Cards Earning Miles or Points | Cash Back Cards

Cards Earning Miles or Points

I apply for any card that offers miles up front for just qualifying for it. The only reason not to would be that you are concerned that it might affect your credit rating. I discuss that in the Important Starting Info section. If they are free for only a specified period of time, just close the account just before that time is up, telling them you refuse to pay an annual fee. Do this by a telephone call to the customer service center for the card, as you may be offered an extension of the free time, or you may be offered another free card that earns miles.

The first two cards I mention, Starwood and Delta, are not free, but for as long as I have been doing this, they have always been free for the first year. Other cards of interest have free for a year offers that come and go, so I list them on the Annual Fee Cards page, with reference to them here.

I mention some offers for Canadians, but probably the best resource for miles producing credit cards for Canadians is the Rewards Canada Bonus Mile Promotion Directory.

Caution: Most cards have a limit on the number of miles you can earn in one year. If you plan to charge a lot on a card, be aware of this limit.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts offers my favorite American Express credit card. Read my description of the Starwood Starpoints program in my Other Programs I Like section to see how the program is extremely useful in acquiring airline miles. Earn 1 point/$1 spent. 1,000 points can be converted to 1,000 miles on a large number of airlines (great flexibility as airline programs change), plus 20,000 points convert to 25,000 miles, meaning essentially you get 1.25 points/$1 spent. Each U.S. offer below is free of annual fee for one year, then $45 a year for the personal card thereafter, $30 for the business card - that will probably increase soon. (However, read my comments on cancelling the card below to see how you might avoid the fee entirely.)

Note: Do not add additional card to this account when you first apply for the card. Instead, make your first purchase on the card, wait for it to appear on your statement, then go to this offer to get and additional 1,000 points for adding an additional card member. It appears to me that you can get this bonus twice. Each card member must use the card at least once within a year of it being issued for you to get the bonus.

For a quick, free infusion of extra Starwood Starpoints, consider acquiring American Express Cards that earn Membership Rewards points. The cards often waive the annual fee for a year, and then become prohibitively expensive. So cancel before the end of the first year. Actually using the card would be a very inefficient way of earning Starpoints, but the bonus points for first use would be worthwhile, as each 1,000 Membership Rewards Points convert to 333 Starpoints.

Offer #1: . (Thanks to View from the Wing for this information.).

• 10,000 points up front after first use of the card.
• Additional 15,000 Starpoints when you spend $15,000 in 6 months.
• 1 Starpoint for every eligible $1 charged with the Card for any purchase, plus double Starpoints at participating Starwood properties and retail outlets.
• I see no limit mentioned on the number of Starpoints you can earn. card.)

Offer #2. The offer for the personal card usually appears somewhere in www.spg.com. I suggest you use the link there if you can find it. The business card offer links below should be current.

• 10,000 points up front after first use of the card.
• 1 Starpoint for every eligible $1 charged with the Card for any purchase, plus double Starpoints at participating Starwood properties and retail outlets.
• I see no limit mentioned on the number of Starpoints you can earn.
• Personal Card.
• Business Card.
  • But this offer for the business card offers the 10,000 point bonus for first use, and another 15,000 points when you spend $15,000 on the card in 6 months. If you know you can't spend that much, please use my first link, as it gives me a commission at no cost to you. Thanks.

Offer #3. This used to be for Starwood Platinum Preferred Guest members only. But it appears that the terms and conditions have been softened to "To be eligible for the 6,000 Starpoints, you must apply through the special promotion e-mail or website URL link". On January 10, 2006, a reader who does not have Platinum status told me he actually received the 6,000 points for this offer.

• To achieve Platinum status, stay 25 times (or 50 nights) a year at a Starwood property. I don't know if award stays count towards this.
• 6,000 points up front after first use of the card.
• 1 Starpoint for every eligible $1 charged with the Card for any purchase.
• 3 Starpoints for every eligible $1 charged at a Starwood property. (Platinum Starwood Preferred Guests earn 4 points: 3 Starpoints from Starwood Preferred Guest, plus an additional Starpoint just for paying with the Card.)
• 1,000 Starpoints upon first use of the Card for payment of an eligible stay at a Starwood hotel or resort.
• 500 Starpoints for every additional eligible stay charged to the Card within the first 12 months of Cardmembership, up to a maximum of 10 stays (5,000 Starpoints)
• No limit on the number of Starpoints you can earn.
• Details and a link for on-line application for this deal can be found here.

• 4,000 points up front after first use of the card.
• 1 Starpoint for every eligible $1 charged with the Card for any purchase.
• 1,000 points for your first Starwood stay.
• 500 bonus Starpoints for every additional stay at a participating hotel or resort charged to the Card, within Cardmember's first 12 months of membership, for up to a maximum of 10 stays.
• 3 Starpoints for every eligible dollar you charge at Starwoodhotels and resorts. (2 Starpoints as a Starwood Preferred Guest, plus an additional Starpoint just for paying with the Card.)
• No limit on the number of Starpoints you can earn.
• Details and a link for on-line application for this deal can be found here. This link has been around for a long time. This more recent link for the same deal came from a pop-up on the Starwood web site, which said the offer expires July 16, 2004. A third link was on the front page of the Starwood web site on April 6, 2005. I suggest you go to Starwood's home page and see if the offer there. If not, use the most recent valid link. If none of those work, try the supposedly expired one. You have nothing to lose.

• If neither link works (please tell me), the regular offer, which does not include the up front points, can be found here.

This FlyerTalk thread discusses the possibility of receiving 2,500 bonus points for adding a second card to your account.

American Express often has special offers for this card, including bonus points and cash discounts. Please let me know of any that might be appropriate for this web site. (Thanks.)

On November 28, 2006, a reader wrote:

"Keep an eye out on your snail mail for anything from Starwood. I received a packet with 4 post cards. Each card had a code on it. I can give people the card (or just the code really) and get 5000 SPG points for each one that goes to the web site, enters the code, and signs up for the Starwood AMEX card. You only get the points if they are approved, and they will still get the 1st year no annual fee and the 10,000 points."

