topic Re: Travel rewards credit cards compilation in Credit Cards

Travel rewards credit cards compilation

HiLine — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 03:27:22 GMT

I thought I'd start a thread where we can compare the pros and cons of the most popular travel rewards cards so those looking into these can decide on their own which card would best fit their plans.

Category 1: cards that offer travel rewards points that can be used to redeem against travel purchases, at a rate of 1 cent per point unless noted otherwise.

1. American Express Blue Sky

-Point earning rate: 1 point, worth 1.33 cents, everywhere

-Travel defined as: airlines, hotels, car rental companies, cruise lines, travel agencies, tour operators, commuter railways & trains and online travel sites

-60 days window from travel purchase date to redeem points
-No annual fee

-2.7% foreign transaction fee

-7.5k points bonus, worth $100, after $1000 spend in 90 days

-No EMV chips

2. American Express Blue Sky Preferred, or BSP

-Point earning rate: 2 points, worth 2.66 cents, at US restaurants, hotels, and car rentals; 1 point, worth 1.33 cents, everywhere else

-Travel defined as: airlines, hotels, car rental companies, cruise lines, travel agencies, tour operators, commuter railways & trains and online travel sites

-60 days window from travel purchase date to redeem points
-$75 annual fee

-$100 annual airline allowance

-2.7% foreign transaction fee

-7.5k points bonus, worth $100, after $1000 spend in 90 days

-No EMV chips

3. Barclays Arrival no annual fee:

-Point earning rate: 2.22 points on dining and travel and 1.11 point on everything else

-Travel defined as: Airlines, Travel Agencies & Tour Operators, Hotels, Motels & Resorts, Cruise Lines, Passenger Railways and Car Rental Agencies

-90 days window from travel purchase date to redeem points
-No annual fee

-No foreign transaction fees

-20k bonus points after $1000 spend in 90 days

-No EMV chips

-Mastercard only

4. Barclays Arrival with annual fee:

-Point earning rate: 2.22 points on everything

-Travel defined as: Airlines, Travel Agencies & Tour Operators, Hotels, Motels & Resorts, Cruise Lines, Passenger Railways and Car Rental Agencies

-90 days window from travel purchase date to redeem points
-Annual fee: $89

-No foreign transaction fees

-40k bonus points after $1000 spend in 90 days

-No EMV chip

-Mastercard only

5. Bank of America BankAmericard Travel Rewards:

-Point earning rate: 1.5 points on everything, 1.65 points if BofA banking customer

-Travel defined as: Airlines, air carriers; Lodging-Hotels, Motels, Resorts; Car Rental Agencies; Cruise Lines or Travel Agencies and Tour Operators; Passenger Railways; Transportation-Suburban and Local Commuter Passenger, including Ferries; Bus Lines; Transportation Services; Real Estate Agents and Managers—Rentals or Timeshares; Campgrounds and Trailer Parks; Motor Home and Recreational Vehicle Rental; Tourist Attractions and Exhibits; Amusement Parks, Carnivals, Circuses, Fortune Tellers; Aquariums, Dolphinariums, Zoos, and Seaquariums; Boat Leases and Boat Rentals; and Recreation Services-not elsewhere classified

-12 months window from travel purchase date to redeem points

-No annual fee

-No foreign transaction fees

-10k bonus points after $500 spend in 90 days and 12 months of 0% APR

-EMV chip

-Mastercard or Visa

6. Capital One VentureOne

-Point earning rate: 1.25 points on everything

-Travel defined as: plane tickets, cruises, hotel stays, car rentals, taxi rides, baggage fees, and more (can someone chime in on what "more" entails?)

-90 days window from travel purchase date to redeem points

-No annual fee

-No foreign transaction fees

-10k bonus points after 1k spend in 90 days and 12 months of 0% APR

-No EMV chip

-Mastercard or Visa

7. Capital One Venture

-Point earning rate: 2 points on everything

-Travel defined as: plane tickets, cruises, hotel stays, car rentals, taxi rides, baggage fees, and more (can someone chime in on what "more" entails?)

-90 days window from travel purchase date to redeem points

-$59 annual fee

-No foreign transaction fees

-10k bonus points after 1k spend in 90 days

-No EMV chip

-Mastercard or Visa

8. Citi Thank You Premier

-Point earning rate: 1.2 points, worth 1.6 cents, at supermarkets, gas stations, drugstores, commuter transportation and parking merchants; 1 points, worth 1.33 cents, elsewhere. 1 point, or 1.33 cents, per mile flown on tickets booked using card.

