Flash Chase Offer: 5x points gas/grocery/restaurant

I love it when Chase surprises with 5x points flash offers - this week I received one for my Marriott Card:

The offer is 5x points on up to $1000 at grocery stores, gas stations, and restaurants through 9/30.  Since the Freedom card has gas stations as a quarterly category, this is great for grocery/restaurant.

Cards in My Wallet Right Now (2025)

Happy New Year!  My card list has changed a little this past year while my spending overall has stayed even.  I retired the Hilton Surpass and AA Biz Platinum while picking up the regular AA Platinum.  I'm still using the United Club card for lounge access and extra miles for purchases.  I have referral codes for most cards if needed! 

Cards in my Wallet:

Chase Sapphire Reserve - one of the best earning cards with 3x points for travel and 3x for dining; No Foreign Transaction Fee

Chase Freedom - Quarterly bonus categories give 5x points and pairs with Sapphire

Chase World of Hyatt - 4x Hyatt points per stay make this one of the best for hotel stays, 2x for restaurant/transit; No Foreign Transaction Fee

Chase IHG Rewards Club Select (no longer available) - Platinum Elite status plus free night every cardmember year

Chase United Club Infinite - 4x miles on United, 2x miles on other travel, 2x on dining, United Club membership

Chase Biz Plus (replaced with Business Preferred) - 5x points at office supply and phone, 2x on gas station and hotel; No Foreign Transaction Fee

Chase Biz Cash - 5x points at office supply and phone, 2x points on gas stations and restaurants

Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless - 6x points at Marriott properties; 3x Gas/Grocery/Dining up to $6k, 1 Elite Night credit per $5k spent; 2x points on other purchases; No Foreign Transaction Fee

Chase British Airways - 3x Avios on BA purchases; 2x on hotels; No Foreign Transaction Fee

Citibank Premier - 3x points on travel including gas stations and grocery; 2x on dining/entertainment, No Foreign Transaction Fee

Citibank AA Platinum - 2x American Airlines miles on purchases plus free checked bag and priority boarding; 2x on gas stations, No Foreign Transaction Fee

Citibank AA Mileup - 2x American Airlines miles on flights, plus 2x miles for grocery purchases, No Annual Fee

Citibank Double Cash - 2% cash back on all purchases, though the transfer option to Citi ThankYou Points makes this card strong for all non-category spend, No Annual Fee

American Express Hilton card - 7x Hilton points on stays, 5x points dining/gas/grocery, 3x all other purchases, complimentary Silver status, No Annual Fee, No Foreign Transaction Fee

Discover It card - 5x points/cash on quarterly bonus categories, link to Amazon.com purchases, No Annual Fee

Bank of American Alaska Airlines card - 3x miles on Alaska purchases, $99 companion fare

New Marriott Promo: Go Your Way

Marriott has introduced a new fall promo - if you have any stays on the horizon, be sure to register as soon as possible!

1500 points per stay is good but not super.  The addition of a 3 brand goal helps but I don't think I'll be prioritizing stays based on this alone.  

New Partnership for MGM/Marriott

Well...that didn't take long.

Today MGM and Marriott announced a new partnership - this takes the place of the recently ended joint venture between Hyatt and MGM properties.  

Details from the announcement:

Of the 17 MGM resorts that will join MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy, four properties will also be affiliated with existing Marriott collection brands: Bellagio Resort & Casino will join The Luxury Collection, ARIA Resort & Casino will join Autograph Collection, Park MGM will become part of Tribute Portfolio, and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas will continue its affiliation with Autograph Collection.

Eight MGM resorts in Las Vegas will join MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy: Vdara Hotel & Spa, MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, NoMad Las Vegas, The Signature at MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, New York-New York Hotel & Casino, Luxor Hotel and Casino, and Excalibur Hotel & Casino.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this affects stays and points earning possibilities.  While I've typically focused on Caesar's locations, it's always nice to have options for any future stays.

New Marriott Promo 2023 - Points and Bonus nights

Marriott has released their first 2023 promotion and it includes additional bonus points as well as night earning credit:

• Register now, then earn from February 7 through April 23, 2023. Registration ends April 9, 2023.
• Get 1,000 bonus points and 1 additional Elite Night Credit on each eligible paid night — all with no earning limits.
• Achieve Elite status and elevated benefits faster with twice the Elite Night Credits.

I don't find this to be as lucrative as the promotions I typically see from Hyatt, though it's great to see no earning limits!

4th Quarter Chase Bonuses

Chase continues to exceed my expectations for spend options on many of their cards. I hope you've received these as well!  Emails today noted the following for the 4th quarter:

United Card: 10x points on Gas purchases and 5x points for Amazon and Grocery purchases up to $1500 from 10/1 through 12/31

IHG Card: 10x points on Gas purchases and 5x points for Amazon and Grocery purchases up to $1500 from 10/1 through 12/31

Marriott Card: 10x points on Gas purchases and 5x points for Amazon and Grocery purchases up to $1500 from 10/1 through 12/31

World of Hyatt: 10x points on Gas purchases and 5x points for Amazon and Grocery purchases up to $1500 from 10/1 through 12/31

Don't forget to sign up via the email links in each message!

Updated points earning for Marriott Bonvoy Boundless

It's been another few months of change in the new year, and as expected hotel and travel partners are still trying to be creative with customers and how to encourage activity in the economy.  Rising inflation has been an impact for everyone.  Despite this challenge, I'm glad to see Chase and Marriott looking to add earning opportunities for cards.  The most recent from this week is for the Chase Marriott Boundless card:

To summarize:

- You can now earn 3x per $1 on Grocery, Gas, and Dining, up to $6k total per year. 

