It’s forecasted that Americans will spend an average of $1,638 on gifts, travel, and entertainment this holiday season. That’s no small change, but it’s also a good portion of what most cards require you to spend to earn a generous points welcome bonus. This means that for savvy spenders, the money they’d already planned to spend on the 2024 holidays could earn them a free flight.
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The world of credit card welcome offers
Ask anyone who regularly uses their credit card points to book travel how they earn so many points, and they’ll likely cite two main elements of their strategy:
- Using their card for all (or many) of their monthly expenses and then paying it off each month so that they are constantly earning points
- Strategically applying for new credit cards when there are lucrative welcome offers. In fact, in a survey of more than 4,000 point.me members, 47% said they had opened a new card for the holiday shopping season or planned their holiday spending specifically so that they could earn points for a trip.
“I opened a card with an elevated welcome bonus and met the spending requirements during the holidays. I flew to Europe for 30k points roundtrip on Air France a few months later!” — Rebecca, point.me member
It’s the second piece that can really bulk up your points balance quickly, as some cards offer bonuses of 50,000, 75,000, 100,000, or even more points. The catch: You have to spend a certain amount of money within a limited time in order to earn the bonus. Generally, to earn a larger bonus, you have to spend more money.
While we’d never recommend opening a new card and spending more than you can afford (a sure recipe for debt), if you can time a new card opening to a period when you’d already planned to spend more — and have the money to pay off the balance — earning a signup bonus can quickly get you on your way to a free flight that won’t cost you in interest fees later.
How to decide which card is right for you
Thousands of blog posts have been written on this topic, but in general, you’ll want to consider a few things:
- Where do you want to go, and what airline do you fly most often? If you’re a Delta loyalist, for example, it may make sense for you to get a Delta-branded card, as you’ll get additional points on Delta purchases and may get perks like lounge access and companion passes. If you’re not loyal to one airline or don’t fly all that often, you’re better off with a card that offers transferable points, like American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points, or Capital One Miles. Each of these has specific transfer partners which include dozens of airlines.
“I opened a Southwest card in early December to time it with holiday spending and then pay it off in January. The goal was to earn a companion pass (success!), which was used for domestic flights for the rest of the year.” – Yana, point.me member
- What’s the minimum spend required to earn the bonus? Business credit cards like the Business Platinum Card from American Express and the Capital One Venture X Business card offer a signup bonus of 150,000 points, but you’ll need to spend $20,000-$30,000 in the first three months. If you’re not running a business, a card like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, which offers 75,000 points when you spend $4,000 in 3 months, might be a better choice.
- What’s the annual fee on the card? Cards that offer the highest welcome bonuses often have higher annual fees — up to $695 — but you can still find cards with great bonus offers with much lower annual fees. The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card that offers 75,000 points for its welcome offer has an annual fee of just $95.
- Aside from the welcome offer, what kind of points does the card earn? Different cards earn different amounts on different things. If you eat out often, for example, a card that offers more points for each dollar spent at restaurants can help you earn faster. It’s good to go after a high bonus, but it’s even better if you can get a high bonus on a card that will earn you lots of points on your daily spending as well.
- What other perks or benefits do you get? From lounge access to travel cancellation insurance to statement credits, premium cards offer a whole range of perks, so consider cards that offer the benefits that matter the most to you.
- What are the foreign transaction fees? If you’re looking to use that card you signed up for on your trip abroad, look for a card that doesn’t have foreign transaction fees.
Not sure how to get started? Schedule a points strategy consultation with a point/me advisor, and we’ll create a custom plan for you based on your spending habits and earning goals.
Setting a target for your welcome offer
If earning the bonus puts you into significant debt, you’ve just canceled out the savings from the points you’ve earned, so it’s important to have a plan as to how you’re going to meet — and pay off — the minimum spend requirement.
- Consider how much you can reasonably spend in three months (or however many months you have to earn the welcome bonus according to the terms of the card you’ve chosen) without going into debt.
- Consider the periods of time when you have a large expense due that you could put on the card. You’ll want to make sure you have your card in time to use it on that expense so you can start earning towards the bonus. But you don’t want to get it too early because the time limit to spend qualifying dollars may expire before you make the big purchase.
- Make sure your expenses qualify towards the minimum spend. This varies by card, so check the terms and conditions. Cash advances and gift card purchases generally do not qualify.
Let’s take this hypothetical example: Alyssa plans on spending close to $2,000 on holiday gifts for her family this year. She typically starts her shopping in early November. This year, she and her family are also planning an early January vacation to Hawaii. She’s already bought the flights but owes $1,000 on the hotel, and she knows they’ll spend at least another $1,000 on food and activities once they are there.
