Amex has a promotional offer for one of our Top Listers Premier Rewards Gold Card - you will receive 50,000 Membership Rewards points after you open a new account and spend $1,000 within 3 months.  The regular offer is 25,000 points.  The first year annual fee is waived, saving $195.  Please note that the signup bonus will NOT be given if you have or previously had this product.

However, there is no public link that works for everyone.  Amex has recently been trying something new when offering a signup promotion to customers.  Looks like that people may get different offers when visiting Amex website.  Don’t worry, if you follow the following steps, you will most likely get the 50K offer on the PR Gold:

1. open your browser in incognito mode (in Google Chrome, or InPrivate mode in Internet Explorer, or Private mode in Firefox or Safari);
   
2. visit Amex website and find the Premier Rewards Gold Card - most likely you will see the 50K offer;
   
3. if you still have the 25K offer showing, clear cookies in your browser and try again or use a different browser.

Also for a limited time, Amex is also running a promotion offer for its Platinum Card - you will receive 100,000 Membership Rewards points after you open a new account and spend $3,000 within 3 months.  The regular offer is 40,000 points.  The $450 annual fee is NOT waived.  Steep the annual fee may seem, after taking advantage of the $200 annual airline credit, your effective annual fee becomes $250 and you could enjoy some very valuable perks such as airport lounge access, Fine Hotels and Resorts, reimbursed Global Entry application fees, etc.  That is why it is not only on our Top List, but also recommended as one of cards worth paying annual fees without spending.  Please note that the signup bonus will NOT be given if you have or had this product.  

You can follow similar steps listed above; however, the 100K offer on the Platinum Card is much harder to come by - you may need to try dozens of times.  If you prefer calling Amex instead, you can give them the POID code BUIU:0001 and they will be able to find the 100K offer for you.

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We finally got a chance to revamp our Home Page.  We now introduce the Four P's of credit cards: Promotions, Points, Perks, and Protection.  Here we are copying them into this post.  Please let us know if you have questions!

Promotions:

Credit card issuers want you to become their customers and thus run many promotional offers.  Usually these are called signup offers, in which credit card issuers give you a good size of bonus in cash, points, or miles, when you sign up a new credit card and spend a certain amount within a certain period of time.  If you are looking for thousands of dollars or millions of miles/points that will make your dream trip come true, make sure you check out our Deals page which is constantly updated.  

Our blog also has constant updates on promotional offers and other credit card related news and analysis.

Points:

You earn rewards points when you make a purchase with a credit card.  The rewards points may be exchanged for cash, gift cards, merchandise, travel rewards (fixed or dynamic value), hotel frequent guest points, or airline frequent flyer miles, etc.  

Check out Dr. Credit Card's Top List for best rewards credit cards, including our featured review Best Rewards Credit Card Combos.  Another featured review SPG vs. MR vs. UR vs. TY vs. CR will walk you through the five rewards programs that allow points transfer to frequent travel accounts.

Perks:

May credit cards offer great travel perks - there is always a reason why people pay an annual fee on a credit card.  Some provide 24/7 concierge service.  Some provide complimentary access to airport VIP lounges and our featured review All About Airport Lounges will answer most of your questions if you are confused.  Some provide free or cheap companion airplane tickets.  Some provide hotel privileges such as complimentary daily breakfasts, room/suite upgrades, late check-out, third or fourth night free, and amenities such as a per stay $100 food and beverage credit.  Some provide anniversary free hotel nights that you can use at any of their affiliate hotels worldwide.

Our two featured reviews Comparing High-end Credit Card and Credit Cards worth Paying Annual Fees without Spending will give you a good idea why you may want to pay an annual fee (sometime a hefty one!) on a card.

Protection:

Nowadays most credit cards provide benefits or protection at no cost to you, such as waived foreign transaction fees, travel accident insurance, trip cancellation and interruption insurance, trip delay coverage, lost baggage coverage, baggage delay coverage, emergency coverage, rental car collision damage coverage (see our featured review Credit Card with Primary Rental Car Insurance for details), roadside assistance, price protection, extended warranty, purchase protection, return protection, event ticket protection, and so on.  The lists of free benefits seem getting longer and longer each year.

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Since early August, Amex has started offering free FICO score to most of its cardmembers.  When you log into your account, you will see on the right hand side, there is a link "My Free FICO Score (NEW)".  The FICO score offered by Amex is from Experian, one of the big three credit reporting agencies.  Amex started running a pilot program that gave this score to select card members since late 2014, and Chase has been giving this score to only Slate card members.

FICO scores used to be available to paid customers only, and they are the real scores that are used by your lenders (versus "fake" scores or FAKO offered by many credit monitoring services).  In the recent years, banks have started offering FICO for free for their customers.  Here we would like to give a summary of which major card issuers are giving them for free and which reporting agencies they are using.

TransUnion FICO
Barclays: all cards offer free TransUnion FICO scores.
Discover: all cards offer free TransUnion FICO scores.

Equifax FICO
Citi: many Citicards including AAdvantage and ThankYou credit cards offer free Equifax FICO.

Experian FICO
Amex: most cards now offer free Experian FICO.
Chase: only Slate cardmembers receive free Experian FICO.

