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Airline Incidental Fee Credits

Many credit cards offer reimbursement for airline incidental fees, ranging from $100-$250. In general, these reimbursement caps are based on the calendar year. So when a new year begins, a new round of credits becomes available. If used properly, this can be a pretty big opportunity. If you have any of the cards listed below, you can use the tips in parentheses to get the airline credit. If you are interested in applying, just click the card name to read the review:

Please note:

  • Citi Prestige has been revamped and now reimburses all travel purchases, so if you have travel plans, there is no need to rush.
  • For AMEX credits（Platinum, Gold）, remember that you must first select an airline. Don’t forget to choose one. Of course, if you selected one last year, this year will still default to that same airline. In the new year, you get one chance to change your airline. FNBO is a bit special: no airline selection is required, but otherwise it works the same way as AMEX.
  • Be careful when choosing an airline for the AMEX Platinum business card. This choice is related to the 30% points rebate on redemptions, so don’t miss the bigger benefit just for the sake of using the incidental credit.

In short, if you are using the official way to get reimbursed for airline incidental fees and the credit still hasn’t posted after some time, feel free to contact customer service. If you are using unofficial methods, such as buying airline gift cards, and the credit does not post after a while, do not contact customer service, because you were not supposed to receive it in the first place. It is better to keep an eye on blogs and forums for the latest data points to find methods that still work.

If you were already planning to cancel any of these cards, you might as well wait until you receive your 2019 credit, then cancel within 30 days after the annual fee posts.

Saks Credit

AMEX Platinum Card offers up to $100 in Saks purchases reimbursement each calendar year: $50 from January-June and $50 from July-December. Don’t forget to use it. Buying a gift card in-store should be fine for reimbursement.

Activate Q1 5%/5x Categories

With the new year, credit cards have announced new quarterly bonus categories. So before you start using them, it is best to first activate the first quarter（January-March）5% or 5x bonus categories. At the same time, it is also helpful to familiarize yourself with the new categories so you can use category conversion techniques to maximize rewards across more spending. The cards that require quarterly activation are:

  • Discover it: Grocery Store. Always a popular one: most grocery stores sell third-party gift cards such as Amazon, eBay, etc., and also Visa gift cards（activation link）
  • Chase Freedom: Gas stations. Not much to say about gas itself, but convenience stores attached to gas stations often sell lots of third-party gift cards, so you can test whether they earn 5x and then buy more. Drugstores: CVS and Walgreens also sell many third-party gift cards, such as Amazon/eBay, and they also have Visa gift cards. Tolls: again, pretty straightforward—you can reload EZpass, pay toll fees, etc.（activation link）
  • US Bank Cash+: choose your own categories. For Q1, cell phone（you can overpay）, Bookstore（buy books for school）, and fast food are all good choices（covering some dining spend）. Of course, it depends on your spending habits.（activation link）
  • Citi Dividend: Gas Station: 5%（you can test whether buying gift cards inside convenience stores attached to gas stations also earns 5%）；Home Depot（sells lots of third-party gift cards）（activation link）

A few important notes: a）Discover it and Chase Freedom only earn 5% cash back or 5x points on the first $1,500 each quarter, so plan accordingly and don’t overspend in the category. Citi Dividend, on the other hand, has an annual total cash back cap of $300. So if you really like the first-quarter category, you can spend the full $6,000 and get the full $300 at once, without worrying about the later quarters. c）Discover it, Chase Freedom, and Citi Dividend can all be activated through their online accounts. If you cannot find the button, you can also activate by phone, online chat, or secure message. d）Cash+ lets you choose your own 5% categories, so it is best to pick categories not covered by your other cards. If you are not interested in these bonus categories, you may want to refer to this article: Credit Card Tips — Category Conversion to earn 5% cash back in other categories.

Annual Reset of Bonus Category Caps

Some credit cards calculate bonus category caps by calendar year. So when a new year starts, you can once again earn elevated cash back or points on the first $xxx of spending. Here are a few typical examples:

  • AMEX Blue Cash Everyday （no annual fee; 3% cash back at supermarkets on up to $6,000 per calendar year）
  • AMEX Blue Cash Preferred  （6% cash back at supermarkets on up to $6,000 per calendar year）
  • AMEX EveryDay Card（no annual fee; up to 2.4x Membership Rewards at supermarkets on up to $6,000 per calendar year）
  • AMEX EveryDay Preferred Card（up to 4.5x Membership Rewards at supermarkets on up to $6,000 per calendar year）
  • AMEX Gold（4x Membership Rewards on up to $25,000 per year at supermarkets）

Please note: a) Under normal circumstances, AMEX EveryDay and EveryDay Preferred earn 2x and 3x points at supermarkets. You only get the extra 20% and 50% points bonus after your total monthly transaction count exceeds 20/30. If you plan to max out the $6,000 cap in the first month, just make sure your first-month transaction count exceeds 20/30. Then you can toss the card in the drawer for the rest of the year.

