While there has always been a widely targeted 55K offer for Chase MP Explorer, now Chase again brings back a public link for a limited-time offer through 6/2/2015.  You will receive 50,000 miles after spending $3,000 within 3 months and an additional 5,000 miles if you add an authorized user and make a purchase within 3 months.

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Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve is one of the credit cards that worthy paying annual fees without spending, and the standard signup offer is two free weekend nights at any Hilton worldwide hotel, which is pretty generous.  Now a slightly better offer is coming back, you will receive two free weekend nights after spending $2,500 within 4 months and a one-time $100 statement credit if you spend at least $100 at a Hilton worldwide hotel within 3 months.  The same offer was available earlier last year.  As always, the annual fee $95 is not waived for the first year.

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Citi overhauls ThankYou Premier's 3-2-1 rewards structure as of April 19, 2015, and generally we like the changes.  Pleas see our updated review for details.  BTW, it is also making back to our Top List!

To make things sweeter, Citi also makes the signup offer better than before.  You used to need to spend a total of $5,000 and pay the second annual fee to receive the full 50,000 points.  Now you just need to spend $3,000 within 3 months to receive the full 50,000 points.  The $95 annual fee is waived for the first year.  You won't qualify for the signup bonus if you have had a ThankYou Premier opened or closed within the past 18 months.

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Citi has upped the signup offer for its Prestige World Elite MasterCard, one of our favorite cards, from 30,000 points to 50,000 points.  50,000 ThankYou points can be redeemed for $500 giftcards, $800 in airfare on American Airlines/US Airways, or $665 in airfare on other airlines, or transferred to more than ten airline/hotel partners.  You will need to spend $3,000 within 3 months to get the signup bonus.  Even though the card comes with a hefty $450 annual fee which is not waived for the first year, it does come with several benefits that make it worthy, such as the annual $250 air credit which is set up in a way that Citi will automatically reimburse you up to $250 a year for any airline purchases including airfare and incidentals and essentially puts the effective annual fee down to be $200, complimentary access for you plus two guests in 50+ American Airlines/US Airways lounges and 600+ Priority Pass Select lounges worldwide, a 3-2-1 ThankYou point earning structure with a potential 15-25% annual relationship bonus, hotel privileges and other luxury perks.  Also note if you have a Citigold checking account, your annual fee will be reduced by $100.  Currently there is a signup bonus of $400 for opening a Citigold account in branch.

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Even though there is still an ongoing 60,000 points offer for Citi Prestige when you apply in branch, the online 50K offer is actually better for most since the 60K in-branch-only offer requires a total spending of $15,000 within 6 months.

We always think US Bank Club Carlson Premier Visa, with an annual fee of $75, an interesting and potentially very rewarding product.  However, huge changes are coming to this card as of June 1, 2015:
Second Rewards Night Free feature will be discontinued and replaced with a new feature that gives you a free night at any Club Carlson hotels worldwide if you spend $10,000 a year on the card.

Since the last round of devaluation of Club Carlson Gold Points in February 2014, our valuation of the Club Carlson points has been 0.35 cent per point.  However, if you are a US Bank Club Carlson Premier Visa holder, you will enjoy the Second Rewards Night Free feature - essentially double the value of the points (to 0.7 cent per point) if you always redeem for exactly two nights.  Since the credit card returns 5x and 10x points for general purchases and Club Carlson purchases, respectively, the equivalent rewards on the card becomes 3.5% or 7% - which is extremely high, at least on paper.  The reason why we haven't place this card on our Top List with our favorite miles/points cards is, as written in our featured review on Cards worth paying annual fees without spending in November 2014, that "Our only concern is that you may be putting all your eggs in one basket if you solely use this card since it is not unusual for frequent travel program to have sudden dramatic devaluation".  The upcoming changes unfortunately validate our concern.

So the bottom line for the credit card after June 1, 2015 is that it probably won't be that great for general spending since the rewards will be 1.75% (it is not hard to find a 2% cash back card).  However, since you will continue to enjoy the 40,000 annual bonus points (worth $140 in our book) when you renew and pay $75 annual fee and will have an opportunity to earn a free night with $10K spending, this card may still worth keeping.  Now the most important message for our readers is that if you have the credit card, consider redeem your Club Carlson points before June 1, 2015.  Your actual stay may be up to 12 months after your booking.

Amex has just brought back the best signup offer for its Hilton HHonors Surpass: you will receive 80,000 points after you spend $3,000 within 3 months.  The $75 annual fee is NOT waived.  A similar offer was given last December, which expired in February.  The current offer expires on May 5, 2015.

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