Update: Existing Discover cardholders should note that right now you can get 5% to 20% of extra value to gift card redemptions at various retailers. Apple is at a 15% bonus, so $85 in cash back = $100 in Apple gift cards. Smaller increments are also available, such that I was able to redeem my $34 balance for a $40 Apple GC, which I instantly added to my Apple account. Nike has 20% bonus, Gap/Athleta has 15% bonus, and so on. Offer ends 8/31/24. Discover It is a long-time “keeper” card of mine due its 5% cash back categories, plus you can double that to 10% with their new cardholder bonus.

Full card review:

The Discover it® card is a rewards credit card that offers 5% cash back on rotating categories each quarter and no annual fee. Right now, new cardholders get double their cash back during the entire first year (“Cashback Match”). This means that their 5% cash back on specific categories each quarterly will effectively get doubled to 10% cash back. Here are the highlights:

• We’ll double all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year. So if you earned $101 cash back, we’ll double it to $202—Automatically. Only for new cardmembers.
• 5% cash back in categories that change each quarter like gas, restaurants, home improvement stores and more—up to the quarterly maximum when you sign up. 1% cash back on all other purchases.
• Freeze It on/off switch lets you prevent new purchases, cash advances & balance transfers on misplaced cards in seconds by mobile app & online.
• 100% U.S.-based customer service.
• Free FICO credit scores updates on your monthly statement.
• No overlimit fee. No foreign transaction fee. No late fee on first late payment & paying late won’t raise your APR.
• No annual fee.

From July 1st through September 30th, 2024, you can earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent in the following categories:

• Walmart (both in-store and online)
• Grocery Stores (excludes Target and wholesale clubs)

Enroll after logging into your online account (look on the right-hand side). 5% rewards won’t apply until after you activate your rewards, so it is best to activate now before you forget. No annual fee.

Discover it $100 bonus details. If you are a new applicant and sign up via my Discover Card referral link, you will get a $50 improved $100 Cashback Bonus after your first purchase within 3 months of being account opening. You will also get Cashback Match for an entire year – a dollar-for-dollar match of all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year, automatically. During those 12 months, your 5% cash back rewards becomes 10% cash back, and your 1% cash back rewards become 2% cash back. You can verify this on the application by looking under “Terms and Conditions” or searching for “cashback match” and “statement credit offer”:

Refer a Friend: You will receive a $100 statement credit after making a purchase within three months of account opening. You must apply online through your friend’s digital referral link and be approved by 11:59pm ET, December 31, 2024 in order to be eligible for the $100 statement credit offer.

Cashback Match: We’ll match all the cash back rewards you’ve earned on your credit card from the day your new account is approved through your first 12 consecutive billing periods or 365 days, whichever is longer, and add it to your rewards account within two billing periods.

Update: This offer is expired. The last day to activate this benefit was July 31st, 2024. You can add multiple eligible Chase Sapphire/Slate/Freedom flavors and they will stack to extend your free membership further and further. Just keep going back to Instacart.com/chase to activate all your cards before the deadline. For example, I added both a Freedom Flex and Freedom Unlimited.

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Chase has partnered with Instacart to offer a free memberships and credits to Instacart+. Instacart+ usually costs $9.99 a month (or $99 a year) and includes free delivery on $35+ orders and reduced service fees. They claim the average savings is $7 per order. Here are the eligible cards and perks:

Get free delivery with Instacart+:

– 12 free months with Sapphire Reserve® and J.P. Morgan Reserve®
– 6 free months with Sapphire® and Sapphire Preferred®
– 3 free months with Freedom®, Freedom Flex?, Freedom Unlimited®, Freedom Rise?, Freedom® Student, Slate® and Slate Edge?

Earn statement credits*

– $15/month for Sapphire Reserve® and J.P. Morgan Reserve®
– $15/quarter for Sapphire® and Sapphire Preferred®
– $10/quarter for Freedom®, Freedom Flex?, Freedom Unlimited®, Freedom Rise? and Freedom® Student

Tip #1: Turn off auto-renewal immediately after activation. When you activate this offer, it will be set to auto-renew after the end of the free membership. However, you can cancel this auto-renew now and it will still keep your free membership until the end of the gift period.

