Where have all the 50,000 AAdvantage offers gone?

Posted by Noob Master on Jun 11, 2013 in AAdvantage, American Airlines, Citi Bank, Uncategorized | 4 comments

A few days ago, a reader let me know that all the 50,000 Citi AAdvantage offers have stopped working. Sadness.

There have been some dark days this year concerning the Citi AAdvantage cards. We’ve seen the death of the double browser trick, the Citi Business card has been harder to get, and the sign-up bonuses have changed.

But just as the 50,000 offers stopped working (they were all technically expired links anyway), Citi raised the public sign-up bonus on the Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® World MasterCard® from 30,000 to 40,000 AAdvantage miles.

I signed up for the Citi Visa card last November, but have never applied for the Mastercard version. Some have reported being able to get the Mastercard after already having the Visa and Amex, but I can’t confirm it – it’s a true YMMV. Remember, you can’t do two Citi credit card applications on the same date, and no more than two Citi apps in 65 days. Stay up to date on other data points in these Flyertalk thread. 

Here are the terms and conditions for the Citi Platinum Select Mastercard:

• For a limited time, Earn 40,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of cardmembership*
• Your first eligible checked bag is free*
• Priority Boarding with Group 1 privileges*
• and 25% savings on eligible in-flight purchases*
• Earn a $100 American Airlines Flight Discount every cardmembership year with qualifying purchases and cardmembership renewal*
• Double AAdvantage® miles on eligible American Airlines purchases*
• Earn 10% of your redeemed AAdvantage® miles back – up to 10,000 AAdvantage(R) miles each calendar year*

I love the 10% back you get on redeemed AAdvantage miles (up to 10,000)! It’s a 10% yearly savings for us, because we always burn 100k AA miles a year. It’s an addiction.

You also receive your first eligible checked bag free and priority boarding, which are both nice perks. The annual fee is waived for the first year.

Here are the other top Citi AAdvantage offers if you already have the Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® World MasterCard®:

Citi Platinum Select Visa – 40,000 miles after spending $3,000 in 3 months. You receive the same perks as the Citi Platinum World Mastercard.

Citi Business Mastercard - 40,000 miles after spending $3,000 in 3 months.

Recap

It appears that Citi is getting pretty strict with keeping expired links live, which makes sense because typically the expired links have always had a higher sign-up bonus than the public offers. However, 40,000 AAdvantage miles still isn’t a bad sign-up bonus – it is what it is. If you already have the Visa and Amex Citi cards and you want to top off your account, the Mastercard or business cards are your best options, but it’s not guaranteed you will be approved.

If you don’t already hold an AA card, then the Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® World MasterCard® is your best bet for now, and it’s nice to have the peace of mind that it’s a valid offer and not one of the expired offers you would have to apply for in the past. You shouldn’t have any issue getting approved if your credit score is in good condition.

Remember, if you’re applying for two personal Citi AA cards, you’ll need to spread the applications out at least a day. And if you want to throw in the business card, wait 65 days from the second application. Best of luck! As one reader told me yesterday, “Citi has become squirrelly.”

— Noob Master

The Business Rewards Cards Making My Wallet Fat

Posted by Noob Master on May 13, 2013 in American Express, business credit cards, Chase Bank, Citi Bank, Uncategorized | 9 comments

I have a couple of businesses (or hobbies that can be explained as businesses), so I get to have a little stash of business rewards cards. Yeah, the sign-up bonuses are great, but there are some business cards that I have just to maximize my spending. Imagine that.

I get a lot of emails asking about what business cards I personally have or recommend. Business cards are always a good idea, both to maximize your spending and pad your bounty of miles. And it just so happens that there are currently some great offers to choose from. If you were quick and jumped in on the 75k Business Gold offer from last week that only lasted 12 hours, congrats to you!

As I mentioned earlier, I have a couple of hobbies that can be explained as businesses. I wouldn’t lie on a business application, but several side jobs/hobbies can make a case for the need to separate spending. That means you can apply as a sole proprietor if you don’t have an incorporated business. Here’s my full post on how to apply for a business card as a sole proprietor.

A great perk of business cards is that the only activity that will go on your personal credit report is the initial inquiry, which is only a 2-5 point ding. Your credit score will easily recover from this ding. All account history, opening, and closing will be tied to the business credit report, as long as you don’t default on your payments.

Here are the list of business cards that I currently have open.

