Travel rewards credit cards

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Lmf1171
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Travel rewards credit cards

Post by Lmf1171 »

Family of 4 looking to travel to Europe (likely London, Paris, and maybe Amsterdam) for ~2-3 weeks in May 2024. Flying from east coast - could easily use EWR, PHL, or other airports in the vicinity.

I'm not new to churning credit cards, but only ever used points for cash redemption/domestic hotels. Overwhelmed by the options/logistics of using points for international flights.

DH and I both have 800+ credit scores. I've opened 4 CC accounts and DH has opened 3 in the last 2 years (none of them travel rewards cards). We both opened (and closed after one year) Chase Sapphire Preferred cards just over 2 years ago, so not eligible for bonus points again on that card for another couple years. We should have no problem meeting spending requirements for bonus points on any number of new cards.

Which card(s) would be best for bonuses and discounts and/or upgrades on international flights? Is transferring points more beneficial, and, if so, where should we transfer points to? We would need at least one business class seat for teen daughter with health issues. The rest of us are okay with economy/premium economy.

Which airlines should we be looking at and when is the optimal time (how soon in advance) to buy airline tickets for better fares? Our travel dates are flexible at this point.

Any suggestions/input would be appreciated! Any other info/advice on European travel is also welcome, as I haven't been since a high school trip many years ago.
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David Jay
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by David Jay »

I don't use a "travel" card, I use a 2% cash back (on every purchase) credit card. That way I do not have to mess with "points" or any card-specific requirements.
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theplayer11
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by theplayer11 »

Chase Iberia, Aer Lingus, BA. Open as many as you can if you can do the spend for the sign up bonuses. Jfk-Madrid only 56k points round trip. Must book well in advance, not sure you have enough time, Business class is probably booked.
theplayer11
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by theplayer11 »

David Jay wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:36 am I don't use a "travel" card, I use a 2% cash back (on every purchase) credit card. That way I do not have to mess with "points" or any card-specific requirements.
how is this helpful? 2% is not great value at all for travel.
gtrplayer
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by gtrplayer »

theplayer11 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:45 am
David Jay wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:36 am I don't use a "travel" card, I use a 2% cash back (on every purchase) credit card. That way I do not have to mess with "points" or any card-specific requirements.
how is this helpful? 2% is not great value at all for travel.
I’m relatively new to the points game and always did cash back before. I’m surprised how much value there are in points, although it becomes something of a second job to maximize them. If you don’t know, you don’t know. But a lot of people may not travel enough or would find dealing with points so frustrating they wouldn’t want to deal with it.
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ResearchMed
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by ResearchMed »

Lmf1171 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:26 am Family of 4 looking to travel to Europe (likely London, Paris, and maybe Amsterdam) for ~2-3 weeks in May 2024. Flying from east coast - could easily use EWR, PHL, or other airports in the vicinity.

First question: Are you considering economy or perhaps business class? That can affect the "value" of the awards.
And do you have any points or status already on any airline?

Once you decide which airlines are likely to be most convenient, then look for which awards cards give points that can be used there.
"Partner" airlines can be very important, both in terms of flight/route availability and also in terms of how many points might be needed.

We've found the best value to be using AA awards, on American's *partner* airlines, but never (yet) on actual American Airlines flights.
And Amex has a different network of airlines, with little overlap. Between the two networks, we get access to most (but not all) international airlines

For a trip in about a year, you should concentrate on one single awards program, to get as many points as possible. Often it is possible to buy some points if one is short a bit. (With AA, there used to be special promotions where one could get a bonus of about 50% to almost 100% of the points one is purchasing. That is when it would be ideal to buy some, if necessary. I haven't noticed any such promos being offered, but we haven't been traveling internationally since December, 2019....

We use points for business class, and F on the rare occasion it is possible. The difference in points between Business and F is sometimes very little, such that "if" one paid for those points, it would have been only $500 pp/each way. For a 10-15+ hour flight, that's a good deal for us.
We can no longer travel upright for very long, so we would indeed pay for business class if necessary. (Fortunately, that's only been necessary once thus far, because it was a last minute trip with limited flight choices.)

