Need help with a Travel card and i dont travel...

[Shooting-For-800]

I love my Venture card.  

2% back on everything every day.

Perfect to use to help pay for once a year trip.

My storage unit comes up as a travel catagory, so I use it for that.  lol.

[sillykitty1]

I really think you would be better off with just a cashback card.  For example, a 2% card like Citi Double Cash or Fidelity Visa.

Travel rewards are the highest when spend is on travel.  Also,travel cards for the most part limit you to their partners, or the airline/hotel direct.  Since you're only traveling once a year it doesn't make sense to be locked into only UR partners, or MR partners, or Marriott etc.  And at $15k-$20K spend per year, you're not going to earn enough miles or points for most flights or more than a couple of days in a hotel.  Using points or miles takes patience, flexibility, and a lot of luck as well!

Now if you want to sign up bonuses, then that can net you a lot of points/miles.  But they will be scattered in different programs, and a strong profile will be needed to withstand a spree.

[driftless]

Post-Script: Venture has a 40,000 miles bonus after $3,000.00 spend in the first 3 months. O AF the first year and then $59.00. Worse case it can be PC'd into a QS.

[iced]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

As far as the Marriott and SPG cards, I don't think those give adequate status to get an upgrade.

lakers, do you fly Delta occasionally? Delta miles don't expire.

Also, you can keep miles/points in many programs from expiring if you use the airline's/hotel's portal to occasionally make a small purchase online. Lots of retailers participate. I mostly stay with IHG and have kept Marriott points alive this way.

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I wouldn't sweat upgrades. As a Marriott Platinum I see upgrades once or twice a year and even then it's not really an upgrade but a room with better view and/or added furniture. Ooooh, a corner room with a view! Awesome, except you're only in your room at night, when you're asleep.

You can get gold via a few cards, which is good for free lounge access and breakfast, but I agree that I don't think any of the cards mentioned give gold. I would only value gold at about $20 a day (unless you're a lounge lizard who likes to drink booze until you black out, then it's worth considerably more), so unless you can take advantage of other credits and benefits to offset the higher AF on the cards that do offer gold, they may not be worth it.

IMO the occasional traveler is better gunning for a benefit like free night cert or 5th night free over the frequent flyer/hotel stay status perks since those usually require volume to realize their value. Or, if one is the really occasional traveler who wants to save up for a vacation, go with points. They're the benefit you can stockpile and roll-over from year to year.

[Anonymous]

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@iced wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

As far as the Marriott and SPG cards, I don't think those give adequate status to get an upgrade.

lakers, do you fly Delta occasionally? Delta miles don't expire.

Also, you can keep miles/points in many programs from expiring if you use the airline's/hotel's portal to occasionally make a small purchase online. Lots of retailers participate. I mostly stay with IHG and have kept Marriott points alive this way.

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I wouldn't sweat upgrades. As a Marriott Platinum I see upgrades once or twice a year and even then it's not really an upgrade but a room with better view and/or added furniture. Ooooh, a corner room with a view! Awesome, except you're only in your room at night, when you're asleep.

You can get gold via a few cards, which is good for free lounge access and breakfast, but I agree that I don't think any of the cards mentioned give gold. I would only value gold at about $20 a day (unless you're a lounge lizard who likes to drink booze until you black out, then it's worth considerably more), so unless you can take advantage of other credits and benefits to offset the higher AF on the cards that do offer gold, they may not be worth it.

IMO the occasional traveler is better gunning for a benefit like free night cert or 5th night free over the frequent flyer/hotel stay status perks since those usually require volume to realize their value. Or, if one is the really occasional traveler who wants to save up for a vacation, go with points. They're the benefit you can stockpile and roll-over from year to year.

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ok so if i wanted one hotel card one airline what would you recommend taking into account sign up bonuses

[wasCB14]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@iced wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

As far as the Marriott and SPG cards, I don't think those give adequate status to get an upgrade.

lakers, do you fly Delta occasionally? Delta miles don't expire.

Also, you can keep miles/points in many programs from expiring if you use the airline's/hotel's portal to occasionally make a small purchase online. Lots of retailers participate. I mostly stay with IHG and have kept Marriott points alive this way.

