# Credit card rewards



## Lloydwa1 (Aug 27, 2012)

Has there ever been a consensus of what is the best travel rewards credit card?
Thanks, Lloyd


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## Ken555 (Aug 27, 2012)

Lloydwa1 said:


> Has there ever been a consensus of what is the best travel rewards credit card?
> Thanks, Lloyd



A consensus? On TUG? Other than "buy resale"...doubtful.

However, in my opinion the most versatile and beneficial card is the American Express Starwood card. For myself, I save more by using points toward hotel nights than free flights, but this card does offer ~20% bonus when transferring to airline mile accounts so even if you always want to travel on AA, for instance, you're better off using this card than AA's own.


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## DeniseM (Aug 27, 2012)

If you use the search button, and then* search TUG via google*, you will find a wealth of info.


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## winnipiseogee (Aug 27, 2012)

One of the few topics in life on which I consider myself an expert (I average about 700,000 miles a year on my ccs).   If you spend a lot of $$ every month (say $5000 or more) then an american express card is great.  Amex lets you transfer you miles to any of their affiliated programs (about 15 airlines and 10 or so hotel chains).  Also, Amex pretty regularly offers "specials" on mile transfers.  For example this past winter Delta doubled whatever I transferred so I transferred a ton of points into delta miles and got double the miles.  The only problem is that amex has a pretty steep annual fee so you need to spend a lot  If you spend less than that I suggest the capital one venture card.  Capital one has 2x points provided you use them for travel and nothing else is very close to that.  The only issue is that the points are really only good for travel related activities (but they define travel pretty broadly - I've used it for every cc charge on a trip before).

Good luck!


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## derb (Aug 27, 2012)

Churn and Burn.
Accept all offers for 25k pts and no initial annual fee and cancel
when fee comes due.
My credit score remains around 800 so the myth of a lower score
if you cancel cards is just that, a myth.
That being said, the only card I keep and pay for is the Starwood
AMEX.  They know how to do things right.


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## dms1709 (Aug 27, 2012)

I like my American express, starwood, the only problem is that not everyone takes American Express.  I also have to have a Visa and Mastercard.

Donna


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## Dori (Aug 27, 2012)

There are so many fabulous offers for cc's in the U.S.. www.flyertalk.com is the place to see all of these offers.

Here in Canada, there are no offers that come close to yours. 
Being Canadian precludes me from applying for any U.S. cards, even though we own a home in Florida, and spend about 4 months there. Lack of a SSN is the reason. I would dearly love to have a Southwest cc, but no LUV for me .


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## artringwald (Aug 27, 2012)

*Go for the cash*

The most flexible rewards program is the one that offers cash. Fidelity's American Express offers 2% cash back on everything with no minimum spending amount. Rebates can be automatically deposited directly into the Fidelity account. And by the way, a Fidelity checking account offers rebates on all ATM fees, so you never have to pay for cash, which is just as good as money. They even have an app for smart phones, so you can make deposits by scanning the check.

P.S. I don't work for Fidelity, I just like finding a good deal.


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## andex (Aug 27, 2012)

Dori said:


> There are so many fabulous offers for cc's in the U.S.. www.flyertalk.com is the place to see all of these offers.
> 
> Here in Canada, there are no offers that come close to yours.
> Being Canadian precludes me from applying for any U.S. cards, even though we own a home in Florida, and spend about 4 months there. Lack of a SSN is the reason. I would dearly love to have a Southwest cc, but no LUV for me .



a few sites seem to claim that the Best deal in canada is: "Capital one Aspire card" i havent found better yet! 2% towards trips, with all the frill!


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## Jimster (Aug 27, 2012)

*card*

"What is the best rewards card."  This is a bogus question.  You might as well ask what is the greatest art work.  The answer is "it depends".  What airline are you flying, what airport do you use, what do you need more airline points, hotel points or cash, etc.  There is no one answer.  YOU have to decide the answer after being well informed about the various benefits.  If there were a clear answer to this question, everyone would have that card!


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## HtownRose (Aug 27, 2012)

I subscribe to emails from:

http://thepointsguy.com/

All about getting the best deals from credit card promotions for FF miles, hotel stays, etc.  He frequently compares cards/offers.


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## x3 skier (Aug 27, 2012)

HtownRose said:


> I subscribe to emails from:
> 
> http://thepointsguy.com/
> 
> All about getting the best deals from credit card promotions for FF miles, hotel stays, etc.  He frequently compares cards/offers.



+1. Great site. I got the BA card after reading his analysis. Mostly for the Chip and no foreigh exchange rip off but also for the Avios bonus to use on AA short hauls. 

Many choices so it really all depends on needs and wants. 

