We have been continuing to make updates throughout the site.  Here we would like to highlight a few important ones:

• Wyndham Rewards Visa has been revamped.  The no-fee version offers 3x points on Wyndham, 2x on gas, utility, grocery stores, 1x everywhere else, and automatic Gold status.  The $75 version offers 5x points on Wyndham, 2x on gas, utility, grocery stores, 1x everywhere else, 6,000 annual bonus points, and automatic Platinum status.  Compared to the old Wyndham Visa, the new cards reduce points earning on general spending from 2x to 1x, but add automatic elite status as well as waived foreign transaction fees.  As we value Wyndham points at around 1 cent per point, the old cards offer great rewards for general spending and thus rated #6 Best Card for Rewards.  We had concern about uncertainty in the rewards program before and it is very sad to see Wyndham/Barclays simply decides to slash the rewards for general spending in half.  Now the new cards won't make it to Top 10.  Even though the new perks such elite status may attractive some customers, we won't recommend the new cards for general spending at all.  It is interesting that you may still sign up the old cards through the old landing page.  We think the existing cardholders have to be grandfathered in for 2x points on general spending, but we have no info at this point and probably won't know how long it will last even if it is indeed the case.
• JetBlue's frequent flyer program TrueBlue has been added as a transfer partner of Citi ThankYou.  You can now transfer ThankYou points to TrueBlue points at a 1.25:1 rate, if you have either ThankYou Premier or Citi Prestige.  TrueBlue points are mostly fixed at value of 1.4 cents per point, so if you use this option, the value of ThankYou points will be 1.12 cents per point - not a very good way of using ThankYou points.  A better way would be using ThankYou to book a revenue JetBlue flight through Citi at fixed value of 1.33 cents per point, instead of transferring the points to JetBlue and then booking an award ticket.  Our value for ThankYou points is 1.4 for ThankYou Premier considering other valuable transfer partners, and 1.6 for Citi Prestige considering the fixed value for booking an American Airlines flight through Citi.
• JP Morgan Ritz-Carlton Visa Infinite offers $100 companion discount per trip for 2-5 domestic round-trip coach class tickets on your reservation.  Even though the terms say that primary cardholder must be one of the ticketed passengers, there are reports confirming that authorized users also enjoy this benefit for free.  This may potentially increase the value of this card quite a bit.
• Marriott and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) offer reciprocal earnings on their credit cards.  Chase Marriott Visa and JPM Ritz-Carlton Visa will start earning 5x points on SPG hotels; while Amex SPG will start earning 2x points on Marriott/Ritz-Carlton hotels.  The two loyalty programs will eventually merge in 2018, but before that customers can take advantage of the best of both programs.  Details about the future of these credit cards still remain uncertain.  We suspect that Marriott or Ritz-Carlton cards probably won't change much, while Amex SPG will probably convert to a Chase product at some point in 2018.

In addition, you may find the following news interesting.

• Amex offers 2x points for select small business purchases through 12/31/16.  That is an additional 1x points you can earn through this "Shop Small" promotion.  You have to enroll your Amex at https://www.americanexpress.com/us/content/shop-small-offer/ to take advantage of this promotion.  They also have a useful search tool for you to find the participating small businesses in your area.  The following cards are eligible: Membership Rewards cards (such as Amex Platinum, Amex Premier Rewards Gold, Amex EveryDay Preferred), Delta SkyMiles cards, SPG cards, Blue Sky cards, Blue Cash cards, Hilton HHonors cards, Plenti Card, and Schwab Investor Card.
• Per Bloomberg, Chase will introduce a new business card product called "Ink Preferred", which features a 80K points signup bonus, a $95 annual fee (waived for the first year), 3x points for the first $150K spent on travel, telecommunications, shipping and advertising on social-media and search engines, and 1x points on other purchases.  Chase already has a $95 business card Ink Plus, which offers 5x points on office supplies, wireless services, landline communications and cable services (up to $50K spent annually), 2x on gas and lodging (up to $50K spent), and 1x on other purchases.   At this point, we don't know whether Ink Plus will continue to be offered alongside with Ink Preferred or be converted to the new card in the future.

