American Express is celebrating their 175th birthday (!) with a “Member Week” from March 17-21. They are touting various special offers. I honestly don’t know if they will be awesome or disappointing, but I figure that it’s worth logging into your AmEx account/app and checking your AmEx Offer. Here is the press release and the official Member Week page.

Besides a chance at tickets to see Gracie Abrams and a free martini at “participating restaurants in New York, Washington D.C., Miami, Atlanta and Chicago”, here’s their teaser on the retail offers:

In honor of its 175th year, American Express will introduce new, limited-time Amex Offers for eligible U.S. Consumer and Business Card Members. Eligible Consumer Card Members can access more than $290 in statement credits when they make qualifying purchases from brands like Kiehl’s, Levi’s, barnesandnoble.com, Brooks Brothers and Shiseido; eligible Business Card Members can access more than $500 in statement credits on qualifying purchases from HP, Lowe’s and more. More information about Amex Offers and redemption deadlines can be found here (terms apply).

The big news in travel is that Southwest Airlines has basically given up their unique “We are different!” corporate identity and become just another commodity airline that tries to look as cheap as possible upfront (only $200!) while adding multiple fees on the backend for all the things that used to be included (want to sit next to each other? checked bags? decent legroom? ok sure it’s really $500). As educated consumers, our job is to understand the changes to their value proposition and adjust accordingly. Here’s a list of the new Southwest realities:

• Basic Economy has arrived to Southwest. The cheapest fare tier is now called “Basic”, not “Wanna Get Away”. You can no longer make free changes; you only get a non-transferrable credit that expires after only 6 months. Earns only 2X points, down from 6X points (elite status-holders get a little more). They are stripping everything possible because Southwest believes that people just pick the lowest fare regardless of features when listed on a comparison site like Google Flights or Expedia.
• No more free bags. Starting 5/29, on most fares you’ll no longer get two free bags included and they’ll start charging you like everyone else. Business Select fares and A-List Preferred elites will get 2 free checked bags. A-List elites and co-branded credit cardholders will get 1 free checked bag.
• No more open seating. Must pay for seat choice. Southwest is moving to assigned seats as well, which means Basic fares will have to pay up to pick their seats or be stuck in the worst middle seats or in the back.
• No more reasonable legroom for everyone. Southwest used to be known for decent seat width and legroom in all its seats. Southwest is now adding “premium” extra-legroom seats if you pay extra $$$. This usually means the rest of Economy loses a few inches in return (right now it looks like seat pitch will go down to 31″ from 32″, similar to Basic Economy for other major airlines).
• Changes to Rapid Rewards points redemptions. When redeeming Rapid Rewards points for flights, it will not longer be directly linked to the current cash fare. Basically, they want to be able to charge whatever amount they want, and limit the number of award tickets available on certain flights.

I wouldn’t actually read this Southwest press release because it has so much PR-spin that it is quite trifficult to understand what they are actually doing, but this attached graphic is useful:

It’s almost funny because you can still look up their old talking points and interviews on why open seating is better, why keeping free checked bags is better, why the fact that Southwest treats everyone well is important, but now it’s just the exact opposite. Your unique brand was around for 50 years, but now you’ve traded it all for a temporary bump in share price.

Well, Southwest, if you want us to just judge you on price, that’s fine with me. Selling a commodity product is usually a tough business, though. Prediction: The next step is to be merged away with another major airline soon.

In the meantime, I’m not sure if this makes their co-branded credit card more desirable or not. The card has basically added a free checked bag benefit that can be valuable, and some of them offer seating choice perks, but if you were a loyal Southwest flier, these new changes may cause you to not fly them as much anymore and now try out other airlines.

Updated with limited-time offers. The Wyndham Rewards Earner credit cards currently all have increased bonuses of up to 90,000 points. While these are not the highest amounts offered ever, they are above the normal bonuses. This hotel-chain co-branded card earns rewards that redeemable towards the Wyndham chain of hotels and Vacasa-managed vacation home rentals.

