On the surface, Visa’s service looks to be similar in intent to Amex’s offering. Upon further examination, however, it appears to be more intrusive and cumbersome–at least in its current form.

To enroll a Visa card in the program, cardmembers must sign up and supply their name, credit card information, email address and mobile phone number. After you’ve successfully enrolled, you’ll receive both a welcome email and text message. Individualized offers will then be sent to you periodically, again either by text or email.

While you can opt out of receiving email from the Visa Offers program, it is not possible to opt out of receiving text messages without opting out of the program entirely–a significant difference from Amex’s program, which doesn’t require your cell phone number at all.

Right now, the list of retailers participating in Visa’s program includes:

• 24 Hour Fitness
• La Quinta Inn and Suites
• Alamo Rent A Car
• Public Storage
• Allstate Motor Club
• Norton by Symantec
• Nutrisystem
• Dollar Rent a Car
• Pods
• Big 5 Sporting Goods
• Petco
• Hertz Rent-a-Car
• Famous Footwear

While some offers may be redeemed with a statement credit after making a qualifying purchase, others may provide coupons or promo codes that you’ll need to use. In this way, it isn’t as convenient as Amex’s offers, which are completely couponless.

Given that the program is free, however, there’s no reason not to check it out to see whether it is worthwhile for you. And since it’s still in the beta phase, we can hope that as the program evolves and adds new offers and features, it will become more competitive with Amex’s program.

For more information about Visa Offers or to sign up, see offers.visa.com.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

Visa Begins Offering Personalized Deals

In order to enroll in these promotions, you must install or upgrade to the latest version of the iPhone App (version 3.0.1) available at http://aexp.co/QyW. Cardmembers redeem an offer by clicking a button to sync it to their card account and then using their card at the participating merchant. Statement credits will generally be issued within 3-5 business days after purchase, but may take up to 2 billing periods to post.

While no date has been announced, American Express expects to add this feature to its Android app in the future as well.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

American Express Introduces Targeted Deals to Its iPhone App

• No foreign transaction fees
• Complimentary annual membership to Lounge Club plus two complimentary lounge visits each year, for access to over 350 airport lounges in more than 200 cities worldwide
• Automatic upgrade to Fairmont President’s Club Premier status, which entitles you to such benefits as a room upgrade certificate, a suite upgrade certificate, a third night free on a three-night stay certificate and $50 dining certificates
• Earn Platinum status more quickly — when a cardmember spends $7,500 on the Card, they will receive a stay credit toward the next status level, up to a maximum of 2 credits per calendar year
• Earn a free night stay on each Card anniversary, provided you have spent $12,000 or more in the prior year
• 5 Fairmont Rewards for every $1 spent on Fairmont stays
• 2 Fairmont Rewards for every $1 spent on airline tickets purchased directly with the airline, at car rental agencies, and on transit and commuting
• 1 Fairmont Reward for every $1 spent on all other purchases

Fairmont Rewards can be used toward future Fairmont stays, gift cards or charitable donations.

Existing Presidents Club Premier and Platinum members who are approved for the Fairmont Visa Signature Card will enjoy additional and exclusive benefits throughout the year. In addition, existing Premier and Platinum members who become Charter Members by being approved by July 31, 2012 will receive an additional two Fairmont Gold Floor upgrade certificates and an extra $150 in Fairmont dining certificates.

The card does carry a $95 annual fee that will be waived for the first year for applications received by July 31, 2012.

In summary, this is a nice new card with features very similar to those offered by Hyatt and Ritz-Carlton. For those who stay regularly stay at Fairmont properties, it seems like an obvious choice.

For more information or to apply for the card, see www.chase.com/fairmont.

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Fairmont Visa Signature Card: Get 2 Free Nights At Any Fairmont Hotel and Earn Status Faster

*Annual fee will also be waived if: (1) you have a combined balance of $50,000 or more of average daily balances for the month, or month-end balances in deposit accounts and/or eligible investment balances (excluding 401(k) or other employer sponsored plans, and 529 plans) with Bank of America or its affiliates; or, (2) you are a U.S. Trust® client

In addition, BankAmericard Travel Reward and BankAmericard Privileges with Travel Rewards customers who have another eligible account with Bank of America will automatically receive a 10% point bonus each year on their total purchases. An eligible account includes a checking, savings or retirement account with Bank of America, a Cash Management Account, Merrill Edge or any other account with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith or U.S. Trust.