Starwood offers a free MasterCard for residents of Canada only. Details of the offer:

• 1 Starpoint for every CN$2 spent on all your eligible purchases.
• 5,000 Starpoints after your first purchase on the card.
• 5,000 Starpoints the first time you charge a stay at any Starwood hotel or resort to your Starwood Preferred Guest MasterCard.
• 5,000 Starpoints for every $10,000 you spend (up to 15,000 Starpoints each year).
• No annual fee.

• This credit card is administered by MBNA Bank, which, for some, but not all, of its other cards (like the AAA Visa Card), charges only 1% for foreign currency conversion, not the rip off 3% fee that other big banks try to get away with. So ask if this policy applies to this card.

• Apply here.

Cancelling the card:

• I and others were charged only $25, in November 2003.
• I avoided the fee entirely in November 2004. I waited for the fee to post, then called them. I pressed the telephone button for cancelling the card. I had to tell them that "I want to cancel the card because I didn't want to pay the annual fee". The rep would not look up what she could to for me when I just told her that I was thinking of cancelling. I had to tell her I was actually going to cancel. Then she saw that I was a "long time good customer" (3 years, I think), and that I always pay my bill on time. I charge only $1 -2 thousand a month at most on the card. She offered me a refund of the fee, or 2,000 Starpoints. All of this suggests that you can get a refund or reduction of the fee by telling them that you intend to cancel the card because you object to the fee.
• On March 6, 2005, a reader wrote:

  "Called today to "cancel" my card. They offered my 3000 starwood points to keep it. No comments on how long I had to keep it for. I accepted that deal so I have no idea how much more they might have offered. I've had the card one year, and charged about 20K during the year."

• On March 01, 2006, a reader wrote

  "I called to cancel & they tried to steer me to a no-fee "Blue Sky" card (with a proprietary point/reward program - no thanks). When I declined, the rep mentioned no alternatives & was ready to cancel me, so I asked if there was anything else she could do. She offered 3,000 Starwood points (but no waiver of the annual fee), which I accepted. In short, you may have to prompt for the 3K points offer if the phone rep doesn't mention it."

• On May 20, 2005, a reader wrote

  "Called today to cancel my SPG Amex. Told them I didn't want to pay the annual fee. Was offered a $30 credit back to my account to be posted within 6-8 weeks, although they charged me $27.50 for my annual fee. No mention of any SPG points."

• On December 17, 2004, a reader wrote

  "I've had the card for one year. I used the card extensively (2K/mo) during the double points period over the summer, not so much the rest of the year. In November the fee posted to my statement. I called to cancel telling them I didn't want to pay the fee. They said OK and cancelled it. Oh well. I'll have to have my wife sign up for a card."

• Read all of this discussion
• Please tell me about your experience trying to get the fee waived.)

American Express awards Starpoints for purchases on each individual purchase. They round to the nearest dollar for each purchase, then award the points for that purchase. This means that the number of points you receive on any one statement may not equal the total number of dollars of new purchases. Other miles credit cards award the miles based on the total dollars of new purchases per statement. So what, you say. Well - if you are going for the 5,000 mile bonus for conversion of 20,000 points to miles, you must count each dollar spent as receiving 1.25 miles. I won't bore you with the math, but this means that on any purchase between $1.26 and $1.49, inclusive, you are better off using a miles card. If you are not going to use the bonus (WHY NOT?!), you are better off using a miles card for any purchase ending in 1 to 49 cents, inclusive. (Yes, I really am addicted to this stuff.)

On February 17, 2005, a reader wrote:

...my husband only had 500 pts left in his account so I emailed to ask if I could combine the two accounts and they said no, accounts are not combinable, but I could TRANSFER his points to my account because we had the same address and they did it right away.

Delta Airlines usually offers two main types of American Express Cards: The usual personal and business miles cards, and the Delta SkyPoints card, a very different type of card, which I will describe in a separate section below. For all but the Options and SkyPoints Cards you are offered 1 Delta mile $1 you charge to the card. But there are some nice bonuses, some permanent, and some temporary:

• For all but the Options and SkyPoints Card you always are offered double miles on Delta purchases.
• Beginning January 1, 2007, the Delta cards offer bonuses for reaching certain spending threasholds. Read the terms and conditions of each bonus.
  • Platinum card: If in any calendar year your Eligible Spending on your Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card is $25,000 or more, you will be awarded 10,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs), and if in that same calendar year your Eligible Spending on your Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card is $50,000 or more, you will be awarded an additional 10,000 MQMs. Details.
  • Gold Card: If in any calendar year your Eligible Spending on your Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card is $15,000 or more, you will be awarded 5,000 bonus miles, and if in that same calendar year your Eligible Spending on your Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card is $25,000 or more, you will be awarded an additional 5,000 bonus miles. Bonus miles do not count toward Medallion® status or Million Miler status. Details.
  • Classic Card: 2,500 bonus miles when you make $10,000 in eligible purchases in a calendar year. Details.
  • Options Card earns 1,000 bonus miles when you make $5,000 in eligible purchases in a calendar year. Details.
• There are frequent offers for double, triple, and bonus miles for special types of purchases. Once you receive your card, be sure to bookmark the offers page and check it often, and please let me know of any that might be appropriate for this web site. (Thanks.)

The Delta SkyMiles Options Credit Card offers 1 mile for every $2 spent. I think you will find the Starwood and Hilton American Express cards better deals. Both are described below.

Those seeking Delta Airlines miles should also consider acquiring American Express Cards that earn Membership Rewards points. They regularly offer 10,000 - 25,000 bonus points which are convertible 1,000 points > 1,000 miles. The cards often waive the annual fee for a year, and then become prohibitively expensive. Consider using one of these cards first, cancelling it before the fee becomes due, then acquiring a card listed below, or visa versa. Or consider acquiring both the Amex and one or more cards below simultaneously to get all of the up front bonus points.

