Collect signup bonuses

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Unless you frequently travel for business, credit card signup bonuses are the only realistic path to earning substantial numbers of frequent flyer tickets or free hotel nights.

Instead of waiting years for points to accumulate through paid travel, or with day-to-day credit card spending, you can quickly earn hundreds of thousands of reward points via multiple credit card bonuses, with very little effort. There are dozens of credit cards that offer signup bonuses worth in excess of $500 each, and you can continuously earn these bonuses by signing up for new cards.

If you want to frequently take advantage of free airplane tickets and hotel nights, the best strategy is to continuously sign up for new credit cards, meet their initial spending requirements, and collect their signup bonuses. Most people are surprised at the number of credit cards that banks are willing to give, and that they can collect new cards without hurting their credit rating.

Typical signup bonuses for good travel and reward credit cards are very generous. Collecting the signup bonus for a typical hotel-branded credit card provides enough points for 2-3 nights at a nice downtown hotel in a typical city, 1 night at one of their fanciest hotels, or 8-20 nights at one of their less expensive hotels. The signup bonus on a typical airline credit card gives you enough points for 2 free economy tickets in the US, or a free economy ticket to Europe.

Probably the most valuable advice we have for most travelers is to start collecting credit card signup bonuses, and take the plunge into the world of free travel.

Signing Up for Credit Cards Just for the Travel Benefits

Signing up for credit cards, just to collect their signup bonuses (or receive their travel benefits) is a good strategy for most people. Contrary to popular belief, it won't kill your credit rating—it is more likely to improve it. But, it is not for everyone. If getting a bunch of credit cards is going to cause you to spend more money, or you are too disorganized to avoid paying fees and interest, you'll need to avoid this approach, and focus on just getting good deals for your airline and hotel reservations. For more detailed information, see our Credit Cards 101 guide.

Jump to

• Managing the signup process
• Signup bonus tips
• Types of bonuses
• Which cards to get first

Managing the signup process

Our recommended approach for people who are getting started collecting signup bonuses is relatively straightforward.

1. Decide on which card you want to get next. In general, you are going to start with the best available signup offers and start making your way down the list to less valuable offers. However, there are several other considerations about which cards you should get first, which are discussed in more detail below.
2. Apply for a card. Especially as you are getting started, keep things simple, and sign up for one card at a time.
3. After you receive the card, set up automatic payments, so you are never late. And pay off the entire balance every month, so you don't have to pay interest expenses. If you can't pay off your balances each month, you want to focus on reducing your credit card debt, and not on getting additional cards. If you don't like having your bills paid automatically, you just need to spend a little extra effort to make sure you aren't late with any of your payments.
4. Until you've met the initial spending requirement, switch ALL of your credit card spending to your new card. You wan to be meet the initial spending requirement as soon as you can. This insures you don't miss out on earning the bonus, and lets you more quickly move onto the next bonus.
5. If, for some reason, it looks like you won't naturally meet the spending requirement during the allotted time (almost always the first three months), don't worry. There are some "tricks" that you can use to meet the requirement and not miss out on the bonus. Tips to Easily Meet the Initial Spending Requirements of New Credit Cards.
6. Collect your bonus.
7. Start the process over again. Ideally, you would apply for your next card a couple of weeks before you finish spending on the previous card, as it can take some time to receive your new card.
8. After the initial year, cancel each of your new cards. To preserve the best possible relationship with the bank, don't cancel as soon as you receive your bonus. But, you don't want to pay the second year's annual fee, unless you really want to keep the card to take advantage of its ongoing benefits. We like to set up a calendar appointment as soon as we get the card, to remind us to cancel at the end of the initial year.

