💳 New Cards, Increased Bonuses & Program Changes

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There’s been a lot happening in the credit card and points world lately, including the launch of new premium cards, elevated welcome bonuses, and some bank program changes that might impact your strategy. Here’s a quick breakdown of what’s worth your attention and how to navigate these changes.

New Cards + Elevated Bonuses

💳 2 New Citi Strata Cards (& New Transfer Partner)

• Citi Strata Elite℠: 80,000 bonus points after $4k spend in 3 months. However, this podcast discusses how to get the 100k offer. Citi’s new premium travel card with a $595 annual fee, though if you’re Citi Gold or Citi Private Client, you could get that discounted or even waived for year one. The card says the benefits are worth up to $1,500 per year, including a $300 annual hotel credit, a $200 “splurge” credit (think Best Buy, American Airlines, Live Nation), $200 Blacklane credit, Admirals Club passes, Priority Pass lounge access and more. In terms of earnings, you get 12x on hotels and cars through Citi Travel, 6x on flights through Citi Travel, and 6x on dining only Friday and Saturday nights (otherwise 3x).
• Citi Strata℠: 30,000 bonus points after $1k spend in 3 months. (Not too exciting). This no-annual-fee card earns 5x on Citi Travel hotels and cars, 3x on gas, EV charging, transit, supermarkets, and a selected category, plus 2x on dining. It's a pretty good no-fee card if you're excited about the Citi ecosystem.

As part of the Strata Elite launch, Citi added American Airlines as a 1:1 transfer partner if you have the Citi Strata Premier℠, Citi Strata Elite℠ or Citi Prestige® Credit Card. I'm very excited about this because AA miles are hard to get and have a ton of great uses.

💰 Chase Sapphire Reserve Relaunch & New Biz Card

• Chase Sapphire Reserve®: 100,000 bonus points + $500 Chase Travel℠ promo credit after $5 spend in 3 months. Despite the annual fee increasing from $550 to $795, the new earning structure along with updated perks makes this card still valuable. You earn 8x on Chase Chase Travel℠, 4x on flights and hotels, 3x on dining and 5x on Lyft. You also get a $300 credit for travel, dining, and StubHub, along with a $120 Lyft, Peloton, Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit, a monthly DoorDash credit and so much more.
• Sapphire Reserve for Business℠: 200,000 bonus points after $30k spend in 6 months. This card is very similar to the personal card with some key differences in the credits (they’re more business-focused). I got this card because it currently has the largest welcome bonus I've ever seen from Chase.

More details on the relaunch, benefits, and perks are in this blog post.

🤑 Increased Offers on Amex Platinum & Gold

Amex currently has two best-ever welcome offers on the Gold and Platinum cards. They are being marketed with "as high as" language and you won't know your precise offer until you fill out the application.

• The Platinum Card® from American Express: Up to 175,000 points after $8k spend in 6 months. We use this card primarily for 5x on flights and Centurion lounge access, and it’s best for frequent travelers who’ll use the travel credits, lounges, and Fine Hotels & Resorts perks.
• American Express® Gold Card: Up to 100,000 points after $6k spend in 6 months. It’s one of my favorite everyday cards for dining and groceries because it earns 4x on both (up to $50,000 and $25,000 per year, respectively). If you want both Gold and Platinum, apply for Gold first so you don’t get blocked by Amex’s “family rules.”

✈️ Southwest Cards: Elevated Bonus and Product Refresh

For a limited time, the 3 personal Southwest cards are offering 100,000 bonus points after a $4k spend in 5 months—one of the biggest offers we’ve ever seen on these cards.

• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card
• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card
• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card

Plus, find out how you can use these cards to score the Southwest Companion Pass for nearly two full years in this blog post, along with changes to the entire card lineup, including new travel perks and higher annual fees.

🏨 Best Ever Welcome Offers on Marriott Bonvoy Cards

If you’ve been thinking about adding a Marriott card, now’s the time to apply for one because the 2 personal cards have record-high welcome offers, plus ongoing perks like an annual free night and monthly dining credit.

• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card: 185k after $6k spend in 6 months (ends 9/24).
• Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card: 155k after $5k spend in 6 months (ends 9/24).
• Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card: 125k after $8k spend in 6 months (ends 10/22).

🛬 JetBlue Cards: Highest Ever Welcome Bonuses

Three of the Barclays JetBlue credit cards currently have their highest-ever welcome bonuses. Given I recently status matched to JetBlue and need to earn some tiles, I'll probably be going for one of these (likely the Business Card).

• JetBlue Premier Card: 80k bonus points + 5 tiles after $5K spend in 90 days and payment of annual fee.
• JetBlue Plus Card: Up to 80k bonus points. 60k after $1k spend in 90 days and payment of annual fee, plus 20k additional points after $6k spend in 1 year.
• JetBlue Business Card: Up to 80k bonus points. 60k after $2k spend in 90 days, plus 20k additional points after $6k spend in 1 year.

🏠 The Mesa Homeowners Card for Mortgage Payments

The Mesa Homeowners Card lets you earn 1x points on mortgage payments (up to 100K/year) if you spend at least $1K/month on the card. That’s easy to hit with 3x on home improvement, property taxes, day care, insurance premiums, and 2x on groceries, gas, and EV charging. There’s no annual fee, $600+ in annual credits for Costco, Lowe’s, Thumbtack, and more, plus points transfer to 8 airline and hotel partners. More details about this card are here.

• Mesa Homeowners Card: No welcome bonus, but you can get 5,000 free points using my referral link with code FCRGNB.

🐶 Nibbles Credit Card: Free Pet Insurance

• Nibbles Credit Card: Offers free pet insurance for one dog or cat and earns 3x points on pet and vet purchases. A comparable pet insurance policy for our 10yr old dog was $137.56/mo (unfortunately, he isn’t eligible due to his age), and with no annual fee, this seems like a great option for pet owners.

💸 The New Rakuten Card

• Rakuten American Express® Card: $25 bonus on $500 spend in 90 days. I’d rather use the Rakuten shopping portal (and get $30 here) with a higher-earning everyday card to earn more points.

This no annual fee card earns 3% cash back (or 3x Amex Membership Rewards points) on purchases through Rakuten and 1% everywhere else, but it’s capped at $7k/year.

🇺🇸 Changes to U.S. Bank Cards

U.S. Bank has made changes to both the Smartly™ Visa and the Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card, and unfortunately, most of them are not positive.

The once-uncapped 4% earning rate on the Smartly card is now capped at $10K spend per billing cycle, and higher rates require $100K in a checking account only, which means savings and investment accounts no longer count. Several categories like taxes, gift cards, tuition, B2B payments, and insurance are excluded, making it far less rewarding. The Altitude Reserve also took a big hit. Uncapped 3x earnings on mobile wallet purchases are now capped at $5K per cycle, the $325 travel credit must be booked through U.S. Bank’s portal, and travel redemptions drop from 1.5¢ to 1¢ per point.

The only possible upside is new potential airline and hotel transfer partners, but details like partner names and transfer ratios are still unknown.

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.