We also started using an awards service. For a couple of hundred dollars each, we have thus far been able to get a nice selection of flights and routes, sometimes not routing we would have thought of.
www.FlyerTalk.com has a sub-forum with comments and recommendations about those services.

It's a lot to learn, no question. But once one has a bit of a feel for it, it's *terrific*!

Now... decide which points/airline program/network you are likely to use, get some charge cares with a nice signup bonus, and start charging *everything* to get those points. (And hope this doesn't need to be mentioned, but always pay off the cards in full every month!)

Enjoy!

RM
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Yarlonkol12
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by Yarlonkol12 »

Are the travel cards that much better than using the pure cash back cards? We use a 5.25%/5% cash back card when possible for some cases (Amazon, Target, boa limited categories) and then the boa 2.62% rewards card for everything else
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Lmf1171
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by Lmf1171 »

ResearchMed wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 12:33 pm
Lmf1171 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:26 am Family of 4 looking to travel to Europe (likely London, Paris, and maybe Amsterdam) for ~2-3 weeks in May 2024. Flying from east coast - could easily use EWR, PHL, or other airports in the vicinity.
First question: Are you considering economy or perhaps business class? That can affect the "value" of the awards.
And do you have any points or status already on any airline?
Thanks for your reply. I mentioned later in the OP that we would need one business class ticket. The rest of us would be okay in economy. We don't currently have any points with any airline or travel program. We've always just redeemed points for cash since we haven't traveled in the past few years.
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by THY4373 »

Yarlonkol12 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 12:48 pm Are the travel cards that much better than using the pure cash back cards? We use a 5.25%/5% cash back card when possible for some cases (Amazon, Target, boa limited categories) and then the boa 2.62% rewards card for everything else
They can be, depends on your usage. I flew to Australia in January in business class (only way I'd do it that far). I transferred 210,000 Chase UR points to Aeroplan for a ticket that would have cost $8500 cash (it was the cheapest ticket available at the time) so that is $0.04 per point of value. Those UR points were earned 5x per dollar at office stores. So I got effectively got 20 cents of value for each dollar spent. Beyond anything I am aware of you can do with cashback. Now that is an extreme example but it is possible to beat cash back *if* you are willing to put the effort in and have sufficient spend to reach a critical mass of miles. For most folks they are probably better of with cash back.
CloseEnough
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by CloseEnough »

Options above mentioned, focus on airline if you can and concentrate your efforts. But you have a lot of time, which is good.

I'd take a look at CapitolOne Venture, if you don't already have it. Getting new cards with the large bonus award for minimum purchase allows quick building of enough points. International air goes a lot further than domestic, from my experience. We recently booked two east coast to Japan tickets for 35,000 miles each, so 70k each direction for two people, on United and AA (JAL partner, which is good). In economy, but still saved a lot. One of the keys in addition to accumulating the points on the cards or airlines you will use is to be able to book many months in advance, as the number of seats with miles (and good miles) can get used up.
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by Jags4186 »

The odds of you finding 4 saver level awards during peak travel season is next to nil. I would focus on earning as much cash value as you can.

An AMEX Business Platinum has a 200k for $15k spend offer. That would get you roughly 215k points which would be worth $3,311 towards cash flights.
THY4373
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by THY4373 »

Jags4186 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 1:57 pm The odds of you finding 4 saver level awards during peak travel season is next to nil. I would focus on earning as much cash value as you can.

An AMEX Business Platinum has a 200k for $15k spend offer. That would get you roughly 215k points which would be worth $3,311 towards cash flights.
It sounds like they want 1J and 3Y I don't think that is that hard but yeah it will take some effort. 4J would be a whole other kettle of fish if everybody wanted to be on the same flight (outside of BA perhaps but oh those surcharges).
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by THY4373 »

CloseEnough wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 1:53 pm But you have a lot of time, which is good.
I am going to disagree with this. For some airlines the calendar has already opened up for 5/2024 and for the rest it will open this coming month. Generally speaking the best award availability is going to be around the time the calendar opens up. OP doesn't even have their cards yet never mind the points they will need. It will very likely be 2-3 months before they can fire on tickets. There will still likely be options but a lot of stuff will have been picked up by then.
Last edited by THY4373 on Mon Jun 05, 2023 3:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
DiMAn0684
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by DiMAn0684 »