Get the card for free:

For as long as I have been writing this web site, there has always been a way to get the Gold Card with the annual fee waived for one year. The free offer is available for first time users only. That used to mean you had to wait a year before you could get the offer again. But currently they won't give you the miles a second time, though received one with no annual for a year a second time.

Here is the information I have on how to obtain the free card. It is probably best to apply online if the offer is still there. But I have a large collection of phone numbers to try, only a few of which they seem to ever retire. On July 7, 2003, I called all of the numbers listed below (except the first one, which I called on September 15, 2003). All but the 1-800 SKY MILES offered the free card with at least 10,000 up front miles. I did not have to mention the codes. All made the offer to me freely and easily, except for the person at the customer service number, who I had to prompt a bit to find offer. Please tell me about any dead numbers. Thanks.

• Excellent online offers for personal and business gold cards. So get both.
  • 20,000 miles for first purchase.
  • 2,500 more miles each for adding up to two additional card members.
  • Business card: Save a total of $250 off Delta flights.
  • Annual fee waived for the first year.
  • No expiration date that I can find. Please tell me when these disappear. Thanks.
  • Personal Card
  • Business Card
• An online offer for the Personal or Business Gold Cards:
  • 15,000 miles with your first purchase
  • 2,500 miles for each of the first two Additional Cards submitted with the original application.
  • A 5,000 mile bonus when you spend $5,000 within the first six months, and 5,000 after you spend $25,000 in that same year. Caution: "The close of the calendar year is December 31, without regard to the time of the year that the account is opened. This means that for the first year of Cardmembership your Eligible Spending bonus period may be less than twelve months. If in any calendar year your Eligible Spending on your Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card or Gold Delta SkyMiles Business Credit Card is $15,000 or more, you will be awarded 5,000 bonus miles, and if in that same calendar year your Eligible Spending on your Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card or Gold Delta SkyMiles Business Credit Card is $25,000 or more, you will be awarded an additional 5,000 bonus miles."
  • Business card holders save 5% on flights with Delta.
• This post on FlyerTalk, July 2005,describes how to get the card with no annual fee for one year for 17,500 miles for first purchase. Please tell me about your experience with trying to get this offer. Thanks.
  On September 22, 2005, a reader wrote:

  "My experience with this offer was good. I applied over the phone, and eventually I was sent the card. I made my first purchase and upon the issue of the state I received 7500 miles on my Skymile account. I wrote an email to AMEX customer service stating that applied by phone via a promo code that would grant me 17500 miles. The next day, AMEX wrote me back saying that an additional 10000 miles will be added by the next statement. I then checked my Skymile account and the 10000 was already there."

• An online offer for 20,000 miles for first purchase, plus 2,500 more miles for adding an additional card member, up to two times, with no annual fee for the first year. Note that the offer of $50 cash back for purchasing a Delta Airlines ticket expired September 30, 2008. Please tell me if this changes. Thanks.
• Call (800) 446-5393 and mention offer code R53. This offer may also give you 1,000 more miles for ordering an extra card, presumably for someone else.
• (888) 225-1377
• (800) 297-3600. A reader gave me this number for a 15,000 mile offer. Alas, that offer is targeted to some pre-approved people, who received it in the mail. But on January 27, 2004, the customer service rep at this number said he could offer me the 10,000 mile with no annual fee for a year deal.
• (800) 228-5155. You may have to give them offer code ABV TO6DG10623 or offer code ABV TO6DG16026.
• (800) SKY MILES, which sometimes has the free offer
• (800) 430-1000. This is the customer service number for the card. Remain silent and push no buttons until a human answers.

  Please tell me about your experience trying to obtain these cards free, including when and what phone number you called or link you used. Thanks.

The Scotiabank of Puerto Rico offers a Delta Airlines Platinum Visa credit card for residents of Puerto Rico.

• A welcome bonus of 20,000 miles.
• No annual fee in the first year. $75/year thereafter.
• 2 miles/$1 dollar spent on the purchase of airline tickets with Delta.
• 1,500 miles with each annual renewal, but you have to pay the $75 fee to get that, at a terrible cost of 5 cents/mile.

For whichever card you apply, make sure you reach very clear agreement with whoever you talk to that the card is free of annual charges for the first year. One person got an $85 bill anyway, but they corrected it when he called.

Delta has credit card offers for countries other than the U.S., including Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Japan, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, U.K., and Ireland. Most have bonus miles for applying and using the card. The cards for Chile and for Puerto Rico ar free for the first year. (Bueno.) Not sure about the others. Click here for info.

Additional cards: This post on Fatwallet tells you how to get 2,500 miles per extra card ordered, for up to 5 cards (12,500 miles total). I have received a similar offer for up to two cards for my Delta business credit card, but have no means of verifying the offer for a personal card. Please tell me about your experience trying to get this deal for a personal card.

Cancelling the card:

• On February 25, 2004, a reader wrote:

  "I tried calling in to cancel my Delta Skymiles Option card (free, but 1 miles for $2) I haggled till they finally offered me to upgrade to Gold with a bonus of 9,000 miles :) I wonder if I can cancel after a few months and a part of fee refunded. The number for Amex customer service who did this was 1 800 528 4800."

• On May 20, 2004, another reader wrote:

  "Originally I did the 10,000 miles, no annual fee for 6 months or a year plus 5,000 extra miles for having an authorized user. Then when I called to cancel, I was given 3,000 and no annual fee for another full year. Then 4 months later was given another 3,000 miles. So I have to date received 21,000 miles with no annual fee."

  However, when I cancelled my card around the same date, I was not given this offer.

