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.

• It is possible to get both a personal and a business card.
• Most Citi AA offers say that the card is not available if you have had any Citi® / AAdvantage® card opened or closed in the past 48 months. Please tell me if you find one that does not say this. Thanks.

After you apply for a card, immediately call the credit approval department at 800-763-9795 (maybe 888-201-4523 for business cards) to confirm the details of the offer you got.

Please tell me if there is an offer different or better than the ones I list below. Thanks.

This Flyertalk Wiki follows the Citi cards, this one follows the Barclays personal cards, and this one follows the Barclays business cards. I have no idea why they are not combined into one discussion. Their info may be more up to date than mine below. Please tell me if you find something there of interest. Thanks.

Register your American Airlines credit card with the American Airlines SimplyMiles program to earn extra miles for purchases for purchases on that card at certain retailers.

Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® World MasterCard

• 75,000 bonus miles after $3,500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
• Limited-time: Earn a $200 statement credit on eligible American Airlines purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. Plus, earn 30,000 bonus miles after $1,500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
  • 2 AAdvantage® miles for every $1 you spend on eligible American Airlines, restaurant, and gasoline purchases, and 1 mile/$1 on everything else
  • A $120 American Airlines Flight Discount after you spend $20,000 or more in purchases during your cardmembership year and renew your card.
  • The first eligible bag checked free for you and up to 4 travel companions.
  • No foreign transaction fees.
  • Group 5 boarding.
  • Discount mileage award tickets - up to 7,500 miles off.
  • Receive a 25% savings on in-flight food and beverage purchases when you use your Citi® / AAdvantage® card.⁷
  • The annual fee is waived the first year. Then $95.
  • This is a chip and signature card.
  • American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles are not available if you have had any Citi® / AAdvantage® card (other than a CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® card) opened or closed in the past 24 months.

  CitiBusiness / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Mastercard.

  • 75,000 miles after spending $5,000 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening.
  • First checked bag free for you and up to 4 travel companions traveling with and listed in the same reservation as the Citi® / AAdvantage® primary credit cardmember..¹
  • No foreign transaction fees.
  • 2 AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent on American Airlines purchases and on purchases at certain telecommunications merchants, car rental merchants, cable and satellite providers, and at gas stations. 1 AAdvantage® mile per $1 spent on other purchases.⁹.
  • Group 5 boarding.
  • Discount mileage award tickets - up to 7,500 miles off.
  • Earn an American Airlines Companion Certificate for domestic main cabin travel after you spend $30,000 or more in purchases each cardmembership year and cardmembership is renewed. Redeeming the certificate costs $99 for the ticketing fee, plus $21.60 to $43.20 in government taxes and fees based on itinerary.⁸
  • The $99 fee is waived the first year.
  • This card is not available if the business already has a CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Mastercard® account. Bonus miles and any additional special offer not available if you have had any CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® account opened or closed in the past 24 months.

  AAdvantage® AviatorTM Red World Elite MasterCard from Barclay Bank.

  • 50,000 bonus American Airlines miles when you make your first purchase and pay the annual fee in the first 90 days. No minimum spend requirement.
  • You can find a 70,000 miles offer via the referral links listed here.
  • Use this link for the a 60,000 miles offer offer with the first year annual fee waived.
• Earn an introductory Companion Certificate good for 1 guest at $99 (plus taxes and fees) after making your first purchase in the first 90 days and paying the $99 annual fee
• If my link no longer works, use this one for a 60K offer.
• First checked bag free
• 2X miles for eligible American Airlines purchases
• First checked bag free
• Up to $25 back as statement credits on inflight Wi-Fi purchases every anniversary year on American Airlines operated flights.
• No foreign transaction fees
• Preferred boarding for you and up to 4 companions on your reservation when traveling on itineraries operated by American Airlines
• 25% inflight savings on food, beverages, and headsets on American Airlines-operated flights
• $99 annual fee, not waived the first year.

American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp Card.
Using my link eventually gets you to the official Citibank offer page, and helps me at no cost to you. Thanks.

• 15,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after $500 spent on purchases within the first 3 months
• 2X miles on groceries and on American Airlines purchases.
• 25% savings on eligible in–flight food and beverage purchases when you use your card.
• No annual fee.

Citi Bronze Advantage World MasterCard

• College student version.
  • No annual fee.
  • 1 mile/$2 spent.
  • No miles bonus for first purchase.
  • No minimum income or co-signer required.
  • Special Student Deals.
  • Access to credit education tips and tools.
• Regular version.
  • 2,500 miles for first purchase after $125 in purchases within the first 4 months.
  • 1 mile/$2 spent.
  • No annual fee.
  • Maximum miles that can be earned is 25,000 miles per calendar year.
• I no longer have links to these offers but they still may exist. Try the standard number for applying for Citibank American Airlines cards, (800) 359-4444. If that doesn't work, call customer service at (888) 766-2484 and do not respond to any of the prompts. Instead, wait (several minutes) until the system gives up trying to understand you and sends you to a human being. In both cases, you will most likely have to ask for the card by name. Most reps say they have never heard of it, but they all have the means of looking it up.

Banco Popular offers AA miles earning credit cards with good bonuses to Puerto Ricans. If you are flying to or from there soon, you might be offered a slightly better deal on the plane.

A reader says "l live in the Virgin Islands and have banked at BP for 35 years.. always showing healthy balances in my accounts. This offer is quite old and I applied for it, as did my wife, several years ago. They required us to bring in our previous 3 years of tax returns (!!!) and accepted my wife’s app but rejected mine because I showed a loss in one of those years (were both self employed), never mind our superb credit scores. All I can say about the BP app process is that it has a lot in common with an extended visit to your proctologist. You’ll get your miles, probably, but you’ll be “reviewed” first."

Chase Bank, the issuer of United Airlines credit cards, will allow only one bonus for each type of card (personal and business) per person per airline. Supposedly this is per life, but there are reports that Chase's computers "forget" you had a card after about 18 months.

You can get a bonuses for each of the personal business cards. I have received the bonuses for both the personal and the business cards after the bank policy came into effect.

Before you sign up for any card, be sure to read my section on More initial miles below, so you can avoid accepting extras without getting all of the miles you can for them.

If you are not automatically approved for the card, call 800-453-9719. This connects you directly to a Chase Bank credit analyst who can tell you why you were not automatically approved, can suggest ways to fix the problem, and has the power to approve your application.

United Airlines credit cards do not charge foreign transaction fees. But be sure to check the terms and conditions of the offer find to be sure that particular offer has this feature.

Note that this offer says that this product is not available to either current cardmembers of this credit card, or previous cardmembers of this credit card who received a new cardmember bonus for this credit card within the last 24 months. A reader verified that this means what it says, at least for another Chase card (Marriott). The 24 month count starts with the date of the bonus, not the date of closing of the account. A rep told him to wait 30 days after closing the account to apply again, even though it had been over 24 months since he received the bonus. This flyertalk wiki discusses this.

This flyertalk wiki keeps track of the United Airlines credit card offers.