Wyndham Rewards Earner Card highlights:

• 60,000 bonus points after $2,000 in purchases in the first 90 days.
• 5X points per $1 spent on Hotels by Wyndham and qualifying gas purchases.
• 2X points per $1 spent on dining and grocery store purchases (excluding Target® and Walmart®).
• 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases (excluding Wyndham Timeshare resort down payments).
• Automatic upgrade to Wyndham Rewards Gold status.
• 10% fewer Wyndham Rewards points required for go free® awards.
• 7,500 bonus points each anniversary year if you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases.
• No annual fee.

Wyndham Rewards Earner Plus Card highlights:

• 90,000 bonus points after $2,000 in purchases in the first 90 days.
• 6X points per $1 spent on Hotels by Wyndham and gas purchasess.
• 4X points per $1 spent on dining and grocery store purchases (excluding Target and Walmart).
• 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases (excluding Wyndham Timeshare resort down payments).
• Automatic upgrade to Wyndham Rewards Platinum status.
• 10% fewer Wyndham Rewards points required for go free® awards.
• 7,500 bonus points each anniversary year after annual fee renewal.
• $75 annual fee.

Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Card highlights:

• 75,000 bonus points total. 50,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases and paying the annual fee in full, both within the first 90 days. Also, earn 25,000 bonus points after spending $12,000 on purchases within the first 365 days.
• 8X points per $1 spent on Hotels by Wyndham and gas purchasess.
• 5X points per $1 spent on eligible marketing, advertising, and utilities purchases.
• 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases (excluding Wyndham Timeshare resort down payments).
• Automatic upgrade to Wyndham Rewards Diamond status.
• 10% fewer Wyndham Rewards points required for go free® awards.
• 15,000 bonus points each anniversary year after annual fee renewal.
• $95 annual fee.

Wyndham hotels have a relatively simple system that charges 7,500, 15,000, or 30,000 points for a “Go Free” award hotel night with no blackout dates (as long as a standard room is available for cash, you can book it with points). You can also redeem toward a discounted “Go Fast” cash and points rate. Resort fees may apply and cannot be paid with points. Note that when you have one of these credit cards, you get a 10% discount, so for example the 15,000 points tier would be actually be reduced down to 13,500 points.

You can also use the points for Vacasa vacation home rentals (like Airbnb or VRBO). Starting 3/26/24, it will cost 15,000 points *per bedroom* per night if the cash cost (including all taxes and fees!) is up to $250 *per bedroom* per night, or 30,000 points per bedroom per night if the cash cost is up to $500 per bedroom per night. More details at here and here.

That means your family likes to stay at Airbnbs, then 90,000 points can get you 3 nights at a 1-bedroom Vacasa-managed property that would otherwise cost up to $500 per night when including all taxes and fees, or at a 2-bedroom Vacasa property that would otherwise cost up to $250 *per bedroom* per night when including all taxes and fees. You can browse Vacasa properties here and book by calling 800-441-1034.

Wyndham points expiration – Important!

• Wyndham Rewards points will expire if you have no activity on your account for a period of 18 months.
• In addition, all Wyndham Rewards points expire 4 years after being earned — regardless of account activity.

From the official Terms & Conditions:

Except as may otherwise be required under applicable law, Wyndham Rewards points expire four (4) years after the checkout date of the stay for which the applicable points are posted to the Member’s account (the “Four Year Rule”), unless the points are forfeited or cancelled earlier due to membership inactivity (as more particularly described below), or otherwise in accordance with these Terms and Conditions. All accrued points in a Member’s Wyndham Rewards account may be cancelled or forfeited if the Member has no Account Activity (as defined below) for a period of approximately, but never less than, eighteen (18) consecutive months. For purposes of these Terms and Conditions, “Account Activity” means any (i) point earning, (ii) stay posted to a Member’s Wyndham Rewards account, regardless of whether or not such stay earns Wyndham Rewards points, and (iii) redemption or transfer activity involving a change in the Member’s Wyndham Rewards point balance, in each case, conducted in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.