-Anniversary bonus: up to 5% of earned points

-Travel defined as: plane tickets

-Redeem points by booking reward flights

-15% discount on airfare booked through Travel Center

-Free annual economy class companion ticket

-$125 annual fee

-No foreign transaction fees

-25k bonus points, worth $333, after 2k spend in 3 months

-EMV chip

-Mastercard or Visa

9. Discover Miles

-Point earning rate: 2 points on travel and restaurant purchases for the first $3k each year; 1 points otherwise

-Travel defined as: airline, cruise, vacation package, hotel, and car rental.

-60 days window from travel purchase date to redeem points

-No annual fee

-No foreign transaction fees

-12k bonus points after 12 months of monthly use, and 6 months of 0% APR

-EMV chip

10. US Bank FlexPerks

-Point earning rate: 3 points on charitable donations, 2 points on (the greatest of gas, groceries, and airline each month) and cell phone bills, 1 point on everything else; 3.5k annual bonus for 24k spend

-Travel defined as: air travel

-90 days window from travel purchase date to redeem points, each point worth 1-2 cents

-$49 annual fee

-Foreign transaction fee: 2%

-17.5k bonus points after 2.5k spend in 5 months

-EMV chip

-Visa only

Category 2: cards that offer points transferable to loyalty programs

1. Amex Starwood Preferred Guest, or SPG

-Point earning rate: 1 point on everything; 2 points on SPG properties

-Transfer partners: 31 airlines

-Transfer rate: 1 point for 1.25 miles for most airlines; 2 points for 1 mile for United

-$65 annual fee

-Foreign transaction fee: 2.7%

-25k bonus points after 5k spend in 6 months

-No EMV chip

2. Amex Premier Rewards Gold, or PRG

-Point earning rate: 3 points on airfare, 2 points on gas and groceries, 1 point on everything else; 15k annual bonus for 30k spend

-Transfer partners: (how many?) airlines

-Transfer rate: 1:1; often has transfer bonus to one airline partner at a time

-$175 annual fee

-Foreign transaction fee: 2.7%
-50k bonus points after 1k spend in 3 months

-No EMV chip

3. Amex Platinum

-Point earning rate: 1 point on everything

-Transfer partners: (how many?) airlines

-Transfer rate: 1:1; often has transfer bonus to one airline partner at a time

-$450 annual fee

-$200 annual allowance on selected airline

-Lounge access for (how many?) airlines

-No foreign transaction fees
-25k bonus points after 2k spend in 3 months

-EMV chip

4. Chase Sapphire Preferred, or CSP

-Point earning rate: 1.07 points on everything; 2.14 points on dining and travel

-Transfer partners: (how many?) airlines

-Transfer rate: 1:1

-$95 annual fee

-No foreign transaction fees

-40k bonus points after 3k spend in 3 months

-No EMV chip

-Mastercard or Visa

I left many fields blank and a lot of space for other popular cards. Any addition/enhancement/correction is welcome!

Re: Travel rewards credit cards compilation

09Lexie — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 16:26:35 GMT

Thank you for starting this thread. I know this question gets answered a lot and this information will be extremely useful!

Re: Travel rewards credit cards compilation

Open123 — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 16:28:05 GMT

Nice Compilation!

Also, had a question on Barclay's "no forex" feature. I was reading my T&C, and it stipulates "0 foreign transaction fees in US dollars."

1. Does this mean there's a forex fee if I request the charge in local currency?

2. If I use USD, then am I subjected to the "dynamic currency conversion" fee, where the merchant charges 3%?

Anyone with direct experience with this? Because, with a non-Amex card, I will *ONLY* make a charge in local currency, never USD.

Re: Travel rewards credit cards compilation

Cory — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 17:56:16 GMT

Yes,

I personally love the BankAmericard Travel Rewards Card. It covers mostly any type of travel expenses, plus EMV Chip, and no forex fees.

Cory

Re: Travel rewards credit cards compilation

Anonymous — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 19:44:35 GMT

Maybe add as a category three, the airline specific cards. Most of these have the same reward structure (1 mile per $, 2 miles per $ on that airline purchases) but differ in AF, FTF, and bonus miles.

Also add to category 1, US Bank Flex.

I would also add Citi Prestige/Premier as travel cards, but there is a whole broader category of reward cards that include travel rewards among others. Not sure where they would be!

Re: Travel rewards credit cards compilation

DaveSignal — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 21:18:09 GMT

One correction to the BoA Travel Rewards: travel purchases can be reimbursed for up to 12 months. I know it states 6 on the website, but it is currently 12. I have put points toward purchases 9 and 10 months old already, directly from the website.

