The Decoder

Every term the daily issues have decoded so far. From the issue archive.

10-for-10: The Paze promo structure requiring 10 qualifying transactions per card to unlock the full statement-credit reward.
3/24: Chase's rule (informally, 5/24 at the 3-card level here) counting new cards opened in the past 24 months when deciding approvals.
3/24 (and 4/24): Shorthand for how many credit cards someone has opened in the past 24 months, used in Chase approval rules.
3/24 (and 5/24): Chase's practice of denying applicants with that many new cards opened across all banks in the past 24 months; 3/24 is the stricter count now reported for sole proprietor business cards.
4/24 and 5/24: Chase's rule that it usually declines you if you have opened five or more cards in the past 24 months; 4/24 means you have room for one more.
48-month rule: Chase pays a Sapphire signup bonus only if you have not earned one in the past 48 months.
5/24: Chase's unwritten rule denying most new card approvals if you have opened five or more personal cards across all banks in the past 24 months.
8/65: Citi's application velocity rule, roughly one new card per 8 days and two per 65 days.

AAdvantage Loyalty Points: American Airlines' points that count toward elite status, earned on nearly all miles-earning activity.
ACI Payments: An IRS-authorized third-party processor people use to pay federal taxes by credit card for a fee.
Admirals Club: American Airlines' airport lounge network, included with the AAdvantage Executive card.
Aeroplan: Air Canada's loyalty program and a Chase transfer partner.
Altitude Reserve (USBAR): US Bank's premium travel card, whose points can now move to a small set of transfer partners.
Amex Offer: A targeted spend-and-get-credit deal that you add to an eligible American Express card before shopping.
Amex Travel: American Express's own booking site, where some Amex Offers require you to book to earn the credit.
Asia Miles: Cathay Pacific's loyalty program, a transfer partner of Amex, Citi, Capital One, and Bilt.
Atmos: The combined Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines loyalty program.
Atmos Rewards: Alaska Airlines' loyalty program, the rebranded Mileage Plan.
AU: Authorized user, someone added to your card account who can earn and sometimes hold points.
AU (authorized user): An extra cardholder you add to your account, sometimes tied to a bonus.
Authorized user: A person added to your account who gets their own card and, on Bilt, their own transfer-bonus cap and spend earning.
Avios: The shared points currency of British Airways, Qatar Airways, Iberia, Finnair, and Aer Lingus.
Award chart: A program's published table of how many points a given hotel or flight costs, as opposed to prices that float with cash rates.

BCE / BCP: Amex Blue Cash Everyday (no annual fee) and Blue Cash Preferred ($95 fee), the same card family at two tiers.
Bilt Cash: A rewards currency in the Bilt app, spendable on things like BLADE flights.
Bilt points: Bilt Rewards' transferable currency, movable to airline and hotel partners.
Blacklane: A premium pre-booked chauffeur and airport-transfer service.

Calendar open: The day an airline first releases award seats for a date, usually about a year out, when award prices are often lowest.
Capital One Shopping: A free browser extension and app that pays cash back when you shop through it, stackable with card rewards.
CDW: Collision damage waiver, the rental-car damage coverage your card provides when you decline the rental company's insurance.
cents per point: A measure of redemption value; how much value each point buys you.
cents per point (cpp): How much cash value each point returns when redeemed; higher is better.
CFPB: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the federal regulator where you can file complaints banks must answer within 30 days
CFPB complaint: A formal complaint filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which banks must respond to.
CFU: Chase Freedom Unlimited, a no-annual-fee card earning Ultimate Rewards.
CFU (Chase Freedom Unlimited): A no-annual-fee Chase card that earns Ultimate Rewards points.
Chase Offer: A targeted merchant deal you add to a Chase card for statement credit or cash back.
Chase Offer / Amex Offer: Targeted spend-based statement-credit or cash-back deals loaded onto your card account.
Chase Offers: Targeted merchant discounts that must be added to a specific card inside the Chase app before you spend.
Clawback: When a bank reverses credits or benefits you already received, typically after you cancel a card.
Companion fare: A certificate that lets a second traveler fly for a fixed low price on the same booking.
Companion Pass: A Southwest benefit letting a designated person fly with you for just taxes and fees.
Compound pricing: Pricing a multi-segment award as the sum of each leg instead of one through-fare, which usually costs more miles.
ConnectMiles: Copa Airlines' loyalty program, part of the Star Alliance network.
COSMILE: Starlux Airlines' frequent flyer program
cpp: Cents per point, the cash value you get from each point in a given redemption.
cpp (cents per point): The cash value you get per point on a redemption; higher is better.
cpp / cent per point: How much value each point is worth in cash terms when redeemed.
credit cycling: Paying a card down mid-cycle and re-spending so total monthly charges exceed the credit limit, which issuers treat as a risk flag.
CSP (Chase Sapphire Preferred): Chase's mid-tier travel card, a step below the Sapphire Reserve.
CSP / CSR / CSRB: Chase Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, and the business Sapphire Reserve cards.