Chase Ink Bold and Ink Plus

No shocker here. I currently have 4 Ink cards open, making my wallet fat. And when I start a new venture, it’s the first card I will apply for, for that business. Since the Ink Bold® Business Card and Ink Plus® Business Card are different products, you can have each of them for an individual business. Winning.

I love Ultimate Rewards. So any time I can inject a hefty bonus into my UR account, I go for it. Currently, the sign-up bonus is 50,000 points after spending $5,000 in 3 months. I also use my Ink cards to maximize their 5x earning opportunities (which are: office supplies, phone services, internet, and satellite), and to earn 2x points on gas and hotels booked directly. And I love using my Ink cards while traveling internationally, since they don’t carry a foreign transaction fee.

The Ink Plus and Ink Bold are practically the same cards, but the Plus is a credit card, and the Bold is a charge card. Here’s my full review of the Ink cards.

If you’re looking for a business card, I would start with either the Ink Plus or Ink Bold. No brainer. See the full details below:

Citibank AAdvantage

An old faithful card of mine is the Citibank AAdvantage business rewards card. Jordan was actually denied for it the last time she applied, so it appears that the card is harder to get multiple times. If you do hold the Citibusiness card, you can expect Citi to offer a retention bonus if you try to cancel. I’ve taken them up on their offers many times.

This is another 50,000 option, too. Can’t complain about that. The offer doesn’t show the sign-up bonus on the landing page, so it takes a little faith, but many people have been approved through the link. You get 50,000 AAdvantage miles after spending $2,500 in 4 months and the annual fee is waived for the first year.

This isn’t a card that I put a lot of spending on, since growing my AAdvantage miles isn’t my top priority and there aren’t any lucrative category bonuses. But you do get 10% back on your award redemptions, priority boarding, and a free checked bag. So it’s worth holding at least one Citi AAdvantage card for those reasons.

Link: Citibank Visa  

American Express Business Gold Rewards

You probably saw the craziness last week when the 50,000 The Business Gold Rewards Card® from American Express OPEN offer was showing 75,000 for most people after clicking through. That’s 25,000 more than the already increased offer of 50,000, and the minimum spend requirement stayed the same, at $5,000 in 3 months. But in true Amex fashion, the deal only lasted 12 hours.

The current LTO is still a very good offer, but if you’re flexible, you should wait and see if the 75,000 offer comes back around. I applied for the Business Gold card last year during another 50,000 offer, and you can’t have multiple American Express business cards for separate businesses. Well, they may approve you, but will most likely deny you the sign-up bonus. Does anyone out there have a different experience?

I use my Business Gold rewards card for spending because of the 3x on airfare and 2x on gas. And if your business advertises or ships a lot, you will earn 2x points on those purchases as well. You can see the full details below.

Southwest Plus Business

I love the Southwest business card Jordan applied for last year, because the 50,000 sign-up bonus bumped her to Companion Pass status.  We have really maximized our travel by taking advantage of our Companion Pass. Whenever Jordan’s Companion Pass status runs out, I’ll be very tempted to apply for the Southwest Business card when there’s a 50,000 offer to help me reach the 110,000 threshold.

We primarily use our Southwest business card for Southwest airlines purchases. Unfortunately, there currently isn’t a 50,000 offer on the Premier or Plus versions, so I would hold out until the offer comes back around. 50,000 Southwest offers seem to always pop their heads up every couple of months, so stay tuned.

What’s next?

I want all my business cards to be Ink cards, but that’s just not feasible. The next business card that I’ve identified is the Starwood Preferred Guest card, but I may hold out until the end of the summer to see if they bring back the 30,000 offer like the last two years.

The Club Carlson Business Visa is always a very tempting option, but I’m not sure I want to mess with US Bank and the hassle of “too many inquiries.” I may give the Citi AAdvantage Business Visa another go around in a couple of months, but still not sure. I may just keep the one I have open. I’ll let you know.

But for now, I’m pretty happy with the business cards we’re using. The sign-up bonuses were a nice addition to our personal stashes, and the spending perks of the Ink cards and Business Gold cards work well with our spending habits. Plus, I’m all about Ultimate Rewards and Membership Rewards points.

 Disclaimer: I receive a referral credit for the Ink and Business Gold cards, but not the SW, Club Carlson, or Citibusiness cards.)

— Noob Master

Weekend Rewards Card Round-Up: 75k Business Gold, 50k Amex, and More…

Posted by Noob Master on Mar 10, 2013 in American Express, App-Party, business credit cards, Citi Bank, Credit Cards, Uncategorized | 2 comments

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! I’ve been out enjoying the SXSWi festivities and I’m pumped about next week’s music portion.

