Do this now: register for Discover it and US Bank Cash+ bonus categories

Registration is open for the Discover it and US Bank Cash+ bonus categories for the fourth quarter of 2015.

Discover it

Sign into your Discover account and click here to register to earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in purchases made at "Amazon.com, Department Stores, and Clothing Stores" from October 1 to December 31, 2015.

Since I'm enrolled in the recent offer from Discover to double my cash back at the end of the 12-month promotion period, I'll be earning an effective 10% cash back on the $200 PIN-enabled Visa gift cards I plan to buy from Sears next month.

If you're involved in reselling, the offer is potentially even more lucrative, since you can make purchases at Sears through Discover's shopping portal for an easy double-dip.

US Bank Cash+

Click here and enter your card details to select your 2% (unlimited) and 5% (on up to $2,000 in purchases) cash back categories for any US Bank Cash+ cards you carry.

The 5% cash back categories for 2015 are not too exciting, but you can still make an easy $100 in cash back on up to $2,000 in Kiva loans each quarter.

Conclusion

Registration for the fourth quarter Citi Dividend Platinum Select bonus categories of "Best Buy and department stores," and the Chase Freedom bonus categories of "Amazon.com and more" opens September 15, 2015.

As always, be sure to register now, before you forget.

Do this now: register for end-of-year Hilton and Marriott 2015 promotions

Registration has opened for what I assume are the final global promotions of 2015 for Hilton HHonors and Marriott Rewards.

Hilton HHonors Triple your Trip

Between September 1 and December 31, 2015, earn double base HHonors points Monday through Thursday nights and triple base HHonors points and Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Register for the promotion here.

I found after my overnight stay last Sunday at a Hilton property courtesy of Delta that I earned base points on charges I made to my room, which triggered the current Double Your HHonors promotion and my Diamond elite bonus. Just one more reason why, even if you don't have any paid stays coming up, you should register now, before you forget.

Marriott Rewards MegaBonus

Between September 15, 2015, and January 15, 2016, earn double base points on each paid stay, starting with your second paid stay. Register for the promotion here by November 15, 2015. Ritz-Carlton properties are not participating in this promotion.

Since Marriott Rewards is the second-least rewarding program for paid stays, it's hugely unlikely that this promotion will make it worth directing paid stays to Marriott. But it doesn't cost anything to register now, before you forget.

Do this now: Discover it double cash promotion

Via Doctor of Credit, Discover is currently offering a potentially lucrative promotion: for the 12 complete billing cycles after registering, they will double all the cash back you earn with your Discover it card. The cash back will be deposited in the 13th billing cycle after registration.

There are a few nuances here: if you're an existing cardholder, you have to call to register for the promotion — registration isn't available online. However, by all accounts Discover's phone representatives are happy to register anyone who calls; my phone call took about 4 minutes, beginning to end.

Additionally, registration doesn't take effect immediately: since the promotion is based on 12 complete billing cycles, you only start earning double cash back on the first day of your next billing cycle after registration. In my case, that's June 3, but if you have a statement closing date later in the month you might not be able to maximize the rest of this quarter's "Restaurants and Movies" rotating 5% cash back category (Doctor of Credit helpfully suggests asking Discover to change your statement closing date in this case).

Doubled cash back earning — 10% cash back in bonus categories — might make a few otherwise-boring deals worth pursuing. In the third quarter of 2015, for instance, department stores are a bonus category. 5% cash back on $200 Visa gift cards from Sears is a good deal, but 10% cash back on Visa gift cards is a great deal (netting $13.75 per card). You can also do whatever it is people do with Sears gift cards.

If gas stations return in the first quarter of 2016, PIN-enabled Visa prepaid cards will be a great option, and hopefully the always-popular restaurant bonus category will return next year as well.

One thing that's unclear is whether cash back earned through Discover's lucrative shopping portal will also be doubled. I believe it likely will be, but regardless of what Discover's phone representatives say, there's no way to know for sure until 13 months from now!

