What Are the Best Current Credit Card Deals?

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Update:   One or more card offers in this post are no longer available.  Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers. 

Million Mile Secrets reader, Bansi, emailed:

Which credit cards currently have the best deals?  We are making a few large purchases for our home.

There are several cards offering terrific sign-up bonuses, including a few best-ever offers that are only available for a limited time.

I’ll share top travel cards with excellent sign-up bonuses!

Top Travel Card Sign-Up Bonuses

Link:   Hot Deals

Whether you’re new to miles & points hobby or have been doing this for awhile, these cards can help boost your account balances so you can achieve your travel goals!

And folks with a large upcoming purchase, like reader Bansi, have an easy way to meet minimum spending requirements for the lucrative sign-up bonuses!

Emily and I don’t receive a commission for all of these cards.  But we’ll always share the best deals with our readers!

1.   AMEX Starwood

Link:   My Review of the Best-Ever 35,000 Point Sign-Up Bonus With AMEX Starwood Cards

Link:   Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express

Link:   Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express

Through April 5, 2017, you can earn up to 35,000 Starwood points on the personal and small business versions of the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express cards after meeting tiered minimum spending requirements.

With the personal AMEX Starwood card, you’ll earn 25,000 Starwood points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.  And 10,000 more Starwood points for spending another $2,000 on purchases within the first 6 months.

And with the AMEX Starwood small business card, you’ll earn 25,000 Starwood points after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.  And 10,000 more Starwood points for spending another $3,000 on purchases within the first 6 months.

Top Travel Card Sign Up Bonuses
You Can Use the 35,000-Point Sign-Up Bonus From the AMEX Starwood Card for Free Nights at Great Hotels Like the W Los Angeles – West Beverly Hills!

You’ll also get:

The $95 annual fee is waived the first year on both cards.

Note:   American Express only allows folks to get the sign-up bonus ONCE per person, per lifetime on ALL their cards.

Check out my previous post about using the 35,000-point sign-up bonus for a week-long vacation at terrific Starwood hotels!

Or consider using Starwood points for:

2.   Chase Ink Business Preferred

Link:   Chase Ink Business Preferred

Link:   My Review of the Chase Ink Business Preferred

When you sign-up for the Chase Ink Business Preferred, you’ll earn 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

You’ll also get:

The card has a $95 annual fee (waived the first year when you apply in-branch).

Keep in mind, there will be a targeted, in-branch ONLY offer beginning March 12, 2017, with a 100,000-point sign-up bonus.  But only very few will qualify because you have to be a “Business Managed Customer” (specific businesses overseen by Branch Relationship Managers).

The current online sign-up bonus is worth at least $1,000 toward travel.  That’s because Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth 1.25 cents each when you redeem for travel through Chase’s travel portal.

Top Travel Card Sign Up Bonuses
Use Chase Ultimate Rewards Points With Your Ink Business Preferred to Book a JetBlue Mint Business Class Ticket Through the Chase Travel Portal!

Or, you can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to travel partners like Hyatt or Singapore Airlines, where they can be worth even more!

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are my favorite kind of flexible points!

But don’t forget about Chase’s 5/24 rule.  It’s now tougher to be approved for most Chase cards if you’ve opened ~5+ cards from any bank (except these business cards) in the past 24 months.

3.   AMEX Hilton

Link:   Hilton Honors™ Surpass® Card from American Express

Link:   My Review of the Hilton Honors™ Surpass® Card from American Express

Folks looking for more Hilton points can do well with the Hilton Honors™ Surpass® Card from American Express.  It comes with 100,000 Hilton points after you spend $3,000 in 3 months.  This matches the highest-ever offer I’ve seen for this card!  With this card, you’ll earn:

The card comes with a $75 annual fee, NOT waived the first year.

To get the sign-up bonus, visit this Running With Miles post and click the sign-up link on his site.

Top Travel Card Sign Up Bonuses
You Can Use the Sign-Up Bonus From the AMEX Hilton Surpass Card to Book a Night at the Beautiful Conrad Maldives!