DashPass: DoorDash's subscription that waives delivery fees, included with the Sapphire Reserve.
Data point: One person's firsthand report of how a bank or program actually behaved, useful but not a guarantee.
data point (DP): One person's firsthand report of how a bank or airline actually behaved, as opposed to official policy.
Deadheading pilots: Crew being transported as passengers to work a later flight, sometimes given priority for seats.
Delta One: Delta's business-class product on wide bodies and premium transcon routes.
Devaluation: A program raising its award prices, which makes points already earned worth less.
Direct deposit (DD): An electronic payroll or benefit deposit some bank bonuses require; this South State bonus does not.
DP: Data point, a single user's real-world report of how an offer worked.
Dry lease: Renting an aircraft without its crew, so one airline flies another airline's plane and cabin under its own service.
dual earning: Earning both an airline's and a hotel's points from a single flight or stay.

Edit: The Chase Sapphire Reserve's curated hotel booking program that carries a semiannual statement credit.
Edit credit: The CSR's hotel statement credit for stays booked through Chase Travel's The Edit collection.
Elite night credits: Nights that count toward reaching a hotel loyalty status tier.
End-of-schedule: Award seats released when an airline first opens its booking calendar, roughly 11 to 12 months out.
EuroBonus: SAS's frequent flyer program; not a Chase transfer partner but reachable from some other flexible points programs.
Exclusive Tables: The Sapphire Reserve dining program that unlocks reservations and dining credits at a curated list of high-end restaurants.
ExpertFlyer: A paid tool that tracks airline seat and award inventory and sends alerts when space opens.

F&B credit: A food and beverage statement credit usable on dining at the hotel brand.
FHR: Fine Hotels + Resorts, Amex's luxury hotel booking program for Platinum cardholders with breakfast, credits, and upgrade perks
FHR (Fine Hotels + Resorts): Amex Platinum's luxury hotel program, which does guarantee 4pm late checkout.
FIFO: First in, first out, meaning the oldest points in your balance are spent first.
Flagship: American Airlines' premium brand for its lounges and long-haul business/first dining.
Flagship First: American Airlines' top international first-class cabin, now being phased out.
Flagship Lounge: American Airlines' premium lounges, normally reserved for long-haul premium and top-tier elite flyers.
Flagship Suite: American Airlines' premium business-class seat with a privacy door, its top long-haul product.
Flying Blue: The shared frequent flyer program of Air France and KLM.
FNC (free night certificate): A hotel award good for one night up to a set points cap, often earned from a card bonus or renewal.
Folio: The hotel's itemized bill for a stay, showing each charge line and the balance due.
Free Night Award: A Marriott certificate good for one hotel night up to a stated points value, here 35,000 points.
Free Night Award (FNA): A certificate good for one hotel night up to a set points value, often expiring after a year.
Free night certificate: An annual award from a hotel credit card good for one night at a property up to a stated point value.
Free night certificate (FNC): A hotel award night earned from a credit card, usually capped at a set points value rather than a dollar amount.
Free Spirit: Spirit Airlines' frequent-flyer miles program.
Free-night certificate: A hotel award good for one night, usually earned from a co-branded card, often capped at a point value.
FTF (foreign transaction fee): A surcharge, usually around 3%, some cards add to purchases made outside the US.
FX fee (foreign transaction fee): A surcharge, usually about 3%, some cards add to purchases made abroad or in foreign currency.

