Travel Credit Cards

[FrancisCA]

Im back traveling again and wanted to know what travel cards are the best? I have one for an airline but now im looking at hotels credit cards!

Im pretty loyal to Marriot but does anyone have better expereinces with other hotel chains?

Or should I get an overall travel card like Capital One?

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Overall travel card will give you a wider span of benefits.

How much do you travel... ie, mileage a year?

Are you open to all hotels or prefer to stick to one brand?

Depending, I'd say a Chase Sapphire or Amex Platinum, if you travel enough to use the benefits.

The new Cap One Venture X is decent.  A lot of people are getting one just to access their new airline lounges.

You also need to figure out if you're going to carry a balance or use it more like a charge card.  For me, my biggest consideration is promo APR.

[+ tassojunior]

2 hours ago, Francis said:

Im back traveling again and wanted to know what travel cards are the best? I have one for an airline but now im looking at hotels credit cards!

Im pretty loyal to Marriot but does anyone have better expereinces with other hotel chains?

Or should I get an overall travel card like Capital One?

Hyatt points are worth twice what Marriott points are if you're set on a hotel or overall card. I like AmEx best though. 

Many of us have the AmEx Blue for Business (and BFB Plus) as our go-to card. No annual fee and you get 2 AmEx points per dollar spent on all purchases (up to $50K a year). AmEx Membership Rewards transfers instantly to most airline and hotel programs but I normally transfer to British when they have a 40% transfer bonus once a year. Therefore I get 2.8 BA miles for every dollar I spend on a no-fee card. BA is most useful for cheaper awards on American than American charges in the Americas. Also BA Avios transfers to Iberia and Aer Lingus. I fly Aer Lingus for 13K miles plus $19 IAD to DUB most of the year, plus another 6K miles to Europe (or reverse with $19 fees). Iberia charges $100 fees each way to Europe and BA charges $250 each way. 

Marriott has devalued a lot lately but I keep the Ritz Carlton card for the free Priority Pass lounge and airport cafe free meals, the $300 in airline fees, and the primary auto insurance for a $450/yr fee. You have to have another Marriott card for a year and ask to transfer to the Ritz card now. You get Marriott "status" which is a joke. Better to slip reception a $20 bill. 

Again, Hyatt points are worth the most for hotel points but you can get those through Chase Ultimate Rewards from a Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Hyatt card. Not sure if Cap1 transfers to Hyatt. AmEx does not. 

The Alaska card gives a $99 companion voucher every year, all Alaska awards, even one-way, allow a free stopover, and AK gives tickets on American, British, Aer Lingus, Iberia and all One World airlines with no fees.  AK metal awards are often on deep, deep discount. I've flown Kona to SFO for 5K and SFO to BWI for 5K. 

United also allows free stopovers on roundtrips, 2 free United lounge passes a year, extra available flights, and a free suitcase. 

Many, maybe most, people just cycle through the sign-up bonuses on different cards, sock drawer them for a year, then cancel. But that Blue for Business Plus free card is a keeper. 

 

Edited February 17, 2022 by tassojunior

[+ Pensant]

I use Amex Platinum for all travel. You get 5x points when arranging travel on their site, access to the Centurion Lounges and all Priority Pass lounges worldwide, lots of coverages, $15 per month Uber credit and a $200 airline fee voucher for meals, free baggage on your selected airline. I also get the $550 annual fee waived through my bank.

[mike carey]

16 hours ago, Benjamin_Nicholas said:

Overall travel card will give you a wider span of benefits.

How much do you travel... ie, mileage a year?

Are you open to all hotels or prefer to stick to one brand?

Depending, I'd say a Chase Sapphire or Amex Platinum, if you travel enough to use the benefits.

The new Cap One Venture X is decent.  A lot of people are getting one just to access their new airline lounges.

You also need to figure out if you're going to carry a balance or use it more like a charge card.  For me, my biggest consideration is promo APR.

Good points raised by Benjamin and also @Pensanton the benefits offered by the Amex Platinum card (what I get in Australia is different so I didn't know for sure what they were in the US). Also @tassojunioron the different value of hotel program points, and some travel redemption ideas. (On hotels, if one program's points are worth twice another's, make sure you aren't getting just half as many for each dollar spent.)

Bear in mind that a hotel or airline card will credit all your points to their loyalty program, but you will receive a set of benefits at that hotel or airline. Make sure what they offer is what you need, and that you're happy with how that limits how you can redeem them. Chase, and others like Capital One, and Amex offer benefits that aren't brand specific and allow you to transfer your points to other programs. The travel cards have flagship cards (like Amex Platinum) but they also have a range of cards with lower and sometime zero fees (and lesser benefits) that work the same way. You can pick the level at which you enter, and move to a higher (or lower) price point later if you need to.