Improved welcome offers are available to some for the United Airlines cards. These targeted offers went out by e-mail but appear to be available to some MileagePlus members logging into their MileagePlus accounts. So log in and take a look.

United Explorer Card.

• 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open
• 2X miles for purchases at United, restaurants, and hotels.
• Check your first bag for free.
• 2 United Club one-time passes per year
• Priority boarding privileges and visit the United Club with two one-time-use passes every year
• No foreign transaction fees
• 25% back on United inflight purchases
• Up to $100 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck™ fee credit
• 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.
• The annual fee $95 is waived the first year.

There are other possible ways that for getting better offers:

• Try just logging into your UAL account to see what is offered there.
• Try making a dummy booking to see if a better offer pops up on the payment page. (But don't actually pay, of course.)
• Try this link and log in to see if you are targeted for something good.
• Doctor of Credit says you may find a better offer at your local Chase branch. Call to ask. Or you may have to actually have to visit the branch.
• Please tell me if any of these work for you. Thanks.

This flyertalk wiki keeps track of the United personal cards offers.

United Business Card

• 75,000 miles for spending $5,000 in the first 3 months your account is open.
• 2X miles on purchases from United® including tickets, Economy Plus®, Inflight food, beverages, Wi-Fi and other United charges* Same page link to Offer Details
• Earn 2 miles per $1 spent on at United Airlines, gas stations* on dining including eligible delivery services* at office supply stores* on local transit and commuting, including ride share services, taxicabs, train tickets, tolls and mass transit*
• Check your first bag for free
• 2 United Club one-time passes after account opening and on each anniversary
• $100 annual United travel credit after 7 United flight purchases over $100.
• 25% back on United inflight purchases
• Priority boarding privileges and visit the United Club with two one-time-use passes every year
• No foreign transaction fees
• Annual fee $99, waived the first year.

More initial miles:

When you sign up for your card, do not sign up for the "Payment Protector" program, the one that pays your credit card bill when one of various defined disasters happen to you. Instead, wait for your card to arrive, the call (8007) 801-7319 to see if you can receive miles for accepting the offer. The cost of the plan is $.89 per $100 average balance, with no charge if there is no balance. I was offered this plan by a regular credit card customer service rep, who assured me that even if I were to carry no balance (and thus generate no fee) and then were to cancel, I would still get the 1,000 miles he was offering at the time. I suggest you do just that. It's a terrible bet anyway, unless you know your future.

After you receive your card, you may be able to refer a friend to receive one and receive 5,000 miles. On March 14, 2009, a customer rep at (800) 537-7783 described this procedure:

• The person you refer calls (866) 556-7201 and tells the rep which card he or she wants. That person must confirm with the rep all of the terms, conditions, and fees read on line. This is most important. The call center may not have available all of the cards offered online.
• That person provides your United Airlines Mileage Plus number and his or her number.
• Both you and the person you refer get and extra 5,000 miles.
• The rep said this works for any card.
• In the past I have had to fight to get my referral miles. Good luck.

United Gateway Card

• No annual fee.
• 20,000 miles after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open
• 2 miles per $1 spent on United purchases, at gas stations (I think they mean gasoline), and on local transit and commuting, including ride share services, taxicabs, train tickets, tolls, and mass transit.
• 1 mile per $1 spent on everything else.
• No annual fee

First Hawaiian Bank offers 20,000 United Airlines miles when you spend $1,500 within the first 3 months after account opening. $99 annual fee, waived the first year. Other goodies. I see no reason why you can't get both a Chase Bank and a First Hawaiian Bank card.

UPDATE: on March 12, 2020, a reader told me "Unfortunately you can't proceed unless you select: HI, Guam or CNMI." Sigh...

United has credit cards available to people residing in many countries other than the U.S., listed here.

Those seeking Delta Airlines miles should also consider acquiring American Express Cards that earn Membership Rewards points. They regularly offer 10,000 - 50,000 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.

This flyertalk wiki tries to keep track of the best Delta credit card offers.

Delta SkyMiles Gold American Express Card.

• 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 in purchases in your first 6 months. Offer expires June 5, 2024.
• 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $2,000 in purchases in your first 6 months.
  • This one says "If you have a history of cancelling or downgrading American Express Card accounts within your first year and you cancel or downgrade your new Card account within your first year, we may not credit, we may freeze, or we may take away bonus miles from your account. If we determine that you have engaged in abuse, misuse, or gaming in connection with this offer in any way or that you intend to do so, including if you return purchases you made to meet the Threshold Amount, we may not credit, we may freeze, or we may take away bonus miles from your account. We may also cancel any accounts you have with us."
  • Using my link eventually gets you to the official Amex offer page, and helps me at no cost to you. Thanks.
• Try this link in a private window to see if you get a 70,000 miles offer.

Caution to those who don't want to pay the annual fee for the second year: If bill is not paid in full by date annual fee posts, that fee will be assessed. No refunds.

This flyertalk wiki does a good job of keeping track of Alaska Airlines credit card offers. It says, for example, that "a few people in the Alaska Airlines forum have in the past received personally targeted, single-use links for a 50k offer" when they opt-in to "Partner Offers" in their Mileage Plan account preferences.

Nestled in the terms and conditions of all of the offers I list is "This card will not be available to you if you currently have or have had the card in the preceding 24 month period. This does not apply to the business credit card product."

Alaska Companion Fares Need To Be Paid For Using The Alaska Credit Card For Tickets Issued on or after October 1,2019. So don't close the card before you buy the ticket.

Alaska Airlines personal card for U.S.Residents. 75,000 miles after spending a total of $3,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days. This one is from Bank of America's website. Same offer is on Alaska'a website.

• Earn unlimited 3 miles for every $1 spent on eligible Alaska Airlines purchases. Earn unlimited 2 miles for every $1 spent on eligible gas, cable, streaming services and local transit purchases. Earn unlimited 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases.
• Free Checked bag for you and up to 6 guests on the same reservation.
• Priority boarding.
• 50% off Alaska Lounge day passes and 20% back on inflight purchases when you pay with your card.
• No foreign transaction fee.
• $95 Annual fee, not waived the first year.

Alaska Visa Business card for U.S. residents.

• 50,000 Bonus Miles after you make $3,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of opening your account, plus Alaska's Famous Companion Fare™ from $121 ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from just $22) with this offer. I see no spending requirement.
  • Alaska's website shows a link to a 70,000 miles offer
  • U.S. Credit Card Guide has a link to a 75,000 miles offer to this card.
• 1 mile/$1 spent. 3 miles/$1 spent on Alaska Airlines purchases. 2 miles/$1 spent on eligible gas, EV charging station, shipping and local transit including rideshare purchases
• 10% rewards bonus on all miles earned from card purchases if your company has an eligible Bank of America® small business account.
• Annual $75 for the company and $25 per card.
• Free Checked bag.
• 20% back on inflight food, beverage and Wi-Fi purchases when you pay with your card.
• $100 off an annual Alaska Lounge+ Membership purchased with your Alaska Airlines Business card.
• No foreign transaction fee.