GHA Discovery: A loyalty program spanning independent luxury hotel brands like Kempinski and Anantara.
GHA Discovery Dollars: Stored-value credit spendable at Global Hotel Alliance brands like Anantara, NH, and Kempinski.
Ghost tickets: Resale listings for seats the seller does not actually hold, leaving the buyer with nothing near event time.
Glamping: Upscale camping with hotel-like tents and amenities, as at Under Canvas.
Global Getaways: Alaska's periodic sale that discounts award prices on select partner-airline flights.
Globalist: Hyatt's top elite tier, normally requiring 60 qualifying nights a year.
Grandfathered portal value: The higher redemption rate some Chase cardholders kept in the travel portal after program changes, tied to points staying on the eligible card.
Guide to Benefits: The official document spelling out exactly what a card's insurance covers.

HUCA: Hang up, call again: redialing until you reach an agent who prices or books the award correctly.
HUCA (hang up, call again): Ending a call and redialing to reach a different agent who will do what you want.

I fare: The fare bucket airlines release for upgrade awards; if no I space exists, a Star Alliance upgrade cannot clear no matter how empty the cabin looks.
I Prefer: The loyalty program of Preferred Hotels and Resorts.
ID.me: An identity-verification service that unlocks member discounts for groups like students, military and first responders.
inKind: A dining app whose gift cards are accepted at participating independent restaurants.
Instant Download: A StubHub listing type where tickets are pre-uploaded and delivered the moment you pay.

J: Airline shorthand for business class.
JAL Mileage Bank: Japan Airlines' frequent flyer program, now a 1:1 Citi ThankYou transfer partner.
JAL miles: Japan Airlines miles, often the cheapest way to book Air France partner business class.

Klook: A booking platform for tours, attraction tickets and airport transfers.
Konbini: Japanese convenience stores (7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Lawson) that often code as grocery on US cards.
KrisFlyer: Singapore Airlines' frequent flyer program.

La Premiere: Air France's first class cabin, sold on very few routes and rarely available with miles.
Leaders Club: The loyalty program of Leading Hotels of the World, a collection of independent luxury hotels.
LHW (Leading Hotels of the World): A collection of independent luxury hotels with its own loyalty currency.
Lie-flat J/F: Business (J) or first (F) class seats that fully recline into a bed.
Lifemiles: Avianca's frequent flyer program, often used to book Star Alliance partner awards like Lufthansa and Swiss.
Lifetime language: Terms saying you can only earn a card's welcome bonus once ever; offers without it can be earned again.
Loyalty Points: American Airlines' elite status currency, earned on flights and AA credit card spend.

Manufactured spend: Buying near-cash items like gift cards to hit spend targets or earn rewards cheaply.
Manufactured spending: Buying gift cards or similar to hit spend and earn rewards, then liquidating them near cost.
MDD (Modified Double Dip): Applying for two Chase cards in close succession to try for both approvals on effectively one credit pull.
Membership Rewards: American Express's transferable points currency.
Membership Rewards (MR): American Express's transferable points currency.
Metal: The airline that physically operates the flight, which can differ from the one whose miles you booked with.
Mileage Bank: Japan Airlines' own frequent flyer program, separate from booking JAL through partners.
MileagePlus: United Airlines' mileage program, which can book partner airlines like Turkish.
Miles & More: The Lufthansa group frequent flyer program.
Miles & Smiles: Turkish Airlines' loyalty program, valued for cheap Star Alliance partner awards.
Miles&Smiles: Turkish Airlines' loyalty program, known for cheap Star Alliance award sweet spots.
Milestone Rewards: IHG perks (bonus points, suite upgrades, free nights) unlocked at set elite-night counts during the year.
Mint: JetBlue's premium/business-class cabin.

NLL: No lifetime language, shorthand for an application link that omits the once-per-lifetime bonus restriction.
NLL (No Lifetime Language): A card offer without the usual once-per-lifetime restriction, so past cardholders may qualify again.
No lifetime language (NLL): An Amex offer missing the usual once-per-lifetime clause, so people who earned a bonus on that card before can earn it again.
Nominee: A named person you are allowed to book award tickets for under a program's rules.

OG Freedom: The original Chase Freedom card, no longer open to new applicants but still held by many.
One4All: A brand of prepaid gift card sold at retailers like Target.
OnePay: A Walmart-affiliated payment app that can layer its own cashback on top of your underlying card.
oneworld Sapphire: A mid-tier status in the oneworld alliance that grants business-class lounge access and priority perks.
OTA: Online travel agency, a third-party booking site like Expedia.

