MyMoneyBlog.com feedTop 10 Best Credit Card Bonus Offers – May 2025 (Updated)
Updated May 2025. Some top offers are ending soon. That space in your wallet or purse is valuable, and you should be the one to get that value. By being smart and picky, you can find offers worth $500+ for a single card, all to encourage you to apply and try it out. This adds up to thousands of dollars in extra income (over $5,000 in 2023). These are the top 10 credit card offers that I would personally apply for right now (or have already). Notable recent changes:
- Added IHG 4FreeNights, Sapphire Preferred 100k, AA 70k, Marriott 185k, JetBlue 70k, Venture 75k+$250
- Removed Strata 75k, CitiAA 75k, Southwest Companion Pass, Hilton 70k+FreeNight, Delta 80k
This is a companion post to my Top 10 Best Business Card Offers. Small business bonuses are on average even higher than those on consumer cards.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points (worth $1,250 towards travel or transferrable to miles/points) after $5,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. See link for details.
- $50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit, 5x on travel purchased through Chase TravelSM, 3x on dining and 2x on all other travel purchases.
- $95 annual fee.
- Subject to 5/24 rule.*
- Upgrade pick: Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card. Higher travel perks including airport lounge access, higher annual fee.
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- Limited-time offer bonus of $1,000 value towards travel. 75,000 Miles after $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months (worth $750 to offset travel purchases, or transferrable to miles), plus a one-time $250 Capital One Travel credit valid towards hotels and flights booked through Capital One Travel. See link for details.
- 2 Miles per dollar on all purchases.
- Up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck(R).
- $95 annual fee.
IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card
- 4 Free Nights (worth up to 40,000 IHG points each) after $3,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. See link for details.
- Free Night after each account anniversary year (valued up to 40,000 IHG points).
- $99 annual fee.
- Subject to 5/24 rule.
- Don’t like annual fees? The no-annual fee Traveler version also has a competitive offer with no annual fee.
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card
- 185,000 Marriott Bonvoy(R) bonus points after $6,000 in purchases within the first 6 months. See link for details.
- $300 in Annual Dining Credits, valid at restaurants worldwide.
- Priority Pass Select airport lounge membership.
- Automatic Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status.
- Free Night Award upon card anniversary (worth up to 85,000 Bonvoy points).
- $650 annual fee.
- See Rates and Fees
Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red Mastercard
- 70,000 American Airlines miles after any single purchase and paying the $99 annual fee in full, both within the first 90 days. See link for details.
- First checked bag free on domestic AA flights ($80 value per roundtrip, per person).
- $99 annual fee.
British Airways Visa Signature® Card
- 85,000 Avios after $5,000 in purchases within first 3 months. See link for details and redemption tips.
- 10% off British Airways flights starting in the US when you book through the website provided in your welcome materials.
- Free Travel Together companion ticket when you spend $30,000 in a calendar year.
- $95 annual fee.
- Up to 70,000 bonus points. 60,000 bonus points after $3,000 on purchases in first 3 months. Plus, 10,000 bonus points after annual fee renewal payment posts and is paid in full. 70,000 points are redeemable for $875 against any travel purchased with Pay Yourself Back. See link for details.
- Free first checked bags on Air Canada flights: one free checked bag for the primary cardmember and up to eight other travelers on the same itinerary.
- Aeroplan 25K Elite Status benefits for the remainder of the first calendar year, plus the following calendar year.
- Up to $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS fee credit.
- $95 annual fee.
- Subject to 5/24 rule.
Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Card
- 50,000 American Airlines miles after $2,500 in purchases in first 3 months. See link for details.
- First checked bag free on domestic AA flights ($80 value per roundtrip, per person).
- $0 annual fee for the first year, then $99.
The Platinum Card® from American Express
- 80,000 Membership Rewards(R) points after $8,000 in purchases in the first 6 months.
- Up to $200 Hotel Credits, up to $240 Streaming Credits, $200 Airline Fee Credits, $200 Uber Cash, $199 CLEAR Plus credit, $300 Equinox credit, up to $155 Walmart+ credit and more annually! Enrollment is required.
- Up to $120 Global Entry or $85 TSA PreCheck fee credit.
- Premium airport lounge access through the American Express Global Lounge Collection®.
- $695 annual fee.
