Miles and Points Recap: Free Marriott Points, Southwest Sale, Wells Fargo Propel, Priceline and More!

This is a news recap from last week. For faster updates, follow me on Twitter or check my feed on the right side of the blog.

1) Free 500 Marriott Rewards points when you follow them on Instagram. Super easy, so why not? Get them, guys and gals! You never know when these points will come in handy.

2) Just a quick reminder that you can now activate third quarter 5% bonus categories on Chase Freedom, Discover It and US Bank Cash Plus. Do it now because you may end up forgetting  later on. Ask me how I know.

3) If you have a Discover card, you might be able to score a free $10 item from Kohl’s. Details here

4) I don’t post on flight deals often, but if you haven’t yet made summer travel plans, check out this Southwest Airlines sale running through June 23rd.

5) Top hotel promotions for June 2016 via Loyalty Lobby. Self-explanatory.

6) DoC reader has found a working link for Wells Fargo Propel card. You will probably need an existing relationship with Wells Fargo, but there may  still be an option to apply in-branch. I got this bonus two years ago, but it did involve some serious hassle, like faxing tax returns. Still, I got $500  out of the card, so it was worth it. Check out the post as well as comments, and decide for yourself. If you received this bonus in the past and it’s been at least 16 months, you can try to get it again, though no guarantees.

7) You might be able to get an offer of 40K+25K points on Amex Premier Rewards Gold if you use VPN trick or incognito browser. Be aware, you will have to pay the annual fee of $195 next year in order to receive the full bonus. If you’ve never had an American Express card, check CardMatch tool to see if you can get an offer of 50K points after spending $1,000 in 3 months, first annual fee waived.

Which sign-up bonus is a better deal? It really depends. Amex Gold comes with $100/per calendar year benefit  toward reimbursement of  airline fees, similar to Amex Platinum. So,  assuming you keep the card till 2018, you can potentially get the credit three times. Even if you pay $195 annual fee, you’ll still come out ahead.

Basically, you’ll be paying $95 for 15,000 MR points or a  bit more if you plan on reselling the gift cards. But, and it’s a big one, there is no guarantee that Amex will continue to reimburse folks for airline gift cards and other non-qualifying purchases. It’s a loophole, so YMMV

8) An oldie but goodie! Scott from Milespointsreselling blog has mentioned this post on tips for saving money by booking car rental through Priceline.  Of course, make sure you are OK with non-refundable nature of this type of transaction.

Here is what he said in the comment: “In my experience, especially if you travel off season, the absolute best price for a rental car is bidding on Priceline. In our 5 trips to Hawaii the most we have paid for a rental was $16 per day for a full-size car. And every time we pick up our rental  we have been upgraded in the lot to an SUV. I don’t count on the upgrade but it has been pretty consistent.”

Click here to view various credit cards and available sign-up bonuses