topic Re: Best credit card for travel in Credit Cards

Best credit card for travel

ckrebuilder — Fri, 11 Aug 2023 19:43:14 GMT

I'm looking to travel 1-3 times a year and would like a card where I can transfer points towards economy international flights. I make $115,000, excellent credit scores, my highest monthly spend is towards food, especially ordering out(esp on caviar but I used to use seamless all the time. No reason i'm loyal to any one, it's juse ease of use and habit) and groceries. I don't have an airline or hotel I'm loyal to, I prefer searching for flights and seeing what best fits my budget and schedule. I usually stay in airbnbs or boutique hotels, but who knows that may change. There's no one specific place I'm looking to travel to, destinations can be all over the place. I looked up a few airlines used in past flights and they range from aero mexico, AA, United, jet blue. Hubs in my city seem to be: AA, Delta, and Jet blue, from what I can find on google. I plan on getting global entry and tsa precheck. Don't super care about lounges but maybe that's only because ive never used them before? They sound nice thought. I don't drive and so don't purchase gas if that's a consideration. For certain trips I'll prob be purchasing medical travel insurance even if the card offers it, since the amount cards cover is usually low.

I was considering Chase sapphire preffered or the Amex gold. Some people tend to say they see CSP as a hotel card and AG as a flight card, or CSP is better for domestic and AG better for international flights, thought i'm not sure why. I've never had a travel card so I cant put into context why this would be a case. Some people also seem to say they hardly use their CSP card but use other cards in their "trifecta" and just funnel the points through the CSP bc earnings points through CSP happens at a snails pace after the bonus. But that people can rack up points on the amex gold, but that using points earned through amex is more difficult?

Other considerations: No preference for Uber or Lyft, I don't tend to use either very often, but when I do I use the one that's significanty cheaper. Usually the prices are neck and neck minus a few dollars, if that's the case I prefer Lyft. But whenever it has been much cheaper it's usually Uber and i'll use them. Don't use Ubereats a ton, but if i have a credit I'll def use it to pick up lunch or something. For amex's food credit, I dont frequent any of those places very often but I'm ok to eat shake shack or milkbar, I find them both tasty places to get food. It could be a fun "oh let me get my free treat" or a "**bleep** i have to use this credit or i'm out $10" kinda thing, not sure. Also, Some say the travel portals are much more expesive.. if this is the case i'd book directly with an airline after looking up flights on google.

I also burned Chase in 2015 with a 1k CO which was paid off, so I may be on the outs with them anyway, but won't know until I apply. Currentlly have no black marks on my credit and my scores are either over 800 or close to it(with the help of this sub).

I'm having a difficult time choosing. Does anyone have recs or insights i'm not considering?

Re: Best credit card for travel

SouthJamaica — Fri, 11 Aug 2023 19:47:20 GMT

@ckrebuilder wrote:
I'm looking to travel 1-3 times a year and would like a card where I can transfer points towards economy international flights. I make $115,000, excellent credit scores, my highest monthly spend is towards food, especially ordering out(esp on caviar but I used to use seamless all the time. No reason i'm loyal to any one, it's juse ease of use and habit) and groceries. I don't have an airline or hotel I'm loyal to, I prefer searching for flights and seeing what best fits my budget and schedule. I usually stay in airbnbs or boutique hotels, but who knows that may change. There's no one specific place I'm looking to travel to, destinations can be all over the place. I looked up a few airlines used in past flights and they range from aero mexico, AA, United, jet blue. Hubs in my city seem to be: AA, Delta, and Jet blue, from what I can find on google. I plan on getting global entry and tsa precheck. Don't super care about lounges but maybe that's only because ive never used them before? They sound nice thought. I don't drive and so don't purchase gas if that's a consideration. For certain trips I'll prob be purchasing medical travel insurance even if the card offers it, since the amount cards cover is usually low.

I was considering Chase sapphire preffered or the Amex gold. Some people tend to say they see CSP as a hotel card and AG as a flight card, or CSP is better for domestic and AG better for international flights, thought i'm not sure why. I've never had a travel card so I cant put into context why this would be a case. Some people also seem to say they hardly use their CSP card but use other cards in their "trifecta" and just funnel the points through the CSP bc earnings points through CSP happens at a snails pace after the bonus. But that people can rack up points on the amex gold, but that using points earned through amex is more difficult? What would make finding flight deals more difficult with amex?

Other considerations: No preference for Uber or Lyft, I don't tend to use either very often, but when I do I use the one that's significanty cheaper. Usually the prices are neck and neck minus a few dollars, if that's the case I prefer Lyft. But whenever it has been much cheaper it's usually Uber and i'll use them. Don't use Ubereats a ton, but if i have a credit I'll def use it to pick up lunch or something. For amex's food credit, I dont frequent any of those places very often but I'm ok to eat shake shack or milkbar, I find them both tasty places to get food. It could be a fun "oh let me get my free treat" or a "**bleep** i have to use this credit or i'm out $10" kinda thing, not sure. Also, Some say the travel portals are much more expesive.. if this is the case i'd book directly with an airline after looking up flights on google.

I also burned Chase in 2015 with a 1k CO which was paid off, so I may be on the outs with them anyway, but won't know until I apply. Currentlly have no black marks on my credit and my scores are either over 800 or close to it(with the help of this sub).

I'm having a difficult time choosing. Does anyone have recs or insights i'm not considering?

You might want to also look into the Citi Premier card, which gives you 3 Thank You points per dollar spend on dining (including fast food), groceries, hotels, and flights.

Aero mexico and Jet Blue are among its many international travel partners.

Re: Best credit card for travel

wingennis — Sat, 12 Aug 2023 00:03:42 GMT

I appreciate you providing us so much information about how you travel! I have experience with the Amex Gold and Green. As a purely travel related card, I preferred the Green. More points on all kinds of travel instead of just airfare directly with an airline (you can use Expedia!) and still 3x on restaurants which we tend to go to as we travel. If I was only going to have one travel card, that would be the one I would choose. I tend to transfer my points mostly toward aspirational air fare so I want to build as many points as I can which is how I ended up with the Gold. I use Doordash but I use Instacart 3-4x as much so the points earning is better for my preferences. Gold may not be the best choice and best annual fee for how you intend to travel. I also agree that the Citi Premier might be a good choice for point earnings. I cancelled mine when they eliminated travel insurance/protections. They also don't have good choices for domestic transfer partners. CSP has travel protection at the same annual fee and has domestic transfer partners such as United and Southwest.

I hope inspiration strikes you!