topic Re: Recommend a travel card in Credit Cards

Recommend a travel card

red259 — Sun, 17 Jan 2016 20:07:25 GMT

My friend is agreeing to let me recommend a travel card for her and I am looking for feedback. She does not have many cards at the moment (maybe like 3 or so). She has the united explorer card and she uses that for everything and it drives me nuts. Credit score/income are both high so any card would be instant approval.

She banks with Chase and this year will have significant amounts of international travel for work and also for leisure. She prefers to fly United as much as possible, although sometimes is forced to use international carriers. Flights are to Europe/Asia so long haul. Her credit card spend is heavy, so I am looking for a card that is worth putting spend on as well. The card that comes to mind for me is the CSP, being that she can build up Chase URs with her dining and travel spend (both of which she will spend a fair amount on) and there is no FTF. She has a chase relationship and if she really wants to use those miles towards United she will be able to continue to do so. She isn't dedicated to a specific hotel brand. The card she gets will likely be the card she uses for everything. This is not someone who will switch between cards for category bonuses.

I don't know if I will be able to get her to go along with a second card for benefits, but I was thinking the citi prestige might be a good fit for the PP lounge access, airline credit, and the hotel night benefit. Getting her to pay a high AF for a card may be tough though, since I'm not sure she will see the value. Miscellaneous factor is that some of her leisure travel is to China to see family etc, so that may be one of the ways she is seeking to redeem miles in addition to visiting carribean. I do not believe much if any of her buisness travel is domestic.

Re: Recommend a travel card

Berk — Sun, 17 Jan 2016 22:08:18 GMT

CSP would be my suggestion as well. Good airline and hotel partners for sure.

Re: Recommend a travel card

culture — Sun, 17 Jan 2016 22:33:33 GMT

Why is the United not a good option for you?

It doesnt have international charges. thats a good perk.

Re: Recommend a travel card

takeshi74 — Sun, 17 Jan 2016 22:51:44 GMT

@red259 wrote:
She has the united explorer card and she uses that for everything and it drives me nuts.

Why does it matter if it drives you nuts? Does it work for her? That's what matters. My wife places all her spend on the UMPE and it works very well for her.

@red259 wrote:
Her credit card spend is heavy, so I am looking for a card that is worth putting spend on as well.

Give us numbers and categories. "Heavy" is very subjective and not useful.

With miles/points cards, redemptions have an impact on reward value. How is she going to redeem? Best value is generally attained by transferring to travel partners. Is she going to redeem with United? If so, that easily narrows it down to UR and the CSP.

@red259 wrote:

Getting her to pay a high AF for a card may be tough though, since I'm not sure she will see the value.

The analysis has to be done for her spend and preferences and she's the one that has to detemrine the worth of specific benefits. It's not up to us or you to do this for her. If she only wants one card for spend does she really want another for benefits? Does she fequent airports where PP Select would benefit her? Her UMPE includes United CLub passes. How often does she use those? Passes can be easily picked up on ebay is the 2 passes per year are not sufificent for her.

@red259 wrote:
Miscellaneous factor is that some of her leisure travel is to China to see family etc, so that may be one of the ways she is seeking to redeem miles in addition to visiting carribean. I do not believe much if any of her buisness travel is domestic.

Again, which carriers would she redeem with? That will play a part in redemptions. Find programs that transfer to those carriers.

@red259 wrote:
I don't know if I will be able to get her to go along with a second card for benefits

What benefits does she need/want? The UMPE already gives her benefits with United.

@red259 wrote:
She has a chase relationship

People tend to rely on relationship but her credit and income are really what matter.

Re: Recommend a travel card

red259 — Sun, 17 Jan 2016 23:27:50 GMT

@takeshi74 wrote:
@red259 wrote:
She has the united explorer card and she uses that for everything and it drives me nuts.
Why does it matter if it drives you nuts? Does it work for her? That's what matters. My wife places all her spend on the UMPE and it works very well for her.

