Chase has introduced temporary benefits on more of its credit cards.  In a recent post, we covered Chase Sapphire series, Ink series, and Freedom series.  Now select cardmembers will receive the following category bonuses between 11/1/2020 and 12/31/2020; you need to activate the offer through a link in the promotional email or at chase.com/mybonus directly.

• 5x miles/points on Amazon.com and groceries, up to $1,500 in combined spending per month, for United Airlines cards, Southwest RapidRewards cards, Brith Airways Visa, Iberia Visa, Aer Lingus Visa, Marriott Bonvoy cards, and Ritz-Carlton cards.
• 5x points on Amazon.com and 3x on groceries, up to $1,500 in combined spending per month, for Hyatt cards and IHG Rewards cards.
• 10x points on Marriott portfolio hotels, up to $3,500 spent per month, for Marriott Bonvoy cards and Ritz-Carlton cards.

In addition, not from Chase or Amex, the following hotel program policies are recently announced:

• Marriott: annual free night certificates expiring before 12/11/2020 will be valid until 1/31/2021, and those expiring between 12/11/2020 and 7/31/2021 will be valid until 8/1/2021.  These cards earn annual free night certificates: Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, Amex Marriott Bonvoy Business, Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, and those Marriott/Ritz-Cartlton/SPG cobranded cards issued by Chase or Amex that are no longer accepting new applications.
• Hyatt: annual free night certificates with an expiration date between 3/1/2020 and 12/31/2021 will be valid until 12/31/2021.  Chase World of Hyatt Visa and Hyatt Visa earn annual free night certificates.

Finally, to track all the COVID-19 related temporary credit card benefits, please visit our featured review which has been under continuous update with the most recent updates highlighted in cardinal.

COVID-19 pandemic has obviously changed consumer behavior big time, and it makes sense that credit card issuers are making adjustments accordingly.  This post summarizes these adjustments from Amex, Chase, and Citi.

American Express

• For those who open a credit card (personal or small business) between 12/1/2019 and 5/31/2020, the period to meet spending requirement to receive signup bonus will be extended for three months.
• Platinum Card (personal): up to $320 in statement credits on select U.S. streaming services and U.S. wireless phone services (up to $20 per category per month, from May through December 2020); cardmembers that renew between April and December 2020 will receive $200 in statement credits for Amex Travel (Amex's travel booking portal, from August 2020 to December 2021).
• Business Platinum Card: up to $320 in statement credits on wireless phone services and U.S. shipping (up to $20 per category per month, from May to December 2020); up to additional $200 in statement credits on Dell purchases in U.S. (up to $100 from 5/1/2020 to 6/30/2020; up to $100 from 7/1/2020 to 12/31/2020) - this is on top of the $200 Dell credits that are already part of this card's benefits; select cardmembers will also receive a $200 credit when they renew between May and November 2020.
• Green Card: up to $80 in statement credits on U.S. wireless phone services (up to $10 per month, from May through December 2020).
• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card: earn 6x points on U.S. supermarkets, up to $7,500 in purchase, from May through July 2020); $300 Marriott statement credits can now be used towards U.S. restaurants, from June through August 2020).
• Marriott Bonvoy Business Card: select cardmembers will receive a $59 credit when they renew between May and December 2020.
• Hilton Aspire Card & Hilton Surpass Card: earn 12x points on U.S. supermarkets, up to $7,500 in purchase, from May through July 2020; bonus points earned through these credit cards from May to December 2020 will be considered base points for determining Hilton elite status; unexpired free weekend night certificates as of 5/1/2020 and newer certificates issued until 12/31/2020, will be valid for any night of the week, and those issued between 5/1/2020 and 12/31/2020 will be valid for 24 months (instead of 12 months); in addition, Hilton Aspire's $250 Hilton resort credits can now be used towards U.S. restaurants, from June through August 2020.
• Hilton Business Card: select cardmembers will receive a $50 credit when they renew between May and December 2020.
• Delta SkyMiles Reserve, SkyMiles Platinum, SkyMiles Gold, SkyMiles Blue cards: earn 4x miles on U.S. supermarkets, from May through July 2020; select Business SkyMiles Reserve cardmembers will receive a $125 credit when they renew between May and December 2020; select Business SkyMiles Platinum cardmembers will also receive a $75 credit when they renew between May and December 2020.

