Credit Card - Best Travel Rewards

[CRUISEFAN0001]

What is the best credit card to get for travel rewards?

I guess the best answer is "it depends".

 

Of course all deals are contingent on credit scores and income requirements.

 

There are some great offers with Hotel chain cards - for example getting 80,000 bonus points with the Marriott card or 75,000 bonus points with the Hilton card are attractive (at signup). Both offer additional multiplier bonuses for hotel stays, gas purchases, and grocery use. The Hilton card has no annual fee, while the Marriott card does. It is very easy to rack up 100,000 or more points quickly, just by using the cards for routine expenses (and paying off the bill each month for $0 interest). Since a good deal of travel requires a hotel stay...this is a nice approach.

 

Another alternative is airline miles. If there is a specific airline you frequently use, they often have promo deals for 50,000 - 75,000 miles just for signing up. Like the hotel cards mentioned above...its pretty easy to rack up 100,000 frequent flier miles with them. In a few cases, reaching a certain annual spend level gets you not only 10,000 more bonus miles, but paying the annual fee for a "platinum level card" gets you a free annual companion ticket - Delta has that bonus available.

 

Then there's the Capital One card, which works much like the airline cards, but is not exclusive to just one airline.

 

Plenty of choices out there if you have good credit and your income level supports a nice credit line.

[shippmates]

We like the Capital One Venture for travel rewards. You get the points and they can be used to pay any charges on your card. The added bonus is it does not charge any foreign exchange fees and not annual fee.

[marden1970]

We use an AARP Rewards card from Chase. It give 3x points for anything travel related.

[ScottsSweetie]

I guess the best answer is "it depends".

 

Of course all deals are contingent on credit scores and income requirements.

 

There are some great offers with Hotel chain cards - for example getting 80,000 bonus points with the Marriott card or 75,000 bonus points with the Hilton card are attractive (at signup). Both offer additional multiplier bonuses for hotel stays, gas purchases, and grocery use. The Hilton card has no annual fee, while the Marriott card does. It is very easy to rack up 100,000 or more points quickly, just by using the cards for routine expenses (and paying off the bill each month for $0 interest). Since a good deal of travel requires a hotel stay...this is a nice approach.

 

Another alternative is airline miles. If there is a specific airline you frequently use, they often have promo deals for 50,000 - 75,000 miles just for signing up. Like the hotel cards mentioned above...its pretty easy to rack up 100,000 frequent flier miles with them. In a few cases, reaching a certain annual spend level gets you not only 10,000 more bonus miles, but paying the annual fee for a "platinum level card" gets you a free annual companion ticket - Delta has that bonus available.

 

Then there's the Capital One card, which works much like the airline cards, but is not exclusive to just one airline.

 

Plenty of choices out there if you have good credit and your income level supports a nice credit line.

 

The only caveat with having the Hilton or Marriott cards and using them for cruising is that you have to go through a particular travel agency to book your cruise. Right now, you can get a $250 certificate for 63,000 Marriott points, so feasibly someone could sign up for the card, get the 75,000 bonus points and immediately have a $250 cruise certificate. We have been considering this card (DH is a frequent traveler and a member of their loyalty program) - it does have an $89 yearly fee, but you also receive a free hotel night each year on the anniversary of your card date, which is worth more than $89.00.

 

We have a Hilton card also - since DH is diamond there he earns lots of bonus points with each stay. I try to do my on-line shopping through this program as well, where you can receive from 1 - 9 points on each dollar spent.

 

We also have business and personal Amex cards - those points transfer to Hilton at the rate of 1:1.5 (100 Amex points convert to 150 Hilton Honors points).

 

This is really a very individual decision on how to best work the system in your favor, and it's difficult to figure out which cards will work best for you. Once you get it, you can really make it work to your advantage.

 

We sailed out of Long Beach several years ago for our 25th anniversary - paid $20.00 round trip from Atlanta for two people (flew on frequent flier points); parked at off-site location for 10 nights with loyalty points; 2 nights hotel pre-cruise with Hilton points; rental car on Amex points; cruise discounted by $500 with Hilton cruise certificates; 1 night post-cruise with Hilton points. :eek:

Edited March 5, 2016 by ScottsSweetie

[Flatbush Flyer]

There are many factors to consider including whether you have loyalty to a particular travel provider.

Before retirement, I flew a lot for business and, with SFO being a United Airlines hub, racked up many United (and Star Alliance) points, which now help us to often fly "business class."

That said, we use United's Explorer VISA for points and travel perks including Club privileges, checked bags fee waiver, select travel insurance coverage, etc.

And, now that Costco is switching to VISA.....!!!

 

One other point to consider is the promise of some more generic cards to give you 2x or 3x "points." -- not as great as it sounds when it comes to value per "point."

[SOPOME]

Actually very beatable since the cash rewards are 1/5th of what others are.

You get 5 points for every dollar vs other cards that only give one on a non gas or grocery purchase, but at the end of the day you have to have 5 times as many points to get the same cash back as the others. You do get the bonuses, but so do the others

 

 

So what do you recommend?

[TruckerDave]

As you can tell by now...the answer is...there is no real answer. What is good for person A is not good for person B and so on. You really have to look what you want to get out of the card and go from there. I have multiple cards for different programs/airlines/hotels as 1 card is not really best for my needs or wants.

[plane2port]

If you could give us some idea of what you are looking for in a card, the answers could be tailored to you.

 

I've been traveling with miles and points for years now, and credit cards have definitely played a huge part in this. I get credit cards to get airline miles, hotel points, airport lounge access, and travel insurance. Which is more important to you?