Points can be redeemed for the usual assortment of merchandise, gift cards and charitable contributions. Your points can also be used to reimburse yourself for previously purchased travel. 100 points is equivalent to $1 in travel credit, and points must be redeemed in 2,500 point increments. You can apply your credit towards any travel-related expense, including airfare, hotels, car rentals, baggage fees, cruises, amusement parks and more. You also have the option of covering all or just part of your trip. If you don’t have enough points to cover an entire purchase, you can choose to use points to pay for just part of it. After redeeming your points, you’ll receive a credit on your next statement.

For more info or to apply, see the following links:

• BankAmericard Travel Rewards
• BankAmericard Privileges
• WorldPoints Travel Rewards for Business

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

Bank of America Introduces Three New Travel Credit Cards

Offer valid in the U.S. only. This promotion is not transferable. The offer is only applicable to the account number referenced above. A $10 statement credit will be applied for making at least one qualifying “Card Not Present” Visa® bill payment transaction with a U.S. merchant at any time during the Offer Period between May 1, 2012 and June 30, 2012 using the PenFed Visa “Card” referenced above. One-time and recurring Visa bill payment transactions qualify for the Offer. Maximum statement credit award is $30. To qualify, the Visa bill payment transactions must: (i) be completed a using the full PenFed Visa 16-digit Card number referenced above during the Offer period; (ii) be identified to Visa by the biller as a one-time or recurring bill payment based on the information available on Visa’s proprietary network (VisaNet); and (iii) post to the Visa PenFed Card accoun t referenced above by June 30, 2012. Note: “Card Not Present” transactions are transactions in which the Card is not physically present at the time of the transaction because the cardholder is not physically present or the card itself is not presented. Such transactions can be carried out through ecommerce, MOTO (mail/telephone order) or recurring payments/installments transactions.

Please allow up to 60 days after the end of the Offer Period to receive your statement credit. Account must be open and in good standing at the time the credit is applied.

So, based on the terms, even one-time payments made online should qualify for the statement credit, making this offer an easy way to earn $30.

Note: If you were targeted for this promotion, you should have received an email from PenFed.

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PenFed Visa: Get $30 After 3 Online Purchases

• Ann Taylor
• Gap brands (including Gap, babyGap, GapBody, GapMaternity, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Piperlime and Athleta)
• Foot Locker
• Macy’s
• Sunglass Hut

This discount is valid on both $50 and $100 gift card denominations, so $50 gift cards are available for 4,000 ThankYou points and $100 gift cards are available for just 8,000 ThankYou points. To redeem your points, you can either visit thankyou.com or call 1-800-THANKYOU (1-800-842-6596).

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Citi ThankYou Rewards: 20% Off Select Gift Cards

For frequent LivingSocial users, then, the card essentially returns a 5% rebate on LivingSocial purchases, 3% on dining (including restaurants and bars), and 1% anywhere else. Given the current dearth of cards that offer greater than a 2% rebate at restaurants, this could be a good option for those who dine out frequently.

For more info on the LivingSocial Visa Card, see www.chase.com/livingsocial.

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Chase Launches LivingSocial Credit Card

If you don’t already have a Twitter account, is it really worth setting one up just for these types of offers? That’s for you to decide, but to make things easier for those on the fence, I’ve created a step-by-step guide on how to sync your American Express card with Twitter. After following these steps, it should be relatively simple to participate in future Amex/Twitter deals. (Note: This guide is meant for less tech-savvy people.)

Step 1. Create a Twitter account
The first thing you’ll need to do is to create a Twitter account by visiting twitter.com/signup.

