topic Re: Travel card for flights, Airbnb, Uber/Lyft? in Credit Cards

Travel card for flights, Airbnb, Uber/Lyft?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 May 2018 12:55:49 GMT

I’ve been using a 2% cash back card for our travel purchases but we are about to start traveling more and I am wondering if there is a better option. Pretty much we pick a destination, then find the cheapest flight and room. Our stays range from 2-7 days and we estimate to travel between 10-15 times per year both in state and internationally. We almost exclusively use Airbnb since it can be so cheap it allows us to travel more, we also don’t spend much time in the room anyway unless we get the entire place and make our own food to save on eating out, so hotel perks are not very important to us. And lastly we use lyft/Uber to get around. Is there a card that fits these categories or am I better off picking an airline specific card and my 2% on the other purchases? I am looking to add one card only just for simplicity.

Re: Travel card for flights, Airbnb, Uber/Lyft?

CBartowski — Mon, 28 May 2018 13:08:34 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I’ve been using a 2% cash back card for our travel purchases but we are about to start traveling a lot more and I am wondering if there is a better option. Pretty much we pick a destination, then find the cheapest flight and room. Our stays range from 2-7 days and we estimate to travel between 10-15 times per year both in state and internationally. We almost exclusively use Airbnb since it can be so cheap it allows us to travel more, we also don’t spend much time in the room anyway unless we get the entire place and make our own food to save on eating out, so hotel perks are not very important to us. And lastly we use lyft/Uber to get around. Is there a card that fits these categories or am I better off picking an airline specific card and my 2% on the other purchases? I am looking to add one card only just for simplicity.

There are a few options and a big question will be if you want an annual fee or not. If not I'd say the clear winner is the Uber visa card (3% on all travel and explicitly recognizes Airbnb as a merchant code for the 3%; 4% on all food/bars/etc; 2% on all Uber AND Lyft. A nice perk for you with this card is that when you link your Uber card to your Uber account your points/cash back can be applied directly toward Uber rides in the corm of Uber credits. Additionally, there are "local offers" that offers an extra 5% on certain local restaurants which will give you effectively 9% back.

There are also no FTFs. If you get a high enough limit it is also a Visa Signature card that comes with those perks.

If you dont mind an annual fee then there are many choices:

-Chase Sapphire Reserve (3x points on travel and dining with an extra 50% in redemtion value if you book flights thru chase)/preferred (2x points on travel and dining with an extra 25% in redemption value if booked thru Chase)($300 travel credit that can be used with flights or Uber/Lyft purchases). My reading also indicates (I don't have a CSR or CSP JUST yet) that Airbnb codes as travel with these cards as well so you can get 3x/2x respectively. 100$ Global entry/TSA Precheck credit

-AMEX Platinum ($200 in annual Uber credits) 100$ Global entry/TSA Precheck credit

-Citi Prestige (3x on airfare/hote, 2x on dining); $250 travel credit; 100$ Global entry/TSA Precheck credit

There are many others out there but these may not be a bad place to start. You may experience sticker shock at the annual fees, but with the travel credits and included access to Priority Pass lounges at airports, the effective annual fee is greatly reduced.

Good luck!

Re: Travel card for flights, Airbnb, Uber/Lyft?

iheartwings — Mon, 28 May 2018 13:16:57 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I’ve been using a 2% cash back card for our travel purchases but we are about to start traveling more and I am wondering if there is a better option. Pretty much we pick a destination, then find the cheapest flight and room. Our stays range from 2-7 days and we estimate to travel between 10-15 times per year both in state and internationally. We almost exclusively use Airbnb since it can be so cheap it allows us to travel more, we also don’t spend much time in the room anyway unless we get the entire place and make our own food to save on eating out, so hotel perks are not very important to us. And lastly we use lyft/Uber to get around. Is there a card that fits these categories or am I better off picking an airline specific card and my 2% on the other purchases? I am looking to add one card only just for simplicity.

You have a lot of options, and many folks here have an opinion.