For example, earning points via this credit card will only reset the 18-month inactivity clock. Look for the exact date in your online account page.

Wyndham Rewards includes over 9,000 hotels worldwide – from Days Inn motels to Wyndham Grand hotels. You can use this link to filter locations easily by country, state, and/or point level. Participating hotel chains include:

• AmericInn by Wyndham®
• Dolce Hotels and Resorts® by Wyndham
• Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham®
• Howard Johnson by Wyndham®
• La Quinta by Wyndham®
• Ramada by Wyndham®
• Days Inn by Wyndham®
• Super 8 by Wyndham®
• Travelodge by Wyndham®
• Wingate by Wyndham®
• Wyndham Grand®
• Wyndham Hotels and Resorts®
• Wyndham Garden®

Depending on the hotel, you might get over 1 cent per point value (i.e. $300 cash hotel night for 30,000 points), but you might also get closer to 0.5 cent per point value (i.e. a $75 hotel night might require 15,000 points).

Bottom line. The Wyndham Rewards Earner credit cards earns rewards that can get you free nights at Wyndham hotels and Vacasa vacation home rentals. However, know that you must redeem the points within 4 years at the longest, even with regular account activity. This is somewhat of a niche card, but if you’ve got all the popular ones, there is still good potential value here if you put in some legwork.

Also see: Top 10 Best Credit Card Bonus Offers and Top 10 Best Business Card Offers.

Update March 2025. Southwest has made some big changes to how they run, and it’s not entire clear how it will affect their credit cards. The “Wanna Get Away” fare is going away later this year, to be replaced by “Basic”. I will try to update things as well as I can.

For now, Southwest still offers their unique Companion Pass, which lets you fly with a companion for free when you book both paid AND award flights on Southwest. Once you qualify by earning 135,000 points in a calendar year, you earn the Companion Pass for both the rest of the year in which you earn it AND all of the next year (ex. rest of 2025 + all of 2026). Importantly, all points earned from credit cards count toward the requirement, and each card also offers a 10,000 point boost toward the Companion Pass requirement.

New limited-time offer: Right now if you apply by 3/31/25, you have an opportunity to earn a “Promo” Companion Pass much more easily with a reasonable spending hurdle. See details below. This promotional Companion Pass doesn’t last through the end of 2026, but it does last until 2/28/26.

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card

• 50,000 points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
• Receive 3,000 anniversary points each year.
• 10,000 Companion Pass® qualifying points boost each year.
• 2X points on Southwest(R) purchases.
• 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare.
• 2X points on internet, cable, and phone services, and select streaming.
• 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
• 2 EarlyBird Check-In(R) each year
• 25% back on inflight purchases
• All points earned count towards Companion Pass(R).
• $69 annual fee.

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card

• 50,000 points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
• Receive 7,500 anniversary points and a $75 Southwest® travel credit each year.
• 10,000 Companion Pass® qualifying points boost each year.
• 3X points on Southwest purchases.
• 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare.
• 2X points on internet, cable, and phone services, and select streaming.
• 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
• 2 EarlyBird Check-In(R) each year
• 25% back on inflight purchases
• 1,500 TQPs toward A-List status for every $5,000 spent in purchases annually (no limit on TQP earned).
• 4 Upgraded Boardings per year when available.
• $149 annual fee.

The following are business credit cards:

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card

• 80,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
• 9,000 bonus points after each Cardmember anniversary.
• NEW: 4X points on Southwest(R) purchases.
• 3X points on Rapid Rewards® hotel and car rental partners.
• NEW: 2X points on rideshare.
• 2X points on social media and search engine advertising, Internet, cable and phone services and 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
• 4 Upgraded Boardings per year when available.
• Inflight WiFi Credits (up to 365 x $8 credits per year).
• Up to $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS fee credit. Receive a statement credit of up to $120 every 4 years as reimbursement for the application fee for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS.
• $199 annual fee.

