topic Best CC for Airline miles on the market right now... in Credit Cards

Best CC for Airline miles on the market right now...

Anonymous — Sun, 03 Jan 2016 22:51:27 GMT

My Gf is looking for the best card on the market. she will be using her card to pay all bills and then pay of credit card off before the due date.. she wants to travel this year, so she wants the best card out there. any info will help thanks.

Re: Best CC for Airline miles on the market right now...

Mattopotamus — Sun, 03 Jan 2016 22:57:09 GMT

Either the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Citi Prestige. Don't let the annual fee on the prestige scare you, it comes with an annual $250 airline credit. Just compare those cards side by side and see what fits her needs best.

Re: Best CC for Airline miles on the market right now...

Anonymous — Sun, 03 Jan 2016 23:00:06 GMT

@Mattopotamus wrote:
Either the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Citi Prestige. Don't let the annual fee on the prestige scare you, it comes with an annual $250 airline credit. Just compare those cards side by side and see what fits her needs best.

Well, I would also take into account which airlines she flies (and/or hotels she stays in) to make sure that they are good transfer partners for those cards.

Re: Best CC for Airline miles on the market right now...

elim — Sun, 03 Jan 2016 23:06:32 GMT

What's her monthly CC spend? Scores? What U.S. airline do you guys fly mostly? Will you be doing most travel in the states or overseas?

Re: Best CC for Airline miles on the market right now...

Anonymous — Sun, 03 Jan 2016 23:26:07 GMT

Credit scores and monthly spend with categories please, also inquiries would be helpful.

I would suggest anything Chase UR, Citi TYP, Citigold checking, Amex Prg/Delta combo (100k miles and $250 flying credit after 2k spend and 1 experian inquiry)

If we are talking someone who can spend 2-3 grand a month or more on a card, open a few cards. Get the bonuses.

Re: Best CC for Airline miles on the market right now...

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 01:01:55 GMT

Her transunion score is 755. she has 2 credit cards VS and Quicksilver. 1 inquiry and she spends around 200 a month using her CC but she always pays it off.. we are looking at traveling in the states for now. i told her if she does get a card to make sure to pay all bills including rent with the card and then pay off the card before the cut off date which she will.

Re: Best CC for Airline miles on the market right now...

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 01:49:22 GMT

Which airlines are you loyal to?

Re: Best CC for Airline miles on the market right now...

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 02:31:01 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Her transunion score is 755. she has 2 credit cards VS and Quicksilver. 1 inquiry and she spends around 200 a month using her CC but she always pays it off.. we are looking at traveling in the states for now. i told her if she does get a card to make sure to pay all bills including rent with the card and then pay off the card before the cut off date which she will.

well it would work to open some cards for bonuses.... SPG has a higher point value with lots of flexibility unlimited boingo wifi etc.... could pair that with a PRG for 50k MR points that transfer to delta. just remember to not spread yourself too thin.... never use a debit card unless you have to. reddit churning is a good place to look, also to figure out a points trip, thepointsguy is great, flyertalk, onemileatatime, etc..... many savvy users here post bonuses, but I like to mix with other sites, and use this one as more of a place for an approval checklist...chase cobranded cards seem to be pretty easy to get.... I'd say CSP+airline card, maybe pair that with an amex cc+charge card.

but truth be told post bonuses...it isnt going to make a ton of sense to always spend a percent fee to pay rent and stuff to earn miles and pay an annual fee..... How much can she spend a month on CC as described?

Re: Best CC for Airline miles on the market right now...

myjourney — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 02:35:47 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Her transunion score is 755. she has 2 credit cards VS and Quicksilver. 1 inquiry and she spends around 200 a month using her CC but she always pays it off.. we are looking at traveling in the states for now. i told her if she does get a card to make sure to pay all bills including rent with the card and then pay off the card before the cut off date which she will.

All good reward travel/airline cards carry an AF and at $200 a month spend no AF cashback cards are in her best interest at this point and even at $200 a month on those rewards will be very low yearly

Re: Best CC for Airline miles on the market right now...

