Get $100+ Bonuses From Credit Card Promotions

Here are some easy promotional offers from credit cards that have helped me save for an early retirement by paying for a lot of my usual expenses!

Free $250 Cash

The Chase Preferred Sapphire Card is a rewards credit card that is now offering new cardholders 25,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. This is quite a good deal, as 25,000 points can be redeemed for $250 cash or an airplane ticket worth up to $312.50 (you can buy a more expensive ticket and simply pay the difference). No annual fee for the first year, $85 in future years.

(This card is the “big brother” of the regular Chase Sapphire Card, where you can get 10,000 points after your first purchase (no minimum amount), and there is no annual fee in the first year or subsequent years. I would personally rather go for the 25,000 points offer since the annual fee is waived for an entire year.) More details…

Free $150 in Gift Cards

The American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card offers 15,000 Membership Rewards bonus points when you spend $1,000 in your first 3 months of Card membership. MR points are very versatile, and can be converted to 15,000 frequent flier miles in a number of programs (or 10 Southwest credits), or you can simply get $150 in gift cards at several stores like Home Depot, Crate & Barrel, or Macy’s. You can view the reward options at MembershipRewards.com. I think you can also get cash equivalents at a reduced ratio.

You can also earn another 15,000 Membership Rewards bonus points when you spend $30,000 per calendar year. No annual fee for your first year. After that it is $175, so remember to cancel within the first year if you don’t want to continue.

Free $75 Gift Card + Cashback from Restaurants & Amazon.com

The new Citi Forward card is offering 8,500 ThankYou points for making just $250 in purchases and electing for paperless statements within 3 months of account opening. That’s enough points to exchange for $75 in gift cards from stores like Sears, Staples, Overstock.com, Macy’s, or Gap. In terms of ongoing rewards, you get 1 reward point for every $1 you spend on other purchases like most other cards, but this card offers a special 5 reward points for every $1 you spend on books, movies, music and restaurants. You also get 100 points each month you pay your balance on time and don’t exceed your credit limit. See my Citi Forward card review and Amazon.com & restaurants follow-up. for more details.

Free $100 Amazon.com Gift Certificate

The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express is currently giving out 10,000 Starwood points for signing up and making any purchase. That’s enough for a $100 Gift Card to Amazon.com, Gap, Nordstrom, Banana Republic, and more. Not only do you get the bonus, but this card is one of my favorite rewards cards.

10,000 points are also good for up to 3 free nights at Starwood hotels like Four Points Sheraton. If you like airline miles, you can get 1.25 frequent flier miles per point, 25% more than other airline-specific cards. This card is great for people who like to travel and make the most of their existing frequent flier miles, and can be very useful for getting miles for many different airlines like Delta, American, and more. Click here for details.

Finally, if you spend $15,000 within the first six months, you get another 15,000 bonus Starpoints on top of the 15,000 earned normally. So all in all you’d get 40,000 Starpoints = 50,000 frequent flyer miles = 2 free roundtrip tickets! More info here.