Huge Welcome Bonuses for Marriott and Hilton Credit Cards

Amex Disclosure: Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

If you are a frequent traveler, then hotel credit cards should be in your radar. You can get free nights, elite status and other benefits that make your travel not only more affordable, but also more enjoyable. Now there are several new welcome bonuses, some of the best we have seen, for both Hilton and Marriott credit cards. The Hilton credit cards are issued by American Express while Marriott credit cards are issued by Chase and American Express.

New Welcome Bonuses for Hilton Cards

Update: Offers no longer available

American Express has launched limited-time offers on select Hilton Honors Cards. These offers include Hilton Honors Bonus Points and a Free Night Reward available for redemption at one of Hilton’s 7,000+ properties with zero blackout dates. Just the free night alone can be a huge bonus on its own as you get easily get hundreds of dollars in value.

Here are the new offers on three credit cards:

Hilton Honors American Express Card: Card Members can earn 70K Bonus Points and 1 Free Night Reward that can be used at any of Hilton’s 7,000+ properties after spending $1K in purchases on their new Card in their first three months of Card Membership. (Terms apply)
- No Annual Fee
- LEARN HOW TO APPLY

Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card: Card Members can earn 130K Bonus Points and 1 Free Night Reward that can be used at any of Hilton’s 7,000+ properties after spending $2K in purchases on their new Card in their first three months of Card Membership. (Terms apply)
- $95 Annual Fee
- LEARN HOW TO APPLY

Hilton Honors American Express Business Card: Card Members can earn 150K Bonus Points and 1 Free Night Reward that can be used at any of Hilton’s 7,000+ properties after spending $4K in purchases on their new Card in their first three months of Card Membership. (Terms apply)
- $95 Annual Fee
- LEARN HOW TO APPLY

Hilton is one of the largest hotel chains in the world with more than 7,000 properties. Some of the Hilton Honors program include generous bonus points for elite-level members, lots of redemption options and very few limits on Free Night Rewards. Hilton Honors points are normally worth about half a cent each, and the Free Night Rewards can be worth even more than $500 depending on where you use it.

The Hilton Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card and Hilton Honors American Express Business Card especially offer tons of perks in addition to the welcome bonus. You get Complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status, 10 free Priority Pass Lounge passes, up to 12X points on Hilton stays, and Free Night Reward when you spend $15K in a calendar year.

With that said, you should still should familiarize yourself with the Hilton Honors program and make sure that it fits your needs and travel style.

New Welcome Bonuses for Marriott Cards

American Express has also launched new welcome bonuses on its two Marriott Bonvoy credit cards. Chase has also joined in with two similar offers which are different from what we have seen in the past. They go as high as 200,000 points and they include a stay requirement for a small portion of that points bonus.

Here are the new offers on the Marriott Bonvoy credit cards:

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card: Card Members can earn 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after using their new card to spend $6,000 on eligible purchases in the first six months plus they can earn 50,000 bonus points after they stay 6 eligible paid nights at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy® through 1/31/24. Terms apply.
- $650 Annual Fee
- LEARN HOW TO APPLY

Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card: Card Members can earn 125,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after using their new card to spend $5,000 on eligible purchases in the first six months plus they can earn 50,000 bonus points after they stay 6 eligible paid nights at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy® through 1/31/24. Terms apply.
- $250 Annual Fee
- LEARN HOW TO APPLY

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card from Chase: Card Members can earn 75,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after using their new card to spend $3,000 on eligible purchases in the first six months plus they can earn 50,000 bonus points after they stay 6 eligible paid nights at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy® through 1/31/24. Terms apply.
- $95 Annual Fee
- LEARN HOW TO APPLY

Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card from Chase: Upon account opening, card members can earn 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after using their new card to spend $1,000 on eligible purchases in the first six months plus they can earn 50,000 bonus points after they stay 6 eligible paid nights at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy® through 1/31/24. Terms apply.
- No Annual Fee
- LEARN HOW TO APPLY

Once approved for an eligible card, card members’ Marriott Bonvoy account will be automatically registered into this promotional offer. For convenience, new card members will be able to track their progress toward six eligible nights on a personalized Promotions page on the Marriott Bonvoy app and website.

