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Credit Card Sign up Bonuses – Free Money!

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credit card cash bonuses make me happy!Many credit card companies offer great sign-up bonuses that almost anyone can use to their advantage. Even some of the best rewards credit cards come with a sign up bonus. Here are a few offers that can put money in your pocket. Just be sure to pay your card off every month to avoid fees!

Look for additional credit card offers. Part of your criteria for credit card offers should be more than just the sign up bonus. Be sure to look for a balance transfer credit card, 0% interest credit card, or a cash rewards credit card to ensure this will be a credit card worth using long after you get your sign up bonus.

Anyone can sign up! Some of these cards are business cards, but anyone can open a business credit card by signing up as a sole proprietorship without filling out any additional forms. Just use your social security number as your business ID.

Best Credit Card Sign Up Bonuses

Chase Freedom<sup>®</sup> Visa - $100 Bonus Cash BackChase Freedom® Visa – $100 Bonus Cash Back. The Chase Freedom® Visa is currently offering a $100 statement credit when you spend $500 in the first three months of owning your card. You can then apply the statement credit directly to your balance – saving you $100 that you can use for investing, saving, or spending. This is an even better deal when you add the fact that this card doesn’t have any annual fees and is also listed as one of the best cash back credit cards. This isn’t the largest cash bonus, but no annual fees and the easy to reach spending threshold place this cad at the top of our list. This card also features an excellent cash rewards program with 5% cash back in new categories every 3 months like grocery stores, restaurants and even airlines. You will also earn 1% cash back on normal purchases. To top it off, there is an introductory 0% APR offer.

American Express® Premier Rewards Gold CardAmerican Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card currently offers 25,000 Membership Rewards® bonus points when you spend $2,000 within 3 months of opening your account. The 25,000 Membership Rewards® bonus points can then be redeemed for a $250 gift card or other great rewards. For more information, visit the American Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card website.

Free Airline Miles and More

Bonus Miles:

Miles by Discover® CardMiles by Discover® Card. Miles by Discover® Card is a travel card that offers great perks, especially for those who travel often. You can increase your benefits by shopping on the Discover online site and redeem your rewards for various items such as travel, gift cards, or cash. Here are more card details:

  • Earn 10,000 Bonus Miles with every $2,000 in purchases within the first 6 months – up to 20,000 Bonus Miles
  • 1 Mile on every $1 you spend – Plus flexible redemption options like travel credits, merchandise, gift cards or cash
  • 0% intro APR on balance transfers for 12 months, then the variable standard purchase APR of 10.99% – 15.99%*
  • No restrictions on travel–fly on any airline, book any hotel or car, with no blackout dates
  • Travel benefits include secondary collision damage insurance when you rent a car with your Miles by Discover card
  • Discover is ranked #1 in customer loyalty–16 years in a row! (2012 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index report)
  • Great rewards with no annual fee, no rewards redemption fee, and no additional card fee
  • *Click apply to view rates, fees, rewards, limitations and other important information

Notes about the best credit card sign up bonuses:

Avoid Annual Fees! You’ll notice that several of these cards state the first year’s fees are waived. You can take advantage of these referral bonuses by signing up, making a purchase to get your reward, and canceling the card before you pay any fees! (generally there are no fees for the first year; just don’t forget to cancel!)

Earn additional bonus points. This works for American Express, but it may not work for all credit card companies. You can have all your bonus points directed to one account. I have an American Express Business Gold Rewards Card. The only other American Express card I have is my corporate card from my day job. Your mileage may vary, but when I contacted American Express, the CSR offered to direct any points earned from that card to my American Express business card, free of charge! Sign me up! (no word on whether or not my company has a problem with that… Hmmm, I better ask!).

My personal experiences with these cards: I currently use the Chase Freedom® Visa – $100 Bonus Cash Back for my personal needs, because it offers great cash back benefits (Chase Freedom® review).  For my small business I have an American Express Business Gold Rewards Card and a Discover Business Card, both of which meet my needs perfectly.

Note: These offers were current at the time of publication, and they are updated frequently. However, many of these are limited time offers and are subject to change. So act quickly!

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.

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Published or updated May 16, 2012.
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1 hcb

Nice ideas — but every time you apply for a card there’s an impact on the credit rating, no?

2 Ryan

hcb, Great question. Yes, there can be an impact on your credit score from applying to too many credit cards. However, it is not usually permanent if you manage your card well and do not run up a lot of revolving debt. If you are not planning on applying for a major loan anytime soon, then applying for one, or a couple of these cards won’t be a problem. If you are planning on applying for a major loan soon (mortgage, auto loan, etc.) then you might want to wait.

I also wouldn’t recommend applying for all of these cards. I would start with the one that works best for your situation, then maybe add another if you want another bonus. Be sure to only apply for what you believe is best for your situation! :)

3 Marwan

can not link your corporate card to your own personal MR program. you are only an authorized user on the corporate card, and even if your employer gave you authorization to redeem corporate rewards, you won’t be able to link both MR programs. don’t know how they actually did that for you. my only assumption is that your employer never enrolled in the MR program to begin with and when you called, they enrolled the card and linked it to your personal gold card. I however find it hard to beleive that a corporation would actually pass on enrolling in the coolest feature of the card.

4 Ryan

Marwan, they offered to do it, but I actually didn’t take them up on the offer. I rarely use my Corporate card, so I wouldn’t get many points, but I’m also not sure how my company would respond to it. I’m only reporting what the customer service rep told me. It does seem strange that they would allow that! As for my company passing on the coolest feature on the card… I’ll leave that one alone! ;)

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