Taking Advantage of Credit Card Offers
For today’s post, I want to focus on something that, at least to me, seems a little less talked about in the credit card space….credit card offers. Now I’m not talking about offers you may get to sign up for a new credit card. I’m referring to the offers that are given on your existing credit cards that allow you to earn cashback on purchases, or in some cases additional points per dollar as long as you meet the criteria for said offer. If you’ve been following the blog from the beginning, I’ve spent a lot of time talking about how to get started in the credit card rewards game. But if you’re new to the blog, feel free to start HERE. I’ve also talked about an ongoing challenge of mine for our next trip to Japan later this year (you can check out that series HERE).
Types of Credit Card Offers
Many of the offers as I mentioned allow you to earn cashback on purchases as long as you meet the spend criteria. A lot of these deals only allow you to earn the cashback percentage up to a certain dollar amount. For example, an offer may say you can earn 15% cashback at McDonalds up to $6. So, while the 15% cashback sounds nice, the max you will be able to earn is $6. That isn’t nothing though. With the cost of things these days, any little bit will help. If you use enough of these offers you can create some significant savings for yourself. Now occasionally, there are offers that allow you to earn additional points per dollar spent based on the criteria of the deal. At the time of writing this post I am currently taking advantage of an offer on my American Express Gold Card that allows me to earn 2 additional points per dollar at Phillips 66 gas stations, this includes 76 stations. Normally the Gold Card isn’t the best earner when it comes to gas stations as it would normally only earn 1 point per dollar. But because of this temporary deal, I can now earn 3 points per dollar on gas so long as I go to a 76 station to fill up. Because Membership Rewards points are so valuable, it makes sense to switch the card I use for gas to my Gold Card till this offer expires at the end of August 2026.
Using Offers to Reach Points Goals
As a part of my goal to fly first class to Japan which I talk about in my Japan on Points series, earning as many American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards is the goal because both of those points ecosystems can transfer their points currencies out to Singapore airlines. This Phillips 66 offer goes on till the end of August 2026, so my strategy is to use my Gold Card for every fuel fill up, be sure to go to a 76 station, as well as continue using my Gold Card for eating out and groceries whenever we can. For the goal I aiming for our Japan trip any bonus points I can get on spend we’re already doing will help. And for you it could do something similar or it could be a way to beef up your points totals in general as you save up your points for your very own redemption goals.
These offers that come up on your cards aren’t always the same or recurring. They change pretty frequently but if you make it a habit of checking your credit card portals you can actually come up on some pretty decent savings or additional points earnings. One example of a credit card offer that saved me a good deal of money was when Chase put a deal on the Sapphire Reserve that essentially allowed you to order Whoop’s top fitness band (normally $350) for free, all I ended up paying was the taxes and shipping. Essentially all I did was add the offer to my card and then went to Whoop’s website to make my purchase. These are just a few examples to show you how you can use the offers on your credit cards to your advantage.
Conclusion
I’ll be honest I’m not always the best at checking what offers are on my cards and using the offers once I add them to my cards, but since I’ve had my Japan goal and just been aiming to control our expenses in general, I’ve been trying to be better about seeing if there are any ways to earn extra points or save a few bucks. So be sure to check your cards and see what’s out there for you!
