This week, we'll cover a deep dive on 30+ Amex cards & Membership Rewards, how to arn 50,000+ points on a new mortgage or refinance, bank bonuses worth $4,300+, deals on business class award flights to 7 destinations, $500+ worth of savings via card-linked offers, 3 new Bilt cards coming in 2026, up to 20% off popular gift card brands, U.S. airports with summertime flight delays, and more!

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💳 Deep Dive on Amex Credit Cards and MR Points

This week, I reviewed and ranked the full American Express lineup of 30+ cards. I also dive deep on Membership Rewards, transfer partners, approval rules, card-linked offers, unique perks, and more.

📺 Watch or 🎧 Listen

🛫 Travel, Points & Miles

💺 Biz Class Award Flight Deals to 7 Destinations

If you're looking at international travel, there are some great award deals for business class flights right now.

• 🇬🇧 London: ​From 29,000 points​ via Virgin Atlantic.
• 🇨🇱 Chile: ​From 50,000 miles​ via LATAM.
• 🇶🇦 Qatar: ​From 54,000 points​ in QSuite via Qatar Airways.
• 🇰🇷 Seoul: ​From 58,000 points​ via Asiana/American Airlines.
• 🇹🇷 Istanbul: ​From 65,000 miles​ on Turkish Airlines.
• 🇳🇿 New Zealand: ​From 75,000 points​ via Air New Zealand.
• 🇹🇼 Taipei: ​From 75,000 miles​ via Starlux Airlines.

🏨 Earn Bonus Points at Hyatt, Marriott & Hilton

Here are three hotel promos you can take advantage of if you have upcoming summer travel this year.

• Hyatt: ​Earn 3x Hyatt points​ on eligible Homes & Hideaways stays completed by 9/7. You typically earn 5 base points/$1 spent, so you’ll earn a total of 15x during this promo.
• Marriott: ​Earn 25,000 Bonvoy points​ when you book a 5+ night stay via ​Vacations by Marriott​ in Caribbean, Latin America and Mexico before 7/31 and travel before 12/31.
• Hilton: ​Earn 750 Qatar Airways Avios​ on an eligible stay at Hilton between 7/1 and 9/30. ​Registration​ is required​.

💰 Earning Points on a New Mortgage or Refinance

If you're looking to get a new mortgage (or refinance an existing one), there are two ways to earn a lot of points in the process:

1. ​Mesa's mortgage brokerage service​ offers 1x points per $1 on the principal value of the loan (new or refinance). So a $500k mortgage = 500,000 points. Unfortunately it's only available in 7 states right now (AL, GA, FL, MI, TX, OK, OR) but they say more are coming soon.
2. You can also earn ​50,000 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan​ miles​ when you apply for a mortgage or refinance through Rate.com before 12/31 and close on the loan.

Separately, anyone with a mortgage can earn 1x points on their mortgage (up to 100k/yr) with the ​Mesa Homeowners Card​​. While they've moved to a waitlist right now, I've been told they're moving through it quickly and it shouldn't be too long before you get invited. I wrote up a post with more details on the card ​here​, and once you get off the waitlist, you can use my referral code (FCRGNB) for 5,000 bonus points. Note: the code is not an invite code to skip the waitlist.

💎 New JSX Loyalty Program + $100 off Your Flight

The "feels-like-private" airline JSX recently launched their ​new loyalty program, Club JSX​, offering members 5% back on flights as trip credits. The program also includes family reward pooling, birthday bonuses, personalized offers, and a referral program, so if you're flying JSX, it's defintiely worth signing up. If you've never tried JSX before, you can check out their ​route map​ and use the code NP0DUC to get $100 off your first flight.

🤩 25% Bonus Southwest Points

Select Southwest Rapid Rewards cardholders can now ​earn a 25% bonus​ on points, up to a maximum of 20,000 bonus points, when they spend $3,000+ between 7/1 and 9/30. Registration is required—so check your account to see if you're eligible.

💳 Bilt Leaving Wells Fargo to Launch 3 New Bilt Cards

Bilt is moving from ​Wells Fargo to Cardless as its card issuer​ in Feb 2026 and will launch three new cards: a no-fee, $95, and $495 version. I'm a big fan of ​Bilt Rewards​ because it has the best lineup of transfer partners, so I'm very excited to see this new lineup of cards!

