8 Recommended Credit Card Offers for April

UPDATE: This offer has expired. 

Since credit card offers are constantly changing, I wanted to point out my top 8 offers for this month. Of course this list does not include all offers currently available (you can see a compiled list here), but what I believe to be the most favorable offers at the time including new offers just announced and those expiring soon.

My personal favorite credit cards for April 2019:

Ink Business Preferred Credit Card

The Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card provides the highest offer you’ll find amongst all of the Chase Ultimate Reward credit cards. If you are trying to increased your account balance quickly, this is a great card.

• Welcome Offer: Earn 80,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 within the first 3 months. $95 annual fee. You can learn more about this card and all of the benefits here.

With any of the “premier” Chase Ultimate Reward cards, which includes this card, you can transfer your points to the following partners: Hyatt, Marriott, IHG, JetBlue, Southwest, Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, United, Singapore Airlines, AirFrance/KLM, Virgin Atlantic. Since I value my Chase Ultimate Reward points at 2 cents per point, I put a $1,600 valuation on this particular welcome offer.

In addition to earning a ton of points with the welcome offer, you’ll also earn 3x points on travel, internet and phone services purchases. This is the card I use for all my airfare purchases due to the trip insurance and benefits that you receive simply for paying with this card (as well as some other Chase credit cards). While there are some American Express credit cards that will earn you 5x points on airfare, you will not receive the same travel benefits (for example if your flight gets cancelled and you are stuck paying for a hotel, Chase will cover you, Amex will not!).

By far the best perk that comes with this card is the cell phone protection. As long as you pay your bill with this card, your card is covered from theft or damage (3x per year, $100 deductible). This actually covers everyone on your bill! With two little kids are home, I unfortunately have used this benefit quite a bit.

Ink Business Cashâ„  Credit Card

If you are looking for a no annual fee card that will earn you Chase Ultimate Reward points, then the Chase Ink Business Cash Credit Card is a great option. Typically cards that come with no annual fees carry pretty low welcome offers, but this is quite the exception. With this offer you’ll earn at least a $500 statement credit or if you have a “premier” Chase Ultimate Reward account you can get even more value by transferring your points to a partner loyalty program through this roundabout method.

• Welcome Offer: Earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 within the first 3 months. No annual fee. You can learn more about this card and all of the benefits here.

With this card you’ll earn 5x points/5% cash back on purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services (up to $25,000 per account anniversary year) as well as 2x points/2% cash back on purchases at gas stations and restaurants (up to $25,000 per account anniversary year).

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Keeping with the Chase Ultimate Reward theme is the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. While the other two listed above are business credit cards, this is a personal card which might be more desirable for folks. This card also just upped the welcome offer another 10k points (although the annual fee is no longer waived the first year) — but it is still overall a higher offer.

• Welcome Offer: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 within the first 3 months. $95 annual fee. You can learn more about this card and all of the benefits here.

For those looking to start out in the points and miles world, this is actually my #1 recommended card to get first. I absolutely love accruing Chase Ultimate Reward points as the points are extremely flexible — you can either use the points to book travel through the Chase travel portal or you can transfer points directly to a partner loyalty program (such as Hyatt, Marriott, IHG, JetBlue, Southwest, Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, United, Singapore Airlines, AirFrance/KLM, Virgin Atlantic). I value my Chase Ultimate Reward points at about 2 cents per point, so this welcome offer alone will get you $1,200 towards travel.

Barclaycard Arrival® Plus World Elite Mastercard®

If you are looking for a flexible card that will offer you the opportunity to not have to worry about black out dates and award availability, the points earned on from the Barclaycard Arrival® Plus World Elite Mastercard® can be redeemed for anything travel related. You’ll earn 2x points per dollar spent on all purchases and you’ll redeem your points where 1 point = 1 cent towards travel. This means the points earned from this welcome offer are worth a fixed $700 towards travel. This is also the best offer we’ve ever seen for the card!

• Welcome Offer: Enjoy 70,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first 90 days. $89 annual fee waived for the first year. *Terms Apply. You can learn more about this card and all of the benefits here.

