Sign Up Bonuses Archives - Your Mileage May Vary

The Most Important Thing To Have When Earning Points and Miles

When people get exposed to the world of points and miles, it can seem like you’re able to earn points hand over fist with no effort. I mean, just do a few Google searches and you can find documents showing techniques on how to earn hundreds of thousands to millions of miles a year. Here’s where having the most important thing to earn points and miles comes in handy:

COMMON SENSE!!!!

I don’t want to sound like a prude but I just can’t help but shake my head when I read a post online asking “I just signed up for a card and met the $10,000 spending requirement in 8 days by buying money orders and gift cards. When can I cancel the card?”

Of course, there’s also the posts “I cycled $25,000 through my CC with a $5,000 CL by cashing in gift cards for money orders in one month. Chase just shut down my account, WHY??? Who can I complain to?”

Really? What are you thinking!?!?!?!? You wonder why you got shut down? Did any of what you did seem like “normal” in any way? Even more so because you just received the card 1 week ago. What should a bank think?

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Credit Card Review: Chase Ink Business Preferred

I’ve made no secret about the problems I had trying to convince Chase that I’m running an actual business. The reason I went through all of that trouble was so I would be able to get some of the awesome business credit cards that Chase offers. Having a business opens up a whole other world of sign up bonuses.

Now, I’m not going to tell you to sign up for a business credit card if you don’t have a business. That’s something I will not do for Your Mileage May Vary. However, if you have a side business that has expenses (and hopefully an income as well) you should be able to apply for a business card. Just be honest on the application.

Once I was able to get a business card from Chase, the first card I signed up for was the Ink Business Preferred. Here are the reasons why it was on the top of my list: Continue reading “Credit Card Review: Chase Ink Business Preferred”

Citi 24-Month Card Application Clock Resets When Card Reissued For Fraud

I hate dealing with banks. Unfortunately, they’re the ones who issue the credit cards that earn points and miles, allowing Sharon and I to travel as much as we do. I just wish they wouldn’t make things so unnecessarily difficult.

For example, Sharon recently applied for the Citi Premier card right before the 60,000 point sign up bonus ended. Like most banks, Citi has rules about earning bonuses when signing up for cards.

“Bonus ThankYou points are not available if you have had a ThankYou Preferred, ThankYou Premier or Citi Prestige card opened or closed in the past 24 months.”

Sharon has had the Prestige for several years now so there shouldn’t have been a problem about her getting the sign up bonus for the premier. Or so I thought…

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How To Beat Chase’s New Restrictions On Credit Card Bonuses (No Longer Works)

It appears Chase has shut down the work around mentioned in this article.

Chase has been making it harder and harder to earn the sign up bonuses for their credit cards. In August 2017, Chase stopped accepting applications for multiple versions of the Sapphire credit cards and you’re now only able to have either a plain Sapphire card, Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve. If you already have one of these, you can’t apply for a different one just to get the sign up bonus.

Previously, you were eligible for a sign up bonus if you didn’t currently have any Sapphire cards and if it was more than 24 months since you received a sign up bonus for any version of Sapphire card. If you’re like me and are approaching the earning of points and miles as a marathon and not a sprint, waiting two years between sign up bonuses wasn’t that bad of a restriction. Then Chase unexpectedly made a change to the terms for the sign up bonus on the application page for the Sapphire cards:

The change was in subheading (ii), where it now says that you aren’t eligible for the sign up bonus if you’re received a new card member bonus within the last 48 months. Ouch. Continue reading “How To Beat Chase’s New Restrictions On Credit Card Bonuses (No Longer Works)”

Want A Business Credit Card, Here’s How To Prove You’re A Real Business

Signing up for credit cards and getting the sign up bonuses is one of the easiest ways to earn a nice stack of points and miles with very little effort. As long as you have good credit and can pay off your bills in full, this is a great place to start. You’ll soon see that besides all of the personal credit cards available there are almost as many business credit cards. You’ll have twice as many sign up bonuses to choose from. That is, if you have a business.

There’s no shortage of websites that tell you the many ways you can have a business. It all sounds so easy and apparently everyone has business and can apply for a business credit card. Here’s some examples I’ve seen:

Do you sell anything?
Do you provide any services you get paid for?
Do you rent a property?
Do you have a side job?
Do you run a lemonade stand?
Do you sell brownies at the local market?

Congratulations, you’re a business. Now go and sign up for a business card with this referral link!!!

Sometimes it might be that easy. However, other times it’s not. I recently had to prove to Chase bank that I do run a real business and it’s not as easy as it looks.

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