Big Bonus CC Suggestions - Running Out of Options

[steevven1]

Wife and I have EACH signed up for the following CCs and reaped the excellent bonuses. No complaints, huge success, credit scores still sky high. We are not eligible to do any of them a second time right now. I'm looking to sign up for another card and get another signing bonus, but I'm running out of options! I have done the really good ones! Am I missing any good ones?

Chase Sapphire Preferred
Chase Ink Business Plus
Barclaycard Arrival+ World Elite
CapitalOne Venture
TD Cash
Chase Freedom
CapitalOne Spark Business
AmEx BlueCash
AmEx OPEN Business
AmEx Hilton HHonors
Chase Marriott Rewards

I am primarily interested in cash, highly interested in redeem-anywhere travel bonuses (ala CapitalOne Venture), somewhat interested in hotels (only if far better than cash in amount), and NOT interested in airfare. I am only interested in how big the signing bonus is; I can meet most any spending requirement, and I do not care about ongoing cash back rates for continued use.

Another note: I cannot get any more Chase cards due to the 5/24 rule. Would it be smart for one of us to "cool it" so we could re-qualify for those one day? Or are there enough other great offers to not care?

Thank you so much in advance, and hopefully this will help some others out there with the same problem!

[markstache]

Citi Prestige is pretty good. Be aware that the Citi rewards system is not as good as Chase's. To get full $0.01 per point value, you have to buy gift cards (statement credits and shopping with points at Amazon only get you around 80% of that). So either know that you want to spend your bonus at Home Depot or Target, or discount the sign up bonus by about 20% if you want to get it as cash.

[Catbert]

If you want to add to your stash of Hilton points look at the Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature card.  Right now 2k/3 months will get you 75,000 points. 

I thinking having one of you cool it for awhile so Chase cards are available to you eventually is a good idea. 

[charis]

I thought the IHG bonus was pretty good for hotel stays.  We stayed in a beautiful one bedroom timeshare for a relatively low amount of points.

[JackieTreehorn]

Hotels:
Club Carlson Premier Rewards Visa Signature (around 100k after min spend)
Amex Hilton Surpass (110k after min spend + Hilton Gold Status which is nice for the free breakfast)
Amex Starwood
BofA Virgin Atlantic (a crapload of Virgin Atlantic miles that you then transfer to Hhonors points at 1:1.5)
Any of the Amex Membership Rewards cards

A few of those have annual fees not waived 1st yr.  Don't know what your position on paying AF's, but the value far outweighs for the most part.

Chase supposedly has a "Sapphire Reserve" card coming out in the next month with a 100,000 UR bonus.  If you're like me your SOL because of 5/24 but at least I can get my wife hooked up. I personally wouldn't stop churning just for 5/24 since I don't think it's worth it.  Checkout the Frequent Miler's blog as he may have some ideas about getting around 5/24. Also, allegedly not all of chase's cards are subject to it (e.g. IHG card).

[kendallf]

I feel for you; I'm also far down the chain of cards and have used up most of the usual suspects in the past 3 years.  There are always new offers, though; I use Nerdwallet to evaluate and pick my cards. You can sort by bonus amount, annual fee, and several other criteria.

There are a bunch of Citi and Barclay cards you haven't hit yet, as well as lesser known ones like PNC, 5th 3rd, and the like.

[charis]

To add another, we just signed up for the Citi Prestige.  The $450 annual fee is not waived, but if you use the full $500 airline reimbursement ($250 per calendar) you are already up $50 on top of the signing bonus (40K points).  And apparently there are many more benefits that I haven't digested yet.

[bacchi]

Last time I looked, the newly expanded 5/24 rule didn't apply to cards without a business card as well (like IHG, as mentioned above).

Chase AARP $200 from $500/3.

Chase Hyatt 2 nights anywhere + $50.

MLB BoA $200 from $500/3.

BoA ABA $175 from $500/3.

US Bank Cash+ $175 from $500/3.

[Shor]

You can close CC accounts and sign up for them again for the promotion some time later. Review the promotion details and it will describe it in the fineprint restrictions that you can't have had XXX type card open in the last X months to be eligible for the promotion.
 At least, that's what I gathered from all of the promotions where I've actually read the fine print details..

[NotJen]

Like you, I've opened a lot of cards in the last two years, and it's getting harder to find new ones.

Right now, I'm working on the minimum spend for the PNC Premier Traveler card.  $300 bonus if redeemed for travel - hope to use it on a rental car and non-chain hotel costs.

ETA: Also, those BoA $200 for $500 spend are a pretty good deal.

