You can only get the bonus on American Express credit and charge cards once per lifetime.

In 2014, American Express changed its churning rules so that you could only get the bonus on a personal credit card once per lifetime.

Now the rule has been extended to business cards.

This follows the general trend of tightening the giving of bonuses by banks. For instance, Chase is about to institute a rule that you'll be denied for a credit card automatically if you've opened five other credit cards in the last 24 months.

I expect to see further tightening, and I expect the changes to be profitable for the banks.

The Citi Prestige® Card comes with 40,000 bonus ThankYou Points after $4,000 in purchases made with your card in the first 3 months the account is open.

I will spend over 200 nights this year in Airbnb apartments--here's where I am sleeping in 2015--so three pieces of news about Airbnb caught my eye today.

Most (all?) AMEX cards are offering $50 off a $100 Airbnb purchase made by 12/31/15.
You can use AMEX Membership Rewards to pay for Airbnb stays.
You can earn Virgin America Elevate points for Airbnb stays.

Right now, if you sign up for Airbnb through my referral link, you’ll get $25 off your first stay, and I’ll get $25 off my next stay.

American Express is offering real FICO scores for free to cardholders. Get yours here. Barclaycard, Citi, and Discover already offer real FICO scores for free to cardholders, so by now everyone who opens rewards credit cards should have free access to their real FICO score.

Your FICO score is the main or one of the main factors in all decisions lenders make about whether to extend you credit, how much, and on what terms. Watch it. Guard it. Keep it high.

American Express christened the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and the day after Black Friday, as Small Business Saturday in 2010. Every year since then, American Express has offered $10 to $30 in statement credits per American Express card for shopping at small businesses on Small Business Saturday. There are probably people who have racked up over $1,000 in free statement credits from American Express in the last five years.

Well this gravy train is over, at least for this year, but I'd guess forever.

Transfer 80,000 American Express Membership Rewards to 40,000 Virgin America Elevate points by December 31, 2015 and receive top tier Virgin America Gold Status through February 2017.

In addition, if you complete the transfer by October 8, 2015, you will get 25% more Elevate points, so 80,000 Membership Rewards would equal Gold Status plus 50,000 Virgin America points.

Good Deal?
I value Membership Rewards at 2 cents each. I value Virgin America points at 2 cents each.

Updated 5/14/15 with current prices and routing rules. Screen shots show old prices.

Delta SkyMiles get a bad rap--very deservedly so--for the lack of Saver (Level 1) award availability that Delta releases, the fuel surcharges Delta charges on awards, the inability to add stopovers on awards, and the fact that Delta deleted its chart from the internet.

But it does not follow that Delta miles are worthless.

Costco currently only accepts American Express cards.
Soon, Costco will accept Visa cards.
Starting April 1, 2016 (in 13 months), Costco will no longer accept American Express.

This is primarily of interest to me because many people who fill out my Free Credit Card Consultation Form let me know that they need an AMEX because they do a lot of their shopping at Costco.

Some folks who type their information into the Card Match tool are getting offers for the:

American Express Platinum with 100,000 bonus Membership Rewards after spending $3,000 in the first three months
American Express Premier Rewards Gold with 50,000 bonus Membership Rewards after spending $1,000 in the first three months
Amex Everyday Preferred Credit Card with 30,000 bonus Membership Rewards after spending $2,000 in the first three months.

Hat Tip The Points Guy and View from the Wing

Head to the Card Match tool, and you'll find out if you're matched in just a