Last week I got an excellent value out of Flying Blue program (Air France & KLM), which could be the right program to focus on, given your destinations. They do monthly promos, which let you save 25-50% on various destinations, and allow transfers from all major points currencies (MR, TY, UR), often with a bonus. If you can stack both, you'll easily get 3 CPP or more, even on econ redemption.
e5116
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by e5116 »

With United's recent HUGE devaluation and basically all airlines going to dynamic award pricing (the exception is mile-based Avios charts), I find getting excised value out of travel redemptions exceedingly difficult. Yes, you can get a "good value" out of business class redemptions, but I don't view it that way because I would never personally value the ticket at like $10k. I would NEVER pay that out of pocket, so don't see the award value being really 4 cents/point or whatever sometimes it comes out to. I've only booked award travel on economy or premium economy.

Most recent redemptions (past few years):
*60k RT to Copenhagen with 3-day layover in Amsterdam on United in August (Note: now this would cost ~40% more)
*ORD-MAD on Iberia Avios (mile-based, same band as East Coast), once did it as a jumping off point to Marrech Morocco
*Short haul but expensive AA flights using Avios (US domestic short haul price has gone up considerably)
*AA "web special" to PVR for 20k each way

Now I'm struggling...Looking at SE Asia for over new year's and it's like 100k EACH WAY! Crazy...I paid 32.5k each way on United to Bangkok back in the day........

Not saying it's not worth it, but redemption value these days is REALLY hard to find. Hyatt offers decent value sometimes. Not as well known airlines or require to book by phone awards sometimes are better.

I still do the game to an extent with the Chase program largely, but can't find great values as much as I used to. I overwhelmingly do cash fares as a "Free agent" (don't care about airline status anymore).

Good luck!
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by grabiner »

e5116 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 3:08 pm With United's recent HUGE devaluation and basically all airlines going to dynamic award pricing (the exception is mile-based Avios charts), I find getting excised value out of travel redemptions exceedingly difficult.
It really depends on how you use them. I live near a United hub (Washington), which makes United miles easier to use. I value the miles at 1.5 cents, because I have found that I can normally get a ticket from Washington to Los Angeles for 25,000 miles when the cost is $375.

And my United credit card both gets me access to more frequent-flyer seats and gives a benefit equivalent to 3 cents per mile with double points on restaurant meals, hotels, and United flights. I use a different card when I wouldn't be getting the double points.
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e5116
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by e5116 »

grabiner wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 10:16 pm
e5116 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 3:08 pm With United's recent HUGE devaluation and basically all airlines going to dynamic award pricing (the exception is mile-based Avios charts), I find getting excised value out of travel redemptions exceedingly difficult.
It really depends on how you use them. I live near a United hub (Washington), which makes United miles easier to use. I value the miles at 1.5 cents, because I have found that I can normally get a ticket from Washington to Los Angeles for 25,000 miles when the cost is $375.

And my United credit card both gets me access to more frequent-flyer seats and gives a benefit equivalent to 3 cents per mile with double points on restaurant meals, hotels, and United flights. I use a different card when I wouldn't be getting the double points.
Yes, somewhat ironically, the best redemption these days on economy may be domestic routes....I live in Chicago, so definitely a United hub as well (THE United Hub). The recent devaluation was just about a week ago, so it's very new. But being in Chicago, I'm not looking for cross country flights and if I'm trying to go to Florida over a school holiday as an example, United awards ask for a ridiculous number of miles ....given I can book flights at 1.5 cents/point via the Chase portal and it gives me more flexibility to book on any airline (AND it counts as a revenue fare so I can accumulate miles on it too), that to me makes more sense than trying to accumulate United miles going forward. Luckily, I only have about 50,000 United miles left.

