topic Re: Really Conflicted about a Travel Card in Credit Cards

Really Conflicted about a Travel Card

driftless — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 02:41:47 GMT

My wife is the business traveller, she earned 1MM on United maybe 20 years ago? She has both Amex (business card) and CSP. I travel about once a month but I see my personal business upping that amount. I am conflicted about app'ng CSP, Venture or Amex for my travel card. I have a couple of cards with Cap One and we have checking, etc., accounts with Chase. I am leaning towards Venture ...........

Re: Really Conflicted about a Travel Card

mikelo22 — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 02:48:40 GMT

If you can meet the spend threshold ($4,000 in 3 months), the Chase Sapphire Preferred nets you 50,000 bonus UR. Plus, if you add an AU and make one purchase with that card (then throw it away if you want) you get another 5,000 bonus UR.

UR is worth about 2 cents per point and you can transfer on a 1:1 ratio to many different airline programs.

The venture, on the other hand, has some drawbacks. First, CapitalOne always Triple Pulls you. This in and of itself is enough to keep people like myself away. Beyond that though, the 'miles' you earn on the venture are only worth 1 cent (as opposed to the CSP's 2+ cents value). Plus, you only get 40,000 miles ($400) on the Venture as opposed to 50,000 UR, which I'd argue is worth over $1,000 in traveling if done right.

The only thing Venture has on CSP is that you earn 2x on every purchase. With CSP, you earn 2x on dining and travel and everything else is 1x UR. With that said, 1 UR is still worth 2 cents, so in essence the CSP still has the same cash back rewards as well.

CSP is the winner here, no brainer IMO.

Re: Really Conflicted about a Travel Card

NRB525 — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 02:53:08 GMT

OP, which airline do you fly the most?

Which hotel (if any) is the most common?

Re: Really Conflicted about a Travel Card

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 02:54:41 GMT

i wouldn't go as far as to say "no brainer"
yes the CSP can be redeemed for more but it depends on how much effort you wanna put in to playing on the sites for it

to me, the venture is much more simplistic card. easy redemption with just erasing a purchase that qualifies. plus you still get the 2x points on the purchase before you erase it. kinda cool.

way lower AF and waived the first year.

if you can, maybe try both and see what works better

Re: Really Conflicted about a Travel Card

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 03:09:43 GMT

Chase all the way. They also have SouthWest and British airlines if you like going to Europe.

I suggest reading here for the low down

http://millionmilesecrets.com/new-to-miles-points-start-here/

Also if you read with details some cards give you compannion pass for a year. once you reach 100k miles so your partner can always travel free with you

Re: Really Conflicted about a Travel Card

myjourney — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 03:07:30 GMT

1st thing to do for beginners is to understand the different options based on spend and what you want out of a card I.E. cashback,points, etc etc

Here's a good read and starting point

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Guide-to-travel-cards/m-p/2918668

Re: Really Conflicted about a Travel Card

mikelo22 — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 03:11:30 GMT

Forgot to mention that if you get the CSP, you should also pick up a Chase Freedom if you want to take full advantage.

You can then use the Freedom for its 5x UR categories that change each quarter and then transfer the UR to your CSP. Essentially turns your Freedom into a 10x rewards card. Of course, this all assumes you get maximum value out of your UR and don't do something like exchanging it for statement credit, etc.

Re: Really Conflicted about a Travel Card

redpat — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 03:17:43 GMT

+1 CSP. My Venture gets very little use.

Re: Really Conflicted about a Travel Card

Sharingan — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 03:23:39 GMT

@mikelo22 wrote:
If you can meet the spend threshold ($4,000 in 3 months), the Chase Sapphire Preferred nets you 50,000 bonus UR. Plus, if you add an AU and make one purchase with that card (then throw it away if you want) you get another 5,000 bonus UR.

UR is worth about 2 cents per point and you can transfer on a 1:1 ratio to many different airline programs.

The venture, on the other hand, has some drawbacks. First, CapitalOne always Triple Pulls you. This in and of itself is enough to keep people like myself away. Beyond that though, the 'miles' you earn on the venture are only worth 1 cent (as opposed to the CSP's 2+ cents value). Plus, you only get 40,000 miles ($400) on the Venture as opposed to 50,000 UR, which I'd argue is worth over $1,000 in traveling if done right.

The only thing Venture has on CSP is that you earn 2x on every purchase. With CSP, you earn 2x on dining and travel and everything else is 1x UR. With that said, 1 UR is still worth 2 cents, so in essence the CSP still has the same cash back rewards as well.

CSP is the winner here, no brainer IMO.

I agree. I don't think I could recommend the Capital One Venture to a serious traveler. What exactly is there to pay an AF for with the Venture? The CSP is a much better value and the sign up bonus can be worth more than twice that of the Venture's. As you stated, the CSP should be matching the Venture on uncategorized spending due to the value of UR points. Dining and travel (arguably the most relevant categories to a traveler) should allow the CSP to really shine over the Venture.

But anyway, the triple pull is as bad as it sounds. Inquiries can be quite valuable to creditworthy customers, and it's not a great exchange at all for a product such as the Venture. Some of us, like myself, can get lucky with only a double pull on the Venture, but it is a risky maneuver.

