Amex has introduced some amazing signup offers for its Hilton Honors cobranded credit cards, arguably the best we have seen:

• Amex Hilton Honors Surpass Card ($95 annual fee): 130,000 points + one free night (our value $775)
• Amex Hilton Honors Card (no annual fee): 70,000 points + one free night (our value $630)
• Amex Hilton Honors BUSINESS card: ($95 annual fee): 130,000 points + one free night (our value $775)
• Note that the high-end Amex Hilton Honors Aspire Card ($450 annual fee, effectively $175) continues to offer 150,000 points + one free weekend night (our value $775), even though the free weekend night upon signup is not advertised as usual.
• These free night certificate expires after 12 months of issuance.  Hilton's most expensive hotels require 95,000~120,000 points or $400 to over $1,000 in cash per night.  Here are some examples of exceptional redemption for free nights: Waldorf Astoria Maldives, Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal, Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach, Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam, Grand Wailea - A Waldorf Astoria Resort, Waldorf Astoria Chicago, Waldorf Astoria Park City (in peak seasons), Conrad Bora Bora Nui, Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, Conrad Koh Samui, Conrad Punta de Mita, Conrad New York Midtown, Conrad Tokyo, Zemi Beach House - LXR Hotels & Resorts, Oceana Santa Monica - LXR Hotels & Resorts, The Biltmore Mayfair - LXR Hotels & Resorts, Cliffrose Springdale - Curio Collection, Hilton Seychelles Labriz, and Hilton Seychelles Northolme. 

Chase has some amazing signup offers too. These offers give you Southwest Companion Pass status through 2/28/2023.  Companion Pass is Southwest's potentially extremely lucrative top-tier elite status that allows you take a companion free of airline charges (not including taxes and government fees) on any Southwest operated flight as many times as you want and is normally achieved by flying 100 qualified one-way segments or earning 125,000 qualifying points in a calendar year. 

• Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Visa ($69 annual fee): 30,000 points + Companion Pass through 2/28/2023 after you spend $5,000 within the first 3 months (our value $920)
• Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Visa ($99 annual fee): 30,000 points + Companion Pass through 2/28/2023 after you spend $5,000 within the first 3 months (our value $890)
• Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Visa ($149 annual fee): 30,000 points + Companion Pass through 2/28/2023 after you spend $5,000 within the first 3 months (our value $840)

Chase now has the best offer ever for its cobranded Southwest credit cards:​ up to 100,000 points (50,000 points after spending $2,000 within the first 3 months and additional 50,000 points after spending $12,000 within the first year) for any of the three personal cards: Southwest RR Plus Visa ($69 annual fee), Southwest RR Premier Visa ($99 annual fee), and Southwest RR Priority Visa ($149 annual fee).

Other than some previous offers that gave you Companion Pass status right away (but with a much smaller points bonus), either of these three current personal card offers are also considered the easiest way to achieve the potentially highly lucrative Companion Pass status, which normally requires 125,000 points accumulated within one calendar year and allows you to take a companion for free as many times as you like.  If you time it right, you may get Companion Pass for almost two years.  This is how: apply one of the three personal cards right before the current offer ends (12/1/2021), and spend $25K (or less if you also spend in bonus categories) in the statement which ends after 1/1/2022 (you may adjust the due date so that the statement ending date falls on, e.g., 1/1/2022, so your spending rewards for December as well as the 100K signup bonus will count towards 2022 calendar year).  Spending $25K in one month might be a challenge for most of us, and we might consider options such as paying property taxes with the card, recharging your Amazon account balance which you will use down the road, or buying some gift cards for merchants you will shop anyway. Of course, there is nothing wrong to spread your spending over a few months or actually fly with Southwest to earn some points or even picking up a new Southwest Business card for either 60K or 80K points (make sure your signup bonus posts in 2022).  While you can't receive both signup bonuses on two personal Southwest cards, you can receive both if you open one personal card and one business card.  If you do think about signing up both personal and business cards, you might have two different strategies: (1) open one personal card and spend $2,000 to get 50K points, and Performance Business Card and spend $5,000 to get 80K, which puts you over the 125K points threshold, and of course you might want to spend another $10K on the personal card down the road to get the remaining 50K which is still a great deal; (2) open one personal card and spend $12,000 to get 100K points, and Premier Business Card and spend $2,000 to get 60K, which also puts you over the 125K threshold, but with double spending in the short term and no more worries in the longer term.  The bottom line is that you will earn Companion Pass for the rest of the calendar year (2022) in which you complete the 125K points qualification requirement and the following calendar year (2023).

