Earn 25,000 Continental OnePass Miles from Chase Bank

Pretty...pretty...pretty good offer here. Get 10,000 OnePass miles for opening a Chase checking account (minimum $100 opening balance), and either set up direct deposit or make (5) debit card purchases. Earn another 15,000 miles after your first qualified purchase on a Chase Continental Airlines Preferred Debit card ($25 or $65 annual fee applies - depending on dollar-to-point conversion you choose).

What I like about this offer: No long-term commitment: Give Chase a try, and if you are not satisfied, close your accounts and walk away with 25,000 extra miles in your account. Plus, baggage fee-waivers apply to debit card holders flying Continental Airlines. One more plus: 25,000 miles might just convert over to United Airlines miles next year as the merger process continues.

What I don't like: Very little: The annual fee, but it is fairly insignificant considering it is in exchange for 25,000 miles (a free domestic ticket in coach). The bank will probably need to run a credit report (read: inquiry) on you as well. And, must walk into a brick-and-mortar to open the account; no can do online.

Overall, seems like a pretty good deal! One I will be taking advantage of this week.

Possibly the Best Airline Credit Card Offers Available

By Mike Grasso

It's new, it's hot, and it's all the buzz over in the Flyertalk and FatWallet forums. We're talking about British Airways Visa Signature Card from Chase - where you can earn 50,000 miles for using the card once, 100,000 for spending $2000 within 90 days. But, there are strings attached.

According to the offer, new BA Visa Signature cardholders will earn 50,000 British Airways miles upon first use of the card - enough for a free roundtrip ticket to Europe. Then earn another 50,000 miles when you spend atleast $2000 within 3 months of account opening - which scores you a second roundtrip ticket. Wowie wow!

And now the strings: As with most award ticket redemption's, the customer is responsible for paying all applicable taxes, fees and fuel surcharges. Unfortunately British Airways is notorious for being the "industry leader" in tagging these charges on. So be aware that your award ticket redemption may set you back up to $250 if flying British Airways. Also, British Airways offers limited service to/from the Bay Area, so availability for award seats, which are capacity controlled, may be slim pickins. Finally, keep in mind there is an annual fee on the card of $75.

But here's some good news: You can redeem BA miles on partner airlines, such as Japan, Qantas, and Cathay Pacific, from 50,000 miles. Or choose to use the miles for domestic trips on U.S.-based partners, American and Alaska from 25,000 miles, and the fees would likely be fairly insignificant compared to flying internationally. Something else to be all jazzed about: British Airways has a pretty robust search engine for searching award availability with partner airlines, which helps limit the need to contact the airline directly for bookings.

Overall, this offer impresses me, and may very well be one of the best deals out there. I just received my approval this week and will report back any difficulties. If you are interested in applying, do it soon as word has it the offer may be pulled by months-end.

Southwest Airlines Visa Free Flight Promo Continues

If you are looking for a new mileage earning credit card, and appreciate the first-use bonus that comes with, then the Southwest Airlines Visa from Chase may be just what you need.

Chase continues to offer this great credit card deal: Get approved for the Southwest Airlines Visa card and earn 16 rapid rewards credits after your first purchase, enough for a free round-trip ticket. Just pay the $59 annual fee. It's like paying $59 bucks to fly round trip any one of many destinations Southwest serves.

Although other airlines, such as United, offer huge first-use bonuses that often equate to a free flight after just a single card purchase, the ability to utilize those miles toward a free trip comes with many strings attached. If you use miles for a last minute flight, for example, United and American Airlines will charge a "close-in" fee. If you book a flight, then decide to cancel it, UA and AA will charge a "redeposit" fee to place the miles back in your account.

Southwest has neither fee. Using your Rapid Reward credits for a last minute flight, or making changes to an award ticket - even cancelling it all together, results in no fee. But, like the other airlines, Southwest award flights are now capacity controlled, meaning only a select number of seats are availed for free flights.

Southwest Airlines Visa: Free Trip Offer Continues

Chase continues to offer this great credit card deal:

Get approved for the Southwest Airlines Visa card and earn 16 rapid rewards credits after your first purchase, enough for a free round-trip ticket. Just pay the $59 annual fee. Previously the promotion has been 8 rapid rewards credits for signing up and using the card. $59 bucks to fly to one of the many destinations Southwest serves in the U.S makes this a hot offer.
Click here to read the t&c or to apply for the card. (corrected link)

Southwest Airlines Credit Card from Chase: Free trip after 1st purchase

I posted this several weeks ago, and it is well worth re-posting. Chase is again offering 16 Rapid Rewards credits after your first purchase on their Southwest Airlines card. 16 credits is enough for a free round-trip flight on Southwest. You pay $59 for the annual fee. Here is the link

It took about 2 weeks for the rapid rewards credits to post to my account - no hassles or problems.