Best credit card bonuses and deals this week: Elevated airline, hotel, and flexible rewards offers, including up to 130,000 Hilton points or 110,000 Delta miles
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Summer is in full swing and it's an excellent time to boost your points, miles, and cash back balances by opening a new credit card. We've seen a deluge of elevated bonuses from Chase, American Express, and Citi, and there are dozens of other lucrative offers currently available. These include increased bonuses and even brand-new cards from major card issuers.
American Express and Marriott announced changes to the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card's annual credit of up to $300 toward eligible purchases at Marriott Bonvoy properties. Starting September 22, 2022, this benefit will be replaced with a new statement credit of up to $25 each month toward restaurant purchases worldwide.
Redeeming points directly for travel at a fixed rate
Turning points into cash back or statement credits
Cashing in points for gift cards, merchandise, and more
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has long been one of the most popular travel rewards cards. New cardholders can earn Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card — an excellent value for a modest Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card annual fee.
However, if you're looking for a premium card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is worth considering with its lucrative new offer to earn Chase Sapphire Reserve®. You can find out more in our Chase Sapphire Reserve review.
If you missed out on the 100,000-mile Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card bonus that ended recently, there's still good reason to consider the card. The new offer to earn Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is worth Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card in travel when you redeem miles at a rate of 1 cent each to erase eligible travel bookings. But you could potentially get even more value when you transfer Capital One miles to airline and hotel partners for award travel.
Our favorite under-the-radar card is the Citi Premier® Card. It offers excellent earnings in categories that fit well whether you're sticking close to home or on the road — 3x points on air travel, gas stations, restaurants, supermarkets, and hotels, and 1 point per dollar on everything else. Right now it's offering a record-high bonus of Citi Premier® Card (worth Citi Premier® Card based on Insider's valuations).
Another excellent deal is one of the best cards with premium travel and shopping benefits, The Platinum Card® from American Express. You can currently earn The Platinum Card® from American Express — here's our Amex Platinum card review to learn more.
Small-business credit card bonuses
If you're a small-business owner, opening a small-business credit card can offer a lot of benefits. Keeping your business and personal expenses separate makes it easier to keep track of expenses, and many cards offer bonus points, miles, or cash back in popular business spending categories.
You don't have to own a full-time business or make millions to be eligible to apply — even if you're a freelancer or have a side gig, you could qualify for a small-business card. The Business Platinum Card® from American Express and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card are both offering six-figure bonuses after meeting minimum spending requirements, and, depending on how you redeem them, you could get a value of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express for the The Business Platinum Card® from American Express and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card for the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card.
Cash-back credit card bonuses
Our top pick for the best cash-back credit card overall, the Wells Fargo Active Cash® CardWells Fargo Active Cash® Card - Rates & Fees, is a good pick if you prefer a strong 2% cash rewards rate on your purchases. Other excellent options, like the Chase Freedom Flex℠, Chase Freedom Unlimited®, and the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card, aren't exclusively cash-back cards (though they're marketed that way) — and they, too, are worth considering.
But right now, the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express has an elevated welcome bonus offer that can help you offset some of your upcoming expenses. New cardholders can earn a Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express.
You'll also earn 6% cash back on your first $6,000 in U.S. supermarket spending each year (then 1% back), 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming services, 3% back on U.S. gas stations and transit, and 1% back on all other eligible purchases (cash back is earned in the form of Rewards Dollars).
Airline credit card bonuses
If you fly United often, the new offer on the United Quest℠ Card is worth considering: United Quest℠ Card. The United℠ Explorer Card and its elevated welcome bonus offer are also great deal for casual and frequent United travelers. This card comes with a free checked bag on United flights (when you use the card to pay for your ticket), priority boarding, two one-time United Club passes each year, and excellent travel and purchase protections.
Be sure to check out the new intro offer on the three personal Southwest cards. For a limited time, you can earn Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card. If you're trying to earn the Southwest Companion Pass in 2022, these welcome bonus offers can get you halfway to the 125,000 points you'll need to qualify.
The new Chase Aeroplan® Credit Card isn't just for Air Canada flyers — along with a hefty welcome bonus offer, it comes with great bonus categories, spending bonuses, and will soon offer the unique ability to redeem up to 50,000 Aeroplan points per year at a rate of 1.25 cents apiece toward any travel purchase through Chase Pay Yourself Back.
Hotel credit card bonuses
Now is a good time to consider a Hilton credit card, especially if you have paid Hilton stays coming up. For a limited time, three Hilton cards come with elevated bonuses that include statement credits toward purchases at Hilton hotels:
Hilton Honors American Express Card — Hilton Honors American Express Card
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card — Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card — The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card
IHG fans now have three co-branded credit cards to choose from, and they're all offering excellent bonuses:
IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card — IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card
IHG® Rewards Premier Business Credit Card — IHG® Rewards Premier Business Credit Card (new card)
The Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card currently offers a welcome bonus offer of Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card. Insider estimates that Marriott points are worth 0.7 cents each, making this bonus potentially worth Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card. Plus, now that Marriott allows members to top-up reward certificates with up to 15,000 points, these certificates are much more versatile — and therefore valuable.
If you prefer a no-annual-fee card, the new Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card offer is worth a look. New cardholders can earn Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card — worth Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card based on Insider's valuations.
Keep in mind that most hotel chains, including Marriott and Hilton, have temporarily paused points expiration due to the pandemic, so there's no harm in earning points now for a vacation down the road. Additionally, Hilton permanently extended its points expiration window to 24 months (from 15 months).