More recently I personally redeemed my points to stay at the base of a ski mountain in New Hampshire. Since there are not many options to use hotel points at ski resorts in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine, being able to use flexible points is ideal! Another popular usage of using these points is on Disney World park tickets.

IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card

This highest ever offer for the IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card is coming to an end May 1st, so if you’ve been meaning to apply for this card, now is the time to do so! This is one of those cards where the yearly perks are absolutely worth keeping the card open as they absolutely make up for the annual fee, plus more.

• Welcome Offer: Earn up to 120,000 points — Earn 80,000 points after you spend $2,000 on the card within the first 3 months + an additional 40,000 points after you spend $5,000 total on the card within the first 6 month. $89 annual fee. You can learn more about this card and all of the benefits here.

My personal favorite perk is that you’ll receive a free night on every account anniversary which can be redeemed for a hotel costing up to 40,000 IHG points. I have used this free night certificate at properties costing north of $200/night, so this is a great benefit of the card. Also with this card, if you redeem your points for a free night stay, you’ll receive your 4th night free. And if you have the old IHG select card as well, you can combine the 4th night free benefit with the 10% rebate giving you 32% off all point reservations. The card also comes with complimentary Global Entry. Although this is not a card I’d use for everyday spend, it is a card with very promising benefits.

Unitedâ„  Explorer Card

The United Explorer Card just upped their offer to 60k points. While this is not the highest offer we’ve seen in the past for the card, it does come with a lower minimum spend requirement.

• Welcome Offer: Earn up to 60,000 miles — 40,000 miles after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months + 20,000 miles after you spend a total of $8,000 on purchases in the first 6 months. $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95. You can learn more about this card and all of the benefits here.

One reason I love this card is that it offers complimentary Global Entry which typically only comes as a benefit with cards that carry much higher annual fees. With this card, you get it right away and the annual fee is actually waived for the first year, putting you immediately $100 ahead. This card also will give you and one companion traveling on the same reservation their first checked bag for free.

Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card

The Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card, formerly known as the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express, has a limited time offer that is set to expire very soon. Unfortunately though, if you had this SPG co-branded card before in the past you are not eligible due to American Express’s “once in a lifetime” policy.

• Welcome Offer: Limited Time Offer: Earn 100,000 bonus 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. You can learn more about this card and all of the benefits here.

With this credit card, you’ll receive 1 free night every year after your card account anniversary. You can redeem the free night at a hotel that costs 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy points or less. I personally have always been able to get anywhere between a $150-$250 value from this free night certificate making the annual fee worth it.

One of the best ways to use your Marriott Bonvoy points is in increment of five night stays. With Marriott, you’ll receive your 5th night free when redeeming points, so this will definitely allow your points to go even further.

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card

The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card is Marriott’s brand new card which appeared after the Marriott / SPG merger. Although it has the same welcome offer as the card above, it is issued by Chase (not Amex) and is a personal card. Although the limited time offer for this card is set to expire soon, you do have a few more weeks.

• Welcome Offer: Limited Time Offer: Earn 100,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points after you use your new Card to make $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. $95 annual fee. Offer ends May 2, 2019. You can learn more about this card and all of the benefits here.

Since this is a brand new card, unless you’ve applied for this particular card in the past few months, you are not already a cardmember. Unfortunately though Marriott put some restrictions in place where you cannot apply for some cards if you have one of their other credit cards. This means if you are not eligible for this card if you…

• are a current card member, or were a previous card member within the last 30 days, of Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card (also known as The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express);
• are a current or previous card member of either Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card (also known as The Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express) or Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card (also known as the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Luxury Card), and received a new card member bonus or upgrade bonus in the last 24 months; or
• applied and were approved for Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card (also known as The Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express) or Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card (also known as the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Luxury Card) within the last 90 days.

The card benefits are very similar to the business American Express credit card from above, although the annual fee is $30 less which is quite significant. Again, I personally think the annual fee is worth it as the free night you receive on an annual basis covers the cost, plus more.

What are some of your favorite offers?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As always, thanks for supporting the blog and enjoy traveling on a deal!