June 2026 Transfer Bonuses

 What is a Transfer Bonus?

Essentially - it's free points or miles!

Transfer bonuses are a limited time promotion where bank/partner programs will offer extra points to transfer your flexible bank points to a specific hotel or loyalty program. Banks frequently (sometimes monthly, sometimes sporadically) announce transfer bonuses, which means if you transfer points from the bank to the partner with the bonus, you’ll get more points for free with that partner, just for transferring! 

In order to take advantage of these bonuses, you need to transfer your flexible bank points to the travel partner with the bonus. Not familiar with how to transfer points or which hotels/airlines partner with which banks? You can learn how to transfer points here, Chase Transfer Partners here, American Express transfer partners here and Capital One's here. 

Keep in mind.. once you transfer points, you cannot transfer them back to your bank. They are then "stuck" in whichever airline/hotel partner you transferred to. Transfers from banks to airline or hotel partners are irreversible.

It is NOT recommended to transfer points from a bank to a travel partner, just because there's a bonus. It's generally best to keep your points flexible until you're ready to book travel, at which point you then transfer out of the bank.

Current Transfer Bonuses

(As of 6/2/2026; these are subject to change/additional bonuses added)

American Express 

• Air France/KLM (Flying Blue): 25% bonus through 11:59pm MT 6/30/2026

• Air France/KLM can charge high taxes/fees; but they also can charge less in points for flights. Read this post to learn more about why I love Flying Blue for families!
• Don't want or need to fly Air France or KLM? Not going to Europe soon? Keep in mind that Flying Blue is part of an Airline Alliances. With this transfer bonus, you may be able to book flights on other airlines in the same alliance, such as Delta, even for domestic flights
• For example, you can fly Delta one-way from Denver to Minneapolis this summer and fall for just 9,000 miles booked with Air France (and this is before the transfer bonus!)



That's less miles than booking direct on Delta - for the same exact flight. 
(This is why Airline Alliances can be so powerful!)

• Marriott Hotels: 20% bonus through 11:59pm MT 6/30/2026

Capital One

• None at this time

Chase

• Marriott Hotels: 55% bonus through 11:59PM ET June 30th, 2026
• Southwest: 30% bonus through 11:59PM ET June 5th, 2025

How Many Points to Transfer

To figure out how many points you NEED to transfer, you take the amount of points needs to book your flight/hotel and divide that number by the transfer bonus (in numerical form, the percent plus 1).

So say you want to book a 50,000 point flight and there's a 20% transfer bonus. You would calculate 50,000 / (1.2) to figure out how many points you need to actually transfer. In this case, it calculates out to 41,667 points.

Most programs require you transfer points in 1,000 point increments, which means for our example, with a 20% transfer bonus, you'd transfer 42,000 points to book your 50,000 point travel.

Or save your brain cells and some points - use my free Transfer Bonus Calculator! Find all of the current transfer bonuses and calculator linked here.

Bi-Annual/Quarter End Credits

Writing this on June 1st, 2026, we are quickly approaching the midpoint of 2026. What?!

Many of the premium/higher fee flexible points earn cards include "coupon" type benefits that are valid quarterly or bi-annually (twice a year), and are "use it or lose it". As I review my own cards and benefits I still need to use before this quarter/biannual end (ie before July), I figured I'd share this list with you. If you have any of these cards, make sure you're utilizing these benefits to the best of your ability to help offset credit card annual fees :)

(And if you don't have any of these cards and these benefits sound worthwhile; I would love to refer you! It's free to you to apply with my links and provides me a small kickback; think of it as a free investment to keep my content free)

Bi-Annual/Quarter End Credits

This list isn't all inclusive of all the bi-annual and/or quarterly benefits out there; but highlights several popular flexible/transferrable point cards.