Chase

• For those who open a new credit card (personal or small business) from January through March 2020, the period to meet spending requirements to receive signup bonus will be extended for three months.
• Sapphire Reserve Card: annual fees will be reduced from $550 to $450 for those who renew the card from 4/1/2020 through 7/31/2020; earn 5x points on groceries, up to $1,500 in purchases per month, from 5/1/2020 through 6/30/2020.
• United Club Infinite Card, United Club Card, United Presidential Plus Card: earn 5x miles on groceries, up to $1,500 in purchase per month, from 5/1/2020 through 6/30/2020.
• Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, Bonvoy Bold, Marriott Rewards Premier: earn 6x points on groceries, up to $6,000 in purchase, from 5/1/2020 through 7/31/2020.
• The following cards will earn 3 points or miles on groceries, up to $1,500 in purchase per month, from 5/1/2020 through 6/30/2020: Sapphire Preferred Card, United Explorer Card, United MileagePlus Select Card, Southwest RapidRewards (RR) Plus Visa, Southwest RR Premier Visa, Southwest RR Priority Visa, British Airways Visa, Iberia Visa, Aer Lingus Visa, World of Hyatt Visa, Hyatt Visa, IHG Rewards Club Premier WEMC, IHG Rewards Club Select MasterCard, and Disney Premier Visa.

Citi

• For those who open a credit card (personal or small business) between 12/1/2019 and 5/31/2020, the period to meet spending requirement to receive signup bonus will be extended for three months.
• Citi Prestige: the annual $250 travel credits can now be used towards groceries and dining, from May to December 2020.
• Citi AA Executive: cardholders that renew after 3/31/2020 will receive a $225 statement credit, which equals to half of the annual fee.
• Citi AA Platinum Select: the annual $125 flight discount certificates (after $20K annual spending) that are expiring between 3/31/2020 and 5/31/2020 will be extended for 6 months.
• CitiBusiness AA Platinum Select: the annual $99 companion certificates (after $30K annual spending) that are expiring on 12/31/2020 will be extended for 6 months.

There are quite a few updates on the website in the recent weeks, and here is a quick roundup.

• Chase Southwest Performance Business Visa write-up is up - please see the Chase Southwest Visa Cards review for details.  The impressive 80K points signup will get you really close to the 110K-point qualifying threshold to achieve the potentially extremely lucrative Southwest Companion Pass which allows you take a companion for free for a year.
• Amex Blue Business Cash review is up - this card is no the new benchmark for general business spending with a strait 2% cashback on everything up to $50K spent per year and no annual fees.  If you can leverage Membership Rewards' miles transfer feature to achieve a points value higher than 1 cent a piece (1.5 cents in our book), you'd better off with the old "King of Business Cards" Amex Blue Business Plus; however, for most business owners, Blue Business Cash is a much easier option to get $1,000 in rewards per year.
• U.S. Bank Business Cash WEMC review is up.  Its 3.75% & 1.25% cash rewards structure is nothing to write about, but the $500 signup bonus is worth looking into.
• Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold Visa review is up.  If you can take advantage of the annual free night capped at 35K redemption level, the $95 Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa is actually a better card to apply and keep.
• Chase United Explorer Business Visa is offering up to 100,000 miles at signup.  Before get too excited, you have to know that this comes with a rather difficult spending requirement of $25K within 6 months of new account opening.  Even with the devaluation of United miles in the coming November, due to the fact that partner redemption will be kept the same, this signup offer (worth $1,250 in our book) still tops our chart of best signup bonuses.
• Chase IHG Premier MasterCard offers the historical high - 125K points & $50 statement credit & 15 extra points for IHG purchase for the first year & 2 extra points for other general spending for the first year.  However, due to the relative low value of IHG points, this signup offer is worth about $460 in our book.
• Amex Hilton Ascend has been rebranded back to Amex Hilton Surpass, and nothing else changed.  It still comes with 130K Hilton points at signup (worth $425 in our book), complimentary Hilton Gold status, and an annual free weekend night after $15K spending.
• Amex Platinum Card offers 75K Membership Rewards at signup now.  It is very decent offer for those who are also interested in the iconic card's Fine Hotels & Resorts program, arguably the best airport lounge program offered by a credit card, Hilton Gold status, Uber & Saks credits, 5x points on airfare, etc.

This week we have seen some elevated signup bonuses on a few credit cards (our value for the bonus minus first year annual fee is for your reference - your valuation may vary):

• Amex Gold Delta SkyMiles personal card ($95 annual fee, waived for the first year): 60,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs (Medallion Qualifying Mile) - our value $650
• Amex Gold Delta SkyMiles business card ($95 annual fee, waived for the first year): 70,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs - our value $750
• Amex Platinum Delta SkyMiles personal card ($195 annual fee): 75,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs + $100 statement credit - our value $705 (historical high) 
• Amex Platinum Delta SkyMiles business card ($195 annual fee): 80,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs + $100 statement credit - our value $755 (historical high)
• Amex Delta Reserve personal card ($450 annual fee): 75,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs - our value $350 (historical high)
• Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa ($95 annual fee): 100,000 points - our value $655 (historical high)
• Chase IHG Rewards Club Premier MasterCard ($89 annual fee): 120,000 points - our value ($390 (historical high) 

