At times, the purest form of satisfaction derives from good credit card sign-up bonuses with an attached small spending requirement. Within this post, we’ll be taking a deeper dive into small spending requirements and looking at bonuses that only require one-purchase of any amount.
Some of these cards are solely attractive because of their respective sign-up bonus and some actually offer a more legitimate rewards system that could be a long-termed piece in your wallet. Essentially, this would be our “Best Credit Cards Bonuses for One Purchase Spending Requirements” segment to help you quick-start in a new program or very-well add a bit of a boost to your balance via popular rewards currencies and we got it here at BankCheckingSavings!
BONUS LINK | OFFER | REVIEW |
Chase Business Complete Checking® | $300 or $500 Cash | Review |
Chase Private Client | $3,000 Cash | Review |
Chase Total Checking® | $300 Cash | Review |
Chase College CheckingSM | $100 Cash | Review |
J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing | Up To $700 Cash | Review |
Chase Secure BankingSM | $100 Cash | Review |
Travel Cards
The BarclayCard AAdvantage® AviatorTM Red Mastercard® earns you 60,000 Bonus AA Miles when you make your first purchase in the first 90 days and pay the annual fee. If you value AA Miles at 1.4 cents per point, then this bonus can easily be worth a beautiful $840. Let’s not forget the rewards structure attached: 2 miles for every $1 you spend when you use your card on eligible American Airlines purchases, in addition to free checked bag, preferred boarding, 25% off in-flight purchases, and 10% of your redeemed miles back perks! This card’s perks and benefits definitely can make basic economy airfare less of a drag. Note that the annual fee is $95, not waived for the first year.
Barclaycard AAvantage Mastercard Summary:
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- Maximum Bonus: 60,000 Bonus Miles
- Spending Requirement: Make a purchase in the first 90 days and pay an annual fee
- Annual Fee: $95
- Expiration Date: None
- Additional Advice: There is no cap on bonuses so earn as much as you can!
Barclaycard offers two different taste of Frontier Airlines World Mastercards, one with a $69 annual fee and the other with no annual fee. We’ll be talking about the no annual fee variant considering that the card offers 10,000 Bonus Miles after making your first purchase. Some of the perks also includes 1x mile per $1 on FlyFrontier.com purchases and 1x mile per $2 on all other purchases in addition to award redemption fee waiver abilities, complimentary FICO scores and more.
Frontier Airlines World MasterCard Summary:
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- Maximum Bonus: 10,000 Bonus Miles
- Spending Requirement: Make at least one purchase
- Annual Fee: $0
- Bonus Worth: The 10,000 Bonus Miles is worth about $100
- Expiration Date: None
- Additional Advice: Your bonus miles won’t expire as long as if you make at least one purchase every 6 months
With the Spirit Airlines World MasterCard® Credit Card, you can get 15,000 Bonus Miles after your first purchase. The bonus is valued at a little over $60, however, it’s worth noting that 15,000 Bonus Miles with Spirit Airlines is enough for up to 3 roundtrip or 6 one-way off-peak tickets with taxes and fees from $11.20 per award. Off-peak tickets offers you the most bang for your bucks starting as low as 2,500 bonus miles.
Note that you may miss out on delay and baggage protection benefits. Award redemption fees may be a hassle as well and all of your miles are risk expiration if no miles are earned for any three-month period. Otherwise, it’s worth noting that you earn 2x miles on all purchases in addition to preferred boarding and domestic priority check-in with Spirit. The card also comes with an attached 5,000-mile anniversary bonus when you spend at least $10,000 annually.
Spirit Airlines World MasterCard Credit Card Summary:
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- Maximum Bonus: 15,000 Bonus Miles + $100 Statement Credit
- Spending Requirement: Make at least one purchase
- Annual Fee: $59 (but waived for the first year)
- Bonus Worth: 15,000 Bonus Miles is enough for up to 3 roundtrip off-peak tickets with taxes and fees from $11.20 per award & $100 Statement Credit
- Expiration Date: None
- Additional Advice: Miles expire in three months without any mile-earning activity or a monthly credit card purchase, so use your card at least once per month!
The Avianca Vuela VISA® Card from Popular Community Bank has been out for a good year now and the public sign-up bonus is set at a plausible 40,000 LifeMiles when you make your first purchase. If you value LifeMiles at 1.7 CPP, then this bonus could be a good $680 in value. With this card, you should expect perks like two 50% discounts on award tickets, free additional baggage for travel, 15% discount when purchasing miles and so much more. The rewards structure is expected to be 3 LifeMiles per dollar spent on Avianca purchases, 2 LifeMiles per dollar spent at gas stations and grocery stores, 1 LifeMile per dollar spent on everything else. Only downside is the hefty annual fee set at $149.