Do this now: register for Q2 2015 cash back bonuses

Registration is open for cards offering rotating cash back bonus categories in the second quarter of 2015. Here's the skinny:

• Chase Freedom. 5 non-flexible Ultimate Rewards points at restaurants, Bed Bath & Beyond, H&M, and overstock.com, on up to $1,500 in purchases across all bonused merchants.
• Citi Dividend Platinum Select. 5% cash back at The Home Depot and home and garden stores, up to a maximum of $300 in cash back annually.
• Discover it (log into Discover first). 5% cash back at restaurants and movies ("movie theaters, video rental stores, and online movie ticket services"), on up to $1,500 in purchases across all bonused merchants.
• US Bank Cash+. Register for 2% cash back at grocery stores, gas stations, or restaurants (I usually pick grocery stores) and 5% cash back in 2 of the available categories, on up to $2,000 in quarterly spend. Good 5% cash back options include charity, department stores, and electronics stores.

Bonus do this now

When you log into your Hilton HHonors account, you should see this banner:

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I aim to redeem HHonors points for no less than 0.37 cents each (the opportunity cost of earning them), so at that rate 1,000 points are worth about $3.67. I'll take it!

Do this now: register for Starwood Preferred Guest and Club Carlson hotel promotions

I'm pleased to see this Winter that all the major hotel chains are running promotions (with the exception so far of Hyatt Gold Passport). While they aren't particularly generous, every promotion is potentially a way to squeeze additional rebate value out of my occasional paid stays, so I'm happy to see anything rather than nothing. Here are the two latest promotions to be announced.

Starwood Preferred Guest "Double Play"

Registration is now open for Starwood Preferred Guest's "Double Play" promotion. Between January 5 and April 15, 2015, you'll earn double base Starpoints on eligible stays of 2 or more nights, and 1,000 bonus Starpoints for every 5 eligible nights you stay during the promotional period.

I don't believe there's any chance I will qualify for any bonus Starpoints under this promotion, but I registered anyway, just in case an unexpected paid stay or two comes up.

This promotion is substantially less generous than IHG Rewards Club's current Set Your Sights promotion, and even Hilton HHonors' current Double Up promotion awards double points on stays of any length and Marriott's Spring MegaBonus promotion awards 2,500 Marriott Rewards points on stays of any length (in both cases starting with your second stay). Club Carlson's promotion is even more generous (see below). So if you're considering targeting your stays in order to maximize promotions, any of those promotions is worth looking at first before directing stays to Starwood properties.

Of course, if you're staying at Starwood properties anyway, the bonus Starpoints will be a nice additional rebate against the cost of your stays.

In any case, register now, before you forget, and find the list of non-participating properties here.

Club Carlson "Extend Your Stay, Earn 30K"

Registration is also now open for Club Carlson's "Extend Your Stay, Earn 30K promotion. Between January 12 and March 29, 2015, you'll earn 15,000 bonus Gold Points for each eligible 2-night stay, and 30,000 bonus Gold Points for each eligible stay of 3 or more nights.

Since Club Carlson Gold Points can be worth up to 1 cent each under certain circumstances, this is a potentially huge rebate against paid stays for folks who carry one of the US Bank Club Carlson credit cards that gives a free night on award stays of 2 or more nights.

Stays paid for by redeeming Gold Points or by using Points + Cash are not eligible for the promotion, although if you support this blog with a paid subscription, see my Subscriber Newsletter #2 for a possible workaround.

In any case, register now, before you forget.

Reminder: register for first quarter cash back categories and hotel promotions

It's already January 2, so you're probably eager to knock off the easier 5% cash back categories this quarter. Before you do, be sure to register each of your cards, so you don't find yourself unpleasantly suprised when your statement closes. Here are the links to register:

• Chase Freedom. 5 non-flexible Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent, up to $1,500 per Freedom card, at grocery stores, excluding Walmart and Target stores (although I'm unsure whether that restriction will actually be enforced).
• Discover it (log in first). 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in spending at gas stations, now with no redemption thresholds.
• Citi Dividend Platinum Select. 5% cash back at Macy's and home furnishing stores.
• US Bank Cash+. 5% cash back on up to $2,000 in charitable spending, including Kiva loans, department store spending like Sears, or electronics stores like Best Buy, among other options.

And as long as you're taking care of housekeeping, be sure to visit my Hotel Promotions page to make sure you're registered for all the promotions that have been announced so far.

Do this now: IHG Rewards Set Your Sights promotion

IHG Rewards has announced and opened registration for their upcoming promotion, called "Set Your Sights." Between January 1 and April 30, 2015, members can earn at least 50,000 IHG Rewards points for completing a series of tasks, which will vary depending on their history with the program. The rule seems to be that the more loyal you are to IHG Rewards, the more difficult your assigned tasks will be. Seems like a screwy approach to rewarding loyalty, but what do I know?

