The offers on this page have expired.

Today and tomorrow, May 30 and 31, are the last days to take advantage of the limited time elevated sign up bonuses–the highest we’ve ever seen–on the Hilton Honors Card and the Hilton Surpass Card, both issued by American Express.

We recommend using Hilton points on lower tier Hiltons, as you tend to get a better value for your points. Aim for what used to be Category 1 - 3 Hiltons (priced at 5k to 20k points a night).

American Express is known for having a few restrictions when it comes to applying for their credit cards.

One is that you are limited to holding four to five American Express credit cards. Both personal and business count toward this limit. (AMEX Everyday, Delta, and SPG are credit cards.) Separately, you are limited to holding four to five American Express charge cards. Both personal and business count toward this limit.

The latest card I applied (and was approved) for was the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express.

The last two credit cards I signed up for were the Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite MasterCard and the Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express.

Award taxes and airfare add up for everyone reading this blog, especially if you book yourself reimbursable tickets for work. What credit card should you use to pay the airfare and award taxes for your travel?

Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards.
Bonus Spending
Many cards offer bonus points for “airfare” or “travel” purchases.

The Starwood Preferred Guest personal and business credit cards from American Express come with 35,000 bonus Starpoints for spending $5,000 and $8,000 respectively in the first six months of card membership. These offers end tomorrow, April 5, 2017.

Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards.

The normal sign up bonus is 25,000 points per card.

A week ago I wrote about the changes coming to the American Express Platinum card March 30. It's April 2, so those changes have now taken effect.

The Starwood Preferred Guest personal and business credit cards from American Express come with 35,000 bonus Starpoints for spending $5,000 and $8,000 respectively in the first six months of card membership. These offers end this coming Wednesday, April 5, 2017.

Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards.

The normal sign up bonus is 25,000 points per card.

There are two American Express Hilton credit cards with limited time increased sign up bonuses--the highest we've ever seen--that should catch your attention.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve®, the Citi Prestige, and the The Platinum Card® from American Express card are premium credit cards with huge benefits and high annual fees to match.

The first year, these are fantastic cards. The second year, the value is less certain. We'll look at canceling and downgrading options in this post.

The First Year

Many people are scared off by that annual fee, which makes sense at a superficial level. We all got interested in miles and points to save money, not spend it.

Apparently if you already have a credit card issued by American Express, the bank will not initially hard pull your credit report upon subsequent applications. They only pull your credit report if you are conditionally approved from internal information Amex already has on record, to double check nothing major has changed since then.