Chase

Chase Sapphire Reserve

• $300 Stubhub Credit; twice a year (purchases made Jan-Jun and Jul-Dec)
• $300 Dining Credit; get $150 statement credit bi-annually for dining and paying with your Sapphire at Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Restaurants through Open Table; Jan-Jun and Jul-Dec (note - some people have reported that if you simply purchase a giftcard to these restaurants you will receive the statement credit)

Sapphire Reserve annual fee is HIGH, at $795. But if you utilize these 2 benefits, plus the $300 annual travel credit - you have "made" money by holding this card! ($300+$300+$300 = $900 vs $795 annual fee)

Learn more about Sapphire Reserve here or apply here! (Don't forget - Chase has changed the rules. You are now only eligible for each Sapphire sign up bonus once, but you can now the Reserve and the Preferred at the same time).

Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business

• $100 Giftcards.com Credit; twice a year for purchases made Jan-Jun and Jul-Dec on at giftcards.com/reservebusiness

Learn more about Sapphire Reserve Business here or apply here!

American Express

Amex Gold (Personal)

• $100 to Resy Restaurants with a $50 statement credit bi-annually for dining and paying with your Amex Gold Personal card at restaurants listed on Resy; Jan-Jun and Jul-Dec 
• If you simply purchase a giftcard to these restaurants you may receive the statement credit (instead of dining in)
• You do NOT have to have a Resy reservation in order to earn this statement credit. Just pay with your card. 
• You can split forms of payment and pair this with another Amex Card with the Resy benefit! For example, I hold the Platinum and Gold Personal cards. If I pay with both cards at a Resy restaurant, I can get a total of $150 statement credit for my meal)

Learn more about Amex Gold Personal here or apply here!

Amex Platinum (Personal)

• $400 to Resy Restaurants with a $100 statement credit quarterly for dining and paying with your Amex Platinum Personal card at restaurants listed on Resy;  
• If you simply purchase a giftcard to these restaurants you may receive the statement credit (instead of dining in)
• You do NOT have to have a Resy reservation in order to earn this statement credit. Just pay with your card. 
• You can split forms of payment and pair this with another Amex Card with the Resy benefit! For example, I hold the Platinum and Gold Personal cards. If I pay with both cards at a Resy restaurant, I can get a total of $150 statement credit for my meal)
• $600 annual Hotel Credit: provided as 2 $300 bi-annual (Jan-Jun and Jul-Dec) credits. 
• You need to book a pre-paid Fine Hotel+Resort or Hotel Collection stay in the Amex Portal during these time frames, but do not have to stay during the time period, in order to get the credit. 
• Fine Hotel+Resorts have no minimum night stays, include early checkin, late checkout, free breakfast for 2 and a $100 resort credit
• For example, it's June at the time of writing this post. I could use my $300 hotel credit to book a Fine Hotel+Resorts stay later this year, or even next year and that would utilize my Jan-Jun $300 credit
• Learn how I used this benefit in the past here!
• $300 Lululemon Credit: with a $75 statement credit quarterly when you paying with your Amex Platinum Personal card at Lululemon

If you thought Sapphire Reserve annual fee was high; Amex Platinum is even higher at $895/yr! Ouch! But as you can see, if you utilize the benefits, such as those listed above, it truly does help to offset the annual fee, if not find additional value and come out "ahead".

Learn more about Amex Platinum Personal here or apply here!

Amex Platinum (Business)

• $600 annual Hotel Credit: provided as 2 $300 bi-annual (Jan-Jun and Jul-Dec) credits (same as the Personal Card)
• You need to book a pre-paid Fine Hotel+Resort or Hotel Collection stay in the Amex Portal during these time frames, but do not have to stay during the time period, in order to get the credit. 
• Fine Hotel+Resorts have no minimum night stays, include early checkin, late checkout, free breakfast for 2 and a $100 resort credit
• For example, it's June at the time of writing this post. I could use my $300 hotel credit to book a Fine Hotel+Resorts stay later this year, or even next year and that would utilize my Jan-Jun $300 credit
• Learn how I used this benefit in the past here!
• You can use multiple of these credits to book back to back stays; for example - 2 $300 credits could get you 2-night stay 

If you thought Sapphire Reserve annual fee was high; Amex Platinum is even higher at $895/yr! Ouch! But as you can see, if you utilize the benefits, such as those listed above, it truly does help to offset the annual fee, if not find additional value and come out "ahead".

Learn more about Amex Platinum Business here or apply here!