Editor’s Note: Applying for this card can be rather strenuous. If you’re limiting your credit pull, it may be advised not applying for this card.
Avianca VUELA VISA Card Summary:
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- Maximum Bonus: 40,000 bonus LifeMiles
- Spending Requirement: Make at least one purchase within the first 90 days after activation of your credit card
- Annual Fee: $149
- Bonus Worth: 40,000 bonus LifeMiles is worth about $400
- Expiration Date: None
- Additional Advice: You can try using promo code AVSPWE for a 60,000 Bonus with this card.
Get the Virgin Atlantic World Elite MasterCard® Credit Card to earn 20,000 Bonus Flying Club Miles after your first purchase. The bonus can be valued at a maximum threshold of $300 depending on your choice in major credit transfer (Amex, Chase, Citi, Starwood). The card earns 3 Flying Club miles per $1 on Virgin Atlantic purchases and 1.5 Flying Club miles per $1 on all other purchases on top of some pretty good award availability. You can also get a second reward ticket for half the miles when you redeem Flying Club miles for a Virgin Atlantic Economy reward ticket (must spend $25,000+ in purchases annually). Some things worth noting: There is an attached $90 annual fee and Virgin Atlantic imposes pretty high fuel surcharges on redemption. It may be a better value for you to book award flights on partner airlines, possibly with Delta.
Virgin Atlantic World Elite MasterCard Credit Card Summary:
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- Maximum Bonus: 20,000 Bonus Flying Club Miles
- Spending Requirement: Must make one purchase
- Annual Fee: $90
- Bonus Worth: The 20,000 bonus miles is worth about $300
- Expiration Date: None
- Additional Advice: There is no cap on bonuses so earn as much as you can!
Hotel Cards
The Barclaycards Wyndham Rewards can earn 15,000 Bonus Points when you make your first purchase. Keep in mind that the 15,000 Bonus is redeemable for one free night at any Wyndham Property and their partners. With this card, you’ll earn 3x the bonus points on Wyndham Property and Portfolio and 2 points per $1 spent on eligible
gas, utility and grocery store purchases. If you value Wyndham points at 1.2 CPP, you can expect the bonus to be worth $180. Availability is applicable. With no annual fee, this bonus is decent.
Barclaycard Wyndham Rewards Summary:
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- Maximum Bonus: 15,000 Bonus Points
- Spending Requirement: First Purchase
- Annual Fee: $0
- Bonus Worth: 15,000 bonus points is worth about $150
- Expiration Date: None
- Additional Advice: Review all participating hotels including Howard Johnson, Travelodge, Knights Inn, Ramada, Baymont, Days Inn, Super 8, all Wyndham Hotels among others.
Earn 50,000 Bonus Points for your Club CarlsonSM Premier Rewards Visa Signature® Card after you make your first purchase. You’ll also be able to score an extra 35,000 Bonus Points when you meet $2,500 within the first 90 days. With this card, you can earn free stays at more than 1,000 hotels across the globe including Radisson Blu, Radisson, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson and Country Inns and Suites By CarlsonSM. Earn 10 points per $1 spent in eligible net purchases at participating Carlson Rezidor hotels. Earn 5 points per $1 spent in eligible net purchases everywhere else in addition to a 40,000 renewal bonus points each year when you renew your card and much more. The first-purchase portion of the bonus can be worth upwards of $200 (quite the inflation in rewards value). Note that there’s a $75 annual fee attached.
Club Carlson Premier Rewards Visa Signature Card Summary:
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- Maximum Bonus: 50,000 Bonus Points
- Spending Requirement: Make your first purchase within 3 months
- Annual Fee: $75
- Bonus Worth: 50,000 Bonus Points is worth 5 free award nights.
- Expiration Date: None
- Additional Advice: Every year you will receive 40,000 bonus points when you renew your card, which is about 4 free nights and already covers the cost of the annual fee!
Conclusion:
Given our list, you can already get a sense of just how plentiful credit card bonuses with one-purchase spending requirements really are. This list is catered towards those looking for more value with popular currencies for less-hassle spending requirements. I definitely advise looking into some of these cards if you’re juggling more than 2-3 spending requirements already. Keep in mind that there are also no spending requirement bonuses out there like the VentureOne® Rewards from Capital One. All-in-all, these card also serves as great options for budget travelers. If you have any cards you think’d belong on this post or you’re looking for more, then check out our complete list of Credit Card Promotions today!