• American Express has a policy of giving you a bonus only once in your lifetime. However, if later you see a better bonus, you can apply again and get the difference if you call and ask. On May 6, 2005, a reader told me about an exception to this:

  "My wife and I both had the card a couple of years ago and received 10,000 miles for opening the account. We cancelled after a year to avoid the annual fee. Anyway, we both received emails from Delta in the fall offering us 10,000 miles for obtaining a card with no annual fee for the first year. We both opened accounts, made charges but the bonus points didn't post. After quite a few emails to both Delta and AMEX I finally resorted to making phone calls. I got ahold of someone at AMEX who opened an investigation and the points for both of us recently posted, even though we were told that they wouldn't post if they determined we received points previously."

• Bonuses for first use:
  • 7,500 points for first use. Caution: Although this offer is still online, it is no longer advertised. on September 22, 2006, a reader wrote:

    I originally applied for the card back in March through this link, but only received 2500 skypoints. I just called them and they are crediting me for the missing 5000 points (to make the 7500 total) because I was able to cite the URL. I needed to get a supervisor on line to do it.

    Be sure to make a copy of the offer and its URL. They could take it off line at any time. (Please tell me when they do. Thanks.)
  • The normal offer is 2,500 points for first purchase on the personal card. Also try this link.
  • A business card offer of 3,000 points for first use.
• 1 point/$1 spent.
• 2 points/$1 spent on Delta and Song® purchases and at supermarkets, gas stations, drugstores, home improvement and hardware stores, the U.S. Postal Service, and for your wireless phone bill.
• No annual fee for one year. $49 per year thereafter.
• Special limited time offers.

• 3,000 SkyPoints can be used for a 10% discount
• 7,500 SkyPoints can be used for a 25% discount
• 15,000 SkyPoints can be used for a 50% discount
• 20,000 SkyPoints can be used for a 75% discount
• You can instead convert the points to Delta miles at a 1:1 ratio, minimum 1,000 points, maximum 999,000 points. "Chunks" of points are not required; that is, you may convert, say 1021 points to 1021 miles if you wish.

Some observations:

• The original website for this card is not fully functional. The page describes neither bonus nor the waiver of the first year fee.
  • You can read about the discounts information by clicking on the "Get discounts on Delta and Song® purchases. Show me how." link.
  • A description of the normal bonus for first use is found by clicking on Don't have a Card? Apply Now. But the only way I know to get the special bonus is via my link to it.
  • The waiver of the first year fee is mentioned on the application form.
• You may also apply by telephone at (800) 223-2670. If you do this, be very certain that the rep understands that you want the SkyPoints card, not the SkyMiles card. Be sure the rep promises you no annual fee for 1 year and the 2,500 point bonus, and that it is noted on your file that this promise was made. (Note that the reps will probably not know about the 7,500 points bonus.) Reps are not used to this card, and will make mistakes unless you are very clear with them.
• The card is useful to those who have difficulty getting the ticket they want via a miles award. However, the $500 limitation is severe if you are looking for, say, an international business class ticket. Also, you can not use it to buy tickets using multiple airlines in the SkyTeam Alliance, as you can with miles. But you can always convert points to miles and then use miles to try to get the ticket.
• The up front bonus is small compared to that usually available for the miles card. But I see no reason why you can't get both. (I would wait a month or two between applications.)
• If you can no longer get a first use bonus for the miles card because you have received it before, you can probably still get the points bonus. This worked for me.
• The annual fee after the first year is much smaller than that of the miles card.
• SkyPoints will only be awarded on purchases up to $60,000 per year of Cardmembership, not including bonus SkyPoints awarded for special promotional purposes and double SkyPoints Purchases. I believe that there is no such limit on the SkyMiles card. (But ask to be sure.)
• I intend to apply for this card for the bonus points, use it for one year for all of the double points offers, and then convert the points to miles (I fly mostly internationally in business class) and then cancel the card to avoid the fee if I find I don't like it.
• Caution: If you voluntarily cancel your Card Account and all Linked Accounts, you will have up to 30 days from the date of cancellation to transfer SkyPoints accrued in your SkyPoints Rewards Program account to your Delta SkyMiles account. If SkyPoints are not transferred by such date, any remaining SkyPoints will be forfeited.
• Caution: Strangely, transfer of points to miles does not count as a partner activity for the purpose of renewing the expiration date of your miles.
• There is a discussion on FlyerTalk about this card, in which you will probably be able to read about its latest developments.

   

• No annual fee.
• 20,000 bonus points if you spend £250 in the first 90 days of your account opening.
• 3 miles/£1 spent on BMI purchases.
• 1.5 miles/£1 spent on everyday purchases.
• 0% p.a. on card purchases for 3 months from the date your account is opened.
• The bmi Credit Card is issued by MBNA Europe Bank Limited. It is not an official American Express card.

• No annual fee.
• A free one-way ticket voucher. You must apply by November 30, 2008 and use the card by January 31, 2009, to get this voucher. Travel must be completed by May 20, 2009.
• 3,500 bonus points with your first purchase.
• 3 points/$1 spent on Virgin America purchases.
• 1 point/$1 spent on everyday purchases.
• 0% APR and 1 point/$1 on your first balance transfer — up to 2,500 bonus points. A Balance Transfer fee applies to all Balance Transfers. During the introductory period: 3% of the amount of each transfer, with a minimum fee of $5 and a maximum fee of $50; After the introductory period, 3% of the amount of each transfer with a minimum fee of $5. See the Cautions section of the Intro page of this Credit Card section to see how to use this balance transfer offer.
• 300 bonus points for every $5,000 you spend per year. (Limit 1,200 annual bonus points.)

The Amtrak MasterCard offers:

• 5,000 points for first purchase.
• No annual fee.
• 2 points/$1 spent on Amtrak purchases.
• 1 point/$1 spent on everything else.

Amtrak points are directly convertible to Continental or Midwest Airlines miles at a 1:1 ratio, and to Air Canada, Alaska, American, Continental, Delta, Mexicana, Northwest, or United Airlines, or U.S. Airways via Choice Points at a net ratio of 5,000 points: 3,000 miles, 5,000 point increments, 25,000 points maximum per year, but with certain serious restrictions. See my description of the Amtrak program in the Points to Miles section of my Other Programs I Like page for details.

