topic Re: Looking for a Travel Card in Credit Cards

Looking for a Travel Card

RyeBread — Wed, 03 May 2023 18:42:03 GMT

I've been doing a lot of traveling lately, either for business or pleasure. I'm often booking flights, AirBnbs, and specific hotel rooms. I'm thinking it would be worth getting a card to take advantage of it. Ideally, to cover a flight or hotel for a personal trip.

That being said, aside from these expenses, I don't spend a lot.

Re: Looking for a Travel Card

wasCB14 — Wed, 03 May 2023 20:32:48 GMT

Any favored hotel brands or airlines?

What is your home airport?

Are there other airports you usually fly to, either as a final destination or to make a connection?

Re: Looking for a Travel Card

Aim_High — Wed, 03 May 2023 21:01:05 GMT

Travel cards is such a broad topic and we do need more information to give you good suggestions, @RyeBread.

@wasCB14's questions above were one good starting point - brand loyalty in particular. I would also ask/comment:

What are your travel patterns in-general? Flights or road trips? Domestic or International flights? First Class, Business, or Coach? Luxury hotels, mid-price, or budget? AirBnB more than hotels or resorts?

What are your current credit cards?

It sounds like you purchase a variety of travel. What percentage of travel spend goes on various categories such as flights, hotels, rental cars, gas (if road trips), cruises, parking/tolls/ferries, taxi/ride shares, etc. ?

How do you feel about paying annual fees? If you're okay with paying an AF, do you have a limit on how high you would be willing to pay, assuming you might get some or all of it back indirectly with credits?

Would you use and be willing to pay an AF for airport lounge access? Would you be willing to pay an AF for other perks and benefits like trip protections and insurances* or shopping protections**?

*Some examples: Trip Cancellation; Trip Delay; Lost Baggage; Delayed Baggage; AD&D - Accidental Death & Dismemberment; CDW - Rental Car Collision Damage Waiver; Emergency Evacuation, Emergency Medical - Dental; Roadside Dispatch or Roadside Assistance.

**Some examples: Extended Warranty coverage; Purchase Protection; Return Protection.

Would you be willing to accept rewards for future travel redemption instead of for cash? Would you want a lot of flexibility in what you redeem your rewards toward or are you okay with a card that rewards better in certain ways, for example airfare or through a travel portal?

Re: Looking for a Travel Card

SouthJamaica — Wed, 03 May 2023 21:18:14 GMT

@RyeBread wrote:
I've been doing a lot of traveling lately, either for business or pleasure. I'm often booking flights, AirBnbs, and specific hotel rooms. I'm thinking it would be worth getting a card to take advantage of it. Ideally, to cover a flight or hotel for a personal trip.

That being said, aside from these expenses, I don't spend a lot.

1. It's significant that you don't have a lot of general spend, so the real question is strictly how to get the most bang for the buck on a credit card when you're making travel purchases, and I gather you're more interested in getting travel rewards that you can use for personal trips, than you are in cash back.

2. If my assumptions are correct, I think a great card for you would be a Chase Sapphire Preferred or a Chase Sapphire Reserve.

PS I'm not one of the travel card aficionados here. @Aim_High is. So once you answer his questions, he'll be able to give you a good recommendation you can 'take to the bank'

Re: Looking for a Travel Card

Hoben02 — Wed, 03 May 2023 22:28:12 GMT

I might suggest you might want a cashback card that has the travel category like the bofa customized cash. Or are you looking for a travel card that collects points to be used to cover future travel. If you just want cashback this card has the widest travel category

Re: Looking for a Travel Card

RyeBread — Fri, 05 May 2023 14:33:23 GMT

- Travel Patterns: More flights than road-trips, but I do take the occasional one. Flights are domestic, coach. Mid-price/budget hotels (Renaissance, Marriot, Holiday Inn) for specific trips, but AirBnb otherwise.

