This week was crazy. If you had told me two years back that we would get a 15x bonus category on purchases up to $25,000, I would have laughed you out the room. If you had said it would be a side dish, with 125,000 Membership Rewards points, I'd have laughed like E.T. I tried to help you call home, but you clearly wouldn't have been from this world. Even worse, I wasn't able to think of a better offer than either the initial 100K offer or the subsequent 125K referral offer. Greg and I discuss how it all turned out on this weeks Frequent Miler on the Air. You can listen or watch below, or continue reading for posts about this week's Amex minimum spending requirements, the changes to the Platinum card, Chase Pay Yourself Back, and other updates.Subscribe to our podcastFrequent Miler on the Radio is published each week as a podcast and in video format (above). Listening to the podcast is a great way to listen while driving, exercising, and so on. We hope you enjoy it and will subscribe if enough people subscribe. The podcast is a labor of love at this point.All popular podcast platforms including iTunes and Google Play have our podcast available.You can also listen to the audio from your browserFrequent Miler this weekEverything AmexMany cardholders who are unhappy with their Amex Platinum credits have compared them to a coupon book. Is this fair? Given the new monthly credits that can be used for streaming and media services, Equinox and other small-scale providers, I can see how it could be tempting to do so. The card does have a few $200 credits that can be used immediately and other benefits such as Hilton Gold, emergency medical evacuation and many other Platinum benefits. Although I don't value streaming or Equinox benefits, I believe I would be okay with spending $145 each year for $200 FHR credits. This is despite the fact I agree that I don't want any twenty-dollar credits that I have to remember to use to justify a $695 card. Amex should get rid of that stuff.Wow! If you had told me that a card would give 15x on purchases up to $25K in any category, I'd have laughed at you a year ago. It's amazing to be able to get 125,000 points, 15x at small restaurants and businesses. Resy's Platinum card offer could give you up to 500,000 Membership Rewards Points from one new credit card. This is almost unbelievable. The possibilities of 15x are endless when you consider local contractors, car dealers and restaurants, as well as salons, retail shops, and even franchise-owned chain stores that could be considered small businesses. This offer is beyond crazy. You will need to test the businesses to see if they can code.The Resy offer is so incredible that it makes the Platinum card changes completely irrelevant for new cardholders. Even if you don't use any of the Resy benefits, the Resy offer will still reduce the fee. If you're a Platinum cardholder, and are wondering what happened this week? This post will summarize my thoughts and explain the new offers and changes. The $200 Fine Hotels & Resorts credit and The Hotel Collection credit were available to existing cardholders on July 1. You don't need to wait to start the card or have it open new to receive these long-term benefits. The streaming credit is disappointing to me personally. I don't use any of these services, there are better apps than Peacock, I already have Spotify playlists, and I love reading the New York Times. However, reading the entire article would be too much for my eyes. I also don't listen to audiobooks because I don't commute. I will still be happy to use the $200 FHR credit next year, and the new annual fee.Have you just received a shiny new Platinum card? Are you wondering how to meet the minimum spending requirements while not getting your points redeemed for spending on items that Amex does not want? This post will give you some ideas on how to meet the minimum Amex spend requirements and still earn your bonus. I don't like playing games with Amex welcome bonuses. The points are too valuable to risk having them clawed back. I also don't want to have to log in every day to check my points. This is why I appreciate posts like this.We are entering a new month. Have you used your monthly wireless credit yet? What about your dining credit? What time does the Amazon Amex Offer expire? Keep this page bookmarked so you are always up to date.I spoke earlier this week about saying goodbye my Membership Rewards points, even though they can still be used to redeem at 1.25c per each through the Schwab Platinum card. There are too many points in my account and there is more potential for them to be invested. The Resy Platinum offer might be a quick fix for me if I'm worried about my balance dropping to zero. It is too good to miss the long-term potential.Which Platinum card offers the best deal for authorized customers? How do you get your annual fee refunded? What is the difference between personal and business versions of the Platinum cards? This complete guide contains all the information you need about Platinum cards. Grab it now!A new Simon card is available: it has some amazing features but it's quite expensive. Simon understands this: They have created a card that does not say gift card or Simon anywhere, and it can be used at Walmarts and other grocery stores. It is unlikely that you will want to purchase it. Why? It is too high. This fee of 2.78% is too high and will not make sense to those who have to meet a minimum spending requirement or receive a valuable big spend bonus. Simon's efforts to provide us with what we need shows that he is not the weak link. Let's hope that this becomes something better.Chase has updated Pay Yourself Back to include a business card extension. This post has been updated and refined to make it a reliable resource for information about which category cards are available and what rates. We are confident that we will see additional extensions, though possible changes to the categories, as a result of this new round.Frequent Miler is done for the week. Last chance deals are available this week.