Marriott is the largest hotel chain in the world, with properties varying from basic and affordable, all the way to the most luxurious Marriott Bonvoy points are a bit more valuable than Hilton points, probably around 0.7 cents each. That means that a welcome bonus of 200,000 points is worth about $1,400. But keep in mind that these are average valuation, and you can definitely do much better at luxurious Marriott hotels especially.

If you are looking for a card that offers the most perks and benefits, then check out Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card. You get an annual free night award (worth up to 85,000 points) every year after renewal, $300 Dining Credit each year, Platinum Elite status, and Priority Pass membership (enrollment required).

But the other cards also offer some perks and benefits, and good earning rates at Marriott hotels.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Amex Disclosure: Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

Danny

Best Ever Welcome Bonus for American Express® Green Card

Amex Disclosure: Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

American Express has launched a new welcome bonus for the American Express® Green Card. This is the best ever offer we have seen, so if you are planning to add this card to your wallet, this is a great time to apply.

All information about the American Express® Green Card has been collected independently by UponArriving.

Welcome Bonus

The American Express® Green Card has a welcome bonus of 60,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Additionally, you can earn 20% back on eligible travel and transit purchases made during your first 6 months of Card Membership.

Considering that the value of Membership Rewards is normally around 1.5 cent each, this is a bonus that is easily valued just over $1,000.

American Express Membership Rewards has 21 partner airline and hotel programs, which can be the best option to maximize the value of your points. You can often get even more value than the 1.5 per points valuation.

Transfer Partners

Travel Partner	Ratio (MR to airline)	Transfer wait time
Aer Lingus	1:1	Instant
AeroMexico	1:1.6	24 Hours
Air Canada	1:1	Instant
Alitalia	1:1	Instant
ANA	1:1	48 Hours
Avianca	1:1	Instant
British Airways	1:1	Instant
Cathay Pacific	1:1	48 Hours
Delta	1:1	Instant
Emirates	1:1	Instant
Etihad	1:1	Instant
Flying Blue	1:1	Instant
Hawaiian Airlines	1:1	Instant
Iberia	1:1	24 to 72 hours
JetBlue	250:200	Instant
Qantas	1:1	Instant
Singapore Airlines	1:1	24 to 72 hours
Virgin Atlantic	1:1	Instant
Choice	1:1	Instant
Hilton	1:2	Instant
Marriott	1:1	Instant

American Express travel partners.

You should familiarize yourself with a specific loyalty program before transferring your miles. You can also redeem points directly for travel, gift cards and more.

LEARN HOW TO APPLY

Bonus categories

The American Express Green Card earns the following rates:

3x Membership Rewards points on travel purchases. That includes airfare, hotels, cruises, tours, car rentals, campgrounds, and vacation rentals.
3x Membership Rewards Points on transit purchases. That includes trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways.
3x Membership Rewards points on eligible purchases at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery in the US.
All other purchases earn 1x Membership Rewards point for every dollar you spend.

Looking at the earning rates, you can see that you will earn 3x points for popular categories such as travel and restaurants. That would be about 4.5% cash back if you take into consideration the value of Membership Rewards.

LEARN HOW TO APPLY

Perks and Benefits

The American Express Green Card has a $150 annual fee (Rates & Fees), but also gets you some extra perks that could make it worth keeping it pas the first year.

You get up to $189 in statement credits per calendar year towards purchase of CLEAR membership. CLEAR can come in handy at multiple airports as it helps you skip the lines and can be an even better option that TSA Pre-Check.

You also get up to $100 in statement credits per calendar year towards purchases with LoungeBuddy to relax at airport lounges around the world.

As a travel focused card, it has no foreign transaction fees, and it gives you Trip Delay Insurance, Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance, Baggage Insurance Plan, and last but not least, Purchase Protection and Extended Warranty.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Amex Disclosure: Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

Danny

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card 80,000 Offer!

offer no longer available.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is one of the best credit cards for those who want to get started with travel rewards, but also for the more seasoned travelers. The card comes with a low annual fee, generous rewards earning capabilities and various travel protections. There are also perks that make this card a keeper long term, such as a $50 annual hotel stay credit through Chase and a 10% point match-style anniversary bonus.

Welcome bonus

Now there’s also an increased welcome bonus that 80,000 points after you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening. This is one of the higher offers we have seen for this card, and a big improvement from the previous offer of 60,000 points. The new welcome bonus is worth $1,000 on travel booked through Chase, or even more when using points through partners.