✈️ Etihad's 5 Million Mile Challenge

Etihad Guest's ​Extraordinary Challenge​ is offering ​20+ million bonus miles​ in prizes to anyone who visits their 15 newest destinations. The top three finishers receive 5, 3, and 1 million miles, respectively, while the first 100 to reach 5 and 10 destinations earn additional bonus miles. I prefer challenges like the current ​JetBlue 25​ (which I'd probably be doing if we lived on the east coast) where everyone is guaranteed the "prize" vs. Etihad's where you have to be first for the full amount.

✌️ 2x Aeroplan Points on International Flights

Aeroplan members can ​earn 2x points​ on international flights (including Asia, Australia, Europe, South America, Mexico, or the Caribbean) from 9/15 to 12/15. You must ​register​ and complete your booking before 8/15.

🤑 Latest Deals

🏦 Bank Bonuses Worth $4,300+

Bank bonuses are an easy way to earn extra cash, especially with these new offers.

• ​$900 from a Popular Bank​: When you open both a checking and a savings account and complete the qualifying activities before 10/15.
• ​Up to $450 from U.S. Bank​: When you open a ​new U.S. Bank Smartly® Checking account​ and sign up for online banking or the U.S Bank Mobile app and complete 2 qualifying deposits within 90 days. Offer expires on 9/16.
• ​Up to $2,000 from Citibank​: Valid in-branch only and until 9/30. Earn up to $2,000, depending on the deposit amount, when you open a new Citibank Business Checking Account and maintain the balance for 60 days.
• ​$500 from a Popular Bank​: Open an eligible business checking account online and complete 5 qualifying transactions within 90 days—no direct deposit required. Offer valid until 10/16.
• ​Up to a $500 from Pillur​: When you open a Pillur business checking or savings account and complete a qualifying deposit. Offer valid 9/30.

🔗 Latest Card-Linked Offers: $500+ in Savings

Card-linked offers are a great way to save on shopping you’re already doing. Here are some worth checking out with expiration dates in parentheses.

• Alaska Airlines: ​$60 off $300+​ (9/30).
• ITA Airways: ​$255 off $1,250​ (9/7).
• JetBlue: ​$50 off $200+​ (8/31).
• ​Walmart.com: ​10% back​, up to $10 (7/31).
• Grand Hyatt: ​7% off $100​ (7/14).
• Wynn & Encore Las Vegas: ​$60 off $300​ (10/7).
• Caesars Resorts: ​$80 off $400​ (10/31).
• ​Staples.com: ​5% back​, up to $5 (7/28).

P.S. Some of these offers are targeted, so I highly recommend using ​CardPointers Pro​ (get 30% off ​here​) to automate these offers.

🎁 Up to 20% Off Popular Gift Card Brands

Here are some great gift card deals I found this week.

• ​Up to 20% off popular brands​ including Uber, Lyft, Netflix, Chipotle and more at ​Amazon.com​. Expiration date N/A.
• ​15% off popular brands​ including Lyft, PetSmart and more via DoorDash. Expiration date N/A.
• ​15% off Lowe’s gift cards​ at Dollar General until 7/26.
• ​$10 Best Buy gift card​ with a $100 Apple gift card at Best Buy. Expiration date N/A.
• ​$10 off $150 in Mastercard gift cards​ at Meijer mPerks until today, 7/12.
• ​$15 Whole Foods gift card​ with your first Amazon Pharmacy purchase until 8/10.
• ​$15 off $300 in Visa gift cards​ at Office Depot/Max until today, 7/12. Valid in-store only.
• ​$25 Chipotle Giftcard for $21.25​ at BJ’s Wholesale Club. Expiration date N/A.

💰 $50 from PayPal for Linking 3 Subscriptions

PayPal currently has a ​targeted offer​ to earn a $50 reward when you link 3 subscriptions to you PayPal account. It's a fairly easy bonus, so check your PayPal account to see if you're eligible.

🕵️ Top Finds

💸 Is Financial Independence Overrated?

I really love ​this article by Nick Maggiulli​ about how chasing financial independence can be overrated. He argues that Coast FIRE is the highest form of financial freedom because it still requires you to engage in meaningful work, and I completely agree with this mindset.

🛬 Airports With the Most Summertime Flight Delays

​This Upgraded Points study​ breaks down which U.S. airports have the worst summer delay stats, including average delay times, cancellation rates, and tarmac waits. If you’re flying this summer, it’s worth a look to know which airports and airlines are most likely to slow you down.

Editor’s Note: The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of our partner offers may have expired. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.