Which credit card bonus to chase?

[FIREin2018]

My insurance (house, car, umbrella) is due in June.
It's $2k + $1k/month spend is about 3k-5k, depending on when I get the card.

But which card to chase?
If I get one with 1st year fee waived, how easy is it to cancel the card at end of 1st year?

[kpd905]

Chase Sapphire Preferred is a good one to start with.  60,000 points after $4,000 spend, can be transferred to many different partners or used for $750 in the Chase travel portal.  As far as cancelling after a year, it's about a 2 minute phone call with Chase.

[GilesMM]

Wells Fargo 2% cash back.

[sonofsven]

My insurance (house, car, umbrella) is due in June.
It's $2k + $1k/month spend is about 3k-5k, depending on when I get the card.

But which card to chase?
If I get one with 1st year fee waived, how easy is it to cancel the card at end of 1st year?

I've had succes calling the bank when the yearly fee is due, or right after it posts to my account, and either canceling the card or downgrading it to another fee free card in their stable and having the fee eliminated.

[Catbert]

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/best-current-credit-card-sign-bonuses/

Doctor of Credit should give you some good ideas.  I like that site bc he doesn't make money off of credit card referrals.  The "best" bonus is one that meets your goals.  Maybe your work pays for airfare but you want to extend the trip and need hotel points.  OTOH you might want to visit family who will put you up but you want to fly Southwest for free to get there.   

[Duke03]

How comfortable are you with opening a "Business" credit card....?

[Scandium]

Chase Sapphire Preferred is a good one to start with.  60,000 points after $4,000 spend, can be transferred to many different partners or used for $750 in the Chase travel portal.  As far as cancelling after a year, it's about a 2 minute phone call with Chase.

If you'll use the points for travel, I'd argue for Sapphire reserve. It's a $550 annual fee, less $300 in travel credit. But gives you 1.5x on points when you redeem for travel. So the 60k points = $900 in travel. Also get the Ink preferred for 100k points. That 160k points redeemed for travel is $2400. (minus annual fees of $345).
oh, and it'll also pay for TSA percheck

[tj]

Chase Sapphire Preferred is a good one to start with.  60,000 points after $4,000 spend, can be transferred to many different partners or used for $750 in the Chase travel portal.  As far as cancelling after a year, it's about a 2 minute phone call with Chase.

If you'll use the points for travel, I'd argue for Sapphire reserve. It's a $550 annual fee, less $300 in travel credit. But gives you 1.5x on points when you redeem for travel. So the 60k points = $900 in travel. Also get the Ink preferred for 100k points. That 160k points redeemed for travel is $2400. (minus annual fees of $345).
oh, and it'll also pay for TSA percheck

My understanding is the 1.5% redemption is only if you redeem through their portal, so it's not like you'll be getting a 50% discount on the cheapest travel prices that you can find.

To me, the Sapphire Reserve bonus is not high enough for what it's annual fee is, but I guess it could make sense if you generate a ton of UR points and travel a lot.

[dandarc]

Chase Sapphire Preferred is a good one to start with.  60,000 points after $4,000 spend, can be transferred to many different partners or used for $750 in the Chase travel portal.  As far as cancelling after a year, it's about a 2 minute phone call with Chase.

If you'll use the points for travel, I'd argue for Sapphire reserve. It's a $550 annual fee, less $300 in travel credit. But gives you 1.5x on points when you redeem for travel. So the 60k points = $900 in travel. Also get the Ink preferred for 100k points. That 160k points redeemed for travel is $2400. (minus annual fees of $345).
oh, and it'll also pay for TSA percheck

My understanding is the 1.5% redemption is only if you redeem through their portal, so it's not like you'll be getting a 50% discount on the cheapest travel prices that you can find.

To me, the Sapphire Reserve bonus is not high enough for what it's annual fee is, but I guess it could make sense if you generate a ton of UR points and travel a lot.

The reason to get that card would be the lounge access more than anything I'd think.

[tj]

Chase Sapphire Preferred is a good one to start with.  60,000 points after $4,000 spend, can be transferred to many different partners or used for $750 in the Chase travel portal.  As far as cancelling after a year, it's about a 2 minute phone call with Chase.

