🏝️ Get Uber Credits Using Card Perks

👋 Welcome Back!

If you’re new to Points Paradise, welcome to the community! Otherwise: welcome back to your go-to source for points updates. Our community is up to 11,300 subscribers now!

I recently asked the community where everyone’s been traveling to, and love hearing that you all are in places like Paris, Tokyo, Sydney and others.

🏖️ One of you mentioned that you stayed in a Marriot in the Caribbean and saved $200 through an offer from this newsletter, and that really made my day! That’s what Points Paradise and this community is all about: giving people the ability to take the trips they deserve.

I love seeing tips you send me as well, so keep those coming!

🧑‍💻 From my side, I’ve been hard at work on PointsPal updates. Daily alerts are coming out tomorrow, and don’t forget that one lucky subscriber who gives feedback on PointsPal will win a Delta gift card! Picking the random winner on the 30th, so there’s still time.

🗞️ News From This Week

Get a $75 Uber Credit From Signing Up To CLEAR. Here’s Cards That Give CLEAR for Free:

One of the best parts of The Points Game is getting things for free with your credit cards. And here’s an example!

CLEAR is an amazing perk for getting through the airport fast. And is there anything more annoying than airport security while traveling?

 I have both CLEAR and TSA Precheck (not every airport has CLEAR so it’s nice to have both).

The only downside is that it’s pricy ($189 a year).

But: there are some credit cards that give a full credit to you, making it effectively free. If you have any of those and haven’t signed up yet you should: Uber is giving a $75 credit to anyone who signs up using the code CLAIMUBER75.

If you have any of the following cards, you get a full credit directly through your credit card each year (making it free after the credit!):

• American Express Green Card: With a $150 annual fee, it offers a $189 annual CLEAR Plus credit, a 60,000 points welcome bonus, and 3x points on travel and dining.

  The Platinum Card® from American Express: At a $695 fee, it provides a $189 CLEAR Plus credit, a $100 TSA/Global Entry credit, and exclusive airport lounge access.

  The Business Platinum Card® from American Express: For businesses, with a $695 annual fee, it offers similar benefits as the personal Platinum including the $189 CLEAR Plus credit.

👉 Pro Tip: This offer ends sometime today, so if you're interested make sure to jump on it! If you don’t want to miss time sensitive ones like this, make sure to join PointsPal with over 200+ beta users!

New Signup Rewards: Get $250/$400 Back Through Chase Disney Cards

I’m always on the lookout for new welcome bonuses from cards.

Welcome bonuses are a fantastic way to build your cash/points pile to pay for your next trip.

Chase just bumped their Disney Visa bonuses up, full details are:

• Chase Disney Premier Visa: Get a $400 statement credit after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months (was $300 credit).

• Chase Disney Visa card: Get $250 statement credit after $500 in spend in the first 3 months (regular bonus was $150).

For low annual fee cards ($49 and $0 respectively), these are great bonuses.

If you’re looking for a low price way to get into the points game, definitely check these out.

👉 Pro Tip: This is not the best card for your everyday spend, there’s far better cards including Discover It Cashback (for cashback), Chase Sapphire Reserve (for premium perks), and the Amex Gold. However, this is a great signup bonus if you’re looking for a new card for that!

Here’s How To Get 25% More Value For Flights Through Your Chase Points

Transfer Bonuses are an amazing way to get the most value out of your points.

Chase just added one that gives you 25% bonus on transferts to Air France/KLM Flying Blue.

This is a great way to fly to Europe from the US for less points.

I love using Air France for flights to France and Italy, because of their flights aren’t expensive, there’s a ton of availability, and they have a lot of promotions.

👉 Pro Tip: This expires on November 30th, so make sure to use it by then if interested!

🏖️ Resource Roundup

A quick roundup of the top offers, deals, and more that you should know:

This is just a short list, there’s 100+ offers/promotions/deals to take advantage of each week!

