When it comes to credit card offers, it is really not a case of a single offer per card. It would be so much easier if that was the case, but issuers use different offers for many reasons so it can sometimes be difficult to keep track of them all.
One thing you can almost always count on – the worst offer on any given card is going to be at airports (for airline cards) or hotels (for hotel cards). Now, there have been a couple of instances where I have not found that to be true, but, for the most part, just do not plan on signing up for a card at an airport or on a plane!
Get The Best Credit Card Offers With One Simple Step
Many credit cards actually offer the best offers, such as “little” extras like statement credits, to customers who are on the co-branded company website who are searching for travel. The important words are “searching for” since you do not actually have to make a booking or reservation to get the credit card offer. You just need to be searching for it.
Chase does this quite often, most recently with the United MileagePlus Explorer card. The highest IHG card offer has been 80,000 points with a $50 statement credit but that was only made available to customers going through the hotel reservation process (again, not booking).
Making The Simple Step
So, to check and see if there is a better credit card offer available, head over to the website of the card you are interested in. For example, if you are looking for the Hyatt card, go to Hyatt’s website.
Now search for any hotel – it does not matter. Once you select the room and rate, it will take you to the checkout page. When you scroll down to input your credit card information (which you do not have to do for this!), you will see the advertisement for the Hyatt card with 2 free nights and a $50 statement credit.
By going through the reservation process, you have access to a better credit card offer!
The same works for airlines. Search for an airline reservation and then you will see a credit card offer at checkout. Most of the time, that offer will be better than the offer you see anywhere else.
Search for a flight to trigger the better offer
However, it does not always work like that! Right now, Delta has an offer for 35,000 miles and a $50 statement credit on their Delta Skymiles Gold card (link here). If you search for it via an airline reservation, you will only be offered the 30,000 mile and $50 statement credit offer.
Examples Of Credit Card Offers
[table “” not found /]Now, there are a couple of instances where the regular, public offer may be higher than the website versions, but most of the time it is the other way around. Regardless, checking via this simple step is always a great way to gauge what kind of offers are out there and then you can go from there.
If you are interested in an offer that gives you a statement credit, going through the website of the travel provider is definitely the way to go.
Summary
It can be confusing with the variety of credit card offers out there. Many times, the best credit card offers are available directly from the branded card’s website when you are searching for a reservation. Most of the time, that will be the best offer, but always do your due diligence when looking for the best offer.