Transfer partners

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card earns Ultimate Rewards points which are probably the most valuable point currency when it comes to travel, thanks the the Chase travel portal and various travel partners at a 1:1 ratio.

These partners include the following.

Airlines:

Aer Lingus AerClub
Air Canada Aeroplan
Air France-KLM Flying Blue
British Airways Executive Club
Emirates Skywards
Iberia Plus
JetBlue TrueBlue
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
United MileagePlus
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Hotels:

IHG Rewards Club
Marriott Bonvoy
World of Hyatt

You should always familiarize yourself with a specific loyalty program before transferring your points. These transfers are not reversible.

LEARN HOW TO APPLY

Bonus categories

You’ll earn the following rates:

5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
5x total points on Lyft rides through March 31, 2025.
3x on dining, online grocery purchases, and streaming services
2x on all other travel purchases.

Getting 5X on the travel portal is nice if you’re not paying more for your travel purchases compared to other sites. But you can also choose to use your points in the portal an get a 25% value boost.

The 3X miles on dining purchases make this a good card for foodies, especially with no limit on how much your card can earn.

That almost sounds like only certain categories related to business purchases will qualify but actually this will earn 2% on all purchases.

LEARN HOW TO APPLY

Perks

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a $95 annual fee, but also gets you extra perk that could make it worth keeping this card past the first year.

You can earn up to $50 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays purchased through Ultimate Rewards.

We mentioned foodies earlier in the articles, and besides the 3X point earning there’s more to this card. You get complimentary access to DashPass – a membership for both DoorDash and Caviar – for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024. There’s also a 6 month complimentary Instacart+ subscription when you activate by July 31, 2024. If goPuff is available near you, there’s $10 monthly statement credit, which provides another $120 in annual value.

As a travel focused card, it provides trip protection including primary rental car coverage, travel accident insurance. And if you travel abroad, you don’t pay foreign transaction fees.

Last word

All those benefits, and a welcome bonus of 80,000 points, make applying for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card a no-brainer.

Just be mindful of the Sapphire eligibility rules which could exclude you if you received a bonus in the last 48 months for a Sapphire card. It’s also worth mentioning that some people have had success with higher offers at a branch, or you can find this same offer through referral links.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Danny

Ending Soon! Best Ever Offers for Chase Ink Cards

Chase currently has two great welcome bonuses for Ink business credit cards. These are the best ever offers on both cards and if you plan to apply, you should do so by this weekend. These offers are going away soon.

Welcome Bonuses

Chase is offering a $900 cash back bonus when you spend $6,000 in the first three months after signing up for either the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card or the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card. Considering that the cashback can also be used in the form of Ultimate Rewards, these bonuses could be valued as high as $1,500.

Both offers also come with a 0% Intro APR on purchases for the first 12 months. That can be a small bonus on its own, considering the current interest rates.

These are not only the best ever welcome bonuses we’ve seen offered by these cards, but they’re also great welcome bonuses in general. And to make things better, both cards come with no annual fee.

To unlock more value from these bonuses, it’s bet to pair these cards with Ultimate Rewards earning card such as Chase Ink Business Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Sapphire Preferred. That enables you to convert the cash-back rewards on your Ink Business Unlimited Card to Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Points can then be used for travel for a value of up to 1.5 cents each, or you can transfer to travel partners.

Chase has 14 partner airline and hotel programs and transferring to them can be the best option to maximize the value of your points.

Here are the 1:1 ratio travel partners:

1:1 Transfer Ratio

Aer Lingus
Air Canada Aeroplan
British Airways Executive Club
Emirates
Flying Blue (Air France / KLM)
JetBlue
Iberia Plus
IHG Rewards Club
Marriott Bonvoy
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
United Airlines MileagePlus
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
World of Hyatt

You should familiarize yourself with a specific loyalty program before transferring your miles. You will not be able to transfer back into your Capital One Miles account.

Bonus categories

These are two different cards, so make sure you apply for the one that best suits your needs.

The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card earns:

5X Ultimate Rewards points on office supply stores, internet services, cable, and phone services ($25k annual limit)
5X Ultimate Rewards points on Lyft rides
2X Ultimate Rewards points on gas and dining ($25k annual limit)
1X Ultimate Rewards on all other purchases

The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card earns:

1.5% cash back on all your purchases with no annual limits.