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card

• 60,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
• 6,000 bonus points after each Cardmember anniversary.
• 3X points on Southwest(R) purchases.
• 2X points and Rapid Rewards® hotel and car rental partners.
• 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare.
• 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
• 2 EarlyBird Check-In(R) each year
• $99 annual fee.

Value of Rapid Rewards points. Redeeming Southwest points for flights varies in a narrow range, but a very reasonable approximation from my experience is 1.3 cents in Wanna Get Away airfare in per point. That works out to $650+ in Wanna Get Away airfare for every 50,000 points or $1,300+ in Wanna Get Away airfare from 100,000 points (you are still liable for taxes and fees from $5.60 one-way). This valuation may change when they switch to “Basic”.

Now, if you manage to qualify for the the Companion Pass on every trip that you book with those points, that doubles the potential value of each award redemption. In other words, 125,000 Rapid Rewards, would usually get you $1,850 in Wanna Get Away airfare, but with the Companion Pass you’d get an extra companion ticket for every flight booked.

There may be other options like gift cards, but the redemption value is less than half the value you could get from redeeming for flights.

Southwest points expiration policy, per Southwest.com:

Do the points I earn expire?

No, your Rapid Rewards points do not expire. However, if you choose to close your account, the points in your account will be terminated.

Card restrictions. All of these Southwest credit cards are subject to “5/24” restrictions, which means that your application will be automatically denied if you have opened 5 or more credit cards in the last 24 months (check your credit reports). Our household strategy is to have one person only apply for Chase 5/24 cards, and the other person applies for everything else. There is also this language on the consumer card:

This product is available to you if you do not have a current Southwest Rapid Rewards® Credit Card and have not received a new Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months. This does not apply to Business Card and Employee Credit Card products.

Basically, you can get one sign-up bonus from a Southwest consumer card once every 24 months. You can also get one sign-up bonus from a Southwest business card once every 24 months.

Stack your Companion Pass with Chase Ultimate Rewards points. If you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve, you can transfer Ultimate Rewards points to Southwest points on a 1:1 basis. If you book an award flight with those Southwest points while you have the Companion Pass, you can double the value of your Ultimate Rewards points as well.

Bottom line. Southwest credit cards offer new cardholders the opportunity to earn hundreds of dollars worth of Wanna Get Away airfare, but if you time things right and maybe combine the welcome offers from a personal and business card, you can also grab the Southwest Companion pass, which provides a free companion ticket on every flight bought with cash OR points booked both during the rest of the year in which you earned it, AND the full next calendar year.

Also see: Top 10 Best Credit Card Bonus Offers and the Top 10 Best Business Card Offers.

The information for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Cards has been collected independently by My Money Blog. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

The Aven Credit Card is a new-ish credit card with 2% cash back that uses your home equity (HELOC) to get lower interest rates. Right now they have a new Costco offer, but you have to read the fine print. The offer includes a free 1-Year Executive Membership, which is issued as a one-time $135 credit on your Aven card within the first statement cycle. It’s not clear if you have to actually charge the membership to your card, as they are not closely affiliated with Costco.

However, they also advertise “4% cash back at Costco”, but that’s really just their standard 2% cash back plus Costco’s annual 2% membership reward certificate for Executive Members. They don’t actually pay 4% cash back on Costco purchases. That really reduces the potential draw of this card, as all we have left is the $135 one-time credit. I might have forgiven them if they actually covered my Costco membership every single year. Not worth a hard credit check.

Here’s their language on how the credit card works:

Aven combines the convenience of a credit card with the savings of a home equity line of credit (HELOC). It works like any other credit card where you can make everyday purchases and earn unlimited 2% cash back.1

You can either get a fixed Cash Out (ex. $10,000 cash transferred into your bank account) and get a fixed monthly payment for 5 or 10 years (2.5% transfer fee), or you can just use it like a credit card and build up a balance. In that case, the monthly payments are calculated as 1% of the principal balance, plus monthly interest, plus any fees.

