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At the start of each year, I like to do a post recapping all of the credit card points and bank bonuses I earned in the previous year. Both topics can be intimidating to new readers – I know that’s how I felt when I started getting into this world. But once you figure it out, it becomes second nature. Like with my side hustle reports, I figure it can be helpful if you see what a regular person is doing, using actual numbers to provide context.
To begin, 2021 was a bit of an off-year for me. My wife and I started house hunting in January of last year, which meant we couldn’t open any new credit cards until we bought our house. After months of searching, dozens of showings, and at least 10 rejected offers, we finally closed on our house in July. We did open one American Express business card in May (which I’ll explain why later in this post), but other than that, we couldn’t open any new credit cards for about 7 months. It’s the longest stretch I’ve gone without opening a new credit card in 5 years.
Bank bonuses were also a bit down compared to previous years. It wasn’t necessarily due to a lack of bank offers. The main limiting factor for me was time. I have a growing toddler and along with house hunting and moving, it meant time was at a premium for me this year.
So how did I do in 2021 with credit card points and bank bonuses? Let’s take a look.
2021 Credit Card Recap
First, we’ll look at the credit cards I opened in 2021. For the year, my wife and I opened 8 credit cards. That includes 5 credit cards for me and 3 for my wife. This was a dip from most years. I typically open 12 or so credit cards in a normal year, but as I noted, because I was getting a mortgage, I couldn’t get any new cards for much of the first half of the year.
Here are the five cards I opened in 2021, along with the signup bonus I earned for each card.
| Card | Bonus |
|---|---|
| American Express Blue Business Plus | 50,000 Membership Rewards Points |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred | 100,000 Ultimate Rewards Points |
| U.S Bank Business Leverage Card | $750 Cashback |
| Chase Ink Preferred | 100,000 Ultimate Rewards Points |
| American Express Business Platinum | 150,000 Membership Rewards Points |
Meanwhile, my wife opened the following three cards in 2021.
| Card | Bonus |
|---|---|
| American Express Business Platinum | 150,000 Membership Rewards Points |
| Chase Ink Unlimited | 75,000 Ultimate Rewards Points |
| Chase Southwest Plus | 100,000 Southwest Points |
Combined, that equals a solid haul of 350,00 Membership Rewards Points, 275,000 Ultimate Rewards Points, 100,000 Southwest Points, and $750 of cashback. We also earned much more from our regular spending, which is made possible by my wife’s practice, which generates a lot of monthly spend and allows us to bank a lot of Chase points each year (she puts the majority of her practice spend on a Chase Ink Unlimited, just to keep things simple).
As for the rationale behind getting each card, here’s the basic rundown:
- American Express Blue Business Plus. I ended up getting the Blue Business Plus in May, which is right when we were still in the house-hunting process. The reason I opted to get this card is that it was offering a good bonus and importantly, once you’re an American Express cardholder, they don’t seem to do hard pulls on your credit (in other words, after the first hard pull, they never seem to pull your credit again). Since the Blue Business Plus is a business card, it also didn’t appear on my credit report. That made it possible for me to get what was essentially an invisible card even while I was in the middle of getting a mortgage.
- Chase Sapphire Preferred. I last earned a signup bonus on a Chase Sapphire branded card back in May of 2017. Chase allows you to earn a bonus on a Sapphire branded card once every 48 months, which means I became eligible for a signup bonus last year. As soon as I closed on my house, I applied for this card, especially since it was offering an all-time high bonus at the time.
- US Bank Business Leverage Card. Most of my cards are from American Express and Chase, so I sometimes switch things up by getting credit cards from the “other” banks (see this post: The “Other” Business Credit Cards That Aren’t From Chase Or American Express). In this case, I opted to grab US Bank Business Leverage Card because it had a good signup bonus and since it’s a business card, it doesn’t impact my 5/24 status. There’s nothing really special about this card other than that it offered a decent signup bonus.
