Is the Amex Platinum the best card out to earn pts on flights and hotel?

[Anonymous]

For someone that books a lot of flights and hotels, is the Amex Platinum card earning 5x pts on flights and hotels still currently the only card out that earns the most points for those in the credit world? I have the amex plat but I was wondering if there are any other cards out there worth applying for in terms of gaining pts for these categories. I also find booking hotels directly with amex travel not as bad as people say, what I do is research and compare the hotel and price I want online, even if its the cheapest and then I target my search for that specific same one through amex travel to book for 5x pts. 

So besides the platinum, are there any cards that earn you the best return in terms of points for flights and hotels?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

For someone that books a lot of flights and hotels, is the Amex Platinum card earning 5x pts on flights and hotels still currently the only card out that earns the most points for those in the credit world? I have the amex plat but I was wondering if there are any other cards out there worth applying for in terms of gaining pts for these categories. I also find booking hotels directly with amex travel not as bad as people say, what I do is research and compare the hotel and price I want online, even if its the cheapest and then I target my search for that specific same one through amex travel to book for 5x pts. 

So besides the platinum, are there any cards that earn you the best return in terms of points for flights and hotels?

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In terms of points, it seems that the Platinum is much better than the CSR or Citi Prestige, but in terms of overall value, the CSR at this point in time is the superior travel card. 

[Anonymous]

That or Business Platinum where you can also earn 35% points back on business/first flights and any flights on your pre-selected airline. Sometimes it is better to transfer points, but sometimes it is better with the 35% bonus. Depends on the flight.

Otherwise I don't know of any other card that earns 5x or 5% everyday on flights/hotels.

[MrDisco99]

For travel points hoarders, the general purpose cards of choice seem to be the Amex Platinum and the Chase Sapphire Reserve.  Both offer some generous travel perks and generous rewards earning rates (especially in combo with other cards for everyday purchases) in exchange for some hefty annual fees.  Which combo you go with really kinda depends on how much of a frequent traveler you are, which transfer partners you perfer, and what the specific perks are worth to you.

CSR's response to Amex's 5x on flights and amextravel.com is 3x on a pretty wide travel category (includes things like gas, metrocards, etc.). Plus, if you have a Freedom card, 5x category points can be transferred to your CSR, or 1.5x on everything with Freedom Unlimited.  Travel transfer partners are somewhat different between Amex and Chase, with some overlap, so that may play into your decision as well.  Keep in mind most airlines allow you to redeem points for codeshare flights, so while Chase doesn't let you transfer points to Delta SkyMiles, you can book flights on Delta metal through Korean or Air France, too.  It helps to shop around for which airline gives you the best point value for what may be the same flight.

I think the consensus is that CSR is a lot more flexible on points earning and redemption, and offers more broadly useful perks, making it a better overall value, while Amex plat is a better value if your purchases happen to fall into their specific targets (e.g. up to $200 Uber credit).

[driftless]

I think that it depends on your travel preferences and location.  We fly out of O'Hare and use United for almost all of our flights.  So, for us, CSR's 3% is better than Amex's 5% as we can use those ur points for United later.  

[Anonymous]

Ditto to what everyone else is saying. The only other that comes close is the CSR. In terms of vaule of MR vs. UR points, they're pretty close (TPG currently values UR points at 2.2 per point and MR at 2 per point when transferred to partners) I'm an avid traveler as well so have both the Plat and CSR as I like to earn a healthy mix or both MR and UR points. Here's how I use both cards for travel:

Airfare: Plat when booked directly with airline (5X), CSR when booked through 3rd party (4.5X)

Hotels: CSR as I've yet to find a stellar deal on Amex site. It's not bad, I just find better deals elsewhere (4.5X). I especially like hotels.com's reward program

Rental Car: CSR (4.5X), mainly for the primary CWD

Misc travel expenses: CSR (4.5X)

Special Perks:

 - Priority Pass access: CSR

 - Centurion Lounge access: AMEX Plat

 - Hilton and SPG gold status: AMEX Plat

 - Primary rental car insurance: CSR

 - Concierge: AMEX Plat

 - Fine Hotel and Resorts Collection - Plat and CSR

 - $200 Uber credit: AMEX Plat

 - $300 travel credit: CSR

 - $200 airline credit: AMEX Plat

I definately put the majority of spend through Chase (CSR/Freedom/FU) and more or less keep my Plat for the perks it comes with. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Ditto to what everyone else is saying. The only other that comes close is the CSR. In terms of vaule of MR vs. UR points, they're pretty close (TPG currently values UR points at 2.2 per point and MR at 2 per point when transferred to partners) I'm an avid traveler as well so have both the Plat and CSR as I like to earn a healthy mix or both MR and UR points. Here's how I use both cards for travel:

