7 Increased Credit Card Offers Just Released

In just this past month, we’ve seen 7 new increased credit card offers announced with some of them being the best offer we’ve ever seen publicly available. For those who earn most of their points and miles from credit card offers, this is definitely a good time to consider picking up a new card. There are three Delta credit cards, three Marriott credit cards, and an IHG credit card. In addition to the bonus points you’ll receive, the cards come with many perks, such as: The Marriott credit cards will give you a free night annually, the IHG credit card will also give you a free night annually (amongst many other perks), and select Delta credit cards come with an annual companion ticket. Just keep in mind Chase’s “5/24” rule and American Express’s once in a lifetime rule.

1. IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card

UPDATE: This offer has expired. The IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card is a newish card that appeared in 2018 and we are now seeing their highest welcome offer yet! With this offer, you’ll earn up to 120,000 IHG points — 80,000 points after you spend $2,000 on the card within the first three months, plus an additional 40,000 points after you spend another $3,000 on the card within the first 6 months. So you are looking at $5,000 spend in total, which is definitely on the higher end but you have 6 months do to so you are looking at only $830 a month.

This is one of those cards where the benefits outweigh the annual fee ($89/year) every single year. The money saving benefits include:

• Free night yearly: On every cardmember anniversary date you’ll receive a free night certificate that can be used at any IHG property that costs 40,000 or less. This perk alone, in my opinion, pays for the annual fee at a minimum.
• 4th night free on award stays: When you redeem your points for a stay of 4 nights or more, you’ll receive every 4th night free! There is no cap on the number of stays, which means this can definitely save you a ton of points!
• Complimentary Global Entry or TSA PreCheck: Just use the credit card to pay for your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application and you’ll receive a statement credit up to $100. Global Entry typically costs $100 and TSA PreCheck is $85—this means you are ultimately receiving it for free! Global Since Global Entry is valid for 5 years, you are only eligible for this benefit every 4 years.
• Automatic Platinum status: Just by being a cardmember, you’ll receive IHG Platinum Elite status. This status is definitely not the best status in the travel world, but is better than nothing and can always increase your chances of an upgrade upon check-in. Other perks of having this status include late checkout and your points will never expire.

Sign Up Bonus Value: IHG points are worth around 0.5 cents per point. That means the 120,000 points earned from the sign up bonus is worth around $600. Learn more about this offer in detail here.

2. Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express: 

UPDATE: This offer has expired. With the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express offer you’ll earn 60,000 miles after you spend $2,000 in purchases within the first three months. You’ll also earn a $50 statement credit after you make a Delta purchase with your new card within the same first first three month time period. $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95. Offer expires on April 3, 2019. *Terms Apply.

With this card, the best benefit you’ll see is that both you and 8 other passengers on the same itinerary will be able to check your first bag for free. In my opinion, there aren’t many amazing benefits on a yearly basis, and it is more of a card to get if you are looking to increase your Delta miles with both the welcome offer and the every day spend you put on the card.

Sign Up Bonus Value: Delta miles are typically worth somewhere between 1 and 1.5 cents per mile (although those looking to redeem for business and first class will see a much higher value). That means the 60,000 miles from the sign up bonus is worth around $750. Learn more about this offer in detail here.

3. Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express

UPDATE: This offer has expired. With the Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express you’ll earn 75,000 bonus miles and 5,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new card within your first three months. On top of that, you’ll also receive a $100 statement credit after you made a Delta purchase with the card within the same three month time period. $195 annual fee. Offer expires on April 3, 2019. *Terms Apply. This is actually the highest publicly available offer we’ve ever seen for this card!

One of the big benefits of this card is that you’ll receive MQMs not only as part of the welcome offer, but you are eligible to receive them by using the card on every day purchases. With this card, you can actually earn up to 20,000 MQMs every year, but it will require a good amount of spend—10,000 MQMs for the first $25,000 in spend, then another 10,000 MQMs after another $25,000 in spend, so $50,000 total in a single calendar year. However, if you are able to spend that, that can get give you a huge boost towards earning Delta status. Additionally, with the MQMs earned, you’ll also earn redeemable miles—the same 10,000 miles for the first $25,000 spent, and then another 10,000 miles for the remaining $25,000 spent.

The other major benefit is that this card comes with an annual companion certificate. Unfortunately though, you do not receive this certificate until your account renewal, so you’ll receive it starting the second year you have the card. Ultimately, this companion certificate allows someone to fly with you on the exact same itinerary for all roundtrip Delta, Delta Connection, and Delta Shuttle flights within the continental US. The one thing to know is that your companion will not fly for completely free—they will still be required to pay the taxes and fees which vary based on the route, but they will never be more than $75 roundtrip. On the plus side, you are also able to gift your companion certificate to someone else, so if you are not able to use it, you can find a friend or family member that will receive value from it.