- Chase Ink Preferred. I needed a credit card, had some large expenses coming up, and figured I’d snag another 100,000 Ultimate Rewards Points. Again, I prefer getting business cards to avoid impacting my 5/24 status. Chase business cards are also interesting because you can generally keep getting the same cards over and over without having to wait 2 years.
- American Express Business Platinum. American Express has a once-in-a-lifetime rule, which means you can generally only earn the bonus on an American Express card once in a lifetime (or potentially once every 7 years). However, Amex sometimes sends out offers without this once-in-a-lifetime language (these are commonly called no lifetime language offers). Whenever I get one of these offers, I always grab it if possible. I already had this card before and closed it earlier in the year, but when I got the no lifetime language offer, I had to grab it again. We did the same thing with my wife when she got the business platinum no lifetime language offer.
- Chase Ink Unlimited. We needed a decent card for my wife and decided to snag the Chase Ink Unlimited for the 75,000 Ultimate Rewards Points. Nothing too special here. It just made sense for what we needed.
- Chase Southwest Plus. We snagged this card at the end of the year so my wife can qualify for the Southwest Companion Pass for 2022 and 2023. Previously, I had the Southwest Companion Pass for 2020 and 2021 (which, because of the pandemic, I only got to use once). Before that, my wife had the Southwest Companion Pass in 2018 and 2019. Our plan for the foreseeable future is to keep alternating who has the companion pass, although, with a growing family, we might have to start having both of us get the companion pass at the same time. The Southwest Companion Pass is one of the best deals for domestic travel. You can read more about what the Southwest Companion Pass is in this post: Southwest Companion Pass – How To Fly For Free For Two Years.
So that’s what my credit cards looked like for 2021. It’s up for debate how much you can value these points and miles at, but somewhere between $8,000 and $10,000 isn’t an unreasonable number, in my opinion.
2021 Bank Bonus Recap
Bank bonus earnings totaled $4,596 for me and $1,682 for my wife, adding up to $6,278 worth of bank bonuses in 2021. That’s a drop from previous years. In 2019, I earned over $7,000 from bank bonuses. And in 2020, I pulled in over $10,000 in bank bonuses. Still, even though my bank bonus earnings took a dip, making over $6,000 isn’t bad.
Below is a list of every bank bonus I earned in 2021:
| Bank | Bonus |
|---|---|
| First Tech CU | $300 |
| Air Academy FCU | $100 |
| Axos Bank Business Checking | $100 |
| Redstone Federal Credit Union | $200 |
| One Finance | $100 |
| Marcus By Goldman Sachs | $100 |
| Qube Money | $50 |
| Frontier Bank | $200 |
| US Bank Personal Checking | $300 |
| Sunflower Bank | $200 |
| Radius Bank | $50 |
| Lili Bank | $50 |
| Wells Fargo Personal Checking | $200 |
| Fidelity Cash Management Account | $100 |
| TradeUp | $140.83 |
| Monifi | $125 |
| Yieldstreet | $1,000 |
| All Of Us | $100 |
| PNC | $200 |
| N26 | $5 |
| Huntington Bank | $200 |
| Fairwinds Credit Union | $300 |
| Albert | $75 |
| Spiral | $50 |
| Kabbage | $300 |
| HEB Debit | $50 |
| Nearside Business Checking | $100 |
| Moomoo Invest | $99.83 |
| Central Minnesota Credit Union | $100 |
And here’s the list of bank bonuses my wife earned in 2021:
| Bank | Bonus |
|---|---|
| BMO Harris Personal Checking | $200 |
| First Tech FCU | $100 |
| Redstone FCU | $100 |
| One Finance | $50 |
| Betterment Checking | $75 |
| Frontier Bank | $200 |
| Wells Fargo Personal Checking | $200 |
| Fidelity Cash Management Account | $100 |
| TradeUp | $107.46 |
| Monifi | $125 |
| Huntington Bank | $200 |
| Fairwinds Credit Union | $100 |
| Albert | $75 |
| HEB Debit | $50 |
I find most of my bank bonuses from two sources. Doctor of Credit has what I think is the best list of bank account bonuses. That’s where I typically start when I’m looking for new bonuses to earn. The Facebook group Bank Bonus 101 is also a surprisingly good source, although mainly for banks offering referral bonuses.