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I wouldn't sweat upgrades. As a Marriott Platinum I see upgrades once or twice a year and even then it's not really an upgrade but a room with better view and/or added furniture. Ooooh, a corner room with a view! Awesome, except you're only in your room at night, when you're asleep.

You can get gold via a few cards, which is good for free lounge access and breakfast, but I agree that I don't think any of the cards mentioned give gold. I would only value gold at about $20 a day (unless you're a lounge lizard who likes to drink booze until you black out, then it's worth considerably more), so unless you can take advantage of other credits and benefits to offset the higher AF on the cards that do offer gold, they may not be worth it.

IMO the occasional traveler is better gunning for a benefit like free night cert or 5th night free over the frequent flyer/hotel stay status perks since those usually require volume to realize their value. Or, if one is the really occasional traveler who wants to save up for a vacation, go with points. They're the benefit you can stockpile and roll-over from year to year.

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ok so if i wanted one hotel card one airline what would you recommend taking into account sign up bonuses

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I like IHG. I just redeemed my annual certificate for a room in Times Square on New Year's.

$49 AF for little extras here and there...and a room priced at $2k after tax (not that I'd have been willing to actually pay that much).

But you get an idea of just how flexible it can be. Keep an eye out for an 80k+$50 offer.

[iced]

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@Anonymous wrote:

ok so if i wanted one hotel card one airline what would you recommend taking into account sign up bonuses

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Before I can tell you, you'll need to answer my questions three:

1. What is your home airport? That is, if you plan on flying somewhere, what airport would you fly out of?

2. Regionally, where do you typically want to go to for vacations? USA? Europe? Oceania? Somewhere else?

3. What does your 10-20k spending look like? Mostly utilities, merchandise, and groceries, or lots of dining and gas thrown in? Ballpark percentages are fine here.

[Anonymous]

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@iced wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

ok so if i wanted one hotel card one airline what would you recommend taking into account sign up bonuses

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Before I can tell you, you'll need to answer my questions three:

1. What is your home airport? That is, if you plan on flying somewhere, what airport would you fly out of?

2. Regionally, where do you typically want to go to for vacations? USA? Europe? Oceania? Somewhere else?

3. What does your 10-20k spending look like? Mostly utilities, merchandise, and groceries, or lots of dining and gas thrown in? Ballpark percentages are fine here.

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1. Huntsville, AL (not likely) or nashville

2. us mainly (beach, vegas, california, flights to get to cruises maybe)

3. probably 6-7k dining, 2k gas, 4k groceries, 1500 utilities, merchandise?? (please forgive me)

[iced]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@iced wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

ok so if i wanted one hotel card one airline what would you recommend taking into account sign up bonuses

---

Before I can tell you, you'll need to answer my questions three:

1. What is your home airport? That is, if you plan on flying somewhere, what airport would you fly out of?

2. Regionally, where do you typically want to go to for vacations? USA? Europe? Oceania? Somewhere else?

3. What does your 10-20k spending look like? Mostly utilities, merchandise, and groceries, or lots of dining and gas thrown in? Ballpark percentages are fine here.

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1. Huntsville, AL (not likely) or nashville

2. us mainly (beach, vegas, california, flights to get to cruises maybe)

3. probably 6-7k dining, 2k gas, 4k groceries, 1500 utilities, merchandise?? (please forgive me)

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Huntsville is both good and bad. Not at a hub city, so you have options, but means you're going to have a connection pretty much everywhere.

Just my opinion, but I would go for the CSP or CSR. The sign-up bonuses are good, your dining spend is enough to accrue at least some points over a year, and the UR program partners with 2 airlines useful to you: Southwest and United. You can also just buy the tickets with points, but having mile options on two viable domestic airlines gives you flexibility you wouldn't have with a co-branded card. The perks of an airline card are nigh worthless for one trip a year - just pay the fee for checked bags. 

Hotel is more open-ended and I personally do no hotel perks via card. My personal preference is Marriott and that's speaking as a former Hilton Diamond member. There's more Marriotts around, they're usually lower priced than comparible Hiltons, and the point redemption is a much better value. In that case, try to score 80,000 point sign-up bonus on the Marriott card or just pay for hotels and have the flexibility of doing anything from Airbnb to the Ritz.

[Anonymous]

I agree with poster way above me about a cash back card. After the promo the venture is just a more restricted double cash with an annual fee. The IHG is a good value because bonus/annual free night.