Two questions about USBank Altitude

[Anonymous]

Hi, everyone. I'm currently having a US Bank Checking and Cash+ and interested in Altitude. I have two questions about it:

1. Is Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver primary or secondary?

2. Does booking flight/rental car from Expedia/Priceline earn 3X points?

I'm on 5/12, 7/24 so won't consider Chase as I'm afraid of (possible) shutdown

[Shadowfactor]

The rental car coverage is primary.

No any OTA will not count towards the 3X travel. If they accept Mobile payments and I believe Expedia does. You could always use that to get 3X on those types of websites.

Air BNB does count as 3X travel and will trigger the credit just an FYI

[imaximous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi, everyone. I'm currently having a US Bank Checking and Cash+ and interested in Altitude. I have two questions about it:

1. Is Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver primary or secondary?

2. Does booking flight/rental car from Expedia/Priceline earn 3X points?

I'm on 5/12, 7/24 so won't consider Chase as I'm afraid of (possible) shutdown

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1. As Shadow said, it's primary.

2. My experience here has been a little different from his, but mostly with airlines - not hotels. If the travel agency simply works as a portal and the charges pass through directly to the airline, then yes, you will get the 3x for travel. I've used both expedia and priceline several times, and got the 3x credit because the transactions posted directly with the airlines. But, if you use a travel agency that processes the charges, then you most likely won't. 

If you want to be 100% certain, then, I'd do what Shadow said, and check out using mobile payment. It'll hit 3x either way.

[imaximous]

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@Shadowfactor wrote:
The rental car coverage is primary.

No any OTA will not count towards the 3X travel. If they accept Mobile payments and I believe Expedia does. You could always use that to get 3X on those types of websites.

Air BNB does count as 3X travel and will trigger the credit just an FYI

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Good deal. You just saved me the search. Trying to find a beach house rental with friends, and they're about $1000 - $1200 a day, so I'll volunteer to make the reservation and cash in on the rewards 

[Shadowfactor]

All the times I used Expedia to buy flights in the past. I never once had a flight post directly with the airline. One ways and round trips on several different domestic carriers. It was always Expedia or Travelocity that charged my card. Guess I’m unlucky like that.

This was before I realized that there was a difference in the travel categories of course. Now I always book directly with the airlines for flights because the flights are always the same price that I’ve seen.
I could see vacation packages being cheaper though but now most airlines offer vacation packages so it’s very YMMV.

You’re welcome for the AirBNB tip. It took me quite a bit of searching through flyer talk to find one post on if it counted and triggered the credit. I used my entire credit on one back in February.

[imaximous]

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@Shadowfactor wrote:
All the times I used Expedia to buy flights in the past. I never once had a flight post directly with the airline. One ways and round trips on several different domestic carriers. It was always Expedia or Travelocity that charged my card. Guess I’m unlucky like that.

This was before I realized that there was a difference in the travel categories of course. Now I always book directly with the airlines for flights because the flights are always the same price that I’ve seen.
I could see vacation packages being cheaper though but now most airlines offer vacation packages so it’s very YMMV.

You’re welcome for the AirBNB tip. It took me quite a bit of searching through flyer talk to find one post on if it counted and triggered the credit. I used my entire credit on one back in February.

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For last month's overseas trip, I used Priceline and it initially put an authorization charge on my card for the full amount. Then, the authorization went away, and reappeared as 2 separate transactions (2 tickets) directly with British Airways. I know I'm getting 3x because I honestly don't buy anything on the card that won't give me 3x, so it's easy to do the math when the statement comes. It helps with my experimenting with certain charges that I'm not sure are going to work.

Earlier in the year, I used Expedia for a ticket, and it worked the same way: Authorization for full amount > then gone > then reappeared with airline charge. It also counted towards my $300 annual credit. (I crossed my fingers on that one since I was new to AR). But, I've been doing this for a while using other cards too.

The best way for me to gauge if it's worth booking directly with an airline or TA is by looking at the cost of the ticket. If it's the same, I'll just go the airline website. If the difference is significant or at least higher than the rewards percentage, I use the travel site.

[Shadowfactor]

Interesting. I never even knew that OTA could pass the charge along to the airlines.

Is there a way you can tell if it would be passed along before you book ?

[imaximous]

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@Shadowfactor wrote:
Interesting. I never even knew that OTA could pass the charge along to the airlines.

Is there a way you can tell if it would be passed along before you book ?

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If there is, I don't know how. I just do it because of my past experiences, but again, I've never bought anything but plane tickets. I wouldn't know how it works when you book airline, hotel and car rental as a package or other packages. It probably doesn't work in that case.

I found out about the pass through charges a few years ago when I booked tickets for my family (6 tickets, I think). The whole amount showed right away as 1 authorization. Then, a few days later, the whole thing was gone. I thought, oh no, I got no tickets now and kinda panicked, haha. Then, maybe two days later, all tickets appeared as separate transactions, showing the airline as the charging merchant. 

I also don't know if this works every single time, but it has for me so far. 

[Anonymous]

Thank you all for your answers. Mobile Payment resolves my concern. It makes the card more attractive than CSR for me

[Shadowfactor]

Yeah that’s why I have it.

I eat out a lot but the amount of places that I can use mobile wallet at far exceeds my dining spend. Plus I get 2X on dining with Amex or Citi. I honestly have a hard time seeing value in chase right now. We will see though. I will probably be happier when I use the points to book a hotel as Amex and Citi slack in that area.

Plus lower annual fee. I hardy even use it for travel purchases mainly mobile wallet.