[Update 11/1/13] Finally the application link is dead.

[Update 11/2/2012] We have learned that the one extra point you earn on everything with this offer is counted as "bonus points" not "base points" and only base points will be matched with flight points.  So assuming you have enough flight points, this card essentially returns 3 points per dollar spent, and if you redeem ThankYou points for airfare, your return rate is exactly 4%, not 5.32% as previously stated in the original post.

For example, if you annual spending on the card is $25,000, you will earn 25K base points, 25K bonus points through this offer.  Assuming you purchase several tickets and fly a total 25,000 miles, you also earn 25K flight points.  Thus the total ThankYou Points you have will be 75K, which when redeemed for airfare, will equal $1,000 = 4% of $25,000.

[Original Post 9/27/2012] Citi ThankYou Premier is one of our favorite cards.  The normal signup offer is 25,000 points ($125 annual fee), however, there are two special offers with the 1st annual fee waived currently available: 60,000 points (1st year free and 2nd year $125) and 50,000 points (1st year free, may apply both Visa and MasterCard to get 100K).  Now Citi is pushing out a third special offer: 2 points on every purchase for 24 months and the 1st year annual fee $125 is waived.  This offer, while not having a signup bonus, is actually very attractive to people who want a card to put most of purchases on and don't want to deal with airline miles or hotel points. 

Note that if you redeem ThankYou points earned from this card for airfare through Citi, you will get 33% more value, i.e., 1 point = 1.33 cent and this card will return 2.66% on everything for two years, which beats our cash back benchmark FIA Fidelity Amex.  What is more, if you use the card to purchase airfare you get "flight points" based on the miles you travel.  Say you purchase a round-trip $500 transcontinental ticket and the trip is 5,000 miles , you will get 1,000 "purchase points" and 5,000 "flight points".  Technically, if you have enough flights points to match all your purchase points, you have a potential to get a whooping 5.32% return on everything.  Not many people can actually achieve this ultimate best return, but here an example will illustrate how to.  Say your annual total spending on this card is $25K, then your total purchase points will be 50K under this special offer.  If you purchase a couple of tickets and fly a total 50,000 miles, you will also be awarded 50K flight points.  Your total ThankYou points will then be 100K, which when redeemed for airfare, will equal $1,333 = 5.32% of $25K.

Landing page (expired as of 6/14/2013)
Application page (expired as of 11/1/13)

[Update 10/9/2012] Looks like both offers are dead.

[Update 10/5/2012] The original link has stopped working, but here is the new link.  Please follow the same steps outlined in the original post.

https://www265.americanexpress.com/apisites/microsite-framedapp/apply/delta-gold-skymiles-credit-card/U7-1000-46?offer&affilSiteId=Deltanotlgn&affilCtgyCd=COB&pmcVendorCode=U7&additionalOffer=false
&firstName=John&lastName=Smith&membershipNumber=0123456789

[Original Post 9/16/2012] This new Amex Gold Delta offer gives you 70,000 miles (25,000 miles after the 1st purchase and an additional 45,000 miles after you spend $5,000 within 6 months) and $100 credit (if you buy a Delta ticket within 3 months).  This offer is targeted; however it seems that there is a workaround to "customize" the offer to yourself.  Here is what you need to do:

1. Copy and paste this link to your browser without hitting enter:
https://www262.americanexpress.com/apisites/microsite-framedapp/apply/delta-gold-skymiles-credit-card/U7-1000-46?offer&affilSiteId=Deltanotlgn&affilCtgyCd=COB&pmcVendorCode=U7&additionalOffer=false
&firstName=John&lastName=Smith&membershipNumber=0123456789

2. Change "John" to your first name, "Smith" to your last name, "0123456789" to your Delta account number, and then hit enter.

3. The form is a little weird.  When you click "First Name" it will say "Middle Initial" and you need to provide the later.  When you click "Last Name" it will say "Name on Card" and you need to provide the later.  After you finish all your information, go to the next step you will see your first name and last name have been correctly displayed.

We are not sure if this will work out for everyone so try at your own risk!

We blogged about Chase Hyatt Visa two free nights offer several times before.  You get two free nights after your 1st purchase which you can redeem at any Hyatt hotels including their ultra-luxury Park Hyatt.  The regular offer does not waive the $75 annual fee for the 1st year, and there was a special offer with a waiver but it is long gone.  Now looks like Chase still offer the waiver - even if it is not publicly available (no links) but it is easy enough to get.  This is what you need to do:

Go to Hyatt.com and log into your Hyatt account.  If you don't have one it takes about 1 minute to become a member.  Make a dummy booking and before you enter your billing information you will see a thumbnail saying "Get $75 plus Two Free Nights".  Click on that you will be re-directed to the application page.  I tried to copy the link and paste into another browser it won't work.  So you have to go through these simple steps yourself to get the $75 credit.

[Update 9/14/2012] The offer has expired.

Amex seems to run this type of one-day-only deal more and more often.  Here it comes again.  As before, you need to spend $10,000 within 4 months to get the 75K Membership Rewards points which can be transferred into airlines miles (British Airways, Delta, ANA, etc.)  The $175 annual fee is waived for the 1st year.

Application Page

Chase Ink Bold  is on our Top List and has a generous 50,000 points signup bonus.  Now as if it is not enough, Chase has the new Ink Plus Business Card which shares all the same great benefits as Ink Bold and the nice 50,000 points signup bonus.  The only difference is that while Ink Bold is a charge card, Ink Plus is a regular credit card.  The cool thing is that since Chase considers them as two different products, technically you can get 100,000 points if signing up both!

The 50,000 points bonus breaks down as: 25K after the 1st purchase and another 25K after you spend $10K within 3 months:
Landing page
Application page