Note that the coveted companion pass can be had by acquiring 125,000 points in one year. Timing this right can get you that pass for almost two years. Read all of this to learn how to do this best. The companion pass allows you to receive a free ticket for a companion flying with you, even if you are flying on an award ticket.

You should be able to get both a business and a personal card. You can no longer get bonuses for both personal cards.

If you are not automatically approved for the card, call 800-453-9719. This connects you directly to a Chase Bank credit analyst who can tell you why you were not automatically approved, can suggest ways to fix the problem, and has the power to approve your application. Once you have a Southwest Airlines credit card, wait awhile and then refer friends to it. You'll get 10,000 bonus points for each friend who gets the card. 50,000 points is the most you can earn for all Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier referrals per year. You can find your personal referral links after you log into your account, or here. But be aware some Southwest referral offers have lower sign-up bonuses than the best publicly available offer, so do that only to an enemy.

How to Prevent Your Southwest Rapid Rewards Points From Expiring.

Here are the links I currently have. But check with this flyertalk wiki to see if there is something better. If there is nothing better, using my links helps me at not cost to you. Thanks.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card

• Earn Companion Pass® through February 28, 2025 plus 30,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
• Earn 2X points on Southwest® purchases.
• Earn 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare..
• Earn 2X points on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming.
• First two bags fly free.
• 3% foreign transaction fee
• 2 EarlyBird Check-In® each year
• $69 annual fee, not waived the first year.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card

• Earn Companion Pass® through February 28, 2025 plus 30,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
• Earn 3X points on Southwest® purchases.
• Earn 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare. Earn 2X points on internet, cable, and phone services; select streaming.
• First two bags fly free.
• No foreign transaction fees
• 2 EarlyBird Check-In® each year
• 25% cash back for inflight purchases
• $99 annual fee applied to your first billing statement.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card.

• Earn 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from your account opening.
• 3X points on Southwest Airlines® purchases.
• 2X points on Rapid Rewards® hotel and car partners.
• 2X points on rideshare.
• 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
• No foreign transaction fee
• $99 annual fee, not waived the first year

Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card. 80,000 points when you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. $199 annual fee, not waived the first year.

If these links no longer work, try calling calling 1-800-278-4370.

• Enter any 5 digits for the promo code.
• 70,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases and paying the annual fee in full, both within the first 90 days. $100 statement credit after spending $100 or more on jetblue.com purchases within the first 12 months after Card Account open date. The regular offer is 60,000 points. You are welcome.
• 6X points on eligible jetBlue purchases.
• 2X points at restaurants and eligible grocery stores
• 1X points on everything else
• 10% of your points back after you redeem for and travel on a JetBlue operated Award Flight
• Free first checked bag
• No foreign transaction fees
• 50% savings on eligible inflight purchases including cocktails and food
• $99 annual fee, not waived the first year. Click here for a 15,000 miles offer with no annual fee. Put 00000 in the Promo Code box.

• Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 90 days. Plus, earn an additional 10,000 bonus points when a purchase is made on an employee card.
• 6X points on eligible jetBlue purchases.
• 2X points at restaurants and business supply stores
• 1X points on everything else
• 10% of your points back after you redeem for and travel on a JetBlue-operated Award Flight
• Free first checked bag for you and up to three companions on the same reservation when you use your card to book JetBlue-operated flights
• No foreign transaction fees
• 50% savings on eligible inflight purchases including cocktails and food
• Group A boarding.
• $99 annual fee, not waived the first year.

Frontier domestic tickets start at 10,000 miles one way. For more miles Frontier will fly you to Costa Rica, Mexico, Dominican Republic, or Jamaica. See Frontier's awards chart.

Frontier flies from a large number of U.S. cities, always routing through Denver.

The Frontier Airlines World MasterCard® offer:

• Earn up to 60,000 Travel Miles
• Earn 40,000 travel miles after spending $500 on purchases and paying the annual fee in full, both within the first 90 days.
• Earn 20,000 travel miles after spending $2,000 on purchases within the first 6 months with the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard.
• Earn 5x miles on eligible purchases at flyfrontier.com. Earn 3x miles on restaurant purchases. Earn 1x miles on all other purchases. The $89 Annual Fee is not waived the first year.

50,000 bonus points plus a $100 Companion Flight Voucher after making at least $1,000 in purchases within the first 90 days of account opening
• 3 points per $1 spent on eligible Spirit purchases
• 2 points per $1 spent on eligible dining and grocery store purchases
• 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
• Annual fee is $79, waived the first year.

This flyertalk wiki keeps track of the best offers for Barclays Hawaiian Airlines cards. Check there first, as my links may not be up to date, and may not be to the best offers. Please tell me about any offers better than the ones I list. Thanks.

Note: The fine print on the Bank of Hawaii offer says "The Hawaiian Airlines Bank of Hawaii World Elite Mastercard is issued by Barclays Bank Delaware (Barclays)". So it may not be possible to get personal cards from both banks.

The Hawaiian Airlines^® World Elite MasterCard^®

• 60,000 bonus HawaiianMiles after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first 90 days.
• Hawaiian Air flight attendants are offering an offer of up to 65,000 miles. Try putting a bunch of zeros in the 6-digit Promotional Code space, and then please tell me about your experience trying to getting this offer. Thanks.
• 3x miles on eligible Hawaiian Airlines purchases, 2x on gas (I think they mean gasoline), dining and grocery store purchases, and 1x miles on all other purchases.
• Two checked bags free on eligible bags for the primary cardmember when you use your card to purchase eligible tickets directly from Hawaiian Airlines
• Receive a one-time 50% off a companion discount on roundtrip coach travel between Hawaii and North America on Hawaiian Airlines
• $100 discount off a companion ticket each year after your account anniversary for roundtrip coach travel between Hawaii and North America on Hawaiian Airlines upon payment of annual fee
• No foreign transaction fees on purchases
• No blackout dates plus access to discounted award flights on Hawaiian Airlines
• Chip and signature card with PIN capability.
• The $99 annual fee is not waived the first year.

• Offer 2 (Bank of Hawaii): This offer now seems to be the same as that of Barclays. It says that it is offered through Barclays, so you may not be able to get both offers. But please let me know if you did so. Thanks.

Hawaiian's award chart say you can get from the west coast to Hawaii for as little as 17,500 miles), and inter-island flights cost only 7,500 miles. With its partners it seems to be expanding into the far east. For example, its partner award chart says that you can get from North America to Japan on JAL for 45,000 miles, or round trip to Korea for 100,000 miles.

The Apply Now button on the Bank of Hawaii offer says "via Barclays", so I suspect you can get only one of these cards.

The Hawaiian Airlines Business Mastercard

• 60,000 bonus HawaiianMiles® after spending $2,000 on purchases, plus earn an additional 10,000 bonus HawaiianMiles after a purchase is made on an employee card, each within the first 90 days.
• 50% off companion discount for roundtrip coach travel between Hawaii and North America on Hawaiian Airlines
• 3X miles on eligible purchases made directly from Hawaiian Airlines
• 2x miles for gas, dining and office supply store purchases. (I think they probably mean gasoline.)
• 1X miles on all other purchases with no mileage caps
• No foreign transaction fees on purchases
• Share Miles allows you to send and receive HawaiianMiles between friends and family online at HawaiianAirlines.com without a fee.
• The $99 annual fee is not waived the first year.
• The same offer is available from Barclays Bank.
• Barclays also has a straight 80,000 miles offer.

