If you apply for both the personal and business card today, you'll have 60k Starpoints after meeting the minimum spending requirement after meeting the minimum spending requirement of $5k per card in the first six months.

I am a lodging cheapskate. My ideal trip length is four weeks, so hotel bills would add up quickly. Right now I haven't been in the US since February, so I've had to come up with creative ways to sleep cheaply.

But just because I'm a cheapskate doesn't mean I don't want to stay at fancy hotels sometimes too. I'm jealous that Rookie Alli has two nights at any Hilton worldwide.

Update: American Airlines got rid of its RTW awards, so the best way to book RTW awards now is elucidated here.

Key Links:

Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® MasterCard®
Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express
Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express
Explorer Award chart (eliminated April 2014)
Explorer Awards: The Rules (eliminated April 2014)

Combined, the cards offer enough American Airlines miles for a round-the-world business class award with up to 15 stopovers.

You could take this trip in business

Update: 12/11/13: The 50k Business Gold Card offer is dead.

Update 9/3/13: The 30k bonus Starpoint offers on the personal and business versions of the SPG card are dead.

The 25,000 Starpoint bonus for opening the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express and spending $5k on the card in the first six months is one of my absolute favorite bonus offers.

This post will explain how a couple can get 10 nights for free at a top-tier hotel in Hawaii plus First Class roundtrip flights all for about $150 per person total.

The offers listed in this post have expired so their links have been removed. Click here for the top current credit card sign up bonuses.

Sometimes I want luxury, and sometimes I want quantity.

Last week I talked about the Three Best Credit Cards for Free Nights in Luxury Hotels.

But what about going to the other end of the award chart? A lot of times when I am traveling I just need a pillow and a roof, since I plan to be out exploring the city all day.

The offers listed in this post have expired so their links have been removed. Click here for the top current credit card sign up bonuses.

Sometimes I want luxury, and sometimes I want quantity.

Last week I talked about the Three Best Credit Cards for Free Nights in Luxury Hotels.

But what about going to the other end of the award chart? A lot of times when I am traveling I just need a pillow and a roof, since I plan to be out exploring the city all day.

Starwood Preferred Guest's Cash & Points redemptions are some of the best values in travel.

Hey! You're reading an outdated Free First Class Next Month series. Check out the latest version published in April of 2015 here.

This is the eleventh post in a monthlong series that started here. Each post will take about two minutes to read and may include an action item that takes the reader another two minutes to complete. I am writing this for an audience of people who know nothing about frequent flier miles, and my goal is that by the end, you know enough to fly for free anywhere you want to go.