My recommendation would be to consider a card that allows for accumulation of points for either statement credit, cash back, or transfer to airline partner of your choice. Also, since these cards may provide additional points for targeted spending (i.e., 2-3 points per $ spent on travel), make sure that the card considers airbnb/Lyft/Uber as travel. For me, I have to say that I am loving the Chase Sapphire Reserve because you do get 3UR points per $1 spent on dining and and 3UR points for trave after your the first $300 spent annually (which actually is credited back to you)l, which includes Airbnb, Uber/Lyft, etc. UR points can bring great value if you can transfer to airline partners to redeem for flights, or at least 1.5 cpp if you use the Chase portal. That said, not everyone wants a $450 credit card (even if you get a $300 travel credit). The CSP is also a decent deal, as it give you 2 UR points per $1 spent on dining and travel. Usually the first year AF ($95) is waived. If you use the Chase portal to book travel, this will give you 1.25 cpp (a 25% bonus). Both cards have a 1 point per $ spent on non-travel/dining spending. If you have other Chase Freedom or Ink cards, you can pool all your points together and get lots of additional value.

So, yes, I love my Chase Sapphire. Before that, I loved my Citi Costco, which gives you cash back with 3% dining and travel. Travel, however, is more narrowly defined, and you won’t get 3% for the Airbnb, Lyft, Uber.

I can’t speak to their merits, but there are a lot of travel cards to consider, and I’ve given my two cents on the ones I use for most travel that might be of benefit to you (I also have AmEx Platinum for lounge access and 5x points on airlines and Delta Platinum for Companion fare + free luggage).

HTH

Re: Travel card for flights, Airbnb, Uber/Lyft?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 May 2018 14:46:24 GMT

@CBartowski wrote:
If you dont mind an annual fee then there are many choices:
-Chase Sapphire Reserve (3x points on travel and dining with an extra 50% in redemtion value if you book flights thru chase)/preferred (2x points on travel and dining with an extra 25% in redemption value if booked thru Chase)($300 travel credit that can be used with flights or Uber/Lyft purchases). My reading also indicates (I don't have a CSR or CSP JUST yet) that Airbnb codes as travel with these cards as well so you can get 3x/2x respectively. 100$ Global entry/TSA Precheck credit
-AMEX Platinum ($200 in annual Uber credits) 100$ Global entry/TSA Precheck credit
-Citi Prestige (3x on airfare/hote, 2x on dining); $250 travel credit; 100$ Global entry/TSA Precheck credit

There are many others out there but these may not be a bad place to start. You may experience sticker shock at the annual fees, but with the travel credits and included access to Priority Pass lounges at airports, the effective annual fee is greatly reduced.

Good luck!

I would rule out the Citi Prestige for the OP, because the major advantage of that card (over the CSR/Amex Plat) is the fourth night hotel free feature. Even if Airbnb is covered, it's going to be relatively cheap so the value of the 4th night free is low.

Re: Travel card for flights, Airbnb, Uber/Lyft?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 May 2018 15:28:04 GMT

Alright awesome, I am pre approved for the AMEX Platinum which is what made me look into this more, and she uses Chase so maybe I can get one of the Sapphire cards and none of the inquiry 😁. I also have an offer for the PenFed Pathfinder AMEX but I am having a hard time finding out what’s in their rewards section to know if it works for us. I haven’t searched that one much though.

Re: Travel card for flights, Airbnb, Uber/Lyft?

Anonymous — Wed, 30 May 2018 14:04:02 GMT

I looked into this as well, not know which travel card made the most sense. At the end of the day I just took forbes advice for travel credit cards and I got the Chase Sapphire Preferred. It seemed like the rewards points ability to transfer was what made this the key card to hold. So far no regrets.

Re: Travel card for flights, Airbnb, Uber/Lyft?

wasCB14 — Wed, 30 May 2018 14:22:36 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Alright awesome, I am pre approved for the AMEX Platinum which is what made me look into this more, and she uses Chase so maybe I can get one of the Sapphire cards and none of the inquiry 😁. I also have an offer for the PenFed Pathfinder AMEX but I am having a hard time finding out what’s in their rewards section to know if it works for us. I haven’t searched that one much though.

