Best CC for travel rewards?

[Dw4250]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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I wouldn't consider Chip&Sig EMV (as on BOA) a factor at all, really very little advantage over swipe.  

Also note CSP has the annual fee waived for the first year.  (And, with a little creativity, spending $3k can cost $37 out of pocket, while earning 3000 more UR points)

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Hi longtime-

I should have included the main reason I opted not to go for the CSP or Arrival (AF) is I didn't want to have to do another large minimum spend.  BOA is $500/3mos, whereas either CSP or Arrival would be $3000/3mos.  Also I did run into a couple places in France last summer (not in Paris) that did not take swipe, and it was minor headache getting it to go through (the manager ended up keying in manually).  So I did want to have one card that had an EMV...

Anyway, I was trying to lay out some different options for the OP.  But I agree...overall the CSP is definitely a better card (and BTW OP, the Sapphire Preferred also has EMV).   At some point down the road, I may end up getting it (esp to work in conjunction with my Freedom!).  But based on my current needs, BOA Travel Rewards is just fine.

[jumpinjax]

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@FocusKato wrote:

Hello,

I was wondering if any of you could recomend a good credit card for travel rewards. I am do not travel a lot but I try to take a trip at least once a year. It would be nice to save up reward miles for some free flights for when I do travel. I would prefer a card with no fee and the miles do not expire. Thanks!

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Go with BOA Travel Rewards, they have above average cs, and the chip/signature feature is good for travel.  Although I wish for a chip and pin card for ease of use at overseas kiosks.

[longtimelurker]

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@jumpinjax wrote:

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Go with BOA Travel Rewards, they have above average cs, and the chip/signature feature is good for travel.  Although I wish for a chip and pin card for ease of use at overseas kiosks.

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Hopefully later this year more cards will be true chip&pin.   While there are a few places where chip&sig works when swipe doesn't, chip&pin is just much more useful in Europe, even for convenience.  In supermarkets people have to scramble to find pens etc and often don't know what to do, as chip&pin is what everyone else is using.

But currently, not many good options, my Penfed card is chip&sig priority, so I ended up using my UK debit card in some places just for speed!

[zeedakay]

I sometimes forget there are global consumers in this forum lol. I'm not aware of any US based chip and pin cards? 

[longtimelurker]

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@zeedakay wrote:

I sometimes forget there are global consumers in this forum lol. I'm not aware of any US based chip and pin cards? 

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There are a handful of US chip&pin.  I think USAA has a "real" one.   A number of credit unions, all using the same supplier, such as Penfed,  offer a chip&pin card, which defaults to chip&sig, but, if necessary, will fall back to chip&pin.   That provides the needed functionality, but it's annoying (in a supermarket again) to suddenly have to sign when everyone else just enters a PIN.   In addition, these cards cannot have their pin changed (in an ATM or anywhere).

But Chase claims a number of their cards will soon be chip&pin.  I hope it is chip&pin priority rather than the CU model

[zeedakay]

Interesting, thanks for the info