Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Travel rewards credit cards

Tagong

By Tagong,
in Royal Caribbean International

 Share

Recommended Posts

Tagong

Tagong

Posted
Posted

Who better to ask than those loyal to Royal. I'm in the market for a travel rewards credit card. I know the right card varies by person but curious to know which one has worked best for you all. I checked out the RC card but it doesn't look like you accumulate all that fast. I'm open to all banks and FI's as well as fee vs no fee.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sand_Sun_Sea73

Sand_Sun_Sea73

Posted
Posted

Chase Sapphire has pretty good rewards and you do get 2 points for all travel....it does have a yearly fee of $95 but I've gotten that back in rewards about 5 times over in the first year. I received 45,000 points after spending $3000 in 3 mos which is very easy to do if I use for groceries and gas without even traveling! So I was able to cash that in for $450.00. They also have a points dividend match at the end of the year.

 

I do have a Royal BOA card too, but only signed up for that to get points - it has no yearly fee so I will just cancel it after I use my points. I believe currently you get 10,000 points after spending in the first month? And then of course 2 points for each transaction with Royal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
nolesrule

nolesrule

Posted
Posted

It shouldn't be about the type of rewards, but the amount you get back.

 

We use a Capital One Venture card that gives us 2 pts per $1 spent, and we can redeem it at 100 pts per $1 for travel purchased or 200 pts per $1 on anything else. So for travel purchases (car, airline, cruise, hotel), that's essentially 2% cash back.

 

Not only that, but you can redeem points against the same purchase multiple times, and you can redeem against a charge for 90 days after it posts. So, for example, I can make a $50 payment on an RCI cruise, and for the next 90 days, I can get a statement credit of $50 against that every time I accumulate 5000 pts, which really doesn't take all that long.

 

That's for general purchasing.

 

For groceries and gas, I have the AmEx Blue Cash Preferred Card. 6% on groceries at real grocery stores up to the first $6000 per calendar year and 3% on gasoline and select department stores. If you don't think you can spend $6k on groceries per year, don't forget all the gift cards you can buy at grocery stores these days. A $50 gift card purchased at the grocery store saves you $3. You can get a cash back statement credit in $25 increments.

 

Both cards have annual fees, but it's worth it.

 

I have 2 rules with my rewards cards.

 

1. Pay them off every month. If you don't, you're throwing away a lot of money in finance charges to get back a little.

 

2. Redeem my points as soon as possible. Don't bank them. They aren't really points. They are my money. They call them points for the same reason casinos use chips... you treat them differently than if they were rectangular pieces of paper with portraits of dead presidents on them. I'd rather reduce the amount I need to pay off the credit card that month by $50 and keep that money in my savings account than give an interest free loan to the credit card company.

 

3. Move the amount of money that those statement credits covered from checking to savings. Save your own money for those travel purchases. You'll accrue interest, and later earn additional rewards points on those travel purchases.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
squadron

squadron

Posted
Posted
Who better to ask than those loyal to Royal. I'm in the market for a travel rewards credit card. I know the right card varies by person but curious to know which one has worked best for you all. I checked out the RC card but it doesn't look like you accumulate all that fast. I'm open to all banks and FI's as well as fee vs no fee.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

For Canadians reading this I'm sold on the TDVisa Infinity card. If you keep a certain balance there is no annual fees and many other benefits. I use the TD Travel Rewards travel agents when I book. I seem to be able to earn travel points that convert to dollars for any sort of travel expenses quite quickly(spend too much money!).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
randych

randych

Posted
Posted

I'm currently using my Chase Sapphire most of the time, but also use an SPG AMEX card and my United Miles card. If you're interested in airline miles then the best card might be whatever airline has the most options from your home airport.

 

Do a search for the Frugal Travel Guy. He compares most of the cards and has a lot of tips on how to get the most bang for your buck. Four of us are flying from Seattle to Venice for "free" on our upcoming cruise thanks to info I've gleaned from his site.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
seaofwonder

seaofwonder

Posted
Posted

If you want travel cards the chase sapphire is the current winner among the travel hack bloggers. Great flexibility to transfer to multiple airline and hotel partners. Or redeem for travel through them.

 

The royal card is quite awful in terms of what you get and there is no flexibility.

 

Flyer talk is an amazing resource!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mspink98

mspink98

Posted
Posted

Another vote for Capital One Venture. We use it for every thing we possibly can, I track spending in Quicken and pay the balance every couple of weeks so we never even have to think about paying interest, and we paid for the majority of our last cruise with points. We do pay a $59/year fee, but well worth it for an almost free vacation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tagong

Tagong

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks for all the feedback folks. This is a huge help. It's one thing to read about the cards on company sites and another to hear how they are in action. I'm Canadian so sadly Chase isn't an option but TD and Cap One are options.

