March Expiring Deals: 35K SPG AMEX, Chase Cobrand Cards, Buy Alaska Miles with 40 Percent Bonus

Several March Deals are worth mentioning before they expire soon: the 35K SPG AMEX offers, Chase cobranded cards such as the British Airways Visa, and the Alaska Mileage Plan buy miles up to 40% bonus offer. Here are the details:

1. 35K SPG AMEX and 35K SPG Business AMEX: Expires March 30

The normal SPG AMEX and SPG Business AMEX bonus is just 25,000 points, so 35K is the best bonus we've seen for both cards. While that is low compared to cards such as the 60K Ink Plus or the 75K AMEX Business Platinum, Starpoints are valuable, since they can transfer to so many frequent flyer programs, and Starpoints transfer with a 25% bonus when you transfer in increments of 20,000 points. See SPG Airline Partners: Transfer Starwood Points to Miles

One of my favorite transfer partners is Lufthansa Miles & More, since it's difficult to otherwise earn Miles & More miles in order to reserve Lufthansa First Class in advance, but I've also transferred to AAdvantage (to book a pre-devaluation award) and some clients have transferred to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Alaska Mileage Plan or to Singapore KrisFlyer.

And both SPG AMEX cards do waive the annual fee the first year, so it's worth getting the card for at least the first year. It's even possible that the hard pulls will be combined into one pull if you apply for both, although far from certain, since sometimes AMEX will delay processing the 2nd application for a few days and do a hard pull a few days later. Just keep in mind that AMEX bonuses are once in a lifetime, so if you've had a given SPG AMEX card before, you're not eligible to earn the bonus again. But if you've only had the SPG AMEX personal card, you are eligible to earn the signup bonus for the SPG Business AMEX.

2. Apply for Chase Cobranded Cards by End of March

While we don't know for sure when Chase will implement 5/24 for cobranded cards, it's supposed to be sometime in April. So if you're thinking of applying for Chase cobranded cards such as the 50K-100K British Airways Visa, the 50K United MileagePlus Business Explorer, the IHG Rewards Club Card, etc. then you'll want to apply soon for the card(s) unless you've opened 4 or fewer credit cards within the past 24 months.

Keep in mind that if your spouse or partner named you as an authorized user on a card, that also counts as a new credit card account.

3. Buy Alaska Miles with Up to 40% Bonus: By March 31

Alaska Mileage Plan miles are relatively even more valuable after the AAdvantage Award Chart Devaluation, since, if you can find availability, you can book Cathay Pacific First Class for one person for 70,000 miles each way between North America and Asia, and you can even include a stopover in Hong Kong at no extra charge, which isn't possible with AAdvantage miles.

You'll need to log into your Alaska Mileage Plan account to see if you're eligible for the 40% bonus when buying miles. If you are, then you'll be buying miles at 2.1 cents per mile, which would make that 70K one way Cathay Pacific First Class award about $1500, or $3000 roundtrip. That's a great deal for first class, since a paid roundtrip Cathay First Class ticket can easily run about $30,000.