There are several banks that repeat each year because the terms let you earn the bonus every 12 months. These include US Bank, BMO Harris, Wells Fargo, and PNC. Chase used to be a yearly bank bonus for me, but now you can only get it every 24 months. I also usually do Citi each year, but this year, I messed it up when I was doing it, so now I have to wait until I’m eligible again later this year.
There were also a lot of fintech banks offering referral bonuses in 2021. Unlike traditional banks (i.e. Chase, US Bank, PNC, Wells Fargo, etc), fintech banks are usually easier for beginners because there aren’t any fees to worry about and they either don’t require a direct deposit or have direct deposit requirements that are easy to meet. One of the underrated bonuses I earned last year was from Nearside Business Checking (check out by Nearside referral bonus guide for more details).
I also earned some signup bonuses from various brokerage accounts. Moomoo in particular is a new investing app that gives a bunch of free stocks if you meet some easy requirements (here’s my Moomoo referral bonus guide if you’re interested in learning more). It’s very similar to Webull.
Finally, a big score this year was Yieldstreet, which netted me $1,000 in bonuses. Earlier this year, Yieldstreet had a ridiculous promotion where you got $200 if you opened an account using a referral link. Oddly, the terms didn’t require you to do anything other than open an account. You didn’t even have to fund the account with any money. I ended up referring multiple friends and family members and was surprised when I found $1,000 in my account a few months later. Yieldstreet still gives you a referral bonus if you refer other people, so if you have people you can refer, it’s worth opening a Yieldstreet account just to take advantage of the referral offer (here’s my Yieldstreet referral bonus post for more info).
2022 seems to be off to a strong start, as I have several hundred dollars in bonuses already pending. Life’s still pretty busy, but things are settling down, so maybe I can get my bank bonus game back up this year.
For more information about bank account bonuses, please check out my post: The Ultimate Guide to Bank Account Bonuses. And I also have this post about how I keep earning bank bonuses each year: Bank Account Bonus Rules: How Do I Keep Earning Bank Bonuses Each Year?
Final Thoughts
Credit card rewards and bank account bonuses are two strategies I utilize to optimize my finances. With credit cards, I’m getting free flights and hotels for spending I’m already doing anyway. It’s led to significant savings on my travel budget. Indeed, I haven’t paid for a flight or hotel in five years thanks to all the points and miles I earn.
Earning points and miles isn’t a necessity by any means, but it can be advantageous to do so. This is especially true if you’re a high-income earner. Remember, points and miles aren’t taxed, so using points and miles to travel instead of cash is a way to sort of earn tax-free income.
Unlike credit card bonuses, bank bonuses require a bit more work – finding bank bonuses and keeping up with the requirements can be a hassle. But even if you consider it work, you’re earning a lot for your time – often $100 or more per hour. I’ve earned enough over the last few years to max out a Roth IRA. That’s pretty interesting. Your bank bonuses can theoretically be used as a way to fund your retirement.
So, that’s what I was able to earn from credit cards and bank bonuses in 2021. Depending on how you value the points and miles, that’s $14,000 to $16,000 in cash and points. I’m pretty happy with that.
This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes and scooters I've reviewed:
- Urban Arrow Ebike – Last year, I made one of the largest purchases I’ve ever made – I bought a $9,000 electric cargo bike from Urban Arrow. In my Urban Arrow review, I will discuss what it is and why I decided to buy this bike, as well as discuss how impactful a bike like this can be on your journey to financial independence.
- Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Ebike – The Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is a fat-tire ebike that I’ve had the pleasure of riding for a while now. It has amazing power, great looks, and awesome range. If you’re looking for a great fat-tire ebike that offers a lot for the price, the Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is definitely one for you to consider. Check out my Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Review.
- Hovsco HovBeta Ebike – The HovBeta is a folding ebike with great specs and a lot of interesting features, and importantly, it’s sold at a good price point. I’ve had a blast commuting with it and using it to do deliveries with DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Check out my Hovsco HovBeta Ebike Review.
- Vanpowers Manidae Ebike – The Vanpowers Manidae is a fat tire ebike that I’ve been riding as my primary winter commuting bike and have also been using it to do food delivery with apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. After clocking in a decent number of miles with this ebike, I wanted to write a post sharing what my experience with the Vanpowers Manidae ebike has been like. Check out my Vanpowers Manidae Review.
- Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding EBike Review – A Great Value Folding Ebike – The Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding Ebike is an entry-level folding ebike that offers a lot of value for the price point. I’ve been riding the Sohamo S3 for a while now, putting the bike through its paces, and I have to say, this bike has exceeded all of my expectations. Check out my Sohamo Review.
- KBO Flip Ebike – The KBO Flip is an excellent bike. I’ve had a great time riding it and think it’s a versatile bike that can be used for a lot of purposes and can fit a variety of lifestyles. It’s worked out great for me as a general commuter bike and as a food delivery bike. Check out my KBO Flip Review.
- Hiboy P7 Commuter Ebike – The Hiboy P7 is an excellent electric commuter bike that’s offered at an affordable price point. The range and speed of this bike are both very good, so you won’t have any trouble getting anywhere you need to go with it. As a food delivery vehicle, this is also good – with how much range it offers, you’ll be able to work all day on a single charge. Check out my Hiboy P7 Commuter Electric Bike Review.
- Himiway Escape Ebike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Ebike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Varla Falcon Scooter – The Varla Falcon is an excellent scooter that offers a good amount of power at a lower price point compared to more powerful scooters. It’s not exactly an entry-level scooter, nor is it a high-powered scooter. I think it fits somewhere in-between those two categories – an intermediate scooter if I had to give it a category. Check out my Varla Falcon Review.
- Hiboy S2 Scooter – The Hiboy S2 is an excellent entry-level commuter scooter that's perfect for someone looking to save some money in transportation costs and improve their commute. Check out my Hiboy S2 Review.
- Hiboy S2R Scooter – The Hiboy S2R is one of the more interesting electric scooters I’ve been able to test out. It’s not a high-powered scooter, but for an everyday transport option, it’s very useful, especially given some of the unique features that it has. Indeed, for the price, the Hiboy S2R might be the best value scooter I’ve used. Check out my Hiboy S2R Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($100) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
- SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with just $10 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
- Webull (20 free stock shares) – Webull's current promotion gives you 20 free shares valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free shares using Webull.
- Moomoo (15 free stocks) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 2 different referral bonuses if you open an account using a referral link. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
- Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.
More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses
If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- Upgrade ($200) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $200 referral bonus if you open an account and complete a direct deposit. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $200 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- Ally Bank ($100) – Of all the banks out there, Ally is, without a doubt, my favorite. At the moment, Ally is offering $100 to customers who open an eligible Ally account and meet the requirements. Here are the step-by-step directions to earn your Ally Bank referral bonus.
- Fairwinds Credit Union ($175) – Fairwinds Credit Union is offering a referral bonus for users that sign up using a referral link. Fairwinds has no fees or minimum balance, so this is a particularly easy bonus to earn. Since this is a smaller credit union, my gut instinct tells me this offer won’t be around long, so if you’re in a position to meet the bonus requirements, grab this bonus before it’s gone. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union bonus.