Re: Really Conflicted about a Travel Card

redpat — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 03:22:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
i wouldn't go as far as to say "no brainer"
yes the CSP can be redeemed for more but it depends on how much effort you wanna put in to playing on the sites for it

to me, the venture is much more simplistic card. easy redemption with just erasing a purchase that qualifies. plus you still get the 2x points on the purchase before you erase it. kinda cool.

way lower AF and waived the first year.

if you can, maybe try both and see what works better

Transfering to Hyatt kills Venutre on redemption value.

Re: Really Conflicted about a Travel Card

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 03:23:39 GMT

the CSP mixed with freedom is a good combo actually. idk why i forgot that haha.

Re: Really Conflicted about a Travel Card

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 03:25:54 GMT

http://youtu.be/sbG6u_444z4 check that.

Re: Really Conflicted about a Travel Card

SouthJamaica — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 03:29:41 GMT

@driftless wrote:
My wife is the business traveller, she earned 1MM on United maybe 20 years ago? She has both Amex (business card) and CSP. I travel about once a month but I see my personal business upping that amount. I am conflicted about app'ng CSP, Venture or Amex for my travel card. I have a couple of cards with Cap One and we have checking, etc., accounts with Chase. I am leaning towards Venture ...........

I'm not a travel aficionado, but I have and like the Venture. You get 2 points for every dollar spent, which you can redeem at Orbitz for affordable travel. It's 1 point only if you redeem for cash.

Also, it (a) is esthetically the nicest card I've ever seen, (b) is offered by a no-hassle company which treats you well if you pay your bills, (c) usually offers me a choice of no-fee or no-interest balance transfers, (d) probably has the highest starting limits of any card.

Yes on the down side Capital One often does a double or triple pull. I don't see why that's such a big deal.

Re: Really Conflicted about a Travel Card

WillTeasle — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 03:47:01 GMT

Why wouldn't the citi double cash be a better card than Venture? I don't pay much attention to cash back cards, so I could be missing something obvious.

Re: Really Conflicted about a Travel Card

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 03:50:33 GMT

in theory it is better. truth is it's a challenge getting the 2x cash back. if you pay too early then you don't

Re: Really Conflicted about a Travel Card

mikelo22 — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 03:59:22 GMT

@WillTeasle wrote:
Why wouldn't the citi double cash be a better card than Venture? I don't pay much attention to cash back cards, so I could be missing something obvious.

I agree with you personally. But I understand that some people don't like the Double Cash because redemption does not start until $25. That said, if you're using it as a 'travel' card, this redemption threshhold shouldn't be a big deal for you. Plus, DC has no AF while the Venture does.

Another drawback that I can think of is the underwriting. The Double Cash UW is known for being strict, and people with excellent credit have been known to get toy limits and/or high APR. Not that APR should matter for a rewards card since you should be PIF anyway.

That said, Citi may have relaxed the UW requirements a bit compared to when the card first came out and everyone was rushing to app for it. So my view of the UW may be out of date.

Re: Really Conflicted about a Travel Card

mikelo22 — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 04:07:01 GMT

Re: Really Conflicted about a Travel Card

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 04:09:15 GMT

I have a Venture card, but it does not offer the biggest reward value. I got it for the sign-up bonus and will likely PC to Quicksilver if I can't get Capital One to waive the AF. Generally, airline specific rewards cards offer a greater return on points and additional benefits (such as airport lounge access, free checked bags, free wifi on the plane, etc) than generic travel reward cards. Check out this link to see how Venture miles compare with airline miles.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a good card for someone who wants a mix of the flexibility of the Venture with the greater point value of an airline card. Combining it with the Chase Freedom 5% quarterly categories would allow you to gain even more points.

As someone else mentioned, the Southwest rewards cards can be combined to help meet the companion pass requirements. Southwest does not have some of the extra benefits other airline cards offer, but the 6,000 miles anniversary gift offsets the AF.

Re: Really Conflicted about a Travel Card

redpat — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 04:13:04 GMT

@mikelo22 wrote:
@WillTeasle wrote:
Why wouldn't the citi double cash be a better card than Venture? I don't pay much attention to cash back cards, so I could be missing something obvious.
I agree with you personally. But I understand that some people don't like the Double Cash because redemption does not start until $25. That said, if you're using it as a 'travel' card, this redemption threshhold shouldn't be a big deal for you. Plus, DC has no AF while the Venture does.

Another drawback that I can think of is the underwriting. The Double Cash UW is known for being strict, and people with excellent credit have been known to get toy limits and/or high APR. Not that APR should matter for a rewards card since you should be PIF anyway.

That said, Citi may have relaxed the UW requirements a bit compared to when the card first came out and everyone was rushing to app for it. So my view of the UW may be out of date.

OP is asking about travel. CSP for travel is better than DC and Venture when redeeming travel through their partners, Along with Freedom or Ink+ the conversation is rediicous trying to compare CB vs. UR.

Re: Really Conflicted about a Travel Card

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 04:16:53 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
in theory it is better. truth is it's a challenge getting the 2x cash back. if you pay too early then you don't

explain? what do you mean you don't get cash back...which card and If you spend the credit, why not