Showing posts with label Sign-Up Bonuses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sign-Up Bonuses. Show all posts

November 18, 2015

Chase Sapphire Preferred Increased Sign-Up Bonus

My favorite all around credit card is offering an increased sign-up bonus now through 3/15/16.

If you don't already have the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, you should strongly consider this offer:

  • 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after $4K in spend in 3 months
  • 5,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after you add an authorized user and they make a purchase in the first 3 months


The annual fee is waved for the first year and $95 after.  I gladly pay the annual fee year after year given the earnings power (2x on travel and dining) and flexibility (points transfer to United, Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Hyatt, Marriott, etc...).

If you sign-up and complete the minimum requirements, you'll earn a minimum of 59,000 Ultimate Rewards points.  Let's round to 60,000 since it's more likely that some of your spend will earn you 2x points (travel and dining).  If a couple signs up for this card and completes the sign-up bonus, you'd nearly have enough points for 5 nights (125,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points) at the Park Hyatt Maldives.  There are dozens of ways to use Ultimate Rewards regardless of your travel goals/habits.

March 26, 2014

Have I Hit the Minimum Spend Yet?

In the past couple of days, several people have asked me how I keep track of minimum spend requirements for all the cards in my wallet.  Generally speaking, when I apply for a new card I add the following detail to a simple spreadsheet:

  • Name of the Card (i.e. Amex Starwood Personal)
  • Date of application
  • Bonus (i.e. 25,000 points)
  • Spend threshold (i.e. spent $1,000 in 90 days)
  • 1st year annual fee
  • Annual fee in subsequent years
  • Whether or not I want to keep the card when the annual fee comes due (if applicable)

I'll look back at the spreadsheet (example above) every month to make sure I'm on track to hit the minimum spend required for each bonus.  That said, sometimes I want to validate where I stand and there's no real way to do that without contacting the card issuer or adding up multiple statements online.