Cheers


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## travelguy (Aug 28, 2012)

Also try www.dansdeals.com for some great advanced info on credit card "churn".  The credit card forum has a wealth of information.

One of my favorites is how to apply for four (4) Amex at the same time on four different browsers and only incur one hard credit pull.


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## gwenco (Sep 5, 2012)

*I agree with derb - churn and burn*

We should be rewarded for having good credit, shouldn't we?  Apply for the cards (EXCEPT USAirways as there's suck:annoyed: ) for airlines offering 25000 initial miles or more (Delta, UA) without having to pay the fee until the end of the year and then cancel as the miles stand.

I also frequently use the Starwood A/X card as the points are very easy to redeem and the yearly fee's are reasonable.
The best points (cashback) card I have is the Chase Sapphire Preferred. You may use it for cash back, travel - cars, hotels and airfare and booking through their website.  You also receive a dividend on your annual renewal.  Don't get the Delta Gold - just get the regular Delta and you may use the miles for car rentals as well of flights and hotels. If you spend $3000 within I believe, 3 months, you receive a very large bonus point award so it's good to apply for it within a few months of going on a trip. They even Fedexd an additional card overnight to my son for no charge.


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## EZ-ED (Sep 11, 2012)

The only card we go after for the rewards is the Marriott Premier. It's about break even with the annual free night but with the points we pick up in the 'churn/burn' every year is worth 3 or 4 free nights of rooms when we are on the road. 

I use to do the 'churn/burn' every six or so months with the UAL Chase card to pick up the reward miles but now having retired we spend more time driving and avoiding airlines and TSA. The only time we fly now is overseas and I can put up with the airline/TSA hassles for the travel to new places.

The card I probably use the most is my free (with Costco membership) American Express and my credit union CC and DC.


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## Rent_Share (Sep 11, 2012)

Dori said:


> There are so many fabulous offers for cc's in the U.S.. www.flyertalk.com is the place to see all of these offers.


 

Times        Two


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## Quilter (Sep 18, 2012)

winnipiseogee said:


> One of the few topics in life on which I consider myself an expert (I average about 700,000 miles a year on my ccs).   If you spend a lot of $$ every month (say $5000 or more) then an american express card is great.  Amex lets you transfer you miles to any of their affiliated programs (about 15 airlines and 10 or so hotel chains).  Also, Amex pretty regularly offers "specials" on mile transfers.  For example this past winter Delta doubled whatever I transferred so I transferred a ton of points into delta miles and got double the miles.  The only problem is that amex has a pretty steep annual fee so you need to spend a lot  If you spend less than that I suggest the capital one venture card.  Capital one has 2x points provided you use them for travel and nothing else is very close to that.  The only issue is that the points are really only good for travel related activities (but they define travel pretty broadly - I've used it for every cc charge on a trip before).
> 
> Good luck!



I have read through this thread several times.   Until this reading I had the impression you were talking about the American Express Gold Card since you said it had "a pretty steep annual fee".   My mistake.   You also mentioned the miles transfer bonus and I've been wondering how to find out more about that only to realize I did that very same promotion last winter. 

Which American Express do you prefer?


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## LisaRex (Sep 18, 2012)

I use Chase Sapphire for the bulk of my spending because it has a lot of flexibility in redemptions, plus the sign-on bonus was spectacular. 

I keep the Delta Gold (and recently upgraded to platinum) AMEX because I get more out of it than I pay in fees.  I love getting one free checked bag, priority seating, and the companion pass.  I just booked our tickets for our Park City, UT trip, using the pass, and I got us both to SLC on non-stop flights for $500.  Retail was $680. 

I keep the Marriott Premiere card in a drawer, only because they give me a night in a cat 1-5 hotel for free each year, whose value exceeds the $65 annual fee.  

I still have the Starwood AMEX. I'd cancel it because I don't need hotel points, but then my Delta AMEX annual fee would increase by $55, so it's a wash.  I put all my MFs on it, all my Costco spending, as well as my daughter's college tuition.  I figure it's better to put spending on it and transfer to Delta at 1.25 than to put it on the Delta card and earn 1:1.


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## Quilter (Sep 18, 2012)

LisaRex said:


> I still have the Starwood AMEX. I'd cancel it because I don't need hotel points, but then my Delta AMEX annual fee would increase by $65, so it's a wash.  I put all my MFs on it, all my Costco spending, as well as my daughter's college tuition.  I figure it's better to put spending on it and transfer to Delta at 1.25 than to put it on the Delta card and earn 1:1.



Can you explain the connection between keeping the Starwood card and your Delta AmEx annual fee?