On this page, you’ll need to enter your name and email and then select a password and username. If you’re using this account just for Amex deals, the name you enter doesn’t need to be your real name or match your Amex account. For instance, I just used my initials. You will need to enter a valid email address, however, as you will receive a confirmation email from Twitter after you’ve signed up. Once you’ve completed the required information on this page, you can click the “Create my account” button to continue.

You’ll be brought next to a Welcome page:

You can just click the “Next” button to continue.

This brings you to the “Build your timeline” page.

On this page, click the “Skip this step” link near the bottom. (If you want to ‘follow’ the tweets of various public figures, you can instead click the “Follow” button next to their names. This, however, is optional.)

The next several pages (“See who’s here,” “Find people you know,” and “Add character”) can also be similarly skipped by clicking the “Skip this step” link.

Finally, you’ll be asked to confirm your email address. Log into the email account that you supplied at the beginning of the signup process and click on the link in the email. You’ll be prompted for your Twitter username and password. Once you enter that info, that’s it! You now have a fresh, new Twitter account.

Step 2. Sync your Twitter account with your American Express card
To sync your Twitter account with your American Express card, visit sync.americanexpress.com/twitter.

Click the “Sign in with Twitter” button.

Next you’ll need to authorize the American Express sync app. To begin, click the “Sign In” button which will bring you to the “Sync Your Card” page.

This is the page where you’ll need to supply your credit card information. You’re also asked to supply an email address where updates about the offers you sign up for will be sent. After you’ve filled out the required information, click the “I Agree, Sync” button which completes linking your Twitter and American Express accounts.

Step 3. Sign up for Amex / Twitter deals that interest you
Now comes the fun part where we get to sign up for all the good deals. American Express keeps a list of many of its current Twitter deals on this page. You should also check back here at creditcardwatcher.com since Amex doesn’t always list them all.

Once you’ve identified offers that you want to sign up for, find out the associated hashtag of each deal. Hashtags are words or phrases prefixed with the symbol #. The way that we sign up for these Amex/Twitter deals is by writing a “tweet” that contains the hashtag of the deal. For instance, for the “Macaroni Grill $10 back after spending $50″ deal, the hashtag is #AmexMacGrill. So, to sign up for this particular deal, this is what we would do:

Log into your Twitter account and compose a new tweet by clicking in the box that says “Compose new tweet…”

In that box, type in the hashtag #AmexMacGrill. Then click the “Tweet” button.

After you click the “Tweet” button, that’s it!

You can confirm that you’ve successfully signed up for the offer by clicking the “@ Connect” link at the top of the page:

It should show a sync notification from @AmexSync (though sometimes there may be a slight delay until this notification appears):

You can then repeat step 3 for each offer that interests you.

Now, all that’s left to do is to complete your eligible purchase(s) using your registered American Express card, per each offer’s terms. After you’ve completed each eligible purchase, you should receive a notification via email. While statement credits are usually posted within 3-5 business days of purchase, they may take up to 2 billing cycles to post to your account.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

How to Sign Up for American Express and Twitter Deals: A Step-By-Step Guide

Through this deal, Visa Signature cardholders who purchase two movie tickets through Fandango on Fridays will only pay for the price of one. Currently, this promotion is set to run each Friday from May 4, 2012 through August 17, 2012.

Under the terms of this offer, Visa requires that B1G1 tickets can only be purchased on a Friday and used the same day. In addition, you are limited to 1 complimentary movie ticket, worth up to $19.50 (which includes the convenience fee), per Visa Signature card, per period of 30 days following the date of a purchase.

To participate in this offer, you can visit this link.

How can you tell if you have a Visa Signature card?
If you have a Visa Signature card, it should have the words “VISA SIGNATURE” printed somewhere on the front of your card. It may be located, for instance, either below your credit card number or below the Visa logo.