Summary

As you can see - some of the high annual fee cards also come with high dollar benefits to help offset those fees. You just have to make sure you utilize the benefits to help find value in the card.

If you want to open this card, or any of the cards I post about, I would SO appreciate if you utilized my referral links to open cards. This doesn't cost you anything, but provides me with some extra points and keeps all of my content free! Thank you in advance!

Reminder, if you're viewing this through a Meta app, please open an external browser to apply. This protects your data and gives me credit.

____________________________________________

Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know suggestions.

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!

2026 Hyatt Changes

About three months ago, Hyatt announced a fundamental change to their standard award chart. The changes and an overall Hyatt Overview (why do people love Hyatt?!) can be found here.

We are a week out from when the "new" award chart goes into effect: May 20th, 2026. I've received a few questions about the impending changes that seem worth compiling here.

2026 Hyatt Changes

Why is this a big deal?

The general jist of the change in award chart points pricing is that Hyatt is going to be able to charge significantly more points and/or a wider range of points for the same hotel. The previous standard award chart only had 3 rate options for points (Off-Peak, Standard, Peak) without too large of a sway between them. The new award has 5-pricing tiers with a huge sway in the points price.

For example, if you want to travel between the winter holidays, one could assume that would be consider peak rates.

With the "old" award chart a Category 6 hotel like Hyatt Regency Maui would cost you 29,000 points per night (at most). With the "new" award chart, the same hotel for the same "peak" dates will cost 40,000 points per night after 5/20.

2025 Award Chart

This may be somewhat tolerable; but look at the Category 8 pricing. Grand Hyatt Kauai is a Category 8 hotel that currently costs 45,000 points per night for peak and will jump up to 75,000 points per night after 5/20! 

Comparing old to new:

What Should I Do?

After 5/19, we really will be at the mercy of Hyatt. You will either need to earn more points, travel less, book lower category hotels, or change your travel plans to travel at less peak times (which, as a mom of 2 which kids in school; can be hard to do!).

Book Now: Since Hyatt generally (currently) releases award availability 13 months in advance*, most Hyatt Hotels calendars are open into June 2027. If you have points or even are contemplating a trip in the next year - I would book in now. 

*Note: Hyatt has said they will be changing how the release availability dates. Those with Explorist or Globalist Status or who hold a Hyatt credit card will be able to book 13 months in advance, but those who don't, will only be given a 12month in advance window. Essentially, incentivizing you to get status or a credit card.

What if I Book Now and Plans Change?

Pay attention to the cancellation policy; but more than likely if you book a trip now and can't make it happen, you can cancel and get your points back.

Be careful - if you book a reservation before 5/20; and need to modify after 5/20, you are at jeopardy that you will likely be required to pay the points differential to the "new" award chart.

What if I Book Now and Price Goes Down?

If you book a Hyatt reservation at one price and the annual changes lead to a drop in that price, historically Hyatt had automatically credited your account for the points difference/drop. It remains to be seen if that will still be the case. (Although if you see this happen to your reservations, you could always cancel yourself and rebook for less)

What if I Want to Apply an Award?

For those of us who have reservations booked for stays after 5/19 and have a Hyatt award we want to utilize (see my Hyatt post for more details on Hyatt awards); your safest bet is to apply the award now, before 5/20.

This is the same advice that was given in past years, but Hyatt seems to have been flexible in the past, that if you had a reservation and the point price increased with the annual changes AFTER you had already booked, if you applied the award after the price increase - there was a chance that you'd have to pay the higher point level. However, having used several GOH awards, I've not run into this issue yet...

...but it doesnt like it may be more strictly implemented now!

Summary

Hyatt's standard award chart and Guest of Honor awards are my favorite reason to keep booking Hyatts. Keep in mind, Chase and Bilt are the only Hyatt transfer partners, which is why I try to save those points for Hyatt and use my other bank stashes to book flights!

I'm curious to see just how "bad" these changes actually are once they go into effect. But, I won't like - a week out and I'm debating scrambling to book a few "just so we have the option" trips for the next year. What Hyatts are you booking?!

__________________________

Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know my suggestions.

Wondering how I keep all of this information organized? Check out my Points Tracker!

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!