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Chase has changed the signup bonus for its JPM Ritz-Carlton Visa once again.  The standard offer was 70,000 points when it was first introduced, and then changed to one free night at any Ritz-Carlton hotel a couple of years later.  The best limited time offers include one with 140,000 points (no annual fee waiver) and the other with 70,000 points plus a first year annual fee waiver.

Now the standard offer is two free nights at any Tier 1-4 Ritz-Carlton hotel worldwide - you will need to pay the $395 annual fee and spend $3,000 within 3 months.  Note that the certificate will expire after 6 months.  A Tier 4 hotel requires 60,000 points per night.  Thus you may view this as an 120,000 points offer; however, we will choose points over the night certificates any day due to the better expiration policy and flexibility.  We think while this is not as lucrative as the best limited time offers, it is better than the previous standard offers - kudos to Chase.  Keep in mind that you can't redeem these certificates at 14 top-tier properties including The Ritz-Carlton hotels in Bachelor Gulch, Naples, Miami South Beach, Miami Bal Harbour, Miami Key Biscayne, New York Central Park, Grand Cayman, St. Thomas, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai Pudong, Dubai, and two EDITION hotels in Miami Beach and New York.  However, there are still some amazing properties that are Tier 1-4, such as the ones in Laguna Niguel (rates from $449 per night), Half Moon Bay (from $495), San Fransisco (from $399), Washington DC Georgetown (from $369), Aruba (from $359), London (EDITION, from $500), Vienna (from $360), and Kyoto (from $440).

While the $395 annual fee seems high, remember after you take advantage of the annual $300 airline credit your effective annual fee is only $95 and it does come with valuable perks such as Ritz-Carlton & Marriott Gold status for the first year and maintained with $10K spending each year thereafter, three Ritz-Carlton Club level room upgrades each year (which can only be used on paid stays), unlimited Lounge Club membership, and primary rental car insurance.  That is why we regard this product highly and recommend it as one of credit cards worth paying annual fees without spending.  However, if you decide to cancel after the first year, you may actually get up to $600 in airline credit since the credit is based on calendar year rather than membership year.

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Application Page

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Amex has offered increased signup bonus to 30,000 points (from the regular 25,000 points) for its Amex SPG, for several summers in a row.  Now it is back through September 14, 2015.  This time, you will need to spend $3,000 within 3 months to receive 30K points for the personal card version, and you will need to spend $5,000 within 3 months to receive 30K points for the business card version.  Our current valuation of Starpoints is 2.25 cents per point, thus the signup bonus for each card will be $675.  If you sign up both personal and business cards, you will receive 60,000 points.

Also note that even though the annual fee is waived for the first year, it has been increased from $65 to $95 effective today.  However, Amex does bring a few new perks to justify the increase in annual fees: waived foreign transaction fees, complimentary unlimited Boingo Wi-Fi plan, complimentary premium internet at participating Starwood hotels, and finally access to Sheraton Club Lounges for business cardholders.  We have updated our review to reflect these changes. 

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Application page for personal card
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Application page for business card

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This offer for Chase Fairmont Visa Signature with the 1st annual fee waiver has returned!  You will need to spend $3,000 within 3 months to receive the two free night certificates that can redeemed at any Fairmont hotel worldwide.  Free night certificates will expire after 12 months, and please visit this Fairmont page for blackout dates and special restrictions for The Plaza, The Savoy, and Fairmont Heritage Place properties.  The annual fee is waived for the first year, saving $95.  Please note that the free breakfasts (up to $50 per day for two days) that used to be part of the free nights are not mentioned in the current offer page; however, there have been reports that people still received the four $25 breakfast certificates (a total of $100 breakfast credit) with this offer.

Perhaps the most overlooked benefit of the card to new members is the complimentary Fairmont Premier status, which entitles you one room upgrade certificate, one suite upgrade certificate, two $25 dinner/lunch/spa certificates, and one third night free certificate (not combinable with the free nights) each year.  When combining the signup bonus and Premier benefits, you will be able to stay two nights in a suite and receive up to $150 credit (four breakfast certificates and two dinner/lunch/spa certificates)!

Examples of amazing redemptions include but are not limited to the newest member of the chain The Grand Del Mar in San Diego (where a suite can run you over $1,000 per night), Fairmont Kea Lani in Maui (where the basic room type is a suite that costs over $500 per night), Fairmont Orchid in Big Island Hawaii (suites from $800 per night), The Plaza in New York (rates from $500 per night, capacity control applies, only one certificate can be applied per stay and not combinable with the suite upgrade), Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise (suites from $800 per night), Fairmont Banff Springs (suites from $900 per night), and The Savoy in London (suites from $900 per night, capacity control applies).

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We have been waiting for this day for a long time here in the U.S.  Visa Infinite, the top-tier Visa card, which has been available in many other countries, was missing from the U.S. market.  Finally this May, City National Bank (CNB) became the first U.S. issuer to roll out Visa Infinite.  Its Crystal Visa Infinite, with a $400 annual fee (waived for the first year), offers $250 annual airline credit, Priority Pass Select memberships, CLEAR membership, luxury hotel privileges, $100 companion discount, and other perks.

We also updated our featured review Comparing High-end Credit Cards to welcome the competition CNB Crystal brings against some of our favorite premium cards.