Sign Up Bonus Value: Delta miles are typically worth somewhere between 1 and 1.5 cents per mile (although those looking to redeem for business and first class will see a much higher value). That means the 60,000 miles from the sign up bonus is worth around $950. Learn more about this offer in detail here.

4. Delta Reserve® Credit Card from American Express: 

UPDATE: This offer has expired. With the Delta Reserve® Credit Card from American Express you can earn up 75,00 bonus miles and 5,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $5,000 in purchases on your new Card within your first three months. $450 annual fee. Offer expires on April 3, 2019. *Terms Apply. This is also the highest publicly available offer we’ve ever seen, but by a lot—typically this offer maxes out at around 40,000 miles, so this is huge!

This card comes with a much higher annual fee, so you’ll need to decide for yourself whether or not the benefits are worth it. Similar to the Platinum card, you’ll be able to earn both MQMs and an annual companion certificate, although the benefits are better. On the MQM front, you’ll actually be able to earn up to 30,000 MQM and 30,000 redeemable miles per year—$30,000 spend required for the first set of 15,000 MQMs/redeemable miles and then another $30,000 spend for the second set of 15,000 MQMs/redeemable miles. For the annual companion certificate, you’ll receive one on every account renewal, but you can actually use it for any cabin class, including first class! If you prefer business/first class seats, then this can definitely provide you with a huge value. If you are able to maximize the benefits, then you can absolutely justify the annual fee, you just need to make sure you’ll actually do so!

Sign Up Bonus Value: Delta miles are typically worth somewhere between 1 and 1.5 cents per mile (although those looking to redeem for business and first class will see a much higher value). That means the 60,000 miles from the sign up bonus is worth around $950. Learn more about this offer in detail here.

4. Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express

UPDATE: This offer has expired.

With the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card you can earn 100,000 points after you spend $5,000 on the card within three months. This card is formerly known as the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Luxury card. Although there is an extremely high $450 annual fee with the card, you might actually see that the benefits are well worth it. In addition to receiving automatic Gold status, Priority Pass Select lounge access, and complimentary Global Access, the two best money saving benefits include:

• $300 statement credit: You can receive up to $300 in statement credits per year for purchases made directly at participating SPG or Marriott hotels. You can use this credit towards the cost of the hotel room or any incidentals put on your hotel bill. All you have to do is put the charge on your credit card and you’ll automatically receive the credit. And even if you use points to pay for your room, this can still cover incidental charges. With this statement credit, this theoretically brings the annual fee down to just $150.
• Free night award: While all Marriott and SPG cards will come with a free night award, the one coming with this card can be used at more properties due to the higher cap. After every anniversary with the card, you’ll receive a free night that can be used at a hotel up to 50,000 points. For a standard room, this means you can stay up to a category 6 which is most likely over $250 a night (and in many cases even more).

Sign Up Bonus Value: Marriott points are typically worth somewhere between 0.8 and 1.2 cents per point, especially since your 5th night is free when you redeem your Marriott points. This means the 100,000 points from the sign up bonus is worth around $1,000. Learn more about this offer in detail here.

5. Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card

UPDATE: This offer has expired.

With the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card you can earn 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.@125 annual fee. Offer ends 04/24/2019. *Terms Apply; This card is formerly known as the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express.

This card doesn’t nearly have as many benefits as the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card described above, although there is one benefit which can make the annual fee worth it year after year. With this card, you’ll also receive a free night away, although it is capped at a hotel costing up to 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. For me personally, I have always been able to get a decent value for my free night certificates making the annual fee well worth it, but you just have to make sure you’ll actually use it yearly.

Sign Up Bonus Value: Marriott points are typically worth somewhere between 0.8 and 1.2 cents per point, especially since your 5th night is free when you redeem your Marriott points. This means the 100,000 points from the sign up bonus is worth around $1,000. Learn more about this offer in detail here.

6. Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card

UPDATE: This offer has expired.

The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card will give you 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. There card comes with a $95 annual fee which is the least expensive card within all three Marriott credit cards currently available for new applicants.

The card benefits are very similar to the business American Express credit card from above, just this is a personal card and a Visa (not an American Express). Again, I personally think the annual fee is worth it as you’ll receive the same free night certificate capped at 35,000 points. I’ve always been able to cover the annual fees on my card by using this free night certificate, plus more.

Sign Up Bonus Value: Marriott points are typically worth somewhere between 0.8 and 1.2 cents per point, especially since your 5th night is free when you redeem your Marriott points. This means the 100,000 points from the sign up bonus is worth around $1,000. Learn more about this offer in detail here.

Overall…

One of the easiest ways to travel for free is through increased credit card offers. Right now, there are an unbelievable amount of amazing offers so it is a great opportunity to increase your point and mile balance! Of course, only apply for the number of cards where you can meet the minimum spend and pay off your balances in full every month—be responsible!

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