Tip #2: Keep the Instacart app installed on your phone with notifications on. Instacart reliably sends me new coupons via app notifications. (I don’t get the same coupons via e-mail.) Stacked with other benefits, it can make it worthwhile to use Instacart even with their inflated prices, especially if you value the time saved. I actually prefer shopping via an app nowadays for meal planning purposes, but usually directly with a grocery store for lower prices.

Check AmEx link again to see if eligible again for this new round. You may also find an Amazon offer under your “AmEx Offers” in your account. Note that Amazon links may not show up on RSS/email, please click here to visit the website directly.

If you have an American Express card with Membership Rewards (MR) points, you can redeem them to buy eligible items at Amazon.com. The redemption rate is 1 MR points = 0.7 cents to spend at Amazon, which unfortunately is less than a cent per point and thus not really the ideal use of MR points. (My base redemption is 1 cent per point minimum toward any Delta flight.) However, here are targeted promotions where you can save money after redeeming as little as 1 single MR point (the minimum required can vary). Check below:

• Get 15% to 40% off (max cap applies) or $10 off $100 (or similar), valid on items shipped and sold by Amazon. Must redeem a certain minimum number of Membership Rewards points. You may be eligible even if you’ve done similar promos before.

Here are some additional tips:

• If you haven’t linked yet, first check if you are eligible for a bonus here. Otherwise, you can link your Membership Rewards points balance to your Amazon account here.
• If you have already linked your cards and aren’t targeted, you may consider removing your American Express card from your account completely, and then linking it again after a day, and then checking the offer page(s) again after another day.
• Items must be marked as both sold AND shipped by Amazon.com.
• Be sure to select your American Express as your payment method and redeem the minimum required amount of Membership Rewards points.
• Savings should be reflected on the final order checkout page, before you commit to purchase.

This is a recurring perk for existing American Express cardholders, which is why one of my two “keeper” consumer American Express cards is the Amex EveryDay Card (keeps my Membership Rewards points active with no annual fee, helps qualify for various Amazon promotions). The other is the Blue Cash Preferred from AmEx (6% cash back on US supermarkets, up to $6,000 annually).

You can also earn and keep Membership Rewards points active with a small business card. My favorite business American Express card is the Blue Business Plus Card – Earn 2X Membership Rewards points on all purchases, of up to $50,000/year. There is also the Blue Business Cash Card that earns a flat 2% cash back on up to $50,000 in purchases each year. Both have no annual fee.

Might also want to check for similar “Pay with Points” offers if you haven’t in a while: Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou, or Discover cash back.

Offer increased to 70k, but must pay $99 annual fee. The Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red Mastercard is a co-branded American Airlines credit card from Barclays. This offer is notable because the bonus can be triggered by a single purchase of any amount (no spending hurdle). Various perks for AA fliers are also included. Here are the card highlights:

• 70,000 bonus AA miles
• First checked bag free on domestic American Airlines itineraries for the primary cardmember and up to 4 companions traveling with you on the same reservation.
• Preferred boarding (Group 5) for the primary cardmember and up to 4 companions on the same reservation for all American Airlines operated flights. “Eligible cardmembers will board after priority boarding is complete, but before the rest of economy boarding.”
• Up to $25 back in inflight Wi-Fi statement credits every anniversary year on American Airlines operated flights.2
• Anniversary Companion Certificate each anniversary year; earn a Companion Certificate good for 1 guest at $99 (plus taxes and fees) if you spend $20,000 on purchases and your account remains open for 45 days after your anniversary date.
• 2X AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases.
• 1X AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent on all other purchases.
• No Foreign Transaction Fees
• $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $99.

Anniversary Companion Certificate details. From the fine print:

At each card anniversary, you will be eligible to earn 1 domestic economy fare companion certificate redeemable for 1 companion ticket at $99 (plus taxes and fees) if you spend $20,000 or more on eligible Net Purchases with your Card Account that have a transaction date within your cardmembership year (each 12-month period through and including your Card Account anniversary month) and your Card Account remains open for at least 45 days after your anniversary date. After the companion certificate is earned, please allow 1-2 weeks for it to be deposited to the primary cardmember’s AAdvantage® account.