- See Rates and Fees
Capital One Venture X Rewards Card
- 75,000 miles (worth $750 to offset travel purchases, or transferrable to miles) after $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. See link for details.
- $300 annual travel credit. Get up to $300 in statement credits when booking through Capital One Travel.
- Additional 10,000 bonus miles (equal to $100 towards travel) every year, starting on your first anniversary.
- Priority Pass + Capital One airport lounge access. Additional cardholders are free, and also get their own Priority Pass!
- Up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck(R).
- $395 annual fee.
- 60,000 points (worth $600 in gift cards, or transferrable to miles/points) after $4,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. See link for details.
- 3X points for every $1 spent on Hotel purchases, Air Travel, Restaurants, Supermarkets, Gas Stations, EV Charging.
- Must not have gotten bonus from or closed a Citi Premier or Strata Premier card in the past 48 months.
- $95 annual fee.
Bank of America Premium Rewards Card
- 60,000 points (worth $600) after $4,000 in purchases within the first 90 days. See link for details.
- $100 annual Airline Incidental Statement Credit.
- Up to $100 credit towards TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee.
- $95 annual fee.
Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Card
- 60,000 points (worth $600 towards travel) after $4,000 in purchases within the first 90 days. See link for details.
- $50 annual statement credit with $50 minimum airline purchase.
- $95 annual fee.
Alaska Airlines Visa Card (Bank of America)
- 75,000 bonus miles + Companion Fare voucher after $3,000 in purchases within first 90 days. See link for details.
- Companion fare voucher is “Buy one ticket, get one from $23” ($0 fare plus taxes and fees from just $23).
- Free first checked bag on Alaska flights for you and up to six other passengers on the same reservation (worth $70 roundtrip per person).
- $95 annual fee.
- 60,000 Hawaiian miles after $1,000 in purchases within the first 90 days. Try various 6-digit codes, like “000111”. The normal offer has a higher spending requirement. See link for details.
- Two free checked bags for primary cardmember when you use your card to purchase tickets directly from Hawaiian Airlines.
- One-time 50% off companion discount for roundtrip coach travel between Hawaii and The Mainland on Hawaiian Airlines.
- $99 annual fee.
- 70,000 bonus TrueBlue points after $1,000 on purchases and paying the $99 annual fee in full, both within the first 90 days. See link for details.
- First checked bag free for the primary cardmember and up to 3 companions when tickets are purchased with your JetBlue Plus Card.
- $99 annual fee.
- 60,000 Membership Rewards(R) points after $6,000 in purchases in the first 6 months. See link for details.
- $84 Dunkin’ Credit. Up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you enroll and pay with the American Express(R) Gold Card at US Dunkin’ locations. Enrollment is required.
- $100 Resy Credit. Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express(R) Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. Broken down into up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment is required.
- $120 in Uber Cash annually (good towards Uber Eats or Uber rides in the US).
- Up to $120 in annual dining credit at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys. Enrollment is required.
- 4X points at restaurants worldwide on up to $50,000 per calendar year.
- 4X points at US supermarkets on up to $25,000 per calendar year.
- $325 annual fee.
- See Rates and Fees
Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card
- 50,000 Bonus Miles after $2,000 in purchases within the first 6 months. See link for details.
- 50,000 Skymiles are worth at least $500 in Delta airfare with “Pay with Miles” option.
- $200 Delta flight credit after $10,000 in purchases on your card in a calendar year.
- First checked bag free on Delta flights ($70 value per roundtrip, per person).
- $0 annual fee for the first year, then $150.
- See Rates and Fees
- 60,000 miles after $3,000 in purchases within 3 months. See link for details.
- Free first checked bag for both you and a companion (a savings of up to $160 per roundtrip) when you use your Card to purchase your United ticket.
- 2 United ClubSM one-time passes per year.
- Up to $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS fee credit.
- $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $150.
- Subject to 5/24 rule.
Hilton Honors American Express Card
- 80,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after $2,000 in purchases in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
- No annual fee.
- See Rates and Fees
If you pay off your balances every month, then you can join me and many others in funding a huge chunk of your annual travel budget with cash credits, points, and miles. I mostly use my rewards points on family trips – domestic economy flights, mid-range hotels, and cheap car rentals. If you have credit card debt, you should focus on paying that off first as the interest charges could offset most of the perks.
