Chase has released a new and improved offer for the Chase Ink Business Cash.
The standard welcome bonus offer has been $750/75,000 Ultimate Rewards points if you spend $6,000 in 3 months.
New Ink Cash Bonus Offer
Turn Cash Back Into Transferable Points
For the cash back to become Ultimate Rewards points, you need one of these cards: Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Preferred. By pairing with one of these cards, your cash back/points can be transferred to any of Chase's airline and hotel partners.
If you decide to apply, we appreciate you using the links above!
Points Wire Note:
As these are business cards, you'll need some kind of business to qualify. However, this can be a side hustle that you operate as a sole proprietor such as selling items on eBay/Amazon. It doesn't have to be your full-time job.
Generally, you need to be under 5/24 to get approved. For those unfamiliar, the Chase 5/24 rule is pretty simple. If you've opened 5+ personal cards from any bank (and select business cards from Capital One, Discover, and TD Bank), Chase won't approve you for a new card.
Basically, if a card shows as an account on your credit report, it counts toward the 5 cards.
If you're planning to book cash tickets on Virgin Atlantic in the next few months, a new Amex Offer could help you save.
You can receive $250 back as a statement credit when you spend $1,800+ with Virgin Atlantic.
Important Terms
Ideally, you'll have Amex Offer on the Amex Platinum so you can earn 5x on the flight purchase.
Points Wire Note:
Keep an eye out for business class fares under $2,500 to really maximized this offer. Additionally, make sure your flights are operated by either an Airbus A350 or Airbus A330-900neo to ensure you have the best possible inflight experience.
Citi is running a 25% transfer bonus to Avianca LifeMiles through April 14, 2024. Generally, Citi ThankYou Points transfer to LifeMiles instantly. Just remember that while LifeMiles is Avianca's loyalty program, you need to use the LifeMiles site to search for award space and book not the Avianca site.
Generally, I wouldn't recommend speculative transfers.
Disclosure: I serve on a Bilt advisory board and may earn a commission if you use the links below.
Update: As of today, you can earn 3x on rent with the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature credit card. Details below.
In the nearly nine years I've been involved in the points and miles community, I have heard countless people say they want Alaska Airlines to become a partner of a transferable points program. Well, it's finally happened.
Today, Bilt Rewards added Alaska Mileage Plan as a transfer partner.
With Alaska miles, you can book flights on Alaska Airlines, oneworld partner, or non-oneworld partners such as Aer Lingus and Condor.
While many people were sad to see Bilt and American Airlines announce that they'll be parting ways in June of this year, the addition of Alaska Airlines lessens the blow as its another strong oneworld member.
Earn 3x Alaska Miles On Rent
Later this year, Alaska Airlines Visa Signature cardholders will be able to pay rent with their card and earn 3x Alaska miles on up to $50,000 in rent each year. Unlike paying rent with Bilt, there will be a 3% processing fee. However, I'm sure some will find earning 3x more than offsets the fee.
Now Live: The Chase Freedom Flex and Chase Freedom quarterly 5%/5x bonus categories for Q3 2024 will include:
You can register for the promo starting June 15, 2024. You must register by September 14, 2024.
You can earn 5%/5x on up to $1,500 spend in these categories through September 30, 2024.
There's a targeted Amex Offer for stays at Four Seasons properties!
You can get $150 back when you spend $750+ at a Four Seasons in the US. Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Anguilla, Bahamas, and Saint Kitts & Nevis. It's only valid on the room rate and room charges.
The offer expires July 11, 2024.
Reservations must be made via fourseasons.com or in-person.
Four Seasons Preferred Partner
If you're booking a Four Seasons property, there's no excuse not to book via Four Seasons Preferred Partner.
Benefits include:
Unlike many preferred booking programs, Four Seasons Preferred Partner can book any public rate, including Advance Purchase rates.
Basically, if you see a rate on the Four Seasons site, it can be booked with VIP perks. you just need to work with a luxury travel advisor who has access to the program.