Alternatively, you can visit the link above (fandango.com/visasignature) and enter your 16 digit credit card number to validate whether you are eligible.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

Visa Signature: Buy One Movie Ticket, Get One Free on Fridays

1. If you don’t already have a Twitter account, create one at twitter.com/signup.
2. Sync your Twitter account with your American Express card by visiting sync.americanexpress.com/twitter. This link will prompt you to sign into your Twitter account and then enter your American Express card number.
3. Log into your twitter account at twitter.com. In the field which says “Compose new Tweet…” enter “#AmexTFF10″ without the quotes. This will enroll your card for this $10 offer.
4. You can confirm that you’ve successfully enrolled in the offer by clicking the “@ Connect” link at the top of the page (next to the Home link). It should show a sync notification from @AmexSync, though there may be a slight delay of a few minutes after you have tweeted until the notification appears.
5. Complete your eligible purchase using your registered American Express card, per the offer’s terms.
6. You should receive a notification after you’ve completed your eligible purchase. While statement credits are usually posted within 3-5 business days of purchase, they may take up to 2 billing cycles to post to your account.

The specific terms of this offer, which can be found here, are:

To be eligible to receive a $10 statement credit you must Tweet using #AmexTFF10 then use your synced Card to make a single purchase of $10 or more in-store at accepting merchants by 4/29/12. Offer is valid only at accepting merchants in Manhattan below 23rd street in the following zipcodes: 10011, 10014, 10012, 10013, 10008, 10006, 10004, 10005, 10038, 10002, 10009, 10003, 10010. Limit 1 per Card. Registration is limited. You will be sent a message from @amexsync once offer has been loaded to your Card. Your Card must be synced with Twitter to take advantage of this offer. Payments using Express Pay are not eligible for this offer. Statement credits are generally issued within 3-5 business days after your qualifying purchase, but may take up to 2 billing periods to post to your account.

Note: Although this promo was designed for visitors to the Tribeca Film Festival, it appears that enterprising individuals have discovered that purchases of $10 gift cards at the online camera store, adorama.com (which happens to be located in an eligible zip code), have also qualified for the statement credit.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

Free $10 for NYC Amex Cardholders

There is a $69 annual fee which is not waived. For more info on the card’s features, you can see my previous write-up on it here. To apply for this offer, see this link.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus Card: 2 Free Flights is Back Again

You’ll need to sign up for the promo first before you can start earning your bonus 5% cashback. You can sign up now at this link.

This update is now also reflected on our cash back bonus calendar, where you’ll notice that the Chase Freedom is also offering 5% back this quarter on groceries (on up to $1500 in spending).

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

Discover Card: Earn 5% on up to $300 in Groceries in May

To take full advantage of this offer, you’ll want to spend at least $5,000 during the intro period. Otherwise, you would be better off with the ThankYou Preferred card’s $250 promo which requires only $2,000 of spending within 4 months.

Update 5/15: The 5 point per dollar for 6 months offer has expired. To see the current deal, see this link.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

Citi ThankYou Preferred Card: 5 Points Per Dollar for 6 Months

• Earn 1.25 Avios per dollar on every purchase and 2.5 Avios per dollar spent on BA purchases
• No foreign transaction fees
• Earn a “travel together ticket” when you spend at least $30,000 on your BA Visa. This companion ticket allows you to bring a companion along on your next reward flight for free (though you do pay taxes). Each companion ticket you earn is good for two years.
• Smart chip technology — especially useful for trips to Europe where merchants may require a chip-based card

Even if you don’t fly BA, you can still use your Avios to redeem for awards through British Airways’ Oneworld alliance partners, which include airberlin, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, JAL, LAN, Malev Hungarian Airlines, Mexicana, Qantas, Royal Jordanian, and S7.

Because of the high taxes and fees that BA charges on international flights, one of the better values redemption-wise for your miles will be domestic flights on American Airlines. You can check award availability by going to AA.com and searching for Milesaver awards, as those are the flights that you will be able to book with your Avios. Milesaver awards cost roughly 25k miles or even less for some short-haul trips, meaning it’s possible to get up to 4 round-trip domestic award flights with your 100,000 miles. Alternatively, 100,000 miles is also enough for one round-trip business class ticket.

The card does carry a $95 annual fee.

For more info or to apply, see the following link:

British Airways Visa Signature application.