When the companion certificate is used according to its terms, you will pay a $99 companion ticket fee plus government taxes and fees, the amount of which will depend on the itinerary (as of the date of these Card Account Reward Rules government taxes and fees range between $21.60 and $43.20), for a round-trip qualifying domestic economy fare ticket for a companion when an individual round-trip qualifying domestic economy fare ticket is purchased and redeemed through American Airlines Meeting Services. Companion certificate eligible travel must be booked and purchased from select economy inventory. The Companion certificate will be valid one year from the issue date. Companion certificate eligible travel is defined as travel on flights within the 48 contiguous United States, on flights marketed and operated by American Airlines, or on flights marketed by American Airlines and operated by Envoy Air Inc., Republic Airline Inc., SkyWest Airlines, Inc., Air Wisconsin Airlines, PSA Airlines, Inc., or Piedmont Airlines, Inc. This is not available for travel on codeshare flights booked with an American Airlines flight number but operated by another airline. For residents of Alaska and Hawaii, companion certificate eligible travel is defined as round-trip travel originating in either of those two states and continuing to the 48 contiguous United States. For residents of Puerto Rico only, valid for round trip travel originating in Puerto Rico and continuing to the 48 contiguous United States. For residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands only, valid for round trip travel originating in the U.S. Virgin Islands and continuing to the 48 contiguous United States. Applicable terms and conditions are subject to change without notice. Details, terms and conditions, certain restrictions, and restricted dates apply and will be disclosed on the companion certificate.

Additional bonus details. Note the following language if you have had this card previously. However, I have been able to get a new Barclays card in the past, as long as my old account was closed for at least roughly a year.

From time to time, we may offer bonuses of AAdvantage® miles or other incentives to new American Airlines AAdvantage® Aviator® Red Mastercard cardmembers in connection with an application for a new card account. These bonuses and/or incentives are intended for applicants who are not and have not previously been American Airlines AAdvantage® Aviator® Red Mastercard cardmembers. You understand and agree that you may no longer be eligible for any bonuses and/or incentives in connection with a new American Airlines AAdvantage® Aviator® Red Mastercard account after this Card Account is opened. If you receive a bonus or incentive for which you are not eligible due to your status as a current or former American Airlines AAdvantage® Aviator® Red Mastercard cardmember, we may revoke the bonus or incentive, or reduce your AAdvantage® miles by the amount of the bonus or incentive, or charge your Card Account for the fair value of the bonus or incentive, in our sole discretion.

Bottom line. The Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red Mastercard is a co-branded American Airlines credit card that offers a relatively simple and straightforward sign-up bonus and free checked bags on domestic AA flights for you and up to 4 travel companions. The $99 companion certificate also has potential value, but you’ll have to spend $20,000 on the card within a year (and then wait for your next card anniversary and thus pay the $99 annual fee) to get it.

I will be adding this offer to Top 10 Best Credit Card Bonus Offers.

The United Quest Card is a new premium travel card that offers a lot of added perks on United Airlines for a higher annual fee. Here are the highlights:

• 90,000 bonus United miles and 500 Premier qualifying points after $4,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. Plus, earn 5,000 bonus miles after you add an authorized user to your account in the first 3 months your account is open.
• First AND second checked bags are free for both you and a companion (a savings of up to $360 per roundtrip) when you use your Card to purchase your ticket. Terms apply.
• Priority boarding.. The primary Cardmember and companions on the same reservation will be invited to board United-operated flights prior to general boarding.
• Up to a $125 United(R) purchase credit and up to 10,000 miles in award flight credits each year (terms apply).
• Earn up to 9,000 Premier qualifying points per calendar year (1 PQP for every $20 you spend on purchases).
• Up to $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS fee credit.
• Expanded award availability and free upgrades. Having this card makes it easier to find that saver award economy ticket. No blackout dates for MileagePlus members booking award flights on United.
• $250 annual fee.