 

One more question. When you book travel do you book as you normally would (direct or through TA) and simply pay credit card balance with points?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites
squadron

squadron

Posted
Posted
Thanks for all the feedback folks. This is a huge help. It's one thing to read about the cards on company sites and another to hear how they are in action. I'm Canadian so sadly Chase isn't an option but TD and Cap One are options.

 

One more question. When you book travel do you book as you normally would (direct or through TA) and simply pay credit card balance with points?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

You can book anyway you want and then use your points to reduce your cost. I book with TD travel awards and you receive 6 points per dollar instead of three. Points can be applied to any travel related cost added to your visa bill - rental cars, hotels, flights and I even redeem points towards Coach Canada bus trip from Pearson. When travel related cost appears on your Visa you can call and redeem some points which will reduce your balance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Cruise Junky

Cruise Junky

Posted
Posted
Thanks for all the feedback folks. This is a huge help. It's one thing to read about the cards on company sites and another to hear how they are in action. I'm Canadian so sadly Chase isn't an option but TD and Cap One are options.

 

One more question. When you book travel do you book as you normally would (direct or through TA) and simply pay credit card balance with points?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

Have a look at the Scotiabank Travel Gold Amex. I'm quite happy with that one. Good insurance coverage too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
seaofwonder

seaofwonder

Posted
Posted (edited)

. Get a huge bonus with one of the other cards and you can take 50,000 points and fly round trip to Europe, which is worth much more than $500.

 

I just took bonuses from a few cards and got my hubby and I business class to/from Europe during peak season for 100K each (round trip). Even if we had to pay coach prices, we "saved" a minimum of $3600 (flights to Europe are outrageous right now), but the flights are valued at about $5000 each.

 

100K points on capital one equal $1000 to spend on travel. So you might get one ticket to Europe.

 

My hyatt card sign up bonuses netted us 4 nights at the Maui Andaz...a value of $600/night. Just for signing up.

 

Capital one venture is good as a cash back card, essentially useless as a travel card. Much better values to be found out there.

 

If you want to travel the world for free, start with frugal travel guy and work from there. It's amazing advice.

 

My husband and I have been traveling to Europe once a year for a few years. Always in business class or higher and free hotels too. We also just went to hawaii for 12 days during peak season for free.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Edited by seaofwonder
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
nbsjcruiser Great Review Rare

nbsjcruiser

Posted
Posted
Who better to ask than those loyal to Royal. I'm in the market for a travel rewards credit card. I know the right card varies by person but curious to know which one has worked best for you all. I checked out the RC card but it doesn't look like you accumulate all that fast. I'm open to all banks and FI's as well as fee vs no fee.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

 

If you like to cruise and you have to fly to do so, then an airline rewards card might be best. We have a capital One Delta Skymiles card and accumulate about 2 free air tickets a year. This makes a huge difference for us and brings down the cost of taking a cruise let me tell you. Adding to that, this card offers free travel insurance and trip cancellation for the $100 a year fee. Not a bad deal at all. It sure beats any cruise line card.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
nbsjcruiser Great Review Rare

nbsjcruiser

Posted
Posted
For Canadians reading this I'm sold on the TDVisa Infinity card. If you keep a certain balance there is no annual fees and many other benefits. I use the TD Travel Rewards travel agents when I book. I seem to be able to earn travel points that convert to dollars for any sort of travel expenses quite quickly(spend too much money!).

 

Only problem with Canadian rewards cards as I found out is that the taxes take a huge bite out of your rewards. For example, we saved Air Miles for a few years and then cashed them in for 2 "FREE" tickets to fly to Miami. Only problem was, it cost damn near $400 in taxes for these free tickets. That's when I started looking for alternatives and settled on the Delta Sky Miles card. We live about 3 hours from a US International Airport and redeeming our free tickets cost us $10. I threw my Canadian Air Miles card in the garbage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RealDeal

RealDeal

Posted
Posted

I haven't seen my card mentioned & it's awesome. U.S. Bank Flexperks Rewards. They give double points on 2 categories you spend the most on within a month (airline, cell phone, grocery stores), plus they give you opportunities throughout the year to earn bonus points for basically doing nothing. First year is free, then I think it's $49/year, but you can redeem 3500 points to cover the fee. Also, if you spend 24K/year, you get a 3500 point bonus. Best part is this: airline travel rewards. You can pick any flight, anytime, etc (powered by Travelocity) & for 20K points, you get a ticket worth up to $400, for 30K points, $600, and it goes up from there. So, where a $400 ticket would cost you 40K points with Capital One, it's only 20K points w/U.S. Bank. I've had it for a few years & have already taken multiple free trips.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...