Why You Should Get A New Credit Card During The Pandemic?

There are some great credit card offers during the pandemic.

Travel is an industry that has been greatly affected by the coronavirus.

People are still flying and staying in hotels less, although in higher numbers than the beginning of the pandemic.

This means there are some great deals out there again.

This is a good time to get a new credit card even if you are not traveling anytime soon.

After all, points and miles are a long term strategy.

Honestly, I had no intention of paying attention to credit card offers at the beginning of the pandemic.

First, who was thinking of travel back then?

Second, I honestly thought that travel would be back to normal by now.

Since time has passed since the beginning of the pandemic (8 months), and there are great offers out there; I have started to pay attention again.

Honestly, I think the pandemic is a better time to get a new credit card than other time periods.

Why you should get a credit card during the pandemic

1. Higher sign up bonuses

Of course, this is obvious,

Like any time when credit card offers are higher, you get more points.

Credit card sign up bonuses are the number #1 way to get to your next free trip.

A month ago, the Marriott Bonvoy credit card offered a sign up bonus of 100,000 points.

There was even a bigger sign up bonus after that for five free nights at 50,000 point hotels, worth up to 200,000 points.

Currently, the sign up bonus is back to 75,000 points.

That was from 25,000 to 125,000 extra points.

Even at only an extra 25,000 points, if you got 4 new cards at that higher point value, you would have an extra 100,000 points at the end of the year.

2. Elite status or more credits

Right now, both American Express Marriott credit cards (American Express Marriott Brilliant and Marriott Business card) are offering Platinum status for next year as part of the sign up bonus.

For those who don’t know, Platinum is the sweet spot in the Marriott chain.

Usually Platinum status requires fifty stays.

Platinum gives free breakfast and suite upgrades.

It is not just hotels that are giving away elite status either.

Airlines are matching elite status.

I saw an offer to get Delta Diamond status if you had similar status with other airlines.

Airline status is not for everyone.

You need to fly frequently enough to use the perks.

Still, if you get into airline status, this is great.

3. Extension of status and points

Not only are airline and hotels making obtaining elite status easier, they are also extending it.

Hilton just came out with a great change.

If you earn Diamond status by the end of the year, you get to keep it until March 2022.

In addition to that, it will also require 15 stays as opposed to the normal 30 stays (60 nights).

So not only will you get more points, you can get valuable elite status for the future.

Currently, most airlines and hotels have extended status.

4. Perks like more points on things like groceries

For general travel cards like Chase, Capital One, American Express, and Citi, issuers are exchanging travel categories with everyday purchases.

For instance, you can use your $300 Chase Sapphire Reserve credit for groceries instead of travel.

You can even get 5 x points on groceries with the sign up bonus on the Chase Freedom Flex and Chase Freedom Unlimited for the first year too.

Since a lot of people are still not traveling again, many credit card issues are replacing travel categories with things like like grocery and dining out.

That means that you next grocery or dining out purchase can get you a nice stash of points.

5. When travel resumes, you will have enough points

Although the philosophy in the points and miles world is earn and burn, when travel resumes (and it will), you will be ready to hit the ground running.

It usually makes sense to use your points before they become less valuable overnight over the latest devaluation.

We have all been traveling less though.

Under Normal Circumstance Why You Should Go For Higher Sign Up Bonuses

This sounds obvious, but it is not something people actually put into practice.

In general, you should go for higher sign up bonuses when they have them.

Whether this is during a pandemic or during a normal year, this will simply add more points to your balances.

If you got 4 cards a year with an extra 25,000 points (like the earlier example), that would be an extra 100,000 points or miles again.

So, even when there is no pandemic, you should always get credit cards sign up bonuses when they are higher.

This takes planning though.

First, offers are only for a limited time.

Second, in order to get this, you would have to be aware of the cards you want and wait for the offer to increase.

Last, the offers usually occur only a couple of times a year.

So, if you know what cards you want, you should wait for the higher offer to appear.

Of course, that may take a while under normal circumstances though issuers tend to have a higher offer on a lot of cards every 3-4 months (to the best of my knowledge).

Great Credit Card Offers Right Now

1. Capital One Venture: 100,000 points
2. Blue Cash Preferred: $300 cash back, fee waived 1st year
3. American Express Gold Card: 60,000 points
4. The Hilton Honors Business Card: 130,000
5. Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card: 100,000 points and Platinum status
6. Jet Blue Plus Card: 100,000 points
7. Ink Business Cash and Ink Unlimited: 75,000 points
8. IHG Rewards Club Premier: 140,000 points
9. United Explorer Card: 70,000 points

Summary

Points and miles, like everything else, are a marathon and not a sprint.

There are people who plan their credit card applications years in advance.

The pandemic may not seem like a good time to pick up a credit card with fewer people traveling.

If you think of credit cards as a long -term strategy though, the opposite is the truth.

With generous offers now for more points, more elite credits, and points and elite status extensions, this may be the best time to get a new travel credit card.