May 2026 Transfer Bonuses

 What is a Transfer Bonus?

Essentially - it's free points or miles!

Transfer bonuses are a limited time promotion where bank/partner programs will offer extra points to transfer your flexible bank points to a specific hotel or loyalty program. Banks frequently (sometimes monthly, sometimes sporadically) announce transfer bonuses, which means if you transfer points from the bank to the partner with the bonus, you’ll get more points for free with that partner, just for transferring! 

In order to take advantage of these bonuses, you need to transfer your flexible bank points to the travel partner with the bonus. Not familiar with how to transfer points or which hotels/airlines partner with which banks? You can learn how to transfer points here, Chase Transfer Partners here, American Express transfer partners here and Capital One's here. 

Keep in mind.. once you transfer points, you cannot transfer them back to your bank. They are then "stuck" in whichever airline/hotel partner you transferred to. Transfers from banks to airline or hotel partners are irreversible.

It is NOT recommended to transfer points from a bank to a travel partner, just because there's a bonus. It's generally best to keep your points flexible until you're ready to book travel, at which point you then transfer out of the bank.

Current Transfer Bonuses

(As of 5/12/2026; these are subject to change/additional bonuses added)

American Express 

• Hilton: 20% bonus through 5/30/2026. 
• Note that Amex standard transfer ratio is 1 Amex point equals 2 Hilton points! So when you transfer 1,000 Amex points with this transfer bonus, they become 2,400 Hilton points! (and if you have Hilton Gold Status, which you can get by having an Amex Personal Platinum or Business Platinum card; when booking 4 consecutive nights on points, you get the 5th night free!). This is a GREAT transfer points to take advantage of!

Capital One

• Qantas: 20% bonus through 11:59PM ET, May 31st, 2026 
• Don't want or need to fly Qantas? Maybe you've never even heart of them! (Australian Airline) Keep in mind Airline Alliances. With this transfer bonus, you may be able to book flights on other airlines in the same alliance, such as American Airlines or British Airways, even for domestic flights!

Chase

• Flying Blue (Air France and KLM): 20% bonus through 11:59PM ET, May 27th, 2026

• Don't want or need to fly Air France or KLM? Not going to Europe soon? Keep in mind that Flying Blue is part of an Airline Alliances. With this transfer bonus, you may be able to book flights on other airlines in the same alliance, such as Delta, even for domestic flights!
• For example, you can fly Delta one-way from Denver to Minneapolis this summer and fall for just 9,000 miles booked with Air France (and this is before the transfer bonus!)

That's less miles than booking direct on Delta - for the same exact flight. 

(This is why Airline Alliances can be so powerful!)

 

• Marriott Hotels: 65% bonus through 11:59PM ET, May 15th, 2026; then changing to a 55% bonus through 11:59PM ET June 30th, 2026
• Southwest: 30% bonus through 11:59PM ET June 5th, 2025

How Many Points to Transfer

To figure out how many points you NEED to transfer, you take the amount of points needs to book your flight/hotel and divide that number by the transfer bonus (in numerical form, the percent plus 1).

So say you want to book a 50,000 point flight and there's a 20% transfer bonus. You would calculate 50,000 / (1.2) to figure out how many points you need to actually transfer. In this case, it calculates out to 41,667 points.

Most programs require you transfer points in 1,000 point increments, which means for our example, with a 20% transfer bonus, you'd transfer 42,000 points to book your 50,000 point travel.

Or save your brain cells and some points - use my free Transfer Bonus Calculator! Find all of the current transfer bonuses and calculator linked here.

Air Canada (and its tie to United)

I've mentioned Airline Alliances a few times on the blog. This post provides a deep dive on what they are and why you want to use them.

One of the most common airlines in airline alliances is Air Canada. Why? Because Air Canada is in Star Alliance and 3 major banks transfer points to Air Canada: American Express, Capital One, and Chase

Ummm, okay? Why does this matter? United is also in Star Alliance and a LOT of people love flying United. BUT - the only bank that transfers directly to United is Chase...and a lot of people save their Chase points to transfer to Hyatt. 