@red259 wrote:
Her credit card spend is heavy, so I am looking for a card that is worth putting spend on as well.
Give us numbers and categories. "Heavy" is very subjective and not useful.

With miles/points cards, redemptions have an impact on reward value. How is she going to redeem? Best value is generally attained by transferring to travel partners. Is she going to redeem with United? If so, that easily narrows it down to UR and the CSP.

@red259 wrote:

Getting her to pay a high AF for a card may be tough though, since I'm not sure she will see the value.
The analysis has to be done for her spend and preferences and she's the one that has to detemrine the worth of specific benefits. It's not up to us or you to do this for her. If she only wants one card for spend does she really want another for benefits? Does she fequent airports where PP Select would benefit her? Her UMPE includes United CLub passes. How often does she use those? Passes can be easily picked up on ebay is the 2 passes per year are not sufificent for her.

@red259 wrote:
Miscellaneous factor is that some of her leisure travel is to China to see family etc, so that may be one of the ways she is seeking to redeem miles in addition to visiting carribean. I do not believe much if any of her buisness travel is domestic.
Again, which carriers would she redeem with? That will play a part in redemptions. Find programs that transfer to those carriers.

@red259 wrote:
I don't know if I will be able to get her to go along with a second card for benefits
What benefits does she need/want? The UMPE already gives her benefits with United.

@red259 wrote:
She has a chase relationship
People tend to rely on relationship but her credit and income are really what matter.

She asked me for a card recommendation I'm not forcing her. Given her high travel/restaurant spend she is missing out on the bonus spend she could get with a CSP card for example. This would result in significantly more points than she would get from the united card. In terms of benefits cards I was thinking more in terms of lounge access since she travels a lot. In the first few months she will be flying in and out of several destinations. Two united passes wouldn't cover that and besides since she is not a heavy domestic flyer those passes would only be of use when she is flying outbound from the US (I think you may have to be flying united to actually use those as well which is not always the case for her). A lot of times she will not come back to the US and instead fly from one country to another before returning, hence why I thought a PP might be a better fit. I had significant luck with that membership throughout China, although I have not looked into their european offerings yet. Since she will fly with united a lot this year I believe the CSP may be a good choice, because she would likely redeem with United Miles.

Re: Recommend a travel card

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Jan 2016 01:22:05 GMT

Edit: just saw a lot of my post doesn't apply sorry.

Maybe going CSP is best if she just wants one card for everything, including not using the MPX anymore. But the United Club Card is worth a look for her too. Covers lounge access, no FTF, and more rewarding gen spend while coming close to CSP for dining & travel.

I think people overrate Chase's travel partners. Besides United, it's rare to find good value from them in my experience. She could look at the AmEx PRG and redeem the MR for United flights through Aeroplan, but will run into acceptance issues abroad and loses hotels as a bonus category.

Re: Recommend a travel card

red259 — Mon, 18 Jan 2016 01:54:33 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Edit: just saw a lot of my post doesn't apply sorry.

Maybe going CSP is best if she just wants one card for everything, including not using the MPX anymore. But the United Club Card is worth a look for her too. Covers lounge access, no FTF, and more rewarding gen spend while coming close to CSP for dining & travel.

I think people overrate Chase's travel partners. Besides United, it's rare to find good value from them in my experience. She could look at the AmEx PRG and redeem the MR for United flights through Aeroplan, but will run into acceptance issues abroad and loses hotels as a bonus category.

Yea, I don't think Amex is all that great in this situation because it will be needed heavily overseas. The United club card I don't think will work, because its not always United she is flying and the travel isn't heavy domestic (if she was flying a lot of domestic flights then I think both of these recommendations would make a lot of sense). so there may not be united clubs in some of the airports she is in, which is why I was thinking a flexible lounge program like PP might work.