You should be able to get both cards.

Take a look at Hawaiian's award chart:

• Round trip between North America and Hawaii is as low as 40,000 miles. (But 60K is the award more likely to be available). So get the card and spend $2,000 on it, and you are on your way to Hawaii. Such a deal for $99!
• Note also that Hawaiian is expanding into Asia and Australia. See its route map.
• You can use Hawaiian miles to book award flights on its partners, American Airlines, Virgin America, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Virgin Australia, JetBlue, All Nippon Airways (ANA), China Airlines, and Korean Air.
• Note that the bottom of the chart indicates discounts on award travel for Hawaiian Airlines credit card holders. I believe that this is 2,500 miles off each way, but I can't find the specifics of this on the offer. Call Hawaiian Airlines to ask before counting on this.

Particularly efficient use of points comes from the 5,000 point stays available on the IHG^® Rewards Club PointBreaks page.

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

For a quick, free infusion of extra IHG^® Rewards 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 IHG^® Rewards Club points, but the bonus points for first use would be worthwhile, as each 1,000 Membership Rewards Points convert to 1,000 IHG^® Rewards Club points.

Note: Those seeking IHG^® Rewards Club points should consider also acquiring cards earning Ultimate Rewards Points. Nice mega up front points, convertible to IHG^® Rewards Club points 1,000:1,000, nice bonuses for purchases in special categories, and the annual fee was waived for the first year.

5 Non-Obvious Things to Know About the New IHG Credit Card

Why You Shouldn’t Upgrade To The IHG Premier Card. Apply for it, instead, to get the mega bonus. Yes, you can have both the old and the new card.

IHG® Rewards Premier and Business Premier Cardmembers can receive up to $50 in TravelBank Cash each year. Registration required. Do it now, because it take a few weeks to take effect.

This flyertalk wiki does a good job of tracking IHG credit card offers.

IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card
Using my link helps me at no cost to you. Thanks

• 140,000 points plus up to $100 in IHG® statement credits and 10,000 bonus points after spending $20,000 each calendar year.
• Earn up to 26X Points Total at IHG® Hotels & Resorts when you combine the IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card benefits with existing IHG® Rewards Club member benefits
• Earn 5X points on purchases for travel, gas stations, and restaurants.
• 3 points per $1 spent on all other purchases
• Anniversary Free Night on your account renewal anniversary date each year, valid at IHG® Hotels with a current point redemption level of 40,000 points or less
• Fourth Reward Night Free when you redeem points for any stay of 4 or more nights.
• Trip Cancellation / Interruption Insurance
• $100 Global Entry or TSA Precheck Application Fee Statement Credit
• Automatic Platinum Elite Status as long as you remain an IHG® Rewards Club Premier Cardmember. This can get you nice upgrades at some properties.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• $89 annual fee, not waived the first year.

• Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months from account opening. Plus, earn 35,000 Bonus Points after spending a total of $7,000 in the first 6 months from account opening for a total of 175,000 Bonus Points. Apply by May 11, 2024.
• Earn up to 26X Points Total at IHG® Hotels & Resorts when you combine the IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card benefits with existing IHG® Rewards Club member benefits
• Earn 5X points on purchases for travel travel, gas stations, select advertising, and restaurants.
• 3 points per $1 spent on all other purchases
• Anniversary Free Night on your account renewal anniversary date each year, valid at IHG® Hotels with a current point redemption level of 40,000 points or less
• Fourth Reward Night Free when you redeem points for any stay of 4 or more nights.
• $100 Global Entry or TSA Precheck Application Fee Statement Credit
• Automatic Platinum Elite Status as long as you remain an IHG® Rewards Club Premier Cardmember. This can get you nice upgrades at some properties.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• $99 annual fee, not waived the first year.

• 80,000 points after spending $2,000 on the card in the first 3 months, plus up to $50 in IHG® statement credits.
• No annual fee. This makes the card a keeper, as using it keeps your points from expiring.
• Earn up to 17 points total per $1 spent when you stay at an IHG hotel
• Earn 3 points per $1 spent utilities, select streaming services, gas stations, and restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery. Earn 2 points per $1 spent on all other purchases
• No Foreign Transaction Fees
• Anniversary Free Night on your account renewal anniversary date each year, valid at IHG® Hotels with a current point redemption level of 40,000 points or less. (Note: Although this is included in the list of benefits at the bottom of both offers, it is not mentioned on the Offer Details page. The benefit is mentioned on that page for the Premier card.)
• Fourth Reward Night Free when you redeem points for any stay of 4 or more nights.
• Gold Elite status once you spend $10,000
• $100 Global Entry or TSA Precheck Application Fee Statement Credit
• No annual fee.

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.

Please tell me if any of these offers have expired or changed. Thanks.

Note: Those seeking Marriott points should consider also acquiring cards earning Ultimate Rewards Points. Nice mega up front points, convertible to Marriott points 1,000:1,000, nice bonuses for purchases in special categories, and the annual fee was waived for the first year.

This This flyertalk wiki keeps up with the Marriott offers. It is usually reliable.

Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card
Using my link helps me at no cost to you. It eventually gets you to the official Chase page for this offer. Thanks.

• 30,000 Bonus Points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from your account opening.
• 3 points for each dollar spent on qualifying purchases made at participating Marriott Bonvoy™ locations.
• You will earn 2 points for each dollar spent on purchases in the travel category through July 10, 2024.
• For all other purchases, you will earn 1 point for each dollar.
• No foreign transaction fee
• No annual fee.

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card

• 5 Free Night Awards (each night valued up to 50,000 points) after you spend $5,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from your account opening.
• Up to 17X total Bonvoy points per $1 spent at over 7,000 hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy.
• 3X points for every $1 on the first $6,000 spent in combined purchases each year on grocery stores, gas stations, and dining.
• 2 points/$1 spent on everything else.
• No foreign transaction fee
• The $95 annual fee is not waived the first year.

Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card

• 5 Free Night Awards, Worth Up To 150K Total Marriott Bonvoy Points after you use your new Card to make $8,000 in eligible purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
• 6X points on Marriott purchases.
• 4x points at U.S. restaurants, at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping.
• 2 points/$1 spent on everything else. (Terrible. That's 2/3 mile per dollar spent if you transfer your points to an airline.)
• 1 FREE NIGHT AWARD every year after your account anniversary, valid for a one night hotel stay at a property with a redemption level under 35,000 points. Plus, earn an additional Free Night Award after you spend $60K in purchases on your Card in a calendar year.
• Complementary Silver Elite status. Plus, earn Gold Elite status after making $35,000 in eligible purchases on your Card in a calendar year.
• No foreign transaction fee
• $125 annual fee.
• Welcome offer not available to applicants who have or have had this product or The Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express. We may also consider the number of American Express Cards you have opened and closed as well as other factors in making a decision on your welcome offer eligibility.
• Welcome offer not available to applicants who (i) have or have had the Marriott BonvoyTM Premier Business from Chase, the Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Business Credit Card from Chase, or the Marriott Bonvoy BusinessTM from Chase, or the Marriott Rewards Business Credit Card from Chase in the last 30 days, (ii) have acquired the Marriott Bonvoy BoundlessTM from Chase, the Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott BonvoyTM Premier from Chase or the Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card from Chase in the last 90 days, or (iii) received a new cardmember bonus in the last 24 months on the Marriott Bonvoy BoundlessTM from Chase, the Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card from Chase, the Marriott BonvoyTM Premier Plus from Chase or the Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card from Chase.