No annual, sign-up, or pre-payment fees. There is a 2.5% fee on Cash Outs and Balance Transfers and a $29 late fee if you don’t make the minimum payment.

The United Business Card offers unique perks for regular United customers including free checked bags and expanded award seat availability for redeeming miles. Here are the highlights:

• 125,000 bonus United miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.*
  Plus, earn 5,000 bonus miles after you add an employee card to your account in the first 3 months your account is open.*
• 5,000-mile “better together” bonus each anniversary when you have both the United^SM Business Card and personal Chase United credit card.
• Free first checked bag for both you and one traveling companion on the same reservation (a savings of up to $160 per roundtrip) when you use your Card to purchase your ticket. Terms Apply.
• Two United Club^SM one-time passes per year, and priority boarding privileges.
• $125 United travel credit after making 5 United® flight purchases of $100 or more each calendar year with your United? Business Card
• 2X miles per $1 spent on local transit and commuting, including train tickets, taxi cabs, mass transit, tolls and ride share services.
• 2X miles on dining, gas stations and office supply stores.
• 2X miles on United purchases and 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• Your miles don’t expire as long as your credit card account is open, with no limit to the number of miles you can earn.
• Employee cards at no additional cost.
• $150 Annual Fee.

This card is considered a “new” card, differ from the old Business Explorer card:

This product is available to you if you do not have this Card and have not received a new Cardmember bonus for this Card in the past 24 months.

In addition, you can get this card and bonus if you had the consumer version of the United Explorer in the past 24 months (or have one now).

Many people aren’t aware of the fact that they can apply for business credit cards, even if they are not a corporation or LLC. The business type is called a sole proprietorship, and these days many people are full-time or part-time consultants, freelancers, eBay/Amazon/Etsy sellers, Uber/Lyft drivers, or other one-person business owners. This is the simplest business entity, but it is fully legit and recognized by the IRS. On a business credit card application, you should use your own legal name as the business name, and your Social Security Number as the Tax ID.

Note that Chase has an unofficial rule that they will most likely deny approval on new credit cards if you have 5 or more new credit cards from any issuer on your credit report within the past 2 years (aka the 5/24 rule). This rule is designed to discourage folks that apply for high numbers of sign-up bonuses. This rule applies on a per-person basis, so in our household one applies to Chase while the other applies at other card issuers.

The good news is that small business cards from Chase hardly ever show up on personal credit reports, so getting this card in itself won’t affect your future 5/24 eligibility. This it makes a “free” application if you are already eligible.

This card is very focused on rewarding you for being a United customer. Before you board, you might use one of your free United Club lounge passes. You have the first checked bag for free on United flights, both for your and a companion traveling on the same reservation. The fee is now $40 per person, each way, so that this how they get the value of $160 each roundtrip. You also get Priority Boarding, which helps you find space for your carry-on.

Expanded award availability. This card also makes it easier for you to redeem those miles on Saver level tickets with no blackout dates for MileagePlus members booking award flights on United. Expanded and exclusive award seat availability on selected flights are another perk of this card.

Another unique feature of this card is that it offers primary coverage on the Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver. On many other cards, this coverage is offered as secondary coverage, meaning it only kicks in after your personal auto insurance has been exhausted.

Bottom line. The United Business Card offers valuable perks for folks that fly United even just once or twice a year. The card provides lounge passes, a free checked bag, priority boarding, and inflight discounts. There are bonus categories to earn more miles, and special expanded award seat inventory for credit card holders to make it easier to actually redeem those miles for flights.

Also see: Top 10 Best Small Business Card Bonus Offers.