Likewise, if you are not interested in the supermarket bonus category for points/cash back, you can refer to this article: Credit Card Tips — Category Swap to earn elevated rewards in other categories. If you plan to close any of the cards mentioned above, consider using this method: wait until you have maxed out the annual bonus cap and secured the cash back or points before closing the card.

Annual reset for high-spending milestones

Some credit cards offer extra rewards if you spend a certain amount within a calendar year. For example, some co-branded hotel credit cards let you earn elite status upgrades through spending. Co-branded airline cards may offer elite-qualifying miles, discount codes, extra miles, and more once you hit certain spending thresholds. Personally, if you do not have a very strong preference for one travel program, putting all your spend on a single card is often less rewarding than opening several cards and redirecting that spending toward welcome-bonus requirements. Still, I think the following big-spend bonuses are worth going after:

  • AMEX Delta Platinum: In each calendar year (Jan 1-Dec 31), if you spend $25,000, you get 10,000 Delta miles + 10,000 MQM. If you spend $50,000, you get another 10,000 Delta miles + 10,000 MQM (for a total of 20,000 Delta miles + 20,000 MQM after $50,000 in spend). That works out to about 1.4 mile/dollar. Also, the MQM earned can be gifted to others, and some people are even interested in buying them. In addition, once you spend $25,000, the MQD requirement for Delta elite status is automatically waived, making it easier to pursue Delta status.
  • AMEX Delta Reserve: Spend $30,000 in a year and earn an extra 15,000 miles and 15,000 MQM; spend another $30,000 and earn another 15,000 miles and 15,000 MQM. That means all spending earns at least 1.5x SkyMile, and the MQM earned can help you pursue Delta elite status. So the effective earning rate is about 1.5 mile/dollar, and the MQM earned can be gifted to others, with some people even interested in buying them. In addition, once you spend $25,000, the MQD requirement for Delta elite status is automatically waived, making it easier to pursue Delta status.
  • If you hold all of the following cards — Delta Platinum, Delta Reserve, Delta Platinum Business, and AMEX Delta Reserve Business — and max out all the MQM bonuses, you should be able to earn Delta elite status without flying.
  • AMEX Acend：Spend $15,000 on the card in a calendar year and get one weekend free night certificate (usable at Hilton hotels and resorts). I personally value it at around $150-$300, which is like an extra 1%-2% return, pretty solid.
  • Citi AAdvantage Platinum: Spend $30,000 in a year and get a $100 AA discount. That is equivalent to an extra 0.3% return on spending.

Annual reset for mileage rebates

AA co-branded cards issued by Citi and Barclays offer a 10% rebate on the first 100,000 miles redeemed each year. So if you have multiple AA accounts and AA credit cards, it is best to make sure each account redeems no more than 100,000 miles per year. See here for details:

Annual reset for credit card referral bonuses

Many credit cards now let you earn cash back or points by referring other people to apply. Generally speaking, the referral bonus cap for each card is usually under $600 per year. When the new year arrives, those referral caps reset as well. The main cards that can be referred include:

Note: a) The referral bonus on AMEX cards is often not as good as the offer you can find through incognito mode or via prequalify. If a friend is applying, do not shortchange them. You can read: How to Find the Highest AMEX Credit Card Bonus to get the best application link. b) With Discover referral links, the applicant also gets a $50 welcome bonus, while applying through the official website does not include that. So if you want to apply, you can do so through this site or get a referral from a friend. c) Chase referral offers are generally the same as the public offer on the official website, so we recommend applying through this site or asking a friend for a link.

Get the Southwest Companion Pass

The welcome bonuses on the three Southwest co-branded cards currently all include the 2019 Companion Pass. As long as you meet the spending requirement, you can get one full year of companion travel. Whether you book with points or cash, you can essentially get a buy-one-get-one ticket, which is an amazing deal and effectively doubles the value of your points. All three cards also offer annual bonus points, so which one you choose depends on how much you fly Southwest each year. If you can use the benefits, all three can justify their annual fees. The application links for the three cards are below:

Applying in early 2019 effectively gives you almost a full year to use the Companion Pass, which is pretty nice.