My Offer

I received what appears to be the baseline offer, which also happens to be almost identical to the offer I was targeted with for the current "Into the Nights" promotion. Here's my offer:

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If I complete all five of my tasks, I'll earn an additional 25,000 points, for a total haul of 50,500 IHG Rewards points.

I was able to complete my tasks for "Into the Nights" by booking 2 stays and 3 nights, and I should be able to do the same during this promotion, as long as both stays are at Holiday Inn properties. The principle difference between this offer and my Into the Nights offer is that I had to book 2 Saturday nights to complete the "Weekender" task, while under this promotion I need a single weekend stay — though it has to be two or more nights. 

Is it worth it?

To fulfill my tasks for Into the Nights, I spent a total of $643, earning 10,500 IHG Rewards points and 2 free night certificates, worth up to 100,000 total additional points (if both are redeemed at Category 9 properties), paying roughly 0.58 cents per point (plus 4 nights of needed accommodation).

For the current Set Your Sights promotion, I could book two weekend nights of an upcoming trip to New Orleans at the "French Quarter-Chateau Lemoyne," which apparently is a Holiday Inn, for $483 and an additional night at another Holiday Inn sometime during the promotional period. Assuming that extra night cost $150, I'd be paying 1.25 cents per point — over twice as much as I paid for Into the Nights!

At that price I'll probably stay on the sidelines for this one, unless additional trips come up that offer cheaper Holiday Inn stays or an unforeseen redemption opportunity makes that higher cost per point worth paying.

Do this now: Register for Chase Freedom cash back

It's that time of the quarter, when registration opens for Chase Freedom bonus categories. In the first quarter of 2015, Chase Freedom cards will earn 5 non-flexible Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent at grocery stores excluding Walmart and Target stores, at movie theaters, and at Starbucks stores, up to $1,500 spent cumulatively across all the bonus categories.

Along with gas stations and drug stores, grocery stores are among the easiest bonus categories in which to reach $1,500 in quarterly spend. Even if you don't have local grocery stores that sell PIN-enabled prepaid debit cards, if you do any domestic travel at all next quarter you're likely to visit a city that does. Just keep your eyes open and the 7,500 Ultimate Rewards points are sure to be yours.

While Chase will retroactively credit you for purchases made before registering, that's no excuse for delay: register now, before you forget.

Do this now: register for Discover 5% Cashback Bonus

Via @Drofcredit, I saw yesterday that registration is now open for the Discover it (and More) first quarter Cashback Bonus. Between January 1  and March 31, 2015, you'll earn 5% cash back at gas stations and when paying for "ground transportation" with your Discover card.

As I learned to my horror earlier this quarter, Discover will only award 5% cash back for charges made after registering for their Cashback Bonus offers (as they dutifully point out in their terms and conditions).

I've also updated my permanent cash back page with information about all the 2015 cash back bonus categories announced so far.

So register now, before you forget.

Do this now: more Fall promotions

Starwood Preferred Guest

Once you've registered for Starwood's fall promotion (double points between September 15 and December 15, 2014, and triple points for stays including a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night), sign into your Starwood Preferred Guest account and update one of your stay preferences to earn an additional 500 Starpoints.

Club Carlson

Between November 4 and December 30, 2014, earn 20 bonus Gold Points per dollar spent on paid rates at participating Club Carlson properties (there's no list of participating properties, which sometimes – but not always – means all Club Carlson properties are participating) or double elite-qualifying nights. Register for the promotion here.

US Bank Flexperks

If you have a US Bank Flexperks Travel Rewards account, log into your Flexperks Exclusives page to see if you've been targeted for any bonus Flexpoints this holiday season. I received two promotional offers:

• 3,000 bonus Flexpoints for spending $5,500 on my card between November 1 and December 31, 2014;
• and 1,000 bonus Flexpoints for enrolling in Visa Checkout account and adding my Flexperks Travel Rewards card between October 31 and November 30, 2014.

I consider the Flexperks travel rewards card to be one of the most powerful tools for buying elite-qualifying- and redeemable-mile-earning airline tickets, and these two promotions will allow me to earn between $53.20 and $80 in Flexpoints (depending on the cost of the ticket I ultimately redeem them for) without spending any more money than I had already planned to.