IIRC, doesn't AMEX have a website for members to determine if they are preapproved for certain products with only a soft pull?
I'm thinking of apping for another AMEX for travel benefits. I have the blue cash, but want a card that gives me excellent rewards on air travel and hotel stays. I don't fly the same airline all the time and am not loyal to one brand of hotel. Any suggestions?
I'm going AMEX to avoid the new account ding.
[eta] I'm looking at the Hilton HHonors, but I generally don't choose which airline i fly or which hotel I stay at when i travel for work. I'm still having trouble locating the preapproval page. Maybe that means that I'm not preapproved for anything.
Does anyone have any input, good or bad on the HHonors? I would most likely never be able to sustain $20,000 a year spent on it to maintain the Gold VIP status, what benefits do Silver and Gold levels include? I'm trying to figure if it's even worth the hassle of paying the $75 annual fee, and have to worry about getting at least one free night a year to break even on the AF.
Starting Score: EQ: 665 - TU: 687
@thrasher865 wrote:IIRC, doesn't AMEX have a website for members to determine if they are preapproved for certain products with only a soft pull?
I'm thinking of apping for another AMEX for travel benefits. I have the blue cash, but want a card that gives me excellent rewards on air travel and hotel stays. I don't fly the same airline all the time and am not loyal to one brand of hotel. Any suggestions?
I'm going AMEX to avoid the new account ding.
The Starwood Preferred Guest card might be a good option. Even if you aren't loyal to SPG properties, you can transfer your starwood points to most airlines at a 1:1 ratio. United and Continental are the two US exceptions that jump to mind, they are 2 starpoints:1 mile. The points don't transfer instantly, so that is something to keep in mind in terms of trying to book award travel.
I like the Amex PR Gold card. It has a higher annual fee and less airline partners, but the points transfer instantly. And when you consider the carrier alliances, there are more redemption options than would appear at first glance.
Thanks, I'll look into those. What is the AF on those cards?
PR Gold looks feasible, too. If it were 3x points on hotels, instead of just airlines, then it would be the frontrunner. I don't fly but on occasion. Usually, I drive, so the hotel points are much more important to me.
SPG is $65 waived for first year. If you will be able to run $15K of spend through it in 6 months, apply through the SPG site instead of Amex's site. Amex's site (at least when I check it) only offers 10K bonus points at activation (or on first purchase or something like that), but at spg.com, they offer an additional 15K bonus points if you spend $15K in 6 months.
Amex PR Gold card is $175, also waived for fist year. The card gives you 3x points on airfair, 2x on gas and groceries, 1x on everything else. There is also a 15K bonus if you spend $30K annually. If you don't put that much through the card, I'm not sure the AF is justified. But you could try it out free for the first year.
ETA: If hotel points are more important, look at the Hilton HHonors card (not the Surpass). It has no AF. Also, check out SPG's cash and points system. It's a pretty good value for hotel redemption. I don't think the PR Gold is very good for hotel redemption because the points don't transfer into hotel programs at a 1:1 rate.
I was looking at the HHonors Surpass card, then realized that there was a plain jane HHonors card with no AF and immediately pulled the trigger. It was approved instantly, we'll see what the limit is "in 7 to 10 days."
Thanks for the help. I'll be out of town for three weeks straight in two weeks, Atlanta for one and Chicago for two. That's why the itchy trigger finger. I want to get the card before I leave. Maybe with the sign up bonus and all this travel I will be able to earn some free nights for my vacation this summer! I think what really swayed me was that I can get 3X points on the HHonors with everyday spending as well. Even though this won't be my every day spending card, I will run all expensable items through it while out of town and maybe some of that will qualify for bonus points.
I never could figure out if i was preapproved for any cards, but was never informed of a hard pull, so we'll see. I went to the "preapproval link" that I found on these forums, and there were like 20 cards listed, but I never saw the words preapproved anywhere, and I assumed that this was just a list of all their cards.