So you can either go with the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card if you can maximize the spending in the 5% categories, or the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card if you just need a simple card that rewards you with 1.5 points for every dollar you spend.

(The description almost sounds like only certain categories related to business purchases will qualify but actually these cards with earn rewards on all purchases.)

Perks

The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card and Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card are no-annual-fee products, so they have modest perks.

Small-business owners can add employee cards at no additional cost. You earn the same rewards through employee cards as you do with the primary card, so that will help you rack up points quicker. Plus you can set spending limits and categorize purchases by card.

Both cards also offer purchase protection and extended warranty protection. You also get auto rental collision damage waiver when you decline the rental company’s collision insurance and charge the entire rental cost to your card. Coverage is primary when renting for business purposes.

It’s worth noting that these cards are not your best option for international travel as you will be charged a 3% foreign transaction fee.

Note:

These should be your first applications if you are still under 5/24. And since these are business cards, they won’t count towards your 5/24 count.
It’s possible to have more than one Ink business credit card.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Danny

Increased Offers for Airline and Hotel Programs

Disclosure: Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

Hotels and airlines are starting the new year with increased welcome bonuses for their credit cards. Earlier in the year we saw IHG offer a 175,000 points bonus for the IHG Rewards Premier card. Now it’s Marriott, Hilton and Southwest offering new and improved welcome bonuses.

Earn Companion Pass with One Southwest Credit Card

Southwest Airlines and Chase have launched three identical offers on consumer credit cards. This offer gives you the option to easily earn the Southwest Companion Pass with just one credit card. Plus you also get a points bonus.

The Companion Pass remains one of the best deals in travel as you can bring along a companion for free and you just need to pay taxes and fees.

With the new offer you can earn the Companion Pass through 2/28/24 plus 30,000 points after you spend $4,000 or more on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. This is one of the best offers when it comes to earning the Companion Pass with minimal effort.

The offer is available on these three cards:

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card ($69 annual fee)
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card ($99 annual fee)
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card ($149 annual fee)

Al three offers are available through March 13, 2023.

You can choose just one of these three cards to earn the 30,000 point and the Companion Pass. If you fly Southwest often and you care about status and upgrades, then the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority card is your best option. If you just want the points and the Companion Pass, then you can go for the cheapest option: the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus card.

This is a great offer for people who regularly earn Southwest points or who have Chase Ultimate Rewards that they can transfer to Southwest.

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card

Marriott and Chase have launched a new offer for the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card.

You can now earn a bonus of 100,000 Points after you spend $3,000 on purchases with your new card within the first 3 months from account opening. This is a limited time offer that will be available until April 6.

This bonus does not provide the best total value compared to previous offers, but it can be a nice boost to your Marriott Bonvoy account.

The card itself comes with some good perks for those that stay at Marriott properties often with the annual free night (valid for a redemption up to 35,000 points) being one of the main perks.

You can earn up to 17X total points at Marriott hotels, one Elite Night Credit toward Elite Status for every $5,000 spent, Silver Elite Status, 15 Elite Night Credits toward next level of Elite Status, and Gold Elite Status when you spend $35,000 per calendar year.

Tip: Get the business version of the Marriott card along with this version and start every year with 30 elite nights!

The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card

Hilton and American Express have launched one of the highest ever points offers for the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card.

If you apply and are approved for the card, you can now earn 165,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $5,000 or more in purchases within your first 3 months of account opening. This is a limited time offer that will be available through April 5.

American Express makes it easy to know if you are eligible for a welcome bonus. If you are not eligible, a pop-up will tell you so before you proceed with the application. So there’s no risk of an unnecessary hard pull on your credit report.

The card comes with some useful benefits such as 12X Hilton Honors Bonus Points at hotels and resorts in the Hilton portfolio worldwide and 6X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on U.S. gas stations, wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service producers and U.S. purchases for shipping 6X Hilton Honors Bonus Points on U.S. restaurants, flights booked directly with airlines or amextravel.com, and car rentals booked directly from select car rental companies.

You get complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status with the option to earn Diamond status after spending $40,000 in a calendar year. You also get One Free Night Reward after spending $15,000 in purchases on the Card in a calendar year and second Free Night Reward after spending $60,000 in purchases. The second free night might not be worth it, but for the first free night you would have to spend just $10,000 more after completing the welcome bonus requirement.