The business cards are still offering the same bonuses as before: 60,000 points for Southwest RR Premier Business Visa ($99), and 80,000 points for Southwest RR Performance Business Visa ($199).

In addition, there are several new benefits introduced for these cards as below:

• Southwest RR Plus Visa ($69): (1) 2x points (increased from 1x) on local transit and commuting (including rideshare) & internet, cable, phone and select streaming services; (2) Two EarlyBird check-in per year;  (3) 25% back on inflight purchases.
• Southwest RR Premier Visa ($99): (1) 3x points on Southwest (increased from 2x); (2) 2x points (increased from 1x) on local transit and commuting (including rideshare) & internet, cable, phone and select streaming services; (3) Two EarlyBird check-in per year;  (4) 25% back on inflight purchases.  (5) receive 1,500 TQPs (Tier Qualifying Points) towards status for every $10K charged on the card, which is not a new benefit but the 10K annual TQP cap earned from the card is removed.
• Southwest RR Priority Visa ($149): (1) 3x points on Southwest (increased from 2x); (2) 2x points (increased from 1x) on local transit and commuting (including rideshare) & internet, cable, phone and select streaming services; (3) 25% back on inflight purchases; (4) unlimited Tier Qualifying Points (TQP) - receive 1,500 TQPs towards status for every $10K charged on the card, with annual TQP cap removed.
• Southwest RR Premier BUSINESS Visa ($99): (1) 3x points on Southwest (increased from 2x); (2) 2x points (increased from 1x) on local transit and commuting (including rideshare); (3) Two EarlyBird check-in per year;  (4) 25% back on inflight purchases; (5) Reimbursement of Southwest transfer fee (when you transfer your points to another Southwest RR member or a pre-selected charity), up to $500 per year; (6) unlimited Tier Qualifying Points (TQP) - receive 1,500 TQPs towards status for every $10K charged on the card, with annual TQP cap removed.
  
• Southwest RR Performance BUSINESS Visa ($199): (1) 4x points on Southwest (increased from 3x); (2) 2x points (increased from 1x) on local transit and commuting (including rideshare); (3) Reimbursement of Southwest transfer fee (when you transfer your points to another Southwest RR member or a pre-selected charity), up to $500 per year; (4) unlimited Tier Qualifying Points (TQP) - receive 1,500 TQPs towards status for every $10K charged on the card, with annual TQP cap removed.
  

Chase has just increased the signup bonuses on the personal Southwest Rapid Rewards (RR) Visa credit cards to a historical high - 80,000 points for each card:

• Chase Southwest RR Plus Visa ($69 annual fee): up to 80,000 points (50,000 points after you spend $2,000 within 3 months of new account opening, and additional 30,000 points after you spend a total of $10,000 within 9 months of new account opening, a total of $990 travel rewards in our book).
• Chase Southwest RR Premier Visa ($99 annual fee): up to 80,000 points (50,000 points after you spend $2,000 within 3 months of new account opening, and additional 30,000 points after you spend a total of $10,000 within 9 months of new account opening, a total of $960 travel rewards in our book).
• Chase Southwest RR Priority Visa ($149 annual fee): up to 80,000 points (50,000 points after you spend $2,000 within 3 months of new account opening, and additional 30,000 points after you spend a total of $10,000 within 9 months of new account opening, a total of $910 travel rewards in our book).

In addition, the two Chase Southwest BUSINESS Visa cards continue to offer great signup bonuses as well:

• Chase Southwest RR Premier BUSINESS Visa ($99 annual fee): 60,000 points after you spend $2,000 within 3 months of new account opening, a total of $740 travel rewards in our book).
• Chase Southwest RR Performance BUSINESS Visa ($199 annual fee): up to 100,000 points (70,000 points after you spend $5,000 within 3 months of new account opening, and additional 30,000 points after you spend a total of $25,000 within 9 months of new account opening, a total of $1,050 travel rewards in our book).  The $25K spending requirement is on the high side, but once you hit $25K spending, you will earn at least 125,000 points which are more than enough to earn you Southwest Companion Pass, which normally requires earning 125,000 points or flying 100 one-way flights in a calendar year and allows you to take a companion for free (you pay for your own ticket and the taxes and fees for your companion) as many times as you could for the rest of the calendar year and the entire next calendar year.  Signing up this card remains obviously the easiest way to qualify for this lucrative status.

