Shop Around Before You Pick A Credit Card, But Also Remember That Balance Transfer Credit Card Offers Expire

Why You Should Wait

Credit card companies know that by using terms like ‘limited time offer’ they are going to entice more people to sign up for that card. If you can figure out what the baseline bonuses are for specific cards, as soon as you see the bonuses go up, you can jump on them.

In the past, a lot of credit cards were churnable, which meant you could apply for them over and over again and keep getting the sign-up bonus. Nowadays though, credit card companies are starting to crack down on these ‘churnable’ cards.

You Only Get One Shot

Amex recently announced a big change to their sign up bonus policy that stated, “Welcome bonus offers will not be available to applicants who have or have had the Card they’re applying for.” In the past, as long as you were applying for a new card 12 months after closing the old card, you would still be eligible for a new sign-up bonus. But this new policy is indicative of where a lot of credit card companies are headed.

Credit card companies don’t like giving out bonuses more than once for the same card. So it’s now more important than ever to ensure that you get the highest sign up bonus offer possible.

The Balance Transfer Credit Card Offers

Credit card balance transfer offers and point rewards can also be fleeting. They key to figuring out which balance transfer credit card offers are best is establishing a baseline. You’ll need to figure out what the standard offer is and keep an eye out for the increased offers. Here’s a list of some of the more popular limited time offers that we’ve seen over the past few years:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred – The standard offer for this card is 40,000 points but it often goes up to 50,000 points at various times throughout the year. If you see it at 50k, you should apply as soon as possible.

• Chase Southwest Premier/Plus – These cards generally offer 25,000 points but there are always 50,000 point offers floating around. You should always hold out for a 50,000 point offer with this card.

• Chase United Explorer – This card normally offers a bonus of only 30,000 points but it periodically goes up to 50,000 points in the summer time. Try to hold out for the higher offer of 50k if you plan on applying for this card.

• Chase Ink Bold/Plus – Ink is Chase’s business line of credit cards and the cards normally come with a 50,000 point bonus. But that bonus has gone as high as 60,000 points in the past.

• Amex Premier Rewards Gold – The PRG is Amex’s top of the line card and it usually comes with a 25,000 point sign-up bonus. From time to time though, Amex will increase this bonus up to 50,000 points and that’s when you should apply.

• Amex Starwood Preferred Guest – The SPG card by Amex has some of the most valuable points since they have over 30 airline transfer partners. The normal offer is 25,000 points but they often run summer time promotions that increase this to 30,000 points.