She paid the AF for the explorer card a month or two ago, so she will probably keep it for the year. I need to speak with her again about it, but I believe for the business trips they buy her business class seats and I think some of the baggage is included with that ticket so that would be one less benefit of the card along with the priority boarding. She didn't fly enough for United status last year, but I think she will make silver this year at least if not higher and that will eliminate some of the other card benefits as well since they are somewhat duplicative. I don't know if its worth her spending the 25k for 10k miles, since her revenue spent on the airline tickets will probably satisfy the revenue requirements to obtain united status. I think Hyatt is a decent value for Chase as well and it would allow her to redeem some hotel stays on her leisure travel. The only problem with Hyatt is the smaller footprint, but her travel does tend to focus on major international cities like Hong Kong, Tokyo, Frankfurt, etc which helps give some variety in accomendations.

Re: Recommend a travel card

NRB525 — Mon, 18 Jan 2016 03:06:51 GMT

After experiencing the easy benefit of having the Delta AMEX, and yesterday the AAdvantage card just for basic perks when flying, I suggest the $95 AF is worth it.

I suspect if she drops the United card then she will immediately see that first bag fee again. So one option is to ask her employer if she can include the AF on an expense report to get it reimbursed.

And +1 the idea of adding the CSP. Getting 2 points on a range of spend, which can be added to the FF account, when she only wants simple cards, makes sense.

Re: Recommend a travel card

CreditScholar — Mon, 18 Jan 2016 03:53:41 GMT

@red259 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Edit: just saw a lot of my post doesn't apply sorry.

Maybe going CSP is best if she just wants one card for everything, including not using the MPX anymore. But the United Club Card is worth a look for her too. Covers lounge access, no FTF, and more rewarding gen spend while coming close to CSP for dining & travel.

I think people overrate Chase's travel partners. Besides United, it's rare to find good value from them in my experience. She could look at the AmEx PRG and redeem the MR for United flights through Aeroplan, but will run into acceptance issues abroad and loses hotels as a bonus category.
Yea, I don't think Amex is all that great in this situation because it will be needed heavily overseas. The United club card I don't think will work, because its not always United she is flying and the travel isn't heavy domestic (if she was flying a lot of domestic flights then I think both of these recommendations would make a lot of sense). so there may not be united clubs in some of the airports she is in, which is why I was thinking a flexible lounge program like PP might work.

She paid the AF for the explorer card a month or two ago, so she will probably keep it for the year. I need to speak with her again about it, but I believe for the business trips they buy her business class seats and I think some of the baggage is included with that ticket so that would be one less benefit of the card along with the priority boarding. She didn't fly enough for United status last year, but I think she will make silver this year at least if not higher and that will eliminate some of the other card benefits as well since they are somewhat duplicative. I don't know if its worth her spending the 25k for 10k miles, since her revenue spent on the airline tickets will probably satisfy the revenue requirements to obtain united status. I think Hyatt is a decent value for Chase as well and it would allow her to redeem some hotel stays on her leisure travel. The only problem with Hyatt is the smaller footprint, but her travel does tend to focus on major international cities like Hong Kong, Tokyo, Frankfurt, etc which helps give some variety in accomendations.

First of all, I'm surprised that anyone actually prefers UA as their carrier of choice. Most people I know avoid UA like the plague if at all possible, however if she flies a lot on mainland Chinese airlines I can see how UA might be a better choice. I was on an Air China flight in F from SIN-CTU a few years ago, and it was the most miserable flight I've been on in quite awhile. They really went out of their way with service for us, but the hard product was so bad it simply couldn't compensate.

With that said, I think the CSP + UA Club card is the best option. If she doesn't fly enough to make gold and is flying Y, then the club card is the best way to get lounge access. This access isn't only for UA clubs, but also for access to *A lounges around the world if she's flying on a *A airline that day. However if she's flying J most of the time, then this is a moot point since lounge access will be included.

Assuming a value of 2cpp for UA and UR (since it sounds like she'll be transfering her UR points to UA anyways), she would need to charge $39,500 or more per year of general spend to cover the AF. This is when compared to getting the CSP alone, and assuming that lounge access = 0. If she values *A lounge access to any extent and doesn't have it from *A Gold, then I'd highly recommend the CSP+UA Club combo. In this case, she'd come out ahead even if she spends significantly less than 39.5k.