- Card holders will earn 1 Elite Night Credit for every $5k spent on the card

Will anyone be taking advantage of these new benefits?  The current Chase Freedom quarterly bonus is for Grocery at 5x up to $1500, so I'll likely continue using that to maximize points.  There's a chance I might consider the Boundless card after that.

Cards in my wallet right now (2022)

Happy New Year!

The ongoing pandemic has posed many challenges though for my current card lineup things stayed relatively stable. I'm hoping for the same in 2022 based on current offers.

Cards in my Wallet:

Chase Sapphire Reserve - one of the best earning cards with 3x points for travel and 3x for dining

Chase Freedom - Quarterly bonus categories give 5x points and pairs with Sapphire

Chase World of Hyatt - 4x Hyatt points per stay make this one of the best for hotel stays, 2x for restaurant/transit

Chase IHG Rewards Club Select (no longer available) - Platinum Elite status plus free night every cardmember year

Chase United Mileage Plus Select (no longer available) - 3x miles on United purchases plus EQM, 2x gas/grocery/dining + Star Alliance purchases

Chase Biz Plus (replaced with Business Preferred) - 5x points at office supply and phone, 2x on gas station and hotel

Chase Biz Cash - 5x points at office supply and phone, 2x points on gas stations and restaurants

Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless - 6x points at Marriott properties; 3x Gas/Grocery/Dining up to $6k, 1 Elite Night credit per $5k spent; 2x points on other purchases; No Foreign Transaction Fee

Chase British Airways - 3x Avios on BA purchases; 2x on hotels; No Foreign Transaction Fee

Citibank Premier - 3x points on travel including gas stations; 2x on dining/entertainment

Citibank AA Biz Platinum - 2x American Airlines miles on purchases plus free checked bag and priority boarding; 2x on gas stations

Citibank AA Mileup - 2x American Airlines miles on flights, plus 2x miles for grocery purchases, No Annual Fee

Citibank Double Cash - 2% cash back on all purchases, though the transfer option to Citi ThankYou Points makes this card strong for all non-category spend, No Annual Fee

American Express Hilton card - 7x Hilton points on stays, 5x points dining/gas/grocery, 3x all other purchases, complimentary Silver status, No Annual Fee

American Express Hilton Surpass - 12x Hilton points on stays, 6x points on dining/grocery/gas, 3x points on all other purchases; complimentary Gold status

Discover It card - 5x points/cash on quarterly bonus categories, link to Amazon.com purchases, No Annual Fee

Bank of American Alaska Airlines card - 3x miles on Alaska purchases, $99 companion fare


I still value many of these for the no annual fee, and others have perks/free nights that make them excellent to hold. 

Are you looking to upgrade any specific cards this year?

Summer Chase Bonus offers

I continue to be impressed by the offers extended by Chase for regular credit card spend.  Hopefully most of you have received these as well!  Over the last two weeks there have been notifications about offers through this summer for several cards: 

United Card: 7x points on United purchases and 5x points for travel/gas station purchases up to $1500 from 5/15 through 8/15

IHG Card: 9x points on IHG purchases and 5x points for travel/gas station purchases up to $1500 from 5/15 through 8/15

British Airways Card: 9x points on British Airways/family purchases and 5x Avios for travel/gas station purchases up to $1500 from 5/15 through 8/15

Marriott Card: 10x points on Marriott purchases and 5x points for travel/gas station purchases up to $1500 from 5/15 through 8/15

This is all in addition to the previously announced offers that are good through 6/30.  Don't forget to sign up via the email link for each!

Additional Chase Bonus Points offers

In October 2020, Chase made bonus points promotions available to help during the pandemic.  These were additional categories beyond normal spending/bonus and had specific thresholds.

I've received more emails with bonus points offers for regular spend through June 30th - if you have these Chase cards, don't forget to sign up using the email links in each invite.

Hyatt Card: 5x points at Grocery/Restaurants on up to $1500 in combined spend through 6/30

United Card: 5x points on up to $1500 in combined spend through 6/30

IHG Card: 5x points on up to $1500 in combined spend through 6/30

British Airways Card: 5x points on up to $1500 in combined spend through 6/30

Marriott Card: 5x points on up to $1500 in combined spend through 6/30

Chase Bonus Points Promotions through March 2021!

Back in October 2020, Chase was very proactive with bonus points promotions given everything going on with the pandemic.  At the time these seemed to be the best offers for regular spend for the quarter.  

This morning I received several emails with more bonus points offers for spend at gas stations, grocery stores, and drug stores through March 31st - if you have these Chase cards, make sure to sign up via the invite email links.

Hyatt Card: Spend $3000 in combined purchases to receive 5000 Hyatt bonus points through 3/31

United Card: 5x points at Gas/Grocery/Drug Stores on up to $1500 in combined spend through 3/31

IHG Card: 5x points at Gas/Grocery/Drug Stores on up to $1500 in combined spend through 3/31

British Airways Card: 5x points at Gas/Grocery/Drug Stores on up to $1500 in combined spend through 3/31

Marriott Card: 5x points at Gas/Grocery/Drug Stores on up to $1500 in combined spend through 3/31

The Combining: Marriott, Starwood, Ritz - New Program coming

We all knew this was inevitable - Starwood and Marriott are combining their rewards programs. 

Now the details are out.

Find more info here: https://members.marriott.com/spg/

I'm a loyal Hyatt member, though the property footprint is not as vast as Hilton or what will be the new combined Marriott program.

Gary has a great analysis here.  In general it looks pretty good for redemptions though earning may be challenging.

I don't anticipate moving away from Hyatt at this point but I like keeping my options available for points.