* 5/24 Rule? Certain Chase cards have a “5/24 rule” which is an unofficial rule that they will automatically deny approval on new credit cards if you have 5 or more new credit cards from any issuer on your credit report within the past 24 months (2 years). This rule applies on a per-person basis, so if you are new, you might want to start with those Chase cards.
Delta SkyMiles(R) Gold American Express Card: See Rates and Fees
American Express(R) Gold Card: See Rates and Fees
The Platinum Card(R) from American Express: See Rates and Fees
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant(R) American Express(R) Card: See Rates and Fees
Hilton Honors Card from American Express: See Rates and Fees
2025 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting Video, Transcript, and Notes
The 2025 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting occurred on May 3rd, 2025, and you’ve probably already heard the big news: Warren Buffett will step down as the CEO at the end of the year, to be replaced by Greg Abel (recent Fortune profile). He will remain Chairman of the Board. This is a big deal, but I view it more as a step change. This will allow Abel to directly manage all of their wholly-owned subsidiary companies with full authority, while still having Buffett around to make big deals in the event of a market crisis opportunity. I doubt Buffett’s day-to-day routine will change drastically.
In any case, I still enjoyed watching and listening to the entire Q&A session with Warren Buffett, Greg Abel, and Ajit Jain. The absence of Charlie Munger was still noticeable.
CNBC again has the broadcast rights. You can find the full 6+ hour live re-broadcast on CNBC YouTube and they have also uploaded most of it to the CNBC Buffett Archives site. Their official transcript is not yet available, but you can find a helpful transcript from Steady Compounding or listen to the audio podcast version here. Personally, I like to listen to the audio in the car once, and then read through the transcript for the second round.
Here are a few personal takeaways and notes.
Nothing new regarding the cash pile. They only swing when it’s a fat pitch. They remain disciplined and remain patient and opportunistic. From Greg Abel:
Looking at our balance sheet, as Warren commented, we will have a fortress of a balance sheet. I thought Sue Decker, our lead director, said it well yesterday. We’ve got a significant amount of cash right now, but it’s an enormous asset to have that and that will continue to be a philosophy. When we can deploy it, we’ll deploy it well. We recognize it as a strategic asset that allows us to weather difficult times and not be dependent on anybody.
From Buffett:
We don’t think it’s improper for passive investors to make a few simple investments and sit with them for life. But we’ve made the decision to be in the business, so we think we can do a little better by behaving in a very irregular manner.
To young workers: find people you respect and really want to work for. Don’t worry about the salary as much.
You really want to work at something you enjoy. I’ve had five bosses in life and I liked every one of them – they were all interesting. I still decided that I’d rather work for myself than anybody else. But if you find people that are wonderful to work with, that’s the place to go. I’ve told my kids basically that you don’t get lucky like I did when I found what interested me at seven or eight years of age. It could have taken a lot longer, but you want to find what you love.
Alternatively, find a good teacher or mentor in an area you are passionate about:
People that teach, in general, love having a young student who’s actually really interested in the subject, and they’ll spend extra time with you. I ran into that. I had Graham and Dodd at Columbia. Dave Dodd treated me like a son basically. But I was interested in what they were saying and they found it kind of entertaining that I was so interested, so I would look around at what really fascinates you. I wouldn’t try and be somebody else.
On crypto and trying to get rich quick without creating any value. Much of crypto is based on the Greater Fool theory.
If very stupid things are happening around you, you do not want to participate. If people are making more money because they’re borrowing money or participating in securities that are pieces of junk but they hope to find a bigger sucker later on, you have to forget that. That’ll bite you at some point. The basic game is so good, and you’ve been so lucky to be born now.
A temporary 15% drop in the stock market is nothing.
If it had gone up 15% instead of down 15%, people would take that with remarkable grace. But if it makes a difference to you whether your stocks are down 15% or not, you need to get a somewhat different investment philosophy because the world is not going to adapt to you. You’re going to have to adapt to the world.
You will see a period in the next 20 years that will be a “hair curler” compared to anything you’ve seen before. That just happens periodically. The world makes big mistakes, and surprises happen in dramatic ways. The more sophisticated the system gets, the more the surprises can come out of left field.
Meanwhile, paying 1% annually constantly every year for investment management fees is a lot.