- Flight Patterns: PHL -> LAX, PHL -> AUS, PHL -> ATL, PHL -> SFO

- Current Cards:

Disc1: $28k

X1: $30k

Amex BCE: $24k

Amex Everyday: $10k
Citi DP: $17k

Citi TYP: $19.2k

- % Spent: Majority is on flights, lodging, and either rental car or Uber/Lyft/Lime.

- AF: Not opposed, but the higher it is, the more it needs to be worth it to me. $95/yr is a lot easier to swallow than $550/yr

- Lounge Access: I would use it, but I'm pretty sure PHL doesn't have any lounges.

- I'm fine w/ specific rewards instead of cash, specifically airline and/or hotels.

Re: Looking for a Travel Card

Anonymous — Fri, 05 May 2023 14:35:38 GMT

@RyeBread wrote:

- Lounge Access: I would use it, but I'm pretty sure PHL doesn't have any lounges.

Well, just 9

Lounges and Concierge Services | PHL.org

Re: Looking for a Travel Card

Anonymous — Fri, 05 May 2023 15:00:36 GMT

@RyeBread wrote:
I've been doing a lot of traveling lately, either for business or pleasure. I'm often booking flights, AirBnbs, and specific hotel rooms. I'm thinking it would be worth getting a card to take advantage of it. Ideally, to cover a flight or hotel for a personal trip.

That being said, aside from these expenses, I don't spend a lot.

No mention of whether cash back or points are important. I'd offer that AmEx Platinum, strictly for travel, is worth a look because of the lounge access at airports, perks at a range of hotels and resorts, and their level of service, especially when plans are interrupted. 5x points on airlines and hotels is nice too.

Re: Looking for a Travel Card

SouthJamaica — Fri, 05 May 2023 15:18:13 GMT

@RyeBread wrote:
- Travel Patterns: More flights than road-trips, but I do take the occasional one. Flights are domestic, coach. Mid-price/budget hotels (Renaissance, Marriot, Holiday Inn) for specific trips, but AirBnb otherwise.

- Flight Patterns: PHL -> LAX, PHL -> AUS, PHL -> ATL, PHL -> SFO

- Current Cards:
Disc1: $28k
X1: $30k
Amex BCE: $24k
Amex Everyday: $10k
Citi DP: $17k
Citi TYP: $19.2k

- % Spent: Majority is on flights, lodging, and either rental car or Uber/Lyft/Lime.

- AF: Not opposed, but the higher it is, the more it needs to be worth it to me. $95/yr is a lot easier to swallow than $550/yr

- Lounge Access: I would use it, but I'm pretty sure PHL doesn't have any lounges.

- I'm fine w/ specific rewards instead of cash, specifically airline and/or hotels.

If you can use Southwest, United, and/or Jet Blue, and don't want a high annual fee, then I think Chase Sapphire Preferred would be excellent for you.

Re: Looking for a Travel Card

coldfusion — Fri, 05 May 2023 17:10:37 GMT

Potential sleeper: Fairwinds FCU Visa Signature.

Re: Looking for a Travel Card

NYC_Fella — Fri, 05 May 2023 17:26:47 GMT

Most of my spend (between $5K and $10K a month) goes on my Amex Platinum. I easily recover the $695 AF through various credits or rebates: $200 airline fee credit, $200 Uber credit, $240 digital entertainment credit, and $189 CLEAR credit. There are other specialized credits available, such as $100 for Saks Fifth Avenue, $300 for Equinox gym membership, and $200 for Walmart Plus membership. On top of that you get 5x Membership Rewards points for airline ticket purchases, and free Marriott and Hilton elite status. And of course, admission to Amex Centurion lounges. Not too shabby.