The information for the United Business Card has been collected independently by My Money Blog. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

The IHG One Rewards Traveler Card is the IHG hotel card that includes special IHG perks but with no annual fee. Here are the highlights:

• 80,000 Bonus IHG Points after spending $2,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
• Earn up to 17 total points per $1 spent when you stay at IHG Hotels & Resorts. Earn 3 points per $1 spent on purchases on monthly bills, at gas stations, and restaurants. Earn 2 points per $1 spent on all other purchases.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• Fourth Reward Night Free when you redeem points for any 4+ night stay. That means if you use points to pay for 3 nights in a row, the 4th night is free.
• IHG Rewards Bonus points are redeemable at Hotels & Resorts such as InterContinental(R), Crowne Plaza(R), Kimpton(R), EVEN(R) Hotels, Indigo(R) Hotels & Holiday Inn(R).
• No annual fee.

Note the following:

This product is available to you if you do not have a current IHG One Rewards Credit Card and have not received a new
Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months. This does not apply to Business Card Credit Card products.

What can you get with IHG points? The best redemption value for IHG points is for free hotel nights. The other options offer significantly less value. While the points don’t translate directly to a dollar value, I would use a conservative estimate of 0.50 cents of value per point, which would make 100,000 IHG points worth an estimated $500 value. Not bad for a no annual fee card. You can perform the calculations for hotels that fit your needs. I tried a bunch of other various combinations and got between 0.5 cents and 0.8 cents per point equivalent value.

IHG stands for Intercontinental Hotel Group which has over 5,000 hotels including the following brands:

• Intercontinental Hotels & Resorts
• Crowne Plaza
• Kimpton
• Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express
• Staybridge Suites
• Candlewood Suites
• Hotel Indigo
• EVEN Hotels

IHG points expire after 24 months of inactivity, which is relatively long so with occasional activity you can easily save up these free nights for later. Chase Ultimate Rewards points also convert to IHG points.

The 4th Reward night free perk can be very valuable and nice to see on a card with no annual fee. You get the fourth reward night free when you redeem points for a consecutive four-night IHG hotel stay (only pay for 3 nights with points).

Total of 17x points per $1 spent when you stay at IHG. Here’s how this breaks down: Earn 5X points per $1 spent as an IHG® Rewards Club Traveler credit cardmember + 10X points per $1 spent from IHG® for being an IHG® Rewards Club Member, 5X points with this card, plus 2X points from IHG® with Silver Elite Status (a benefit of this card) for a total of 17X points total at any of their 5,400+ IHG® hotels & resorts.

Given my 0.5 cent per IHG point valuation, I would book my IHG nights on this card, but not my everyday purchases on an ongoing basis. I would just put a little spending on there to keep my IHG points from expiring.

• 3 IHG points per $1 spent at gas stations, dining, utilities, internet, cable, and phone services
  and select streaming services.
• 2 IHG point per $1 spent on all other card purchases

Upgrade to Premier? Downgrade to Traveler? If you can reliably use a anniversary night certificate (40,000 point value) and get $99 value out of it, you should consider going with the IHG Rewards Premier credit card mentioned on the same application page. The Premier card also adds some other small perks like Platinum Elite status and a TSA Precheck fee credit.

If you already have the Premier card and don’t want to pay for those added perks, you may consider asking if you can downgrade to this Traveler now without any annual fee.

Bottom line. The IHG One Rewards Traveler Card now comes with no annual fee and a sign-up bonus. As with most of these co-branded cards, the best value is obtained if you can redeem for IHG hotel nights.

Also see: Top 10 Best Credit Card Bonus Offers.

The information for the IHG One Rewards Traveler Card has been collected independently by My Money Blog. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

The World of Hyatt Business Credit Card issued by Chase is the small business version of the consumer World of Hyatt credit card. Here are the highlights:

• 60,000 Bonus Hyatt Points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.
• Up to $100 in Hyatt statement credits – spend $50 or more at any Hyatt property and earn $50 statement credits up to two times each anniversary year.
• Up to 9X points total per $1 spent at Hyatt – 4 Bonus Points per $1 on qualifying purchases at Hyatt hotels & up to 5 Base Points per $1 from Hyatt as a World of Hyatt member
• 2X Points per $1 spent in your top three spend categories each quarter.
• 2X Points per $1 spent on fitness club and gym memberships
• 1 Point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
• 5 Tier-Qualifying night credits toward status and Milestone rewards for every $10,000 you spend in a calendar year.
• World of Hyatt Discoverist status for as long as your account is open. Plus, gift Discoverist status to up to five employees.
• 10% Redemption bonus. Spend $50,000 in a calendar year and get 10% of your redeemed points back for the rest of the year.
• $199 annual fee.