You may find it's worthwhile to have both types of cards, but only you know if you have the discipline to use each for the purposes for which they are best suited.

[+ Pensant]

Oh, Amex Platinum also gives you gold status at Bonvoy and Hilton.

[mike carey]

11 minutes ago, Pensant said:

Oh, Amex Platinum also gives you gold status at Bonvoy and Hilton.

Here too. Does it give you Avis and Hertz status as well?

[+ Lucky]

Marriott devalued their points significantly. I like Chase Sapphire for its multiple options. I have so many airline points I will now likely be unable to use.

[+ Pensant]

8 hours ago, mike carey said:

Here too. Does it give you Avis and Hertz status as well?

I haven’t checked. I’ve been using Costco for car rentals for years. Before this crazy year, their rates were shockingly low.

[Guest]

Hmm. I travel enough that I have quite a few, especially hotel cards. I get free nights with Hilton, Bonvoy, and IHG (with each credit card), so each credit card pays for its fee. I go to Hilton brands the most, and use their credit card the most. If I spend $40,000 per year, I get diamond status, which means free breakfasts at all properties (albeit only continental at some US properties). It's best to try to concentrate on one airline so that you can get benefits of the higher tiers. Although I used to live by SFO, I had so many bad experiences with United that I switched to American. Now American has a reward system that doesn't only reward you by actual flight miles, but also by miles you spend with their credit card, so if you're a big spender, you can get up to the high tiers without constantly flying around the globe. 

Of course, where you lives might be a strong impetus for which airline you choose to fly with. If you live near Seattle, you might be moved to Alaska Airlines, DFW to American, Atlanta to Delta. I'm not so sure about the Alaska Airlines code-sharing agreements, though. American doesn't fly to Keflavik, Iceland ("Chris" and I are taking a cruise from nearby Reykjavik in August), but I saw that Alaska had a code-share with Icelandic Air from LAX for only 50,000 miles in business class. I transferred the points and tried to get a ticket on the Alaska Airlines site, then when I was about to get the ticket, the website told me that the "first class" portion was only from LAX to SEA! 😨 Talk about false advertising! And the companion ticket on their card is only for the main cabin. So screw it, I just bought a ticket on Delta (if I wanted to go code-share on American, I'd have to fly to London and back, so that's a no-go). 

So decide which airline and hotel chain(s) work best with your plans. If you don't travel much, then just a general card which lets you use points towards any hotel might work well. 

[rustyrex]

I use the AMEX Gold Delta card, which is hardly worth the fee but AMEX has the best customer service hands down!  I’m trying to do the Chase Trifecta.  You can get a lot of points by using a mixture of cards and use the points for airlines, hotels and rental cars.  The idea is to get an obscene amount of points so you can basically travel for the cost of tax on the ticket.  If you can gain points by using a fee free credit card, your practically gaming the system.  I use credit for everything just so I get the points.  Is it worth it….hell yes….I’ve had enough to buy a ticket and upgrade to first class a couple of times.  In some cases Chase offers a better deal on the same hotel room or plane ticket than the actual company.

[MscleLovr]

1 hour ago, rustyrex said:

AMEX has the best customer service hands down!

I agree. I’ve used AmEx for years and I find they are very quick to spot attempts at fraud and to refund any questionable charges. I travel with one other credit card (in case AmEx is not accepted) and a bank debit card. This way, I’ve had no trouble getting cash/making payments all over the world. 

[Njguy2]

The Amex Platinum will also cover the fees for the airport CLEAR system.

 

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Let's also not forget the many advantages of Diner's Club.

 

[+ tassojunior]

If someone has a Chase or Marriott card for a year I highly recommend doing the allowed card switch at Chase to the no-longer available Ritz Carlton card. Most of the usual travel protections plus $300/year "travel credit" which I always use for $300 American giftcards (not kosher but works every year), Priority Pass much more generous than anyone elses plus up to $28/person in party free food at airport restaurants, status everywhere, and only $450?/year annual fee.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/ritz-carlton-credit-card/

[+ bashful]

I started years ago with a Starwood Visa (Westin, Sheraton), and they switched to Amex, which is now (Marriott) Bonvoy.  Loved Starwood program, but we got screwed with the merger.  Ratio of point conversion didn’t make up for higher points needed for free rooms with Bonvoy.

Also have an Amex Hilton Honors plus the Bonvoy, and United Chase visa.  Bad thing about having various cards is Not being able to accumulate points in any one program very fast.  I’ve been thinking of getting just one Amex.  