© 2016 DrCreditCard.net  All rights reserved.

Weekly update first. Several pages have been updated.  In addition, there are a few updated signup offers including Amex Platinum Delta SkyMiles 70K miles + 10K MQMs + $100 credit (for both personal and business versions), Amex Gold Delta SkyMiles 50K miles + $50 credit (for both personal and business versions), Amex Hilton Surpass 100K, Amex Hilton 75K, and Citi Hilton Visa 75K; like always, please check out our Promotions page for details. 

Now the biggest news of the week - to respond to Chase Sapphire Reserve, Amex revamps its iconic Platinum Card, both the personal and business versions, and the changes were effective October 6, 2016.  Also Amex brings back the amazing 100K offer for the Business Platinum Card.  Please head over to our Amex Platinum Card Review for everything you will need to know about it, including the 100K offer for the business card.  Here we will highlight the changes.

Amex Platinum Card (personal): 5x Membership Rewards (MR) points on airfare booked with airlines or through Amex Travel website.  When you book airfare via a third party Online Travel Agency such as Expedia, Travelocity, Ortiz, most likely you will be charged directly by the airline so you will still receive 5x points.  Note previously, this card gives 2x points on certain travel (airfare, prepaid hotels, vacation packages, cruise) booked through Amex Travel, and the booking fees are waived for Platinum members.  Looks like this feature is still available but the airfare will earn 5x instead, while other travel continues to earn 2x.  The last thing to note is that while Amex Platinum has the highest level of travel protection among all Amex cards, it still trails behind Citi and Chase in this regard, as Amex doesn't cover family members or award tickets and doesn't offer Trip Cancellation/Interruption, Trip Delay, or Baggage Delay coverage.  This factor might make some travelers use Citi Prestige or Chase Sapphire Reserve for 3x airfare instead of 5x on Amex Platinum.

While Amex Platinum's $450 annual fee may seems hefty, when you make use of the $200 annual airline credit, the effective annual fee becomes $250.  Most savvy card members probably won't use this card for general purchases, as there are better alternatives out there, such as Amex EveryDay Preferred, Amex SPG, Fidelity Visa, Citi Double Cash, just to name a few.  However, the October 2016 enhancement turns this card into a powerhouse for bonus rewards - 5x airfare is the highest among all miles/points cards.  Using our current conservative value of 1.5 cents per MR point, you are getting 7.5% cash equivalent rewards on airfare purchases.  You only need to spend $4,600 a year on airfare to beat the $250 effective annual fee and 2% cashback, because $4,600 x (7.5% - 2%) > $250.  You will need to spend $8,400 a year on airfare to beat the $250 effective annual fee and a miles/points card that offers 3x on airfare such as Amex Premier Rewards Gold, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Citi Prestige, because $8,400 x (5 - 3) point/$ x 1.5 cent/point > $250.  After that, you essentially receive all Platinum Card's great travel perks for free, such as unlimited access to Delta, Alaska, Centurion, and many more domestic and international lounges, Fine Hotels and Resorts, Hilton/SPG/Marriott Gold, and many others.  If you frequent Delta or Alaska and/or depart from a city where there is a Centurion Lounge, this card offers unparalleled value.  If you frequent Hilton Worldwide, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International, and/or luxury hotels, this card could also be hugely valuable.

With this important enhancement and its already impressive perks (rated #2), signup bonus (currently 40K), and protection, Amex Platinum finally makes to our Top 10 Best Credit Cards list, even surpassing the other two longtime favorite MR cards - Amex Premier Rewards Gold and Amex EveryDay Preferred.  As a result, the previous #10 Chase United Explorer Visa falls off the list.  Please see below the screenshots of the list before and after October 6, 2016.

Amex Business Platinum Card: (1) 1.5x points on each purchase of $5,000 or more, (2) 50% points rebate when using the "Pay with Points" option, essentially making MR points fixed value at 2 cents a piece, when buying First or Business Class tickets with any airline through Amex Travel, and Economy Class tickets with your selected airline also through Amex Travel.  So the 100K signup bonus of Business Platinum Card is worth at least $2,000!  