• 35,000 Bonus Points after $3,000 in purchases within 3 months of account opening. Plus, up to 30,000 More Bonus Points by earning 2 Bonus Points total per $1 spent in the first 6 months from account opening on purchases that normally earn 1 Bonus Point, on up to $15,000 spent.
• Awhile back Doctor of Credit said that you might find 40,000 Bonus Points with a $50 statement credit by doing a dummy booking on Hyatt.com, or perhaps by simply using this link. (I would prefer the former, just to be safe.) But note that the points for spending are not as large as those of the main offer. And Mommy Points said that a Hyatt Visa credit card could be found on Hyatt.com for World of Hyatt members who are making a reservation - 30,000 bonus Hyatt points after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first three months + a $150 statement credit after your first purchase.
• 1 Free Night each year on your anniversary in any Category 1-4 property. This, of course, requires that you first pay the $75 annual fee.
• 1 additional free night at any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel or resort if you spend $15,000 during your cardmember anniversary year.
• No foreign transaction fees
• Smart Chip protection on international purchases
• 4 Hyatt Gold Passport points for every $1 spent with your Hyatt Card at all Hyatt properties
• 2 Hyatt Gold Passport points for every $1 spent at restaurants, on airline tickets purchased directly from the airline, local transit and commuting as well as fitness club and gym memberships
• 1 Hyatt Gold Passport point for every $1 spent on purchases elsewhere
• Elite Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum membership for as long as you are a cardmember.
• The $95 annual fee is not waived the first year.
• After you get the card, you can earn points for referring others to it - 5,000 points per successful referral, up to 25,000 points max.

• 60,000 Bonus Points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening, plus earn 15,000 Bonus Points after you spend $12,000 in the first 6 months.
• 9 points total per $1 spent at Hyatt - 4 Bonus Points per $1 when you use your card at Hyatt hotels & 5 Base Points per $1 from Hyatt as a World of Hyatt member
• 2 Bonus Points per $1 spent in your top three spend categories each quarter through December 31, 2024, then your top two categories each quarter.
• 2 Bonus Points per $1 spent on fitness club and gym memberships
• 1 Bonus Point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
• 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. This might make the $199 annual fee palatable to those who regularly stay at Hyatt properies.
• 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, Discoverist status to up to five employees
• No foreign transaction fees

Chase offers an Aeroplan Mastercard to Americans.

• 75,000 points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open, plus 25,000 points after you spend $20,000 on purchases in the first 12 months your account is open.
• 3X points on grocery stores, restaurants, and Air Canada purchases. 1X on everything else.
• 500 bonus points for every $2,000 you spend in a calendar month - up to 1,500 points per month.
• $95 annual fee, not waived the first year.
• Read the View from the Wing write-up for this card to see all of its really good benefits.

Caution: The British Airways points (Avios) program is very different from those of U.S. Airlines. Be sure you understand the program and exactly how and when you will use it before applying for this card. Here is what I understand about it:

• British Airways is a member of the OneWorld alliance. This means you can get to a very large number of places in the world by using Avios for flights on partner airlines.
• Short haul trips on British Air and its partners cost as little as 7,500 points. This is a super deal for domestic trips on American or Alaska Airlines, for example. I have used them for short trips in Europe and South America (like Buenos Aires to not to be missed Iguasu Falls).
• Although British Airways charges very high fees for award tickets on its own metal, it does not charge those fees on several of its partners. This makes its Avios (points) especially useful for non-trans Atlantic flights on American Airlines (great for the Caribbean and for Central and South America), and for Alaska Airlines tickets, for example. They can also get you trans Atlantic trips and Aer Lingus with very low fuel surcharges. And if you have an Iberia Avios account that's been open for 90 days and has some activity in it, you can move British Airways Avios over to Iberia, and use points in the Iberia account to redeem for Iberia flights with much lower fuel surcharges.
• British Air points (Avios) expire, I think after 3 years of no activity, but check this to be sure. I think activity on the account keeps your Avios alive, but again, check this to be sure. I do not list many easy British Airways activities. Be sure you know when you will use these Avios before acquiring them.

Note: In addition to the British Airways offers, consider also acquiring cards earning Ultimate Rewards Points. Nice mega up front points, convertible to Avios 1,000:1,000, nice bonuses for purchases in special categories, and the annual fee was waived for the first year.

Note: Those seeking British Airways Avios should consider also 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 Avios. 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 a card below simultaneously to get all of the up front bonus points.

The offers:

British Airways Visa Signature Card.
Using my link to this offer helps me at no cost to you. It eventually takes you to the official Chase website for the card. Thanks.

• 75,000 bonus Avios after you make $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.
• 3 Avios points for each dollar spent on flight purchases made directly with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL
• 2 Avios for every $1 spent on hotel accommodations booked directly through the hotel within your first 12 months of account opening,
• 1 Avios for every $1 spent on all other purchases.
• Chase Cardmembers will receive a statement credit of up to $200 US per booking for taxes, fees and charges paid in full using their British Airways credit card (“Card”) when redeeming Avios for a reward flight on British Airways. Cardmembers will be eligible to receive no more than three (3) statement credits for three (3) individual bookings in any single calendar year, up to $600 in statement credits per calendar year. The booking must be for a transatlantic international travel itinerary redeemed from Cardmember’s Executive Club account with the transatlantic portion departing from the United States solely on aircraft operated by British Airways. The booking may include a connecting flight on a code share partner for the non-transatlantic portion of the itinerary. This could be a very valuable perk, as those taxes and fees can be quite high for British Air flights.
• Travel Together Ticket good for two years, every calendar year you make $30,000 in purchases.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• Smart Chip Technology
• The $95 annual fee is not waived the first year.

If you are not automatically approved for the card, call (888) 245-0625. This connects you directly to a Chase Bank credit analyst who can tell you why you were not automatically approved, can suggest ways to fix the problem, and has the power to approve your application.

Remember that British Air Avios can be combined with Iberia Avios, in either program. Both have the same partners. Taxes and fees for flights are usually lower on Iberia award tickets.

There is a flyertalk discussion of this offer.

RewardsCanada posted an excellent article on how Canadians can earn 60,000+ British Airways Avios for free.

Canadian residents may acquire a very interesting Visa Platinum card from the Royal Bank of Canada.

• It costs CN$165 per year and offers only 15,000 Avios for first purchase.

