking and amazing IHG hotel redemption in Manhattan NYC in our latest trip report!
Credit card 101: Part 3 is out, and the series is now completed, be sure to check them out!
Read about my first-ever business class experience!
Tip of the Month
One of the easiest ways to earn points is through a high SUB (sign-on bonus). You should always check the current highest SUB on google (doctor of credits is a good site to start).
Once you find the highest available public offer, try opening the application page in a few different browsers (Safari, Firefox, Chrome, …) and browser mode (incognito) to get the highest offer.
News
Amex Gold Refresh Rumor
Amex Gold product refresh rumors have been going around this week. Details can be found in this doctor of credit article. Here’s a quick summary of the rumored changes:
Annual fee increases from $250 to $325
New “White Gold” card design option
Cap on 4x dining earning at $50,000 / year
New $7 / monthly Dunkin Donut credit
New $50 semi-annual RESY credit
Swap out Shake Shack with Five Guys for the $10 / month dining credit
No change on $10 / month UberEat credit
This updated card will have a negative effective annual fee ($424 - $325 = -$99), compared to the current effective annual fee of $10. But the new credits do make this card slightly harder to use. If you are already thinking of getting the card or simply getting it for the sign-on bonus, it might be best to get it now before the refresh takes place.
Feel free to use one of our Amex Gold referral links: link1, link2.
Historic High IHG Premier Sign-on Bonus
IHG Premier is offering a historically high sign-on bonus, offering 5 free nights (up to 60k IHG points per night, up to 300k points total) after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. Their previous high for sign-on bonus was 175k points.
In our credit card 101 part 2, we mentioned that hotel cards are “usually considered as keeper cards, where you receive a free night certificate every year you hold the card, which often is worth more than the annual fee.” IHG Premier is a prime example of a keep card, and it is one of my favorite credit cards as it provides platinum elite status in addition to the anniversary free night. Read more about how I use the card in the NYC trip report.
Limited Time Sign-on Bonus for Venture Rewards from CapOne
Capital One Venture Reward is offering a limited time $250 travel credit + 75K bonus miles sign-on bonus after spending $4,000 in 3 months. This is nearly identical to the historic high SUB of 100k miles. We currently don’t have any Capital One card, but this is a really good low annual fee ($99) travel card and the SUB is definitely very attractive.
Be aware that Capital One is one of the strictest companies in terms of credit card application. Use their pre-approval tool to see your chances.
On-going Transfer Bonus
There aren’t too many notable ongoing transfer bonuses at the moment. Miles can expire, and devalue. So the rule of thumb for points transfer is to transfer only when you are about to book.
Chase
25% transfer bonus to Aeroplan
Aeroplan is a great program to book cheap award flights for Star Alliance. Here’s an example of booking a United carrier flight from SFO to FRA on 8/11. With the transfer bonus an economy seat costs 32k, and a business seat is 56k.
80% transfer bonus to IHG
Despite praising IHG earlier, it is almost never a good idea to transfer credit card points to a hotel chain, with the exception of Hyatt. This is because hotel point’s cents-per-point (cpp) value is usually below 1, so a 1:1 conversion rate is not good. However, if you already have points and just need some more to complete a booking, this is a great opportunity to load up.
Citi
15% transfer bonus to Cathay Pacific
Closing
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