Here are the ongoing rewards on purchases:

• 3X miles on United(R) purchases
• 2X miles on all other travel.
• 2X miles on dining.
• 2X miles on select streaming services.
• 1X mile per dollar spent on all other purchases.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• 25% Back on United inflight purchases (Wi-Fi, Food and Drinks).

The United Quest card is considered a new product, which means you can get this new bonus even if you’ve had other United card flavors in the past 24 months:

This card product is available to you if you do not have this card and have not received a new Cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months.

This card is very focused on making it a better experience for regular United customers. You have the first and second checked bag for free on United flights, both for your and a companion traveling on the same reservation. The bag fees are $40 first bag and $50 second bag per person, each way, so that adds up to a potential $360 total value roundtrip.

After each card anniversary, you automatically get $125 back on United purchases charged to your card, which already covers half the $250 annual fee. You save another 5,000 points (up to twice a year) when you book an award ticket with miles. You also get Priority Boarding, and while onboard, you get 25% back on your inflight purchases of WiFi, food, and drinks.

If you are trying to make Premier status on United, this card offers the ability to earn up to 9,000 Premier qualifying points a year (1 PQP for every $20 you spend on purchases).

Expanded award seat availability. You earn United miles for all your purchases, but then they also make it easier for you to redeem those miles on Saver level tickets with no blackout dates. No blackout dates for MileagePlus members booking award flights on United. Expanded award seat availability is another of the top perks from this card, and I’ve found a very significant difference when searching. If you’re constantly trying to find economy tickets for the entire family like me, this is a big deal. Saver Award ticket redemptions start at 12,500 miles one-way within the continental U.S. and Canada.

If you are a Premier® status member and traveling on an award ticket, with this card you can take advantage of Premier Upgrades on United-operated flights.

Another unique feature of this card is that it offers primary coverage on the Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver. On most other consumer cards, this coverage is offered as secondary coverage, meaning it only kicks in after your personal auto insurance has been exhausted.

Bottom line. The United Quest Card offers a long list of special perks for folks that fly United on a regular basis. For the right person, the benefits can be worth much more than the annual fee.

Also see: Top 10 Best Credit Card Bonus Offers.

The information for the United Quest(SM) Card has been collected independently by My Money Blog. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Update July 2024: Upside closed my account effective immediately and without prior warning because I used “unauthorized” promo codes. Just FYI, I would cash out now and whenever you have enough of a balance.

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(Update: Added new codes SOFI35, SHSBPO , and SHSVBALL. SOFI35 looks to for those initially signing up for a new account and offer $0.35 off/gal, and SHSBPO/SHSVBALL was able to be applied to my existing account and should increase the cash back from eligible restaurants by 5%. I saw up to 25% off in total.)

Upside is an app that earns cash back rewards on gas and restaurants. The cash back is on top of whatever cash back or rewards your credit card already earns. For the most part, you look up a local gas station or restaurant on the Upside app, “claim” the offer, and then shop at the gas station or restaurant with a linked credit card. Upside somehow tracks your credit card number through their systems and match up the transactions (takes a few days). The cash back can then be redeemed directly back into your bank account (no fees if $10 minimum cash out).

They used to require you to take pictures of your receipts, but I didn’t have to for my gas purchases. They might still ask in some cases, I believe.

Right now, there are several live promo codes that are stackable such that you can earn $1.50+/gallon on your first few purchases. I successfully earned a total of $1.75/gallon back on my first fill-up, which works out to over $20 cash back. Here are the promo codes which are potentially stackable starting with my referral code.

• Download the Upload app first and create an account.
• After installing, click on the person icon in the top right, then “Profile”, and then “Promo code” box. Try to enter each of the codes below. You may need to go back to the “Profile” screen to re-enter the next code. If it doesn’t give you an error, the code should be been applied. There is no other confirmation, other than seeing your cash back offer values go up.
• JONATHAN633925 for extra 15 cents/gallon on first purchase. Should be auto-filled if you used the link above.
• UBERPC20
• UBER35
• SHOPPERS35
• USHIP35
• YOUTUBE10
• GOPUFF35
• GOPUFF15
• AMEX35
• PERKSATWORK230
• CASHCABK25
• SOFI35
• SHSBPO

Sources: These were collected across Doctor of Credit and GetUpside Reddit. Many of them might not work, but honestly I just tried them all to see whatever would stick. Also, I think most of them only work for the first 3 fill-ups or so.