If you'll use the points for travel, I'd argue for Sapphire reserve. It's a $550 annual fee, less $300 in travel credit. But gives you 1.5x on points when you redeem for travel. So the 60k points = $900 in travel. Also get the Ink preferred for 100k points. That 160k points redeemed for travel is $2400. (minus annual fees of $345).
oh, and it'll also pay for TSA percheck

My understanding is the 1.5% redemption is only if you redeem through their portal, so it's not like you'll be getting a 50% discount on the cheapest travel prices that you can find.

To me, the Sapphire Reserve bonus is not high enough for what it's annual fee is, but I guess it could make sense if you generate a ton of UR points and travel a lot.

The reason to get that card would be the lounge access more than anything I'd think.

Lounge access would also be relevant for those traveling frequently.

Lounge access is quite a bit cheaper with Capital One Venture X (Which has credits to offset the entire annual fee)

[314159]

If I get one with 1st year fee waived, how easy is it to cancel the card at end of 1st year?

Regardless of whether the 1st year fee is waived, you can always cancel at the end of the first year. Just wait for the annual fee to post, then cancel. (Any earlier can risk getting your sign up bonus taken back and you being put on the bank's naughty list.)

My insurance (house, car, umbrella) is due in June.
It's $2k + $1k/month spend is about 3k-5k, depending on when I get the card.

But which card to chase?

The answer changes based on whether you are considering getting a single new credit card, just this one time; or whether you are looking to churn credit cards, as in, as soon as you meet the spend requirement for the sign up bonus, get a new card with a new sign up bonus. The later results in more cashback/points/miles, but it does require more of your time and thought.

Which describes you?

[dandarc]

Chase Sapphire Preferred is a good one to start with.  60,000 points after $4,000 spend, can be transferred to many different partners or used for $750 in the Chase travel portal.  As far as cancelling after a year, it's about a 2 minute phone call with Chase.

If you'll use the points for travel, I'd argue for Sapphire reserve. It's a $550 annual fee, less $300 in travel credit. But gives you 1.5x on points when you redeem for travel. So the 60k points = $900 in travel. Also get the Ink preferred for 100k points. That 160k points redeemed for travel is $2400. (minus annual fees of $345).
oh, and it'll also pay for TSA percheck

My understanding is the 1.5% redemption is only if you redeem through their portal, so it's not like you'll be getting a 50% discount on the cheapest travel prices that you can find.

To me, the Sapphire Reserve bonus is not high enough for what it's annual fee is, but I guess it could make sense if you generate a ton of UR points and travel a lot.

The reason to get that card would be the lounge access more than anything I'd think.

Lounge access would also be relevant for those traveling frequently.

Lounge access is quite a bit cheaper with Capital One Venture X (Which has credits to offset the entire annual fee)

That's a good point - I wound up going with American Airlines Executive card, but I get a fair amount of value out of having status there. Might add Cap One for airports with no AA lounges (was at DTW not so long ago - not to be confused with DFW in terms of AA lounges).

[Scandium]

Chase Sapphire Preferred is a good one to start with.  60,000 points after $4,000 spend, can be transferred to many different partners or used for $750 in the Chase travel portal.  As far as cancelling after a year, it's about a 2 minute phone call with Chase.

If you'll use the points for travel, I'd argue for Sapphire reserve. It's a $550 annual fee, less $300 in travel credit. But gives you 1.5x on points when you redeem for travel. So the 60k points = $900 in travel. Also get the Ink preferred for 100k points. That 160k points redeemed for travel is $2400. (minus annual fees of $345).
oh, and it'll also pay for TSA percheck

My understanding is the 1.5% redemption is only if you redeem through their portal, so it's not like you'll be getting a 50% discount on the cheapest travel prices that you can find.

To me, the Sapphire Reserve bonus is not high enough for what it's annual fee is, but I guess it could make sense if you generate a ton of UR points and travel a lot.

The reason to get that card would be the lounge access more than anything I'd think.

Lounge access would also be relevant for those traveling frequently.