No idea what I'm talking about? Lets back up to How to Transfer Points (and Why) as well as Bank Transfer Partners: American Express, Capital One, and Chase

Are you still with me or have I made your head spin? Read on to learn more about Air Canada!

Air Canada Point Redemptions

First and foremost, I'm writing this post on 4/29/2026, but Air Canada announced earlier this week that effective June 2026, they will be raising their points pricing.

The pricing changes may alter how relevant this example is in the future, but it's still a great example to illustrate a benefit of using airline alliances and why.

Air Canada/United Booking Example

Earlier this week I had a friend reach out to ask for help with booking a last minute flight to attend a funeral in New York. 

Being in Denver, a United Hub, she had found a United flight that she wanted to book, but that was nearly $1,000!

She only has Chase points, so we priced the same flight out on United, booking with miles. A total of 30,000 miles roundtrip as a non-United cardholder 

(PS- United cardholders now get at least 10% off all flights! So this flight would have cost 27,000 miles. Learn more about United cards here)

30,000 miles for a roundtrip flight that would cost $947 is pretty good! Especially not to have to spend an unforeseen $1K out of pocket to attend a funeral... See how the United points show that these are "Saver Award" flights? That means there's a chance that airline alliance partners (like Air Canada) could have the United same flight bookable through Air Canada.

We searched, and low and behold, the same exact United flights were available on Air Canada's website for the same price of 30,000 points (although you will see that taxes and fees differ).

In this case, United and Air Canada are charging the same amount of points for the same flight (but Air Canada's fees are higher); but if I wanted to save my Chase points and use Capital One or American Express points instead - that's an option. (or if I had some points from one bank that I wanted to use and then "top off" with points from another bank!

BUT, we could do a little bit better because I remembered Chase is having a 20% Transfer Bonus to Air Canada. Using my Transfer Bonus Calculator, we plug in the needed 30,000 points, a 20% bonus, and a 1:1 ratio to learn that we only need 25,000 Chase points transferred to Air Canada to book this 30,000 point flight!

It's worth noting that there are 2 major considerations when specifically booking United flights through Air Canada:

• Taxes and Fees are higher. United charges the standard $5.60 one-way for domestic flights, whereas Air Canada is a bit higher (but the trade off is, you're saving points. So you'd have to decide where you find more value: saving cash or saving points)
• Cancellation Policy. United lets you cancel points flights for free and immediately redeposits the points so that you could book something else. Air Canada charges a hefty $150 cancellation fee if it's been more than 24 hours since your made your booking. (I generally only book flights on Air Canada that I know I am going to take! or if I need to cancel/change, I hope for a flight time change to give me the ability to decline accepting the changes).

American Express Business Platinum

I know, it's ANOTHER high spend business card and in a short amount of time. Plus a high annual fee.

BUT - hear me out! I think it's worth if you can hit the spend and are offered 300,000 points!  Let's talk about the details and current offer for American Express Platinum Business.

American Express Business Platinum

Annual Fee: $895 (Ouch! I know! More below)

Current (Elevated) Sign up Offer: Spend $20,000 in 3 months, earn up to 300,000 points*

Referral Link: Thank you for your support!

Getting the Best Offer: Amex is weird with sign up bonuses! *Notice how the offer says "up to"? Not everyone is going to be offered 300,000 for this card. The bonus offer can and will vary. The same link may produce a one offer on your phone and a different amount of points offered on your computer. 

The good thing is: your credit IS NOT pulled, until you accept your offer! So you can apply, receive your offer and then decide if you want to accept or not.

For this particular card, I would only accept 250,000 points or more.

Once you accept the offer, then your credit is pulled. BUT - the other good things with Amex, is that if you already have Amex cards, your future card applications are typically a soft credit pull (not a hard pull!)

It's always best to check the link in a few different browser and devices (clear your cookies, incognito mode, on your phone), before you apply and accept - to ensure that you're getting the highest offer).

If you get a low offer; clear your cookies, wait 24 hours, and apply again.