CreditScholar — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 04:40:14 GMT

@myjourney wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Her transunion score is 755. she has 2 credit cards VS and Quicksilver. 1 inquiry and she spends around 200 a month using her CC but she always pays it off.. we are looking at traveling in the states for now. i told her if she does get a card to make sure to pay all bills including rent with the card and then pay off the card before the cut off date which she will.
All good reward travel/airline cards carry an AF and at $200 a month spend no AF cashback cards are in her best interest at this point and even at $200 a month on those rewards will be very low yearly

+1. She really doesn't spend enough to justify a card with an AF.

I'd suggest looking at a no AF cash back card, or a card that has ongoing benefits which will help offset the AF (free bags on Citi AA or United Explorer, Hyatt or IHG for free nights, etc.)

She'd need to spend at least $15,000 per year (or $1250 a month) to offset a card with an $100 AF, assuming each point/mile earnt is worth 2cpp (and that's a pretty generous valuation that only holds for SPG and UR). This is when compared against a 2% no AF cash back card.

Re: Best CC for Airline miles on the market right now...

elim — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 03:59:28 GMT

At $200 a month she can earn 2400 points per year (about 24 bucks). Your best bet is to Apply when you have $3000 in spend planned (a large item, Christmas, etc.) and churn a card for it. Keeping it after a year will lose money.

Hard to find a deal on paying rent with a CC that does'nt charge a fee that is more than the rewards earned for the transaction.

Re: Best CC for Airline miles on the market right now...

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 04:44:27 GMT

she really hates to use credit cards. she pays everything off asap. i had to convice her in order to get a better score she needs a credit card or two and use them every once in a while ... just to pick up her credit score.. shes very hesitant still but ive convncied her to get a card pay off her bills with the card and just pay off the card every month.. we arent loyal to any airlines so shes deciding on whatever a better card, deal on not just airlines but hotels etc...

Re: Best CC for Airline miles on the market right now...

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 05:43:02 GMT

For low levels of spend, pure cash back is better. At $200 per month she is getting maybe 3,000 miles at best (assuming some bonused but mostly unbonused spend), which is maybe $60 in airfare per year. Figure out how many years it will take just for a single ticket, and you'll see why she may just be better off with a Quicksilver with no minimum redemption, no annual fee, and no FTF.

Re: Best CC for Airline miles on the market right now...

takeshi74 — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 14:08:07 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
My Gf is looking for the best card on the market. she will be using her card to pay all bills and then pay of credit card off before the due date.. she wants to travel this year, so she wants the best card out there.

Best is always highly subjective. For what airline(s)? For what spending categories? Is she only interested in miles? Do other benefits (free checked bags, priority boarding, etc) matter? Always be very specific about needs/wants and don't rely on "best". If one airline card was best then we'd all use that card.

@Anonymous wrote:
Her transunion score is 755.

Which scoring model? Is this a FICO 8? VantageScore? TransUnion New Account? Don't assume that all scores are the same. Always consider scoring model and CRA. Also keep in mind that not all creditors use the same model and CRA. Even without knowing the scoring model, this score won't be relevant to creditors that use EQ or EX.

@Anonymous wrote:
she spends around 200 a month using her CC

$200/mo really isn't much spend for a travel rewards card. She may be better suited to a cash back card.

@Anonymous wrote:
she really hates to use credit cards.

There a lot of people like that. However, if one wants to leverage rewards then one needs to keep in mind that rewards are a small percentage of spend. If spend starts out small then rewards will be minimal. Run the numbers for her spend to see what she could stand to earn. It's very straightforward with cash back cards. It's a bit more involved for earning and redeeming for airline rewards but it can be done. Take her spend, consider the earn rate on a potential card, consider transfers if required and then look at the airline's redemptions. How long would it take her with $200/mo spend to earn enough to redeem for a reward? Even without running the numbers I can guesstimate that it will be a long time with that spend.

@Anonymous wrote:
we arent loyal to any airlines so shes deciding on whatever a better card, deal on not just airlines but hotels etc...