Lounge access is quite a bit cheaper with Capital One Venture X (Which has credits to offset the entire annual fee)

Maybe. I've actually had the chase Reserve card for 6+ years now, because I get more value from the benefits and the 1.5x travel redemption than it costs. (I churn at least one chase card per year, and redeem for flights for 4 of us to Europe every year).

But the lounge access has so far had zero value to me. I've had that pass for all these years, but never managed to get into a lounge! One airport around here I don't think has any participating lounges. When I get to an airport I'm usually just about in time to get to the gate, maybe grab a quick snack. When I've had layovers I've never managed to research which lounge is part of the system, where are they, can I walk there and back in time, did I remember to bring the card..  blah bah. And I don't know if I could bring my family? Might be just one person.

IMO, getting to a lounge really isn't worth the hassle. Well guess I should say I assume so; I've never actually been in side any lounge at all. I suppose I avoid hedonistic adaption that way! :D We're happy eating simple food on the go, and wait at the gate, feel no need for lounges..

[tj]

Chase Sapphire Preferred is a good one to start with.  60,000 points after $4,000 spend, can be transferred to many different partners or used for $750 in the Chase travel portal.  As far as cancelling after a year, it's about a 2 minute phone call with Chase.

If you'll use the points for travel, I'd argue for Sapphire reserve. It's a $550 annual fee, less $300 in travel credit. But gives you 1.5x on points when you redeem for travel. So the 60k points = $900 in travel. Also get the Ink preferred for 100k points. That 160k points redeemed for travel is $2400. (minus annual fees of $345).
oh, and it'll also pay for TSA percheck

My understanding is the 1.5% redemption is only if you redeem through their portal, so it's not like you'll be getting a 50% discount on the cheapest travel prices that you can find.

To me, the Sapphire Reserve bonus is not high enough for what it's annual fee is, but I guess it could make sense if you generate a ton of UR points and travel a lot.

The reason to get that card would be the lounge access more than anything I'd think.

Lounge access would also be relevant for those traveling frequently.

Lounge access is quite a bit cheaper with Capital One Venture X (Which has credits to offset the entire annual fee)

That's a good point - I wound up going with American Airlines Executive card, but I get a fair amount of value out of having status there. Might add Cap One for airports with no AA lounges (was at DTW not so long ago - not to be confused with DFW in terms of AA lounges).

What sorts of perks does your AA card get you?

[dandarc]

@tj

Access to Admirals club is #1 thing. When I travel solo I'm often working in the airport and these are great places to work from. And food / drink included. Wife really likes having a standard, relatively quiet place with snacks to hang out when we're connecting.

Then:

4x American Airlines Miles on American purchases (1x Loyalty points - this is how you get status).
10x miles on aa.com/hotels and aa.com/cars (YMMV on whether booking via these are worth it for you, but you can get deals where you earn as much as 21x LP and 30x miles pretty easily from aa.com/hotels) (1x LP on the credit card spend)
1x everything else (1x LP)

Couple things you get with status, but if you have this card and somehow don't have status with American, complimentary checked bags and priority check-in, security, and boarding.

There is $120 credit on Avis or Budget car rentals annually
TSA Precheck / Global Entry credit - $100 every 4 years
$120 on lyft per year ($10 per month if you use 3 times and pay with this card)
$120 on grub hub per year (again $10 per month)

20K LP boost (10K each when you hit 50K LP and 90K LP) - LP don't have a ton of direct value, but gets you status, so having 20K less to go to whatever you're looking for is nice. Plus starting at 175K LP, there is some real value to be had from the milestone awards.

LP is how you get status at American airlines, and the credit card opens a path to earning a lot of LP. Status gets you complimentary domestic upgrades, and even-better lounge access if you get to at least Platinum Pro when you fly internationally. I personally value the miles at $0.02 each meaning I have enough faith I can get that when I redeem that I'll pay cash on a particular flight if I can't get that much or higher on a particular flight.

American status is fairly valuable - even only getting to Platinum Pro (2nd highest you can earn, 3rd highest if we count invitation-only Concierge Key) I've been upgraded on 50% of my flights. I think I can get to Executive Platinum for this year - and the credit card enables getting the 200K LP you need for that. Then at just Platinum you get complimentary Main Cabin Extra seats (which on American also come with complimentary booze in addition to the legroom & reserved bin space).

