Credit card welcome offers are some of the fastest and easiest ways to earn points and miles toward your next vacation, but did you know that some card issuers offer their most lucrative offers to a subset of targeted customers?
You've probably received some of these offers in the mail, and you've probably thrown them in recycling without much thought. But what if there was one place where you could find all of the elevated, targeted offers that you were eligible to receive, instantly? Welcome to the CardMatch tool.
The Discoverer has partnered with The Points Guy affiliate network for our coverage of credit card products. The Discoverer and The Points Guy may receive a commission from card issuers. The offers mentioned below are subject to change at any time and some may no longer be available.
How It Works
All you have to do is head to the CardMatch tool (run by creditcards.com), and enter some personal information like your name, address, and the last four digits of your social security number. CardMatch will run then a soft credit check, not a hard inquiry, so it won't have any effect on your credit score.
After a few moments, you should see a list of dozens of credit card offers from the likes of American Express, Chase, and Capital One, most of which will just be the cards' standard offers. But to specifically see your elevated welcome offers, you'll want to click the "CardMatch Special Offers" button on the left-hand side.
That'll filter out all of the standard offers, and leave you with only the welcome bonuses that you won't find anywhere else. For example, I was eligible to receive 50,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months with the American Express® Gold Card.
Were I to apply elsewhere, I'd only receive 35,000 bonus points, with the same minimum spending requirements.
This isn't to say that you'll have access to the same offer; these are all targeted sign-up bonuses, and are eligible to change at any time. All in all, I'm currently eligible for three special offers, all from American Express, but I've seen more and different offers when I've used CardMatch in the past. The targeted offers are generally only available for a limited time, and rotate frequently, so if you don't see the offer you were hoping for, you can always check back later.
The Offer To Look For
When points collectors talk about the CardMatch tool, the discussion usually centers around one offer in particular: a 100,000 point welcome bonus for the Platinum Card® from American Express.
This offer, which is 40,000 points higher than the standard offer, is worth a stunning $2,000 according to The Points Guy's latest valuations, and is something of a white whale for people trying to get into the Membership Rewards ecosystem. With few exceptions, the only ways you'll ever be able to get that offer are through a direct mail promotion, or from CardMatch.
Take It For a Spin
CardMatch is free, won't affect your credit score, and only takes a couple of minutes to use, so it's worth checking out even if you don't think you're in the market for a new card. Who knows? You might just find a welcome bonus that's too compelling to turn down.
Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
Photo: filadendron/iStockPhoto