As usual, the signup bonus is not available if you currently have any personal Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card or have received a signup bonus for any personal Southwest credit card in the past 24 months, except for Southwest Premier Business card (for which the bonus is not available if you current have this business card or have received a signup bonus for this business card in the past 24 months).  In addition, the three personal cards are subject to Chase 5/24 rule based on anecdotal reports (you won't be approved for the card if you have opened 5 or more new accounts within the past 24 months; any new account with any issuer will count, not just with Chase; new accounts include most credit cards and charge cards but exclude non-Chase business cards and store charge cards).

Chase has introduced temporary benefits on more of its credit cards.  In a recent post, we covered Chase Sapphire series, Ink series, and Freedom series.  Now select cardmembers will receive the following category bonuses between 11/1/2020 and 12/31/2020; you need to activate the offer through a link in the promotional email or at chase.com/mybonus directly.

• 5x miles/points on Amazon.com and groceries, up to $1,500 in combined spending per month, for United Airlines cards, Southwest RapidRewards cards, Brith Airways Visa, Iberia Visa, Aer Lingus Visa, Marriott Bonvoy cards, and Ritz-Carlton cards.
• 5x points on Amazon.com and 3x on groceries, up to $1,500 in combined spending per month, for Hyatt cards and IHG Rewards cards.
• 10x points on Marriott portfolio hotels, up to $3,500 spent per month, for Marriott Bonvoy cards and Ritz-Carlton cards.

In addition, not from Chase or Amex, the following hotel program policies are recently announced:

• Marriott: annual free night certificates expiring before 12/11/2020 will be valid until 1/31/2021, and those expiring between 12/11/2020 and 7/31/2021 will be valid until 8/1/2021.  These cards earn annual free night certificates: Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, Amex Marriott Bonvoy Business, Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, and those Marriott/Ritz-Cartlton/SPG cobranded cards issued by Chase or Amex that are no longer accepting new applications.
• Hyatt: annual free night certificates with an expiration date between 3/1/2020 and 12/31/2021 will be valid until 12/31/2021.  Chase World of Hyatt Visa and Hyatt Visa earn annual free night certificates.

Finally, to track all the COVID-19 related temporary credit card benefits, please visit our featured review which has been under continuous update with the most recent updates highlighted in cardinal.

Chase just brought us an improved signup bonus for Sapphire Preferred:

• 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points (=$1,000 travel rewards via Chase, or 80K miles/points of United, Singapore, British, Flying Blue, Southwest, JetBlue, Hyatt, etc.) after spending $4,000 within 3 months of new account opening.  Note that there is no more first annual fee waiver as before.  
• This bonus is not available if you currently have a Sapphire card (Sapphire, Sapphire Preferred, or Sapphire Reserve) or have received signup bonus from any Sapphire card in the past 48 months.  
• Based on anecdotal reports, this card is subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (you won't be approved for this card if you have opened 5 or more new accounts within the past 24 months; any new account with any issuer will count, not just with Chase; new accounts include most credit cards and charge cards but exclude non-Chase business cards and store charge cards). 
• The historical high of the signup bonus for this card was 100,000 points, but it was many years ago in 2012.  This 80K points offer is the best bonus we have seen since 2012.
• Sapphire Preferred is a great card to pair with the newly enhanced Chase Freedom Unlimited which offers 5x points on travel through Chase, 3x on dining & drugstores, and 1.5x everywhere else, because you might move points earned from Freedom Unlimited (which is ineligible for miles/points transfer) to Sapphire Preferred's account so they become eligible for miles/points transfer as well as the 1.25 cents per point fixed-value travel redemptions, greatly improving Freedom Unlimited's value.

Chase has just brought back some good signup offers for Southwest and United cobranded credit cards:

• Chase Southwest RR Plus Visa (personal, annual fee $69): 65,000 points after $2,000 spent within 3 months of new account opening.
• Chase Southwest RR Premier Visa (personal, annual fee $99): 65,000 points after $2,000 spent within 3 months of new account opening.
• Chase Southwest RR Priority Visa (personal, annual fee $149): 65,000 points after $2,000 spent within 3 months of new account opening.
• Chase Southwest RR Premier BUSINESS Visa (annual fee $99): 60,000 points after $3,000 spent within 3 months of new account opening.
• Chase United Explorer Visa (personal, 1st year free, $99 thereafter): 60,000 miles after $3,000 spent within 3 months of new account opening.
• Chase United Club Visa Infinite (personal, $525 annual fee): 100,00 miles after $5,000 spent within 3 months of new account opening.
• Chase United BUSINESS Visa (1st year free, $99 thereafter): 60,000 miles after $3,000 spent within 3 months of new account opening.