Caution: Amtrak in the past has changed its points conversion program without warning. I strongly recommend you convert points immediately every time you accumulate 5,000.

U.S. residents can obtain both the Hilton Visa and the Hilton Amex card. I did (when the Amex offer was for 7,500), for an easy 17,500 free points.

Note: Sometimes the bank will inadvertently open a new Hilton HHonors account for you and put your points there, instead of putting them into your existing account. If your points don't show up, contact Hilton HHonors customer service. They will find the two accounts for you and consolidate them.

For a quick, free infusion of extra Hilton HHonors points, consider acquiring American Express Cards that earn Membership Rewards points. The cards often waive the annual fee for a year, and then become prohibitively expensive. So cancel before the end of the first year. Actually using the card would be a very inefficient way of earning HHonors points, but the bonus points for first use would be worthwhile, as each 1,000 Membership Rewards Points convert to 1,300 HHonors points.

Hilton Visa card. No annual fee. Two points per dollar spent (3 for dollars spent at Hilton). Special offers from select merchants.

• Offer #1:
  • 15,000 Hilton HHonors points making $150 in purchases within 2 months of account opening for first purchase
  • 6 Hilton HHonors points/$1 spent at participating Hilton Family hotels.
  • 3 points/$1 spent on purchases at supermarkets, drugstores and gas stations.
  • 2 points/$1 spent on all other purchases.
  • Other goodies of dubious value.
• Offer #2:
  • 15,000 Hilton HHonors points for first purchase
  • 3 points/$1 spent using the card at Hilton Family hotels
  • 2 points/$1 spent on net purchases
• 10,000 HHonors points for first use (regular offer).
• A reader writes

  "I just received an invitation to acquire the Citi Visa signature Hilton HHonors card with 15,000 bonus Hilton HHonors points after first use. The telephone number to get this deal is 1-800-799-5800. It was included with my Hilton HHonors statement)."

  It was not included in my statement, perhaps because I have already had this card, or perhaps because the offer is targeted.

Hilton American Express card:

• This Flyertalk thread discusses upcoming changes (January 1, 2009) to the benefits of this card.
• Offer #1, via View from the Wing:
  • 20,000 Hilton HHonors points for first purchase
  • 2,500 points for each of your first four eligible stays at participating Hilton Family hotels, when the stay is paid for with your Hilton
  • 30,000 points when you spend $1,500 in your first 3 months of Card membership
  • 5 Hilton HHonors points/$1 spent at participating Hilton Family hotels
  • 5 points/$1 spent on purchases at supermarkets, drugstores, gas stations, dining establishments, the U.S. Postal Service, and for wireless phone bills.
  • 3 points/$1 spent on all other purchases.
  • Caution: When you click on "Learn more" on the application page the terms change to 10,000 Hilton HHonors® bonus points with your first purchase, and no bonus for spending $1,500. This is probably due to someone forgetting to change this page with the better offer, but be sure to make a copy of the better offer and its URL, just in case you have to argue with American Express. This offer has been on my website for several months, with no one telling me the points promised were not received, but then no one reporting getting the points, either.
• Offer #2
  • I accidently copied only part of the URL for Offer #1 and found this one. There is no certainty that American Express will honor it.
  • 20,000 Hilton HHonors points for first purchase. Caution: The footnote for this says 10,000. Also, that footnote says "Bonus points are for first-time Cardmembers only." Make a copy of this offer before accepting it.
  • Use your instant account to get $50 back on your first stay booked on a Hilton Family Website.
  • 2,500 points for each of your first four eligible stays at participating Hilton Family hotels, when the stay is paid for with your Hilton
  • 5 Hilton HHonors points/$1 spent at participating Hilton Family hotels
  • 5 points/$1 spent on purchases at supermarkets, drugstores, gas stations, dining establishments, the U.S. Postal Service, and for wireless phone bills.
  • 3 points/$1 spent on all other purchases.
• Offer #3:
  • 10,000 Hilton HHonors points for first purchase
  • 2,500 points for each of your first four eligible stays at participating Hilton Family hotels, when the stay is paid for with your Hilton HHonors Platinum Credit Card from American Express
  • 15,000 points bonus when you spend $5,000 in your first 5 months of Cardmembership, in addition to the normal 15,000 points you would earn anyway.
  • 5 Hilton HHonors points/$1 spent at participating Hilton Family hotels
  • 5 points/$1 spent on purchases at supermarkets, drugstores, gas stations, dining establishments, the U.S. Postal Service, and for wireless phone bills.
  • 3 points/$1 spent on all other purchases.
• Offer #4:
  • 10,000 Hilton HHonors points for first purchase
  • 2,500 points for each of your first four eligible stays at participating Hilton Family hotels, when the stay is paid for with your Hilton HHonors Platinum Credit Card from American Express
  • 5 points/$1 charged at participating Hilton Family hotels
  • 5 points/$1 charged at grocery stores, drugstores, gas stations, restaurants, U.S. postal service, and for wireless phone bills
  • 3 points/$1 charged for all other purchases
  • Online booking bonus of 500 HHonors bonus points every time you book your stay through any Hilton Family website and charge it to your Hilton HHonors Platinum Credit Card from American Express.
• A reader forwarded to me an email that indicates that for a limited time you can earn 5,000 HHonors bonus points for the first additional card you add. The page to which the email links does not mention this offer. I suggest you call customer service after you receive your card, and keep calling until you find a rep who knows about the offer. If all else fails, you could simply order a second card through the link and wait the required 8-12 weeks to see if you get the points. I cannot forward the email to you, as it includes info about the reader.

Hilton offers credit cards for residents of the U.K, Germany, and Japan. Ask about bonuses and fees.