[tanman4u]

Hands down Amex Plat for your travel card. Others have mentioned it being easy to transfer points to airlines but I use those points on AmexTravel to pay for the airline tickets thus also accruing loyalty program points with the airline which you don’t get if you’ve converted the Amex MR points to airline points and then converted them to free tickets.  The free Clear and Global Entry (which includes TSA PreChek is great. The lounge access (though really crowded lately) is huge. There’s some sort of Uber credit but I’ve never used it. There’s a bunch of airline credits which you can use for baggage fees, inflight wifi, etc. And instant status FWIW in Marriot and Hilton and National rental car. High annual fee but totally worth it. 

[mike carey]

2 hours ago, tanman4u said:

Others have mentioned it being easy to transfer points to airlines but I use those points on AmexTravel to pay for the airline tickets thus also accruing loyalty program points with the airline which you don’t get if you’ve converted the Amex MR points to airline points and then converted them to free tickets.

This is a case where YMMV is literally true. Using MR points to pay for tickets is an option. If you are close to the line of qualifying for elite status at any particular level and won't otherwise qualify it makes sense regardless of the economics. If those loyalty points won't make an appreciable difference (say, you have no prospect of qualifying that year, or you have already done so), then you should compare the number of points it takes to buy a ticket directly, with the number you need to transfer to claim an award ticket. (My recent experience is that using MR points directly is significantly more expensive than transferring, but it's been a moot point as I've had enough FF points not to need to transfer any. If I've needed airline loyalty points [or there have been attractive offers of bonus loyalty points, as I had recently]  I've tended to pay cash. YMMV!)

So, by all means consider paying directly with MR points, but consider your other options.

[mike carey]

On 2/25/2022 at 2:50 PM, tanman4u said:

Hands down Amex Plat for your travel card.

I should have commented on this at the same time as I made my previous comment. I also think it's a great card even though it is far less generous here in the number of points you get than the US version. The other benefits are comparable. I have an airline visa card for places that don't accept Amex, and it returns roughly the same number of miles per dollar spent as Amex MR points would yield. Qantas has some useful (although I wouldn't say 'valuable') benefits from certain levels of ground-based earning (including from MR transfers) so I'm not strict in using Amex when I can rather than the visa card.

There are lots of detailed consideration you can give to which cards, airlines and FF programs you use (and it can become a hobby [or an obsession]), so do that if you want, or just work out a plan that works for you and stick to it.

[MassageAdam]

I love AMEX but hardly anyone takes it when I go to Europe or Mexico... so I switched to Chase Sapphire

[John]

I wouldn't say "hardly anyone" takes AMEX, but many do reject it.  I pay cash a lot.  I get cash from machines with a Schwab debit card that refunds all fees.

[MassageAdam]

The places I went to, "hardly anyone" took it... so that has been my experience..... does that mean its a fact, no... but I'm literally just stating my experience.. chill

[mike carey]

23 minutes ago, MassageAdam said:

The places I went to, "hardly anyone" took it... so that has been my experience..... does that mean its a fact, no... but I'm literally just stating my experience.. chill

Quite so.

There are places that do and those that don't. As I have mentioned, I have an Amex card and others for places that don't accept Amex. It's not a 'one or the other' thing. If the 'other' cards have transferable points that's a bonus, if you have to use one that is tied to an airline or other loyalty program, so be it.

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

I prefer cash rewards, so I'm not restricted to redeem with a particular hotel brand, cruise line, or airline.  I pay for almost all my travel with a Costco VISA, which gives 3% cash back on travel and includes rental car and travel protection (haven't needed it yet, but it's nice to know it's there).

I also have 1 credit card each of American Express, Discover, Matter Card, and Visa to make sure I'm covered by all the major networks in an emergency.  Each card is issued by a different bank, in case one bank temporarily suspends an account due to fraud or financial troubles on the part of the bank.

[mike carey]

On 10/25/2022 at 11:13 AM, Vegas_nw1982 said:

I prefer cash rewards, so I'm not restricted to redeem with a particular hotel brand, cruise line, or airline.  I pay for almost all my travel with a Costco VISA, which gives 3% cash back on travel and includes rental car and travel protection (haven't needed it yet, but it's nice to know it's there).

I also have 1 credit card each of American Express, Discover, Matter Card, and Visa to make sure I'm covered by all the major networks in an emergency.  Each card is issued by a different bank, in case one bank temporarily suspends an account due to fraud or financial troubles on the part of the bank.

I balance the cash rewards against the value of points, and it's not simple to do that. I make my own decisions, some are rational some are not. I have heaps of points in several programs, and these things affect what I do. I'll earn points from all sorts of things and I'll chase them!