Re: Recommend a travel card

red259 — Mon, 18 Jan 2016 04:44:15 GMT

@CreditScholar wrote:
@red259 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Edit: just saw a lot of my post doesn't apply sorry.

Maybe going CSP is best if she just wants one card for everything, including not using the MPX anymore. But the United Club Card is worth a look for her too. Covers lounge access, no FTF, and more rewarding gen spend while coming close to CSP for dining & travel.

I think people overrate Chase's travel partners. Besides United, it's rare to find good value from them in my experience. She could look at the AmEx PRG and redeem the MR for United flights through Aeroplan, but will run into acceptance issues abroad and loses hotels as a bonus category.
Yea, I don't think Amex is all that great in this situation because it will be needed heavily overseas. The United club card I don't think will work, because its not always United she is flying and the travel isn't heavy domestic (if she was flying a lot of domestic flights then I think both of these recommendations would make a lot of sense). so there may not be united clubs in some of the airports she is in, which is why I was thinking a flexible lounge program like PP might work.

She paid the AF for the explorer card a month or two ago, so she will probably keep it for the year. I need to speak with her again about it, but I believe for the business trips they buy her business class seats and I think some of the baggage is included with that ticket so that would be one less benefit of the card along with the priority boarding. She didn't fly enough for United status last year, but I think she will make silver this year at least if not higher and that will eliminate some of the other card benefits as well since they are somewhat duplicative. I don't know if its worth her spending the 25k for 10k miles, since her revenue spent on the airline tickets will probably satisfy the revenue requirements to obtain united status. I think Hyatt is a decent value for Chase as well and it would allow her to redeem some hotel stays on her leisure travel. The only problem with Hyatt is the smaller footprint, but her travel does tend to focus on major international cities like Hong Kong, Tokyo, Frankfurt, etc which helps give some variety in accomendations.
First of all, I'm surprised that anyone actually prefers UA as their carrier of choice. Most people I know avoid UA like the plague if at all possible, however if she flies a lot on mainland Chinese airlines I can see how UA might be a better choice. I was on an Air China flight in F from SIN-CTU a few years ago, and it was the most miserable flight I've been on in quite awhile. They really went out of their way with service for us, but the hard product was so bad it simply couldn't compensate.

With that said, I think the CSP + UA Club card is the best option. If she doesn't fly enough to make gold and is flying Y, then the club card is the best way to get lounge access. This access isn't only for UA clubs, but also for access to *A lounges around the world if she's flying on a *A airline that day. However if she's flying J most of the time, then this is a moot point since lounge access will be included.

Assuming a value of 2cpp for UA and UR (since it sounds like she'll be transfering her UR points to UA anyways), she would need to charge $39,500 or more per year of general spend to cover the AF. This is when compared to getting the CSP alone, and assuming that lounge access = 0. If she values *A lounge access to any extent and doesn't have it from *A Gold, then I'd highly recommend the CSP+UA Club combo. In this case, she'd come out ahead even if she spends significantly less than 39.5k.

I dunno what the reason for her loyalty to United is, but she has been loyal to them for years. I don't really think any of the us airlines are super great. She has to go with the lowest airfare and if she books ahead she can get that with United. I'm not sure how american stacks up pricewise, but I don't think she enjoyed her prior american airline flights. Not to mention that AA miles get handed out like candy which can make them harder to redeem when going for awards due to increased competition. In addition, I think the revenue requirements on United may work in her favor and limit the number of people with status. I was toying with the idea of looking at her travel plans and see if she can do a status challenge with AA for mid-level status and then challenge into United. Since a lot of her travel is in a short period of time and long distances she may be able to meet those criteria. If she switched to AA then wouldn't she be able to credit her signapore flights to her AA account? Whatever her reasons she has flown with many different airlines over the years and is well aware of the difference in products.