  • Special offer: 15,000 Avios upon approval^, plus, for a limited time, get an extra 30,000 Avios if you spend $3,000 in each of the first 3 months. Earn 2x Avios when you make grocery store and gasoline purchases, plus other goodies. The $165 annual fee is not waived the first year, but it gets you interesting comprehensive insurances including Out of Province/Country Emergency Medical Insurance. Please tell me when this offer disappears or is changed. Thanks.

• It provides 1 Avios every dollar you spend on the card, and double Avios for every dollar you spend on British Airways flight that is purchased with the card.
• So far, this doesn't seem very impressive return for the large annual fee. However, the card has some very interesting insurance programs that go with it.
  • A very comprehensive medical emergency travel insurance policy for travel outside of Canada that pays for medical expenses and transportation back to Canada, including very expensive air ambulance service if required.
  • Flight Delay Insurance.
  • Emergency Purchases Insurance.
  • Hotel/Motel Burglary Insurance.
• This card is well worth a look for Canadians who frequently travel outside of their country.

Two British Airways American Express credit cards for UK residents are described here. Note that if you already have a British Airways American Express card, you may earn 4,000 or 9,000 Avios by referring a friend to that card.

British Airways offers credit cards in many other countries. To find the offers for your country, go to click here, then click on United Kingdom at the top of the page, and then change your country on pull down list. Look for partners pages, both general and for your specific region.

The British Airways Avios program is quite different that those of U.S. Airlines. This is a card you would buy only if you are familiar with the program and know you will use the Avios before they expire.

In addition to the Aer Lingus offers, consider also acquiring cards earning Ultimate Rewards Points. Nice mega up front points, convertible to Avios 1,000:1,000, nice bonuses for purchases in special categories, and the annual fee was waived for the first year.

FrequentMiler says "it should be possible to move Avios between British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus (though we’ve heard mixed reports on actually doing it recently — some people find it very easy and others nearly impossible)."

The offers:

Aer Lingus Visa Signature® Card

• 75,000 bonus Avios after you make $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. An additional 50,000 Avios after you spend $20,000 in the first 12 months
• 3 Avios points for each dollar spent on flight purchases made directly with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL
• 2 Avios for every $1 spent on hotel accommodations booked directly through the hotel within your first 12 months of account opening,
• 1 Avios for every $1 spent on all other purchases.
• Travel Together Ticket good for two years, every calendar year you make $30,000 in purchases.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• Smart Chip Technology
• Chase's 5/24 rule will not stop you from getting this card, though getting it will count towards the 5.

  The $95 annual fee is not waived the first year.

• 75,000 bonus Avios after you make $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. An additional 50,000 Avios after you spend $20,000 in the first 12 months
• 5 Avios for every $1 spent on Aer Lingus purchases.
• 3 Avios for every $1 spent on hotel accommodations booked directly through the hotel within your first 12 months of account opening,
• 1 Avios for every $1 spent on all other purchases.
• Make $30,000 in purchases in a single calendar year on their Iberia Visa Card to receive a $1,000 discount voucher.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• Smart Chip Technology
• Chase's 5/24 rule will not stop you from getting this card, though getting it will count towards the 5.

  The $95 annual fee is not waived the first year.

• 50,000 bonus Avios after you spend $20,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.offer details reference link* Plus earn an additional 50,000 bonus Avios after you spend $20,000 total on purchases within your first year of account opening. Be sure to understand the steep opportunity costs the additional miles. I explain this here. You may find them not worth the money.
• 3X Avios for Iberia purchases. 1X for others.
• Discount voucher of $1,000 to use toward two tickets on the same flight for each year you make purchases of $30,000 on your card.
• 10% discount. Use your Iberia Visa Signature Card to book your flight on iberia.com/Chase10, and you will receive a 10% discount.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• Chase's 5/24 rule will not stop you from getting this card, though getting it will count towards the 5.
• $95 annual fee, not waived the first year.
• Remember that Iberia Avios can be combined with British Airways Avios and probably Aer Lingus Avios, in either program. Both have the same partners. Taxes and fees for flights are usually lower on Iberia award tickets than on British Air tickets.

Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard

• 3 miles per dollar spent directly on Virgin Atlantic purchases
• 1.5 miles per dollar spent on all other purchases
• Earn 25 tier points per $2,500 in purchases (maximum of 50 per month)
• Up to 15,000 bonus miles every anniversary after qualifying purchases
• Up to 5,000 bonus miles when you add additional cardholders to your account**
• Get a companion reward in the same cabin class or a cabin upgrade when you book a ticket through Virgin Atlantic. Must spend $25,000 or more in purchases annually to qualify.
• No foreign transaction fees
• $90 annual fee, not waived the first year.
• 50K miles will get you a round trip ticket to a very large number of places on many partner airlines. I found the awards on Virgin Atlantic, Delta (lots of interesting awards), Air France, KLM, Hawaiian, ANA, Singapore, Air New Zealand, and Virgin America to be of particular interest. They do charge high fees, though.

Miles & More® Premier World MasterCard®

• Earn 100,000 award miles if you spend $3,000 in purchases and pay the annual fee, both within the first 90 days.
• 2 award miles per $1 on ticket purchases directly from Miles & More integrated airline partners and 1 mile per $1 on all other purchases
• Receive two complimentary Lufthansa Business Lounge vouchers annually
• Annual Companion Ticket after each account anniversary
• Chip Technology
• No foreign transaction fee.
• $89 Annual Fee

If this offer do not impress you, you would probably be better off getting a card that earns United Airlines miles. Then use those miles to fly Lufthansa or Star Alliance members.

• United Airlines cards
• Chase Sapphire Preferred card
• Chase Ink Plus card

Lufthansa's website lists credit cards available for residents of countries other than the U.S.

Air France and KLM are member of the Sky Team alliance, giving you access to award tickets on many airlines, including Delta.

Limited time offer: 70,000 Bonus Miles plus up to 100 XP (whatever XP means) after you make $2,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of your account opening. Plus get a welcome bonus of 60 XP upon approval. Doctor of credit says you may be able to get this offer plus a $100 statement credit by doing a dummy booking.

• 3 Miles per $1 spent directly on Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and SkyTeam member airlines purchases
• 1.5 Miles per $1 spent on all other purchases
• 5,000 Miles every year on your account anniversary after you spend $50 or more on purchases within the anniversary year
• No foreign transaction fees
• Annual fee of $89, not waived the first year.
• Note: If this link no longer works, try finding it by making a dummy booking online at AirFrance.com

Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines offer several credit cards on their websites that earn Flying Blue Award miles. No bonus offers for first purchase are listed there. However, you may be able to find bonus offers for your country by clicking on Air France's Flying Blue home page, selecting your country and language at the top of the page, and then navigating to credit card or financial offers. For example:

Mastercard offer for residents of Switzerland. 5,000 Flying Blue Miles bonus for first use,

If you provide me a specific link to a special offer for your country, I will list it here. If possible, please provide the links to both the English and native language offers. Thanks.