Incidentally, if all of you were paying 1% for investment management fees at Berkshire last year, you would have paid $8 billion for managing, and you really wouldn’t have had to do it. Investment management is a very good game because other people put up the capital and you charge them for the capital whether they do well or not, and then you charge them a lot more if they do well. It’s a well-designed business for the people who practice it – and who can blame them? That is capitalism.
Most of the time, nobody has much of an edge.
Charlie always pointed out that we made most of our money out of about eight or nine ideas over 50 years. We talked about it every day and read every report and did everything else. But if you think you can get an idea a day from listening to your broker or reading financial information, forget it. Every now and then you get extraordinary opportunities, and most of the time you don’t have much of an edge.
Overall, listening to this session as a Berkshire shareholder reminds me that the company retains a long-term mindset, thinking in decades and not quarters. A lot of companies say things like they think for the long-term, they put shareholder interests first, but their actions don’t match.
I am thankful for these reminders of how things should be done. Of course, it’s sad that things are changing, and Buffett’s increasing age does remind me of my own. I can’t believe how long he’s been at this. Carpe Diem.
Past BRK meetings:
CIT Bank Platinum Savings $225/$300 Bonus + 4.10% APY (New and Existing Customers)
Update 5/5/25: I successfully received my $300 deposit bonus on top of the normal interest within the 60 days of deposit (actually 56 calendar days). I held for 60 days for simplicity, but other readers have confirmed the bonus arrived after only the stated 30-day minimum hold. This offer is still available if you haven’t done it yet.
Original post:
CIT Bank has a new limited-time $225/$300 Platinum Savings deposit bonus. The bonus depends on deposit amount, and it is open to both new and existing customers. The bonus is on top of the interest rate, currently 4.10% APY (as of 3/20/25) with a balance of $5,000 or more.
New deposit bonus details. For new customers, you must first open a new account with at least $100 and promo code PS2025 at this special offer link. You’ll get multiple confirmations that you are enrolled in the promo during the application process.
If you already had an CIT Bank existing account as of 2/26/25, you still need to first officially enroll in this offer via the “Start savings now” button and then logging into your CIT Bank account. If you have other CIT Bank accounts already, but need to open a new Platinum Savings account, you can do that easily as well.
There are only two tiers for the bonus, either $25,000 or $50,000. Qualifying funds must come from an account outside of CIT Bank. (Transfers from existing CIT Bank accounts will not qualify for this promotion.)
- A new deposit of $25,000 to $49,999 within 30 calendar days of your open/enrollment date will get you a $225 cash bonus.
- A new deposit of $50,000+ within 30 calendar days of your open/enrollment date will get you a $300 cash bonus.
There is a limit of one Platinum Savings promotional offer per account and per Primary customer. If multiple Platinum Savings accounts are opened, only one account per primary account owner is eligible.
All customers who qualify for the $225 or $300 bonus offer will receive the bonus in the enrolled Platinum Savings account within 60 days after the 30-day funding period. The enrolled Platinum Savings account must be open at the time of the bonus payment to qualify. You can fund all at once or in multiple transfers, it just has to be done within the 30-day window.
Importantly, there is no minimum holding period. You just need to fund within the 30-day period after your opening/enrollment date. Although not explicitly required in the terms, I choose to be extra careful and make sure to time it such that the money is through the 30-day mark. After that, your account just needs to be open at the time of the bonus payment, which is another 60 days after the 30-day mark. You do not have to maintain the balance during those additional 60 days, although you could choose to keep it there until the bonus arrives.
Effective APY rough numbers. The lack of minimum holding period makes the potential effective APY theoretically sky-high. For the sake of rough numbers, if you assume you keep the money there for 30 days, here are the effective interest rates you could get as either a new or existing customer:
- For a new/existing customer earning the $225 bonus on $25,000 in new deposits with a 30-day hold period, which also qualifies you for the current 4.10% APY tier, that works out to a total 14.9% APY for 30 days (10.8 + 4.10).
- For a new/existing customer earning the $300 bonus on $50,000 in new deposits with a 30-day hold period, which also qualifies you for the current 4.10% APY tier, that works out to a total 11.3% APY for 30 days (7.2 + 4.10).
You can see that the $25k tier works out to be a higher percentage, but you get more absolute money if you have enough fund for the $50k tier.
The Platinum Savings account has no minimum balance fees, no monthly service fees, no inactivity fee. Make sure you keep $5,000 in there to qualify for the highest interest rate tier.
