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How 2 Amex credit cards netted me 315k Bonus Points with no M.S.
Miles is always talking to people. He loves to tell them alllll about his fantastic trips no matter how disinterested they may look, act, express – it doesn’t matter, he just keeps telling them. Because everrrrrrrrry once and a while he gets someone that has that sparkle in their eye. THEY WANT IN! We all know that sparkle because we see it everyday in the mirror, don’t we? The need to earn points to take fantastic trips to wonderful places, in ridiculous cabins, for little to nothing, and have the FEELING THAT WE WON!!!!! The system is there for you to make the most of, and I’m definitely feeling like I’ve won. Here’s my story of how 2 Amex credit cards netted me 315k Bonus Points with no M.S.
At the end of 2014 I signed up for a American Express Business Gold Card with a 75k sign up bonus
The first year annual fee was waived. I kept it for a year and was going to get rid of it. I put all my flights on the card and earned 3x points, but didn’t think it justified paying a fee. ( I’m not counting those bonus points in my 315k)
At the end of 2015 I signed up for an American Express Business Platinum Card with a 100k sign up bonus
The intent was to cancel the Business Gold card because I wouldn’t need a Business Platinum ( $450 annual fee) and a Business Gold, plus I would have to pay the $175 to keep the Business Gold.
I was able to get my $200 AA airline credit in the form of gift cards for both 2015 and 2016 so that offset $400 of the fees.
When I called in to cancel the Business Gold card they offered me 15k points with no spend as a retention
I value Amex points at $.02 – This was higher than most would value them at the time, but I always transfer them to partner programs. So I valued the 15k at $300. I took the offer.
Earlier this year, My Business Gold was targeted for an upgrade offer. Upgrade to Business Platinum and receive 50k bonus points
This was too good to be true. I already had a Business Platinum and they were targeting me for another only a couple months before my annual fee? Bait taken.
I canceled my 2015 Business Platinum and kept my new upgraded Business Platinum.
So Now I was still holding my Original Business Gold that I was going to cancel, but kept because of the 15k retention offer. Up to this point I’d received a 75k BG sign up, 100k BP sign up, 15k retention and then 50k upgrade offer. Once my Gold was upgraded to a Platinum I bought AA gift cards for $200.
Then they created 25k referral bonuses for Business Platinum
I’ve received 3 – 25k referral bonuses. That’s another 75k
When you add all these up…it’s 315k in about 24 months.
| Sign up Bonus | Annual Fee | Credits | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Gold | 75 | First Year = $0 Second Year = $175 | |
| Business Gold Rentention | 15 | ||
| Business Platinum | 100k | First Year = 450 | 2015 = $200 Airline 2016 = $200 Airline |
| Gold upgrade to Plat | 50k | 2016-2017 = $450 | 2016 = $200 2017 = $200 |
| New Plat Referral | 25k x 3 = 75k | $1075 | $800 |
| Total | 315k | Fees - Credits $275 | |
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 60k points after $4k spend in 3 months
- Worth $750 in Chase Travel℠ and way more if you maximize transfer partners
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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