Re: Looking for a Travel Card

Aim_High — Sat, 06 May 2023 19:57:23 GMT

@RyeBread wrote:
- AF: Not opposed, but the higher it is, the more it needs to be worth it to me. $95/yr is a lot easier to swallow than $550/yr

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
@NYC_Fella wrote:
Most of my spend (between $5K and $10K a month) goes on my Amex Platinum. I easily recover the $695 AF through various credits or rebates: $200 airline fee credit, $200 Uber credit, $240 digital entertainment credit, and $189 CLEAR credit. There are other specialized credits available, such as $100 for Saks Fifth Avenue, $300 for Equinox gym membership, and $200 for Walmart Plus membership. On top of that you get 5x Membership Rewards points for airline ticket purchases, and free Marriott and Hilton elite status. And of course, admission to Amex Centurion lounges. Not too shabby.

To avoid making one mega-post (as I'm famous for on My FICO lol ) I will address some separate considerations in individual replies, @RyeBread.

Annual Fees:

For those who haven't had high AF cards, those fees can be discouraging or even frightening to some people. But consumers who understand these cards and use them well can get great value from them, sometimes better value than no-AF cash back cards. I'll refer you to my recent thread on "Evaluating Annual Fee Cards." You would want to consider what your effective AF would be, which is that portion remaining after allowing for the value-added of credits, avoided fees like checked bags, perks such as the equivalent value of things like airport lounges, and the incremental added-value of rewards over your next best competitive card.

@NYC_Fella is getting great value-added out of his $695 AF Platinum card. It can be a great card for the right person, but you would need to use all those various credits as he is doing to make it cost-effective. If the credits are for things you don't normally use (not "organic" spend for you anyway), then perhaps that card is not a good fit. You also mentioned you would use airport lounges ... but are you paying for them now? Or would you be willing to account for that benefit as a part of the value of an AF? Most cards that offer complimentary airport lounge access start at $395 and go up from there. But that airport lounge access is one of the things you are pre-paying for as a convenience.

I have decided that AMEX credits on their charge cards don't fit my organic spend and lifestyle. For others, they are a perfect fit. Evaluating each program requires a bit of a deep dive into where you could recoup value for your specific situation. If you aren't willing to do that, or don't find a card that fits you, you're better off sticking with a no-AF or low-AF card ($150 or less.)

For example, two great choices with AMEX if you aren't willing to pay the $695 AF for Platinum could be an AMEX Gold ($250 AF) or an AMEX Green ($150 AF.) Neither of these offer extensive airport lounge access although there is a minor lounge benefit (Lounge Buddy) on Green. There is also a CLEAR credit which expedites TSA security screening, but it wouldn't help you out at PHL since they have no presence there currently. Gold earns 4x MR (Member Rewards) points on dining or groceries and 3x MR on airfare; 1x MR on everything else. Green earns 3x MR on dining and wide range of travel-transit which makes it a great travel/dining card. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of a Platinum but the fee is much lower also. The best value for MRs is transfer to airline or hotel partners where you can get 1.5 to even 2.0 cents per point (cpp) or more in value. This is similar to how Chase UR (Ultimate Rewards) points and Citi TY (Thank You) points work with roughly equivalent valuations.

Re: Looking for a Travel Card

Aim_High — Sat, 06 May 2023 19:55:37 GMT

@RyeBread wrote:
- Travel Patterns: More flights than road-trips ...

- Flight Patterns: PHL -> LAX, PHL -> AUS, PHL -> ATL, PHL -> SFO.

- % Spent: Majority is on flights, ... lodging, and either rental car or Uber/Lyft/Lime.

Airline-Specific Travel Card:

With your emphasis on flights by travel pattern and spend, an airline-specific card could be a great fit for you.

With your flights originating in PHL, there's a good chance you're flying at least part of the time on American Airlines. According to >PHL airport data<, American operated almost 65% of the PHL market share in 2022 (35.9% of domestic mainline; 22.8% of regional via American Eagle; and 5.8% of international.)