Not saying a United card has no use though -- the perks of just a free bag and priority boarding could be worth a lot to certain people. I use to have a United credit card but have since downgraded it to a no fee version which gives no perks....I'm sticking with my Sapphire Reserve as my travel card still though for now.
Last edited by e5116 on Mon Jun 05, 2023 10:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
muffins14
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by muffins14 »

theplayer11 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:45 am
David Jay wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:36 am I don't use a "travel" card, I use a 2% cash back (on every purchase) credit card. That way I do not have to mess with "points" or any card-specific requirements.
how is this helpful? 2% is not great value at all for travel.
I find points to be annoying. I prefer the simplicity of cash, and I don’t place value on business class or first class. I just want to get to my destination
Last edited by muffins14 on Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by adave »

I travel less than I used to when I got the CSP. I’ve gotten used to the card now so I don’t switch. However - I find decent value with the UR even when not traveling. For example, recently they were giving 1.25 redemption on Apple products using points. I got a couple mag lock chargers.

I do transfer sometime the Hyatt once in a while if needed.

I often question if I should switch from CSP due to reduced traveling plans but the card is good in other ways also imo. I would not upgrade to CSR personally however.
DiMAn0684
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by DiMAn0684 »

muffins14 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 10:41 pm
theplayer11 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:45 am
David Jay wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:36 am I don't use a "travel" card, I use a 2% cash back (on every purchase) credit card. That way I do not have to mess with "points" or any card-specific requirements.
how is this helpful? 2% is not great value at all for travel.
I find points to be annoying. I prefer the simplicity of cash, and I don’t place value on business class or first class. I just want to get to my destination
That makes sense, if getting good value out of points was easy credit card issuers would be way less generous. I get a lot of spam about redeeming points for gift cards, not nearly as much communication about elevated point transfer offers.
CMD1
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by CMD1 »

I've always been a cash rewards card person, but have been considering the Alaska rewards cards for a couple reasons.
1. 50k bonus points hopefully to help with a future europe trip
2. companion pass to take our kids to Costa Rica without breaking the bank
theplayer11
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by theplayer11 »

muffins14 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 10:41 pm
theplayer11 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:45 am
David Jay wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:36 am I don't use a "travel" card, I use a 2% cash back (on every purchase) credit card. That way I do not have to mess with "points" or any card-specific requirements.
how is this helpful? 2% is not great value at all for travel.
I find points to be annoying. I prefer the simplicity of cash, and I don’t place value on business class or first class. I just want to get to my destination
to each their own. I'm at a stage in life where I'm not going to fly to Europe in economy, and don't want to pay for business class. So if it were not for points, we wouldn't be traveling as much as we do. I treat acquiring points as a hobby. It's all about the sign up bonuses. It's very simple IMO.
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by Jack FFR1846 »

You'd need to do a lot of work up front which I know you think you're doing. Determining first what airlines or partners go where can eliminate plans. What seats are available to where you want to go can also limit you and indeed, you might be trying to get 4 points seats but the flight literally only has 2 points seats available. Other flight times may open things up, so be prepared to red eye or take some other non-optimum timed flight. Double check nearby airports for openings. I'm near Boston but check Providence, Manchester and Bradley every single time.

Trying to get free (points) seats may become impossible to where you want to go. This isn't new and I discovered it for my trips to Aruba decades ago. My solution was to buy coach tickets then very, very early upgrade with points to first/business class. It worked every time. Freebie points tickets, I concluded only really worked for one person who had total flexibility.

Don't neglect comparing what your airline points actually gets you vs the 2% cash that's so easy. Sure, United could say that you just bought yourself a $10k ticket for a billion points but if you go looking on the open market, you find you can buy that flight with cash for $1500.

Also be aware that if problems occur and a flight is cancelled for your first class seats, the airline is going to try to get you into coach and refund you nothing. Been there, refused the coach and waited a half hour for the next flight with first class. So even getting the tickets doesn't mean you're done.

