Become a Discover cardmember and you’ll get $50 Cashback Bonus with your 1st purchase within 3 mos.
Discover It Miles Card
Discover just announced a new travel rewards credit card that is keeping the free in-flight Wi-Fi trend alive for 2015. Free bags were so 2014. This is a free or no annual fee card that gives you a bit more than the everyday spend on a Discover IT card since it normally pays 1% when you are not getting the 5% categories. This card gives you 1.5x Miles on each dollar.
I have yet to see a card actually give me the no black out dates or restrictions or being able to actually fly last minute. But this card claims to have a “No blackout dates, no restrictions, fly any airline, any time”. Redeem your Miles for any amount, any time, with no expiration is a new thing with Discover Card and I am lovin’ it! I have been complaining about the $50 redemption on the Cash Back version of the card for a few tears now. You will also get up to a $30 credit each year for in-flight Wi-Fi. You can also get free Wi-Fi this route. As a bonus card members can double all the miles that you’ve earned at the end the year.
To redeem Discover it Miles just apply the points toward any transportation including airlines, rental cars, taxis and bus fares. This would include fabulous Uber and Lyft rides since they are coded as transportation as I found out in a recent Discover IT promotion of 5% back. The double miles at the end of the year have no spend cap and seem to only be for the first year. There is no sign-up bonus for this card yet but stay tuned I am sure they will come up with one at some point…
Discover it Miles card members can redeem miles at any amount for cash, or as a statement credit toward their travel purchases, including commercial airline tickets, hotel rooms, car rentals, commuter transportation, and taxicabs.
You will receive the same benefits as the Discover it Card including: Mobile account management, 100% U.S.-based customer service representatives available any time meaning no one from India will be answering the phone after 30 minutes of waiting, Free FICO Credit Scores online and on monthly statements as advertised on TV, and the ability to pay bills online or by phone up to midnight (Eastern time) on due dates.
Compare Travel Credit Cards chart according to Discover below with the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Capital One VentureOne, Capital One Venture, and the American Express Blue Sky:
Cyber-attacks and online theft have been nonstop this past year. The Hilton hotel chain and their HHonors rewards program had to put in a captcha that was more of a hassle than a banking site because of this. This may turn out to be a good thing in terms of points though because Hilton HHonors wants you to change that password and will put 1,000 points in your account to do it. You heard that right… Hilton HHonors is giving away 1,000 bonus points when you update your account password between February 19th and March 8, 2015.
I had used an email address and a PIN Number until now but when they get done with the updates may no longer be accepted. When I tried to go in and change my password it would not let me. It asked me for my username and password when I looked in the “Personal Information” part of my HHonors profile. Looks like I was going to have to set this up anyway but I hope it passed as a “password change”. Took me a few tries to set up my username as the site may be getting bombarded with people doing the same thing.
You will not see the bonus points post immediately to my account like most offers. Give it a few weeks to post.
If you are half blind like I am you will understand that captchas are discriminating little things. They do not like us blind folk. Without contacts or glasses on there is no way I can fill out a captcha. I hate them more than anything. So I dread every time I look up hotels on Hilton’s website because of this. I wondered why they made it harder to get in their site than my bank account. Turns out it is because they are being hacked and we all have to pay the consequences for this theft.
The all-time best Marriott Rewards deal in the past year was to apply for the Ritz Carlton offer that was going around for 100,000 points. That card had a high annual fee so if you are looking for a lesser annual fee this card for 70,000 points may be a better solution. To get the 70,000 bonus point offer you must spend $2,000 in purchases. You may want to act fast on these special card links as they may not last long.
To get one of these bonus offers make sure you have not received a new card member bonus product in the past 24 months for a Marriott branded card from Chase. The Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card version that gives you 70,000 Bonus Points waives its annual fee for the first year making it a much better deal than the Ritz Carlton 100k offer.
You’ll also receive 1 free night stay at a Category 1-4 location after account approval as well as 1 free night stay every year at a Category 1-5 hotel after your account anniversary. I have not seen anything out there to top this deal. You can currently find it here: creditcards.chase.com/a1/marriottpremier/phdmoffer (just cut and paste into browser)
$150 Statement Credit Another great card is the Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card with 40,000 Bonus Points + $150 Statement Credit. This version of the Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card offers 40,000 bonus points when you spend $2,000 within the first 3 months, plus a $150 statement credit after your first purchase, and the annual fee is waived for the first year.