Under-the-radar benefit: The “2 Bonus Points total per $1 spent in your top three spend categories each quarter” can cover a lot your spending at 2X Hyatt points per dollar spent. Eligible categories are:

• Dining
• Shipping
• Airline tickets when purchased directly with the airline
• Local transit & commuting
• Social media & search engine Advertising
• Car rental agencies
• Gas stations
• Internet, cable & phone services

Application details. Note the following:

This bonus offer is available to you if you do not have this card and have not received a new Cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months.

The 5/24 rule is believed to apply to this card. On many Chase cards, there is an unwritten rule that they will automatically deny approval on new credit cards if you have 5 or more new credit cards from any issuer on your credit report within the past 2 years (aka the 5/24 rule). This rule is designed to discourage folks that apply for high numbers of sign-up bonuses. This is applied on a per-person basis, so in our household one applies to Chase while the other applies at other card issuers.

The value of Hyatt hotel points. The most valuable redemption options are for free hotel nights, points+cash hotel combinations, and/or room upgrades. Hyatt allows you the flexibility of combining your points with any other World of Hyatt member to redeem an award. They are also somewhat unique in that you can book a suite directly with points.

Below is their points award chart, and here is their award search tool. Free rooms start at 3,500 points, and you can book suites with points as well.

If you compare with the cash cost of these hotels, the number varies but you are nearly always getting between 1 cent and 2 cents per point value on the low end, and possibly much more on the luxury end. We stayed at Grand Hyatt Kauai on Hyatt points (earned via credit cards), where the cash value is $701 per night when you include all taxes and the $35/night resort fee. That worked out to 2.8 cents per Hyatt point.

I am conservative with point valuations, so I prefer to use a simple value of 1 cent per Hyatt point. However, in reality, I am only going to redeem a Hyatt point if I can get 2 cents per point value. I believe that Hyatt points are now the most valuable hotel points on a per-point basis, above Bonvoy, IHG, etc. In general, I would rather convert my Chase Ultimate Rewards points into Hyatt points than any other hotel program.

As such, a Free Night Award that is valid on up to a Category 4 hotel is worth up to 18,000 Hyatt points at Peak times, which equates to $180 in value at a conservative 1 cent per point.

Hyatt points expire after 24 months of inactivity, but earning points via this credit card counts as activity. Chase Ultimate Rewards points also convert to Hyatt points and the transfer counts as activity.

The free Discoverist status from this card gets you a free bottle of water daily, a free upgrade to premium WiFi internet, dedicated check-in area, and a 2pm late checkout upon request at participating locations. You are also eligible for a minor room upgrade within your type booked.

Bottom line. The World of Hyatt Business Credit Card offers value to small business owners that regularly stay at Hyatt properties. (This is me – World of Hyatt is my favorite hotel rewards program.) The first-year value on this business card is very strong. 60,000 Hyatt points even at a conservative 1 cent per point value is worth $600. As long as you have two $50+ charges at a Hyatt property (including a food or spa purchase), that is another $100. Ignoring every other perk and subtracting the $199 annual fee, that’s still an estimated first-year value of over $500.

I will be adding this to my Top 10 Best Small Business Card Bonus Offers.