Use of the card provides only one point per dollar spent, which is worth only 1/4 mile, and you must earn another 10,000 points to obtain more miles. However, if you frequently stay at InterContinental Hotels Group properties (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, and Staybridge Suites), Priority Club members can accumulate points for free airline tickets, which seems like a better deal than converting to miles.

Using your points for free rooms may very well be the best use of them, better than converting them to miles. On May 12, 2008, a reader wrote

"The Chase Priority Club card with 30,000 bonus points was the best value I ever had signing up for any card. Stayed 6 nights last summer at an Express by Holiday Inn in London using 5000 Pointsavers per night. Rack rate with tax was almost $400 a night, so the value for my 30,000 points was around $2400."

"I think this bonanza is long gone. I did a little bit of checking on the Priority Club website... I picked a sample weekend in offpeak season (Feb 5-10, 2008) to look for hotels in Paris and London using Priority Club points. There were a few 15000 pt hotels way far out, but anything even remotely close to the city center was 25000 pts in both cities. The 5000 point stays simply do not exist.

With the exchange rate being bad, one night at a 25000 point hotel could easily be $400 USD. So the 30000 card might still be a good deal, but it can't be nearly as good as your other readers suggests."

Priority Club PointBreaks page.

On December 11, 2005, the card was offering a 0% interest rate for the first six months, but with a 3% fee capped at $75. (Be sure to read my cautions on 0% balance transfer offers on the Important Starting Info page of this Credit Card section.)

For a quick, free infusion of extra Priority Club points, consider acquiring American Express Cards that earn Membership Rewards points. The cards often waive the annual fee for a year, and then become prohibitively expensive. So cancel before the end of the first year. Actually using the card would be a very inefficient way of earning Priority Club points, but the bonus points for first use would be worthwhile, as each 1,000 Membership Rewards Points convert to 1,000 Priority Club points.

• First sign up for Priority Club (free) and copy your membership number.

• Signature card offer:
  • 30,000 points for first use, plus 10,000 more points if you spend $15,000 on the card annually.
  • 3 points/$1 spent on the card for stays at Priority Club hotels.
  • 1 point/$1 spent on everything else.
  • No annual fee for one year only, then $29/year.
  • $20 statement credit with first purchases.

• Signature Business Card offer:
  • 30,000 points for first use, plus 15,000 more points if you spend $20,000 on the card annually.
  • 3 points/$1 spent on the card for stays at Priority Club hotels.
  • 1 point/$1 spent on everything else.
  • No annual fee for one year only, then $29/year.
  • $20 statement credit with first purchases.

• Signature card offer:
  • 25,000 points for first use, plus 10,000 more points if you spend $15,000 on the card annually.
  • 1 point/$1 spent on everything else.
  • No annual fee for one year only, then $29/year.
  • $20 statement credit with first purchases.
  • 0% APR on purchases and balance transers for the first 6 billing cycles. Balance transfer fee is 3% of each transfer with a max of $99 per transfer.

• If there is no better offer listed above, please ask me to refer you to this card, at no cost to you. You still get 15,000 points for first use, no annual fee for the first year, then $29/year thereafter if you keep the card. I get some points for the referral. Please request the referral only if you are certain you will apply for the card and use it at least once. I have a limited number of referrals and would hate to waste them. Thanks.

• Signature card offer: 15,000 points for first use, plus 10,000 more points if you spend $15,000 on the card annually. No annual fee for one year only, then $29/year.

• Signature card offer: 15,000 points for first use, a $20 credit, no annual fee for one year only, then $29/year. (If my link doesn't work, try a this one.)

• Regular business card offer: 10,000 points for first use. No annual fee. As of October 28, 2007, 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 6 billing cycles, with a 3% fee on the latter, capped at $50.

• You may be able to get both the business and personal cards.

Points are convertible to miles a many airlines, and can be used to acquire free stays and other goodies. See my description of the program in my Other Programs I Like page.

First enroll in the Marriott Rewards Program, wait 24 hours, and then accept the best available of the offers listed below. Please tell me if any of these offers have expired.

All of the offers listed are for first time customers only. However, I and others I trust have cancelled the card to avoid the fee, waited a few months (I have heard a few months to over a year), and then getting the best offer again.

• No annual fee.
• 8,000 points after your first use- that's enough for a free night at over 1,500 locations.
• Another 8,000 points after your first paid stay at a Choice Privileges hotel before June 30, 2009 with your new Choice Privileges Visa card.
• 15 points/$1 spent at over 3,700 Choice Privileges locations in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Mexico.
• 5 points/$1 spent when purchasing additional Choice Privileges points and Choice Hotels Gift Cards.
• 2 points/$1 spent on everyday purchases.

Each 5,000 points convert to 1,000 miles on many airlines or to 2 Southwest Airlines credits. The points can be used for free hotel stays, which may be a better use of them, especially in Europe and other expensive places.

Choice Privileges is the loyalty points program of Choice Hotels (Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion and MainStay Suites, EconoLodge, and Rodeway Inns). You may read about it in the Points to Miles section of my Other Programs I Like page. Be sure to join this program and receive a membership number before applying for the credit card. That number will be requested on the second page of the application for the credit card.

Note: You can help me at no cost to youself by applying for this same offer for this same card via CreditCards.com. Click on this link for Hotel/Travel Rewards Credit Cards, then scroll down the page to the Wyndham Rewards MasterCard offer. Thanks.

You may read about the Wyndham Rewards program in the Points to Miles section of my Other Programs I Like page.

For a quick, free infusion of extra Best Western points, consider acquiring American Express Cards that earn Membership Rewards points. The cards often waive the annual fee for a year, and then become prohibitively expensive. So cancel before the end of the first year. Actually using the card would be a very inefficient way of earning Best Western points, but the bonus points for first use would be worthwhile, as each 1,000 Membership Rewards Points convert to 1,000 Best Western points.