5/24 Status: This is not a personal card, it's a business card! Therefore, it won't take one of your 5/24 spots. (If you're not familiar with what 5/24 Rule is, visit this post New to Points, Rule 2)

Why "We" Got This Card:

1. $20,000 is A LOT of money, especially in 3 months. But 300,000 points is A LOT of points! Since we have the spend, it was worth it to get this nice chunk of points! I like to use my Amex Points for flights (booked by transferring to Airline Partners) and to Hilton (which transfer from Amex at a 1:2 ratio, which means your points DOUBLE when you move them to Hilton! Learn more about hotel sweet spots in this post.)

2. Rakuten: aka an online shopping portal where you earn Amex Membership Rewards points instead of cash back. Those points can really add up. In August I received 65,000 MRs from my quarterly Rakuten earnings and used those to book a 70K point one-way business class flight to Europe (with a cash value of $4,700). If you aren't familiar with shopping portals and/or Rakuten, this post will tell me you and also show you how to select points instead of cash back.

Off-Setting the Annual Fee

The signup offer is enticing enough for me to be willing to open the Business Platinum alone. However, the benefits of this card can help offset the hefty $895 annual.

Common-Use Card Benefits:

• $600 annual hotel credit: provided as 2 $300 bi-annual (Jan-Jun and Jul-Dec) credits. You need to book a pre-paid Fine Hotel+Resort or Hotel Collection stay in the Amex Portal during these time frames, but do not have to stay during the time period, in order to get the credit. For example, it's April at the time of writing this post. I could use my $300 hotel credit to book a Fine Hotel+Resorts stay for October of this year! (Learn how I used this benefit in the past here!)

• $150 Dell Statement Credits: enrollment required. Then use card to make a purchase direct with Dell and receive a statement credit.

• Airport Lounge Access: global access to Centurion Lounges and Priority Pass Lounges (This is nice for us because DEN has a Centurion Lounge in the same terminal that Southwest flies from. I hold the personal Platinum card and have lounge access, so now Ben and I could both enter for free. However, we would have to paid for the kids)

• 35% Airline Bonus: Purchase a flight in Amex Travel with points and get 35% points back. Airline Selection Required.

• Hilton Gold Status: This gives you 5th night free when you book 5 consecutive nights on points! Enrollment required (we used this for Costa Rica! This benefit in itself saved us over $500!)

• $200 Hilton Statement Credit: Provided as quarterly $50 Hilton purchases (gift cards are not eligible). Some Hiltons you can use this in the gift shop or coffee shop; you dont need to be staying at a Hilton to use this. Enrollment required.

• Marriott Gold Status:  Enrollment required 

Long-Term Plan

Is this a keeper card for us? No. I already plan to close or downgrade this card after it's been open for 12months so that I don't pay the annual fee again.

I personally find more use out of my Personal Platinum and it's benefits. Learn more here

But I wanted to share this to remind you - when you open a credit card, it's not a marriage! You don't have to keep cards you're not gaining value from (as long as it's been opened for at least 12 months!)

Summary

While this isnt a forever card, it's an amazing sign up bonus and I'm glad we can take advantage to stockpile more Amex Membership Rewards.

If you're on the fence if you could hit the high spend of $20k in 3 months or if you want to pay the $895 annual fee; the Gold Business Card is another great offer with a lower spend ($15k in 3months) and lower annual fee ($375). I actually think the Gold Business annual fee is MUCH easier to offset, because you get $20/mo flex spending. When I held the card in the past, I would purchase a $20 gift card monthly at my local office store and that's $240 "off" of that $375 fee!

If you want to open any of the cards I refer to, I would SO appreciate if you utilized my referral links to open cards. This doesn't cost you anything, but provides me with some extra points and keeps all of my content free! Thank you in advance! You can find referrals for Amex Business Platinum or Business Gold here.

Reminder, if you're viewing this through a Meta app, please open an external browser to apply. This protects your data and gives me credit. If you're interested in business cards, but want more information, as well as directions how to apply for them; read here!

____________________________________________

Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know suggestions.

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!

United Elevated Offers

United is making a huge push for credit cardholders! Starting in April, United will offer a minimum of 10% savings in all flights purchased (cash and points) AND expanded award availability for cardholders. If you live in a United hub, or know you'll be flying United in the next 12 months, I would take advantage of a United card sign up bonus now.

