topic Re: In search of the best cashback travel card — 5% in Credit Cards

In search of the best cashback travel card — 5%

NYJfan — Wed, 24 May 2023 23:46:41 GMT

I'm in search of a no fee 5% cashback travel card with no real strings attached.

The options I'm aware of are as follows:

BOA Customized Cash -- 5.25% up to $2k/quarter in travel. Requires Platinum Honors status. Not interested as $2k spend is too low per quarter. Also not interested in moving money to BOA.

BOA Business Advantage: 5.25% up to $50k annually. Requires Business Platinum Honors Status. $50k threshold is good, but I don't want $100k in a business account with BOA.

Greenstate Credit Union World Mastercard: 5% cashback on flights and hotels. This checks the box but I do not qualify for membership.

Any credit union enthusiast know of additional options?

Re: In search of the best cashback travel card — 5%

ptatohed — Thu, 25 May 2023 00:09:55 GMT

What do you consider as 'Travel'? Airlines, hotels, rental cars, what else?

Citi Custom Cash lists 'select travel' as a 5% category. But there are caps.

Do you count the 5% through Chase with the Freedom cards?

Re: In search of the best cashback travel card — 5%

Anonymous — Thu, 25 May 2023 00:43:12 GMT

@ptatohed wrote:
What do you consider as 'Travel'? Airlines, hotels, rental cars, what else?

Citi Custom Cash lists 'select travel' as a 5% category. But there are caps.

Do you count the 5% through Chase with the Freedom cards?

My guess is that if $2k a quarter is too low with the BoA card, Custom Cash $500 per month ~~and Chase $1,500 in covered quarters~~ will also be too low. (ETA: Forgot about going through the portal with chase, no cap)

Re: In search of the best cashback travel card — 5%

NYJfan — Thu, 25 May 2023 00:28:43 GMT

I am not looking to have to use an OTA to obtain 5% cash back. I want it native to the card.

At minimum I would want direct airlines and hotels, ideally it would include OTAs, AirBnB, VRBO, and Car Rentals.

I currently have an Altitude Reserve so I'm getting 4.5% on travel currently, but if I can shed an annual fee and improve on that it that would be nice. $2k per quarter is too low a limit.

Re: In search of the best cashback travel card — 5%

800wannabe420 — Thu, 25 May 2023 00:32:39 GMT

@NYJfan wrote:
I'm in search of a no fee 5% cashback travel card with no real strings attached.

The options I'm aware of are as follows:

BOA Customized Cash -- 5.25% up to $2k/quarter in travel. Requires Platinum Honors status. Not interested as $2k spend is too low per quarter. Also not interested in moving money to BOA.

BOA Business Advantage: 5.25% up to $50k annually. Requires Business Platinum Honors Status. $50k threshold is good, but I don't want $100k in a business account with BOA.

Greenstate Credit Union World Mastercard: 5% cashback on flights and hotels. This checks the box but I do not qualify for membership.

Any credit union enthusiast know of additional options?

@NYJfan

If I am reading their website correctly, it appears that you can qualify for membership in the Greenstate Credit Union with a membership in the American Consumer Council.

Chase has no cap on travel purchased through their travel portal I believe.

Re: In search of the best cashback travel card — 5%

ptatohed — Thu, 25 May 2023 01:28:54 GMT

I believe even then it is geo fenced.

@AndySoCal

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Personal-Finance/American-Consumer-Council-Credit-Unions-Update-8/td-p/6662094

Re: In search of the best cashback travel card — 5%

redpat — Thu, 25 May 2023 03:03:15 GMT

Lol, this one is easy even if you fly once a yr and fly up front.

Example pay $550 up front for the delta reserve card.

Typical FC cross country can run let say $1,200 x 2 = $2,400 w/ reserve card it's $1,750 (1,200 + 550) saving of $650 gives you 34% cashback plus lounge access, $85 credit for precheck or $100 for global entry, free check bag if not flying first class and a sign up bonus. Any miles on spend is gravy.......

If you are purely a budget traveler and don't mind being treated like cattle stick to cashback cards but if you want to upgrade your travel really research true travel cards not the pretend ones.