If you're saying you think you can get approved for CSP or CSR without getting a HP, that is not the case. At least, it would be a shock to me, and I have five Chase cards, including CSR.

With your travel spend, the extra rewards and benefits from a CSR may be worth the extra $55 vs. CSP. Be aware that CSP has free authorized users, while CSR charges $75 for an AU.

Re: Travel card for flights, Airbnb, Uber/Lyft?

CBartowski — Thu, 31 May 2018 01:35:23 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Alright awesome, I am pre approved for the AMEX Platinum which is what made me look into this more, and she uses Chase so maybe I can get one of the Sapphire cards and none of the inquiry 😁. I also have an offer for the PenFed Pathfinder AMEX but I am having a hard time finding out what’s in their rewards section to know if it works for us. I haven’t searched that one much though.

So I just opened this card, just waiting for it to show up. Other folks in the forums have mentioned the Pathfinder redemption isn't too great but for a no AF card, 4% on travel is pretty good. You also get an annual $100 credit for all travel incidental costs (in flight meals, wifi, etc). Here is the PDF of the rewards guidance they have on their site, they hide it well, just in case you haven't seen it yet.

PenFed should also use the HP from your account opening for the CC if it was done not too long ago. I wasn't hit with a HP after applying for the card and my understand is because I opened an account with them maybe 2 months ago.

https://www.penfed.org/content/dam/penfed/general/pdf/creditcardpdfs/AmericanExpress/axt-pathfinder-rewards/PenFed_Pathfinder_Benefits_T_and_Cs

Re: Travel card for flights, Airbnb, Uber/Lyft?

UpperNwGuy — Thu, 31 May 2018 12:17:55 GMT

@CBartowski wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Alright awesome, I am pre approved for the AMEX Platinum which is what made me look into this more, and she uses Chase so maybe I can get one of the Sapphire cards and none of the inquiry 😁. I also have an offer for the PenFed Pathfinder AMEX but I am having a hard time finding out what’s in their rewards section to know if it works for us. I haven’t searched that one much though.
So I just opened this card, just waiting for it to show up. Other folks in the forums have mentioned the Pathfinder redemption isn't too great but for a no AF card, 4% on travel is pretty good. You also get an annual $100 credit for all travel incidental costs (in flight meals, wifi, etc). Here is the PDF of the rewards guidance they have on their site, they hide it well, just in case you haven't seen it yet.

PenFed should also use the HP from your account opening for the CC if it was done not too long ago. I wasn't hit with a HP after applying for the card and my understand is because I opened an account with them maybe 2 months ago.

https://www.penfed.org/content/dam/penfed/general/pdf/creditcardpdfs/AmericanExpress/axt-pathfinder-rewards/PenFed_Pathfinder_Benefits_T_and_Cs

Correction: it's 4x points on travel spending, not 4%. The 4x points are worth somewhere between 3% and 4%.

Re: Travel card for flights, Airbnb, Uber/Lyft?

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 04:01:54 GMT

Thanks for all the advice! I know this is super late now but I figured I’d give an update, and I’m sure people will be shocked and disappointed haha. I was originally thinking the AMEX Platinum, we live in a city with a Centurion Lounge so that would have been amazing, but for our spending it seemed like we would also need one of the Everyday cards(Preferred likely) to really add up the points, so after considering the Platinum fee plus authorized user and everyday preferred fee, not to mention I only wanted one card... it sadly didn’t make the cut. We ended up going with the ultra exclusive Citi Costco card hahaha. I know we aren’t getting as much back as we could be, but we do get 100% of our gas there also so it will still benefit us really well in that regard. I’ll know in a few weeks if Airbnb is considered travel for them(probably not, which is fine) but overall I got basically everything I wanted in one card plus the simplicity of once per year reward check, and I’ll still have my other 2% card for everything else.