[secondcor521]

You can close CC accounts and sign up for them again for the promotion some time later. Review the promotion details and it will describe it in the fineprint restrictions that you can't have had XXX type card open in the last X months to be eligible for the promotion.
 At least, that's what I gathered from all of the promotions where I've actually read the fine print details..

True for most issuers except AMEX, which has a once-per-lifetime rule.

[monstermonster]

I would refer you to the golden places to ask about CC signup bonuses: flyertalk and reddit churning.

Here's the spreadsheet of mastery with all the best offers links right now and which ones follow the 2/5 chase rule.

[Catbert]

Doctor of credit.com is another place to look for some of the smaller cards that might be what you're looking for.

[steevven1]

Thanks to all for the replies. Have been reading and appreciating.

[slappy]

Thanks for this thread! I just signed up for the MLB BoA card. :)

[Paul der Krake]

In my humble opinion, nobody should be running out of cards to apply to. Why? Because there are about 15-20 cards that are really worth it, and you should spread them out in a period of 2-3 years so that you can apply for them again.

Do more than that and it becomes significantly harder to get approved for the fantastic offers that come once in a while.

Make wise, strategic picks, and don't be (too) greedy.

[ender]

Posting to follow.

Just starting the journey (CSP was the first one, we'll hit the spend for that before too long) but will need more options before too long, too.

[Schaefer Light]

I would refer you to the golden places to ask about CC signup bonuses: flyertalk and reddit churning.

Here's the spreadsheet of mastery with all the best offers links right now and which ones follow the 2/5 chase rule.

Thanks for the spreadsheet link.  Question - where does it show which cards follow the Chase 5/24 rule?

[bacchi]

I would refer you to the golden places to ask about CC signup bonuses: flyertalk and reddit churning.

Here's the spreadsheet of mastery with all the best offers links right now and which ones follow the 2/5 chase rule.

Thanks for the spreadsheet link.  Question - where does it show which cards follow the Chase 5/24 rule?

Any Chase branded card (Sapphire, Freedom, etc.) has always been under 5/24.

Any Chase co-branded card is now under 5/24 IF it also has a business card. The Chase Marriott, for example, is one of these; Chase IHG is not.

[Schaefer Light]

I would refer you to the golden places to ask about CC signup bonuses: flyertalk and reddit churning.

Here's the spreadsheet of mastery with all the best offers links right now and which ones follow the 2/5 chase rule.

Thanks for the spreadsheet link.  Question - where does it show which cards follow the Chase 5/24 rule?

Any Chase branded card (Sapphire, Freedom, etc.) has always been under 5/24.

Any Chase co-branded card is now under 5/24 IF it also has a business card. The Chase Marriott, for example, is one of these; Chase IHG is not.

Thanks for clearing that up.

[Rubic]

Consider the Wells Fargo World Propel card:

http://www.doctorofcredit.com/working-link-wells-fargo-propel-world-40000-signup-bonus/

It's best to first have a relationship with Wells Fargo.  I have my mortgage with them.  The 40,000 points after $3K minimum spend can be converted to a $400 check, plus you get a $100 travel credit (I purchased an American Airlines gift card) which is immediately reimbursed.

[JackieTreehorn]

FWIW there are people that have gotten many BofA cards at one shot. 

Some guy on reddit hit the MLB card with the $200 bonus for $500 of spend for like 12 cards or something and was baffled when he got shut down.  Obviously I wouldn't do that but I don't think you should be running out of cards anytime soon.

[Zoot Allures]

I am primarily interested in cash

Have you thought about doing bank account bonuses? There are a lot of them floating around. The upside is that there's usually no hard credit pull involved, and then you have additional accounts to use for moving money around, which can be useful for some people (any MSers in tha house??). The downside is that you get a 1099 for the bonus income, and sometimes there's some busywork involved in avoiding monthly account fees.

[steevven1]

I am primarily interested in cash

Have you thought about doing bank account bonuses? There are a lot of them floating around. The upside is that there's usually no hard credit pull involved, and then you have additional accounts to use for moving money around, which can be useful for some people (any MSers in tha house??). The downside is that you get a 1099 for the bonus income, and sometimes there's some busywork involved in avoiding monthly account fees.

Sure, I'm interested. Any good suggestions?

[steevven1]

Consider the Wells Fargo World Propel card:

http://www.doctorofcredit.com/working-link-wells-fargo-propel-world-40000-signup-bonus/

It's best to first have a relationship with Wells Fargo.  I have my mortgage with them.  The 40,000 points after $3K minimum spend can be converted to a $400 check, plus you get a $100 travel credit (I purchased an American Airlines gift card) which is immediately reimbursed.