As a few others have pointed to and I now do, I've cancelled all my airline miles cards and get the 2% or more back in cash. I've found that this has saved me a ton of time and well, I can actually do something with the money and don't have to play games to even use the points. It's like volunteering your seat on a flight and getting a $500 voucher. Big deal. You now are limited to that airline and have to use a CSR to use it, so you have to pay actual money and good luck using it before it's expired. I'd rather have a $10 McDonalds voucher. I'd actually get something out of it. I've never been able to use an airline voucher and they know that, so they give em out like water and never have to make good on them.
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by muffins14 »

theplayer11 wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 5:46 am
muffins14 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 10:41 pm
theplayer11 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:45 am
David Jay wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:36 am I don't use a "travel" card, I use a 2% cash back (on every purchase) credit card. That way I do not have to mess with "points" or any card-specific requirements.
how is this helpful? 2% is not great value at all for travel.
I find points to be annoying. I prefer the simplicity of cash, and I don’t place value on business class or first class. I just want to get to my destination
to each their own. I'm at a stage in life where I'm not going to fly to Europe in economy, and don't want to pay for business class. So if it were not for points, we wouldn't be traveling as much as we do. I treat acquiring points as a hobby. It's all about the sign up bonuses. It's very simple IMO.
If it’s a hobby, have at it. I survive adequately in normal economy class. I’m not sure what the stage of life means, just that you have a lot of money and you don’t mind spending it on additional legroom?
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Jags4186
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by Jags4186 »

grabiner wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 10:16 pm
e5116 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 3:08 pm With United's recent HUGE devaluation and basically all airlines going to dynamic award pricing (the exception is mile-based Avios charts), I find getting excised value out of travel redemptions exceedingly difficult.
It really depends on how you use them. I live near a United hub (Washington), which makes United miles easier to use. I value the miles at 1.5 cents, because I have found that I can normally get a ticket from Washington to Los Angeles for 25,000 miles when the cost is $375.

And my United credit card both gets me access to more frequent-flyer seats and gives a benefit equivalent to 3 cents per mile with double points on restaurant meals, hotels, and United flights. I use a different card when I wouldn't be getting the double points.
If you’re using United miles at 1.5cpp there’s no reason to earn them from CC spend when you can get nearly 5% on everything and then when you pay cash for the flight you get the miles from flying.

Also, consider than until you have 25,000 United miles your miles are essentially worthless (yes, I know you can cash + miles at an awful rate).
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by cheesepep »

My advice is not to worry so much about exchanging points for flights, but to spend your points on a nice hotel. The flight itself may be 10-15 hours and that same money/points would be better spent on a nice hotel that I'm going to spend 10 hours a day in for however long your vacation is. You may get "less value" this way in terms of absolute cost, but I feel that it is better.
THY4373
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by THY4373 »

Jags4186 wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 7:19 am
If you’re using United miles at 1.5cpp there’s no reason to earn them from CC spend when you can get nearly 5% on everything and then when you pay cash for the flight you get the miles from flying.

Also, consider than until you have 25,000 United miles your miles are essentially worthless (yes, I know you can cash + miles at an awful rate).
I do chase airline and to a lesser extent hotel points and I agree if you are getting less than 2 cents of value per airline point you are almost assuredly better off going for cashback unless those points are being earned at some multiple and/or are SUB.

Some other things to consider when valuing points:

On the negative side you generally don't earn points on award tickets but you do on cash (unless the airline IT is having a bad (or perhaps that would be a good) day. This might not be significant on a domestic economy fare but could add up for international J or F fares.

On the positive side many points booking are refundable for no or a nominal fee whereas cheaper cash fare are generally not This can be a real value.
THY4373
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by THY4373 »

cheesepep wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 8:00 am My advice is not to worry so much about exchanging points for flights, but to spend your points on a nice hotel. The flight itself may be 10-15 hours and that same money/points would be better spent on a nice hotel that I'm going to spend 10 hours a day in for however long your vacation is. You may get "less value" this way in terms of absolute cost, but I feel that it is better.
This is definitely going to be a very personal decision. Generally speaking a hotel is where I sleep so once you get to some basic level and decent location I generally don't need or want more. In fact I often find the higher end hotels a little too much. Also I go lots of places that don't even have high end places even if I wanted to stay at one. To me the step up from economy to business on a flight is way more important than the hotel. The only exception is where the hotel is part of the destination (e.g., a resort). Bora Bora was amazing but part of that was truly staying at a high end hotel (the Conrad on points in my case). That said I can totally see the other side of this argument as well.
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by THY4373 »

Jack FFR1846 wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 6:51 am Trying to get free (points) seats may become impossible to where you want to go. This isn't new and I discovered it for my trips to Aruba decades ago. My solution was to buy coach tickets then very, very early upgrade with points to first/business class. It worked every time. Freebie points tickets, I concluded only really worked for one person who had total flexibility.
Note you are only likely to find better availability for upgrades vs a full reward ticket if the seats are coming from different fare buckets. On most airlines the upgrade bucket is the same or effectively the same as the reward bucket so while this certainly can work it likely won't work on many airlines.

