Pre-approval bonus caveats

DeAndre warns that pre-approval may not guarantee welcome bonuses, citing Frequent Miler's test case.

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Transcript

Episode notes

In this week’s Quick Hits, DeAndre recaps the most important updates across the points, miles, and travel rewards landscape, plus significant new developments in the Zil Money payroll-on-credit-card strategy. After a fun Thanksgiving recap featuring Taryn’s holiday cooking, DeAndre dives into Chase’s newly expanded pre-approval tool that can bypass 5/24, Vancouver’s popular hotel promotion returning for another season, and some of the strongest Capital One Offers we’ve seen in years, including massive bonus-mile opportunities with Hotels.com and British Airways.

He also highlights current transfer bonuses across Amex and Chase, a December PayPal 5x category for Freedom cards, and ongoing promotions with programs like Aeroplan and Kimpton.

Finally, DeAndre provides fresh data points on Zil Money’s stability, industry restrictions, and card coding — including confirmation that the Chase Ink Business Preferred is once again earning 3x. He shares insights from the WhatsApp community chat and outlines his personal strategy as he wraps up status goals and prepares for the upcoming honeymoon.

Key takeaways:

Chase expands pre-approvals: A new Chase pre-approval tool can bypass 5/24 for some applicants.
Bonus eligibility varies: Being pre-approved does not guarantee receiving a welcome bonus.
Vancouver promo returns: Select Vancouver hotels are offering CAD $100–$350 Mastercard gift cards.
Capital One Offers surge: Huge targeted offers dropped, including Hotels.com (20k miles) and British Airways (50k miles).
5x Paypal is live: Chase Freedom and Freedom Flex earn 5x through Paypal for December (up to the $1,500 quarterly cap).
Zil Money appears stable: The platform is functioning more consistently following earlier issues.
WhatsApp insights matter: Community data continues to shape best practices for payroll-on-credit-card strategy.

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