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Which Card to Use for Travel: AmEx BCE or Chase Freedom?

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lg8302ch
Senior Contributor

Re: Which Card to Use for Travel: AmEx BCE or Chase Freedom?

Congrats! You are going to like that card Smiley Happy .. and see you in the garden 

Message 21 of 28
HiLine
Blogger

Re: Which Card to Use for Travel: AmEx BCE or Chase Freedom?


@recordaras wrote:

Gah, so much for gardening. Smiley Sad

Pulled the trigger - instant approval for 5K, my highest limit yet.

Now definitely no more cards for a very, very long time.

 

In any case, thanks to everyone for the advice! As much as I didn't want to open any more cards, having to deal with cash and outrageous ATM transaction fees in the absence of a chip card turned out to be an even less desirable option. If it wasn't for you guys, I wouldn't have thought of it.


I assume you applied for the BofA Travel Rewars card? It's one of my favorite cards! Congratulations!

Message 22 of 28
recordaras
Valued Member

Re: Which Card to Use for Travel: AmEx BCE or Chase Freedom?

Thanks once again! It is the BankAmericard Travel Rewards. I was honestly 110% sure I'd get denied, and yet they not only approved me, but were more than generous with the credit limit! 

 

Is it a good idea to let them know I'm going to be traveling (so they don't flag the card as suspicous), or does the travel card presume that it's going to get used all over the world?

BoA Secured $500 (closed) | OneStopPlus $900 | Chase Amazon $4600 (AU) | Amex BCE $6000 |
Chase Freedom $3000 | BoA TravelRewards Signature Visa $5000 | CSP $17 000 | BCP $27 000
Building credit since 04/2011 | CreditKarma 763 | CreditSesame 795 | Gardening since 01/31/2014
Message 23 of 28
HiLine
Blogger

Re: Which Card to Use for Travel: AmEx BCE or Chase Freedom?

Yes you should tell them. Only takes you a minute but buys you peace of mind.

Message 24 of 28
recordaras
Valued Member

Re: Which Card to Use for Travel: AmEx BCE or Chase Freedom?


@HiLine wrote:

Yes you should tell them. Only takes you a minute but buys you peace of mind.


Will do then. Smiley Happy 

BoA Secured $500 (closed) | OneStopPlus $900 | Chase Amazon $4600 (AU) | Amex BCE $6000 |
Chase Freedom $3000 | BoA TravelRewards Signature Visa $5000 | CSP $17 000 | BCP $27 000
Building credit since 04/2011 | CreditKarma 763 | CreditSesame 795 | Gardening since 01/31/2014
Message 25 of 28
lg8302ch
Senior Contributor

Re: Which Card to Use for Travel: AmEx BCE or Chase Freedom?

Yes you definitely want to call BofA and let them know you are travelling. But even with the travel alert be prepared that the card could get blocked. Have the phone number ready and they will instanly open it again. This is with ALL US cards. I have called numerous times to unblock Discover even with travel warning. It even blocked my card within the US. The use in two cities within a 4 hrs time range (New York and Miami) also got a fraud alert and the cards got blocked. But I have been told the card will be "learning" and it should get better. This I can confirm as my BofA card does not require me to call for the use in Europe and US anymore. But when travelling to Asia I definitely call. But with new cards you will need to pay attention. Your profile has to be generated first. 

Have a nice and safe trip Smiley Happy 

Message 26 of 28
ukimafija
Regular Contributor

Re: Which Card to Use for Travel: AmEx BCE or Chase Freedom?

I just came back from Europe, i was out 45 days, I used BOA Travel rewards everywhere no issues, a really great cc to have for traveling abroad, although i also had my Capital one cash rewards cc which also doesn't have FTF, cap one is much more  sensitive for various transactions and they think they are suspicious so I got a call them, BOFA it was a sweet ride all the way....

BOA Cash Rewards Visa Sig. 12K; BOA Travel Rewards Visa Sig 5K, US Bank Cash+ 11.5K, AMEX BCE 6200, AMEX BLUE Sky 7K, Chase Freedom Visa Sig. 5400, Fort Knox FCU Visa Platinum 2500; CAP ONE Cash Rewards WORLD MC 5K

Starting Score: 580
Current Score: 747
Goal Score: 800+


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Message 27 of 28
recordaras
Valued Member

Re: Which Card to Use for Travel: AmEx BCE or Chase Freedom?

It's great to hear that everyone is liking this card so much. I was reading up on chip&PIN vs chip&sign this morning, and was about to go into panic mode, as a lot of articles say that the chip&sign is vastly inferior to the "true" chip&pin. 

We also agreed that I would add my partner and it would be our designated travel card - he does a lot of travel for work (company reimbursed), so that should bring in a nice influx of reward points. 

 

Also, this morning I logged in to my account and saw that they are actually giving me a Signature Visa card! *happy dance*

Super excited about the free CDW rental insurance (in Europe that's something along the lines of 15-20EUR/day extra) and getting to play around with the concierge service. I looked through the hotels, most seemed on the "out of our budget" side, but maybe off-season there will be something interesting. 

 

 

BoA Secured $500 (closed) | OneStopPlus $900 | Chase Amazon $4600 (AU) | Amex BCE $6000 |
Chase Freedom $3000 | BoA TravelRewards Signature Visa $5000 | CSP $17 000 | BCP $27 000
Building credit since 04/2011 | CreditKarma 763 | CreditSesame 795 | Gardening since 01/31/2014
Message 28 of 28
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