The bonus here is that you will receive 1 free night stay at a Category 1-4 location after account approval as well as 1 free night stay every year at a Category 1-5 hotel after your account anniversary. You can find this card here by going here.
We have also seen 50,000 and a 30,000 Bonus Points card after $1,000 Spend on Chase Bank’s website. These offers are less desirable but the 30,000 offer gets you two e-certificates upon approval of your account.
With the following cards you’ll earn 3 or 5 points per $1 spent at Marriott locations. You’ll earn 2 points per $1 spent on airline tickets purchased directly with the airline as well as at car rental agencies and restaurants. Plus, you’ll earn 1 point per $1 on other purchases with no expiration and no limit on points. You’ll also receive 1 or 2 free night stays after account approval and each year upon account anniversary. One of the best benefits is that card holders achieve Silver Elite status with 15 nights credit toward Elite status. These cards may have a $45 to $85 annual fee after the first year. Marriott Rewards Credit Card – 30,000 Bonus Points
Marriott Rewards offers 8 different hotel categories and it depends mainly on how popular that hotel is I have noticed. Cities such as Austin will be expensive to redeem but may be cheaper in Los Angeles even though its the same type. Marriott Rewards members who apply for credit cards will earn both the 10 points as a program member and the 3-5 points as a credit card member, thus taking the total of up to 15 points per $1 spent at Marriott hotels. If you are seeking free stays at hotels this is one of the best cards to achieve that especially if you are already staying at Courtyard, Residence Inn, Renaissance, or Marriott branded hotels.
Virgin America announced a New Route from Dallas to Austin with fares from $39 each way. Book by February and Fly by June 6. Travel begins to Austin, TX the home of SXSW starting April 28. With Virgin America you get those nice mood-lit flights between Dallas (DAL) and Austin (AUS) and nonstop service to Austin five times a day.
I will have to consider flying to Austin now instead of driving since it takes almost 4 hours to drive and this will cut down some time and not too much out of my pocketbook while earning Elevate points. My favorite airline now is Virgin America hands down in the US. I am glad to see them grow and grow and grow. I had hoped they had bought out American Airlines when they went bankrupt but instead the horrific merger with US Air took place. Glad to see Virgin America grow even if it is taking forever to do so. Hopefully they will pick up Orlando, Tampa, New Orleans, and grow to more US Cities out of Love Field (DAL) in Dallas, TX.
It seems every day we are posting another hot offer from American Express. This time for their business line of cards. If you have an eligible American Express OPEN or Corporate card you may qualify for free access to Gogo Inflight Wifi throughout the year.
This offer is available to the Business Centurion Card and Business Platinum Card from American Express OPEN as well as the Corporate Centurion Card, Corporate Platinum Card, Corporate Gold Card, and Executive Gold Corporate Card from American Express. This is not available for Simply Cash members (believe me I checked).
Centurion members are eligible for unlimited passes, Platinum Card members are eligible for 10 passes per year, and Gold Card members are eligible for five passes per year. Each pass is good for one Gogo WiFi flight segment.
You just have to register your card number here to get started. To use a pass while in flight, log into your Gogo account and select to use the AMEX Internet Pass.
This is a great offer for those who currently have American Express business cards or plan on applying for one. Combine this with all the Membership Rewards points you can get bonuses on and you can do lots your spending strategy with AMEX. hopefully some day we will not have to search for promo codes or discounts for in-flight Wifi and it will be included for free.
These Wifi Passes are valid for use on Gogo equipped flights operating between destinations within the United States, Canada, and Mexico, where network coverage is available. Gogo is available on Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta, United, US Airways, and Virgin America. Not available on Southwest or Jet Blue.
Discover It Miles Card
Cyber-attacks and online theft have been nonstop this past year. The Hilton hotel chain and their HHonors rewards program had to put in a captcha that was more of a hassle than a banking site because of this. This may turn out to be a good thing in terms of points though because Hilton HHonors wants you to change that password and will put 1,000 points in your account to do it. You heard that right… Hilton HHonors is giving away 1,000 bonus points when you update your account password between February 19th and March 8, 2015.
Virgin America announced a New Route from Dallas to Austin with fares from $39 each way. Book by February and Fly by June 6. Travel begins to Austin, TX the home of SXSW starting April 28. With Virgin America you get those nice mood-lit flights between Dallas (DAL) and Austin (AUS) and nonstop service to Austin five times a day.
It seems every day we are posting another hot offer from American Express. This time for their