• Select the World++ MasterCard
  • 10,000 Bonus Customer Club Points on first use
  • 2 Points/$1 spent on Icelandair travel
  • 1 Point/$1 spent on anywhere else
  • $39 annual fee
• Select the Platinum MasterCard
  • 5,000 Bonus Customer Club Points on first use
  • 1 Point/$1 spent on Icelandair travel
  • 1 Point/$2 spent anywhere else
  • No annual fee

Asiana Airlines offers a Visa Signature Credit card from Bank of America for U.S. residents:

• 30,000 Bonus Miles after you make $3,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of account opening
• 3 miles for every $1 spent on purchases with Asiana Airlines
• 2 miles for every $1 spent on gas and at grocery stores
• 1 mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases
• 10,000 Bonus Miles Certificate awarded annually
• Automatic $100 annual rebate on Asiana Airlines ticket purchases
• No Foreign Transaction Fees
• The $99 fee is not waived the first year.

Asiana lists many Korean banks that issue credit cards which earn Asiana miles. One of them is for Japanese residents. No details are given for any of the cards.

• 30,000 Bonus Miles after spending $3,000 within first 90 days.
• Earn 1 mile for every $1 you spend in net purchases
• Double Miles on Korean Air ticket purchases and on gas station and hotel purchases.
• for Korean Air ticket purchase each year.
• $50 Off coupon for Korean Air ticket purchase each year.
• Two Korean Air VIP Lounge coupons each year.
• No foreign transaction fee
• Redeem miles for award travel and upgrades on any SkyTeam partner, including Korean Air and domestic carriers such as Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines
• $80 annual fee, not waived the first year.

Korean Air offers a business card with the same features. I see no reason why you can't get both.

Of course, Korean Airlines offers many credit cards for residents of Korea and other countries. To find them, go to its Global Website, chose Korea for your region, and then your language. Click on SKYPASS > Earn Miles in the top menue, then on Credit Cards, or perhaps Other Partners, in the left menu.

Special offer: Cardholders can meet 3, 5, or 7 conditions to earn 500, 1,000, or 3,000 miles. Register if you have an ANA credit card. I leave it to you to read the details.

All Nippon offers a large number of mileage earning credit cards.

• It's card for U.S. residents offers a 5,000 mile bonus for first use, and 1 mile/$1 spent on the card. It costs $70 a year, for a cost of 1.4 cents/mile. Note: Try using Campaign Code ACU0322. I have an email that says you will earn 15,000 miles, including the first purchase 5,000 bonus miles, plus 10,000 after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 billing cycles from account opening. I can find no further details this.

Japan Airlines offers several credit cards that appear to be Mastercards. You must have a bank account in Japan to qualify for them. There are up front miles, but the fees are in Yen, so I am unwilling to take the time to evaluate these bonuses.

Singapore Airlines has several relationships with third party "points" type of cards which allow you to convert those points to the airline's miles. Details here.

• Platinum Mastercard.
  • $59 annual fee.
  • 7,500 miles for first use. (So the extra 5,000 miles over the card below cost 1.18 cents/mile.)
  • 2 miles/$1 spent on China Airlines travel.
  • 1 mile/$1 spent everything else.
• Platinum Mastercard.
  • No annual fee.
  • 2,500 miles for first use.
  • 1 mile/$1 spent on China Airlines travel.
  • 1 mile/$2 spent everything else.

China Airlines offers a large number of mileage earning credit cards for residents of the Far East. It appears that you must contact the bank of interest to find out about the offers, fees and conditions.

Emirates Airlines has credit card programs with Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait, Citibank, Emirates Bank International, and Standard Chartered Bank - Qatar. Citibank offers to UAE residents only 15,000 or 25,000 miles on approval, with annual fees in a currency I don't understand.

• Delta
• Hawaiian
• Air Canada
• British Airways
• Virgin Atlantic
• Avianca
• AeroMexico
• Air France/KLM
• Aer Lingus
• Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific and Dragonair)
• ANA
• Qantas
• Alitalia
• Iberia
• Emirates
• Singapore
• Etihad (20% bonus though April 4, 2024)

• JetBlue
• Choice Hotels
• Hilton Hotels
• Marriott Hotels How to transfer MR points to get a ticket on airlines other than Delta.
  • American Express Membership Rewards points transfer directly to Delta Airlines (which is why I seek them). But they also transfer to other airlines which are members of the three alliances, meaning you can use them to get tickets to most anywhere in the world on most of the major airlines. Just be sure the ticket is available before you transfer the points. Transfers are often instant, but I like to call to explain what I am doing to try to reserve the ticket before doing the transfer, asking the rep to wait until the points can be seen in the airline account.

    Mommy Points offers some good suggestions on What to do with Membership Rewards Points, including how to use them to access Star Alliance award tickets, even though MR points do not transfer to United Airlines.

    The 9 Best Ways To Use Your AMEX Points, from MillionMileSecrets.

    Most cards producing Membership Rewards require steep annual fees, but the first year's fee is often waived - thus my statement that they can be useful, for the up front bonus points.

    How Long Do Amex Membership Rewards Points Transfers Take?

    Caution: Membership Rewards Points earned from American Express Blue cards cannot be transferred to airline miles unless you have an active card earning regular Membership Rewards points. If you do have such a card, points earned from Blue cards can be combined with your regular Membership Rewards points, and can then be used to transfer to airlines. I have a no annual fee American Express EveryDay card in order to keep alive my regular Membership Rewards, most of which were earned from mega-bonuses for other Amex cards. I was told that indeed having this card enables me to transfer points from Blue cards to airlines. To confirm all of this for yourself, call Membership Rewards at 800-297-3276, then say "representative".

    • Military Money Manual says that American Express Waives All Card Holder Fees for Active Duty Military

      How to Get AMEX Military Discount

      To have AMEX handle your account in accordance with the SCRA, simply call the number on the back of your card or 1-800-528-4800 and tell them you are serving on active duty military and had heard that AMEX offers to handle your account in accordance with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.

      The first customer service representative I spoke to didn’'t know about the program and had to ask her supervisor. You’ll be asked 5-10 questions about your situation, such as when you entered active duty and how long your commitment is. This information is then verified by AMEX before they approve your account for the fee waivers. The entire process took about 6 weeks for me, from phone call to receiving the secure message that my account had been approved.

    View from the Wing has an excellent article on where to transfer Membership Rewards Points to get Star Alliance tickets. He likes Air Canada and All Nippon Airways, and explains why.

    There is a tiny fee of $0.0005/mile for converting points to miles - that's 50 cents/1,000 miles. The fee is capped at $50 per transfer. This fee will increase to $0.0006/mile, capped at $99 per transfer. However, on August 2, 2008, a reader wrote

    "Federal laws [or whatever they are] that makes American Express charge for transfer of points to airline frequent flyer programs only applies to US airlines. There is no charge if you transfer points to say Virgin Atlantic.

    He also wrote

    "American Express will transfer points from UK card holders to US card holders at the rate of exchange between the £ and the $. So 10,000 UK points become about 20,000 US points [at the current currency exchange rate]. This is great as the exchange rate between points and frequent flyer miles is the same in the US as it is in the UK.

    So instead of transferring Amex points to get say 10,000 Virgin frequent flyer miles in the UK you convert the Amex points to US points first and then get 20,000 Virgin frequent flyer miles. Cool eh?"