So there's direct benefits from the credit card, then the benefits of having status which otherwise would be hard for me to get or the ceiling would be significantly lower. That being said $595 annual fee - may or may not be worth it for any individual. American just hits well on where we're flying to/from and will be an even better airline for us if we do move to Charlotte.

[dandarc]

Oh - and last August they had a 100,000 bonus mile SUB - that's what pushed me over the top to actually get the card.

[tj]

@tj

Access to Admirals club is #1 thing. When I travel solo I'm often working in the airport and these are great places to work from. And food / drink included. Wife really likes having a standard place to go when we're connecting (or if we happen to be flying from a place with an Admirals club - we're in a regional airport city right now, may be relocating to where Charlotte will be our primary airport soon-ish)

Then:

4x American Airlines Miles on American purchases (1x Loyalty points - this is how you get status).
10x miles on aa.com/hotels and aa.com/cars (YMMV) (1x LP)
1x everything else (1x LP)

Couple things you get with status, but if you have this card and somehow don't have status with American, complimentary checked bags and priority check-in, security, and boarding.

There is $120 credit on Avis or Budget car rentals annually
TSA Precheck / Global Entry credit
$120 on lyft ($10 per month)

20K LP boost (10K each when you hit 50K LP and 90K LP)

LP is how you get status at American airlines, and the credit card opens a path to earning a lot of LP. Status gets you complimentary domestic upgrades, and even-better lounge access if you get to at least Platinum Pro when you fly internationally. I personally value the miles at $0.02 each meaning I have enough faith I can get that when I redeem that I'll pay cash on a particular flight if I can't get that.

American status is fairly valuable - even having only getting to Platinum Pro I've been upgraded on 50% of my flights. I think I can get to Executive Platinum for this year - and the credit card enables getting the 200K LP you need for that. Then at just Platinum you get complimentary Main Cabin Extra seats (which on American also come with complimentary booze in addition to the legroom & reserved bin space).

So there's direct benefits from the credit card, then the benefits of having status which otherwise would be hard to get or lower. That being said $595 annual fee - may or may not be worth it for any given person. American just hits well where we're flying to/from and will be an even better airline for us if we do move to Charlotte.

I guess i could have googled it. But thanks for going into detail :D

https://creditcards.aa.com/citi-executive-card-american-airlines-cardmember/

I think the Lyft is probably a bit difficult to use unless you utilize Lyft a lot. It seems that you need to take 3 Lyft rides each month to get the credit.

It looks like you would also get $10/mo on Grubhub, but similarly you probably need to spend more than $10 to actually use that credit.

When i lived in Phoenix, it is a hub for AA, so I flew them fairly often, but I've never really paid attention to status. I took advantage of the free checked bag on occasion (which I think you can get with any of their credit cards), but I do like to carry on whenever possible. If I retire in Phoenix and travel by air frequently, it might make some sense.

[dandarc]

Exactly - good card if you fly American somewhat often, and you'd use the club, and might do some things with the credit card to get status or higher status than you otherwise would. Cross anything off that list and it starts to look less good. The grub-hub credit is any purchase during the month - albeit, would be hard to get any food delivery for less than $10 after fees and tip.

I didn't get this card at that time, but being able to scare up 300,000 american airlines miles and then book partner award flights to and from Japan in business class on JAL at saver fares got me onto American being a pretty good award program for us. And for domestic, some stuff happened in 2022 that had us rethinking our approach to a significant portion of our travel. We have family all over the country, but primarily for flying it is West Michigan, and our approach of driving from Tallahassee 2 to 3 hours to be able to fly Southwest to Chicago and then drive (or take the train) another 2-3 hours when we got there was exposed as very flawed for us in both August and December 2022.

[dandarc]

Chase Sapphire Preferred is a good one to start with.  60,000 points after $4,000 spend, can be transferred to many different partners or used for $750 in the Chase travel portal.  As far as cancelling after a year, it's about a 2 minute phone call with Chase.

