• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 30 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 30th Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    60,000+ subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

Best Credit Card for points?

Zac495

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
3,108
Reaction score
104
Points
448
Location
Philadelphia, PA
With Marriott devaluing points, we're going to drop our Marriott credit card. Which credit card do Tuggers like and why? THANKS!

Moderators - if this is in the wrong forum, please move it. I just wasn't sure - this forum is always a good audience.
 

UWSurfer

Tug Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2007
Messages
2,439
Reaction score
64
Points
408
Location
Los Angeles
I think that depends largely on what you are looking to get out of the "reward".

I personally think cash is king, and use my Costo/Amex card to get cash back each year, coupled with their premium level membership. I had to run 10's of thousands of $ through the card for business this year and have a healthy reward built up right now.

I have a HHonors Visa I use mostly for places who don't take the Amex and build up those points for stays. I can usually get a Hampton or Hilton Garden Inn for a couple of nights each year with the points we earn from it and other Hilton stays.

Since I'm not loyal to any one airline, I havn't bothered with airline miles simply because it seems too complicated to get a flight with it. I know others make it work, but I've not been willing to make the plunge.
 

Cathyb

Tug Review Crew: Rookie
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
4,935
Reaction score
0
Points
36
Location
Carlsbad, CA
We like our Starwood AMEX; esp. if you shop at Costco. We do use their capability of transferring points to ffmiles or staying at their hotels.
 

Jennie

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2005
Messages
1,808
Reaction score
3
Points
398
I've been with the Amex Membership Rewards card for years. It has a hefty annual fee of $125. but allowed for additional cards for family and friends at no extra cost. Amex used to have many promotions where you could earn double and sometimes even triple miles on all purchases made during a designated month or 6 week period. That's when all our maintenance fees got paid, even if they weren't due for months.

The Points can be transferred into many of the frequent flyer programs of the major airlines. They can also be converted to cash to pay off charges in your Amex bill, but at the rate of only $1.00 for every 20 points. After studying the Amex web site and the annual rewards catalogue, I discovered that you can now cash them out 1.00 for every 10 points when ordering Home Depot gift cards. So I liquidated a huge number of points to upgrade our kitchen and laundry appliances.

Then I began looking for a card with similar benefits that does not charge an annual membership fee.

After much searching, the best deal I found is the Chase Freedom Plus Master Card. I think they are trying to keep it a secret. Even when you know exactly what you are looking for, it's almost impossible to find info about it on their web site. When I called to get more info, the Customer Service Rep said that she had never heard of it, and she couldn't find it in her system. I had to get with a supervisor and he clearly didn't know much about it either.

The annual fee of $30. is waived for the first year. It's free thereafter if you have a checking account with Chase Bank. Single Points are earned on every purchase. There are 15 categories of purchases where you can earn triple points each month; you receive them for each of 6 of those categories where you spend the most money each month. One category is cell phone service, so I set it up with Verizon to take the payment directly from the credit card each month. Ditto our electric bill and cable service and oil bills. Other categories include purchases at fast food restaurants, movie theatres, video rental, all items purchased in drug stores e.g. Walgreen's, CVS and a few other Categories that I can't recall at the moment.

The Points can be used for the usual type of merchandise found in on-line and printed catalogues, including gas cards and a variety of gift cards. But they can also be "cashed out" by phone or online and will appear right away to offset some or all of the payment due on the current bill.

And if you accumulate 20,000 Points, you receive a $50. bonus in addition to the $200. value of 20,000 points. Each statement shows how many points were earned that month, how many you have altogether, and how much you can cash them out for at the present time. It's been adding up pretty fast with all the utility bills, etc... now being paid that way instead of through my on-line banking account.

This is the best deal I found after months of searching. But I can't rule out that a TUGger may know of a better deal. I think many of us are descendants of "hunters." We no longer have to stalk and catch our food so we have transferred the skills into finding all kinds of bargains.

My 25 year old Amex account will be dumped when it comes up for renewal.
 

Running Man

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2005
Messages
32
Reaction score
0
Points
366
Location
Victoria
We like the Alaska Airline Platinum Mastercard (only in Canada - Visa in the US). If you are on the West Coast, and looking for flight reward card, then this is a good deal. You get a bonus 20,000 points - 25000 for a free flight. Plus you get a companion flight ticket yearly for $50. The cost for the platinum card is $75.

Cheers:D
 

pcgirl54

Tug Review Crew: Rookie
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
2,810
Reaction score
23
Points
423
Location
Florida
Resorts Owned
Marriott Barony Beach
We have had Amex Gold Rewards Plus for years. There is a steep fee and it is a charge card not a credit card. Love Amex travel site easy to use points. They had a double or triple points at one time as Jennie said but not anymore.

I also am looking to replace Mariott Rewards Visa which I have had for a longtime. You do need a Visa or MC on some occasions. Discover has a good deal but not everyone takes Discover or Amex.

Suze Orman suggested cardtrack.com.
 
Last edited:

Talent312

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2007
Messages
17,461
Reaction score
7,277
Points
948
Resorts Owned
HGVC & GTS
We like the Alaska Airline Platinum Mastercard ...

For a moment, I read that as the Alaska Pipeline MC and thought,
"Who'd want points for that?" :)

I have an AmEx Rewards card, a Chase Flex-Rewards MC, and a Hilton AmEx card. I use the Hilton card only when I get a bonus for Hilton-related charges. The Chase MC seems to offer the best value in rewards. The original AmEx, not so much, but it has a $55K limit, so I keep it open (not that I'll ever charge that much).
 
Last edited:

brainman

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
39
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
Cary,IL
Canceling Marriott Rewards card

How can you cancel a Marriott Rewards card without losing all of the points? Do you have to wait until after the points are used? I want to cancel, but not lose the points.

Thanks
 
Top