Re: Travel card for flights, Airbnb, Uber/Lyft?

wingennis — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 12:36:38 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Alright awesome, I am pre approved for the AMEX Platinum which is what made me look into this more, and she uses Chase so maybe I can get one of the Sapphire cards and none of the inquiry 😁. I also have an offer for the PenFed Pathfinder AMEX but I am having a hard time finding out what’s in their rewards section to know if it works for us. I haven’t searched that one much though.

The new Wells Fargo Propel looks very promising. Great rewards, no annual fee.

Re: Travel card for flights, Airbnb, Uber/Lyft?

iced — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 13:41:11 GMT

@CBartowski wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I’ve been using a 2% cash back card for our travel purchases but we are about to start traveling a lot more and I am wondering if there is a better option. Pretty much we pick a destination, then find the cheapest flight and room. Our stays range from 2-7 days and we estimate to travel between 10-15 times per year both in state and internationally. We almost exclusively use Airbnb since it can be so cheap it allows us to travel more, we also don’t spend much time in the room anyway unless we get the entire place and make our own food to save on eating out, so hotel perks are not very important to us. And lastly we use lyft/Uber to get around. Is there a card that fits these categories or am I better off picking an airline specific card and my 2% on the other purchases? I am looking to add one card only just for simplicity.
There are a few options and a big question will be if you want an annual fee or not. If not I'd say the clear winner is the Uber visa card (3% on all travel and explicitly recognizes Airbnb as a merchant code for the 3%; 4% on all food/bars/etc; 2% on all Uber AND Lyft. A nice perk for you with this card is that when you link your Uber card to your Uber account your points/cash back can be applied directly toward Uber rides in the corm of Uber credits. Additionally, there are "local offers" that offers an extra 5% on certain local restaurants which will give you effectively 9% back.

There are also no FTFs. If you get a high enough limit it is also a Visa Signature card that comes with those perks.

If you dont mind an annual fee then there are many choices:
-Chase Sapphire Reserve (3x points on travel and dining with an extra 50% in redemtion value if you book flights thru chase)/preferred (2x points on travel and dining with an extra 25% in redemption value if booked thru Chase)($300 travel credit that can be used with flights or Uber/Lyft purchases). My reading also indicates (I don't have a CSR or CSP JUST yet) that Airbnb codes as travel with these cards as well so you can get 3x/2x respectively. 100$ Global entry/TSA Precheck credit
-AMEX Platinum ($200 in annual Uber credits) 100$ Global entry/TSA Precheck credit
-Citi Prestige (3x on airfare/hote, 2x on dining); $250 travel credit; 100$ Global entry/TSA Precheck credit

There are many others out there but these may not be a bad place to start. You may experience sticker shock at the annual fees, but with the travel credits and included access to Priority Pass lounges at airports, the effective annual fee is greatly reduced.

Good luck!

For the OP, I'd say the American Express Platinum is a poor fit. The hotel-related benefits it conveys are going to be wasted on a travel profile that relies on AirBNB. The 5x on flights is for direct flights or booked through their portal, so the OP can still take some advantage of this but it will limit their options and almost certainly mean they can't always book the cheapest flight they find (a bad practice in general, but that's for another thread). If the OP isn't airline loyal they'll either need to be use up the $200 credit on one trip or convert it into gift cards. The Uber credit should be ok as should lounge access. This leaves the Platinum as a $150 AF card that earns 1x on most things. Can it work? Sure, but that's a lot of shoehorning for a card.

By way of comparison, the CSR will be a $150 AF card that earns 3x on all travel (including AirBNB/Uber). No dedicated Uber credits, though they do count as travel and come out of the $300 credit so there's still something there.

The Prestige is also going to be largely wasted on a travel profile that doesn't stay in hotels.

The key factor with all 3 of these is if the OP can/will transfer the points to airlines once earned or is just going to convert them into cash/redeem on travel portal. If the former, the decision should be largely based on which airline(s) the OP favors. If the latter, the CSR wins out with the 1.5 cpp redemption on their travel portal since it just becomes a 4.5% cash back card.