To get a list customized to the cards you hold, sign up to PointsPal.io for free.

• AMEX Offers Earn 5X Points on Seabourn, Canyon Ranch, JetBlue: Get 5X points on Seabourn cruises, $200 credit for $1000+ at Canyon Ranch, and $40 credit for $200+ on JetBlue flights. Use enrolled AMEX by 12/31/23 (Seabourn), 12/1/23 (Canyon Ranch), and 11/30/23 (JetBlue).

• CitiBusiness American Airlines Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard Offers 75,000 Miles: CitiBusiness American Airlines Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard is offering 75,000 American Airlines miles after spending $6,000 within the first 6 months.

• Chase Ink Business Premier/Unlimited Offers Increased Bonuses In-Branch: Chase is offering increased bonuses for the Chase Ink Business Premier and Unlimited cards in-branch, with a $1,500 and $1,200 bonus respectively.

• AmEx Targeted Offer Spend $35+ on AT&T Air Internet and Get a $35 Statement Credit: Spend $35 or more on AT&T Air Internet and receive a one-time $35 statement credit when using an enrolled eligible AmEx card by January 16, 2024.

• AmEx Offer Targeted Home Depot, Spend $150+ & Receive $50 Statement Credit: Get a one-time $50 statement credit by using your enrolled eligible Card to make a single purchase of $150 or more at Home Depot by 12/31/23, valid for targeted AmEx cardholders.

• United Airlines Offers 5x Bonus Miles to Select European Destinations: United Airlines is offering 5x bonus miles on flights to London, Amsterdam, and Paris when flying in economy, and registration is required by December 13, 2023.

• Chase Offers Get Up to 10% Back at Kroger Chain Stores: Check your Chase Offers to see if you were targeted to get 10% back at Kroger chain stores, up to $7 cashback, until November 4, 2023.

• Citi Business Checking Bonus Earn Up to $2,000 Cash Bonus: Citi Bank is offering a promotion for new business checking account customers to earn up to $2,000 cash bonus with specific requirements and eligibility criteria.

• HSBC and OCBC Points to Flying Blue with a 20% Bonus: Flying Blue is offering a 20% transfer bonus for conversions from HSBC and OCBC points until October 31, 2023.

• Staples 5x Fee-Free Visa Gift Cards: Earn quadruple points for stays at select hotels between October 16, 2023, and January 28, 2024, if booked by December 17, 2023, after registering for this offer.

• Citi ThankYou Points 25% Bonus to Avianca LifeMiles: Transfer Citi ThankYou points to Avianca LifeMiles and get a 25% bonus until November 4, 2023.

🗺️ Pro Tip of the Week

Travel In Style Through Maxing Your Points With “Double Dipping”

Ever hear of the points strategy of “Double Dipping"?

Last week: I posted an example. Delta launched a promotion where you earn Delta Skymiles just by ordering Starbucks as you normally would.

This is one of my favorite tactics since it allows you to earn two types of rewards on a single transaction by using multiple rewards programs.

 So, how can you best capitalize on this? These programs are some of the favorites I’ve used to build up points in the last year:

🚕 How To Get More Travel Points Through Lyft And Uber

If you’re a big user of ride-sharing apps like me, you’re in luck!

You can earn some awesome rewards just by linking your cards.

• Chase Rewards: Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred, to earn up to 10 points/dollar spent on Lyft. Sapphire Reserve users also get free Lyft Pink All Access for two years.

• Bilt Rewards: Get 2 points/dollar on Lyft, plus an extra 3 points/dollar when using Bilt Mastercard.

• Delta SkyMiles: 1 mile/dollar on U.S. Lyft rides; 2 miles/dollar on U.S. airport rides.

• Hilton Honors: 3 points/dollar on premium Lyft rides; 2 points/dollar on shared rides.

• Alaska Mileage Plan: 1 mile/dollar on Lyft rides in the U.S. and Canada.

