This is a news recap from last week, tailored to regular family. For faster updates, follow me on Twitter or check my feed on the right side of the blog.
1) Last reminder on US Bank FlexPerks offer tied to Olympic medals. Today (or possibly tomorrow) is the last day to apply. Read my post for details and make sure to use direct link (included in the post) rather than someone’s referral. US Bank can be tricky when it comes to approvals, but the only way to know for sure is to actually pull the trigger.
I’ve applied in both mine and my husband’s names, and they went to pending status. This is actually quite normal for US Bank, and my opinion is that it’s best to wait it out rather than call them. I’ll update you when I hear the results. Let me know if you decide to give this offer a shot and how it turns out.
2) There is currently a decent bonus on Amex Business Gold Rewards card, but YMMV because Amex login is required. The offer did come up for me, so I imagine most will have success. You have to spend $5,000 in 3 months in order to get 75,000 Membership Rewards points. Make sure not to engage in any manufactured spending because you will risk losing your sign-up bonus. Not worth it! Read the post on this offer on DoC
3) Marriott Rewards program came out with new promotion for stays between September 15th-January 17th, 2017. Details here I have two words: weak sauce. But if you have Marriott stays planned in a near future, might as well take advantage of it. For most normal folks new IHG Accelerate promo will be far more lucrative.
4) A promo from Hyatt, which will be of interest to those who have a lot of stays planned in the upcoming months.
5) Air France Flying Blue new promo awards list was announced for travel in November and December of 2016. That means you can potentially take your family to Europe during Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays. You have to book award tickets during the month of September. You can transfer points to Flying Blue on 1:1 basis from Membership Rewards or Ultimate Rewards (instant), Citi Thank You program with certain eligible cards (2-5 days) or SPG ( takes a week or longer).
The best strategy is to book one-way flights from USA (not back) due to relatively mild carrier surcharges. It costs around $80 or so in taxes to fly from Miami to Paris non-stop. So, if you take advantage of this promo, you can fly from San Francisco, Miami or Houston to Europe for only 18,750 miles one-way plus tax. Israel is considered to be part of Europe, so this destination will probably be your best deal of all. Note that miles redeemed on promo awards are non-refundable. You can sign up for free Flying Blue account here
6) There is an increased bonus on Bank of America Asiana Visa Signature. Thanks to Doctorofcredit blog for bringing it to my attention! In all likelihood, few regular folks will be interested in signing up, but it’s worth knowing about.
BoA cards are churnable, which means you can receive bonus again after an unspecified amount of time. I have added this offer to my list of secondary sign-up bonuses where you can see all the details on this card. Basically, you’ll get 30,000 miles after spending $3,000 in 3 months, $99 annual fee is NOT waived.
This airline program only partners with SPG. Asiana miles are redeemable on United-operated flights, and one-way awards are permitted at half the cost. Here is the chart (Hwaii stands for Hawaii, LOL) :
7) This turned out to be nothing, but just wanted to give you heads up: yesterday the online link for Chase Sapphire Reserve was down for awhile. It’s now working again. What does it all mean? Probably just a glitch, but who knows.
8) Just wanted to share this photo of my nephew who started school yesterday. In my home country of Belarus (and most of former Soviet Union) it’s a tradition for classes to begin on September 1st. It’s a big deal! As you can see, kids dress up and there are flowers and balloons everywhere. This really takes me back to my childhood…
Click here to view various credit cards and available sign-up bonuses
Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
I agree, handsome boy!
My husband and I both applied for the US Bank Flexperks. I got a letter in the mail from them yesterday asking me to call them to verify information. I called, and they just asked me to verify my name,address, and birthday. The rep said they just wanted to make sure it was really me that applied! And then he sent my application back to be reviewed. The suspense is killing me!
@Nancy US Bank can be a tough nut to crack. Most of our credit card applications with them have been approved, but it took a few weeks. I’m waiting to see what happens before calling them. It is entirely possible that we will both get denied this time due to all the recent inquiries. Still, I don’t regret trying because it’s a very good offer, and it won’t come around for at least four years. Hopefully, we’ll all end up getting it in the end. Keep me posted.
Your nephew looks so handsome! That’s neat how all the children dress up so nice.
Jennifer, thanks! He is a good looking boy, right? I can’t believe how big he is.