Upcoming trip and which cards to use when booking

[red259]

I have a bunch of new cards and I am trying to think which ones will be the best for which spend on an upcoming international trip.

The cards I will likely bring with me on my trip are: Amex personal plat, CSR, Hyatt, Amex Aspire (I also have the following non-FTF cards amex gold, amex biz plat, hilton ascend card, cap one venture)

Airfare (direct from airlines only): I'm thinking my personal plat for the 5x points plus I am working on a SUB

Hilton stays: I'm thinking my aspire care for this.

Hyatt: I have a hyatt card it looks like 4pts per dollar which is one more than the CSR and I tend to use my chase points on Hyatts anyway

All other hotel stays and general travel spend: CSR for travel bonus? 

Restaurants: The CSR? Does it give bonus points on international dining? I'm pretty sure the amex gold does not. 

General spend: I'm guessing the CSR? Normally I use my amex blue business plus for non-cat spend but that has a FTF and I'm pretty sure the freedom unlimited has one as well? 

Am I missing something with these categories? 

[simplynoir]

Nope, that looks solid there. AMEX bonus categories don't wory intl so the CSR is the best choice here.

[Loquat]

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@red259 wrote:

I have a bunch of new cards and I am trying to think which ones will be the best for which spend on an upcoming international trip.

The cards I will likely bring with me on my trip are: Amex personal plat, CSR, Hyatt, Amex Aspire (I also have the following non-FTF cards amex gold, amex biz plat, hilton ascend card, cap one venture)

Airfare (direct from airlines only): I'm thinking my personal plat for the 5x points plus I am working on a SUB

Hilton stays: I'm thinking my aspire care for this.

Hyatt: I have a hyatt card it looks like 4pts per dollar which is one more than the CSR and I tend to use my chase points on Hyatts anyway

All other hotel stays and general travel spend: CSR for travel bonus? 

Restaurants: The CSR? Does it give bonus points on international dining? I'm pretty sure the amex gold does not. 

General spend: I'm guessing the CSR? Normally I use my amex blue business plus for non-cat spend but that has a FTF and I'm pretty sure the freedom unlimited has one as well? 

Am I missing something with these categories? 

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While I do like the Platinum cards for other reasons, it's hardly ever the card I use to book travel on simple because it offers no trip delay/interruption.  If you have a card that offers said protection I would at least give it some thought as to using it for airline purchases.  For myself, all of my airlines tickets goes on the AAdvantage Executive or the CSR (AU on wife card).  

[redpat]

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@Loquat wrote:

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@red259 wrote:

I have a bunch of new cards and I am trying to think which ones will be the best for which spend on an upcoming international trip.

The cards I will likely bring with me on my trip are: Amex personal plat, CSR, Hyatt, Amex Aspire (I also have the following non-FTF cards amex gold, amex biz plat, hilton ascend card, cap one venture)

Airfare (direct from airlines only): I'm thinking my personal plat for the 5x points plus I am working on a SUB

Hilton stays: I'm thinking my aspire care for this.

Hyatt: I have a hyatt card it looks like 4pts per dollar which is one more than the CSR and I tend to use my chase points on Hyatts anyway

All other hotel stays and general travel spend: CSR for travel bonus? 

Restaurants: The CSR? Does it give bonus points on international dining? I'm pretty sure the amex gold does not. 

General spend: I'm guessing the CSR? Normally I use my amex blue business plus for non-cat spend but that has a FTF and I'm pretty sure the freedom unlimited has one as well? 

Am I missing something with these categories? 

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While I do like the Platinum cards for other reasons, it's hardly ever the card I use to book travel on simple because it offers no trip delay/interruption.  If you have a card that offers said protection I would at least give it some thought as to using it for airline purchases.  For myself, all of my airlines tickets goes on the AAdvantage Executive or the CSR (AU on wife card).  

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Disagree, I book all my flights on Plat, self insure, live a little and take some chances.  If you don’t have to catch a boat you will get there.  5x all times then tack on a 40% Avios transfer offer and boom miles on top of miles.

[red259]

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@Loquat wrote:

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@red259 wrote:

I have a bunch of new cards and I am trying to think which ones will be the best for which spend on an upcoming international trip.