If you'll use the points for travel, I'd argue for Sapphire reserve. It's a $550 annual fee, less $300 in travel credit. But gives you 1.5x on points when you redeem for travel. So the 60k points = $900 in travel. Also get the Ink preferred for 100k points. That 160k points redeemed for travel is $2400. (minus annual fees of $345).
oh, and it'll also pay for TSA percheck

My understanding is the 1.5% redemption is only if you redeem through their portal, so it's not like you'll be getting a 50% discount on the cheapest travel prices that you can find.

To me, the Sapphire Reserve bonus is not high enough for what it's annual fee is, but I guess it could make sense if you generate a ton of UR points and travel a lot.

The reason to get that card would be the lounge access more than anything I'd think.

Lounge access would also be relevant for those traveling frequently.

Lounge access is quite a bit cheaper with Capital One Venture X (Which has credits to offset the entire annual fee)

Maybe. I've actually had the chase Reserve card for 6+ years now, because I get more value from the benefits and the 1.5x travel redemption than it costs. (I churn at least one chase card per year, and redeem for flights for 4 of us to Europe every year).

But the lounge access has so far had zero value to me. I've had that pass for all these years, but never managed to get into a lounge! One airport around here I don't think has any participating lounges. When I get to an airport I'm usually just about in time to get to the gate, maybe grab a quick snack. When I've had layovers I've never managed to research which lounge is part of the system, where are they, can I walk there and back in time, did I remember to bring the card..  blah bah. And I don't know if I could bring my family? Might be just one person.

IMO, getting to a lounge really isn't worth the hassle. Well guess I should say I assume so; I've never actually been in side any lounge at all. I suppose I avoid hedonistic adaption that way! :D We're happy eating simple food on the go, and wait at the gate, feel no need for lounges..

Since you have the card, and it sounds like you've got it for free anyway. You might just choose to book a 2-3 hour layover on an upcoming flight, then you'll definitely be able to check it out. Also makes for a much less rushed airport experience if you decide you like the lounges and start doing that longer layover or just getting to the airport earlier than you otherwise would regularly.

[tj]

Exactly - good card if you fly American somewhat often, and you'd use the club, and might do some things with the credit card to get status or higher status than you otherwise would. Cross anything off that list and it starts to look less good. The grub-hub credit is any purchase during the month - albeit, would be hard to get any food delivery for less than $10 after fees and tip.

I didn't get this card at that time, but being able to scare up 300,000 american airlines miles and then book partner award flights to and from Japan in business class on JAL at saver fares got me onto American being a pretty good award program for us. And for domestic, some stuff happened in 2022 that had us rethinking our approach to a significant portion of our travel. We have family all over the country, but primarily for flying it is West Michigan, and our approach of driving from Tallahassee 2 to 3 hours to be able to fly Southwest to Chicago and then drive (or take the train) another 2-3 hours when we got there was exposed as very flawed for us in both August and December 2022.

I'm assuming that to achieve the loyalty status you have to fly (or spend) a LOT though? I don't envision how I would make myself into a high status tier unless I flew that one airline for work frequently.

[Log]

Exactly - good card if you fly American somewhat often, and you'd use the club, and might do some things with the credit card to get status or higher status than you otherwise would. Cross anything off that list and it starts to look less good. The grub-hub credit is any purchase during the month - albeit, would be hard to get any food delivery for less than $10 after fees and tip.

I didn't get this card at that time, but being able to scare up 300,000 american airlines miles and then book partner award flights to and from Japan in business class on JAL at saver fares got me onto American being a pretty good award program for us. And for domestic, some stuff happened in 2022 that had us rethinking our approach to a significant portion of our travel. We have family all over the country, but primarily for flying it is West Michigan, and our approach of driving from Tallahassee 2 to 3 hours to be able to fly Southwest to Chicago and then drive (or take the train) another 2-3 hours when we got there was exposed as very flawed for us in both August and December 2022.

I'm assuming that to achieve the loyalty status you have to fly (or spend) a LOT though? I don't envision how I would make myself into a high status tier unless I flew that one airline for work frequently.