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Chase British Airways Visa Signature Card: 100,000 Points Bonus is Back

Link (via FT)

Update 4/5: As of 10am EST today, the $350 offer seems to be down. Chase must have noticed a flood of applications coming in and pulled the plug.

To view the current Freedom offer, see this link.

Note: As is often the case with Chase, if you recently applied for a Freedom card with a less lucrative bonus, you can ask Chase to match this offer. The best way to do this is to log into your account online and send a secure message to customer service. Tell them that you saw an offer with a $350 bonus and ask politely if it can be matched. Usually if you have applied for the same card within 90 days, Chase will credit you the difference.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

Chase Freedom – $350 Signup Bonus

For example, the American Express Blue Cash Preferred card pays a juicy 6% cash back at supermarkets. Chances are that your local grocery store stocks a wide variety of retail branded gift cards (such as Amazon.com gift cards). Ordinarily, you might only earn a 1% rebate on Amazon.com purchases, but if you buy an Amazon.com gift card at your supermarket with the Blue Cash Preferred card, you’ll earn 6% cash back on that gift card purchase. With one extra step, you’ve turned a 1% transaction into one that nets 6%.

Purchasing gift cards can also have a potential side benefit of pulling your spending forward, which can be useful if you have a limited time to meet a minimum spend requirement on a card.

Purchasing Prepaid cards
A more flexible option than purchasing retail branded gift cards that can only be used at specific merchants is to buy prepaid Visa, MasterCard or Amex gift cards. These cards can typically be used anywhere that debit cards are accepted. You do pay a fee for that flexibility, but if your cash back rebate is high enough, it can be enough to more than offset that cost.

For instance, if you can find a supermarket that sells variable load cards (cards that can be loaded with amounts ranging from $25 to $500) with a loading fee of $6-7, it can be profitable to buy those cards with a card such as the Blue Cash Preferred (6% rebate) or the Blue Cash Everyday (3% supermarket rebate). On a $500 gift card with a $6 fee, you would net $24 ($500 * 0.06 = $30 – $6 fee = $24), which is $19 more than you would have received if you made the purchase in a 1% category.

Since supermarkets aren’t the only places that sell these types of prepaid cards, there are other credit cards that can take advantage of this as well. The Chase Ink Bold for Business card earns 5 points per dollar at office supply stores, as well as on cable, cell and internet. Any office superstore such as Staples, OfficeMax or Office Depot sells $200 Visa gift cards with a $6.95 service fee. Even with the service fee, however, this turns out to be a nice value.

Breaking down the numbers: Your ordinary $200 purchase would earn 200 Ultimate Rewards points, while buying a $200 prepaid Visa card with the Ink Bold would cost you $206.95 and yield 206.95 * 5 = 1034.75 UR points, a difference of 834.75 points. In this scenario, you’re essentially buying an extra 834.75 points for $6.95 (or 0.83 cents per point), which is a darn good deal.

The drawbacks
This method is not without its risks. For one thing, you are forfeiting the normal consumer protections that you get for using a credit card when you make a purchase with a gift card. For instance, if you’re buying major electronics, it’s still probably smarter to use your credit card directly so you can take advantage of the built-in warranty extension.

Also, when you have a physical gift card, you stand to lose the entire amount of your card if you happen to misplace it–losing your card is like losing cash. This can be mitigated somewhat if you are purchasing Amazon gift cards, which can be immediately credited to your account after you buy them.

Another pitfall of this strategy is that some credit card issuers don’t like to see too many obvious gift card purchases. If such activity catches their attention, it can potentially lead to adverse action, including denial of rewards or even freezing of your credit.

To a lesser extent, there’s also the “time value of money” to consider. If it will take you a long time to actually spend the money that you put on the gift card, you’re essentially giving the store merchant an interest-free loan for that period of time. You’ve also committed to spending money with that particular merchant, so it only makes sense to purchase store cards that you are certain you will be able to use.