COVID-19 pandemic has obviously changed consumer behavior big time, and it makes sense that credit card issuers are making adjustments accordingly.  This post summarizes these adjustments from Amex, Chase, and Citi.

American Express

• For those who open a credit card (personal or small business) between 12/1/2019 and 5/31/2020, the period to meet spending requirement to receive signup bonus will be extended for three months.
• Platinum Card (personal): up to $320 in statement credits on select U.S. streaming services and U.S. wireless phone services (up to $20 per category per month, from May through December 2020); cardmembers that renew between April and December 2020 will receive $200 in statement credits for Amex Travel (Amex's travel booking portal, from August 2020 to December 2021).
• Business Platinum Card: up to $320 in statement credits on wireless phone services and U.S. shipping (up to $20 per category per month, from May to December 2020); up to additional $200 in statement credits on Dell purchases in U.S. (up to $100 from 5/1/2020 to 6/30/2020; up to $100 from 7/1/2020 to 12/31/2020) - this is on top of the $200 Dell credits that are already part of this card's benefits; select cardmembers will also receive a $200 credit when they renew between May and November 2020.
• Green Card: up to $80 in statement credits on U.S. wireless phone services (up to $10 per month, from May through December 2020).
• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card: earn 6x points on U.S. supermarkets, up to $7,500 in purchase, from May through July 2020); $300 Marriott statement credits can now be used towards U.S. restaurants, from June through August 2020).
• Marriott Bonvoy Business Card: select cardmembers will receive a $59 credit when they renew between May and December 2020.
• Hilton Aspire Card & Hilton Surpass Card: earn 12x points on U.S. supermarkets, up to $7,500 in purchase, from May through July 2020; bonus points earned through these credit cards from May to December 2020 will be considered base points for determining Hilton elite status; unexpired free weekend night certificates as of 5/1/2020 and newer certificates issued until 12/31/2020, will be valid for any night of the week, and those issued between 5/1/2020 and 12/31/2020 will be valid for 24 months (instead of 12 months); in addition, Hilton Aspire's $250 Hilton resort credits can now be used towards U.S. restaurants, from June through August 2020.
• Hilton Business Card: select cardmembers will receive a $50 credit when they renew between May and December 2020.
• Delta SkyMiles Reserve, SkyMiles Platinum, SkyMiles Gold, SkyMiles Blue cards: earn 4x miles on U.S. supermarkets, from May through July 2020; select Business SkyMiles Reserve cardmembers will receive a $125 credit when they renew between May and December 2020; select Business SkyMiles Platinum cardmembers will also receive a $75 credit when they renew between May and December 2020.

Chase

• For those who open a new credit card (personal or small business) from January through March 2020, the period to meet spending requirements to receive signup bonus will be extended for three months.
• Sapphire Reserve Card: annual fees will be reduced from $550 to $450 for those who renew the card from 4/1/2020 through 7/31/2020; earn 5x points on groceries, up to $1,500 in purchases per month, from 5/1/2020 through 6/30/2020.
• United Club Infinite Card, United Club Card, United Presidential Plus Card: earn 5x miles on groceries, up to $1,500 in purchase per month, from 5/1/2020 through 6/30/2020.
• Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, Bonvoy Bold, Marriott Rewards Premier: earn 6x points on groceries, up to $6,000 in purchase, from 5/1/2020 through 7/31/2020.
• The following cards will earn 3 points or miles on groceries, up to $1,500 in purchase per month, from 5/1/2020 through 6/30/2020: Sapphire Preferred Card, United Explorer Card, United MileagePlus Select Card, Southwest RapidRewards (RR) Plus Visa, Southwest RR Premier Visa, Southwest RR Priority Visa, British Airways Visa, Iberia Visa, Aer Lingus Visa, World of Hyatt Visa, Hyatt Visa, IHG Rewards Club Premier WEMC, IHG Rewards Club Select MasterCard, and Disney Premier Visa.

Citi

• For those who open a credit card (personal or small business) between 12/1/2019 and 5/31/2020, the period to meet spending requirement to receive signup bonus will be extended for three months.
• Citi Prestige: the annual $250 travel credits can now be used towards groceries and dining, from May to December 2020.
• Citi AA Executive: cardholders that renew after 3/31/2020 will receive a $225 statement credit, which equals to half of the annual fee.
• Citi AA Platinum Select: the annual $125 flight discount certificates (after $20K annual spending) that are expiring between 3/31/2020 and 5/31/2020 will be extended for 6 months.
• CitiBusiness AA Platinum Select: the annual $99 companion certificates (after $30K annual spending) that are expiring on 12/31/2020 will be extended for 6 months.