Note that you may still choose the other valuable redemption option to transfer MR points to miles/points of several frequent traveler programs, and keep in mind that our current value of MR points for using that option is 1.5 cents a piece, lower than the "Pay with Points" option.  However, these two options are very different in nature, I personally will choose the transfer option even with lower on-paper value, as I know I won't be using my hard earned cash/points to buy international long-haul First or Business Class tickets outright, while transferring points to miles of a frequent flyer program will allow me to have such tickets at a very reasonable rate.  Let's see an example of a recent flight I took: the one-way Suite Class on Singapore Airlines between Tokyo Narita and Los Angeles retails at about $8,000, and if I were to use the "Pay with Points" option, I will need a whooping 400,000 MR points - at exact 2 cents per point value.  However, if I would transfer 74,000 MR points to Singapore miles, I would be able to book this award ticket with the miles + $130 taxes and fees, as long as I find an available seat.  In fact, I did not use my MR points but I transferred my Citi ThankYou points to Singapore miles and I was able to secure not only one seat but two.  If I do math on paper, the value of MR points will be more than 10 cents per point; however, my personal conservative value of them is still around 1.5 cents, as I am willing to pay $1,250 for this ticket (74,000 points x 1.5 cent/point + $130 = $1,250).

Let's come back to see what the changes mean for Business Platinum Card member.  Earning 1.5x points on large purchases (>$5,000) will of course help some members.  However, the enhanced "Pay with Points" is more interesting to most members, as this makes Business Platinum Card a 2% rewards card for general spending with a $250 effective annual fee.  In addition, it opens up opportunities for other MR cards to become more valuable as MR points will be pooled together automatically.  For example, EveryDay Preferred will return staggering 9%, 6%, and 3% rewards for grocery, gas, and general purchases; the personal Platinum Card will return 10% rewards for airfare; Premier Rewards Gold Card will return 6% and 4% rewards for airfare and gas/grocery/dining.

© 2016 DrCreditCard.net  All rights reserved.

We updated several pages throughout the site, including "All About Credit Card Rewards" and "US Bank FlexPerks Credit Cards".  We are copying some highlights here.  For the full details please visit the reviews directly.

Best Rewards Credit Card Combos
Theoretically you need way too many cards to maximize rewards - one for gas, one for groceries, one for dining, one for airfare, one for hotels, one for general spending, and so on.  In real life, most of us can't manager that.  That is why here we will recommend the best two-card combos that will hand you much bigger rewards than a single card while still keeping things manageable.