For more details and tips for the best way to manage the credit card signup process, see our step by step guides:

Step-by-Step Guide: After You Receive Your New Card

Step-by-Step Guide: Getting Rid of a Credit Card

Signup bonus tips

• Don't focus on the NUMBER of points; focus on the VALUE of the points. Every type of point or mile has its own value. Don't necessarily be swayed by a card that offers a large number of points; you need to calculate the total value of the points you'd earn. For example, Hilton requires lots of points for each award night. As a result, their points are only worth about .4 - .5 cents each. As a result, a 100,000 point signup offer is only worth around $400 - 500. In contrast, Hyatt only requires about a quarter as many points for a similar hotel. As a result their points are worth around 1.7 - 1.8 cents each. A 40,000 point signup bonus on the Hyatt credit seems a lot less valuable, but is actually worth more (about $700).
• We calculate a "Net Signup Bonus" for every interesting credit card. This is the value you get for signing up for the card minus the costs of getting the card. First, we calculate the value of the points that you'd receive, and add the full or partial value for any travel (or other) credits that some cards provide during your initial year. Then, we subtract any annual fee that you would need to pay. Finally, we subtract the opportunity cost of the lost reward points you didn't earn, by using the new card to meet the initial spending spending requirement, instead of using a card that earns one of the best general purpose reward rates.

For example, the Sapphire Reserve card has a bonus of 50,000 Ultimate Reward points. We value those points at 1.7 cents each. So, the total value of the signup offer is $$850. The card comes with a $300 travel credit that pays for the first $300 of travel expenses you put on the card on each year. Since this credit is so easy to receive, we value it at full value, increasing the total value you receive to $1,150. But, the card has an annual fee of $450, which isn't waived the first year. And you'll earn about $40 less in rewards by using the Sapphire Reserve for the required $4,000 in spending, instead of using one of the best general purpose cards. Subtracting the $490 it costs to get the bonus, the net signup bonus is around $650. Note that we don't count the extra benefits of the card that depend on usage, such as its great bonus category reward rates, airport lounge access, etc. We just count the bonus itself and the account credits.

• Each bank has different rules that govern how many of their signup bonuses you can receive, and how quickly you can sign up for cards. To make sure you get started on the right foot, see our information on which cards to get first (provided below). As you start getting more and more cards, you'll want to make sure you understand the rules for the major banks, which are discussed in our advanced signup bonuses guide and in the guides for each individual credit card.
• If you have any type of business, you can earn a lot more points with small business credit cards. As long as you have any type of side business (like selling stuff on eBay or doing some independent contracting), you are entitled to signup for small business credit cards. You don't need to incorporate and, in most cases, you don't even need to have made any money yet. Technically, you aren't supposed to use these cards for your personal spending, so if you business is very small, you may not be able to meet the initial spending requirements for the cards. However, in practice, you can typically use any of your cards for any type of spending, so this isn't really a problem. For more information see Unlock Extra Reward Points with Business Credit Cards.

• Getting small business cards often allows you to double-up on your signup bonuses. Many cards come in both a personal and a small business version. Rather than simply earning the bonus from the personal card, you could earn the bonus from both versions of the cards, and receive twice as many points.
• Some of the best cards are only available in small business versions. For example, the Ink Preferred card has the biggest Chase Ultimate Rewards bonus (80,000 points), and the Business Platinum card has the biggest Amex Membership Rewards bonus (75-150,000 points).
• Small business credits don't show up on your personal credit report, letting you get a larger number of cards. When you signup for a small business credit card, they will check your personal credit report. But, when you get the card, it won't be added to the cards listed on the report. That means that banks which are sensitive to the number of cards you have, won't see them, and you are more likely to get approved for additional cards.
• Each adult in your household can collect their own signup bonuses. Often one person will take on responsibility for managing the process for any less-interested participants. Signing up for multiple copies of the same cards, gives you access to double the signup bonuses, and twice as many free night or companion certificates. Sometimes, banks will give you a "referral bonus" when you get someone else to apply for the card, so you can sometimes earn one of those as well.
• For airline and hotel cards, you can sometimes get an additional credit or better offer when you are making a reservation. You will be prompted to sign up for the card when you are part way through the reservation process. When you are ready to get the card, you can start to make a "fake reservation". Choose a random city and set of dates. Then see what credit card offer you get. Just make sure you don't complete the reservation.
• Larger promotional signup offers are often available. Before you apply for a card, make sure that you try to find the best available offer. We always try to list the best available offers on our best offers page, and in each of our individual credit card guides. But you might want to check a few other websites as well (discussed in more detail in our step-by-step guides).

Advanced Strategies

Earning signup bonuses can be addictive. If you want to maximize the number of points you can earn, make sure to look at our advanced strategies.

Advanced Strategies for Collecting Signup Bonuses

Types of bonuses

While we provide a base "value" for every signup bonus, you may value different types of signup bonuses differently, based on how hard you want to work to maximize the value of your points, and how you like to travel.

