Quick Points Vol. 1
A (not very) brief roundup of some limited time card offers, Hilton Hotels and American Airlines edition
This is a quick rundown of some limited-time sign-up bonus offers and a secret way to get extra points for existing Chase users. Part of my points rich success has been researching cards I might find useful and waiting until they have an all-time high, or abnormally high, sign-up bonus. That maximizes my ROI when I open the card and makes sure my points can take me farther (literally and figuratively). But sometimes an offer comes up for a card that wasn’t on my radar and I jump on it anyway because it’s too good to pass up, which is the case here.
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Limited Time Hilton Honors Offers
Honestly, I have minimal experience with Hilton-branded hotels since I primarily stay with Hyatt and Marriott. These offers were so lucrative though, I decided to expand my horizons and give Hilton a try. It also doesn’t hurt that I’m running low on both Hyatt and Marriott points without a great way to quickly earn more. Plus who doesn’t want to stay multiple nights at a Waldorf Astoria without paying the cash rate? If you want to learn more about all of the brands under the Hilton umbrella, click on this link.
*These offers all end on July 19th, so don’t wait if you want to apply. If you do apply, be sure to use my referral link in this newsletter (link and directions below)!*
Hilton Honors Card
Annual Fee: $0
Sign-up Bonus: 70,000 points + one Free Night Certificate (FNC) good for a standard room at any Hilton hotel after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months.
What’s This Worth: The 70,000 points are worth about $350, and the FNC I would value at around $350-$500, but can be worth a lot more at high-end properties.
Earning Rates: 7x points spent directly with Hilton Hotels, 5x points at restaurants, gas stations, and supermarkets (in the U.S.), and 3x points everywhere else.
My Thoughts: Amazing offer for a card that has a $0 annual fee. 70,000 points can get you one night at some mid-upper tier hotels, and the FNC can get you a night anywhere. So for a card that costs you $0 to keep open, you can get at least two free hotel nights.
Something To Consider: The FNC that you get from the bonus is only good for 12 months from the date it is issued, so be sure to use it or lose it!
Should You Keep The Card: Hilton points are worth around $0.005/point (aka 0.5 cents per point), so the earning rates converted to cash value are essentially 3.5%, 2.5%, and 1.5% back (respectively) exclusively for hotel stays. This a solid long-term card to use if you really like staying at Hilton hotels and don’t want to pay an annual fee. It also has no foreign transaction fee, which isn’t commonplace for cards with a $0 annual fee.
Hilton Surpass Card
Annual Fee: $95/year
Sign-up Bonus: 130,000 points + one Free Night Certificate (FNC) good for a standard room at any Hilton hotel after spending $2,000 in the first 3 months.
What’s This Worth: The 130,000 points are worth about $650, and the FNC I would value at around $350-$500.
Earning Rates: 12x points spent directly with Hilton Hotels, 6x points at restaurants, gas stations, and supermarkets (in the U.S.), and 3x points everywhere else.
My Thoughts: Another amazing offer if you are okay with paying at least $95. 130,000 points can get you one night at even the most high-end properties, and two nights at most mid-tier hotels. The FNC will get you a night anywhere. So $95 for the first year can get you 2-3 free nights depending on how fancy you’re feeling.
Something To Consider: The FNC that you get from the bonus is only good for 12 months from the date it is issued, so be sure to use it or lose it!
Should You Keep The Card: Honestly, unless you REALLY like Hilton and don’t want to pay for their $450 premium card, this card doesn’t make as much sense long-term. The earning rates converted to cash value are 6%, 3%, and 1.5% back (respectively). There are no credits to offset the annual fee and the earning rates aren’t that much better than the $0 annual fee Hilton Honors card.
My advice would be to open the card for the bonus (if you can organically spend $2,000 in 3 months), then after a year when your second $95 annual fee hits, call Amex and ask to downgrade it to the Hilton Honors Card. This will be considered the same credit account open on your credit report (your card number will even stay the same), but save the $95/year. They will refund you the $95 they charged for the second annual fee, but you get to keep all of the points.
*Please Note: You cannot downgrade (aka product change), a card within the first 12 months of having opened that card. Also, if you cancel a card within the first 12 months, they will repossess the points they gave you as the sign-up bonus. Anything after the first 12 months is fair game. Learn more about credit card product changes here.*
What I Did
I actually opened the Hilton Business card for an elevated 150,000 points plus a FNC. How do I qualify for a business card? Well wouldn’t you know, starting your own newsletter is considered a “small business” and I am now the sole proprietor of the Jebba Journal Inc.
But if this was not the case, I would have opened the Hilton Surpass for $95 and a guarantee of at least two nights at a swanky hotel. In fact, I still might also open the Hilton Surpass for even more points and another FNC. Amex considers all 4 Hilton cards separate products, so you can eventually sign up for all of them and collect each bonus.