P2: Player 2, the partner or household member whose separate credit profile is used for applications.
Pay Yourself Back: Chase feature that lets you redeem points as statement credits against specific purchase categories.
Paze: A bank-backed online checkout wallet; Chase is running bonus-point promos for paying with it.
Phantom availability: Award seats that show in search results but fail or vanish when you actually try to book them.
Phantom award availability: Award space that shows in search results but fails when you try to book it.
Phantom award space: Award seats that show as bookable but cannot actually be ticketed.
Phantom inventory: Award space an airline displays that is not actually bookable and errors out at selection.
Phantom space: Award availability that shows in a search but cannot actually be ticketed.
Plastiq: A service that lets you pay bills that don't take cards (rent, taxes) by card for a fee, usually about 3%.
Points + Cash: A hotel award option that combines points with a cash payment for part of the night's rate.
Points Boost: Chase's program giving CSR holders elevated redemption rates (like 1.5x to 2.5x cents per point) on select Edit hotels and flights
Points-plus-cash: A hotel booking paid partly with points and partly with a card charge.
Polaris: United's long-haul business class product
Pop-up jail: Amex's application pop-up telling you that you won't earn the welcome bonus based on your history with their cards.
positioning flight: A cheap short flight you book just to get to the airport where your main award ticket departs.
PQP: Premier Qualifying Points, the spend-based currency United uses to award elite status.
Preferred Rewards: Bank of America's relationship program that boosts card earning rates based on how much you keep at the bank.
Prequalification: An issuer's soft-pull check showing which offers you are targeted for without affecting your credit score.
Price match: Chase Travel feature that refunds the difference if an eligible hotel rate drops after you book.
Priority Pass: A network of airport lounges included with premium cards like the CSR.
Priority Pass Unwind: The gaming-lounge tier of Priority Pass (like Gameway) that Chase includes but Amex and Cap One do not.
Product change: Switching an existing card to a different card from the same bank without a new application.
Product change (PC): Switching an existing card to a different card in the same family without a new application.
Promo Rewards: Flying Blue's monthly list of discounted award routes.
Purchase Protection: Card coverage that reimburses eligible purchases that are damaged or lost within a set window.

Qsuite: Qatar Airways' business class seat with sliding doors, widely considered best in class.
Qsuites: Qatar Airways' business class product with enclosed suites.

Rakuten: A shopping portal that pays cashback (or points) for clicking through to a retailer.
Reaccommodate: An airline's obligation to rebook you at no added cost when its own schedule change disrupts your ticket.
Recon: Chase's reconsideration phone line, where a denied application can be re-reviewed by a human.
reconsideration: Chase's phone line for appealing or revisiting a card application or account decision.
Rent Day: Bilt's first-of-the-month promotion day featuring transfer bonuses and other perks
Retention offer: A statement credit or points bonus an issuer gives when you call about canceling a card with an annual fee.
Rove: A free loyalty program whose miles are earned through its travel booking portal (no credit card required) and transfer to airline partners.
Rove Miles: A startup loyalty program that earns miles without a credit card and transfers to airline partners.