Bottom line. CIT Bank has really good limited-time deposit bonuses from time to time, and they are also usually available to existing customers. Right now is one of those times, with a new up to $300 Platinum Savings deposit bonus and it is indeed open to both new and existing customers. The bonus is on top of the interest rate, currently 4.10% APY (as of 3/20/25) with a balance of $5,000 or more.
This offer is for a limited-time only, and they may end it at any time if their goals are met.
I am doing this offer, and as an existing CIT account owner, enrolling and funding was very easy as my other bank accounts were already linked and ready to go. My fund have arrived and they have confirmed my bonus by e-mail. They are also pretty solid as a transfer hub.
Private Equity Creating Attractive Rates For MYGAs / Life Insurance?
One of the lessons from the 2025 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting was that you never know where your next investment idea will come from, so you should “turn every page”. For example, I like to read the entire transcript of the Q&A session (thanks to Steady Compounding) instead of just reading the WSJ or CNBC articles. Take this question and answer came up from Ajit Jain, their head of insurance:
Becky Quick: This question is from Peter Shen in New Jersey. It’s for Mr. Buffett and Mr. Jain. In recent years, large private equity firms like Blackstone, Apollo, and KKR have aggressively expanded into insurance, raising permanent capital, managing float, and aiming to replicate the model that Berkshire pioneered decades ago. Given that these firms are now directly competing for insurance assets, often using higher leverage and more aggressive investment strategies, how do you view their impact on Berkshire’s insurance operations and underwriting discipline? Do you believe that the private equity model poses risks to policyholders in the broad financial system, and has this competition made it more challenging for Berkshire to find and price insurance opportunities safely and profitably today?
Ajit Jain: Part of the question is very easy. There’s no question the private equity firms have come into the space, and we are no longer competitive in the space. We used to do a fair amount in this space, but in the last 3-4 years, I don’t think we’ve done a single deal.
You should separate this whole segment into two parts: the property casualty end of the business and the life end of the business. The private equity firms you mentioned are all very active in the life end of the business, not the property casualty end.
You are right in identifying the risks these private equity firms are taking on both in terms of leverage and credit risk. While the economy is doing great and credit spreads are low, these firms have taken the assets from very conservative investments to ones where they get a lot more return. As long as the economy is good and credit spreads are low, they will make money – they’ll make a lot of money because of leverage.
However, there is always the danger that at some point the regulators might get cranky and say they’re taking too much risk on behalf of their policyholders, and that could end in tears. We do not like the risk-reward that these situations offer, and therefore we put up the white flag and said we can’t compete in this segment right now.
Basically, Berkshire can’t compete in life insurance right now because private equity firms are flush with money and are expanding into insurance and competing very aggressively on rates. The only real insurance-as-investment product that interests me (I do have term life insurance) are multi-year guaranteed annuity (MYGAs), so I decided to check the current rates.
Sure enough, a new name called Knighthead Life is at the top of the charts at Blueprint Income. Their rates will vary by state and investment amount, but I saw 7-year MYGAs at 6.80% and 5-year MYGAs at 6.55% (simple interest). Knighthead Life even has a relatively solid A- rating for financial strength from AM Best. Usually, the top rate will be offered by an insurer with a lower B++ rating.
Digging further, we find that private equity firm Knighthead Capital Management/Knighthead Insurance Group recently completed a $550 million capital raise, acquired Merit Life Insurance in January 2025, and quickly rebranded it as Knighthead Life.
Another top MYGA provider on the list, Revel One, was founded in 1980 and acquired by private equity firm Axar Capital in 2022.
I’m still trying to keep my investments simple, but these MYGA rates are a pretty significant 2%+ spread above current bank CD rates and Treasuries. They are not directly comparable, but they are comparable. MYGA are much more complicated and there are pitfalls to avoid. Please do your own research before investing.
In addition, perhaps this also makes it a good time to shop for term life insurance rates. I haven’t shopped around in a while. We got ours set up at a reasonable cost before having kids and I’m always happy to know that it is there for my family if they need it.
I wonder if looking back, this will have been an opportunity to take advantage of the consumer-friendly rates resulting from the current rush of money into private equity, or if the risks of “higher leverage and more aggressive investment strategies” will eventually create a crisis event if some of these insurance companies start to fail. (How long will that shiny A- rating last?)