Disclosure: I serve on an advisory board for Bilt.
Update: Bilt's partnership with American AAdvantage ends on June 24, 2024. If you plan to transfer points, do it before then!
View From The Wing got word that "Bilt Rewards and American AAdvantage are ending their partnership in June. That means it will no longer be possible to transfer Bilt points to American, although the exact last date in (presumably late) June for transfers is not yet certain. I received word yesterday about this plan and reached out to both American and Bilt for comment."
Bilt shared that "Bilt and American have agreed to wind down our partnership beginning in June. We appreciate everything we’ve been able to accomplish together since Bilt’s launch in 2021"
Points Wire Note:
It's never fun to see a transferable points program lose a useful transfer partner. That being said, Bilt has run some amazing transfer bonus promos to other airline partners for Rent Day (first of the month) that make this less of a blow. On the American side of things, you can still earn redeemable miles and Loyalty Points via AA's shopping portal and with hotels stays booked via AAdvantage Hotels.
The Amex Business Platinum is a card built for benefits rather than the ability to earn a ton of points. However, it often comes with a hefty welcome bonus, if you know where to look.
Welcome Bonus
It's a bit of game trying to find the best welcome bonus offer for the Amex Business Platinum. The public welcome offer is typically 120,000 Membership Rewards points if you spend $15,000 in 3 months.
Generally, my affiliate link matches the public offer and the public offer has been subpar for 6+ years. As a result, I've been sharing ways to get better welcome bonus offers.
Today, Amex released a public offer of 150,000 Membership Rewards points that matches the best available offer. As a result, my affiliate link has the best offer for the first time in years. Unfortunately, they've also increased the minimum spend required to earn the bonus from $15,000 to $20,000 in 3 months.
If you are considering applying and would like to support my work, you can find more info here.
*Please keep in mind that you still might receive a targeted offer with a higher welcome bonus. Recently, I've seen offers for 200,000 points.
Bonus Categories
Benefits
There are plenty more benefits which you can learn about here.
Annual Fee
$695
Air France-KLM Flying Blue is a popular transfer partner for people with Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou Points. However, you can also earn Flying Blue miles directly with the Air France-KLM World Elite Mastercard issued by Bank of America.
Welcome Bonus
Earn 70,000 Flying Blue miles + 40 XP if you spend $2,000 in 90 days. You'll also earn 60 XP upon approval. More on XP below.
Shout out to Doctor of Credit for finding the increased bonus offer.
Bonus Categories
Benefits
Annual Fee
$89
What Are XP?
XP are Experience Points and they're how you earn Flying Blue status. To earn status, you'll need to following number of XP for each tier:
You can earn XP by crediting your SkyTeam flights to Flying Blue.
Points Wire Note:
This isn't a top priority card since you can transfer points from all of the transferable points programs. In almost all cases, I would prioritize earning transferable points instead as they provide flexibility and can help reduce the impact of airline program devaluations.
Update: The Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Card is now available for application.
Let's take a quick look at the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Card which comes with a reasonable $95 annual fee.
Welcome Bonus
You can earn 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in 3 months.
Bonus Categories
Benefits
Transfer Partners
The transfer ratios are 1:1 unless noted otherwise.
Supplementary Cards
You can pool points earned from the Active Cash (2x on everything) and the Wells Fargo Autograph Card with this card.
Points Wire Note:
The ability to earn 5x transferable points on hotel stays stands out for me and 4x on flights only trails the 5x you can earn with the Amex Platinum. I'll be curious to see what kind of trip delay coverage the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Card offers.
While it's great to see Wells Fargo finally add transfer partners, the options are a bit light. LifeMiles covers Star Alliance, Flying Blue covers SkyTeam, and British Airways + Iberia cover oneworld. Hopefully, they'll make progress on adding additional partners.
Considering this card has a $95 annual fee, it's a pretty impressive offering.
Of course, Wells Fargo's reputation has taken quite a few hits in the last several years so it'll be interesting if that makes it tough for them to gain a foothold in the points community.
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