Airfare: Plat when booked directly with airline (5X), CSR when booked through 3rd party (4.5X)

Hotels: CSR as I've yet to find a stellar deal on Amex site. It's not bad, I just find better deals elsewhere (4.5X). I especially like hotels.com's reward program

Rental Car: CSR (4.5X), mainly for the primary CWD

Misc travel expenses: CSR (4.5X)

Special Perks:

 - Priority Pass access: CSR

 - Centurion Lounge access: AMEX Plat

 - Hilton and SPG gold status: AMEX Plat

 - Primary rental car insurance: CSR

 - Concierge: AMEX Plat

 - Fine Hotel and Resorts Collection - Plat and CSR

 - $200 Uber credit: AMEX Plat

 - $300 travel credit: CSR

 - $200 airline credit: AMEX Plat

I definately put the majority of spend through Chase (CSR/Freedom/FU) and more or less keep my Plat for the perks it comes with. 

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Nice breakdown! 

[wasCB14]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Ditto to what everyone else is saying. The only other that comes close is the CSR. In terms of vaule of MR vs. UR points, they're pretty close (TPG currently values UR points at 2.2 per point and MR at 2 per point when transferred to partners) I'm an avid traveler as well so have both the Plat and CSR as I like to earn a healthy mix or both MR and UR points. Here's how I use both cards for travel:

Airfare: Plat when booked directly with airline (5X), CSR when booked through 3rd party (4.5X)

Hotels: CSR as I've yet to find a stellar deal on Amex site. It's not bad, I just find better deals elsewhere (4.5X). I especially like hotels.com's reward program

Rental Car: CSR (4.5X), mainly for the primary CWD

Misc travel expenses: CSR (4.5X)

Special Perks:

 - Priority Pass access: CSR

 - Centurion Lounge access: AMEX Plat

 - Hilton and SPG gold status: AMEX Plat

 - Primary rental car insurance: CSR

 - Concierge: AMEX Plat

 - Fine Hotel and Resorts Collection - Plat and CSR

 - $200 Uber credit: AMEX Plat

 - $300 travel credit: CSR

 - $200 airline credit: AMEX Plat

I definately put the majority of spend through Chase (CSR/Freedom/FU) and more or less keep my Plat for the perks it comes with. 

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Nice breakdown! 

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FH&R is an Amex program, but CSR offers something similar. In practice, Chase's equivalent is (or, at least, used to be) also accessible with a CSP or a few other Chase cards.

Platinum offers Priority Pass with one free guest. CSR has no limit on the number of PP guests, though some lounges may impose a limit. Also, some lounges that are officially in the Priority Pass program just don't accept it when they get even moderately crowded. It's not a rare event.

Platinum offers Delta SkyClub access ($29 if you want to bring in a guest), as well as Airspace (I think guests are free) and International Amex lounges.

I use Platinum for comfort perks but book more travel with Prestige for the insurance perks.  I'll take 3x TYs plus delay insurance over 5x MRs.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

For someone that books a lot of flights and hotels, is the Amex Platinum card earning 5x pts on flights and hotels still currently the only card out that earns the most points for those in the credit world? I have the amex plat but I was wondering if there are any other cards out there worth applying for in terms of gaining pts for these categories. I also find booking hotels directly with amex travel not as bad as people say, what I do is research and compare the hotel and price I want online, even if its the cheapest and then I target my search for that specific same one through amex travel to book for 5x pts. 

So besides the platinum, are there any cards that earn you the best return in terms of points for flights and hotels?

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For air ticket, maybe, but there are risks:

            1. trip delay (CSR gets compensation after 6H, Prestige after only 3H, Platinum lets you cover any cost yourself), delay once could wipe out "5pts" from quite a few trips.

            2. there are some infinite cards that give $100 off 2 RT tickets, many economy domestic tickets could benefit more from this than 5pts

For hotels, likely a poor choice:

             If one choose the cheapest brand that works for your location/time then priceline and similar sites will likely save you more than 5pt/$

             If one have one or two fav brands and choose among them then the brands' card + membership return can easily beat more than 5pt/$ (For example, Marriott gives 17 to 20pt/$ for various levels of members paying using any marriott card) and by booking directly you are guaranteed any other member 'benefits'.

             One exception is FHR which is almost like paying a bit more for mid /upper level member 'benefits' for certain hotels, but AMEX is competent enough to realize this exception and has set the rule to exclude FHR bookings from 5X