For frequent fliers the card has 10 free Priority Pass Lounge passes to make the airport experience more enjoyable. Enrollment required. The annual fee is $95 (rates & fees).

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Amex Disclosure: Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

Danny

Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business: 50K Offer

Welcome Bonus

The Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business Card is offering new applicants a bonus of 50,000 miles after spending $4,500 or more within 3 months from account opening. There’s also a $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95 after.

This is one of the best (and stable) bonuses offered for the card and a great way to grab a lot of transferable points without paying a fee for the first year.

These are not the same type of miles that you would earn from an airline credit card. But they can be used for up to $500 in value when you book travel through Capital One, or against travel purchases made with your card.

Capital One also has 15 partner airline and hotel programs and transferring to them can be the best option to maximize the value of your points.

Here are the 1:1 ratio travel partners:

1:1 Transfer Ratio

Aeromexico Club Premier
Aeroplan®
Asia Miles
Avianca LifeMiles
British Airways Executive Club
Choice Privileges®
Emirates Skywards
Etihad Guest
Finnair Plus
Flying Blue
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
TAP Miles&Go
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
Virgin Red

The last option is to redeem miles for gift cards.

You should familiarize yourself with a specific loyalty program before transferring your miles. You will not be able to transfer back into your Capital One Miles account.

LEARN HOW TO APPLY

Bonus categories

You’ll earn the following rates:

Unlimited 2X miles on every purchase for your business.
Unlimited 5 miles per $1 spent on hotels and car rentals booked through Capital One Travel.

Getting 5X on the travel portal is nice if you’re not paying more for your travel purchases compared to other sites, but keep in mind you can lose out on hotel benefits if you have elite status.

The 2X miles on all other purchases make this a good everyday card, especially with no limit on how much your card can earn. It could also be a great way to cover taxes.

(The description almost sounds like only certain categories related to business purchases will qualify but actually this will earn 2X on all purchases.)

LEARN HOW TO APPLY

Perks

The Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business Card has a $95 annual fee which is waived the first year. So you can get tons of value before you have to decide whether you want to pay the fee and keep it for one more year.

After completing the spending requirement for the bonus, you will have 59,000 miles, since the card earns 2x on all purchases. The ability to earn close to 60,000 transferable points without having to pay a single dollar on an annual fee is definitely an attractive feature of this offer.

You can get credit of $100 for the application fee for Global Entry or TSA Pre-check when you pay with the card. This is a nice perks for frequent travelers.

The card comes with two complimentary visits per year to Capital One Lounge locations or a partnering Plaza Premium Lounge. This can open up more lounge visit opportunities in case you encounter an overcrowded lounge which has unfortunately become a trend these days.

If you’re traveling abroad, you don’t have to worry about foreign transaction fees with the Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business Card.

As a business card, it provides free employee cards, that also earn unlimited 2X miles on all purchases. You can set customized spending limits for each employee cards. You also get free additional warranty and protection on purchases made with your card, and virtual card numbers that make online purchases safer.

Note:

This is one of the Capital One business cards that counts towards 5/24 so I’d recommend going for Chase cards first if you are still under 5/24.
Capital One pulls all three bureaus
It’s a good idea to wait six months between Capital One cards

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Danny

Chase IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card: 175K Offer

Welcome Bonus

The Chase IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card is offering 175,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months from account opening. This is the best points bonus ever offered for the card.

In addition to this exciting offer, Chase IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Cardmembers have even more opportunities to earn towards travel thanks to the enhanced card benefits that launched in 2022.

The card now features increased ways to earn points through purchases, a simplified way to reach the next IHG One Rewards Elite status level, added flexibility on Anniversary Free Night certificates, and more.

IHG One Rewards Program

This card earns IHG One Rewards points, which is the currency of the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) rewards program.

With a family of 16 brands, you can redeem points at luxurious hotels such as InterContinental London Park Lane or more affordable options like Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge Suites. IHG has about 6,000 open hotels in more than 100 countries.

The value of these points varies from one brand to the other, and also from one property to the next. But you can often get about half a cent for each points, and up to 0.7 cents. That would make this bonus worth $1,200.