• Fidelity Visa | Citi Double Cash + one category bonus cashback card: This combo is for people who love cash back!  ...
• Amex SPG + Amex Premier Rewards Gold | Citi ThankYou Premier: This powerful combo is for people who prefer miles/points to cashback.  ...
• Amex EveryDay Preferred + Chase Sapphire Reserve | Citi Prestige: We highly recommend this combo as an alternative to the previous one, for the simple reason that the two cards complement each other in the bonus categories almost too perfectly.  With 30 transactions per month, EDP offers highest return for groceries (4.5x, up to $6,000 spent each year) and gas (3x), while Sapphire Reserve covers travel & dining (3x).  So with this combo, you can easily cover the five most important bonus categories: grocery, gas, dining, airfare, and non-air travel, with only two cards - that is an incredible deal!  As for general spending, EDP returns higher rewards at 1.5x (=2.25%) and will be ideal for most purchases.  However, we recommend using Sapphire Reserve for items that may have price drop within 60 days such as electronics for the Price Protection benefit, and when traveling abroad for the waived foreign transaction fees and embedded EMV chip.  Finally, Citi Prestige is an great alternative to Sapphire Reserve, as it offers similar bonus categories: 3x on most travel (airfare, hotels, travel agents), and 2x on dining & entertainment, and similar and even better consumer protection like Citi Price Rewind and two years of Extended Warranty.
• Chase Freedom Unlimited + Chase Sapphire Reserve: Even though Chase Freedom Unlimited is branded as a cashback card, it actually earn UR points at 1.5x for all purchases without an annual fee.  Normally you won't be able to transfer UR points earned through Freedom Unlimited to frequent traveler miles/points since it is a lower tier UR product, limiting the value of a point at 1 cent.  However, the secret here is that if you have our recommended premium UR card Sapphire Reserve, you can transfer the UR points earned from Freedom Unlimited to Sapphire Reserve's account so all of sudden these points become transferable to miles/points or can be redeemed for travel on any airline through Chase at a fixed 1.5 cents per point.  This hugely increases the value of Freedom Unlimited, making it returning an impressive 2.25% cashback equivalent for general spending based on our current valuation of UR points.  Obviously, Sapphire Reserve will be the card to charge to for travel & dining (3x).  In addition, we recommend using Sapphire Reserve for foreign travel and items that may have price drop within 90 days.  Lastly, if you don't mind having three cards in your wallet, adding Chase Freedom, which returns 5x on quarterly rotating categories, will make amazing Chase UR triplets.  UR points earned through Freedom are also transferrable to frequent traveler miles/points when you have Sapphire Reserve, and then Freedom returns an incredible 7.5% on 5x categories.  Bear in mind there is a quarterly $1,500 spending cap for the 5x categories on Freedom, so if you do everything exactly right, you will be earning an extra 21,000 UR points a year (1,500 x 4 x (5 - 1.5) = 21,000) by adding this non-fee card to your wallet.  Of course, you still may replace Sapphire Reserve with Sapphire Preferred and the same trick works - points you accumulated from either Freedom or Freedom Unlimited can be transferred to Sapphire Preferred's account and they become transferrable to miles/points.

US Bank FlexPerks Credit Cards
​Currently, there are four FlexPerks cards: FlexPerks Select+ Amex, FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Signature, FlexPerks Gold Amex, FlexPerks Business Edge Travel Rewards Visa Signature.

FlexPerks Select+ American Express

• Annual Fee: none
• ...

FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Signature

• Annual Fee: 1st year free, $49 thereafter (can be offset by redeeming 3,500 points)
• ...

FlexPerks Gold American Express

• Annual Fee: $85 (can be offset by redeeming 5,000 points)
• Signup Bonus: 30,000 points after spending $2,000 within 4 months of new account opening.  Historical best bonus of this card: 30,000.
• Application Landing Page
• Rewards: 3x on dining, 2x on airlines and gas, 1x everywhere else (up to $180,000 spent annually).
• Best Use of FlexPerks points: The same as FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Signature, i.e., up to 2 cents per point when redeeming for airfare through US Bank, with a $25 incidental credit for each ticket booked this way.
• Amex CONNECT benefits: (1) Automatic Global Entry ($100) or TSA PreCheck ($85) credit, every five years.  (2) Complimentary Boingo Wi-Fi.  (3) 24/7 Lifestyle Concierge Service.  (4) Global Dining Program.  (5) Entertainment Access.  (6) VIP Experiences.  Please visit amexconnect.com/flexperksgold for details of the Amex CONNECT program. 
• Other Benefits: (1) No foreign transaction fees with an embedded EMV chip.  (2)  Complimentary Andrew Harper Travel Club membership.  (3) Discounts (up to 25%) and Emerald Club membership at National Car Rental.  (4) Discounts at BostonCoach limousine service. 
• History: this product was introduced in June 2016, replacing the old FlexPerks Travel Rewards Amex, with an increase of annual fees from $49 to $85.

FlexPerks BUSINESS Edge Travel Rewards Visa Signature
...

The Math
...

The Conclusion
As long as your spending on the bonus categories exceeds a certain percentage of your total spending, FlexPerks TR Visa or FlexPerks Gold Amex will beat a 2% cashback card such as Fidelity Visa.  For most consumers, FlexPerks Gold Amex is a better card than FlexPerks TR Visa.  US Bank FlexPerks Gold Amex is rated as one of the Best Credit Cards for Rewards.