• Bonvoy Points: Earn 3 points/dollar on premium Uber rides like UberXL, Uber Comfort, SUV, and Black.

Other Programs To Double Dip Through

There are a ton of other opportunities for earning points through double dipping.

Online Shopping Portals, Gift Card Purchases, Dining Rewards Programs, Special Credit Card Offers are all easy ways.

Bottom Line: Keep your eyes open, and you’ll be maxing out points in no time!

✈️ Reward Reminder of the Week

Unlock Premium Rewards Cards With A Better Credit Score - Here’s How:

A couple years ago, my sister fell behind on some payments.

Her credit score dropped a good amount. And when I told her about getting a Chase Sapphire Reserve for earning more points, she applied but was denied.

Frustrated, she gave up on getting a better card and stuck with her Discover It Cashback.

But I wanted to help, so I started researching ways she could improve her score fast and get a brand new CSR approved.

After about half a year of doing the new strategies, she applied again and was accepted!

Here’s some of the steps she took that seemed to work the best:

• Fixing Credit Utilization: Credit card utilization refers to the ratio of your current credit card balance to your credit limit, and maintaining a low utilization rate—ideally below 30%—is crucial for a healthy credit score because it signals to lenders that you're not overly reliant on credit.

  • To improve this aspect of your score, try to pay off balances before the statement cycle ends or request a credit limit increase. 

• Become An Authorized User: Being an authorized user on someone else's credit card account can positively impact your credit score by adding their account's payment history to your credit report.

  • It's essential to ensure that the primary cardholder has a good credit history and maintains low balances, as their actions will directly affect your credit score too.

• No Late Payments: Paying your bills on time is crucial for maintaining a high credit score, as payment history accounts for a significant portion of your score

  • Setting up automatic payments or reminders can help ensure you never miss a due date.

Bottom Line: If you get rejected from a higher tier card, don’t give up! There’s many ways to improve your credit score over time and get top-tier rewards.

🌎 Community Corner

My Answer:

Congrats on the card! Amex Platinum is one of my favorites (along with the CSR).

My favorite perk of the Amex Platinum is Centurion Lounges. They’re much nicer, less crowded, and much cleaner than Priority Pass lounges.

But: the perk I think is most useful for traveling is their security pass credits through Clear and either TSA Precheck or Global Entry.

If you’re like me: going through norma airport security is the WORST part of flying.

With Clear, you breeze through security and can go right to your favorite lounge.

Normal security takes me at least 20 minutes at popular airports like ORD, ATL, and DFW.

When going on international flights, Global Entry lets you speed through when you return from abroad.

Bottom Line: If you have an Amex, make sure you leverage their security perk credits! It’ll save you time and headaches at the airport

🐶 Meet Points Pup

💳 Community Codes

Looking for a new credit card and want to help out a Points Paradise community member? The links below contain referral codes from the community.

Chase Sapphire Reserve (60k Signup Bonus Currently): Best all around rewards card (Code 2)

Chase Marriot Bonvoy Cards: Best for Marriot rewards

Visa United Explorer Miles Plus: Best for United Flyers

Chase Sapphire Preferred: Flexible Rewards + Lower Annual Fee (Code 2)

Amex Platinum: Best Luxury Travel Rewards Card (Code 2)

American Express Gold: Best for Dining at Restaurants (Code 2, Code 3)

American Express Hilton Honors Aspire: Best Overall Hotels Card

Southwest Rapid Rewards: Best Southwest Rewards

Chase Freedom Unlimited: Great overall bonuses on categories (Code 2)

Capital One Quicksilver: Best flexible Capital One Card

Chase Business Ink Preferred: Best Business Card

Capital One Venture X: Best Capital One Luxury Card

Discover It Cash back: Best Cash back Card

American Express Delta Skymiles: Best Delta Card

👋 How I Can Help

Here’s 3 ways I help subscribers with their points plans:

🤝 Add Your Referral Link To The Community Codes Section

🤔 Ask Me Anything About Points

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