Many travel rewards cards offer perks that only make sense when traveling. And, of course, thanks to COVID-19, most of us aren't traveling. Major credit card issuers have started to adjust by offering temporary perks that are accessible from home. Chase added grocery bonuses to a bunch of cards, and later announced enhancements to their Sapphire cards. Citi made it easier to earn the Prestige card's $250 travel credit. And Amex surprised us with a slew of great, but temporary, benefits.
While all of that news was welcome, it's hard to keep it all straight [understatement of the year contender]. So, here we are to the rescue. This guide lists all of the COVID inspired credit card enhancements, along with a few related pre-COVID perks so that you can get all of the info in one place. I expect that we'll have to update this post periodically as things change (and when readers let us know about things we missed or got wrong!).
Many of the temporary card enhancements relate to grocery and dining purchases. So, we've organized the details accordingly. Also, in some places we've included a column called "RRV". This column shows the effective rebate that you'll get with the bonus earnings. We based the value of the rebate on our Reasonable Redemption Values (RRVs). For example, our Reasonable Redemption Value for Chase Ultimate Rewards points is 1.5 cents per point. Given that RRV, we calculate the Sapphire Reserve card's 5X grocery earnings as: 5 points per dollar X 1.5 cents per point = 7.5%.
In many cases where we listed bonus earnings, we also listed free nights and other perks that you can get from big credit card spend. The idea is that this may help you decide which card to use (at grocery stores, for example) if you're working your way towards a free night or other perk.
For more about the above enhancements, please see: Amex adds great stay-at-home perks to ultra-premium travel cards (this year only).
Authorized users: Spend at grocery stores earns points (and bonus points) on the primary cardholders account. With Amex Marriott Bonvoy cards I believe that authorized user spend counts towards the same $7.5K cap as the primary card.
For more details about the above grocery bonuses, please see: Chase adds groceries on most $95 and up consumer cards.
Authorized users: Spend at grocery stores earns points (and bonus points) on the primary cardholders account. Authorized users do not get their own spend caps. Authorized user spend counts towards the same limits as the primary card.
More details about the above Sapphire Reserve and Sapphire Preferred enhancements can be found here and here.
See also: Citi's turn: Use Prestige credit at supermarkets / restaurants, more time to meet spend.
Authorized users: Only the Citi Prestige primary cardholder gets up to $250 in travel rebates each year. Authorized user spend does get rebated, but it counts towards the same $250 credit.
For more about the above enhancements, please see: Amex adds great stay-at-home perks to ultra-premium travel cards (this year only).
Authorized users: Only the Amex primary cardholder gets up to $250 or $300 in hotel rebates each year. Authorized user spend does get rebated, but it counts towards the same $250 or $300 credit.
This shows the Amex Gold Card's standard dining credit benefit. The Gold card has not been enhanced for COVID-19. It continues to earn 4X at US Supermarkets (up to $25K in purchases, then 1x) and 4X at restaurants worldwide. For comparison, 4X Membership Rewards points is like a 6.2% rebate given the Reasonable Redemption Value of 1.55.Authorized users: Only the Amex primary cardholder gets up to $10 per month in dining credits. Authorized user spend does get rebated, but it counts towards the same $10 per month credit.
Authorized users: Only the Chase primary cardholder gets DoorDash benefits. Sapphire Reserve authorized user spend at DoorDash does get rebated, but it counts towards the same $60 per year rebate.
See also: Citi's turn: Use Prestige credit at supermarkets / restaurants, more time to meet spend.
Authorized users: Only the Citi Prestige primary cardholder gets up to $250 in travel rebates each year. Authorized user spend does get rebated, but it counts towards the same $250 credit.
Authorized users: Spend at restaurants and Paypal earns 5% cash back on the primary cardholders account. Authorized users do not get their own spend caps. Authorized user spend counts towards the same limits as the primary card.
Authorized users: Only the Altitude Reserve primary cardholder gets up to $325 in travel rebates each year. Authorized user spend does get rebated, but it counts towards the same $325 credit. Spend at restaurants earns 3X on the primary cardholder's account.
See also: Hilton free weekend nights become anytime nights valid for 2 years.
For more about these miscellaneous Platinum and Green Card benefits, please see: Amex adds great stay-at-home perks to ultra-premium travel cards (this year only).
Authorized users: Only the primary cardholder gets the rebates listed above. Authorized user spend does get rebated to the primary cardholders account, but it counts towards the same limits.
We do not yet have official information about which services qualify. It's safe to assume that the "big guys" qualify: AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon. Also, we know from the past that Google Fi most likely does not qualify. Reports have been mixed about whether or not Google Fi payments qualify. Early reports showed that Fi qualified for streaming credits instead of cell phone credits. Later, some people reported it working for cell phone credits.
The following streaming services qualify for Platinum and Green Card rebates: Amazon Music Unlimited, Apple Music, Apple TV+, AT&T Now, Audible, CBS All Access, Disney+, ESPN+, Fubo TV, HBO Now, Hulu, iHeartRadio, Kindle Unlimited, Luminary, MLB.TV, NBA League Pass, Netflix, NHL.TV, Pandora, Prime Video, Showtime, Sling TV, SiriusXM Streaming and Satellite, Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube Music Premium, YouTube Premium, and YouTube TV
Here's the text from Amex's announcement regarding the Calm App:
U.S. Consumer Card Members will soon have complimentary access to a one year Premium membership with CALM, the sleep and meditation app, and half off the following year, if they are not currently Premium subscribers.
Authorized users: My best guess is that authorized users will get their own complimentary access to Calm, but we do not yet have firm details.
Lower renewal fee through end of year: Through June, Chase has been rebating $100 to help offset the Sapphire Reserve card's $550 annual fee for those who renew. Going forward, renewals from July 1 to end of December 2020 will instead automatically be charged $450.
More details about the above Sapphire Reserve and Sapphire Preferred enhancements can be found here and here.
Between May 1st and December 31st, 2020, every dollar spent on an American Airlines credit card counts toward million miler status.
Alaska Airlines is offering the following bonuses for credit card spend:
Credit card companies are starting to offer credits in exchange for renewing your card membership. Here's what we've seen so far:
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