11 Miles & Points Credit Card Updates You May Not Know About

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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.

There have been updates to miles and points credit cards in the past weeks, so I thought I’d summarize them in a separate post.  I’ve updated the Airlines, Hotels and Bank Points credit card tabs with these changes.

1.   60,000 Points With Ink Bold® & Ink Plus® [Expired]

Update:  This offer is no longer available.

In case you missed it (tongue firmly in cheek!) you can get 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points with the Chase Ink Plus® and the Chase Ink Bold® after spending $5,000 within 3 months.

This offer is available for only 5 more days and ends on Saturday, June 22, 2013.  This is one of the best offers which I’ve seen on the Chase Ink Bold® and Ink Plus®.

60,000 points on the Chase Ink Plus® or Ink Bold® will get you:

• Gift cards or Cash Back – $600 value
• Travel through the Ultimate Rewards Portal – $750 value
• Transfer to Southwest – $1,000 value
• Transfer to hotel and airline partners – $750+ value

You can read more about the limited time offer for the Chase Ink cards in this post.

2.   Chase Southwest 50,000 Point Cards

All 4 versions of the Southwest card have a 50,000 point sign up bonus after spending $2,000 within 3 months.  I wrote about this earlier and updated the links on the Airline credit card tab.  The 50,000 point offer has been around every 3 to 4 months for the last 2 years.

The points from the credit card currently count towards the 110,000 points needed (within 1 calendar year) for the Southwest Companion Pass.  The Southwest Companion Pass is one of the best airline perks available!

3.   Chase United 50,000 Miles

I’ve written that I received a targeted offer for a 50,000 mile United personal card after spending $2,000 within 3 months and an additional 5,000 miles for adding an authorized user.  You can also get this offer at Chase branches.  My referral link is for only 30,000 miles and isn’t the better offer.

A few days ago, I wrote that I also got a targeted offer on the United business card for 50,000 miles after spending $2,000 within the first 3 months.

The United cards gets you 1 free bag on United flights, priority boarding, and has no foreign transaction fees.

But unlike the personal version of the United card, you earn 2 points per $1 for dining, gas, and shopping at Office Supply stores with the United business card.

Amol writes more on how to see these offers complete with screenshots and boxes.

4.   40,000 American Airlines Miles

The links to the 50,000 miles American Airlines cards have expired, but the best current offer is for 40,000 miles after spending $3,000 within 3 months on the Platinum Select American Airlines World MasterCard or the Platinum Select Visa.

The best offer for the Gold version of the Citi American Airlines card is 25,000 miles from this FlyerTalk link.

5.   Alaska Airlines 30,000 Miles

View From the Wing found a 30,000 mile offer for the Alaska Air card.  You get 25,000 miles after the 1st purchase and another 5,000 miles for being a Bank of America customer (which you will be after being approved for the card)!

The Airline credit card tab also has another offer for 25,000 miles AND a $100 statement credit which is the better offer to me because I wouldn’t pay 2 cents for an Alaska Airlines mile.  By giving up the $100 statement credit for an extra 5,000 miles with the 30,000 mile offer, you are in effect paying 2 cents ($100 / 5,000 miles) for 1 Alaska Air mile.

6.   Bank of America Hawaiian Airlines – 35,000 Miles

The links to both the Bank of America and Bank of Hawaii personal cards for Hawaiian airlines have expired.  This usually happens every 3 to 4 months with Bank of America links and it is just a matter of finding new links.  Except that there are no new links this time!

I called Bank of America to apply for the card on the phone, and the rep told me that they weren’t processing any more applications for the card.  She didn’t know (or wasn’t telling!) if this was temporary or permanent.

But the Hawaiian Airlines business card for 35,000 miles after your 1st purchase is still working on the Business Credit Card tab.  There is a $75 fee – $50 for the company and $25 for each card.

You can also transfer Hawaiian Airlines miles to Hilton at a 1:2 ratio, so 35,000 Hawaiian Air miles becomes 70,000 Hilton miles.

7.   Barclaycard Lufthansa card – 50,000 Miles

The 50,000 mile offer on the Barclays card is ending on June 30, 2013.  Read my post on 18 Ways to Use Lufthansa Miles for all you need to know about Lufthansa miles.

You can get 2 roundtrip coach awards within the US on United or US Air, 1.5 business class trips within the US on United, or a 1-way business class award from the US to Europe with ~50,000 Lufthansa miles.

8.   Chase Hyatt Card – 2 Free Nights

I wrote about how to get a $50 statement credit when you make a reservation and then apply for the Hyatt card.  This is better than the regular offer which doesn’t have the $50 statement credit.

I like the Hyatt credit card because of the two free nights at any Hyatt hotel after spending $1,000 within 3 months and because you get a free night at any category 1 to 4 Hyatt hotel every year after your first year.  The card also has no foreign transaction fees and earns 5X points at Hyatt hotels.

9.   Bank of America Virgin Atlantic – 50,000 Miles

This isn’t new, but readers have been asking if the offer has changed because they received emails with this offer.

You get 20,000 Virgin Atlantic miles after your 1st purchase and 25,000 extra miles after spending $2,500 within 3 months.  And you can get 5,000 extra miles for adding 2 authorized users to your account.

You can also transfer Virgin Atlantic miles to Hilton at a 1:2 ratio, so 50,000 Virgin Atlantic miles becomes 100,000 Hilton points.  This is more points than you get with either the Citi or American Express official co-branded Hilton cards!

10.   Barclays Virgin America

The links to the Barclays Virgin America airline card have died, and I removed them from the Airline credit card tab.   Word on the street is that the contract between Barclays and Virgin America ended and is being renegotiated.

Since Virgin America is likely going to make more money from their credit card than from actually flying planes, I suspect they are playing hardball.

11.   Chase Fairmont

Rom’s Deals wrote about an offer for the Fairmont hotel card which waives the first year annual fee.

The Fairmont card has no foreign transaction fees, and gets you Fairmont Premier status (room and suite upgrades on paid stays) in addition to two free nights for 2 (includes breakfast) after spending $1,000 within 3 months.  You also get 1 free night after spending $12,000 within one calendar year.

However, there aren’t that many Fairmont hotels and some hotels don’t have very good award availability.

PS:  I will be in meetings today, so I won’t get to the comments until the evening!