See the Points to Miles section of my Other Programs I Like page for details of the La Quinta program.

First join the S&H greenpoints program (free), then read about the card (you must log in first.), then apply for the card at (866) 756-7868.

The card offers 0% interest for 6 months for balance transfers. Call to be sure, but the old offer for this card said that there is a 3% fee, capped at $50, for such a transfer. Be sure to read my cautions on 0% balance transfer offers on the Important Starting Info page of this Credit Card section.

There are a great many cash back credit card offers. I don't intend to follow these closely, since they don't offer miles. However, I describe my several of favorites below for purpose of comparison to miles cards. Often the cash back is worth more than the miles you would get from other cards.

• No annual fee.
• No co-signer or minimum income required.
• 5% cash back on eligible purchases at supermarkets, drugstores, gas stations, convenience stores and utilities including cable for 6 months, and 2% thereafter.
  • Limited time offer: Same as above, except 10% cash back on eligible purchases for 3 months. Please tell me when this offer disappears. Thanks.
• 1% cash back on all other purchases.
• Cash back is paid in the form of a check to you after you accumulate a minimum of $50 of rebates in your account. $300/year maximum rebates.
• 0% interest rate on purchases and balance transers for 6 months from date of account opening. No fee for those balance transfers within those 6 months.
  • You probably don't have to actually do a balance transfer from another acount to get a free loan from the bank for 6 months. Go to my Important Starting Info page in this Credit Card section, click on the Cautions link, then look for the paragraph that begins "Here is a little known fact about Citibank 0% balance transfer, no fee offers" to see how this works.
  • Be careful to pay off everything before those 6 months are up. The subsequent interest rate is horrible.
• The usual 20 day grace period applies.
• Click on my link, then on the Terms and Conditions to verify all of this.

Caution: I am hearing that Citibank is sending something called a "yearly summary" to card holders and billing them $15 for it. Readers are complaining that they did not order and did not want this summary. They tell me the fee is reversed when complaint is made, but I suggest you tell Citibank up front that you don't want the summary.

• No annual fee.
• 1% cash back on purchases, with a 20% bonus for the first 12 months.
• Cash back is paid in the form of a check to you after you accumulate a minimum of $50 of rebates in your account. No limits on cash back.

  Caution: I am hearing that Citibank is sending something called a "yearly summary" to card holders and billing them $15 for it. Readers are complaining that they did not order and did not want this summary. They tell me the fee is reversed when complaint is made, but I suggest you tell Citibank up front that you don't want the summary.

   

• 10,000 ThankYou points after $250 in purchases, which can be immediately converted to a $100 gift card. I am told that if you click on the Apply Now button, wait for the page to load, then close that page, you will get a pop-under that offers $150. I can see a pop-under, but it disappears before it loads onto my computer.
• No annual fee.
• 3 ThankYou Points/$1 spent at restaurants, gas stations, on auto rentals and at certain office supply merchants.
• 1 point/$1 for all other purchases.
• Citi Professional Card is considered a business purpose credit card and not a consumer credit card. However, I see no requirement for business into on the application page. Please note that certain consumer rights do not apply to this account. I see no itemization of these. I would use the card only for the initial $100.
• The usual 20 day grace period applies.
• Click on my link, then on the Terms and Conditions and Reward Program Information links to verify all of this.

Caution: I am hearing that Citibank is sending something called a "yearly summary" to card holders and billing them $15 for it. Readers are complaining that they did not order and did not want this summary. They tell me the fee is reversed when complaint is made, but I suggest you tell Citibank up front that you don't want the summary.

• No annual fee.
• 3% cash back on purchases made at restaurants, gas stations, certain office supply merchants, and for auto rentals.
• 1% cash back on all other purchases.
• The rebates will show cumulatively on your statement as "Professional Dollars". You may accumulate a maximum of 500 Professional Dollars in any calendar year (eligible transactions appearing on your January – December billing statements) payable in checks of $50 or more only upon your request.
• 0% interest on purchases for 12 months. This does not apply to balance transfers or cash advances, which are expensive.
• The usual 20 day grace period applies.

On September 5, 2007, a reader wrote about this card:

"I noticed you have discussion of the Citi Professional card. The 3 points per dollar equate to a 3 percent rebate if you convert to some gift cards. You can also use the points at the rate of 1 point = 1 cent for airline tickets on the Thankyou network’s version of Expedia which is very easy to use and which seems to have good pricing, some expensive fares were much less than the airline web site. You earn miles on these tickets and virtually every flight is available. They also have a fixed rate of 25,000 points for a domestic round trip ticket, which has some restrictions but seems to work ok. I have not used this yet. No open jaws are allowed on the fixed rate. You also earn miles on these tickets.

"The card is free and I only use it for those items which pay triple points."

Caution: I am hearing that Citibank is sending something called a "yearly summary" to card holders and billing them $15 for it. Readers are complaining that they did not order and did not want this summary. They tell me the fee is reversed when complaint is made, but I suggest you tell Citibank up front that you don't want the summary.

People report on Flyertalk that the no foreign currently conversion fee works fine until Capital One's ultra sensitive fraud detection software shuts down your card unnecessarily. Then it is generally reported that it is nearly impossible to re-activate your card from a country other than the U.S. So always carry a backup card it you are planning to use a Capital One card in a country outside of the U.S.

To find the cards and help me at no cost to you, please click on this link to the CreditCards.com Captial One Cash Back Cards page, then in the Search by Bank or Issuer category in the left menu, click on Capital One. If you don't find what you want there, you may use the links below to search further, but please note that you do not help me by applying through those links.

• Capital One Cash Back Cards
• Other Capital One cards.