Unlike many airlines who have a credit card agreement with only one lenders, American has two since legacy AA had a Citi contract and the US Air side prior to merger was with Barclays. Both companies have some good cards which earn AAdvantage miles you could use in many ways such as for future flights; cabin upgrades; Admirals Club membership; hotels; car rentals; vacations.

The two cards in particular I would highlight would be the:

Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard. $99 AF (waived in first year currently.) Current SUB 50K AAdvantage Miles (after $2,500 spend in 3 months.) Earns 2x miles on AA flights; restaurants; gas; 1x miles everything else. Earns loyalty points for upgraded airline status, that would carry it's own set of perks. First checked bag is free for cardholder and up to four companions. (Domestic, bag #1 is normally $30 per ticket.) 25% discount on inflight food and beverage purchases. Preferred (earlier) boarding. No FTF. And if you spend $20K or more annually on the card, you earn a $125 Flight Discount on a future flight.

Barclay's Aviator Red Mastercard. This card has been promoted on AA flights for the past couple of years. Sometimes, there are special enhanced SUBs if you apply from the inflight process. Current SUB is 50K miles and only requirement is to pay the AF and make one purchase of any size. $99 AF is waived in year one from link above. Earns 2x miles on AA purchases; 1x miles anything else. Similar to the Citi card, First checked bag is free for cardholder and up to four companions, 25% discount on inflight food and beverage purchases, Preferred Boarding, and no FTF. Annual credits (up to $25) for inflight Wifi purchases. On this card, instead of the flight discount, if you spend $20K+ annually you can purchase a companion certificate for $99 plus taxes and fees on future travel.

Later on, Barclays will allow you to upgrade or downgrade the card. The Silver version ($199) has more perks, but you must apply for an hold the RED card before an upgrade to SILVER is allowed. The original or Blue has less perks and a lower AF ($0 or $49.) And there is a also a business version that has a 75K AAdvantage mile SUB currently with a $99 AF and it offers a 5% annual mileage bonus, among other perks. >THIS website< allows you to compare the cards.

CITI also has upgrade and downgrade paths. There is a no-AF version of the CITI card or you could also upgrade to the AAdvantage Executive card which has a steep $450 AF but gives you automatic membership in the American Airlines Admiral's Club lounge. Annual membership to the Admiral's Club normally costs $650 by itself.

Re: Looking for a Travel Card

Aim_High — Sat, 06 May 2023 19:05:22 GMT

@RyeBread wrote:
Mid-price/budget hotels (Renaissance, Marriot, Holiday Inn) for specific trips, but AirBnb otherwise.

Hotel-Specific Cards:

Similar to the airline-specific cards above, it sounds like a Marriott-branded card might be a fit for you. However, your AirBnB preference makes me question the value you'd get from a hotel card. Marriott is the largest hotel chain in the world by several metrics including total rooms, number of countries present, and annual revenues. They also have a great mix of accomodations from lower-priced roadside properties to upscale hotels or resorts. Marriott has cards with both AMEX and Chase, and some of them include a free annual night stay which helps defer the cost of the card. Many of them also give you elevated Marriott Bonvoy status which can help you earn points faster on your stays or give you other perks such as late checkout, enhanced WIFI, and complimentary breakfast.

In the price range you mentioned, the Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa Signature card has a $95 AF; give you automatic Silver elite status where you'll earn a 10% bonus on stays; gives you a free night worth up to 35K points, 6x points at Marriott: 3x points up to $6K annually on dining, grocery, gas; 1x point elsewhere. No FTF. Current SUB is (3) Free Nights after spending $3K in three months - each night worth up to 50K points with total points credited up to 150K. On the high end is the AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant which has a $650 AF but offers automatic elevated Platinum status, a higher-value free night, $300 dining credits, and many other perks and value-added. Chase also has a no-AF Marriott card and both Chase/AMEX have cards at the $250 price-point. Determining which card is best would require looking at the value each delivers to see if it fits your lifestyle and spend.