I think maintaining airline status is one of the contributing factors to so many more people stretching their budgets to vacation overseas rather than staying closer to home. I got to the lowest tier of status with my airline of choice almost entirely just from my round trip (working trip) to New Zealand last year. If I were just taking shorter flights around North America, it would take a LOT of travel to get up those kinds of miles.

It’s a pretty dastardly system they’ve got set up to nudge people to spend more.

[dandarc]

I'm assuming that to achieve the loyalty status you have to fly (or spend) a LOT though? I don't envision how I would make myself into a high status tier unless I flew that one airline for work frequently.

American has gone to a model that does not require any butt-in-seat time actually, but it would be kind of odd to be gunning for airline status if you're not flying at all.

There's lots of ways to get LP - 1x on pretty much any AA credit card spend. Flying gets you 5-11x depending on your status. AA.com/hotels (rocketmiles) - I routinely see 20x offers (plus anything you might get from an AA credit card). Even in my least flexible location (Kalamazoo, MI), I get 10x miles per dollar + CC miles. Cars are 2x-5x if you go through Avis or Budget. There's SimplyMiles - you can register any mastercard and add deals to your card and you'll get whatever miles & LP just by using the card. There's the online shopping portal where you can get a bunch of miles and LP for stuff you might already be buying anyway. AA dining. There's bonus LP's available as you build LP at at least 1 spot that make sense. There's a 20-30% bonus LP you get for 6 months on spending through certain partners.

So all that is to say, it doesn't really require flying or spending a lot of money necessarily - just need to direct spending to that card and when it makes sense, book travel through AA options and not other avenues.

[FIREin2018]

My insurance (house, car, umbrella) is due in June.
It's $2k + $1k/month spend is about 3k-5k, depending on when I get the card.

But which card to chase?

The answer changes based on whether you are considering getting a single new credit card, just this one time; or whether you are looking to churn credit cards, as in, as soon as you meet the spend requirement for the sign up bonus, get a new card with a new sign up bonus. The later results in more cashback/points/miles, but it does require more of your time and thought.

Which describes you?

hi Pi

Just want to churn twice a year when my insurance premiums are due. (June and Dec)

[FIREin2018]

My closest/main airport is a United hub.

[Padonak]

Posting to follow for now...just found this thread. Like i mentioned in another thread, i've been churning credit cards for more than 10 years.

[Padonak]

Question about timing priority pass membership if I have two cards that give me access.

I have two US Bank Cards (Altitude Connect and Reserve) and both include one year of Priority Pass with 4 free passes. Opened both cards recently and already "activated" priority pass for Connect which is valid for one year from the PP activation date (not from the date I was approved for the credit card). Does it mean I can just wait until I've used these four free visits for Connect and then activate PP benefit for Altitude Reserve with one year membership and another four visits, even if it's right before I close or downgrade the Reserve?

[tj]

Question about timing priority pass membership if I have two cards that give me access.

I have two US Bank Cards (Altitude Connect and Reserve) and both include one year of Priority Pass with 4 free passes. Opened both cards recently and already "activated" priority pass for Connect which is valid for one year from the PP activation date (not from the date I was approved for the credit card). Does it mean I can just wait until I've used these four free visits for Connect and then activate PP benefit for Altitude Reserve with one year membership and another four visits, even if it's right before I close or downgrade the Reserve?

I wouldn't count on keeping priority pass benefit after canceling or product changing.

[Catbert]

Question about timing priority pass membership if I have two cards that give me access.

I have two US Bank Cards (Altitude Connect and Reserve) and both include one year of Priority Pass with 4 free passes. Opened both cards recently and already "activated" priority pass for Connect which is valid for one year from the PP activation date (not from the date I was approved for the credit card). Does it mean I can just wait until I've used these four free visits for Connect and then activate PP benefit for Altitude Reserve with one year membership and another four visits, even if it's right before I close or downgrade the Reserve?

I wouldn't count on keeping priority pass benefit after canceling or product changing.

That would be my guess also.  But you never know. In the old days United would give you an email with a pass for their lounge that you earned from having a credit card.  That could be used even after you cancelled the card.  However, at some point they just gave you a pass in their app.  If you cancelled the card, the pass immediately disappeared from the app.

