Credit card signup bonuses remain an excellent way to get lots of miles and points, IF you understand what you’re doing.  If you’re just starting out, you might want to try my Beginner’s Guide, or ask questions on our flame free #beginners channel of the Points with a Crew miles and points Slack channel
It should go without saying that you should not sign up for a credit card just because some guy on the Internet said to!
Having said that, there are 2 pretty good credit card offers whose signup bonuses are temporarily increased.
1. Best Western 80,000 point bonus (regularly 20,000)
I know I know, Best Western is not the “sexiest” credit card or hotel chain, but it can have some situational value. Â We signed up for a Best Western card a year or so ago when the bonus was 64,000 points, and we have used it to get us out of a pinch when we were in Wilmington NC earlier this year
You don’t get all 80,000 points at once – the schedule is
- 48,000 bonus points after you spend $1,000 in first 3 billing cycles
- 32,000 bonus points when you spend at least $25,000 during each 12 billing cycle period
$25,000 is a lot of spend to put on this card which I’d probably only do if you have a lot of Best Western stays upcoming. The direct link to this offer is here (H/T Doctor of Credit). Â This offer does NOT pay me a commission
2. Chase Ink Cash up to $300 (30,000 Ultimate Rewards)
Chase Ink Cash also has an increased bonus – it’s $300 (which is really 30,000 Ultimate Rewards) after you spend $3000 in the first 3 months. Â If you have a premium card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Ink Plus, you CAN combine these Ultimate Rewards with the ones from your premium card and then transfer them to Chase’s travel partners. Â The Chase Ink Cash IS subject to the Chase 5/24 rule
You can compare the Chase Ink Cash card with other cards at this link. It DOES pay me a commission if you apply through the link
3. Bank of America Business
Thanks to Doctor of Credit, The Bank of America Business Cash Rewards card is up to a $200 bonus after spending $500 in the first 60 days of having the card plus a 5000 point bonus after your first purchase (which is worth another $50).  The Bank of America WorldPoints Travel card signup bonus is also increased to $200 and 5000 points after your first purchase
Remember, Bank of America typically combines credit pulls if you apply on the same day and has been known to allow you to get multiples of the same card.
4. Amex Plum – bonus up to $600 back
The Amex Plum card is offering a bonus of $200 for each $10,000 that you spend on the card up to $30,000 total, all within the first 3 months of having the card. Â I don’t know if this would be a wise usage of spending but I’m including it for completeness
This is a direct link to the offer and does NOT pay me a commission.
5. SPG 25,000 Starpoints for personal and business
This one is not technically an increased offer, but the public offers for both the personal and business versions of the Starwood American Express cards have been changed to 2 free nights (Category 1-5). Â I think the 25,000 SPG point offer is much better (since a Category 5 is only 12,000 points anyways, so you could still get 2 free nights anyways if you wanted that.
The spending requirement is $3,000 in the first 3 months
6. Delta Amex Platinum Business up to 70K bonus; Gold to 50K (plus $50 statement credit)
The Delta Amex cards are both up to temporarily increased levels. Â The Platinum card comes with a bonus of 70,000 Delta Skymiles and 10,000 MQMs after spending $5000 in the first 3 months, and a $100 statement credit after your first purchase
The Gold Business cards has a bonus of 50,000 Skymiles after spending $2000 in the first 3 months and a $50 statement credit after your first purchase. Â The Platinum card has an annual fee of $195 (not waived the first year)
You can see more details about those cards here, and I do receive a commission if you apply for these cards through this link.
As always, make sure that you first figure out where you want to go and only THEN apply for cards that help you get there. Â If you ever have any questions, I’m always happy to help. Â Thanks in advance if you use any of my links to apply for new cards.
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
No barclay arrival 50k offer?
Good call – that goes to show what happens when you try to write a post on the road 🙂 I will add it in
I think the Chase Ink Cash requires $3k in spending in the first three months, or do you have a different link for only spending $1k?
You are right – I’ve updated the post
Hi Dan. Best Western — interesting, and I hear you that legacy BW’s are often found in the “best” places. (out west, even. 🙂 ) But you’re right, a ton of spending indeed to get the 80k bonus. Still remember Drew telling us amounts like that are “easy” — for him, if you do the levels of manufactured spending (ms) that so many do…. (even if mysteriously)
But what’s your take on the increasingly aggressive strategy by Amex to claw back awards…. such as if card holder closes card early, or engages in ms….??
For those of us contemplating adding new cards, wouldn’t we now be prudent to ask routinely about clawback risk? That is, which card companies have it somewhere in their t&c’s to forbid and/or punish ms? How do they define it? Which companies have re-defined it – after-the-fact? (e.g. amex) And most importantly, which banks are enforcing such terms? (and how so) Or is this all mountain out of the proverbial (amex) mole-hill?
No offense meant, and sorry if this seems ungrateful or churlish Dan. Yet it seems to me that any blogger who has a “relationship” with these entities ought to at least advise and/or comment about this growing area of concern about products they are helping to sell.
I’m not offended and I think that you do have to be careful if you’re MSing to meet minimum spends. It’s always been technically against the terms and conditions, so if you are going to do it, at least mix up the amounts. A ton of $505.95 purchases is a huge red flag IMO