Re: Looking for a Travel Card

Aim_High — Sat, 06 May 2023 18:43:07 GMT

General Purpose Travel Cards:

If you don't want to tie-up rewards with one specific hotel or airline, or to give yourself more flexibility with redemption, you could opt for a general purpose travel card. I like @SouthJamaica's suggestion for the Chase Sapphire Preferred since it packs a lot of value into the card for a $95 AF. For one, the SUB right now is great (80K UR Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4K in three months.) It also includes a $50 annual hotel credit which easily lowers the effective AF down to $45. You can earn 5x points on travel booked through the Chase portal, 3x points on dining-online grocery-streaming services, 2x on other general travel, 1x on everything else. And one point is worth anywhere from a minimum 1 cpp for cash, 1.25 when redeemed in-portal for travel, or 1.5 to 2.0 cpp when transferred to hotel or airline partners. There's also 5x points earned on Lyft through March 2025; benefits on Door Dash, GoPuff, Instacart; Primary Rental Car CDW; and other travel protections for things like trip cancellation/interruption/delay; baggage delay; enhanced extended warranty protections; purchase protections (damage or theft for 120 days after purchae - $500 per claim.)

The comparable CITI card to the Sapphire Preferred would be the Citi Premier Mastercard. Personally, I think the Chase card is a better value, but Premier has its' strengths also. The $95 AF can be completely offset with a $100 annual hotel credit on a single stay of $500 or more. The card earns TY (Thank You) points that can be redeemed in-portal or transferred to partners. It earns 10x points on hotel/car rentals booked through their portal, 3x on other hotels, airfare, gas, restaurants, groceries; 1x points everywhere else. No FTF. Citi stripped most of it's travel protections from their cards so this option lags in other value-added.

If you want to stay away from an AF card, a great option is a card like the Wells Fargo Autograph Visa Signature. You have $0 AF and earn uncapped 3 points (3%) on dining, a wide range of travel or transit, gas, cell phone plans, and streaming services. You earn 1% on everything else. Secondary rental car CDW. Cell phone insurance protection. No FTF. Current SUB of 20K points is worth $200 after spending $1K in three months.

There are a lot of good travel cards from regional banks or credit unions with $0 or low-AFs. Some of them offer travel insurances or perks and earning rates can be 3% to 5% for travel. One example of this is the Navy Federal Credit Union Flagship Rewards Visa Signature. It has a $49 AF but reimburses TSA Global Entry ($100 every 4 years) which lowers the effective AF to $24. Global Entry also qualfies you for expedited security screening via TSA Precheck. It earns 3% on travel and transit; 2% on everything else. Credit limits up to $80K. Secondary Rental Car CDW. Travel Accident insurance. Current SUB is 40K points (worth $400) after spending $4K in three months. SUB also includes one free year of Amazon Prime.

Re: Looking for a Travel Card

wasCB14 — Sat, 06 May 2023 22:00:27 GMT

Citi AA Platinum Select has a 75k / $3k / 4 months public offer and I've heard of targeted 80k offers (don't know the minimum spend requirement). So there are better options than 50k.

Re: Looking for a Travel Card

Aim_High — Sat, 06 May 2023 22:16:23 GMT

@wasCB14 wrote:
Citi AA Platinum Select has a 75k / $3k / 4 months public offer and I've heard of targeted 80k offers (don't know the minimum spend requirement). So there are better options than 50k.

Good catch and thanks for that correction @wasCB14. I knew about that temporary enhanced SUB but I forgot and just posted the standard SUB info from CITI's website. However, I'm showing that special promotion ends in about 3-4 days (somewhere around May 10??). according to the last time I saw a date on it so act quickly if you want this one. After it ends it will probably go back to the 50K miles. I've seen the 75K ... but not the 80K.

>>HERE<< is a link to the 75K miles SUB on the American Airlines AAdvantage website.