[edit] Just saw that they did hard Experian, but that's my only inquiry on Experian in the past 2 years, so I'm not too worried about it. I am going to make them give me a CLI on my Blue Cash to make it up to me 
@thrasher865 wrote:
I never could figure out if i was preapproved for any cards, but was never informed of a hard pull, so we'll see. I went to the "preapproval link" that I found on these forums, and there were like 20 cards listed, but I never saw the words preapproved anywhere, and I assumed that this was just a list of all their cards.
[edit] Just saw that they did hard Experian, but that's my only inquiry on Experian in the past 2 years, so I'm not too worried about it. I am going to make them give me a CLI on my Blue Cash to make it up to me
The pre-approval function behaves weirdly if you are already a member. Most of the time when I look at it, it just lists all their cards with no pre-approvals. Occasionally, I'll be pre-approved for all of the charge products and variously the Hilton Surpass and Blue Sky Preferred cards. It's pretty clearly indicated when the pre-approvals appear, so you probably didn't have any.
Also, not sure I understand you about the hard pull. The hard inquiry would be from your application for the new card. You would have received that even if you had seen a pre-approval. Seeing what you're pre-approved for does not result in a hard pull, but actually applying will be a hard inquiry.
Anyway, congrats on the card.
Oh, I was under the impression that if you were preapproved for an AMEX, there was no hard pull involved in accepting it. I guess that's only PenFed.
Has anyone ever had any luck while using the HHonors to get free upgrades? I have read that you can get free upgrades if you're polite at hotels even without using a rewards program, so I'm wondering if being an HHonors member ever allows anyone a little extra pull to get free upgrades, even though I don't think it's specifically outlined as a benefit of the VIP Silver status.
I am a Diamond Member and have the Citi Hhonors card. I get free upgrades, internet, breakfast and concierge service everywhere I go. They really do take care of you at Hilton! The good thing with them is their point saver program using Hilton Points. I have stayed at Homewood Suits in San Diego for only 21000 points and Hamptons for only 15000. I suggest you only use your points for hotel stays. Hilton points have an AWEFUL transfer rate. It also costs far too much to buy anything else on their site with points. For example an Ipod Nano is over 100,000 points. But if you only use your points at point saver hotels, you are in good shape. Otherwise the starpoints program stomps the Hilton.
Thanks, RHAL
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that Starwood points only "stomp" HHonors if you fly frequently, due to the 1:1 points transfer to partner airlines. I mainly drive around the Southeast, and only fly when I go somewhere in the Midwest or further, like Chicago, so I'm more interested in the hotels. It seems that on the HHonors card, points will add up quicker with everyday spending. I do like the Starwood stay 2 nights, get the 3rd free, but I wonder how hard it is to find a "participating hotel" that is convenient to your destination.
It's just the same with HHonors, though. I can't find any point saver participating hotels convenient to me.
DOH!!! I'm an idiot. I just saw if you apply for the HHonors AMEX through Hilton, rather than through AMEX, you get not only the 20,000 points on first purchase, but another 30,000 points if you spend $500 in your first 3 months. I didn't see this on the AMEX site, so I'm assuming that this offer is only if applied for through the Hilton website. 
That's equivalent to like $5000 worth of purchases!
The merchandise store with Hilton is wicked expensive. 14000 points for a 25$ gift card. Comparatively, starpoints is 2500 for a 25$ gift card. Like I said, hilton is only good for hotel stays and that is it. It is 10000 points for every 1000 miles to tranfer. Thats terrible, and that is their best transfer partner rate. I am not knocking hilton though, because every time I have wanted to use points I was able to utilize the point saver program. They always give me a free upgrade to a suite as well. I use AMEX PR Gold to tranfer to airlines and book flights with points. I am thinking of either switching from the AMEX gold to the Starpoint or the Travelocity for flights once my scores boost up a bit. They seem to be the best for flights. I am sorry you missed out on the points... Give em a call and see what they say about that.