I don’t have a plan for my points yet, but I figure I will use it for 3 (or more depending on if I open the Surpass) nights at some Waldorf Astoria for Kayla and me within the next year. Even if it’s just to somewhere in California for a little getaway, 3 nights at a luxury hotel is well worth the $95 I spent to open the card.
Using My Referral Link
If you want to give Hilton a shot with relatively little investment, use my referral link below. It will redirect you to a page saying I’ve referred you to the Amex Platinum card, but you can navigate to the Hilton card of your choice.
DO NOT apply for the Platinum Card, unless you actually want to open that card, in which case copy and paste my link into an incognito browser to likely get an even higher sign-up bonus!
When you click this link, you will be directed to a page that looks like this.
Click the X on the popup, select the dropdown menu that says “View all Cards with a Referral Offer,” towards the top left, then click “All Personal Cards.”
This will bring you to a page listing all of the personal Amex cards and the attached offers. Scroll to find the Hilton card you want to apply for (Hilton Honors Card or Hilton Honors Surpass Card) and hit “Apply Now.” Make sure the offer it shows is the correct offer described here, 70,000 or 130,000 points plus the FNC.
If you go through the application process and you get a pop-up after you hit submit saying something along the lines of “you are not eligible to receive the welcome offer” it means you are in “pop-up jail” and won’t get the sign-up bonus. Hit “cancel application” and try applying again without my referral link (just Google Amex Hilton Cards) and see if that works.
It is not worth applying if you don’t get the bonus. If you don’t get this warning, it means you will get the bonus, congrats!
Limited Time American Airlines Offer
This one is a bit unique actually. Barclays, a bank I have zero experience with, is offering 70,000 American Airlines points for the Aviator Red World Elite MasterCard (what a mouthful). What makes it unique is that there is no minimum spend to get the bonus!
Annual Fee: $99/year
Sign-up Bonus: 70,000 points after making one purchase on the card and paying the $99 annual fee.
What’s This Worth: AA points are generally considered $0.015/point (aka 1.5 cents per point), meaning the 70,000 point bonus is worth around $1,050 towards airfare.
For real-world examples, you can use 60,000 AA points to fly one-way from SFO to Tokyo Narita Airport on Japan Airlines in Business class. With 75,000 points, you can fly roundtrip in Economy class between SFO and JFK 3 times. In both cases you just need to plan ahead and have some flexibility, but it’s very possible.Earning Rates: 2x points spent directly with American Airlines, 1x points everywhere else.
Additional Perks: Free checked bag on domestic AA flights for you and up to 4 companions on your itinerary. No foreign transaction fees. Group 5 boarding. 25% inflight savings on food/drinks/headphones on AA flights.
My Thoughts: Do you live by an airport where American Airlines has a decent amount of flights? Do you fly with them with any regularity? Do you want to try and fly international Business class or want multiple free domestic economy flights? If so, this is a no-brainer. It’s $99 to get around $1,000 in flight credits!
Things You Need To Consider: Apparently, Barclays is weird in that they don’t let everyone product change their credit cards. There is an American Airlines card that has a $0 annual fee, but if you call and ask to downgrade the Aviator Red card to the $0 annual fee card, they may say no. If you don’t want to keep the card, you may have to just cancel it, which isn’t as bad as it sounds.
Should You Keep This Card: The only reason to justify continuing to pay $99/year for this card is if you fly AA a lot and check bags. Checking a bag costs something like $30 for each flight, so if you check a bag 4 times in a year with this card, you come out ahead. Otherwise, I say get the bonus, wait 12 months, then cancel the card (or try to downgrade). You pay $99 but come out way ahead with 70,000 AA points.
There is no timeline for when this offer will expire, but people on the internet think it won’t last very long! The link below isn’t a referral link, so I don’t get any kind of compensation you sign up, other than knowing I helped you get some free travel. If you do sign up and want to thank me for helping you out, consider becoming a paid subscriber.
Secret Chase Spending Bonus For Existing Cardholders
Chase will often do quarterly targeted spending bonuses for existing cardholders, they just usually won’t tell you about it (fuckers). This month, some people are getting an extra 5 points / $1 spent at gas stations, grocery stores, and/or restaurants on their first $1,500 in spend between all 3 categories. It appears mostly available for those with the Chase Freedom, British Airways, United Explorer, Southwest, IHG, and Hyatt cards.
To see if you’re targeted, go to www.chase.com/mybonus and fill out your information. I promise this isn’t some scam, it’s the official Chase website. It will either say “sorry you aren’t eligible” or show you the bonus terms. Try every Chase card you may have, I got the offer on 2 of my cards!
In fact, my Chase Freedom card was already earning me 4x points at gas stations this month, then got this target promotion for an additional 5x, getting me a total of 9x points / $1 spent on gas. Let me know if any of your cards got the promotion.
great insights! wasn't eligible for the chase bonuses sadly (fuckers) I wonder how they decide who is and who isn't