That said upgrades can be a really good deal and are often overlooked when looking for reward tickets. Finding a cheap cash fare you can upgrade can be a sweet deal.
Last edited by THY4373 on Tue Jun 06, 2023 8:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jags4186
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by Jags4186 »

THY4373 wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 8:00 am
Jags4186 wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 7:19 am
If you’re using United miles at 1.5cpp there’s no reason to earn them from CC spend when you can get nearly 5% on everything and then when you pay cash for the flight you get the miles from flying.

Also, consider than until you have 25,000 United miles your miles are essentially worthless (yes, I know you can cash + miles at an awful rate).
I do chase airline and to a lesser extent hotel points and I agree if you are getting less than 2 cents of value per airline point you are almost assuredly better off going for cashback unless those points are being earned at some multiple and/or are SUB.

Some other things to consider when valuing points:

On the negative side you generally don't earn points on award tickets but you do on cash (unless the airline IT is having a bad (or perhaps that would be a good) day. This might not be significant on a domestic economy fare but could add up for international J or F fares.

On the positive side many points booking are refundable for no or a nominal fee whereas cheaper cash fare are generally not This can be a real value.
I've soured on airline points because economy redemptions no longer deliver excess value and in my 15 years in the hobby I've only ever been able to score international J tickets on the dates I want to the places I want once. For the person with the luxury of traveling when there is availability, points are a spectacular way to upgrade your travel experience for low costs. For those of us who have limited travel availability flexibility is most important.
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by dbr »

Airline travel rewards is a skilled hobby requiring time, effort, and experience. For some people it is rewarding.

You may benefit from spending time over on FlyerTalk: https://www.flyertalk.com/ Go to Forums.

Yes, I too have pulled off the "gold ring" of business class to Australia on credit card points. But, like I say, credit card rewards for travel is a hobby.

Airline points for those whose employment keeps them in the air worldwide 30 or 40 weeks of the year is a different thing. A warning is FlyerTalk is more for those folks than the credit card hobbyest, but the info is good.

PS A lot of people think the days of this game are over as reward flight availability has shrunk, points have been devalued, and credit card companies have tightened up the terms and conditions with serious churning pretty much shut down these days.
oilrig
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Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2016 10:25 pm

Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by oilrig »

I will give you the right answer here lol. Since you can fly out of EWR, and EWR is a United hub, then focus on any cards that deal with United since they will likely have more direct flights to Europe out of EWR than any other airline. I would suggest signing up for the Chase United card and have your wife sign up for the business one, thats basically two "free" round trip flights to Europe with those United miles. It takes about 60k United miles round trip to fly to Europe from the US.
deltaneutral83
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by deltaneutral83 »

Jags4186 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 1:57 pm The odds of you finding 4 saver level awards during peak travel season is next to nil. I would focus on earning as much cash value as you can.

An AMEX Business Platinum has a 200k for $15k spend offer. That would get you roughly 215k points which would be worth $3,311 towards cash flights.
If OP is traveling from PHL and using Heathrow as well I would entertain the Amex personal platinum ($695), then add my other 3 family members as AU's ($175 total for 3), then we all have Centurion and Delta lounge access for the year. Tremendous value for folks who are traveling through airports with these lounges. Miles transfer to a host of partners that will give you decent value on Biz class flights to Europe, you will need to read an article two on the Membership Rewards partners.