The cards I will likely bring with me on my trip are: Amex personal plat, CSR, Hyatt, Amex Aspire (I also have the following non-FTF cards amex gold, amex biz plat, hilton ascend card, cap one venture)

Airfare (direct from airlines only): I'm thinking my personal plat for the 5x points plus I am working on a SUB

Hilton stays: I'm thinking my aspire care for this.

Hyatt: I have a hyatt card it looks like 4pts per dollar which is one more than the CSR and I tend to use my chase points on Hyatts anyway

All other hotel stays and general travel spend: CSR for travel bonus? 

Restaurants: The CSR? Does it give bonus points on international dining? I'm pretty sure the amex gold does not. 

General spend: I'm guessing the CSR? Normally I use my amex blue business plus for non-cat spend but that has a FTF and I'm pretty sure the freedom unlimited has one as well? 

Am I missing something with these categories? 

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While I do like the Platinum cards for other reasons, it's hardly ever the card I use to book travel on simple because it offers no trip delay/interruption.  If you have a card that offers said protection I would at least give it some thought as to using it for airline purchases.  For myself, all of my airlines tickets goes on the AAdvantage Executive or the CSR (AU on wife card).  

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Yea I totally get where you are coming from. However, I'm still trying to meet my SUB on my plat and its 5x points. In addition to that when I do international trips I also take out an insurance policy, especially when I am headed out for a long trip or going into rural areas or higher risk activities like diving etc. I do think its rather absurd that Amex doesn't offer these types of protections on their plat cards though given the high AF. 

[Loquat]

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@redpat wrote:

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@Loquat wrote:

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@red259 wrote:

I have a bunch of new cards and I am trying to think which ones will be the best for which spend on an upcoming international trip.

The cards I will likely bring with me on my trip are: Amex personal plat, CSR, Hyatt, Amex Aspire (I also have the following non-FTF cards amex gold, amex biz plat, hilton ascend card, cap one venture)

Airfare (direct from airlines only): I'm thinking my personal plat for the 5x points plus I am working on a SUB

Hilton stays: I'm thinking my aspire care for this.

Hyatt: I have a hyatt card it looks like 4pts per dollar which is one more than the CSR and I tend to use my chase points on Hyatts anyway

All other hotel stays and general travel spend: CSR for travel bonus? 

Restaurants: The CSR? Does it give bonus points on international dining? I'm pretty sure the amex gold does not. 

General spend: I'm guessing the CSR? Normally I use my amex blue business plus for non-cat spend but that has a FTF and I'm pretty sure the freedom unlimited has one as well? 

Am I missing something with these categories? 

---

While I do like the Platinum cards for other reasons, it's hardly ever the card I use to book travel on simple because it offers no trip delay/interruption.  If you have a card that offers said protection I would at least give it some thought as to using it for airline purchases.  For myself, all of my airlines tickets goes on the AAdvantage Executive or the CSR (AU on wife card).  

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Disagree, I book all my flights on Plat, self insure, live a little and take some chances.  If you don’t have to catch a boat you will get there.  5x all times then tack on a 40% Avios transfer offer and boom miles on top of miles.

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@redpat  We will have to agree to disagree.  While you're more than welcome to self insure, that's a choice we all have.  Personally, when I can get at least some protection from a $95 annual fee Citi Premier/Marriott Rewards yet my $550 Platinum which is marketed as a Premium Travel Card offers no protection, I will call Amex out on that.  It doesn't mean the card doesn't serve a purpose and also not to say that the card isn't worth the fee even without travel protection (remember, I have a Platinum). I just think that it's something to take into consideration (and my opinion and response to the OPs question) when booking flights.

And while I agree that eventually we'll all get to our destination, try sleeping in an airport when you're flight has been delayed for several hours and everything around you starts to close (i.e. lounges, restaurants, etc).  Nothing better than sleeping in an airport with limited options and surrounded by a lot of grumpy folks trying to cozy up in those wonderful brick-like chairs.  I've been delayed enough in my life to place a really high value on trip delay/interruption...especially when you're traveling with family or little ones.  And lastly, what really grinds my gears is that Amex doesn't offer said protection on it's premium card but it more than willing to sell me protection via their own travel insurance company to the tune of $59-$239/traveler.   Yea...no thanks.  We all have options and the Amex Platinum, while serves it's purposes in a lot of ways, will never get my actual airline ticket purchases.