This puts the span of Alyssa’s major spending from early November to mid-January. If Alyssa had applied for a card in September, by the end of December, her three-month period to earn the welcome bonus would have passed, and her January spending wouldn’t have helped her. If she waits until November to apply, though, any holiday shopping she does before the card arrives won’t help her earn the welcome bonus.
“I opened up a new Chase card around the holidays last year because it not only coincided with a big move that I had planned, but I was also able to meet the welcome bonus with Christmas shopping. Once I saw the use of this practice, I have since opened three other credit cards around times when I had upcoming big purchases.” – Alex, point.me member
More tips:
What can a welcome offer get you?
So, why go through the effort of applying and tracking your spending? For the rewards, of course! The points from a single welcome offer can get you to Europe roundtrip in business class, take your family across the ocean in economy, or fund several domestic flights.
Here’s what you can typically cover with different signup bonus amounts.
50,000 miles:
- 1 one-way flight to Europe from the U.S. in business class, or
- 1 roundtrip flight to Europe from the U.S. in economy, or
- 1 roundtrip cross-country flight from NYC to San Francisco in business class, or
- 3 roundtrip cross-country flights from DC to LA in economy.
75,000 miles:
- 1 one-way flight to Asia, Africa, or the South Pacific from the U.S. in business class, or
- 1 one-way flight to Europe from the U.S. in business class plus a one-way flight in economy, or
- 5 roundtrip cross-country flights from DC to LA in economy.
100,000 miles:
- 1 roundtrip flight to Europe from the U.S. in business class, or
- 2 roundtrip flights to Europe from the U.S. in economy, or
- 2 roundtrip cross-country flights from NYC to San Francisco in business class, or
- 6 roundtrip cross-country flights from DC to LA in economy.
150,000 miles:
- 1 roundtrip flight plus 1 one-way flight to Europe from the U.S. in business class, or
- 1 roundtrip flight to Asia, Africa, or the South Pacific from the U.S. in business class, or
- 1 roundtrip plus 1 one-way cross-country flight from NYC to San Francisco in business class, or
- 3 roundtrip flights to Europe from the U.S. in economy, or
- 10 roundtrip cross-country flights from DC to LA in economy.
Examples of real flights members have found on point.me
- Seattle to Amsterdam for 20,000 points each way in economy
- San Francisco to Hong Kong for 88,000 points each way in business class
- Boston to Madrid for 34,000 points each way in business class
- Seattle to Tokyo for 40,000 points each way in premium economy
- Boston to Aruba for 12,000 points each way in economy
- Denver to New Orleans for 15,000 points each way in economy
Read more: How many miles do you need for a free flight?
How to track your earnings and earn even more points
You don’t want to apply for a card, move your spending onto that card in pursuit of a welcome bonus, and then find out you missed it by a small amount. So, it’s important to keep tabs on your spending towards the minimum to make sure you’re on track. And while you’re at it, you may as well maximize what you can earn. Here’s how.
Know your minimum spend cutoff date
The countdown typically starts when you are approved for the card, not when you receive it. So if you get approval on October 30 and have three months to meet the minimum, only your spending between October 30 and January 30 will count — and you probably want to actually plan to meet your minimum a few days early, just to be safe.
Want more time to spend? Some credit card issuers will give you the credit card number immediately (or let you add the card to your digital wallet). Otherwise, you can call and request immediate shipment of the card so you get it in a couple of days vs. the typical time frame of about a week.
Keep track of your spending
Some cards will track this for you, with a handy progress bar that shows how much you’ve spent towards your minimum. If your card doesn’t, you can simply call or chat with customer service to check in, or keep track of the spending yourself with a good old-fashioned spreadsheet.
Be aware though, that if you make any purchases and later return them, those purchases no longer count towards your minimum spend. Additionally, not all purchases qualify (gift cards, for example, do not), so read the terms and conditions carefully.
Earn more points with bank shopping portals
Many cards, including both bank cards and airline-branded cards, have associated shopping portals that give you additional points when you use them to make purchases from major retailers. For example, Shopping Through Chase can earn you up to 15 extra points per dollar spent. American Express does not have its own shopping portal, but it partners with Rakuten. Rakuten is billed as a cash-back shopping portal, but Amex users can opt to receive their “payment” back in Amex Membership Rewards. Each time you earn at least 501 Amex points in a quarter, they’ll send them to your account (or roll them over to the next quarter).
The money spent using your card in these shopping portals qualifies towards your minimum spend to earn the signup bonus and earns you extra points to add to your balance. Win-win.
Get inspired by stories from real travelers who have used their points for amazing trips
- How One Homeowner Turned a New Roof into A Free Flight to France with Points
- How a $10,000 Mother-Daughter Trip Was Made Nearly Free with Points
- How Points Funded a Life-Affirming Trip to Italy
- How a Small Business Owner Leveraged Tax Payments to Fly in Qsuites on Points
- How One Couple Used Points to Fund a 17-Month Honeymoon
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