LEARN HOW TO APPLY

Bonus categories

You’ll earn the following rates:

Up to 26X total points at IHG® Hotels & Resorts
5X points on travel, dining, and at gas stations
3X points per $1 spent on all other purchases

Earning at IHG hotels varies based on your status, but this card already gets you Platinum Elite status which is how you end up earning 26X. This is also a decent option for popular purchases such as other travel, dining and even gas purchases if you are trying to build up a big balance of IHG points.

LEARN HOW TO APPLY

Perks

The Chase IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card has a $99 annual fee, but also gets you some extra perk that could make it worth keeping it past the first year.

You get an Anniversary Free Night with a redemption cap of 40,000 points. But you can also use IHG One Rewards points get free nights at hotels above the 40,000 point level.

The card also gives you automatic IHG One Rewards Platinum Elite status. Cardmembers have the option to earn IHG One Rewards Diamond Elite status after spending $40,000 on purchases with their card each calendar year.

Another way to get free nights with this card is to book at least 4 nights. When cardmembers redeem points for a consecutive four-night IHG hotel stay, they can receive the fourth Reward Night free redeemable at that same hotel during that same stay.

Other travel benefits include Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS Statement Credit of up to $100 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to the card. You also get up to $50 United® TravelBank Cash each calendar year.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Danny

Chase Sapphire Reserve® 80,000 Offer Available, Highest Since 2017!

Chase Sapphire Reserve® 80,000 point offer

Offer no longer available.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is allowing you to earn 80,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.

If you are new to credit card rewards chances are you should be well under 5/24 which means that you have not opened up five accounts in the past 24 months (that report to your personal credit report).

When you are under 5/24 (in the vast majority of cases) you should pursue Chase credit cards first to optimize your earnings with them.

Otherwise, you might end up ineligible for the best Chase cards (which also happen to be some of the best overall travel cards).

Also, to optimize your rewards you always want to time your applications so that you were jumping on some of the best available bonuses.

Because the Chase Sapphire Reserve® has an elevated bonus of 80,000 bonus points right now, which is the highest we have seen since its launch back in 2017, this would be a perfect time to jump on it.

The Sapphire Reserve® earns flexible Ultimate Rewards which can be transferred out to various travel partners at a 1:1 ratio.

These partners include the following.

Airlines:

Aer Lingus AerClub
Air Canada Aeroplan
Air France-KLM Flying Blue
British Airways Executive Club
Emirates Skywards
Iberia Plus
JetBlue TrueBlue
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
United MileagePlus
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Hotels:

IHG Rewards Club
Marriott Bonvoy
World of Hyatt

And when it comes to bonus points you can earn the following:

10X Chase Dining
10X on hotels booked through the Chase Travel Portal*
5X on airfare booked through the Chase Travel Portal*
3X on dining
3X on travel*
1X on all other purchases

*after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually.

Personally, I use the Reserve as my go to travel card because of the strong earning rate of 3X and the strong travel protections.

The annual fee is $550 but you can offset that with the $300 annual travel credit which can be used on a variety of purchases.

If you use Instacart, you can get a $15 per month credit all the way through July 31, 2024, after you activate which can further help offset the fee.

Additional perks like Lyft Pink and DashPass can also help provide even more value. And don’t forget about Instacart+!

Of course, you can always use the WalletFlo app to help you keep track of these perks and even to track the use and value you get out of them.

Be mindful of the Sapphire eligibility rules which could exclude you if you received a bonus in the last 48 months for a Sapphire card.

You can always use the eligibility checker in WalletFlo to verify your eligibility before applying. Learn how to apply!

Final word

It’s always great to jump on an offer that is one of the best and in this case we have not seen an offer break 80,000 points for this card since the launch back in 2017 when it had a 100,000 point bonus.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Daniel Gillaspia

Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and creator of the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned full-time travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in major publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Forbes, CNBC, US News, and Business Insider. Find his full bio here.

3 Easy Routes to Elite Status With Hotel Credit Cards

Advertiser Disclosure: UponArriving has partnered with affiliate partners and may receive a commission from card issuers. UponArriving does not display all credit card offers and affiliate relationships may impact how offers are presented. Amex Disclosure: Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

You don’t have to spend a lot of nights in a hotel in order to earn meaningful hotel elite status.

In fact, sometimes you don’t have to spend any time.

Below, I’ll show you how to use some credit cards to fast track your way to meaningful elite levels.