Saver award: An airline's lowest award price tier, usually the only level bookable with partner miles.
Saver rate: The lowest award price level a program offers, with limited seats per flight.
Saver space: Award seats priced at an airline's lowest standard mileage rate, the ones worth transferring points for.
Schedule-change desk: A specialized airline team that can rebook you into any for-sale seat after an airline-caused cancellation, not just award seats.
seats.aero: A paid tool that searches airline award availability across many programs at once.
Select Hotel credit: The Chase Sapphire Reserve's separate hotel credit, distinct from The Edit credit.
Select Hotels: A Chase Travel hotel collection with its own separate Sapphire Reserve statement credit, distinct from The Edit.
Shop With Points: Amazon feature that lets a linked credit card's points pay for purchases directly.
shopping portal: A site like Rakuten that pays cash or points for clicking through to a retailer before you buy.
Shops at Chase: Chase's card-linked online shopping portal for extra points and, per new reports, statement credits.
sign-up bonus: The points you earn for meeting the initial spend requirement on a new card.
Sign-up bonus (SUB): The points or cash awarded for hitting a spending requirement on a new card.
SimplyMiles: American's card-linked offer platform that pays AAdvantage miles for registered spend.
skip-lag: Booking a longer itinerary but getting off at a connecting city to exploit cheaper pricing.
skiplagging: Booking a connecting fare but getting off at the layover city to save money, against airline rules.
SkyMiles: Delta's frequent flyer currency.
SKYPASS: Korean Air's frequent flyer program, part of the SkyTeam alliance.
Skywards: Emirates' frequent flyer program, a Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partner.
SLH: Small Luxury Hotels of the World, a booking collection of independent upscale properties.
soft pull: A credit check that does not affect your credit score.
Sole proprietor: Applying for a business card as an individual using your own name and Social Security number rather than a registered company.
Sole proprietorship application: Applying for a business card using a real side income under your own name and Social Security number rather than a registered company.
Speculative transfer: Moving points to a partner program without a specific booking in mind, which locks them in and risks devaluation.
splurge credit: A category-restricted annual statement credit on the Amex Strata Elite card.
Spontaneous Escapes: Singapore Airlines' monthly promo discounting select next-month awards by 30%.
Star Alliance Upgrade Award: Using United miles to upgrade a paid ticket on a Star Alliance partner airline, subject to award space being released.
status match: When an airline grants you elite status to match the tier you hold with a competitor, usually with a flying requirement to keep it.
SUB: Sign-up bonus, the points earned for meeting a new card's initial spending requirement
SUB (sign-up bonus): The points or miles earned for meeting a new card's spending requirement.
SUB (welcome bonus): The sign-up bonus points or cash a card pays after you hit its spend requirement.
SUB / welcome bonus: The one-time sign-up bonus you earn for meeting a new card's minimum spend.
Sweet spot: A redemption where a partner's award price is far below the cash fare.
Systemwide upgrade: An elite perk letting you upgrade a flight to a higher cabin, subject to space.

Targeted: An offer visible only to selected accounts, not available to everyone.
ThankYou points: Citi's transferable rewards currency, movable to airline and hotel partners.
The Edit: Chase's luxury hotel booking program for Sapphire Reserve holders, with a $500 annual credit.
The Room: ANA's flagship business class cabin
Transfer bonus: A limited-time promotion that adds extra points when you move credit card points to an airline or hotel program.
Transfer partner: An airline or hotel program you can move Chase points into, often the highest-value way to use them.
Transfer partners: Airlines and hotels you can move flexible bank points to, often for outsized award value.
Transfer ratio: How many airline or hotel points you receive per credit card point moved, normally 1:1.
Transferable currency: Bank points, like Ultimate Rewards or Rove miles, that can move to multiple airline or hotel programs rather than being locked to one.
Transferable points: Bank points (like Chase Ultimate Rewards) that can move to multiple airline and hotel partners.
TravelBank: United's prepaid travel wallet; deposits count as travel purchases.
TrueBlue: JetBlue's frequent flyer loyalty program.

Ultimate Rewards: Chase's transferable points, poolable across cards and movable to airline and hotel partners.
Ultimate Rewards (UR): Chase's transferable points currency, poolable across Sapphire and Ink cards.
Upper Class: Virgin Atlantic's business class cabin.
UR: Ultimate Rewards, Chase's transferable points currency.
UR (Ultimate Rewards): Chase's flexible points, transferable to airline and hotel partners.
UR points: Chase Ultimate Rewards, the transferable points currency the Sapphire cards earn.
USBAR: U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve, a competing premium travel card with its own annual fee and travel credit.
utilization: The share of your credit limit you are using, a factor in your credit score.

Vacasa: A vacation-rental brand whose stays can be booked with Wyndham points.
velocity limit: A merchant or wallet cap on how many transactions you can run in a short window.
Visa Infinite: Visa's top card tier, which carries its own baseline travel and purchase protections.

Welcome bonus (SUB): The points awarded for hitting a minimum spend requirement after opening a new card.

XP: Flying Blue's elite qualification points; earn enough and you move up a status tier.
XP (Experience Points): Flying Blue's elite-status-qualifying points, separate from redeemable miles.

YMMV: Your mileage may vary, meaning an offer is targeted and not everyone will see it.

Zift: A gift card brand sold in grocery stores.

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