Sweet deal (100,000 miles!) for Citi AAdvantage card

Citi's premium AAdvantage credit card comes with a $450 annual fee, but before you stop reading, know that with this special offer it comes with a $200 statement credit (your effective fee is $250) plus 100,000 miles after spending $10,000 in 3 months. That is for sure a lot of spending, but it is a little easier these days with the ability to manufacture spending by buying gift cards. This card has a hefty annual fee mainly because it offers access to American Airlines Admiral Club lounges.

Get 10% off your next American Airlines flight

American Airlines has partnered with Disney to let you win 10% off your flight by playing a simple game. The 10% off coupon is good for travel from August 15 through November 15. Good for 2 passengers and must book by August 31.

Get up to $500 in Apple gift cards from Fidelity

(expires June 30, but often gets extended)

Got some spare change? Like $300,000? Fidelity offers free Apple gift cards if you deposit at least $75,000 into a Fidelity brokerage account. That gets you a $100 gift card, and you can get a $500 gift card for depositing $300,000. Okay, so you it's still a high bar. The funny thing is that you can deposit money, withdraw the money, re-deposit the same money, and still earn the bonus. So the only real limit is how much time you have to repeat this process, since transfers take some time.

The best thing is that you can use this with an existing Fidelity account (non-retirement). So, you can combine offers. Like getting 50,000 United MileagePlus miles, 50,000 Delta SkyMiles, or 50,000 American AAdvantage miles for opening an account with $100,000, then going for the Apple deal after your initial miles post.

Free AAdvantage miles

American Airlines is having a Facebook promotion that awards up to 100,000 AAdvantage miles for "liking" them. Just like them and then Click on the "Mystery Miles" link to bring up the Flash screen where you can enter your AA number (and the AA number for everyone else you might know).  All you have to do is give up your privacy and let American know all about you and your friends and family.  Most people get 100 or 200 miles.  Okay, I did it.

Mileage deals

Traveling for the holidays is usually a headache, but what makes it worse is paying a lot for the privilege.  Next year, travel free with miles from a handful of good deals that likely won't last very long:

• 100,000 or 75,000 AAdvantage miles: A small step down from last year's slightly more generous offers, Citi is still giving away up to 100,000 miles for signing up for a credit card (no annual fee for the first year). The offers are 1) 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 within 6 months and 2) 50,000 miles after spending $2,500 in 6 months, 25,000 after $10,000 in your first year, and 25,000 after $10,000 in your second year.  This deal expires February 28, 2011.
• 30,000 Continental OnePass miles (+$50 statement credit): The Continental OnePass card from Chase is a pretty good offer.  It's not as attractive as the American offer, but the big reason to do it now is that typically you can only get one mileage bonus per program (the AAdvantage card above is an exception).  And since Continental OnePass will be merged into United Mileage Plus at the end of 2011, this is your last chance to pick up 30,000 Continental miles for very little effort.
• 10,000 United miles: Chase also has a checking account offer that you can usually churn (i.e. close your account and repeat) reliably.

Last chance for 100,000 (or 200,000) AAdvantage miles

(expires October 31, 2010)

This is your last chance to earn 100,000 American Airlines miles for a credit card bonus, the best best credit card offer I have ever seen.  You will earn 50,000 miles with your first purchase, and another 50,000 miles when you reach $10,000 in spending during the first year.  Unlike the British Airways offer, there is no annual fee for the first year.  An alternative offer is for 75,000 miles for $1,500 in spending.

Assuming you can spend $10,000 in a year, which you can by buying dollar coins from the U.S. mint or other methods), I favor the 100,000 mile offer.  Here's how the math works:

• An extra 25,000 miles (100,000 vs 75,000 miles) for an incremental $8,500 ($10,000 vs. $1,500)
• You will get 25,000 + 8,500 = 33,500 miles for the incremental spend
• 33,500 miles / $8,500 = 3.94 miles per dollar of spending
• I try to redeem miles for $0.015 per mile for travel, so it works out to ~$0.06 per mile of the incremental spending, which is even better than the 5% cash back deals of yore

Keep in mind that you can apply for two of these cards (a Consumer card and a Business one).  Here are links to the 100,000 mile offers (links to the 75,000 mile offer here):

• Visa Consumer
• Amex Consumer
• Visa Business

American Airlines credit card offers 75,000 miles

Holy smokes. What gives? I thought financial institutions were supposed to pass on the "costs of the new legislation" to unsuspecting customers. Apparent you can get 75,000 American miles for signing up for one of several credit cards (and spending $1,500 within the first 6 months):

• Visa (personal): $85 annual fee waived for the first year
• Amex: $85 annual fee waived for the first year
• Visa business: $75 annual fee waived for the first year

There's no information about the bonus miles on the sign-up pages, but readers of TMtravelworld's blog are reporting success.

American Airlines helping you help Haiti

(expires February 28)

This week's devastation in Port Au Prince is on a scale that's difficult to fathom.  If you've thought about helping victims of the earthquake, here's a good way to make a contribution.

American Airlines is offering bonus AAdvantage miles for donating to the American Red Cross.  For a $50 donation, American will give you 250 miles, and for donations above $100, you get 500 miles.  Make sure to click through American's link to the Red Cross and to send your receipt to American afterwards.