Re: Travel card for flights, Airbnb, Uber/Lyft?

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 17:38:56 GMT

Thanks for more advice! But as stated in my last post, we already decided on the card. I’m also not sure how buying the cheapest flight to a destination is a bad practice, I have done so for over a decade and traveled all over the world. I am interested in the location, different culture, and experience, not so much the luxury hotels or first class flights. I still wouldn’t mind hanging out in the centurion lounges for a while though!

Re: Travel card for flights, Airbnb, Uber/Lyft?

iced — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 18:01:56 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for more advice! But as stated in my last post, we already decided on the card. I’m also not sure how buying the cheapest flight to a destination is a bad practice, I have done so for over a decade and traveled all over the world. I am interested in the location, different culture, and experience, not so much the luxury hotels or first class flights. I still wouldn’t mind hanging out in the centurion lounges for a while though!

The bad practice aspect of it has nothing to do with premium cabins or luxury. It's all about time.

In most cases, the cheapest flight from A to B isn't the cheapest by much and may not be the shortest/desired routing to the destination. If one checks bags or assigns a seat, the fees to do so can also push the cheapest ticket's total cost above that of a comparable one. I've had similar experiences internationally where what might price out to the cheapest option would have bad connections or long layovers, and it's just an all-around bad idea to put up with a 4+ hour connection or risk a short layover in the likes of LHR/CDG to save a few tens or even hundreds of dollars.

Example: this morning I was looking at a BOS-LAS ticket for a weekend on DL. BOS-LAX-LAS was cheaper by about $60, but then I had an additional 2.5 hours of travel plus a short connection in LAX that had a risk of misconnect. The nonstop made more sense, even if it cost more.

Additional example: I just went to Expedia and picked a random destination (FCO in this case) and priced out tickets. See below:

I can save $73 by taking a 21 hour layover or $2 by taking a 7 hour...or pay the $1800 and be there at least 6 hours sooner than the other options.

Moral of the story:There's more to the total cost of something than just the dollar amount. Blindly going to a travel portal and just grabbing the lowest fare on the list can frequently result in getting a flight that wasn't the best option. I'd apply the same logic to the fools who stand in line for 2 hours on free <ice cream/sandwich> day just to get a item that would have normally cost only a few dollars anyway.

Re: Travel card for flights, Airbnb, Uber/Lyft?

UpperNwGuy — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 19:30:09 GMT

I completely agree with iced in his post immediately above.

Re: Travel card for flights, Airbnb, Uber/Lyft?

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 19:39:56 GMT

@UpperNwGuy wrote:
I completely agree with iced in his post immediately above.

Yes, and can be even worse when your work uses some strange booking systems. I was once trying to book a trip from BOS to London (LHR). The first several choices were different variations of BOS->SFO-->LHR, and were only a few dollars cheaper (and to be fair, the cost per mile flown is MUCH less with this choice!). The problem is that policy required you to explain why you didn't choose the cheapest flight.

And the same system was happy to find flights that arrive at an airport at say 10am, and book a return flight at 10:30am. Yes, it does get you from A to B and back on the same day, and was cheap, but......!

Re: Travel card for flights, Airbnb, Uber/Lyft?

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 21:48:43 GMT

Ok.... I guess I forgot how literal some people can be, I don’t pick the absolute cheapest flight if it means a 13 hour layover just to save $50, I pick the cheapest flights that works, however there is a certain amount that I am willing to have that long of a layover, I just leave the airport and see whatever I can for a few hours. But thanks for the insight and recommendation on what I already mentioned that no one read.

Re: Travel card for flights, Airbnb, Uber/Lyft?

kerplunk — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 01:54:39 GMT

Originally, I was going to suggest either the AmEx Platinum or CSR, however, the more I think about the AmEx Platinum, the more I wonder about who this card is really for. The CSR has to be the best travel card.

Re: Travel card for flights, Airbnb, Uber/Lyft?

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 02:24:06 GMT

i was going to recommend the WF Propel but congrats on the new card! 4% back on gas is going to be nice!