Chase and Southwest have brought the signup bonus on the Rapid Rewards (RR) Performance Business Visa to a historical high of 100,000 points.  You receive up to 100,000 points (70,000 points after you spend $5,000 within 3 months of new account opening, and additional 30,000 points after you spend $25,000 total within 6 months of new account opening).  This bonus is not available if you currently have any personal Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card or have received a signup bonus for any personal Southwest credit card in the past 24 months.

Opening a business card requires you have a small business or you are preparing to open a small business, and the $25K spending requirement within the first 6 months is pretty high.  However, once you hit $25K spending, you will earn at least 125,000 points which are more than enough to earn you Southwest Companion Pass, which normally requires 110,000 points in a calendar year and allows you to take a companion for free (you pay for your ticket and the taxes and fees for your companion) as many times as you could for the rest of 2020 and the entire 2021.  This is arguably the easiest way to qualify for the lucrative status.

Chase has upped signup bonuses on all three personal Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards  (RR) Visa Credit Cards to 75,000 points each with a $5,000 spending requirement: Southwest RR Plus Visa ($69 annual fee), Southwest RR Premier Visa ($99 annual fee), and Southwest RR Priority Visa ($150 annual fee).  These bonuses are arguably the best in history in terms of number of points.  Remember Chase used to offer a straight Companion Pass plus 30K points back in 2019, and Companion Pass plus 40K points for California residents back in 2017.  Companion Pass status allows you to take one companion for free as many times as you want, as long as you pay your own tickets and taxes and fees for your companion.  With the new 75K offers, it is actually not hard at all the qualify for the Companion Pass which requires 110K points accumulation in a calendar year.  Note that you won't receive a second bonus if you open two personal Southwest Visa cards; however, you could open one personal Southwest Visa and one Southwest Business Visa (RR Premier Business or RR Performance Business) to easily qualify for Companion Pass.

There are quite a few updates on the website in the recent weeks, and here is a quick roundup.

• Chase Southwest Performance Business Visa write-up is up - please see the Chase Southwest Visa Cards review for details.  The impressive 80K points signup will get you really close to the 110K-point qualifying threshold to achieve the potentially extremely lucrative Southwest Companion Pass which allows you take a companion for free for a year.
• Amex Blue Business Cash review is up - this card is no the new benchmark for general business spending with a strait 2% cashback on everything up to $50K spent per year and no annual fees.  If you can leverage Membership Rewards' miles transfer feature to achieve a points value higher than 1 cent a piece (1.5 cents in our book), you'd better off with the old "King of Business Cards" Amex Blue Business Plus; however, for most business owners, Blue Business Cash is a much easier option to get $1,000 in rewards per year.
• U.S. Bank Business Cash WEMC review is up.  Its 3.75% & 1.25% cash rewards structure is nothing to write about, but the $500 signup bonus is worth looking into.
• Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold Visa review is up.  If you can take advantage of the annual free night capped at 35K redemption level, the $95 Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa is actually a better card to apply and keep.
• Chase United Explorer Business Visa is offering up to 100,000 miles at signup.  Before get too excited, you have to know that this comes with a rather difficult spending requirement of $25K within 6 months of new account opening.  Even with the devaluation of United miles in the coming November, due to the fact that partner redemption will be kept the same, this signup offer (worth $1,250 in our book) still tops our chart of best signup bonuses.
• Chase IHG Premier MasterCard offers the historical high - 125K points & $50 statement credit & 15 extra points for IHG purchase for the first year & 2 extra points for other general spending for the first year.  However, due to the relative low value of IHG points, this signup offer is worth about $460 in our book.
• Amex Hilton Ascend has been rebranded back to Amex Hilton Surpass, and nothing else changed.  It still comes with 130K Hilton points at signup (worth $425 in our book), complimentary Hilton Gold status, and an annual free weekend night after $15K spending.
• Amex Platinum Card offers 75K Membership Rewards at signup now.  It is very decent offer for those who are also interested in the iconic card's Fine Hotels & Resorts program, arguably the best airport lounge program offered by a credit card, Hilton Gold status, Uber & Saks credits, 5x points on airfare, etc.