There are two current offers to highlight that I think are worth considering:

United Mileage Plus Card

Current (elevated) sign up bonus: Earn 70,000 points by spending $3,000 within 3 months of opening the card. (Referral Link)

Annual Fee: $0 the first year! 

Then $150 after (as a reminder, after holding a card for 12 months, you can choose to close or downgrade it. You could open this card, use it for 12 months, and once that $150 fee hits the second year, you could close the card within 30 days of the fee hitting and have the fee reimbursed

5/24: This IS a personal card, so it will take up one of your 5/24 spots. (Don't know what 5/24 is? Review Item 2 here!)

Benefits Highlights:

• Free checked bag for you + one, on every single flight (To be honest, I usually save my cash and book a Basic seat, then with this benefit, I check my bag for free!)
• Up to $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit: simply use this card to pay for your application fee and you'll receive a credit statement
• 2 United Club passes (yearly)
• Priority Boarding
• Cardmember pricing discounts: starting in April, a minimum discount of 10%

On top of these, you also benefit from:

• Earn 7x points on all United flights
• Earn 2x points on inflight food and beverage
• No foreign transaction fees 
• $10/mo Instacart credit (when you pay with this card) + a 3 months Instacart+ Membership
• 2 $50 Hotel Credits, when you book and prepay for a hotel through United Hotels
• $5/mo rideshare credit
• Insurances such as lost luggage, trip delay, baggage delay, extended warranty, auto rental, and trip cancellation and interruption

My Take: I have this United Explorer card and it's actually one of my older cards! In the past I've kept in because if we fly one roundtrip flight, getting 2 free checked bags each way, covers the cost of the annual fee! Now with the "Cardmember" pricing and discount, it's definitely a keeper for me, living in a United hub.

Referral Link: Using one of my referral links is free for you, but provides me a small kick back of points and helps keep this small business running! Thank you!

United MileagePlus Business Card

Current (elevated) sign up bonus: Earn 100,00 points + 2000 PQP by spending $5,000 within 3 months of opening the card (Referral Link)

Annual Fee: $150

5/24: This  a business card and does not count against your 5/24. (Don't know what 5/24 is? Review Item 2 here!)

Benefits Highlights:

• Free checked bag for you + one, on every single flight (To be honest, I usually save my cash and book a Basic seat, then with this benefit, I check my bag for free!)
• Earn $125 Travel Bank each calendar year that you make five (5) United flight travel-related purchases, each totaling $100 or more with your UnitedSM Business Card. United flight travel-related purchases include seat upgrades; Economy Plus®; inflight food, beverages and Wi-Fi; baggage service charges or other United fees <this is like a $125 United giftcard! You can use this to purchase cash flights, upgrades, baggage, seats, etc. 
• 2 United Club passes (yearly)
• Priority Boarding
• Cardmember pricing discounts: starting in April, a minimum discount of 10%

On top of these, you also benefit from:

• Earn 7x points on all United flights
• Earn 2x points on inflight food and beverage
• Earn 2x points on all dining
• Earn 2x points at gas stations, office supply stores and local transit
• 25% back for United inflight food/beverage/wifi
• No foreign transaction fees 
• Complimentary Premier upgrades on award tickets

My Take: this business offer is GOOD! I'm currently contemplating if my P2 or I should try to grab this, even though we're still working on our Chase Sapphire Reserve Business minimum spend!

Referral Link: Using one of my referral links is free for you, but provides me a small kick back of points and helps keep this small business running! Thank you!

Summary

If you're looking for United miles to have on hand, look no farther than these elevated offers. I personally would consider the Business offer first (learn more if you could actually qualify for business cards and how to apply here!), but the personal card offer is enticing too!

If you want to open either of these cards card, I would truly appreciate if you use my referral links (Personal Card or Business Card). This doesn't cost you a cent, but provided me with some extra points and keeps all of my content free! Thank you in advance!

____________________________________________

Looking for more information on points/miles? You can find all of my points talk posts linked here.

Trying to figure out your next card? Here is my FREE personalized Next Card Recommendation form. Simply fill this out and I'll let you know suggestions.

Curious what cards I (and/or my husband) have, and why? Read here!