These are levels that will provide you with real value like better upgrades, free breakfast, and even lounge access.

Strategy overview

For each of the three elite programs below the optimal strategy is to:

Take advantage of automatic elite night credits (Marriott, Hyatt)
Utilize spend bonuses for elite night credits/free night certificates (Hyatt, Marriott)
Use points and free night certificates to help cover qualifying nights (All)
Fall back on automatic elite status offered by the card (Hilton, Hyatt)

Generally, I don’t think that the huge spend bonuses to earn elite status are worth it for hotel cards.

For example, spending $35,000 for Marriott Gold is not something I’d recommend pursuing on its own.

Too much spend, too little benefits.

But the spend bonuses to earn elite night credits can often come in handy, especially if it means racking up an additional free night and milestone benefits. See Hyatt.

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Marriott

The Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card will hook you up with 15 elite night credits upon approval and 1 Elite night credit for each $5,000 you spend.

Those 15 elite night credits will stack with the 15 elite night credits offered by the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card.

This means that you could start off each year with 30 elite nights which puts you only 20 nights short of Marriott Platinum status.

(These 15 elite night credits post within 60 days of account opening.)

Platinum is the first Marriott elite status that actually has value to me because you can get free breakfast and lounge access.

These Marriott cards also offer you free nights (redemption level up to 35,000 points) after your account anniversary so you can always use them to help you get even closer to status levels in the future.

Once you get to 50 nights, you can select an annual choice benefit of 5 elite night credits which will put you only 20 nights away from Titanium status.

That’s the second highest elite level with Marriott.

I’m still debating whether or not I want to chase Titanium status again, since so far it has been a little bit of a let down.

But some people do find it worth it and enjoy the perks that come with it like 48-hour guarantee availability and United Silver status.

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Hilton

The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card comes with Hilton Gold status but you can also get Hilton Gold with the Platinum Card® from American Express (enrollment required).

Gold is good enough for free breakfast ($10 to $25 dining credit in the US) and the occasional lounge access (assuming you get upgraded to a room on an executive floor).

So you don’t have to actually stay at any Hilton property to get some solid elite benefits.

Of course, if you want to go straight to the top of the food chain you can always get the The Amex® Hilton Aspire Card which gives you automatic Diamond status.

Because it’s so easy to achieve Hilton status with credit cards it does feel watered down compared to others.

That can make things a little tough when trying to get upgrades or late check-out but it doesn’t have an effect on some of the benefits like getting your dining credits.

I mean, who cares if 99% of the other guests are also “elite” if it still means you’re getting a free breakfast?

All information about the The Amex® Hilton Aspire Card has been collected independently by UponArriving.

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World of Hyatt

The World of Hyatt Credit Card will start you off with Hyatt Discoverist status.

Yes, it’s the bottom of the totem pole but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the status with an upgrade here and there and consistent late check out.

Here are the current elite requirements:

Status	Nights	Base Points
Discoverist	10	25,000
Explorist	30	50,000
Globalist	60	100,000

Where the World of Hyatt Credit Card will really help you with elite status is that it offers 5 qualifying night credits every year.

That puts you 25 nights away from Explorist.

Once you get to 30 nights needed for Explorist you could have 4 Club Lounge Access Awards stashed away via milestone awards.

You can also earn 2 additional qualifying night credits towards your next tier status every time you spend $5,000 on the World of Hyatt Credit Card.

So even with the modest annual spend of $15,000, you could be only 19 nights away from Explorist (plus you’d have an additional free night).

But right now, the real play with Hyatt it is to get the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card currently offering 60,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in your first 3 months.

The reason this offer is so special right now is that if you apply before October 6, 2022, you also get 2 Tier-Qualifying Night Credits for each night you stay from 8/23/22 through 12/31/22.

That means you could basically cut the elite requirements in half.

Final word

As you can see, you don’t have to spend months in a hotel to earn meaningful hotel elite status.

Even spending 20 to 25 nights in a hotel a year can qualify you for elite levels offering valuable perks.

With the help of free night certificates and earned welcome bonuses that often means that you only have to come out of pocket for about 15 to 20 nights per program.

And if you factor in points earned along the way, that’s probably shaving off a few more nights, depending on your spend and redemptions.