The information for the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card has been collected independently by My Money Blog. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Updated with no balance transfer fee 0% APR offer. The Navy Federal cashRewards Plus Card is the new and improved sibling of the Navy Federal cashRewards Card (no “Plus”). The difference: If the credit limit you get is $5,000 and above, you get the Plus with a higher 2% cash back. Under $5,000; no Plus and the old 1.5% cash back. NavyFed has a limited-time offer starting January 2025. Rest of the highlights:

• $250 cash back for new cardholders after $2,500 in purchases within 90 days of account opening.
• NEW: 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 12 months, with no balance transfer fee. This limited-time offer ends 3/31/25.
• Flat 2% cash back on all purchases with the cashRewards Plus card with $5,000+ credit limit.
• Flat 1.5% cash back on all purchases with the cashRewards card with less than $5,000 credit limit.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• No annual fee.

There is no cap on cash back earned. Cash back does not expire as long as the account is open. Note: There is no longer any benefit to having direct deposit on a NavyFed checking account.

A few readers have commented that they don’t like dealing with miles or points, and prefer simple cash back. This is one of the better cash bonuses on a flat 2% cash back card with no annual fee. I would recommend to maximize your stated income to include all legitimate, eligible sources in order to get the highest credit limit possible.

The primary catch here is that in order to apply, you must be a NavyFed credit union member. Membership eligibility for NavyFed now goes beyond current and retired members of the armed forces to include their families and household members of veterans, Department of Defense personnel, and more. Eligible family members include your spouse, parents, siblings, grandparents, children, stepchildren and grandchildren. If you call them up, they can help you confirm the details on the veterans in your family. The effort can be worth it as NavyFed also offers other useful financial products like mortgages, car loans, certificates of deposit, etc.

Alaska Airlines is teasing a new credit card, currently called the “Alaska Airlines Premium Credit Card”, and you can get 500 free Alaska miles just for joining their waitlist by December 31st, 2024 with your name and MileagePlan number. There is no commitment, so I’ll take the free miles. If you later apply and get approved, they will also add on another 5,000 bonus miles. The application is not set to open until “Summer 2025”.

1 – Register your interest in the Alaska Airlines Premium Credit Card by Dec 31, 2024, and you will receive 500 miles for registration and, upon approval of your application for the Alaska Airlines Premium Credit Card, 5,000 miles in addition to any other new account bonus offer you may qualify for. To qualify, applicants must apply via a link that will be emailed to them using the email address provided in their offer registration within 14 days of receiving the exclusive application link. Must provide valid Mileage Plan account information to be eligible. Limit of one registration offer per valid Mileage Plan account. By registering for this offer you agree to receive communications from Alaska Airlines about, and how to apply for, the Alaska Airlines Premium Credit Card. Communications sent and managed by Alaska Airlines. You may opt out at any time.

There are a bunch of features and perks teased, but a lot of this stuff ends up being changed before launch.

Navy Federal Credit Union has a new “Join and Get $300” promotion for new members. Join as a new Navy Federal member by 12/31/2024 and you can get an additional $300 statement credit when you open a new Navy Federal credit card within 14 days of joining. As with most credit unions, you’ll need to open a Share Savings account and keep $5 in there. Additional selected fine print:

1 Offer valid November 1 – December 31, 2024 and can expire anytime without prior notice. To receive the one-time $300 statement credit to your credit card account, you must 1) be 18 or older and eligible for membership, 2) join Navy Federal between 11/1/2024 and 12/31/2024, and 3) open a new unsecured Navy Federal credit card account within 14 days of joining. Offer excludes Navy Federal Business, Home Equity Line Platinum, and nRewards® Secured credit cards. […] Limit one (1) statement credit per member. […] Statement credit will be credited to your account within 8 weeks of credit card account opening.

Navy Federal membership is open to members of the Coast Guard, all Department of Defense (DoD) uniformed personnel, reservists, Active Duty, retired, Veterans, Army and Air National Guard, DoD civilian employees, contractors, and their immediate family. In 2019, they expanded membership to include veterans and their immediate family members including grandparents through grandchildren. If you call them, they will help you look up information on veterans in your family.

This could stack up to be a pretty significant bonus, as the first-year value for these two card bonuses are already $400+ on their own.

• Navy Federal cashRewards Plus Card
• Navy Federal Flagship Rewards Credit Card