My significant other is looking to get into the travel redemption/credit card game. She has decent credit. What cards would you recommend her getting and in what order. This is someone starting from scratch with travel cards. She has credit cards from the past so she is not new to credit, but new to travel rewards as her cards don't do much for her in that respect.
I'm concerned about timing so she keeps in mind things like Chase 5/24 and the lockouts on SUBs from families of cards. Looking for cards that will earn points that can be transferred to travel partners, that have a higher than average SUB currently, that would provide a good base for point earning in the long run vs a purely get it for one year and drop it card. Want to build a point earning ecosystem for her that is realitively easy to follow. Pure airline/hotel cards are probably not a good fit this early in her card journey so I would be looking at bank points like Amex MR cards, Chase URs, Citibank TYpoint cards or maybe a cap 1 venture X
Any suggestions?
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The Venture X would probably be a good first card since is is 2x everything plus (so I hear) the travel credit is easy to use. It has a solid signup bonus and is a good keeper card.
After that, I'd go for the Amex Gold for the 4x on groceries and restuarants. The monthly credits take a little bit of planning to use though. I think there is an elevated 150k signup bonus floating around right now.
I know people always recommend the Chase Sapphire cards, but I feel like getting good value out of those requires either churning or having lots of other Chase cards to pool the points. Although that thought could just be me being salty that I can't get one since I'm well over 5/24 and will be for a year+.
@DakotaM wrote:The Venture X would probably be a good first card since is is 2x everything plus (so I hear) the travel credit is easy to use. It has a solid signup bonus and is a good keeper card.
After that, I'd go for the Amex Gold for the 4x on groceries and restuarants. The monthly credits take a little bit of planning to use though. I think there is an elevated 150k signup bonus floating around right now.
I know people always recommend the Chase Sapphire cards, but I feel like getting good value out of those requires either churning or having lots of other Chase cards to pool the points. Although that thought could just be me being salty that I can't get one since I'm well over 5/24 and will be for a year+.
I'm looking at an American Airlines card 75k SUB paired with a Citi strata premier with 75k SUB, works out well if they allow TY Points to transfer to AA. If the Amex gold has a 150 k offer that definetly is something to consider. Not sure where to find that offer. I have kept my amex gold for years as its a good card to earn with.
For Chase its a tough call. Keep waiting for a solid CSP offer to pop up. Chase is a good ecosystem but you really need multiple chase UR cards to maximize its potential. I have a ton of chase cards so its fine for me but for someone starting out its hard to see its longterm value. Venture X is a good all around card and I pretty much use mine on all non-bonused spend. That being said I can make her an AU on my cap 1 card and she will get the lounge benefits without the AF cost.
I see she has a preapproved offer from chase 75k on 4k spend. I'm wondering what the chance of 80k or 100k offer coming back around.
she could also go for citi strata and current 75k offer.
the Amex offers are pretty meh right now.
thoughts? Cap 1 venture x isn't one I want her to get up front. Will probably do one card and a second card in three months