Top 3 Credit Card Signup Bonuses for Miles and Points: June 2016
Update: This post may contain expired offers and should only be used for reference. Click the following link for the most up-to-date offers on my favorite travel hacking cards. -cg
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Every year I earn well over one million Frequent Flyer miles and points. About 250,000 of them come through actual travel, but the rest come through travel hacking: the art of seeing the world on a budget.
One of the easiest ways to earn a lot of miles all at once is through credit card signup bonuses. This post contains the best current card offers as of Friday, June 3rd. If getting every card from this post, you’d earn more than 175,000 points or miles. Happy travels!
In this edition:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- IHG® Rewards Club Select Credit Card
- Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Our longstanding, overall “best card” recommendation. The card offers a 40,000 now 60,000 point signup bonus, no foreign transaction fees, and double points on all dining and travel expenses. You’ll get the 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 within three months. You’ll also receive an additional 5,000 bonus points if you add an authorized user and they make a purchase (any amount is fine) within the first 3 months from opening the account.
Why it’s good: It’s the gold standard! Or maybe it’s the Sapphire standard… but it’s definitely a standard of some kind.
IHG® Rewards Club Select Credit Card
Why it’s good: Earn 60,000 now 80,000 bonus points after you spend $2,000 in the first 3 months of account opening—and a free night each year of card membership at over 4,900 hotels worldwide throughout the IHG network. The free night alone can be used at hotels that cost $400 or more, and you’ll also automatically receive Platinum Elite status (valid for additional benefits whenever you book a paid stay at an IHG property) for as long as you have the card.
Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card
New! Get a 80,000 point bonus when you spend $5,000 in first three months from account opening on this Ultimate Rewards earning Business card. Benefits include no international transaction fees, employee cards at no additional cost, and category bonuses on office supply expenses plus hotels and gas stations.
Why it’s good: Ultimate Rewards points are a valuable travelers currency as they transfer 1:1 to 10 partners including United, Hyatt, British Airways, Marriott, IHG, Southwest and more. If you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred Card for your personal spending, the Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card makes a good companion card for business expenses as Ultimate Rewards points can be combined between your accounts.
A few questions and attempted answers are below.
- Does this really work?
Yes. I’ve been receiving regular signup bonuses for more than five years. Many of our readers have also had great success.
- Is this bad for airlines and banks?
No. They are happy to have new customers, especially those who are responsible and trustworthy.
- Isn’t it bad for your credit to apply for so many cards?
Not unless you don’t pay your card balances. Be diligent and you can earn signup bonuses to travel for nearly free for a long time to come.
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Disclosure: Our partner site, CardRatings.com, pays us a referral bonus for some of these cards. We always provide the links to the best possible bonus that we’re aware of, and you’re always welcome to apply directly from the card issuers if you prefer.
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