Re: Looking for a Travel Card

MrFiah — Fri, 19 May 2023 12:59:32 GMT

@Aim_High wrote:
General Purpose Travel Cards:

If you don't want to tie-up rewards with one specific hotel or airline, or to give yourself more flexibility with redemption, you could opt for a general purpose travel card. I like @SouthJamaica's suggestion for the Chase Sapphire Preferred since it packs a lot of value into the card for a $95 AF. For one, the SUB right now is great (80K UR Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4K in three months.)   It also includes a $50 annual hotel credit which easily lowers the effective AF down to $45.   You can earn 5x points on travel booked through the Chase portal, 3x points on dining-online grocery-streaming services, 2x on other general travel, 1x on everything else. And one point is worth anywhere from a minimum 1 cpp for cash, 1.25 when redeemed in-portal for travel, or 1.5 to 2.0 cpp when transferred to hotel or airline partners. There's also 5x points earned on Lyft through March 2025; benefits on Door Dash, GoPuff, Instacart; Primary Rental Car CDW; and other travel protections for things like trip cancellation/interruption/delay; baggage delay; enhanced extended warranty protections; purchase protections (damage or theft for 120 days after purchae - $500 per claim.)

The comparable CITI card to the Sapphire Preferred would be the Citi Premier Mastercard. Personally, I think the Chase card is a better value, but Premier has its' strengths also. The $95 AF can be completely offset with a $100 annual hotel credit on a single stay of $500 or more. The card earns TY (Thank You) points that can be redeemed in-portal or transferred to partners. It earns 10x points on hotel/car rentals booked through their portal, 3x on other hotels, airfare, gas, restaurants, groceries; 1x points everywhere else. No FTF. Citi stripped most of it's travel protections from their cards so this option lags in other value-added.

If you want to stay away from an AF card, a great option is a card like the Wells Fargo Autograph Visa Signature. You have $0 AF and earn uncapped 3 points (3%) on dining, a wide range of travel or transit, gas, cell phone plans, and streaming services. You earn 1% on everything else. Secondary rental car CDW. Cell phone insurance protection.   No FTF.   Current SUB of 20K points is worth $200 after spending $1K in three months.

There are a lot of good travel cards from regional banks or credit unions with $0 or low-AFs. Some of them offer travel insurances or perks and earning rates can be 3% to 5% for travel.   One example of this is the Navy Federal Credit Union Flagship Rewards Visa Signature. It has a $49 AF but reimburses TSA Global Entry ($100 every 4 years) which lowers the effective AF to $24. Global Entry also qualfies you for expedited security screening via TSA Precheck.   It earns 3% on travel and transit; 2% on everything else. Credit limits up to $80K. Secondary Rental Car CDW. Travel Accident insurance. Current SUB is 40K points (worth $400) after spending $4K in three months. SUB also includes one free year of Amazon Prime.

@Aim_High Thanks for all the information, it's a lot to digest. I have a question regarding travel cards, the CSP and Citi Premier to be specific. I have three weeks of vacation coming up this summer and I will be road tripping to national parks and staying in hotels. I am not not brand loyal and I currently don't have a travel card, I do have a 2% cash back Visa Signature and a Discover IT card. I'll probably stay at Midlevel hotels. Overall, I would say my spend would be on the lower side.

While not brand loyal, I do have a Marriot account to earn points but no card associated with the account. They are offering me a promotion of stay 2 nights, get 2 free nights (70,000 pts). My first thought is to get the $95 Marriot card and also earn the 150,000 bonus points to pair with the promotion.

My second thought is to get CSP as the valuation on the points is much better (marriot @ .7 vs CSP 1.25 to 2) and the points are much more flexible in that they can be used acrossed multiple travel partners. I wouldn't use the additional perks like lyft, Uber, intacart etc as I live in a rural area. My concern with CSP and like cards is the cost of travel when booked through the portal vs booking directly with the hotel/company. I have read that the cost of travel is more through the portal so I worry that while earning 5x points is great does it really offset, or like it should, add value versus booking direct?