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## Timeshare Von (Sep 18, 2012)

For me, the best is whatever is offering the best "sign up" bonus!  I have been known to do the "credit card churn" just to get the free miles on the front end to use for free/discounted travel, and then drop the card before the first year's annual fee is assessed.

Over the past few years, I've done the Delta American Express and used the miles for 2 free f/c tickets to Alaska; British Airways' Chase and used the miles for a $10k R/T ticket to Kenya for $2,000; and American Airlines Citibank and used the miles for three coach tickets to Ireland (and I still have 33k miles left to use soon).  (NOTE:  I do open credit card accounts for both me as an individual as well as under my LLC which allows double dipping deposits into my FF mileage accounts.)

For my everyday use I use Capital One's Venture (Visa) card that provides 2:1 cash back or rewards.  I also carry a Capital One World MC for the extended car rental benefits (Ireland/UK in particular) so the rewards are not as important to me with that card, but it's still a respectable 1.5:1 .


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## LisaRex (Sep 19, 2012)

Quilter said:


> Can you explain the connection between keeping the Starwood card and your Delta AmEx annual fee?



If you already hold an Amex CREDIT CARD (e.g. SPG AMEX) and pay annual fees on it, annual fees for other AMEX credit cards may be reduced. 

As an example, I pay $65/year for the SPG AMEX. Since I already paid fees for one AMEX credit card, when I signed up for the Delta AMEX gold card, they reduced the annual fee from $95 to $40.  Last week, I upgraded the Amex SkyMiles platinum card and I was notified that I'll be billed an additional $55 (for a total of $95 a year) vs. the normal $150 fee. 

If I canceled the SPG AMEX, I'd have to pay $150 for my SkyMiles Platinum card.  So for a total of $160 extra per year, I can keep them both.  

**Note that there is a difference between CHARGE cards and credit cards.  The AMEX platinum and gold cards, which earn Membership rewards, are charge cards.  SPG and SkyMiles AMEX cards are credit cards.


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## MichaelColey (Sep 19, 2012)

I agree with the SPG AmEx suggestion as a primary card, and churning other cards to get signup bonuses.

I'll throw one other card into the mix that works great for us:  The Hilton Surpass AmEx.  If you spend $40k/year on it, you get Diamond status.  Although it doesn't earn quite as much as the SPG AmEx (the way most people value StarPoints vs. HH points), it fits perfectly in the mix for us.  We spend a bunch (hundreds of thousands a year) on credit cards, so $40k is easy to hit.  Despite our timeshare stays, we still spend quite a bit of time in hotels (shorter stays and/or places with no timeshares nearby), and Hilton (especially with Diamond status) is our hotel brand of choice (with Hilton Garden Inn as our favorite property).  We can often find nice rooms for $50-$100/night, and with Diamond status that includes 2 full breakfasts.  We use the HH points we earn for hotel redemptions when we can't find decent rates.

But SPG AmEx is still our primary, and the one I would recommend most for most other people.


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## Lloydwa1 (Sep 19, 2012)

*Thanks to my TUG friends*

My name is Lloyd and I'm the dummy that started this thread. Thanks to all that have given of their time and advice. Even to the ones that thought this was one of the dumbest questions. I finally made the decision to try an Alaska Air/Bank of America card. Most of our recent travels have been with Alaska. So if there are any Alaska Air card holders on board. And would care to comment, I again would be greatfull.  
Thanks again, Lloydwa1


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## Timeshare Von (Sep 19, 2012)

Lloydwa1 said:


> My name is Lloyd and I'm the dummy that started this thread. Thanks to all that have given of their time and advice. Even to the ones that thought this was one of the dumbest questions. I finally made the decision to try an Alaska Air/Bank of America card. Most of our recent travels have been with Alaska. So if there are any Alaska Air card holders on board. And would care to comment, I again would be greatfull.
> Thanks again, Lloydwa1



With as much travel as I have done to Alaska over the past five years, you'd think I'd have one of those cards, but alas I do not.

That said, I know plenty of people who do and who thoroughly enjoy them for the benefits, bonuses and rewards they get.

If you haven't already, you should go sign up for FlyerTalk to follow their forums . . . especially the one on Alaska Air.  You'll learn ways to maximize your program with them and may even get in on some "non-public" specials in terms of fares, etc.

Best wishes to you!


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## Quilter (Sep 19, 2012)

LisaRex said:


> If you already hold an Amex CREDIT CARD (e.g. SPG AMEX) and pay annual fees on it, annual fees for other AMEX credit cards may be reduced.
> 
> As an example, I pay $65/year for the SPG AMEX. Since I already paid fees for one AMEX credit card, when I signed up for the Delta AMEX gold card, they reduced the annual fee from $95 to $40.  Last week, I upgraded the Amex SkyMiles platinum card and I was notified that I'll be billed an additional $55 (for a total of $95 a year) vs. the normal $150 fee.
> 
> ...