For example, Chase's Ultimate Rewards points, hotel points, and cash-like points are very easy to use, and are a great option for almost everyone. Membership Reward points and most airline miles are much harder to take good advantage of. If you aren't willing to make the effort to learn how to optimize frequent flyer programs, or don't have the flexibility or patience to find good value award redemptions, they may wind up sitting unused in your account, or you may have to settle for only around 1 cent per point. On the other hand, if you highly value premium-cabin award tickets, and are able to find award space, these same types of points can be very valuable.

• Cash and cash-like points. Some signup bonuses give you actual cash. For example, the Capital One Spark Business card has a signup bonus of $500. Other signup bonuses give you points or "miles" that you use like cash. Each point or "mile" has a fixed value, usually 1 cent per point. In many cases, to get full value from the points, you need to use them to purchase travel. For example, the Capital One Venture card has a 50,000 "mile" signup bonus. You can use these points, at 1 cent each, to offset travel purchases you make with card. In other cases, points are worth less than 1 cent each, or more than 1 cent each. Pay for Any Ticket Using Credit Card Points, Regardless of Award Availability.
• Hotel points. Every major hotel program has one or more credit cards. Each of these cards offers a large number of points. But, the value of hotel points varies wildly between different programs, as they require vastly different numbers of points to book similar quality hotels. How Much are Hotel Points Worth?.

Card	Typical Bonus	# of Free Nights
		Least expensive Hotels	Typical Hotels	Most Expensive Hotels
Hilton Surpass / Aspire	150,000	30.0	3.7	1.5
Hilton Business	125,000	25.0	3.1	1.3
Hilton No-annual-fee	100,000	20.0	2.5	1.0
Hyatt	50,000	10.0	3.3	1.7
IHG Premier	125,000	25.0	4.2	1.8
IHG Traveler	60,000	12.0	2.0	.9
Marriott / Marriott Biz	75,000	15.0	2.1	.75
Marriott Brilliant	75,000	15.0	2.1	.75
Choice	32,000	5.4	2.0	0.9
Radisson Premier Rewards	120,000	13.3	3.0	1.7
Radisson Rewards	30,000	3.3	0.75	0.4
Sonesta	65,000	4.3	2.4	1.3
Wyndham Earner Plus / Business	45,000	6.0	3.0	1.5
Wyndham Earner	15,000	2.0	1.0	0.5

The good news with Hotel points is that they are very easy to use. With almost any hotel program, if a room is available, you can book it with points. You can get solid value from your points on almost every trip. And if room rates are expensive, because of a special event, holiday, or peak season, you can avoid paying sky-high rates, by using your points.

• Airline miles. Dozens of airlines issue reward credit cards. Typical signup offers are between 20-60,000 frequent flyer mile per card. You can often sign up for multiple cards from the same airline to put together larger balances you can use for more expensive frequent flyer tickets.

However, be aware that unless you get lucky, are willing to spend a lot of time, and/or are very flexible, it can be hard to get good value from airline miles. When flights are expensive, the airlines often don't make any award space available. When flights are inexpensive, you won't get much value from your points. On a typical flight, you might expect to get 1 cent or less in value per mile.

On the other hand, if you are flexible, or can book far ahead of time, you can often get 1.5 to 2 cents in value per mile on economy class tickets. And if you highly value business and first class seats, you can get values of 3 - 10 cents per mile, on free tickets that would normally cost thousands of dollars.

• Because of airline partnerships, miles from airlines that you may never fly are still valuable. For example, even if you never fly British Airways, you can use their miles for free flights on American Airlines, Japanese Airlines, Qantas, or many other of British Airline's partners. So don't shy away from a good signup bonus, just because it is from a card affiliated with a foreign airline.
• Chase's Ultimate Rewards. Several credit cards earn "Ultimate Rewards", Chase bank's own reward currency. These points are "the best of both worlds". You can covert them to frequent flyer miles in your choice of a dozen different programs, and then use them to book frequent flyer tickets on over 100 different airlines. You can convert them to Hyatt points to book award nights, at values typically over 1.75 cents each. And, deepening on the credit card you have, you can use them at 1.5 cents each, to purchase any hotel, airline ticket, etc. through the Chase website. Or you can typically get slightly more value per point, when you use them like cash to purchase tickets on Southwest Airlines or JetBlue (without having to find award space).