[JupiterGreen]

Has anybody used a good CC sign up bonus lately? I've applied to US Bank Altitude Connect and Chase Freedom Flex. I'm looking for one with a cash back bonus since I don't see myself traveling much in the next year and I have some dental work coming up and want to use it for that. I don't have access to an HSA for my dental work unfortunately so I figured I could at least get some cash back bonus. Any CC ideas? Thanks.

[tj]

Has anybody used a good CC sign up bonus lately? I've applied to US Bank Altitude Connect and Chase Freedom Flex. I'm looking for one with a cash back bonus since I don't see myself traveling much in the next year and I have some dental work coming up and want to use it for that. I don't have access to an HSA for my dental work unfortunately so I figured I could at least get some cash back bonus. Any CC ideas? Thanks.

If you haven't done Penfed Pathfinder, I'd do that one. The $100 air credit will work on American Airline gift cards whcih can be sold for ~$80 to CardCash.

https://www.penfed.org/credit-cards/pathfinder-rewards-visa

[Catbert]

You might check out this list:

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/best-current-credit-card-sign-bonuses/

[tj]

You might check out this list:

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/best-current-credit-card-sign-bonuses/

They don't really maintain that like they used to.

This was updated not too long ago:

https://m16p-churning.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/Card+Recommendation+Flowchart+Latest.html

[dandarc]

You might check out this list:

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/best-current-credit-card-sign-bonuses/

They don't really maintain that like they used to.

This was updated not too long ago:

https://m16p-churning.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/Card+Recommendation+Flowchart+Latest.html

Scrolling down to "Recent Changes" disagrees with you on DoC page.

[tj]

You might check out this list:

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/best-current-credit-card-sign-bonuses/

They don't really maintain that like they used to.

This was updated not too long ago:

https://m16p-churning.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/Card+Recommendation+Flowchart+Latest.html

Scrolling down to "Recent Changes" disagrees with you on DoC page.

Sure, they update it, I said they don't maintain it like they used to. They never added US Bank Atltitude Connect to the Best Bonuses page - and that is one the best offers there is right now....and that offer has been around for a long time.

[dandarc]

Am I missing something? 50,000 point bonus is "one of the best" out there?

[tj]

Am I missing something? 50,000 point bonus is "one of the best" out there?

Uh, yeah, if you are looking for cash back $500 with only $2000 required spend and no annual fee is nearly as good as it gets on a personal card. You also get 4 free Priority Pass entries with that. 

Are you aware of something better?

[314159]

My insurance (house, car, umbrella) is due in June.
It's $2k + $1k/month spend is about 3k-5k, depending on when I get the card.

But which card to chase?

The answer changes based on whether you are considering getting a single new credit card, just this one time; or whether you are looking to churn credit cards, as in, as soon as you meet the spend requirement for the sign up bonus, get a new card with a new sign up bonus. The later results in more cashback/points/miles, but it does require more of your time and thought.

Which describes you?

hi Pi

Just want to churn twice a year when my insurance premiums are due. (June and Dec)

Cool @FIREin2018, twice a year you can achieve a $3-5k spend SUB. That's 4 cards in any 24 month period which means you'll always be below 5/24, so you won't have to worry about 5/24 status. As a result, you can basically get any card as long as you can meet the spend.

That means you can look at your past travel habits and future travel habits to see if it would be worth it to pursue airline miles/hotel points/transferable points, or whether you're better off sticking to cashback or points that convert directly to cash.

After that it just comes down to choosing the most valuable bonus that you can meet. The flowchart that @tj posted from the churning subreddit is a good start, but it is aimed at people going through more cards per year than you. I also like www.offeroptimist.com. You can set your maximum spend, decide whether you want value travel points or just cashback, ignore or reveal business cards, etc, and it shows you the value of the bonus for each card, net of annual fees and so on. (I have no affiliation, I just like the website.)

For example, if you just want cashback, and are willing to commit to no more than $5k spending in 90 days, the Capital One Venture Rewards or US Bank Business Altitude Connect are both worth about $700 after the annual fee. Meanwhile if you often have reason to fly e.g. Alaska Airlines or their partners, the 75k points which that card provides as a sign up bonus are likely worth more to you than $750.

