Citi ThankYou Points continue to be the forgotten transferable points program, but I wouldn't sleep on them.
The Citi Premier Card is the key. It currently comes with a 60,000-point sign-up bonus if you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months.
Plus, you can earn 3x on groceries, dining, gas, flights, and hotels. Combined with no foreign transaction fees, these categories make it one of the best cards to use while traveling abroad. Not bad for a $95 credit card.
For context, the Amex Gold earns 4x on dining and at U.S. supermarkets. (up to $25,000 per year). If you travel abroad, Amex isn't accepted as often as Mastercard and you'd only earn 1x on groceries.
Through June 30, 2024, the Citi Premier also earns 10x on attractions, hotels, and rental cars booked via the Citi travel portal.
It also comes with an annual $100 hotel credit when you spend $500+ on a stay booked through the Citi travel portal. Throw in the fact that Citi has 14 airline transfer partners and 4 hotel transfer partners and the Citi Premier stacks up well.
If you're interested in applying, here's some more info on the Citi Premier Card.
Amex Platinum cardholders have a $50 credit to Saks twice per year (Jan-Jun, Jul-Dec). If you haven't used your credit yet, the Saks Black Friday deal is a great time to do so.
Saks is running a promo in which you can spend $150 and get a $75 Saks promotional gift card in return. The $150 total does not include taxes, shipping, gift wrap, gift cards, and merchandise credit.
The promo code is HELLOBFSF. This deal ends at 11:59pm ET on Friday, November 24.
Please note that the promotional gift card is only valid December 10-24, so you'll need to use it shortly after your original purchase.
Limit one promotional gift card per person.
Points Wire Note: Spend $150 at Saks on your Amex Platinum and get $50 back. That brings your cost to $100. If you can utilize the $75 promotional gift card, your $100 out of pocket can get you $225 in value from Saks. If you don't need anything from Saks, I would suggest buying products to donate.
Bonus: Get 15% cash back (or 15X Amex points) back when you use the Rakuten shopping portal. If you haven't signed up for Rakuten yet, your purchase will also get you $40 back (or 4,000 Amex points.
My Rakuten Referral
Miles Earn And Burn: "What’s an eligible purchase? Anything that would normally earn Membership Rewards qualifies. Note that so far we’ve only seen the +3x bonus on roughly 20% of accounts, and only on personal Gold cards, though it’s probably sporadically available on other personal cards too. If you have $25,000 in restaurant or grocery spend, err “restaurant” and “grocery” spend, then you’ll net 7x with the referral bonus on the Gold with this promotion."
Disclosure: I may earn a commission or referral bonus if you use the links below.
CardPointers is running a 50% off promo through Monday, November 27. You can get an annual membership to CardPointers+ for $30 (down from $60) or a lifetime membership for $100 (down from $200) which also comes with a $100 savings card as a bonus.
Whether you just want help keeping track of the cards you have or you want help knowing which card to use when. Personally, I love the Chrome extension which allows me to add all of my Amex Offers simultaneously so I don't miss one. I also do this with Chase Offers.
Sign up for CardPointers+
Bilt has two amazing promos launching this week.
Disclosure: I serve on an advisory board for Bilt. Additionally, I may earn a commission or referral bonus if you use the links below.
Bilt Dining: Earn 10X points from November 24 through December 1. Link a card to Bilt Dining, pay with that card, and you'll automatically earn points. Note that on December 1 (Rent Day), you can earn double points with your Bilt Card. That means all dining purchases will earn 6X that day. Pair that with a trip to a restaurant that participates in Bilt Dining and you could earn 16X!
Double Points On Shopping: From November 23 through November 27, you can earn double points on all of your shopping (not including rent) on up to $20,000 spend on all 1x categories.
You can still apply and get the card in time to participate. If you're approved, Bilt will provide your card number via the app so you can use it online and add it to a digital wallet to use in stores.
Learn more about the Bilt Card
Points Wire Note: Bonus Tip: Many restaurants in Bilt Dining are also in the Seated app. You can reserve a table via Seated (or select walk-in at select restaurants) to earn cash back. On top of that, you can earn Bilt points by using a card linked to Bilt Dining.
If you sign up for the Seated app with my referral code (spencer53), you can earn $10 after your first meal.
View From The Wing: "I always assumed you incurred exchange rate risk on returns. If you book a prepaid hotel in Europe, for instance, and you get a refund later the actual amount of the refund could be more or less than what you originally paid."
"I’ve redeposited award tickets where the taxes and fuel surcharges were substantial, and I’ve lost money when those fees were credited back to me when the dollar strengthened between the time of booking and refund. It never occurred to me to ask my card issuer (usually Chase in that case) to make good on the difference."
One Mile At A Time: "Qatar Airways Privilege Club is currently offering two separate transfer bonus promotions. They’re not particularly exciting, but are worth being aware of, as this can also be useful for collecting other “flavors” of Avios (including with British Airways Executive Club)."
- 10% transfer bonus from Amex Membership Rewards
- 25% transfer bonus from Citi ThankYou Points
Please note that these transfer bonuses are handled on Qatar Airways' end so you won't see any indication of the bonus on Amex or Citi sites. The bonus can take up to 45 days to post. Hopefully, it won't actually take that long.
Points Wire Note: You can combine Avios between Qatar Airways, British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus.
If you're interested in the Amex Business Platinum, there's a 190,000-point offer available. The minimum spend is $15,000 in 3 months as is generally the case for this card. Typically, we see a 120,000-point welcome bonus so this is much better.
On top of the welcome bonus, the lounge access with this card is second to none. While the annual fee is $695, the annual $200 airline free credit and $400 Dell credit ($200 Jan-Jun and $200 Jul-Dec) can help offset the fee.
Direct link to offer
Points Wire Note: In 2022, we briefly saw a welcome bonus of 250,000 Amex Membership Rewards points. Otherwise, this is as high as the welcome bonus has ever been.
Live And Let's Fly: "The new Capital One Lounge in Denver is nice…I don’t think there is any way to objectively deny that. The food is great and the service was even better. I appreciated the restrooms and shower suites and the large selection of to-go food."
"As a Capital One Venture X cardholder, I will use this lounge when flying through Denver (DEN) as long as there is no waiting list. However, if this lounge becomes so popular that extended waiting lists become the norm, I will use the United Club just a few paces away."
Travel on Points: Chase's application system has incorrectly denied some people for trying to open a Chase Freedom Flex within the 24 month restricted window.
Travel on Points shares the story of a reader:
"The one problem they did have was they still had the Freedom Flex open. You will not get approved for a Chase personal card if you currently have the same card open. They went ahead and product changed the Flex to a original / classic Freedom to take care of that issue."
"After that was handled, and waiting a few days, they submitted their application and were denied. They called and were told they were still within the 24 month window. They figured this was because of the product change and decided to wait a bit longer. After giving it some breathing room they applied again and were once again denied. It was like déjà vu and they were told once again they were not eligible because it was in the 24 month window."
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