Re: In search of the best cashback travel card — 5%

GZG — Thu, 25 May 2023 04:02:35 GMT

@NYJfan wrote:

Greenstate Credit Union World Mastercard: 5% cashback on flights and hotels. This checks the box but I do not qualify for membership.

I didn't think there was a hard geofence if you claim ACC, you just have to call in to apply though, they won't let you apply online

I could be wrong

Re: In search of the best cashback travel card — 5%

summerterrace — Thu, 25 May 2023 12:30:07 GMT

The premium cards only give 3% cash back on travel, unless you use their travel portals.

Citi custom cash at 5% as mentioned but it's capped at $500 per month.

If you want straight cash back with no caps the Wells Fargo autograph gives 3x. That's the best you are going to do without further hoops to jump through or caps.

Re: In search of the best cashback travel card — 5%

digitek — Thu, 25 May 2023 13:08:59 GMT

@NYJfan wrote:
I am not looking to have to use an OTA to obtain 5% cash back. I want it native to the card.

At minimum I would want direct airlines and hotels, ideally it would include OTAs, AirBnB, VRBO, and Car Rentals.

I currently have an Altitude Reserve so I'm getting 4.5% on travel currently, but if I can shed an annual fee and improve on that it that would be nice. $2k per quarter is too low a limit.

Not going to get a much better card than this for travel IMO. It has lots of utility outside of just travel with 3 points on mobile wallet, which makes it a good everyday card, too. Has some of the best travel benefits of all cards. Annual Fee is effectively $75 since credits can be used for dining. Not limited to travel portals for booking with real time rewards, which is kind of rare. No spending cap. Good customer service.

Re: In search of the best cashback travel card — 5%

AndySoCal — Thu, 25 May 2023 13:50:37 GMT

@ptatohed @NYJfan Yes they are geofenced. Below is a link of their membership eligibility page

https://www.greenstate.org/join.html

I am not sure if you can join if you live out of the defined area through American Consumer Council. That is a question for Greenstate CU. I would like to know the response

Re: In search of the best cashback travel card — 5%

ptatohed — Thu, 25 May 2023 14:40:34 GMT

I know only loosely related to this thread but I thought I'd toss out there that citi is offering 5 total TYPs for some travel purchase through the portal for a limited time. This might be only for the Rewards+ (which most people don't have), I'm not sure if I see the same offer on my DC or CC.

Re: In search of the best cashback travel card — 5%

K-in-Boston — Thu, 25 May 2023 15:22:12 GMT

@digitek wrote:
@NYJfan wrote:
I am not looking to have to use an OTA to obtain 5% cash back. I want it native to the card.

At minimum I would want direct airlines and hotels, ideally it would include OTAs, AirBnB, VRBO, and Car Rentals.

I currently have an Altitude Reserve so I'm getting 4.5% on travel currently, but if I can shed an annual fee and improve on that it that would be nice. $2k per quarter is too low a limit.

Not going to get a much better card than this for travel IMO. It has lots of utility outside of just travel with 3 points on mobile wallet, which makes it a good everyday card, too. Has some of the best travel benefits of all cards. Annual Fee is effectively $75 since credits can be used for dining. Not limited to travel portals for booking with real time rewards, which is kind of rare. No spending cap. Good customer service.

100% agree. If redeeming through an OTA is out of the question, I really don't see anything outside of limited time promotions being uncapped and doing better than the effective 4.5% with RTR on Altitude Reserve. I do miss the GoGo passes, though; that made up for the other $75 for me.

Re: In search of the best cashback travel card — 5%

C6 — Thu, 25 May 2023 15:28:20 GMT

I can say that Greenstate is not Geofenced. You have to call to join and I guess they can be picky on who they approve. Another excellent travel card is from Synovus. One can get up to 6.25% when redeemed for travel. After the first year the fee is $50.

Re: In search of the best cashback travel card — 5%

ptatohed — Thu, 25 May 2023 16:59:23 GMT

@C6 wrote:
I can say that Greenstate is not Geofenced. You have to call to join and I guess they can be picky on who they approve. Another excellent travel card is from Synovus. One can get up to 6.25% when redeemed for travel. After the first year the fee is $50.