• No annual fee.
• 10% cash back for the first year, 5% thereafter on AT&T products that matches the money you spend on other purchases each statement. Since the other purchase earn no cash back, this translates to 5% back on these AT&T purchases + matching purchases for the first year, 2.5% thereafter, which is probably quite competitive to any miles card. But beware of the limits:
• Any purchases of either type that exceed the other type earn no cash back bonus. You could be earning miles on that excess instead with another card. The matching is computed for each monthly statement. So to use this correctly, you must keep very accurate records of your daily purchases and know when your statement closes.
• There is a limit of $350 per calendar year for cash back. At 10%, this implies $3,500/year in AT&T purchases plus $3,500 in matching purchases.
• The only eligible transactions for which you earn savings are AT&T consumer products and/or services purchased directly from AT&T, billed to your Card Account. AT&T consumer products and services must be purchased from www.att.com, www.telephones.att.com, AT&T owned stores or AT&T customer service centers. Purchases from independent wireless dealers are not eligible, unless they are for payment of AT&T service.
• One Citibank ThankYou point/$1 spent is offered on non AT&T services.

Discover® Open Road Card

• No annual fee.
• 5% Cashback Bonus on your first $100 in gas and auto maintanence purchases each month - up to $1,200 each year; gas and auto maintanence purchases in excess of $100 each month will still earn unlimited Cashback Bonus at the same rate as other purchases.
• Much lesser, non competitive rebates for other purchases.
• Rewards are redeemable in $20 increments.
• Rewards have no expiration date; however, certain circumstances, such as account closure and inactivity for more than 36 months, could result in forfeiture of some or all of your Cashback Bonus.
• 0% interest on purchases for 6 months.
• 5% t0 20% Cashback bonus through Discover's exclusive online shopping site.
• Click on "View rates, fees, rewards and other Important Information" at the bottom of the page for complete details.

TreasureTrooper.com regularly lists several Discover Credit Cards with $20 - $40 cash back to you for successfully applying. The offers are listed in the website's Cash Offers section. You may read about the TreasureTrooper.com program on my Click for Miles, Money, and Good Causes page in the Click for Money section.

• No annual fee.
• 5% Cashback Bonus on your first on your first $2,000 in office supply purchases from merchants like OfficeMax and Staples.
• 2% cash back on your first $2,000 in gas, whether you pay at the pump or at the station.
• Up to 1% cash back on everything else you purchase.
• Rewards are redeemable in $20 increments.
• 0% interest on purchases for 12 months.

• No annual fee.
• 5% cash back on gasoline purchases when your card is used at the pump. Posts with each statement, no limit.
• 2% cash back cash back on supermarket purchases. Posts with each statement, no limit.
• 1.25% cash back on all purchases. Posts with each statement, no limit.
• Only the Visa 1% charge for purchases in foreign currencies. No rip off extra 2% imposed by most banks. (So you net a gain of 0.25% on foreign purchases.) I have received excellent currency conversion rates using this card. It is my first choice card for purchases in non US$ currencies.
• Note the huge advantage that this card has over other cash back cards: You get your money credited to the statement on which the charges appear. There is no minimum amount you must accumulate to get your cash back.

• No annual fee.
• 5% cash back on office supplies and wireless services.
• 3% cash back on automobile gas purchases of up to $12,000 per year; 1% thereafter.
• 1% cash back on virtually all other purchases.
• Cash back is automatically credited to the statement each month.
• My only problem with this offer is that I find it difficult to find gasoline stations with competitive prices which accept American Express credit cards.
• Click on the banner to the left to apply.

• No annual fee.
• 5,000 points for first purchases
• 1 point/$1 spent, no limit.
• Points may only be redeemed in 7,500 increments, and each 7,500 Points shall be equal to a credit of up to $100, up to the amount of the eligible travel purchase, provided as a statement credit after you ask for it.
• Click on the banner to the left to apply.

• Costco American Express TrueEarnings Business Card
  • 5% for buying gas
  • 3% for restuarants
  • 2% for travel purchases from airline, lodging, car rental, cruise line, travel agency and tour operator merchants.
  • 1% for everywhere else, including Costco
  • No annual fee with your paid Costco Membership.
  • No limit to the amount of cash back that can be earned.
  • 0% introductory APR on purchases for the first three months
  • Rebate awarded annually in the form of an in-store coupon redeemable for merchandise or cash at any U.S. Costco Warehouse.
  • The TrueEarnings Business Card serves as both your American Express Credit Card and your Costco Membership Card.
  • One Card, Two Memberships - Card serves as both a credit card and your Costco Warehouse membership
• Costco American Express TrueEarnings Personal Card
  • $25 statement credit with your first purchase
  • 3% for buying gas
  • 3% for restuarants
  • 2% for travel purchases from airline, lodging, car rental, cruise line, travel agency and tour operator merchants.
  • 1% for everywhere else, including Costco
  • No annual fee with your paid Costco Membership.
  • 0% introductory APR on purchases for the first three months
  • Cash back earnings accumulates over the course of the year and the total is issued to you in your February billing statement.
  • The TrueEarnings Card serves as both your American Express Credit Card and your Costco Membership Card.
• So get the business card, obvioiusly.

• For the first $6,500 of Eligible Purchases (as defined below), the rebate percentage is 1% for Everyday Purchases (as defined below) and 0.50% for all other Eligible Purchases; for Eligible Purchases of $6500.01 or more, the rebate percentage is 5% for Everyday Purchases and 1.5% for all other Eligible Purchases. "Everyday Purchases" are Eligible Purchases at U.S. supermarkets, gas stations and drugstores, in each case that are not departments of superstores or warehouse clubs. "Eligible Purchases" are charges to your account for goods or services that have not been returned or otherwise credited to your account.
• Rebate is awarded annually for each Rebate Year (12 consecutive billing periods).
• No annual fee.
• 0% APR for purchases made with plastic only (whatever that means - probably does not include online and telephone purchases) for the first 6 months.

• Hmm... why would anyone spend anything on this card if only the person referring gets the cash back for it?
• Caution. I see no mention of a grace period for payments in the terms and conditions. No grace period would mean you begin to pay interest on the day the charge posts to your account. Ask.