Update: This offer is expired.

For a limited time only, Chase has increased the bonus on the Freedom card from 10,000 bonus points to now 20,000 bonus points.

The Freedom card benefits:

Also, If you have a Chase checking account, The freedom will earn a 10% annual point dividend every February on all points earned during the previous calendar year.

One of the great benefits of this card (where you can rack up nice bonus points) is the 5x category spend on up-to $1,500 per quarter. There are 4 quarters per year, each quarter the Freedom offers 5 points for every dollar spent at select stores or categories. For example, through December 31, 2013 you can get 5 points on every dollar at Amazon and select department stores.

Quarter 1 5x categories spend next year, January – March, 2014,  will include:

• Gas Stations
• Movie Theaters
• Starbucks

If you maximize the $1,500 spend per quarter on the 5x category spend (which is $6,000 in yearly spend) you will get 30,000 Ultimate Rewards points. Normally 30,000 Freedom Ultimate Rewards points equals $300 in cash-back, but if you have the Sapphire Preferred and/or Ink Plus/Bold cards, you can then transfer the points into your Sapphire/Ink accounts. Once the points are in your Sapphire/Ink accounts they can then also be transferred out to more lucrative options where the value per point can many times exceed the 1 cent value per point if you were to just redeem them for cash-back. Transfer options (in addition to cash back or gift cards) with the Sapphire/Ink cards are:  United Airlines, British Airways, Southwest, Korean, Virgin Atlantic, Hyatt Hotels, Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Priority Club and Amtrak.

Update: This offer is expired.

Chase has increased the sign up bonus on the Sapphire Preferred from 40,000 bonus points to now 50,000 + 5,000 bonus points when you add an authorized user. You will now receive 50,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months and an additional 5,000 points when you add an authorized user to your account.

There is also another new offer of 40,000 + 5,000 bonus points. The difference between the offers is that the 55k bonus offer comes with a $125 annual fee after first year as opposed to the 45k sign-up bonus which comes with a $95 annual fee.

There is no fee for adding an authorized user.

Benefits of the Sapphire Preferred:

• 2x points on travel and dining, 1 point on all other purchases.
• Earn an annual 7% point bonus on all spending.
• Points are redeemable for 1% cash back or points can be transferred at a 1:1 ratio to United Airlines, British Airways, Korean Air, Southwest Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Hyatt, Marriott, Ritz Carlton, Priority Club and Amtrak or points can be used at a value of 1.25 for each point towards airfare.
• No Foreign transaction fees.
• Card come with an EMV chip so that you can use it hassle free in Europe.
• 24/7 Customer service – your calls are always answered by a human.
• Worldwide collision insurance when renting a vehicle (including Israel)
• First year free

Update: This offer is expired.

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Originally posted November 7th.

Starting November 18, The Discover IT credit card will start offering your FICO Score for FREE! This is a nice added perk to this card.

As of now, only the Discover IT will get this added benefit, not the other Discover cards.

The free FICO score benefit, seems to be part of the new FICO open access program which allows finance and credit card companies to provide credit scores for free to their customers. As we reported earlier this week Barclays was the first to join and now Discover will joint too. Here’s hoping that this is the start of a good trend and we’ll see American Express, Chase and Citi offering free credit scores in the near future.

With the Discover IT credit card, there is No annual fee, No overlimit fee and also No late fee on your first late payment, and paying late won’t raise your APR.

There is also No Foreign Transaction Fees with this card ever. If you travel overseas every so often and don’t want to pay the 3% foreign transaction fee that most other credit cards charge – The Discover IT is for you. It can lay around until you are ready to travel without charging any fees.

Some of the great things about this card:

1. 5% quarterly cash back. The Discover IT offer 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in purchases on revolving categories throughout the year. All other purchases get 1% cash back with no limit. The current 5% cash back categories (through December 31, 2013) is All Online Shopping Anywhere which even includes Amazon Payments!
2. This card offer 5-20% extra thru the ShopDiscover shopping portal. You can make many of your online purchases through Discover’s shopping portal and get up-to a whopping 20% cash-back on your purchase! – Nothing to sneeze for a fee free card.
3. This card gives you Free Collision insurance on car rentals – including in Israel for up-to 25,000 in damage.

Additionally, Discover sends out throughout the year targeted promotions to it’s cardholders for additional cash back opportunities.

The Discover IT also offers 0% Apr for purchases and balance transfers for the first 14 months.

The cash back on this card can be redeemed in the form of a statement credit, direct deposit to your bank account, gift cards or you can shop at Amazon and pay with your points. When redeeming your points for gift cards, discover will also many times offer a bonus on your redemption.