Wow, awesome hidden offer! Thanks so much!

[naners]

Posting to follow.

[slappy]

I am primarily interested in cash

Have you thought about doing bank account bonuses? There are a lot of them floating around. The upside is that there's usually no hard credit pull involved, and then you have additional accounts to use for moving money around, which can be useful for some people (any MSers in tha house??). The downside is that you get a 1099 for the bonus income, and sometimes there's some busywork involved in avoiding monthly account fees.

Sure, I'm interested. Any good suggestions?

I was going to suggest the bank option, too, but some of them are kind of small.  I recently did the Santander bank $150 bonus and it was pretty easy.

[Zoot Allures]

I am primarily interested in cash

Have you thought about doing bank account bonuses? There are a lot of them floating around. The upside is that there's usually no hard credit pull involved, and then you have additional accounts to use for moving money around, which can be useful for some people (any MSers in tha house??). The downside is that you get a 1099 for the bonus income, and sometimes there's some busywork involved in avoiding monthly account fees.

Sure, I'm interested. Any good suggestions?

Doctor of Credit maintains an impressively thorough list here: http://www.doctorofcredit.com/best-bank-account-bonuses/

A lot of them are state-specific. I've recently gotten bonuses for Keybank Checking ($300) and Chase Business Checking ($500).

[slappy]

I am primarily interested in cash

Have you thought about doing bank account bonuses? There are a lot of them floating around. The upside is that there's usually no hard credit pull involved, and then you have additional accounts to use for moving money around, which can be useful for some people (any MSers in tha house??). The downside is that you get a 1099 for the bonus income, and sometimes there's some busywork involved in avoiding monthly account fees.

Sure, I'm interested. Any good suggestions?

https://www.santanderbank.com/us/pages/personal/checking-accounts-01

(Not a referral link, I just closed my account with them yesterday.)

[jamesbond007]

This a tangential but won't your credit score take a beating when you keep applying for these cards? Just curious.

[Zoot Allures]

This a tangential but won't your credit score take a beating when you keep applying for these cards? Just curious.

Common misconception. Your credit score does go down a few points when you apply for a new card, but then your score tends to go up as your available credit increases, among other factors. I've opened about 20 new cards in the last few years, and my credit score is higher now than when I started.

[johnny847]

Consider the Wells Fargo World Propel card:

http://www.doctorofcredit.com/working-link-wells-fargo-propel-world-40000-signup-bonus/

It's best to first have a relationship with Wells Fargo.  I have my mortgage with them.  The 40,000 points after $3K minimum spend can be converted to a $400 check, plus you get a $100 travel credit (I purchased an American Airlines gift card) which is immediately reimbursed.

Wow, awesome hidden offer! Thanks so much!

Just a tip on the $100 travel credit for this card. There's a mobile app - United MileagePlusX that lets you earn United miles for purchases of gift cards to varoius stores.
For Visa and Mastercard, the merchant code (MCC) for a purchase through the MPX app is generally the same as the MCC of the store you're buying a gc for (so Office Depot codes as an office supply store, Best Buy as an electronics store, etc). But for Amex, the MCC is always that of an airline.
So you can buy a gc to any store offered through the MPX app and get it reimbursed as an airline charge for the WF $100 credit.

I bought $5 and $95 Amazon gc's through the MPX app with the WF Amex and got the credit (the $5 was to test it out first).

This trick works for any Amex, including the Premier Rewards Gold and the Platinum (but those you have to choose your airline beforehand - so choose United).

[SomedayStache]

Posting to follow. 

I'm also over the 5/24 Chase rule, and have become lackadaisical in my approach.  I've been snatching up the $100 bonus for $500 spend offers because they are cheap and easy.  Might be time to get more methodical.

[Lanthiriel]

Does anyone know if BoA is still doing the $200 cash back on the $500 spend? I can't seem to find a link that gives that specific offer.

[slappy]

Does anyone know if BoA is still doing the $200 cash back on the $500 spend? I can't seem to find a link that gives that specific offer.

Yes on the MLB card. I got there through the Reddit link posted above. It was one of the first links on the reddit page.

https://consumer.bankofamerica.com/USCCapp/Ctl/entry?sc=VACPPL#b

[Lanthiriel]

Does anyone know if BoA is still doing the $200 cash back on the $500 spend? I can't seem to find a link that gives that specific offer.

Yes on the MLB card. I got there through the Reddit link posted above. It was one of the first links on the reddit page.

https://consumer.bankofamerica.com/USCCapp/Ctl/entry?sc=VACPPL#b

Awesome! Thank you!

[N]

following :)