After entering them all one-by-one, you can go back and look on your local map to see what gas stations are available nearby. Remember to first link up the credit card you use for gas (person icon > “Wallet”), and then claim the offer before you fill up and pay using that specific credit card. It’s a rather vague process, but the cash back magically showed up after 2-3 days. Hopefully, I can rack up at least $50 in cash back on gas with these promo codes.

Beyond a lot of fast food chains, I’m also seeing 6% to 20% off at a lot of local restaurants that also participate in Neighborhood Nosh (formerly iDine), which is a similar program in that the cash back is on top of credit card rewards and through linked credit card numbered. The Upside cash back percentages I’ve seen are often higher, however, so this app might actually be a long-term keeper if it keeps working reliably.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) just announced an upcoming fee change for some of its most popular Trusted Traveler Programs, including Global Entry (which includes TSA PreCheck), NEXUS, and SENTRI. Starting 10/1/24, the application fee for Global Entry will rise to $120 every 5 years, up from $100. NEXUS and SENTRI will also have the same $120 fee. TSA PreCheck on its own is still set to stay at $78, but again Global Entry includes TSA PreCheck.

This is potentially actionable news in a few different ways:

• It’s a good reminder to use up any of those $100 Global Entry/TSA credits on any credit cards you have now. There are over a dozen cards that offer this credit from all the major issuers like all of the major issuers. I’ve never actually paid for a Global Entry (GE) application fee for any of our five household members, thanks to such credits. The cards will probably eventually increase to match, but why not just get it reimbursed in full for sure. There is usually a 12-month window before expiration when you can renew.
• If you have kids, you may choose to wait until after 10/1 to apply or renew for Global Entry. As long as the parent or legal guardian is already a Global Entry member OR is applying at the same time, it will become free for the child under 18. A reminder that as long as just the parents have TSA PreCheck, the kids will still get TSA PreCheck line access as well when flying. However, Global Entry does not work that way and so everyone needs their own Global Entry membership to use that special line.
• Note that the biggest hassle right now is trying to find an interview time to actually complete for your Global Entry application, especially after the pandemic. This depends on the availability where you live. We still have one kid without Global Entry (even though we paid for the application) due to this hurdle. For a while, there were simply zero appointments available. Then we had to eventually schedule the appointment for six months out, and it’s still not until June 2024. Things appear a little better now.

American Express has partnered with the Point.me award travel tool to provide free flight searches for the airline loyalty programs that work with American Express Membership Rewards points. The special site is AmEx.Point.me, where you must log into your American Express account.

With point.me for Membership Rewards® points, eligible Card Members have access to a real time reward-flight search engine. POINT.ME makes it easy to see all of the options, and choose the flight that works best for you before transferring Membership Rewards® points to eligible airline loyalty programs through your Membership Rewards® account.

I am hopeful for this new service, as Membership Rewards has a lot of transfer partners but it can be hard to find the best flights across them all. (Bilt Rewards has also partnered with Point.me for free award searches.) The searches can take a while to finish, but hopefully it’s still better than searching manually. The full version of the Point.me website usually costs $12 a month or $129 a year for all airlines (first 3 searches free). There is also a more expensive Concierge service where a human expert will handle everything for $200/person.

Loyalty programs have been around for decades, especially in the airline industry. However, booking award travel can feel cumbersome, like you’re jumping through multiple hoops just to book a flight! This is where point.me comes in. We’re the first company to offer a tool that makes it easier to use miles and points for air travel. Not only does our tool show you flight options that are bookable using your points, we also guide you step-by-step to book the flight yourself!

Also see: Top 10 Best Credit Card Bonus Offers.

Top 10 Best Small Business Card Bonus Offers.