So it’s very feasible for some people to pursue middle and upper level elite statuses with multiple hotel programs by utilizing credit card benefits in a strategic way.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Amex Disclosure: Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

Daniel Gillaspia

World of Hyatt Business Credit Card: 60K + 2X Night Credits

The World of Hyatt Business Credit Card is out with a pretty hot offer that will provide steady value through the remainder of the year and even through next year, 2023.

This is especially true for those chasing elite status.

Let’s break down this card and see who it might be good for.

Welcome Bonus

The World of Hyatt Business Credit Card is currently offering 60,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in your first 3 months.

That’s a very solid bonus although the intro offer was at 75,000 (with a much higher spend requirement).

But the reason this offer is so special right now is that if you apply before October 6, 2022, you also get 2 Tier-Qualifying Night Credits for each night you stay from 8/23/22 through 12/31/22.

That’s a really valuable offer for people trying to move up in elite status with Hyatt.

Hyatt arguably has the best top levels of hotel elite status and so getting a shortcut for the remainder of the year is a pretty awesome benefit.

Here are the current elite requirements:

Status	Nights	Base Points
Discoverist	10	25,000
Explorist	30	50,000
Globalist	60	100,000

Tip: You need to be under 5/24 to get approved so be sure to use the WalletFlo eligibility checker to make sure you are eligible before you apply. Also, you can get both the personal and business version.

Bonus earning

The World of Hyatt Business Credit Card is also offering a special bonus earning deal for the remainder of the year and next year.

You can earn 2X per $1 spent in your top three spend categories each quarter through 12/31/23, (then your top two categories each quarter).

The categories include:

Dining
Shipping
Airline tickets when purchased directly with the airline
Local transit & commuting
Social media & search engine Advertising
Car rental agencies
Gas stations
Internet, cable & phone services

You also earn 2X on fitness memberships.

Hyatt points are some of the most valuable reward points so earning 2X Hyatt points is much more rewarding than something like 2X Hilton points.

So this is something you may actually want to pursue.

With that said, you could earn more points on some of these categories like dining, airline tickets, and transit using a card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve®.

And some of the Chase business cards can also boost your earnings even better.

For example, the Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card earns 3X on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on:

Travel
Shipping purchases
Internet, cable and phone services
Advertising purchases with social media sites and search engines

The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card will earn you 5% cash back or 5X on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases each account anniversary year at:

Internet, cable and phone services
Office supply stores

So if you are okay going the transferable points route, you could have much more lucrative earnings.

Perks

$50 statement credit

You can earn a $50 statement credit per qualifying Hyatt purchase with your World of Hyatt Business Credit Card up to 2 times each anniversary year (for a total of $100).

This is a pretty easy way to offset half of the $199 annual fee.

10% rebate

If during a calendar year you and any employee(s) collectively spend $50,000, you will receive 10% back on up to a total of 200,000 World of Hyatt points you redeem.

A 10% rebate on Hyatt points could be very valuable but it’s a pretty high spend requirement to trigger this benefit. The good news is that $50,000 worth of spend will trigger many qualifying night credits, as seen below.

Discoverist status

You will get Discoverist status and get 5 Discoverist Upgrade Awards to gift Discoverist to 5 employees.

While I would say you should be targeting higher levels of elite status if you get this card right now, don’t completely discount the value of Discoverist.

I’ve been able to receive some really late check-outs and gotten some nice little bumps in upgrades from Discoverist. It’s probably my favorite bottom of the totem pole elite level because I can actually notice its impact.

Elite credits

One of the strongest perks of the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card is that for every $10K you spend in a calendar year you’ll earn 5 tier qualifying night credits.

That is better than the personal card (which offers 2 qualifying night credits every $5,000) although the personal card does come with 5 tier qualifying night credits towards status every year.

Plus, you can get an extra free night at a category 1-4 Hyatt hotel if you spend $15,000 in a calendar year with the personal card (in addition to the annual free night).

Hyatt Leverage Membership

Get benefits like 15% off standard rates at participating hotels worldwide.

Final word

The World of Hyatt Business Credit Card is a solid hotel credit card.

If you’re trying to make a serious push to climb elite status with Hyatt, right now is a great time to apply while the limited time offer lasts.

And if you plan on putting a lot of spend on the card, you can benefit from the 5 tier qualifying night credits, making your progress even quicker.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Daniel Gillaspia

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