Points on the Dollar - Best Sign-Up Bonuses

(Last Updated June 4, 2013)

Most of the cards listed here are personal credit cards, but four of them — the Chase Ink Bold and Plus cards, the Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express, and the Starwood Preferred Guest Business card — are business cards. If you are unsure about whether you are eligible for a business card, check out this post.

Flexible/Transferable Points

The Chase Ink Plus Business Card

50,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 within 3 months of opening your account. Almost identical to the Chase Ink Bold Business Card, except that the former is a traditional credit card and the latter is a charge card. For a link to the application page, please see the bottom of this page.

The Chase Ink Bold Charge Card

Like it’s credit-card counterpart, Ink Plus, the Ink Bold charge card offers 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 within 3 months of opening your account. For a link to the application page, please see the bottom of this page.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

40,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending 3,000 within 3 months of opening your account. This is one of, if not the, best cards on the market. More on this card here.

Hotel Points

The Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express

SPG Card 25,000 Starpoints: 10,000 Starpoints after your first purchase, and 15,000 additional Starpoints after spending $5,000 within six months of opening your account. More on this card here.

The Hyatt Visa Signature Card

Two free nights at any Hyatt property after spending $1,000 within three months of opening your account. If redeemed at high-end properties like the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome (about $700 euros per night) or the Park Hyatt Maldives (about $900 per night), this bonus is one of the most lucrative out there, especially considering the relatively low spending requirement. Existing Hyatt Gold Passport platinum members receive 2 suite upgrades (on paid nights only) in addition to the two nights; existing diamond members receive two free nights in a suite. There’s also a trick to receive a $100 statement credit after your first purchase on the card: (1) go to hyatt.com and sign into your Hyatt Gold Passport account; (2) start a hotel booking; (3) when you get to the page that requests your payment information, you should see an offer on the right side of the page offering a $100 statement credit (in addition to the two free nights), so just click on that offer.

The Fairmont Visa Signature Card

Two free nights (with breakfast) at any Fairmont property after spending $1,000 within three months of opening your account. Like the Hyatt Visa Signature card, this award can be extremely valuable if redeemed for nights at a place like this. The card also confers “premier” status on its holder, which includes some pretty valuable benefits including one suite upgrade, one room upgrade, and a $50 Fairmont dining certificate.

Airline Miles

The British Airways Visa Signature Card

BA Visa 50,000 avios after spending $1,000 within three months of opening your account.

The United MileagePlus Explorer Card

The publicly-available offer is 30,000 miles after spending $1,000 within three months of opening your account, but you can find out if you qualify for a 50,000-mile offer — with the same spending requirement — by logging into your MileagePlus account through this link.

Best Sign-Up Bonuses