Amex SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest), the No.3 Best Credit Card by Dr. Credit Card, has come back to give the 35K offer once again.  This is the best signup bonus on this card in terms of total points; however, the spending requirement is a little higher than the similar offer that came out about a year ago.  If you open both personal and business SPG Card, you will receive a total of 70,000 points.  Keep in mind that you can only get the signup bonus when you have never received bonus on the specific card before.  For example, if you received bonus on the personal SPG Card before you are not eligible for the 35K on the personal card, but if you never received bonus on the business card then you are still eligible for the 35K on the business card.

With the merger between Marriott and Starwood, you can now link your SPG account to your Marriott / Ritz-Carlton Rewards account and transfer SPG points to Marriott / Ritz-Carlton Rewards points at a ratio of 1:3.  Thus the signup bonus of 35,000 SPG points equals to 105,000 Marriott points.  If you open both personal and business cards, you can transfer 70,000 SPG points to 210,000 Marriott points.  As we expect at some point, Amex SPG Card will be gone, it is your best chance of getting a boatload of SPG/Marriott points if you have never had SPG Card before. 

Personal Amex SPG Landing Page: you will receive 25,000 points after spending $3,000 within 3 months of new account opening, and another 10,000 points after spending an additional $2,000 within 6 months, thus a total of 35,000 points with $5,000 spent.

Business Amex SPG Landing Page: You will receive 25,000 points after spending $5,000 within 3 months of new account opening, and another 10,000 points after spending an additional $3,000 within 6 months, thus a total of 35,000 points with $8,000 spent.

There have been quite some updates throughout the site and these are the highlights for the past week.

• Chase United MP Explorer is offering a public 55K miles bonus, without an annual fee waiver.  For quite some time, the same offer is targeted to many United MP members, and of course the public offer is always better.  Note that the business version still offers a 50K mile bonus with the first year annual fee waiver.
• We noticed the landing page for JPM Ritz-Carlton Visa's three Tier 1-4 free night offer was dead and re-directed to the new (and reduced) offer of two free nights.  The old application link was kept alive for a few days before pulled.  However, there is a landing page for three free nights that indicates an expiration date of November 30, 2016.  You may try it at your discretion, with the worst scenario being you just receive two free nights instead of three.  Note that Ritz-Carlton Visa is currently exempt from the infamous Chase 5/24 rule which disqualifies you from getting a new Chase card if you have opened five or more credit card accounts in the previous 24 months.  As long as you did not receive a signup bonus on the Ritz-Carlton Card within 24 months, you are eligible for the new signup bonus.  Keep in mind that you can't redeem the free Tier 1-4 certificates at 13 top-tier (Tier 5) properties including The Ritz-Carlton in New York Central Park, Bachelor Gulch, Naples, Miami South Beach, Miami Bal Harbour, Miami Key Biscayne, Grand Cayman, St. Thomas, Tokyo, Kyoto, Hong Kong, Shanghai Pudong, and Dubai.  However, there are still some amazing properties that are Tier 1-4, such as the ones in Half Moon Bay (rates from $599 per night), San Fransisco (from $399), Laguna Niguel (from $479), Los Angeles (from $409), Washington DC (from $329), Georgetown Washington DC (from $409), Boston (from $345), Dallas (from $399), Charlotte (from $399), Reynolds Lake Oconee (from $309), Maui Kapalua (from $399), Cancun (from $299), Aruba (from $299), Hotel de la Paix in Geneva (from $475), Vienna (from $360), Herzliya (from $395), and Macau (from $460)
• We discovered the website for Visa Infinite Hotels that is available to any U.S. issued Visa Infinite card.  Visit VisaInfiniteHotels.com to book a hotel - you have to type in your Visa Infinite card number before start searching for hotels.  Visa Infinite Hotel Collection covers a subset (~200) of Visa Signature hotels (900+ luxury hotels and resorts worldwide) but offers an extra perk such as a $75 dining credit or $100 spa/hotel/rate credit per stay, in addition to Visa Signature Hotel Collection's 7 perks (guaranteed lowest rates, daily complimentary breakfasts for two, room upgrades upon availability, late checkout upon availability, $25 food and beverage credit per stay, free room wi-fi, and VIP amenities).  Currently, the only three U.S. issued Visa Infinite cards - CNB Crystal, Chase Sapphire Reserve / JPM Reserve, and JPM Ritz-Carlton Card - participate in both programs.