You lost me with the 39.5k required spend to make AF worth it. Is that if she had the club and CSP cards? Her annual spend would be well above that. The club card giving access to *alliance lounges was something I was unaware of but is an interesting piece of information. That being said most of her long hauls for business are in J, so I don't think the club card would be worth it if it is only filling in for those times that she flies coach. I know I used to receieve offers for the club card with no-AF on the first year. Not sure if that was because I had united status at the time though.

Re: Recommend a travel card

CreditScholar — Mon, 18 Jan 2016 05:01:44 GMT

@red259 wrote:
@CreditScholar wrote:
First of all, I'm surprised that anyone actually prefers UA as their carrier of choice. Most people I know avoid UA like the plague if at all possible, however if she flies a lot on mainland Chinese airlines I can see how UA might be a better choice. I was on an Air China flight in F from SIN-CTU a few years ago, and it was the most miserable flight I've been on in quite awhile. They really went out of their way with service for us, but the hard product was so bad it simply couldn't compensate.

With that said, I think the CSP + UA Club card is the best option. If she doesn't fly enough to make gold and is flying Y, then the club card is the best way to get lounge access. This access isn't only for UA clubs, but also for access to *A lounges around the world if she's flying on a *A airline that day. However if she's flying J most of the time, then this is a moot point since lounge access will be included.

Assuming a value of 2cpp for UA and UR (since it sounds like she'll be transfering her UR points to UA anyways), she would need to charge $39,500 or more per year of general spend to cover the AF. This is when compared to getting the CSP alone, and assuming that lounge access = 0. If she values *A lounge access to any extent and doesn't have it from *A Gold, then I'd highly recommend the CSP+UA Club combo. In this case, she'd come out ahead even if she spends significantly less than 39.5k.
I dunno what the reason for her loyalty to United is, but she has been loyal to them for years. I don't really think any of the us airlines are super great. She has to go with the lowest airfare and if she books ahead she can get that with United. I'm not sure how american stacks up pricewise, but I don't think she enjoyed her prior american airline flights. Not to mention that AA miles get handed out like candy which can make them harder to redeem when going for awards due to increased competition. In addition, I think the revenue requirements on United may work in her favor and limit the number of people with status. I was toying with the idea of looking at her travel plans and see if she can do a status challenge with AA for mid-level status and then challenge into United. Since a lot of her travel is in a short period of time and long distances she may be able to meet those criteria. If she switched to AA then wouldn't she be able to credit her signapore flights to her AA account? Whatever her reasons she has flown with many different airlines over the years and is well aware of the difference in products.

You lost me with the 39.5k required spend to make AF worth it. Is that if she had the club and CSP cards? Her annual spend would be well above that. The club card giving access to *alliance lounges was something I was unaware of but is an interesting piece of information. That being said most of her long hauls for business are in J, so I don't think the club card would be worth it if it is only filling in for those times that she flies coach. I know I used to receieve offers for the club card with no-AF on the first year. Not sure if that was because I had united status at the time though.

The 39.5k is to cover the additional cost of having the UA club card and the CSP, as opposed to having the CSP only.

The UA Club card gives 1.5 miles per dollar on general spend, which is 0.5 per mile above what the CSP gives. Note that this is for general spend only, and does not factor in category bonuses such as dining/travel.

Assuming 1 UA mile = 2cpm, the extra 0.5 mile she'd earn on every dollar of general spend would equal 1 cent (0.5 x 2 = 1). Therefore to offset the $395 AF, she'd have to spend 39.5k (395/0.01 = 39,500). This is assuming that lounge access isn't worth anything to her.

If she values the lounge access at say $100 (because mose of the time she's flying in J), then the break-even point is now $295 AF or 29.5k of general spend.

Just be aware that access to *A lounges is only if you're travelling on a *A carrier that day, since you'll be asked to present your boarding pass. If she's on a non-*A carrier, then she won't be able to access *A lounges.

She would still be able to access a UA club anytime though, regardless of which airline she's flying on. I was flying through HKG on CX in F 2 months ago, and I CBF walking to the CX F lounge for a relatively short layover. The UA club was closer, and I was able to get in with my UA Club membership even though I had a OW boarding pass. It does help sometimes.