Chase Checking account opening bonus - Back again with a twist

(open account by October 15)

Chase once again offers $200 for opening a checking account, only this time they are making it a bit tougher to get a coupon code.  These coupon codes sell for anywhere from $2 to $25 on eBay.  The only thing you have to do is already have a Chase login (through a credit card, mortgage, etc) or to know someone who does have one.  Then visit this link after you've logged in for your coupon code. The page will spit out a code. And if you hit refresh, it will spit out another code. Here are a couple of codes -- one for each of my readers!

5227155083349281
5227155083357866
5227155083361390

Get your annual $200 from Chase

(expires August 15)

Chase offers account opening bonuses of up to $200, such as this one which expires on August 15.  You will need to keep your account open for 6 months to keep the bonus.  And after that you can close it.  The bonus is open to anyone who hasn't had a Chase account in the last 90 days.  So really you can get this bonus every 9 months, providing you can find a link like the one above.  Or some people on eBay sell the same link for $50 or so.  But keep in mind that the bonus is considered interest, so you will see a 1099-INT at the end of year for $200.  There is no hard credit inquiry, so if you can manage the logistics of maintaining $1500 and direct depositing at least $500 into your account each month (ACH pushes count), then there's not much reason to not pick up your free $200 every year!

Get $200 for opening a Chase checking account

(expires October 6, 2012)

Chase frequently has bonuses for opening checking accounts.  These range from $100-200, and today you can get a coupon for a $200 bonus by clicking on this link.  You will need to open a Chase Total Checking and keep it open for 6 months.  To avoid fees, you'll need to keep a $1,500 balance or have a direct debit of $500 or more each month (some account transfers will count).  This deal doesn't result in a hard credit inquiry (save those for sweet Chase credit bonuses!).

Get 4.2% on all purchases with the American Express Prepaid Card

Another Amex deal (no, I am not paid in any way by them, except by exploiting opportunities like this next one).  American Express has introduced a Prepaid Card, a re-loadable stored value debit card of sorts.  There is really nothing special about this card, except the way that you can reload it.  They expect you to link it to a bank account and load it via direct debit, and if you get a new card and reload it this way with $50 in July, Amex will give you $10.

However, there is another reload method that yields 4.2% on everything you buy.  For all of my strategizing to get more than 2% back, this deal trumps them all.  Office Depot sells "vanilla reload" cards, displayed right next to "temporary" American Express prepaid cards in its retail locations.  Buy these vanilla reload cards with a credit card that rebates you 5% on office supply purchases, and you will net 4.2% after the $3.95 fee per reload card (maximum value of $500).  You will pay $3.95 for the reload card but get $25 back on your $500 purchase.  Cards that give you 5% back include:

• American Express SimplyCash - No annual fee and 5% back is rebated as a statement credit (2 cycles after your purchase).  Also get 5% back on mobile phone bills.
• Chase Ink Bold - $95 annual fee (waived for the first year and more than offset if you can spend $10,000 to earn 50,000 Ultimate rewards points).  This can be a better value, because you get 5 points per dollar at office supply stores, which you can redeem for airline tickets worth 10 cents per dollar or more.  Also get 5% back on mobile phone bills, internet services, and cable bills.

More credit card deals (cash, British Airways miles, etc.)

The crazy credit card deals continue, following the 100,000 points on Capital One (expired), 100,000 miles on American Airlines (technically expired, but still working), and 50,000 miles on Continental (valid till May).  Here are some current deals:

• British Airways: The deal for 100,000 miles on British Airways is back.  Sure, you get the whopping bonus (received after spending $2,500 on the card in 3 months) that you can redeem on American Airlines and avoid British Airway's high fuel surcharges.  But you also get a redeem-one-get-one-free offer for award travel (after spending $30,000 on the card), but you can end up flying first class to Europe for just your bonus miles plus fuel surcharges -- no way to avoid fuel charges on this one.
• Lufthansa: Barclays Bank offers the Lufthansa credit card with 50,000 Lufthansa miles, which is a Star Alliance airline (redeem on United, Continental, and US Airways).  But the miles do expire, and unlike most American programs, you can't extend their life by having activity on your account.  Yes, my Lufthansa miles expired on me and I am bitter. 
• $200 from Chase: If you don't like the idea of all these miles, you can also get some cold, hard cash back.  Chase offers $200 as a sign-up bonus for spending $1,500 in 3 months.

50,000 Mileage Plus miles for United credit card from Chase

I wonder why the credit card companies are complaining about new regulations that they think will destroy their profitability and then go ahead and offer mucho miles as signup bonuses. The latest is Chase, which offers 50,000 United miles for signing up after spending $250 (no annual fee for the first yer). To get this deal, you need to call 800-421-4655 and then:

1. Choose "manage my account"
2. Enter your mileage plus number and zip
3. Say "more options"
4. Say "apply for a United Mileage Plus card"
5. Tell the rep you're applying for the 50K mile offer.

British Airways 100,000 miles bonus is back

The British Airways credit card offer of 100,000 bonus miles is back through this sign-up link.

Virgin Atlantic 65,000 bonus miles

(expiration unknown)

The British Airways offer of 100,000 bonus miles for signing up for their Chase credit card seems to have ended last week, although there is still one working link left (try at your own risk).

Virgin Atlantic, not to be outdone, upped their first-year bonus to 65,000 miles for the Virgin Atlantic American Express card issued by Bank of America: 45,000 after your first purchase (significantly more than their standard offer of 20,000), 5,000 for adding 2 card holders, 7,500 for $15,000 in spending, and another 7,500 for hitting $25,000 in spending.  Not as good as the British Airways offer, but still a sizable bonus beyond the standard offer of 20,000 miles.

If you don't travel much to Europe, you can still make use of Virgin's miles on U.S. carrier partners Continental Airlines, U.S. Airways, and Hawaiian Airlines. The initial 50,000 bonus miles (45,000 initial bonus plus 5,000 for additional cards) is enough for:

• A first-class trip in the continental U.S. (45,000)
• 2 Economy tickets in the continental U.S. (50,000)
• Economy to Hawaii (35,000)
• Economy to Europe (50,000)

Whopping 100,000 British Airways miles for $75

(expires November 30)

There's new British Airways credit card from Chase that gives you a whopping 100,000 British Airways miles in just 3 months.  That's the biggest payout I've ever seen for doing practically nothing.  Well, almost nothing.  You have to spend $75 on the annual fee for the card.  This offer is not available to current or past BA credit card holders. Even former BA/Chase cardholders are eligible.  Here's the run down:

• 50,000 miles for opening the account
• 50,000 miles for spending $2,000 in the first 3 months
• 1.25 miles per dollar spent
• 2.5 miles per dollar spent on British Airways
• If you spend $30,000 in a year, you get a free companion ticket for any class of service, redeemable through a convenient booking site

The 100,000 miles is good for 2 tickets to London (50,000 per ticket) or 1 ticket to South Africa (90,000 per ticket).  But before you're frightened off by the prospect of transiting in Heathrow and paying BA's hefty award surcharges, know that you can use your miles on any oneworld carrier, like American Airlines.  The 100,000 miles will take you to Hawaii almost 3 times (35,000 per ticket):

Don't worry if you don't have a British Airways Executive Club account (the name of their frequent flier program), which you can usually only get after you fly on BA once.  Now you can get an account when you sign up for the card, but according to the Flyertalk thread, non-members will need to wait 2 weeks before this card is opened up to them.  And BA has family accounts, so you can your pool miles easily and redeem for travel sooner.