Purchasing gift cards for later use certainly increases the hassle factor, so it’s definitely not for everyone. For those willing to put in the effort, however, it can be a useful way to boost your rewards point balance when used in moderation.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

How to Earn More Credit Card Rewards Without Spending More: Gift Card Arbitrage

Under the new partnership, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Ink Plus and Ink Bold cardmembers can now instantly transfer Ultimate Rewards points to The Ritz-Carlton Rewards at a 1:1 point ratio and then redeem those points towards free nights at Ritz-Carlton hotels and resorts as well as at 3,400 partner hotels around the world.

There are no restrictions or limits to the number of points that cardmembers can transfer to The Ritz-Carlton Rewards.

Given that Marriott was already part of the Ultimate Rewards program and Ritz-Carlton points are essentially equivalent to Marriott points, this isn’t a dramatic change, but it does make it more convenient for travelers who already have Ritz-Carlton Rewards accounts.

The number of transfer partners for the Ultimate Rewards program continues to grow, making the program much more flexible and competitive. Ritz-Carlton joins a growing list of Ultimate Rewards partners that includes Priority Club, Hyatt, United MileagePlus, British Airways, Korean Air, Marriott and Southwest Airlines.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

Chase Adds Ritz-Carlton as Ultimate Rewards Partner

As readers report, Chase is now advertising a sign up bonus of only 40,000 points for the card. Also, if you navigate through Chase’s website, in several places they now promote the 40,000 point bonus.

Could this be a sign of things to come? Time will tell, but if I were a betting man, I would wager that this is a change that will eventually (and probably soon) come to pass. For now, though, you can still get in on the 50,000 point bonus through these links.

Update 3/30: I’ve just received word that Chase will be updating the Chase Sapphire Preferred card offer next Tuesday, April 3. It seems highly likely that the current 50,000 point offer will only last until then.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Sign-Up Bonus: Soon to be 40,000 Points?

Note: If you participated in the 2011 “Match My Miles Challenge,” you are not eligible for this Double Miles Challenge program.

Assuming you are eligible, to take advantage of the promo, you’ll need to do the following:

1. Apply and be approved for a Venture card before the promo ends. (This promo ends on May 1, 2012 or when one billion miles have been given away, whichever comes first.)
2. Submit proof of last year’s spend on your travel credit card with a 2011 year-end summary of the account
3. Spend at least $1,000 within 3 months

Your bonus miles will be rewarded once you successfully register for the promotion and are earned once you provide the requested documentation and reach your minimum purchase requirement. Miles will then be awarded within 2 billing cycles of when they are earned.

Venture miles can be redeemed for any flight and just as importantly, you will earn miles on flights booked with Venture miles. Each Venture mile can be redeemed towards 1 cent in travel, so 100,000 Venture miles is equivalent to $1,000 towards travel.

The card carries a $59 annual fee, which is waived for the first year. For more info on this year’s promo, see www.capitaloneventure.com.

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Cap One Venture Double Miles Challenge: Possible 100,000 Point Bonus

Even if you normally wouldn’t purchase tickets through TicketMaster either for yourself or as a gift, there is a way to make a bit of cash off of this offer. One idea is to register for this promotion and purchase a $100 TicketMaster gift card. There is a $2.50 order processing charge, so your total cost would be $102.50. After your $50 statement credit, your real cost for the gift card would be $52.50. Your $100 TicketMaster gift card could then be sold at PlasticJungle.com for up to $87.15 in Amazon credit (or slightly less in cash). That would net you roughly $34 ($87.15 – $52.50) for your trouble.

Note: This offer wasn’t publicized at the time the original list of Amex / Twitter deals was posted, but has since been added.

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Another Twitter / Amex Deal: Get $50 Back After Spending $100 at TicketMaster.com

1. If you don’t already have a Twitter account, create one at twitter.com/signup.
2. Sync your Twitter account with your American Express card at sync.americanexpress.com/twitter (You’ll need to sign into your Twitter account and then enter your American Express card number)
3. Tweet the specified hashtag (see table below) of the promo you wish to enroll in. You may include as many hashtags as you want in a single tweet.
4. You can confirm that you’ve enrolled in the offer by clicking the “@ Connect” link at the top of the page (next to the Home link). It should show sync notifications from @AmexSync.
5. Complete your eligible purchase using your registered American Express card, per the individual offer’s terms.
6. You should receive a notification after you’ve completed your eligible purchase. While statement credits are usually posted within 2-3 business days of purchase, they may take up to 2 billing cycles to post to your account.