Didn't know about this one. Looks like the 5X is only on the first $5,000 annually.

https://www.synovus.com/personal/charge/credit-cards/

Re: In search of the best cashback travel card — 5%

summerterrace — Fri, 26 May 2023 03:56:21 GMT

To get the 4.5% on the Altitude Reserve the rewards have to be redeemed for travel/travel reimbursements. If op wants straight cash back it's only 3% for travel purchases.

Re: In search of the best cashback travel card — 5%

NYJfan — Sun, 28 May 2023 01:14:26 GMT

The reason I want a cashback card without an OTA is because I have to book travel through my company's travel agent but I can use my personal card. I already earn more points than I can use so I'd rather just get cashback at this point.

Re: In search of the best cashback travel card — 5%

Aim_High — Sun, 28 May 2023 21:58:51 GMT

@NYJfan wrote:
BOA Customized Cash -- 5.25% up to $2k/quarter in travel. Requires Platinum Honors status. Not interested as $2k spend is too low per quarter. Also not interested in moving money to BOA.

I know you're not interested in moving money to BofA, @NYJfan, but just to clarify for the sake of others reading this thread:

Quarterly cap is $2500 (not $2000) on Customized Cash Rewards, so the annual limit is $10K. And this far exceeds the $500 monthly limit on Citi Custom Cash ($1500 quarterly or $6K annually.)
What some do not know is that BofA will allow multiples of the CCR card, so a second card would net you $5K quarterly or $20K annually in cash back.
If coupling the CCR cards with a Premium Rewards, you'd earn 2.625% cash back on uncapped general spend; 3.5% on dining (uncapped); and 3.5% on all travel you wanted to put on the card (uncapped) in excess of the $10K/$20K on CCR. The $95 AF is fully refundable (and then some) with $100 annual airline fee credits. A Premium Rewards and one or two CCR's is a very powerful cash back combo, one of the best that I know.

I know you said you're earning 4.5% on Altitude Reserve, but isn't that in travel rewards anyway, not in cash back as you prefer? From my understanding, that 4.5% is equivalent to Chase Sapphire Reserve's 50% bonus for in-portal travel on UR points, making CSR's 3x general travel rewards rate worth 4.5%. But unlike USB/AR, Chase has travel partners where those points could be worth even more than 1.5 cpp. Again, though, I know you're looking for cash. Unfortunately, the better alternatives for high spend on travel at high value are with with the other premium travel cards redeeming points for travel, not cash back.

IMO, cards that earn more than 3% CASH for travel category purchases normally have some hoops to jump through, whether it's annual fees, depository restrictions such as with BofA, or spending caps on travel spending that appear to be unsatifactory to your spending needs. (The Green State CU card might be an exception, if they prove to be non-geofenced.) There are quite a few 3% uncapped cash back travel cards including Citi Costco Visa; NFCU Flagship Rewards Visa; Comenity AAA Travel Advantage Visa; or Wells Fargo Autograph Visa. So personally, if cash payout is important to you and 5% or more is important to you, I think the BofA combos above would be the perfect fit if you'd reconsider moving assets to Merrill Lynch to qualify for Platinum Honors. You could earn 5.25% on $20K annually; then 3.5% on any remainder. That's going to be hard to beat. I've never heard of a third card with the same cardholder, but it might be possible. Or if you have P2 in your life, you could be AU on one or two more cards from the same household and jack that up to $40K spend.

Re: In search of the best cashback travel card — 5%

NYJfan — Sun, 28 May 2023 22:13:49 GMT

Thanks. It looks like the best I can do is the Altitude Reserve unless I can get either the Greenstate CU or decide to move $$$ to BOA.

FWIW, US Bank Altitude Reserve is as good as cash because you can use Real Time Rewards for $0.015. This is as good as cash even if you're not gaming it.

Re: In search of the best cashback travel card — 5%

summerterrace — Sun, 28 May 2023 22:47:16 GMT

The real time rewards at .015 are only for travel. The other redemptions are .01 for real time rewards.