Again, better is always highly subjective. The airlines and hotels that she will redeem with absolutely play an important role in this matter. Without specific needs/wants we really can't provide any meaningful feedback and it's up to you to consider and evaulate the options out there. However, you're not going to get anywhere until you have sorted out your needs/wants to use as criteria to narrow down the options.

Re: Best CC for Airline miles on the market right now...

happypill — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 16:47:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Her transunion score is 755. she has 2 credit cards VS and Quicksilver. 1 inquiry and she spends around 200 a month using her CC but she always pays it off.. we are looking at traveling in the states for now. i told her if she does get a card to make sure to pay all bills including rent with the card and then pay off the card before the cut off date which she will.

Sorry to be blunt, but a $200 monthly spend makes accumulating miles through spend a non-factor. It would take 10+ years to accumulate points to get even the the most basic airline redemption, and by that point they will most likely have devalued the program (/sarcasm kind of).

What might be of value is a sign-on bonus. A lot of the bonuses are around $3k spend for 40k points (basically $400). That spend level seems ount of reach in this case and it usually doesn't make sense to buy stuff you don't need to meet a spend requirement. There are some cards out there that offer around 20k points ($200) for $1k spend, and if you time it right that might work out for you.

Realistically, with a $200/mo spend, after the sign on bonus you should makes certain of a few things. NEVER pay an AF. An AF makes sense in certain cases with high spend, but at this level it makes zero sense. Second, look for cards with low redemption thresholds. You'll be generating $10-30/year in rewards, so if you have a $100 redemption minimum, you'd be waiting years and years to accumulate enough.

Re: Best CC for Airline miles on the market right now...

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 23:46:11 GMT

if she does get a rewards card, shes going to use it to pay off everybill and rent etc.i told her to do that so she can rake up the points. of course shes going to pay it all of before the cut off date. her bills alone,will be around $1500 a month. ill help her out by using her card to pay my bills too and just giving her the money so she can earn even more...

Re: Best CC for Airline miles on the market right now...

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 01:33:06 GMT

Ok... well big picture here, 1500 a month is good for long term stability for churning a sign on bonus.....I mean, as long as you arent getting a home or auto loan (even then some need not worry), may as well use up inquiries, get some freebies, thicken the file, etc.

What is her average age of accounts? Wondering because it sounds like its really low, so you may have to be careful.....

I would lean towards CSP plus united, then the SPG before it disappears with the PRG 50k offer. Have you checked for any prequalified offers

Re: Best CC for Airline miles on the market right now...

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 01:46:53 GMT

He said RENT on the card as well!

If you guys can pay rent without any additional costs (eg merchant processing fee that the landlord slicks off on you) than kudos and I would definitely look into CSP.

If not, and you're not particularly loyal to any airlines but always looking for deals I would recommend ebates--cash back on top of cash back and you'd use the portal to book tickets and rooms through orbitz/Expedia/travelocity (aren't they all the same?)

Or something like, AARP chase

Re: Best CC for Airline miles on the market right now...

happypill — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 17:04:48 GMT

Yes, definitely rare that you can pay rent with a credit card, without additional fees. If your landlord allows it, then by all means get points for it.

Re: Best CC for Airline miles on the market right now...

Imperfectfuture — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 19:48:25 GMT

I only do the rental fee when bonus involved, because it pays for itself (and a recent refund from barclays just negated my fee, so it's only spend, love barclays, just need my scores higher). Since I have a card no longer available (I can use the points for Alaska Air), REALLY pick a card for the Airline(s) you use. My situation allows multiple airlines, but Chase cards do not transfer here. Southwest is okay for cheap. Alaska can be used through American Airlines, ton of citi cards for that. After use the bonus through citi cards, get a dedicated card. Jet blue is going to barclays. You get the gist. Not one card fits every person, however, I am in my journey where multiple annual fees do not make sense, so want the most versatile card.

And then, some cards allow general purchases and other perks (hotel, plus transfer to airlines, or airline credits). They are all vying for your business, choose wisely. Check out flyer talk for recommendations, and best use of MR, if going with Amex choices (I can use amex travel portal for Alaska airlines, but can not transfer other than Delta, which I have not tried yet. Alaska and Delta are battling it out at sea tac, and I live in Seattle.)