Re: Travel rewards credit cards compilation

CreditScholar — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 01:48:47 GMT

http://www.drcreditcard.net/all-reviews.html

Re: Travel rewards credit cards compilation

DaveSignal — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 21:16:50 GMT

You also didn't put the annual fee for the "Barclays arrival with annual fee"

Re: Travel rewards credit cards compilation

HiLine — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 22:15:49 GMT

Thanks for the inputs! I have added the FlexPerks and the annual fee for the Arrival, corrected the redemption window for the BankAmericard Travel Rewards, and added the annual bonus for reaching a spending threshold.

I was thinking of adding the Citi Prestige/Thank You Premier, but held off on that since they aren't designed as travel reward cards and don't seem to be as popular as travel reward cards. I may change my mind if there is enough interest ...

Re: Travel rewards credit cards compilation

DaveSignal — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 23:28:41 GMT

I think most cards that have 0% ForEx fee should be added. There are not many of these cards and the omission of the fee is specifically geared towards people who travel.

EDIT: Also, this is a googledocs listing of EMV cards that I have had bookmarked since last year: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ani-u3tGk5hedGRvcE1ELVg5UmlGZk01SHZvTUMxdUE#gid=0

Re: Travel rewards credit cards compilation

HiLine — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 03:31:32 GMT

I know that all Capital One and Discover cards don't charge foreign transaction fees. Apart from the cards mentioned here, most airline and hotel reward credit cards, and some credit-union issued cards, I don't know many others actually. I wouldn't call the credit-union credit cards travel rewards cards; just somehow credit unions tend to be more forward-looking than banks. I have the same Google doc that shows the list of cards with EMV chips, and apparently as of right now only several credit unions offer chip-and-PIN cards. Not a single bank does.

Re: Travel rewards credit cards compilation

HiLine — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 03:14:03 GMT

Bump. Any other suggestions?

Re: Travel rewards credit cards compilation

Revelate — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 04:24:47 GMT

@CreditScholar wrote:
http://www.drcreditcard.net/all-reviews.html

Handy site, thank you CS.

Re: Travel rewards credit cards compilation

improvingmycredit — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 06:36:27 GMT

@Revelate wrote:
@CreditScholar wrote:
http://www.drcreditcard.net/all-reviews.html
Handy site, thank you CS.

Excellent comparison site. Thanks CS.

OP: did you intentionally omit the Amex Blue Sky and Blue Sky Pref?

Thanks

Re: Travel rewards credit cards compilation

09Lexie — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 06:51:23 GMT

Thanks CreditScholar! That site is awesome

Re: Travel rewards credit cards compilation

armbenderc — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 08:40:20 GMT

Nice!

Re: Travel rewards credit cards compilation

HiLine — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 16:41:01 GMT

@improvingmycredit wrote:
@Revelate wrote:
@CreditScholar wrote:
http://www.drcreditcard.net/all-reviews.html
Handy site, thank you CS.
+1

Excellent comparison site. Thanks CS.

OP: did you intentionally omit the Amex Blue Sky and Blue Sky Pref?
Thanks

I use that site for some of the info here as well.

I did forget to include the 2 Amex Blue Sky products. They are decent travel rewards cards actually. Will add them to the OP. Thanks for the request!

Re: Travel rewards credit cards compilation

Feisarr — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 19:22:12 GMT

Every point system has different values. How about showing something like 1pt = $0.015 ?

Re: Travel rewards credit cards compilation

Revelate — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 20:54:15 GMT

@HiLine wrote:
@improvingmycredit wrote:
@Revelate wrote:
@CreditScholar wrote:
http://www.drcreditcard.net/all-reviews.html
Handy site, thank you CS.
+1

Excellent comparison site. Thanks CS.

OP: did you intentionally omit the Amex Blue Sky and Blue Sky Pref?
Thanks
I use that site for some of the info here as well.

I did forget to include the 2 Amex Blue Sky products. They are decent travel rewards cards actually. Will add them to the OP. Thanks for the request!

Been debating seeing how this thread turns out for a potential sticky as it has useful information in it; however, if making use of a site for information, would be courteous to reference the source in the main post.

Re: Travel rewards credit cards compilation

armbenderc — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 23:00:52 GMT

- Discover IT? Since it has no forex

- Citi TY Premier? No forex

- BoA BankAmericard Privileges /w Cash Rewards or Travel Rewards?

- Amex Platinum?