Do you have to ask for the reduced fee?


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## klpca (Sep 19, 2012)

Lloydwa1 said:


> My name is Lloyd and I'm the dummy that started this thread. Thanks to all that have given of their time and advice. Even to the ones that thought this was one of the dumbest questions. I finally made the decision to try an Alaska Air/Bank of America card. Most of our recent travels have been with Alaska. So if there are any Alaska Air card holders on board. And would care to comment, I again would be greatfull.
> Thanks again, Lloydwa1



I've had the Alaska card for a couple of years and I will keep it. I like the companion fare coupon (every year you get a companion fare for $100) - we use it for a Hawaii trip or perhaps Mexico. Alaska is a convenient carrier for us because they have direct flights from our home airport to Maui, Oahu, Cabo, and Puerto Vallarta. They also honor price drops - my Maui fare dropped $44 yesterday so I now have a credit to be used on another purchase within 12 months. That said, it's not my primary card because you only get 1 point per dollar of spending. I can do much better with that using my Costco Amex and discovercard when they have 5% promotions. 

If you're good with your spending, don't limit yourself to one card. Churning is the name of the game. I don't churn as much as others do because it gets a little to confusing for me, but I open accounts like mad when we're planning a big trip like Europe.


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## LisaRex (Sep 19, 2012)

Quilter said:


> Do you have to ask for the reduced fee?



I didn't.  

If you want to sign up for either card, though, you should search for the best promo that will give you bonus miles + the first year free.


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## sfwilshire (Sep 20, 2012)

LisaRex said:


> If you already hold an Amex CREDIT CARD (e.g. SPG AMEX) and pay annual fees on it, annual fees for other AMEX credit cards may be reduced.
> 
> As an example, I pay $65/year for the SPG AMEX. Since I already paid fees for one AMEX credit card, when I signed up for the Delta AMEX gold card, they reduced the annual fee from $95 to $40.  Last week, I upgraded the Amex SkyMiles platinum card and I was notified that I'll be billed an additional $55 (for a total of $95 a year) vs. the normal $150 fee.
> 
> ...




Thanks for this information. I have held multiple AMEX cards with fees at times and don't remember ever getting a fee reduction. I guess I need to figure out which are credit cards and which are charge cards. How can you tell?

We are getting a Costco in town in a couple of months, so I know I'll have one of their cards again. I have the free Hilton, downgraded to the free Delta, and probably have another one that doesn't come to mind.

Sheila


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## Magic1962 (Sep 20, 2012)

My wife and I both have excellent credit scores... mid 700's have 3000 in credit card debt but nothing else (house and cars paid off) we have lots of store cards and I have one card in my name.... I am putting together another mission trip to Tanzania, Africa (I work for a church) but find it hard to find a credit card that will give me a limit of like 15000.00 so I can get 8 - 10 airline tickets (KLM)... I think its probably because of our income...  NOT huge... I wish I could get that Chase Sapphire card for all the points...  I may try for it but am worried it will give me like an 8000.00 limit and I want the seats together...

 sorry just venting.... 


                    Dave


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## jchung (Sep 27, 2012)

Ken555 said:


> A consensus? On TUG? Other than "buy resale"...doubtful.
> 
> However, in my opinion the most versatile and beneficial card is the American Express Starwood card. For myself, I save more by using points toward hotel nights than free flights, but this card does offer ~20% bonus when transferring to airline mile accounts so even if you always want to travel on AA, for instance, you're better off using this card than AA's own.



I think the Starwood Amex is the best one, however we have the Hilton Honors Amex which is just as good. 

We went with Hilton because we received a good initial amount of points when we opened the card. 

I like the complimentary breakfast and wifi that we get for being Diamond status.


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## Magic1962 (Sep 27, 2012)

Magic1962 said:


> My wife and I both have excellent credit scores... mid 700's have 3000 in credit card debt but nothing else (house and cars paid off) we have lots of store cards and I have one card in my name.... I am putting together another mission trip to Tanzania, Africa (I work for a church) but find it hard to find a credit card that will give me a limit of like 15000.00 so I can get 8 - 10 airline tickets (KLM)... I think its probably because of our income...  NOT huge... I wish I could get that Chase Sapphire card for all the points...  I may try for it but am worried it will give me like an 8000.00 limit and I want the seats together...
> 
> sorry just venting....
> 
> ...


UPDATE%%%% I applied for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card on Friday and on Monday received a call from them and after going through some questions was APPROVED for a card with a really nice limit   it should be here tomorrow.... then I can order all the tickets together, get LOTS of points and be a happy camper   Dave


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