 

It's important to target the cards that you want/need, because each one requires a inquiry on your credit report, and each one dings your credit score.

 

Here's my guideline for determining which card I apply for: I want to get at least $400 value from each credit card application. Say you get a bonus of 50,000 Delta SkyMiles for getting the Delta AMEX card. After meeting the minimum spend (in my case it was $1000), I got the 50,000 miles. I used that to buy my daughter-in-law and grandson round trip tickets to come visit us. The tickets would have cost a minimum of $1000.

 

On the other hand, if I apply for a Hilton credit card (any variety) with a bonus of 50,000 points, that is a poor value (to me). Most Hiltons that I would be staying at charge at least 30,000 points per night. The cash price for these rooms is $150 or less.

 

If you can tell us what you want/need from your card(s), I can make some recommendations.

[cruisinfanatic]

So what do you recommend?

Either the Barclay Arrival or American Express Blue cash Preferred

Hard to beat The Chase Southwest card for free air travel. If you can get the preferred or plus card that has the 50,000 point bonus for charging $2000 in first 3 months, you'll get about $700 in free SW air that you can put anyone's name on

Edited March 6, 2016 by SeaUs

[SOPOME]

Either the Barclay Arrival or American Express Blue cash Preferred

Hard to beat The Chase Southwest card for free air travel. If you can get the preferred or plus card that has the 50,000 point bonus for charging $2000 in first 3 months, you'll get about $700 in free SW air that you can put anyone's name on

 

Thanks! I'll check out the Barclay card. I have the AmEx, and have had the SW in the past...maybe time to reapply...not sure what limitations they may put on prior customers...

[fletch1027]

KeyBank MasterCard rewards card is hard to beat.

5x on all purchases, plus 25% monthly bonus on balances over $1000 and 50% monthly bonus on balances over $2000. Check it out!

 

Actually very beatable since the cash rewards are 1/5th of what others are.

You get 5 points for every dollar vs other cards that only give one on a non gas or grocery purchase, but at the end of the day you have to have 5 times as many points to get the same cash back as the others. You do get the bonuses, but so do the others

 

I see now - Key uses "points" and not "cash back". I looked on their website and if you spend an average of $1,000 a month over a year, your cash back point redemption is $150, so $150 of $12,000 is a little less than 1.5% "cash back", which beats any 1% cash back cards, but falls far short of cards like AMEX Blue, Chase Freedom, etc...

[Flatbush Flyer]

Either the Barclay Arrival or American Express Blue cash Preferred

Hard to beat The Chase Southwest card for free air travel. If you can get the preferred or plus card that has the 50,000 point bonus for charging $2000 in first 3 months, you'll get about $700 in free SW air that you can put anyone's name on

 

 

... but nowhere near the variety of destinations international flyers need or desire. If you want to use a credit card specifically (or primarily) to offset the cost of airline tix or upgrades, pick the card of a carrier who flies worldwide either on their own or as part of a confederation like Star Alliance (United, Lufthansa etc).

[curcurt]

Thinking about getting a Capital One Venture card, which has 2x points on all purchases.

 

How would redeeming points work for cruises? Would I just book a cruise and apply the points to the cruise line purchase?

 

I have only used BOA RCCL card for points, with paying off balances and getting OBC in RCCL's redemption site. But at 1 point for purchases, I could double my points with Venture. We don't keep balances on our cards and the 2x points would wipe out the $59 year fee. We run everything we can through our RCCL card for the points, very rarely use cash for anything.

[lamchops]

What is the best credit card to get for travel rewards?

 

I guess I'm kind of "old school" when it comes to credit cards. I tend to use cash for small purchases of less than $10. I don't believe in paying a fee to use a CC and don't carry a balance as the interest will wipe out any savings.

 

As I get older I'm buying less "stuff" and travelling more.

 

For my needs the Amazon Chase CC was the best deal.

 

$20 Amazon bonus for spending on Amazon

2% cashback on Amazon purchases

1% cashback on all other purchases

$20 is credited to your account after each $2000 charged (not annually)

no foreign exchange transaction fee. (2.5-3% savings on travel)

 

So when I travel I get 1% cashback and 2.5% exchange savings on all purchases (3.5%) outside of the country.

 

THERE IS NO CHARGE FOR THIS CC.

 

Even if my DW & I used the same card and ran everything through the card, the amount of time it took to accumulate enough points and the annual fee would not provide enough savings to be worth the hassle.

 

My shopping prowess would not allow me to stick with one hotel or airline brand.

[Flatbush Flyer]

You said the magic words: "buying less and traveling more"

You may want to rethink your credit card strategy.

 

Many of the Chase VISA cards (e.g., Sapphire, United Explorer), while having a fee of about $100/year, have substantial trip insurance coverage - often sufficient to permit you to only need to supplement your health coverage for international travel. Depending on your cruise costs, that could represent an insurance purchase savings of several hundred dollars PER CRUISE (or any other travel) each year.

 

For airline specific cards (like United), recognize that the accrued points from your credit card purchases are also redeemable for flights on any Star Alliance airline partner. Add to that, saved checked bag fees and a few club passes per year and the tangible dollar savings for travelers makes the original card annual fee unimportant.

 

These cards have other real travel perks as well. Just reserved a top tier NYC hotel during one of the city's busiest weeks. Bottom line cost with the United card perks will be 1/3 less - a real "chunk of change."

 

And yes, these cards are not for everybody. But, if you are a regular traveler, do the math.