In short, you have several options to easily use your points, at 1.5 cents or more per point, without having to deal with the complexities of frequent flyer programs. But unlike fixed-value point programs (such as the Capital One Venture), you still retain the the upside to get even more value per point, by booking frequent flyer tickets (with almost any airline). Introduction to 'Transferable' Reward Points.

• Amex's Membership Rewards (and other transferable points). Other transferable point programs, such as Membership Rewards, also give you the option to convert your points into frequent flyer miles in your choice of a large number of different programs. As a result, point in these programs are more flexible and more valuable than any single airline's frequent flyer miles. But, to get good value from these points, you'll need to eventually use them to redeem frequent flyer tickets. So, ultimate the value of these programs is linked to the value you feel you can get from airline miles. Introduction to 'Transferable' Reward Points.

Which cards to get first

You might be tempted to just start working your way through our best offers list, starting with the most valuable offer, and working your way down the list.

The Best Credit Card Signup Bonuses

However, you are better off getting certain cards first, before moving onto other cards.

• If you believe you can get ongoing value from some cards, you might want to get them first. For example, the Citi Prestige card will refund the cost of the 4^th night at almost any hotel, which can be worth hundreds of dollars each year. Some premium cards provide fee airport lounge access. Most airline cards give you free checked bags for you and your companions. And the Alaska Airlines card gives you a valuable 2 for 1 airfare certificate every year. Build Up a Core Credit Card Collection for Travel Benefits and Rewards.

Your optimal strategy is to get these valuable cards first, so you can start taking advantage of their benefits, while collecting their signup bonuses along the way, even if they aren't the very most valuable bonuses. Once you've built out your core credit card collection, you can move onto the cards with even more valuable bonuses. Of course, if you desperately need a bunch of a certain type of points for an upcoming trip, or you find out about a card that has a particularly nice promotional offer, you might want to take a break from building out your collection, and collect the bonus before continuing.

• Chase offers some of the best credit cards, but limits you from getting most of these cards, with something called the "Chase 5/24 rule". If you've received more than 5 credit cards in the past 24 months, you won't get approved for most Chase credit cards. This counts all the (personal) credit cards you received from any bank, even authorized user cards, not just the ones you get from Chase.
• That means, you need to get any affected Chase cards you want first, before you start getting other new cards. Since you are about to sign up for a bunch of new credit cards, you'll soon be ineligible to get any of the Chase cards that are affected by this rule. If you want to get them for their ongoing benefits, or to collect a particularly attractive signup bonus, you'll need to get them now, or you may have to wait a long time to be eligible again.
• You may want to start out with some other cards, that will be hard to get once you start signing up for a lot of cards. For example, the Altitude Reserve card offers a great reward earning rate on anything you can buy with Apple Pay, Android Pay, or Samsung Pay. And the Capital One Venture card offers a great reward rate on hotel reservations. But, you are unlikely to get approved for either of these cards, if you've recently signed up for too many other new cards. If you want them, you'll need to get them early in the process.
• Since business cards don't show up on your personal credit report, you can freely focus on these first. That way you can earn a bunch of signup bonuses, or get access to some valuable travel benefits, without blocking your ability to get Chase 5/24 or other hard-to-get cards.

See Dealing with the Chase 5/24 Rule for all the details you need to determine which cards to focus on first.

• Since you can only receive Amex signup bonuses once per lifetime, it makes sense to focus most of your initial energies on other cards. With most other banks, you'll eventually be eligible to earn a signup bonus a second time. It is better to get their cards first, and start the clock ticking for a potential second signup bonus. With Amex, you can only get the signup bonus once, so it doesn't much matter tif you wait to get it.
In addition, Amex is pretty tolerant about approving people who already have a lot of credit cards, and Amex's own Membership Reward points are a bit complicated for beginners to use effectively. Don't let this stop you from signing up earlier for an Amex card that has good ongoing benefits, has a particularly good promotional offer, or you want for another reason. Just generally get other cards first, and Amex cards later.

Build Up a Core Credit Card Collection for Travel Benefits and Rewards

Credit Cards 101

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