List of participating merchants

Be sure to read the specific offer’s terms which can be found at this link. Some promos require an in-store purchase while others may be online only. On certain offers, quantities are limited, so read carefully.

Edit 3/9/12: As part of South by Southwest, Amex is now also offering a $10 statement credit after you make any purchase using your Amex in Austin, Texas. Tweet #AmexAustin10 to register. For details, see aexp.co/Cmw.

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Amex Cardholders: Tweet Your Way to Discounts

In short, the Barclaycard Ring will initially have an 8% variable interest rate with no balance transfer fees and no annual fee. The foreign transaction fee will be 1%.

Its profit-sharing program, known as Giveback, will be a “transparent calculation” based on the card’s actual revenue and expenses. There will be no other form of rewards associated with the card. And this is precisely the reason why I believe this card will ultimately not be the best deal for most consumers. It’s simply unreasonable to expect that the card will be able to rebate a large cash back percentage, for instance, given the card’s low rate and fee structure. Paul Wilmore, managing director of consumer markets for Barclaycard US, basically admits as much: “A rewards junkie would probably not be attracted to this card.”

Ultimately, Barclaycard is targeting the consumers who want a low-frills, low fees credit card and also want to feel like they have a voice in their card’s features and terms. If you regularly carry a balance–in general, a practice I would recommended against–and are in need of a low interest rate credit card, it’s an option to consider. Otherwise, it probably isn’t worth your time.

The Barclaycard Ring is expected to be available later this spring. To request an invitation, visit www.barclaycardring.com.

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Barclaycard Ring MasterCard Review: The First Social, Crowd-Sourced Credit Card

In theory, this could be a decent deal if you are able to put your smaller purchases onto the card and are at least an occasional LivingSocial customer.

In addition to attracting repeat business, LivingSocial has some other very good reasons for introducing its own credit card. According to recent research, the typical LivingSocial/Groupon shopper represents an attractive demographic. Compared to the average U.S. credit card holder, they are more affluent, have higher credit scores and make three times as many credit card purchases. In addition, they are very receptive to the idea of a co-branded card, with 27% indicating they would be interested in a LivingSocial credit card.

While it’s expected that the card will be out in a few months, no specific date for the card’s availability has yet been announced.

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LivingSocial to Offer Its Own Credit Card

• Gold and New members – earn 2 award nights after first purchase
• Platinum members – earn 2 award nights and 2 suite upgrades after first purchase
• Diamond members – earn 2 award nights in a suite after first purchase

Chase also added EMV chip technology to the Hyatt Card, in addition to the traditional magnetic strip, so that the card can be used both at home and abroad. The embedded and encrypted microchip makes the card more secure and enables safer processing and storage of data. The card can be used anywhere traditional magnetic strip cards are accepted in the U.S. and in more than 130 countries abroad where chip technology is implemented.

In addition to the 2 free award nights after first purchase, the Hyatt Credit Card’s benefits include the following:

• No foreign transaction fees
• Earn 3 Hyatt Gold Passport Points for every $1 spent at Hyatt
• Earn 1 Hyatt Gold Passport Point for every $1 spent elsewhere
• Automatic Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum status as long as you have the card. Platinum benefits include:
  • 15% point bonus on each stay
  • The best room available within the category booked
  • Complimentary Internet service
  • Expedited check-in at a dedicated area for members
  • Guaranteed 72-hour room availability
• Receive 1 award night in a category 1-4 property every year on your card’s anniversary

There is an annual fee of $75. For more info or to apply, see this link.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

Chase Enhances Hyatt Card Benefits, Adds EMV Chip Technology

The card earns 3x points on airfare, 2x points on advertising, gas and shipping and 1x points on everything else. There is an annual fee of $175, which is waived for the first year.

For more info or to apply, see this link.

This post is from Credit Card Watcher, where you'll always find the best credit card deals.

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