Re: Looking for a Travel Card

Aim_High — Sat, 20 May 2023 04:04:15 GMT

@MrFiah wrote:
@Aim_High Thanks for all the information, it's a lot to digest. I have a question regarding travel cards, the CSP and Citi Premier to be specific. I have three weeks of vacation coming up this summer and I will be road tripping to national parks and staying in hotels. I am not not brand loyal and I currently don't have a travel card, I do have a 2% cash back Visa Signature and a Discover IT card. I'll probably stay at Midlevel hotels. Overall, I would say my spend would be on the lower side.

While not brand loyal, I do have a Marriot account to earn points but no card associated with the account. They are offering me a promotion of stay 2 nights, get 2 free nights (70,000 pts). My first thought is to get the $95 Marriot card and also earn the 150,000 bonus points to pair with the promotion.

My second thought is to get CSP as the valuation on the points is much better (marriot @ .7 vs CSP 1.25 to 2) and the points are much more flexible in that they can be used acrossed multiple travel partners. I wouldn't use the additional perks like lyft, Uber, intacart etc as I live in a rural area. My concern with CSP and like cards is the cost of travel when booked through the portal vs booking directly with the hotel/company. I have read that the cost of travel is more through the portal so I worry that while earning 5x points is great does it really offset, or like it should, add value versus booking direct?

You're welcome, @MrFiah, and you've given me a lot to which to respond. Travel cards and strategy can become quite complicated and there's more to one way to effectively address your travel needs. Part of it is digging deep into your objectives; travel patterns; your goals for applying for a card, whether short-term for the SUB or long-term for being a worthwhile addition to your wallet; your spending patterns, both for travel and for general spend.

Beyond this three-week vacation, do you see yourself finding good usage annually for travel points and do you plan to try to accrue points with normal spend during the year to use on your personal travel?

The $95 AF Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless is a great card and getting it for the SUB would be a worthwhile strategy. But I'm not sure how well it serves you overall, beyond the SUB. You would at least get the annual free night as long as you're willing to "pre-pay" via your annual fee, and the 35K points should easily be worth more than your AF. But then, it sounds like you're an infrequent traveler who is not brand-loyal and not spending a lot of money on hotels. Hotel travel cards can earn outstanding rewards returns - but normally just AT that hotel brand. Sometimes, you'll find one with pretty competitive earnings outside hotel, but this is something to consider if you plan to keep the card for the long term. After those high SUBs of points, it may not be worth your while to have a hotel card that is mainly useful to you for infrequent travel. If I did get such a hotel card, getting one with a free night would probably be important. Or one that I could earn a free night with sufficient spend, and using it for a daily driver. A few hotel cards that I think could be good for a daily driver due to their outside-hotel rewards would include: Chase World of Hyatt; AMEX Hilton Surpass; Barclay's Wyndham Plus. Chase WoH can earn 2x points on dining, fitness centers, airfare, and transit. Thepointsguy values Hyatt at 1.7 cpp and I concur with that valuation, meaning you'd earn 3.4% on those categories for redemption at Hyatt. AMEX Hilton Surpass earns 6x points on gas, groceries, dining. TPG values Hilton at about 6/10 cpp, so that's about 3.6% return on those categories. Surpass is the only one of theese cards that don't give you an automatic free night, but you can earn one after spending $15K annually (or about $1250 per month.) Finally, here's one I don't talk about much that you might appreciate. The Barclay's Wyndham Rewards Plus card earns 6x points on gas and 4x points on dining and groceries. With TPG estimating Wyndham value at 1.1 cpp, that's worth up to 6.6% back on gas and 4.4% on dining-groceries. For road-trip discount to midrange hotel travel, Wyndham offers many brands beyond the obvious Wyndham such as Wingate; Wyndham Garden; La Quinta; Hawthorne Extended Stay; Ramada; Baymont; AmericInn; Super8; Travelodge; Howard Johnson; Days Inn; Microtel.