Anywho, here are some recent haps in rewards card world. The 75k Business Gold offer didn’t go away Friday, and the other LTO Amex offers are still around (for now).

50,000 American Express Premier Rewards & 45,000 Delta Gold

Edit: Cardmatch doesn’t guarantee this offers. All offers are different based on each persons data.

If you’ve been in a cave or haven’t heard – there are some limited time offers through creditcards.com for the American Express Premier Rewards Gold card and the 45,000 Delta Gold card.

The feeling is that these offers will be ending sometime soon, because they have been live for a couple of weeks already. To see if you qualify for the offers, click the CARDMATCH tool and then click “offers matched for you” on the top left of the page. From there, you will need to fill in the form, but you don’t have to enter in your Social Security Number.

Exclusive American Express Offers

Important: On the Amex Premier Rewards Gold card, the terms say:

“Welcome bonus offer not available to applicants who have had this product within the last 12 months or any other Consumer ZYNC^®, Green or Gold Card or Platinum Card^® account within the last 90 days.”

British Airways 50,000 Offer

The 100,000 British Airways offer went away a couple of weeks ago and has been replaced by a 50,000 British Airways offer. The 50,000 Avios are earned after spending $1,000 in 3 months. You no longer have the option to earn 50,000 more Avios through extra spending requirements. I know this is a bummer for some, but for others who weren’t going to hit the additional spending thresholds, things remain the same. The full card details are below:

• You will get 50,000 bonus Avios after you make $1,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening
• Plus pay no foreign transaction fees when you travel abroad
• You will also get 2.5 Avios for every $1 spent on British Airways purchases and 1.25 Avios for every $1 spent on all other purchases
• Every calendar year you make $30,000 in purchases on your British Airways Visa card, you’ll earn a Travel Together Ticket good for two years
• Chip with Signature Technology allows you to use your card for chip based purchases in Europe & beyond, while still giving you the ability to use your card as you do today at home
• The $95 annual isn’t waived

Link: British Airways Visa Signature® Card

US Airways Card Drama

The links to the US Airways card seem to change every week. Now, it appears that people were being denied for the last offers because they didn’t have Preferred status with US Airways. I’ve updated the sick deals page with the most current offer that seems to be working.

The link below isn’t my affilate link so I can’t guarantee it, but it is better than my affiliate link (which I’ve removed from the site a while ago).

If it doesn’t seem to be working, check the Flyertalk thread for an updated link (and to read success stories). This offer is for 35,000 Dividend Miles on first spend and no annual fee. Read the T&Cs at the bottom of the application.

https://www.barclaycardus.com/apply/…&cellNumber=19

There’s also a business version for 25,000 Dividend miles and $79 annual fee.

75,000 Business Gold American Express Offer

Just a couple of days ago, Amex came out with another 75,000 Business Gold offer. You can read my full write-up here and you have until March 14th to apply. I like the 75k bonus, but there’s a spend of $10k to meet.

Throwing an App Party?

Here are some options to add to an App Party if you’re looking to take advantage of the Amex or Barclays cards offers before they disappear. [Remember, you should only be applying for cards with minimum spending requirements that you're comfortable with and if your credit score is in good condition. Also, if you're paying interest, you're not truly traveling classy on pennies.]

My top picks for Chase are the Ink Bold® or Ink Bold®. Jordan was just approved for the Ink Plus this week. We are pumped about the 50,000 sign-up bonus! Gotta restock the Ultimate Rewards balance. Plus there’s still great value with the 5x earning and 2x earning the card gives you. If you’re looking to top off your Southwest account for the Companion Pass, then there’s the Southwest card options. Best domestic value out there.

For Citibank, I would recommend looking at the AAdvantage offers before the merger in October is complete. If you’re maxed out on AAdvantage cards then I would look at the Citi® Hilton HHonors™ Reserve Card where you still get Gold status and two free weekend nights. Good thing there wasn’t a points sign-up bonus with Reserve.

I hope this helps as you weigh through your options, and don’t hesitate to email/comment if you have any App Party questions.

[Disclosure: I do receive a referral for some of the cards mentioned in this post, but do not for the AAdvantage offers, US Airways, and Amex offers. Only apply through my links if you're satisfied with the service I provide. Thanks for the support if you do!]

— Noob Master