What do you think the best travel card is for me? Opinions please.

[Anonymous]

Bonuses for IHG, Hyatt, and Delta Gold only require $1k spend each over a three month period.

Whether you'd get any value from "free" annual nights and checked bags, I don't know.

[Anonymous]

thanks for all the repllies. it just reconfirmed my feelings about (not) getting a dedicated travel card. im almost in the same situation as the OP - not enough monthly spend for a 1 or 2 int'l travel every 2 yrs. 

[elim]

I think with the low regular spend , you might wait until you foresee a large purchase or med bill. Then churn for a bonus (if you're into that sort of thing).  

Maybe grab a CITI HHonors for the 75k/2k no-AF bonus out now.

points are points...  you can spend $25,000 on a 2% card over a couple years for 50k miles/points, or you can spend a few thousand in a few months for the same (bonus), then do it again.   just need the time to recuperate.

[Anonymous]

I also want to thank you all for your replies. I was about to post the same question OP. I'm so glad to know that my spending won't justify those travel rewards cards.

[Dj4Money]

  I'm not sure I agree. I live at home, my bills total $880 and realistically can only put about $400 through a card. I have a QS1 and already made my annual fee, but. I put my ticket to Brazil on it ($550) but that was it.

  I am going to get a travel card, likely the Venture. I can justfy traveling more with it. Some people might not like that idea, but can easily spend $1,000 and PIF if nessasary, it just won't come strictly from bill pay which is the preferred method.

 Also I will be properly financing one of my business ideas. So again I can justfy the spending needed to not only reach the bonus but spending on things I need to make the business profitable ASAP, IE a income producing asset.

 I'll be returning to Brazil later this year. I would like to take advantage of the mileage (12,000) which I wasn't able too last time.

[Anonymous]

$3k-$4k a year is not insignificant travel spend. If you're going to travel, anyway, why not get a bank to pay for some of it?

There's a lot of middle ground between being an aggressive bonus hunter and refusing to get any card you think you might possibly later close.

Besides, a lot of people who fear AFs and don't go for travel bonuses end up closing their low-earning cards (or let them go inactive) when they find they aren't very useful. Account age suffers, either way.

[redpat]

Get CO Venture 40k sign-up bonus then combine into your QS before AF and you just saved $400 for your trip, then your back from where you started from.

[Dj4Money]

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@Anonymous wrote:

$3k-$4k a year is not insignificant travel spend. If you're going to travel, anyway, why not get a bank to pay for some of it?

There's a lot of middle ground between being an aggressive bonus hunter and refusing to get any card you think you might possibly later close.

Besides, a lot of people who fear AFs and don't go for travel bonuses end up closing their low-earning cards (or let them go inactive) when they find they aren't very useful. Account age suffers, either way.

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  Agreed!

 Most methods of Manufactured Spending have been defeated or have become more difficult and likely not worth it anymore.

 I've seen/heard the new trend is taking very short trips, spending close to the time you spend on the ground in the air with long range flights. Understandable to collect the miles, but not even remotely viable for people that work normal jobs.

 You'll just have to spend the money up front now to gain the mileage to get the airline credits on the back end. 

 There are plenty of cheap destinations, why go to Vegas for a weekend? For slightly more you can take a cruise and gamble in international waters. In SoCal flights to Mexico City are usually not more than $250 R/T, Costa Rica about $500, usually less, Dominican Republic is about the same.

 Most travel cards will reimburse Global Entry as well which great if you travel more; you'll defiantly want it to shorten your time leaving/re-entering the US.

 The $59 AF on the Venture isn't bad especially if I can PC my QS1 to QS or WMC and eventually upgrade my other cards to no annual fee cards.

[kdm31091]

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@Dj4Money wrote:

  I'm not sure I agree. I live at home, my bills total $880 and realistically can only put about $400 through a card. I have a QS1 and already made my annual fee, but. I put my ticket to Brazil on it ($550) but that was it.

  I am going to get a travel card, likely the Venture. I can justfy traveling more with it. Some people might not like that idea, but can easily spend $1,000 and PIF if nessasary, it just won't come strictly from bill pay which is the preferred method.

 Also I will be properly financing one of my business ideas. So again I can justfy the spending needed to not only reach the bonus but spending on things I need to make the business profitable ASAP, IE a income producing asset.

 I'll be returning to Brazil later this year. I would like to take advantage of the mileage (12,000) which I wasn't able too last time.

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Right, but Venture isn't a "travel card". Putting the same spend through a Double Cash or Fidelity Visa would get the same exact return, only you can spend it on whatever you want, not just travel.

My point is that the "real" travel cards, like say an Aadvantage card or Hyatt or whatever, require you to actually spend on them fairly decent amounts if you want enough points to actually get anything (beyond the bonus).

If OP wants to use a signup bonus for their one trip per year that's fine -- but I stand by my opinion that they won't be able to gain much from travel programs through ordinary spending otherwise.

[Shooting-For-800]

Venture or Quicksilver