Chase IHG Rewards Club Premier World Elite MasterCard now has a 105K + $50 credit signup bonus, the best we have ever seen on this card or the card it replaced (IHG Rewards Club Select MC).  The $89 annual fee is not waived for the first year.  The signup bonus: $50 statement credit after the first purchase + 100,000 points after spending $3,000 within 3 months of new account opening + additional 5,000 points after adding one authorized user and making the first purchase within the same 3-month period.  The bonus is not available if you currently have this card or have received a signup bonus for this card in the past 24 months. Note that this card is NOT subject to Chase' infamous 5/24 rule (you won't be approved for a new card if you have opened 5 or more new accounts within the past 24 months).

So do you apply now?

• Pros: (1) The best ever signup bonus on any IHG-brand credit cards (the previous best bonus was 85K).  (2) The card is NOT subject to the 5/24 rule, so for people who are over 4-card limit it could be be approved.  (3) The anniversary free night capped at 40K level, even not as lucrative as the un-capped free night previously available on IHG Select MC, is still a good reason to keep the card after the first year.  (4) If you still have the old IHG Select MC, you will have two anniversary nights going forward.
• Cons: The value of IHG points are generally not that great - our value is 0.4 cent a piece.  So the signup bonus in our book after considering the $89 annual fee is $380.  If you are interested in other great signup offers, you might want to check out our Promotions page for the list in the order of signup value.

July 23, 2017 has been a daunting date for many Citi Prestige cardholders for about a year, since over a year ago, Citi announced the (mostly negative) changes that would come to Citi Prestige as of this date.  Now the changes finally kicked in: (1) American Airlines Admirals Club access is gone; (2) ThankYou (TY) points fixed value flight redemption has gone down from 1.6 cents per point (cpp) on American flights and 1.33 cpp on other airlines to 1.25 cpp across the board; (3) three rounds of free golf is gone; (4) 4th Night Free feature is based on the average rate over the entire stay rather than the actual rate of the 4th night (taxed will also be excluded in the statement credit), and you may now book hotels through ThankYou.com, in addition to calling Citi Concierge.  Citi threw in some enhancements: a new metal card design (everyone else in the high-end market has had this for a while), increased cash rewards from 0.5 cpp to 1 cpp (cashing out is not the best option to redeem TY points anyway), and the best ever signup bonus of 75,000 points (we don't know how long it will last though).

Obviously, we consider this as a major devaluation of this once dominating player in the high-end card market. It drops out of the Top 10 Best Card for Rewards (previously #9; our valuation of TY points earned from Citi Prestige has gone down from 1.6 cpp to 1.5 cpp, as the flexible feature that allows points to be transferred to frequent flyer programs such as Cathay Pacific, Singapore, Flying Blue, Etihad, etc. remains untouched).  Citi Prestige's position on the Top 10 Best Cards for Perks also changes from #3 to #7.  As a result, even the increased signup bonus doesn't prevent Citi Prestige from dropping one position on our Top 10 Best Credit Card list, surpassed by U.S. Bank Altitude Rewards.

At the same time, another Citi card - ThankYou Premier is gaining ground with the increased signup bonus from 30K to 50K.  ThankYou Premier is now #4 Best Credit Card by Dr. Credit Card, right behind its big brother.

Here are the snap shots of our Top 10 list before and after the changes.

Amex has been running 75K signup promotions for its Business Gold Rewards Card, one of our Top Listers, for a long time and they have always been limited time offers (sometimes lasted only one day).  Earlier this year, Amex has been keeping a link for a similar offer for widely targeted customers.  You will need to visit the link below and log into your Amex account to see if you qualify for 75,000 points.  If you receive an error then you probably don't qualify.  You will need to spend $5,000 within 3 months of new account opening to receive 75,000 Membership Rewards points, which can be transferred to miles/points of Delta, Hawaiian, Air Canada, British, Singapore, Cathay Pacific, ANA, and many other airline or hotel partners.  As always, the $175 annual fee is waived for the first year.

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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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Chase has had 60,000 points bonus offer for Ink Plus in branch.  Late last month, it made a similar offer online and now we are in the last week of this limited time offer which ends June 25, 2015.  You need to spend $5,000 within 3 months to get the signup bonus and the first year annual fee is waived (saving $95).  Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be redeemed for travel at 1.25 cents per point and the signup bonus could be worth $750.  Ultimate Rewards points can also be transferred to 10 airline/hotel partners' miles/points and your value may be even higher.

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