Big Travel Rewards Cards With Big Welcome Offers

We’ve blogged a bunch of big offers for various airline, hotel, and general travel rewards credit cards. It can be dizzying for anyone to keep track of! But here are ten especially noteworthy promotions still available. A few of them expire anywhere within several hours  to the next several weeks.

Let’s take a peek at what’s out there!

Keep in mind you might be able to see your approval odds for some of the personal/consumer cards by using the free CardMatch™ tool without having your credit score impacted. (Not all offers may be available to all users.)

(Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.)

First is a card offering a pretty fantastic deal.

A Free Night AND 130,000 Points: Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card

Hilton Free Night Reward can be used at almost every property in the Hilton portfolio. (These are the rare exceptions — most are Hilton timeshare Grand Vacations properties.) That makes them very valuable.

So, those alone being part of a welcome offer are pretty good. (Consider that other hotel chain cards generally cap their Free Night Awards at certain point redemptions.)

But on top of that, you can earn a bunch of bonus points, too.

New applicants of the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card can earn that great Free Night Reward plus 130,000 bonus points after spending just $3,000 in eligible purchases within SIX (6) months of being approved. Terms apply. This offer expires on July 31, 2024. Learn here how to apply.

The card has a $150 annual fee (See Rates and Fees.) However, cardmembers can earn $50 each calendar quarter for purchases made directly with Hilton portfolio properties (up to $200 per calendar year).

If a $0 annual fee card is more your thing, we have an answer a little further down in the post.

Read more here about the Hilton Surpass Amex.

All information about the Hilton Surpass Amex was independently gathered by Frequent Floaters. It was neither provided nor has it been reviewed by the card issuer.

Next is a card my Frequent Floaters cohort René de Lambert and I hold—and probably will for a long, long, long time.

At Least $750 Cash Back (75,000 Points): Ink Business Cash® Credit Card

If you have a cell phone and enjoy traveling but don’t have the no-annual-fee Ink Business Cash® Credit Card, then you really need to consider getting one.

It earns 5% cash back/5X on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases each account anniversary year on internet, cable, and phone service and at office supply stores

Plus, you also earn 2% cash back/2X on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases each account anniversary year at gas stations and restaurants.
And check out this welcome offer: Earn $350 when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months and an additional $400 when you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first six months after account opening. That’s up to $750 bonus cash back (awarded as 75,000 bonus Chase Ultimate Rewards® points).

But wait, we’re not done yet.

If you have the Ink Cash card and a Chase Business Checking account on your first card anniversary, you’ll earn a one-time 10% bonus of all eligible cash back (again, points) earned during your first year. This offer is only available for Ink Business Cash cards opened between March and November 2024!

We’ll keep rolling with the Chase promotions because the Ultimate Rewards program offers such great redemption opportunities.

100,000 Points: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card has featured a 100,000 bonus points welcome offer for what seems like forever. So, why is it on the list?

New cardholders can earn those 100,000 points after spending $8,000 on eligible purchases within three (3) months of being approved for the card. It was only a few months ago the card required $15,000 of spending to earn the 100k points.

The minimum spending requirement slashing literally happened overnight and with no warning.

We don’t know if or when that $8,000 will increase (or decrease — but we seriously doubt that). Could that happen overnight? It’s possible. Stranger things have happened. Plus, we’ve heard that people who are well over Chase’s (in)famous 5/24 rule are getting approved. So, if you’re concerned about either, now might be the time to learn how to apply.

The card’s annual fee is $95. It earns:

• 3X per eligible $1 on the first combined $150,000 spent on these categories each anniversary year:
  • Travel
  • Internet, cable, and phone services
  • Advertising purchases with social media sites and search engines
  • Shipping purchases
• 1X all other purchases

Read more here about the Ink Preferred Card from Chase.

Moving on to one of my favorite cards:

150,000 Points: The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

I’m not afraid to admit that I’m a fanboy of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express.

There are a ton of great travel features (e.g., a rebate on eligible flights booked with points through Amex Travel, airport lounge access, gold status with two major hotel chains, and more), plus plenty of statement credit opportunities.

The Amex Business Platinum currently offers 150,000 bonus Membership Rewards® points when you spend $20,000 in eligible purchases within three (3) months of being approved for the card. (Learn here how to apply.)

The card carries a $695 annual fee — but here’s how I earn it back (and then some) every year. (See Rates and Fees.)

Read more here about the Amex Platinum Business Card.

All information about the Amex Business Platinum Card was independently gathered by Frequent Floaters. It was neither provided nor has it been reviewed by the card issuer.

70,000 Points: The Aeroplan® Credit Card

The Aeroplan® Credit Card offers new applicants 70,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first three (3) months of being approved for the card. The previous offer was 60,000 bonus points for $3k.

This card is valuable because Aeroplan points can be redeemed across dozens of codeshare partners such as Emirates, Lufthansa, Singapore, United, and Turkish. If you need to get somewhere, Aeroplan can probably do it — and maybe even with good premium class redemptions.

As I recently wrote, this card is particularly valuable for people getting to/from ports when taking crossing cruises.

Read more here about the Aeroplan Card.

A Free Night and 70,000 Points: Hilton Honors American Express Card

The no-annual-fee Hilton Honors American Express Card is offering that wonderful Free Night Reward plus 70,000 bonus points after you spend $2,000 in eligible purchases within six (6) months of being approved. (See Rates and Fees. Terms apply. Offer expires July 31, 2024.)

That requires spending about $334 a month to reach that $2,000. Peanuts.

175,000 Points (But Just a Great Card Anyway!): Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card

Amex won’t let me have any more of their cards. I’m too loyal of a member and reached the maximum amount of Amex credit cards I can hold. So, I wasn’t approved for the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card when I applied.

But I wish they’d approve me.

Why?

Frankly, I think it is the best card to hold. (By the way, this isn’t an affiliate link, so we’re not paid a commission. We might get a few Amex points.)

First of all, this card comes with an annual Free Night Reward — starting the first year you hold the card. You can earn another Free Night Award after you spend $30,000 during a calendar year, and then another if you rack up $60,000 in spending. Again, these Free Night Awards are redeemable at a ton of premium properties.

Next, the primary cardholder receives complimentary Hilton Diamond status.

Here’s a new feature: a $400 Hilton resort credit. Earn up to $200 in statement credits semi-annually for eligible purchases made directly with participating Hilton Resorts.

Another new perk? Earn up to $50 in statement credits each quarter (up to $200 a year) for flight purchases made directly with an airline or through amextravel.com.

Finally, you get up to $189 in statement credit for a CLEAR Plus membership.

Now, how about that huge welcome promotion?

The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card offers 175,000 bonus Hilton Honors points after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on the card within the first six (6) months of card membership. This offer expires on July 31, 2024. (Terms apply.) Read more here on American Express’ website.

The free nights and statement credits can easily offset the card’s $550 annual fee. (See Rates and Fees.)

All information related to the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card was collected independently by Frequent Floaters and was neither reviewed nor provided by the card issuer.

For rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, please visit this link.
For rates and fees of the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, please visit this link.
For rates and fees of the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card, please visit this link.
For rates and fees of the Hilton Honors American Express Card, please visit this link.
For rates and fees of the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card, please visit this link.