    To see the conversion ratios and do the conversions, go to the Membership Rewards home page, click on Travel in the upper left corner, then on the category you want.

    Special offers:

    • This flyertalk wiki maintains a list of bonuses for transferring American Express Membership Rewards points to airlines. But caution: It is only as good as the members who maintain it.
    • Once you have a card earning Membership Rewards points, you might be able to receive 10,000 points for enrolling in American Express's Extended Pay option. You don't have to actually use the program, just enroll in it. The terms and conditions say "Offer only available to Cardmembers who have received a communication from American Express for this offer", but the system seemed to accept my enrollment. Worth a shot.
    • American Express offers free membership in ShopRunner for as long as you own an eligible American Express card. ShopRunner covers about 80 online stores with free shipping no matter the size of the order and free return shipping, as well as discounts, etc.
    • Frugal Travel Guy suggests how new card holders might get 5,000 or 6,000 extra membership rewards points by making a timely complaint.
    Important:
    I suggest you make copies of everything. Four items:
    • A screen shot of the offer page.
    • A screen shot of the application page.
    • Copy the URL of AMEX offer page.
    • The URL of the application page. This will be another AMEX URL.

    Please understand the following:

    • The bonus points will not actually post until you receive the statement that shows you paid off the minimum required purchase for that bonus.
    • After you paid off that balance, but before that statement is generated, the customer rep may be able to allow you to use the bonus. That rep will probably not be able to see it until a day or two after you make the payment.
    • Caution: If you close all of your cards earning Membership Rewards, all of your points will disappear. So use them first before cancelling that last card, or, better still, about two months before you have to pay the fee on your current card, apply for another. For example, when I decided I would close my American Express(R) Premier Rewards Gold Card to avoid paying the fee, I first successfully applied for the Business Green Rewards Card from American Express OPEN, put a charge on it, immediately paid off that charge, then called Membership Rewards at 800-297-3276 and asked them to accelerate my points for that charge. They did this instantly. I now use my no annual fee American Express EveryDay card to keep alive my regular Membership Rewards. I will keep it as long as it is free.
    • Some of the offers I list are not standard. They are offered only by American Express affiliate like me. The American Express reps will probably know nothing about them. They see only the standard offers. Yes, this is a strange way for Amex to do business, but then, what else is new with this company?

    Note: If you are not approved, try calling the American Express reconsideration line, 866-314-0237. Many have had success getting approved after understanding why the application was disapproved and then offering appropriate changes, or simply asking what one must do to gain approval.

    After you get an American Express card, you might be able to refer others to the card and receive points or miles for this. Just log into your account and look for your referral link. Doctor of credit now says you can earn points by referring yourself to another American Express card if you already hold one. Cool, at least until they catch on and claw back your points and close your account.

    • Caution: I received an IRS form 1099 for the points I earned in 2018 for referrals. It valued the points at 1 cent each. Multiply this by your marginal tax rate to see what the points will cost you.

    Card restrictions: Currently American Express restricts each personal card bonus to one per lifetime. But Doctor of Credit tells us that some of the mobile links still have the one per year limitation, as do some of the targeted offers, and offers from referrals. FrequentMiler tells us how that business card restriction might be avoided.

    Check here to see if you are pre-qualified for an American Express business card. Doctor of Credit says "Hopefully this means we will start to see some higher than normal sign up bonuses when checking here, as this is often how people get targeted for the 100,000 point offer on the personal Platinum card."

EveryDay Credit Card
If you don't see the offer, clear cache and cookies and/or open the page in a private or InPrivate window.

When you apply, do not say you already have an American Express card. Some say that doing so may give you a lesser offer.

Last I looked the offer included

The standard offer from the link above is 10,000 Membership Rewards® points after you use your new Card to make $1,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.†

• Doctor of Credit says that there is a 25,000 points offer, using an incognito mode window, but I and may others are having great difficulty getting this to work.
• On March 26, 2019, I went to www.americanexpress.com, did not log in, and clicked on Personal Cards. A 25K offer appeared as a special offer. (Due to cookies, Amex knows who I am, even if I don't log in.) Sure enough, when I left that page, the offer disappeared. I then opened a private window in Firefox and went to the same URL. I got a very different page. When I clicked on Rewards Points Cards, I found the same 25K offer.

Earn 20% more points: Make 20 or more purchases with your Card in a billing period and earn 20% more points on those purchases less returns and credits. Terms and limitations apply.

2x points at US supermarkets, on up to $6,000 per year

Use your Card 20 or more times on purchases in a billing period and get 20% more points on those purchases less returns and credits.

0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months. No fee for balance transfers for 60 days.
No annual Fee

This card appears to me to be a very easy way to keep your Membership Rewards points alive.

After you get the card, you can refer others to it and earn points for doing so. Visit this link for American Express's refer a friend site. From there enter your card information or your American Express log in and you should see the offer to refer others. Note the possible arrow to the right. Click on it to see other referral offers.

• Caution: I received an IRS form 1099 for the points I earned in 2018 for referrals. It valued the points at 1 cent each. Multiply this by your marginal tax rate to see what the points will cost you.

EveryDay Preferred Credit Card
If you don't see the offer, clear cache and cookies and/or open the page in a private or InPrivate window.
When you apply, do not say you already have an American Express card. Some say that doing so may give you a lesser offer.

Get 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you use your new Card to make $1,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.†

• Try this link or this link or this link in a private window for a possible 30K offer.
• I can refer you to the same offer or possibly a 30K, 25K or or 20K or 15K points offer. Open this page in a private window. Then go to the bottom of the page you get, and click on Reward Points. Find the offer there.

3x points at US supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases(then 1x); 2x points at US gas stations; 1x points on other purchases.

Earn 50% more points: Make 30 or more purchases with your Card in a billing period and get 50% extra points on those purchases less returns and credits. Terms and limitations apply.

0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months.

$95 Annual Fee, not waived the first year.

Earn Cash Back:

• $250 back after you spend $3,000 in purchases within the first 6 months.
• Until my link provider updates his offer, use this link for a $300 offer.
• 6% at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases
• 3% at select U.S.streaming services
• 3% at transit services (including tolls!).
• 3% at U.S. gasoline stations
• 1% on other purchases.
• Low intro APR: 0% for 12 months on purchases from the date of account opening, then a variable rate, 6.99% to 27.99%
• $95 annual fee, waived the first year.

• Until my link provider catches up with this, use this link for a 50K +10k offer. Miles to Memories says "One word of caution. The offer shows up through that link, but it could change once you go to apply. So make sure you have the correct offer before submitting your application."
• 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on the Card within your first 3 months of Card Membership.
• 2X Membership Rewards® points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners. 2X applies to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, 1 point per dollar thereafter.
• 0.0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months from the date of account opening, then a variable rate, 13.24% - 19.24%, based on your creditworthiness and other factors at account opening.
• No annual fee.
• Compare to the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express

• Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases with the Business Green Rewards Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.
• Earn one Membership Rewards® point for each dollar you spend on eligible purchases
• $95 annual fee is no longer waived the first year.