4.   Chase Southwest

Link:   Chase Southwest Premier Small Business Card

Link:   Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card

Link:   Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card

I’ve written how you can easily earn the Southwest Companion Pass with the sign-up bonuses from a Chase Southwest personal and small business card.

Emily and I think the Companion Pass is the best deal in travel!  Because a friend or family member can travel with you for almost free on paid and award ticket for up to 2 years!

Top Travel Card Sign Up Bonuses
The Southwest Companion Pass Is the Best Deal in Travel! And You Can Earn It With Just 2 Chase Southwest Card Sign-Up Bonuses!

Here’s a comparison of the 3 Chase Southwest cards.

Southwest Premier CardSouthwest Premier Business CardSouthwest Plus Card
Sign-Up Bonus Points50,00060,00050,000
Spending• 2X Southwest points with Southwest
• 1X Southwest points on all other purchases
• 2X Southwest points with Southwest
• 1X Southwest points on all other purchases
• 2X Southwest points with Southwest
• 1X Southwest points on all other purchases
Anniversary Points6,0006,0003,000
Foreign Transaction FeesNoneNone3%
Annual Fee$99$99$69

You’ll earn 50,000 Southwest points with the Southwest Plus and Premier personal cards after you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.  The Southwest Premier small business card requires $3,000 on purchases in the same time frame, and you’ll earn 60,000 Southwest points.  All these points DO count toward the Companion Pass!

These cards are impacted by the Chase 5/24 rule.

5.   Chase Sapphire Reserve

Link:   Chase Sapphire Reserve

Link:   My Review of the Chase Sapphire Reserve

With the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you’ll earn 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.  

That’s worth $750+ in travel.  Because when you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth 1.5 cents each on travel booked through Chase.

Top Travel Card Sign Up Bonuses
Use Flexible Chase Ultimate Rewards Points From the Chase Sapphire Reserve To Get Big Travel!

With this card, you also get perks like:

The card comes with a $450 annual fee, but can be offset with perks like the $300 statement credit and airport lounge access.

Plus, you can get more value from your points by transferring them to valuable partners, like Southwest or Hyatt!

6.   Chase IHG

Link:   Chase IHG® Rewards Club Select Credit Card

Link:   My Review of the Chase IHG Card

I like the Chase IHG card because you get a free night certificate each year on your cardmember anniversary.  And you can use it at ANY IHG hotel in the world!  That’s one of the reasons why I keep this card in my wallet!

You’ll earn 60,000 IHG points when you open a Chase IHG card and spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of opening your account.  Plus, you’ll get a $50 statement credit after your first purchase.

And you can earn an additional 5,000 IHG points when you add an authorized user and make a purchase in the same timeframe.

Top Travel Card Sign Up Bonuses
Use the Chase IHG Free Night or Points to Stay at the InterContinental Bora Bora Resort Thalasso Spa!

With this card, you’ll also get:

  • IHG Platinum elite status (free upgrades, priority check-in, and elite rollover nights)
  • A free night at any IHG hotel worldwide each year of card membership
  • 5X IHG points for every $1 you spend at IHG hotels
  • 2X IHG points per $1 you spend at restaurants, grocery stores, and gas stations
  • 1X IHG point per $1 you spend on everything else
  • 10% rebate on redeemed points (up to 100,000 IHG points a year)
  • NO foreign transaction fees

The Chase IHG card has a $49 annual fee which is waived the 1st year.  But it’s easily offset with the free night on your card anniversary.

You can also get this card even if you’ve been approved for more than 5 credit cards in the past 24 months, because it is NOT impacted by Chase’s 5/24 rule.

Bottom Line

Folks looking to get Big Travel with Small Money can do well with these cards:

These cards come with excellent sign-up bonuses!  And if you have a large upcoming purchase, it will make it easier to meet the minimum spending requirements.  But keep in mind some offers are only available for a limited time!

Not all these cards earn us a commission, but we’ll always tell you about the best deals!

Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)

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