If you want the nitty gritty of the "coupon bonanza" (which will drive the boomers on this thread WILD so let's buckle up!) on the Amex personal plat in addition to complimentary food and drink from Centurion/Delta lounge access: $200 in Uber credits ($15 per month), $100 to Saks ($50 per 6 months), $200 in airline incidentals for one dedicated airline (seat upgrades, baggage, etc), Hulu/Disney+/ESPN+ bundle, Walmart+, and a few others. You will also get a TSA/Global Entry credit for the cardholder and each AU (normally $100 per), and this will be big if planning to travel to Europe. Should be able to get GE squared away in PHL with no appointment I would imagine next time you use the airport just look up that info.
cowbman
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by cowbman »

Jags4186 wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 8:17 am
THY4373 wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 8:00 am
Jags4186 wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 7:19 am
If you’re using United miles at 1.5cpp there’s no reason to earn them from CC spend when you can get nearly 5% on everything and then when you pay cash for the flight you get the miles from flying.

Also, consider than until you have 25,000 United miles your miles are essentially worthless (yes, I know you can cash + miles at an awful rate).
I do chase airline and to a lesser extent hotel points and I agree if you are getting less than 2 cents of value per airline point you are almost assuredly better off going for cashback unless those points are being earned at some multiple and/or are SUB.

Some other things to consider when valuing points:

On the negative side you generally don't earn points on award tickets but you do on cash (unless the airline IT is having a bad (or perhaps that would be a good) day. This might not be significant on a domestic economy fare but could add up for international J or F fares.

On the positive side many points booking are refundable for no or a nominal fee whereas cheaper cash fare are generally not This can be a real value.
I've soured on airline points because economy redemptions no longer deliver excess value and in my 15 years in the hobby I've only ever been able to score international J tickets on the dates I want to the places I want once. For the person with the luxury of traveling when there is availability, points are a spectacular way to upgrade your travel experience for low costs. For those of us who have limited travel availability flexibility is most important.
Agree, post-pandemic this has become much harder to find availability. This has even translated to Hyatt, who has historically had, very good availability. You may want to consider a Bank of America cash setup and/or multiple 5x cards.
THY4373
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by THY4373 »

deltaneutral83 wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 9:06 am
If OP is traveling from PHL and using Heathrow as well I would entertain the Amex personal platinum ($695), then add my other 3 family members as AU's ($175 total for 3), then we all have Centurion and Delta lounge access for the year. Tremendous value for folks who are traveling through airports with these lounges. Miles transfer to a host of partners that will give you decent value on Biz class flights to Europe, you will need to read an article two on the Membership Rewards partners.
Just FYI when I went through PHL in March the wait time at the Centurion lounge was 45-60 minutes. Since I am AA Plat (sort of by accident) and was flying AA I just went to the Admirals Club. Not quite as nice as Centurion but at least I could get in. Across several airports I am about 50/50 with Centurions. When they aren't slammed they are very nice but often they are slammed and even if you get in quickly it is hard to get a seat, etc. Less experience with Delta but they reportedly also have their own crowding issues though I have had no issues the few times I have used them.
theplayer11
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Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by theplayer11 »

muffins14 wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 7:12 am
theplayer11 wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 5:46 am
muffins14 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 10:41 pm
theplayer11 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:45 am
David Jay wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:36 am I don't use a "travel" card, I use a 2% cash back (on every purchase) credit card. That way I do not have to mess with "points" or any card-specific requirements.
how is this helpful? 2% is not great value at all for travel.
I find points to be annoying. I prefer the simplicity of cash, and I don’t place value on business class or first class. I just want to get to my destination
to each their own. I'm at a stage in life where I'm not going to fly to Europe in economy, and don't want to pay for business class. So if it were not for points, we wouldn't be traveling as much as we do. I treat acquiring points as a hobby. It's all about the sign up bonuses. It's very simple IMO.
If it’s a hobby, have at it. I survive adequately in normal economy class. I’m not sure what the stage of life means, just that you have a lot of money and you don’t mind spending it on additional legroom?
not at all, I’m frugal and would never spend for business class. That’s why points is a big deal for me. Once you fly business on a long flight, going back to economy is tough and just something I don’t want to do. on second thought i wouldn’t even call it a hobby, I just acquire credit cards with high sign up bonuses and use those points to travel. I book 12 months ahead. Those that procrastinate on their travel plans probably shouldn’t be acquiring points for travel.
Topic Author
Lmf1171
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2020 10:09 am

Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by Lmf1171 »

Thank you all for your input. Still feeling overwhelmed by all of the options/considerations, but after some more research, I'm thinking we'll start with the Capital One Venture X. Thoughts?
cowbman
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Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2017 1:10 pm

Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by cowbman »

Lmf1171 wrote: Wed Jun 07, 2023 5:48 pm Thank you all for your input. Still feeling overwhelmed by all of the options/considerations, but after some more research, I'm thinking we'll start with the Capital One Venture X. Thoughts?
If you can get approved, there are many worse options. It's a simple card with a slew of benefits that offset the annual fee. Initially had a 100k sign up bonus, now 75k, not bad. Only thing to keep in mind is 5/24 for Chase.
Jags4186
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Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 7:12 pm

Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by Jags4186 »

Lmf1171 wrote: Wed Jun 07, 2023 5:48 pm Thank you all for your input. Still feeling overwhelmed by all of the options/considerations, but after some more research, I'm thinking we'll start with the Capital One Venture X. Thoughts?
It’s fine. I mean, the best offer right now is the AMEX Business Platinum 200k offer.

If you spend the $15k minimum spend on the business platinum you’ll end up with a at least 215k Membership Rewards points which is enough for a R/T business class flight to Europe. If you spend $15k on the Venture X you’d wind up with 105k Capital One points with the 75k bonus. That isn’t enough for a R/T business class flight to Europe.
Topic Author
Lmf1171
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2020 10:09 am

Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by Lmf1171 »

Jags4186 wrote: Wed Jun 07, 2023 7:11 pm
Lmf1171 wrote: Wed Jun 07, 2023 5:48 pm Thank you all for your input. Still feeling overwhelmed by all of the options/considerations, but after some more research, I'm thinking we'll start with the Capital One Venture X. Thoughts?
It’s fine. I mean, the best offer right now is the AMEX Business Platinum 200k offer.
I don't think I qualify for the 200k offer on the Amex Business Platinum. My understanding is that it's a targeted offer. We don't have any Amex accounts. Is there something I'm missing?
Jags4186
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Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 7:12 pm

Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by Jags4186 »

Lmf1171 wrote: Wed Jun 07, 2023 7:23 pm
Jags4186 wrote: Wed Jun 07, 2023 7:11 pm
Lmf1171 wrote: Wed Jun 07, 2023 5:48 pm Thank you all for your input. Still feeling overwhelmed by all of the options/considerations, but after some more research, I'm thinking we'll start with the Capital One Venture X. Thoughts?
It’s fine. I mean, the best offer right now is the AMEX Business Platinum 200k offer.
I don't think I qualify for the 200k offer on the Amex Business Platinum. My understanding is that it's a targeted offer. We don't have any Amex accounts. Is there something I'm missing?
Just click the link

https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/c ... A0000H4WFU

You may need to try incognito or a different browser. I see it without issue.
Topic Author
Lmf1171
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2020 10:09 am

Re: Travel rewards credit cards

Post by Lmf1171 »

Jags4186 wrote: Wed Jun 07, 2023 7:52 pm
Lmf1171 wrote: Wed Jun 07, 2023 7:23 pm
Jags4186 wrote: Wed Jun 07, 2023 7:11 pm
Lmf1171 wrote: Wed Jun 07, 2023 5:48 pm Thank you all for your input. Still feeling overwhelmed by all of the options/considerations, but after some more research, I'm thinking we'll start with the Capital One Venture X. Thoughts?
It’s fine. I mean, the best offer right now is the AMEX Business Platinum 200k offer.
I don't think I qualify for the 200k offer on the Amex Business Platinum. My understanding is that it's a targeted offer. We don't have any Amex accounts. Is there something I'm missing?
Just click the link

https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/c ... A0000H4WFU

You may need to try incognito or a different browser. I see it without issue.
Thanks. The link works, but you have to login to Amex to apply for the offer, and I don't have a login since I don't have an Amex account. I tried to sign in using an old login and it says I'm not eligible for the offer.
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