Let's talk about travel portals. Yes, you have to be careful with valuations with any travel portal. However, it's not true that you'll pay more on the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal. I just did a specific search across multiple travel aggregator websites (Trip Advisor; Orbitz, Hotels.com; Expedia; Priceline etc) and compared rates with my Chase and AMEX portals, as well as my Marriott app as appropriate. I looked at travel to Atlanta, Ga for one night on Fri, June 9. In nearly all cases, all the rates, whether through Marriott, Chase, or the travel portals were almost exactly identical .... **ONCE you sort through what you're buying. The main differences are that the travel aggregator sites may promote the rate BEFORE taxes and fees while others may give you the out-the-door rate. And second, the travel aggregator websites almost always give you the PREPAID - NON-REFUNDABLE nightly rate. But if you check the options, you can pay extra for a refundable room. Once you make sure you're comparing apples-to-apples, Chase has the same rates.

One thing I don't like about the Chase portal is that it tends to feature the major hotel chains, may not offer rooms at all properties in a location that you see on sites like TripAdvisor, and specifically may exclude local one-off properties, even if they are reputable and well-reviewed. So while the rates were the same, I had more total hotels offered to me on the general websites and even on the AMEX website.

Another problem with the travel portals (or the travel aggregation websites) is that you normally won't get any loyalty points or credits unless you are booking directly. So if you want to build on those Marriott points and night stay credits, it's best to book directly with Marriott and pay for those charges with a Marriott credit card for maximum value.

You're onto something with the greater flexibility of Chase UR redemption versus Marriott Bonvoy. But you're confusing the issue with the points value comparison. Points are valued by the rate at which you earn them; the change in valuation by any credits against an annual fee; and the value for which you redeem them. You're just looking at the last part and making a judgment. If I use a Chase Marriott card at Marriott, I earn 6x points (at 8/10 cpp) or 4.8%. If I use a CSP at a Marriott, I earn 2x UR which is worth 2% cash; 2.5% for in-portal travel; and maybe up to as much as 4% if I transfer for 2.0 cpp. At Marriott, CSP is never worth as much as a Marriott credit card. And that Marriott $95 AF is fully erased by the free night, plus there is normally significant value-added to my points earning. The CSP has a $50 hotel credit but if you're not taking advantage of the other card features and benefits, you may be absorbing part of that remaining $45 effective AF. And this is why you have to do your own math to see which cards work best for your situation. Also, there's the question of which card you're reaching for outside the hotel. If the earnings rate isn't great for the category of spend, would you use a different card? You mentioned the point value of each Marriott point versus one Chase UR point. The CSP earns 1x UR on general spend, so anywhere from 1% to 2%. The Chase Marriott cards have a baseline earn of (2) Bonvoy points for general spend, so at 8/10 cpp x 2 = about 1.6%, right in the middle of your CSP so the difference in the points value is relative.

We've gotten on a lot of tangents here, so I'll pause for now. Bottom line is there's nothing wrong with just getting the card for the SUB and keeping travel cards for the long-haul isn't a good strategy everyone can equally benefit from doing. Some try the travel card game and just go back to their flat-rate 2% card for the simplicity and due to only getting marginal incremental increases in their overall rewards once they pencil the numbers.

Re: Looking for a Travel Card

Anonymous — Sat, 20 May 2023 12:58:46 GMT

@Aim_High wrote:

Another problem with the travel portals (or the travel aggregation websites) is that you normally won't get any loyalty points or credits unless you are booking directly.

Just to add: I have heard (but not experienced) that a major issue with travel portals for airline flights is that "crisis" changes are much harder to make compared to those booked with the airline. WIth the latter, assuming you can get through, it can be relatively easy to make changes. If you have used a portal, you will be told to talk to your agent. Is that (still) true?