We have seen increased signup bonuses on a few credit cards this week:
- Wells Fargo Propel Amex has increased the signup bonus from 30,000 to 50,000 points. Propel Amex is one of the best rewards cards, especially if you are not interested in redeeming points for airline miles or hotel points but rather choose fixed value travel rewards. When you have another non-fee card Wells Fargo Visa Signature, you can transfer the points earned on Propel Amex to the Visa Signature and increase the points value from 1 cent to 1.5 cents per point. In this way the 50K signup bonus of Propel Amex will be worth $750 in fixed value travel rewards. Propel Amex is also a card to keep after the first year, as it returns 3x points (= 4.5% travel rewards if you have Wells Fargo Visa Signature) on travel, dining, gasoline, and streaming services.
- Chase Freedom Unlimited has been offering 15,000 points as signup bonus online for quite a while. Now if you go to a Chase branch, you can apply for this card and receive a different signup bonus: 3x points on everything in the first year, up to $20,000 in purchase. Note that as the card regularly earns 1.5x points, the maximum additional points considered as the signup bonus will be 30,000 points (when you spend $20K in the first year). When you have a premium Ultimate Rewards card such as Sapphire Reserve (based on fixed value redemption or miles transfer) or Sapphire Preferred (based on miles transfer), these additional points will be worth $450 in our book. In addition, Freedom Unlimited pairs really well with Sapphire Reserve, as it returns higher rewards for general spending, while you will use Sapphire Reserve for dining, travel, and foreign purchases.
- Chase Sapphire Preferred has a new signup bonus: 60,000 points after you spend $4,000 within 3 months of new account opening; however, the annual fee is NOT waived for the first year. The previous signup bonus was 50K with the first year annual fee waiver. As we value the additional 10K points at $150, more than the $95 annual fee, the new bonus is slightly better.
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