- Chime ($100) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
- US Bank Business ($900) – This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, since there are no direct deposit requirements. In addition, you can open the Silver Business Checking account, which comes with no monthly fees. Check out how to earn this big bonus here.
- GO2Bank ($50) - GO2Bank is an easy bank bonus that I recommend people take advantage of if they have an easy way of meeting the direct deposit requirement. I like that it’s easy to open the account and that the bonus pays out quickly. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your GO2Bank $50 referral bonus.
- Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link. Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
- Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
- Varo ($25) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $25 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $300 if you complete a direct deposit.
- 5% Savings Accounts. I'm currently getting 5.24% interest on my savings through a company called Raisin. Opening a Raisin account takes minutes to complete, it's free, and all of your funds are FDIC-insured. I explain how it works, why I'm now using it to store my emergency fund and any other cash savings I have, and why I recommend everyone check it out in this review.
- US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $900 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account.
- Empower. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
I’d love to open up a business card or two to expand the options of cards available to me and avoid the 5/24 Chase rule, as well, but I can’t figure out what business-related expenses I’d wind up charging to the card…. besides the occasional bike maintenance. What expenses do you charge on your business cards for your side hustles? I can understand how your wife’s practice would generate a lot of charges, but I’m curious what types of things others have charged for pet sitting, etc.
You don’t need to put business expenses on a business credit card. Whenever I get a business card, I just put regular expenses on it.
What banks do you know now in 2022 that offer over 1% on CD’s?
Not sure, but I wouldn’t bother with CDs.
I know that’s right!
Great work! Curious if you have a work around regarding some of the state specific bonuses you earned?
Some state-specific bonuses aren’t really state specific and let you open them nationwide.
Back when I was regularly traveling, I also sometimes would open bank accounts in branch when I was in another city. Chicago has a lot of banks that let you open out of state if you go into the branch.
Great post! Quick question on your point around pausing credit card signup when looking for a mortgage. I think I am likely 6 months out from taking out a mortgage and feel like I should hold-off however the Venture X bonus ($200 air bnb credit) seems too good to pass-up on. What are your thoughts around timeframe for pausing hard pulls before taking out a mortgage? Will one more hard pull really hurt this far out if my score is int he 750+ range?
You are fine right now. I’d stop for sure about a month or two before you apply, and then obviously don’t apply for any while you’re getting your mortgage until after you close.
Great list of bank bonuses. I was able to snag some of the same ones. Also good to know you can get the same ones every year. Do you close the account right after you receive the bonus?
I basically have three things I do with any bank account.
If it has fees, I close it as soon as I am able to.
If no fees, I keep it open for about a month after I earn the bonus, then close it.
If no fees and it has a referral bonus, I keep it open forever with a penny in it so I can refer people later.
Very interesting insight on bank bonus category. How do you manage so many bank accounts once opened? Do you close them after stipulated period ends for each account?
I stay super organized. I have a spreadsheet that keeps track of all my bank accounts and when I opened and closed them. Then I keep a to-do list in an app called Taskade with all the requirements I have to meet to earn the bonus.
For when I close, check one of my comments in this post, where I explain what I do with each bank account when I’m done with it.
Dope and great job!
2021 was surprisingly my best year ever. No mortgages over here, but trying to not get too heavy with the personal apps so I could get under 5/24 again. Hit amex biz a lot earlier this year and some other biz cards. Later this year got back in with Chase. Bank bonuses were great too, and there were even a few I missed.
I counted the bonuses in the year I app’d them, but I got about $9k between bonuses and any cards with cashback (doesn’t include annual fees tho although it wasn’t too bad). Also got a whopping 373k points and 350k miles. I include the bonus plus minimum points received from the MSR in my calculations. Just P1 mode over here.
I always love your monthly/etc updates keep em coming.
You killed it last year! Nice job!
KEVIN—If I use your Yieldstreet referral code will you split the bonus with me ?
would anyone know the most earned in one year by 1 person ?