Basically look at your options and go for the best one, but feel free to ask your fellow Mustachians if the one you found is a good one before you apply. The churning subreddit is also a great resource (it's where I learned the ins and outs), but the people there can be quite rude, so you've been warned. :-)

[tj]

My insurance (house, car, umbrella) is due in June.
It's $2k + $1k/month spend is about 3k-5k, depending on when I get the card.

But which card to chase?

The answer changes based on whether you are considering getting a single new credit card, just this one time; or whether you are looking to churn credit cards, as in, as soon as you meet the spend requirement for the sign up bonus, get a new card with a new sign up bonus. The later results in more cashback/points/miles, but it does require more of your time and thought.

Which describes you?

hi Pi

Just want to churn twice a year when my insurance premiums are due. (June and Dec)

Cool @FIREin2018, twice a year you can achieve a $3-5k spend SUB. That's 4 cards in any 24 month period which means you'll always be below 5/24, so you won't have to worry about 5/24 status. As a result, you can basically get any card as long as you can meet the spend.

That means you can look at your past travel habits and future travel habits to see if it would be worth it to pursue airline miles/hotel points/transferable points, or whether you're better off sticking to cashback or points that convert directly to cash.

After that it just comes down to choosing the most valuable bonus that you can meet. The flowchart that @tj posted from the churning subreddit is a good start, but it is aimed at people going through more cards per year than you. I also like www.offeroptimist.com. You can set your maximum spend, decide whether you want value travel points or just cashback, ignore or reveal business cards, etc, and it shows you the value of the bonus for each card, net of annual fees and so on. (I have no affiliation, I just like the website.)

For example, if you just want cashback, and are willing to commit to no more than $5k spending in 90 days, the Capital One Venture Rewards or US Bank Business Altitude Connect are both worth about $700 after the annual fee. Meanwhile if you often have reason to fly e.g. Alaska Airlines or their partners, the 75k points which that card provides as a sign up bonus are likely worth more to you than $750.

Basically look at your options and go for the best one, but feel free to ask your fellow Mustachians if the one you found is a good one before you apply. The churning subreddit is also a great resource (it's where I learned the ins and outs), but the people there can be quite rude, so you've been warned. :-)

Thanks for sharing the offeroptimist. That is slick, but not sure how it calculates cashback value as it's showing Amex Platinum offering 150k MR points as being worth $2500 the first year.

[314159]

@tj, if you click the little question mark in front of the bolded first year value, it will a dialog box will open up showing how that was calculated. For example with the Valuation Method set to "Default", for Amex (Personal) Platinum it shows:

Points Value:
+$2535 from 150,000 AMERICAN_EXPRESS @ 1.69¢/point

Annual Fee:
-$695 Annual Fee

Credits (weighted based on ease of use):
+$140: Hotel Credit ($200 Value,  70% Weight)
+$140: $15/mo Uber Cash ($200 Value,  70% Weight)
+$120: $20/mo Digital Entertainment Credit ($200 Value,  60% Weight)
+$80: Airline Fee Credit ($200 Value,  40% Weight)
+$60: Bi-yearly $50 Saks Credit ($100 Value,  60% Weight)
+$38: CLEAR Credit ($189 Value,  20% Weight)
+$31: Walmart+ Credit ($155 Value,  20% Weight)

Opportunity Cost Gained / Lost:
+$135 value (1.69¢/point) from spend on card
-$80 value from not using a 1% universal cashback card with currency USD (1¢/point) instead

However you are probably asking why it's evaluating those points at 1.69 cents per point when you can't cash them out at that rate. (For those who aren't aware, the justification is that those points can be transferred to hotels and airlines which can, if you find a good redemption, be worth at least that much.) The way to change that is to scroll all the way down in the menu (on the left side of the screen on desktop, a hamburger menu on mobile) to Valuation Settings, then set the Valuation Method to "Pure Cashback". Not the most intuitive, because there is also a "Travel or Cashback?" checkbox. But that just filters out the cards that have absolutely no way to be converted to cash.