Which Credit Cards should I add?

[asterix]

We have the following cards:

Citi Costco Visa Signature - For gas from Costco (4%), Restaurants & Travel (3%)

Citi Double Cash - For rest of the purchases

Also carry some store credit cards, which are used to avail promotions. We keep a close eye on our expenses. None of these cards have any annual fees.

I'd like to add one or two cards with good to excellent Travel benefits - important ones are  - (1) More than 500K/person Travel Accident Insurance, and other Baggage Loss/Trip Interruption coverages. (2) Airport Lounge access would be nice to have (3) Free checked bags or reimbursements would be very nice to have

We have the REI WEMC which seems to have lounge access, not sure if it is any good. Any opinions?

All sites heavily promote Chase Sapphire Preferred, it seems like a good card, but lacks Airport Lounge access and has 2X points for travel and 1X point for daily purchases. I'm not convinced that this is significantly better than the Costco Visa, but I may be wrong.

UNFCU Elite Visa is another one that I have been looking at.

No idea about the Capital one cards? they seem to get good reviews.

Our travel is in-frequent, perhaps two to three times in a year, mostly domestic. International travel is once in two years.

Any suggestions on an inexpensive card with these benefits? I'm okay with paying a small AF. Credit is Excellent.

Will appreciate suggestions

[Anonymous]

Just know that apping for a Cap1 card will result in 3 inquiries if that's important to you.

[Anonymous]

The perks you'd like as mentioned in your post usually entails a hefty AF card, especially lounge access. Considering you don't travel much, I don't see an AF card being beneficial, but it really depends on how much you spend when you do travel. I hear the Venture is a good card too.

[Anonymous]

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@asterix wrote:

We have the following cards:

We have the REI WEMC which seems to have lounge access, not sure if it is any good. Any opinions?

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The lounge access with this card is pay as you go, $32 per person per visit.   You will have to decide if that is worthwhile!  If lounge access is important and somewhat frequent, you might want a card with a "real" lounge access, but of course that's going to involve an AF

[Citylights18]

In your situation one way to go might be the United Explorer Card.

-60,000 bonus miles until April 1.

-Has the travel insurance protections.

-Offers 2 United Club one time passes annually (great for those once every two years international trips).

-Bag fees and 25% discount on seat upgrades w/ United

-1,500 per person travel insurance. 

-Primary rental car insurance coverage.

-Annual Fee is waived for the first year.

For someone who just wants to try out an airport lounge on a trial basis this would be a good option. From what I understand you wouldn't have to be on a United flight to use the passes. They have a lot more value if its a 3 hour plus layover. 

[digitek]

Delta Platinum might not be a bad choice if you fly Delta.  The SUB is insane right now at 100,000 SkyMiles (worth ~ $1k), and it sounds like you would be able to use the domestic Companion Pass you get after you pay the second AF which would easily offset the $250 AF.  It gives first checked bags free and you can buy lounge access to SkyMiles lounges for $39 per person.  It has pretty good travel insurances including trip delay.

Another option is USBank Atlitude Reserve, but you need some form of USBank relationship before you can apply for it.  This can be another USBank credit card and the Cash+ is a popular choice since it is 5% back in some categories that are easy to use like Utilities/Streaming/Internet and you can choose them yourself.  The Altitude Reserve has pretty comprehensive travel insurance benefits, including trip delay.  It offers lounge access 4 times a year to Priority Pass lounges.  It has a $400 AF but you get a $325 travel credit so if you travel once a year it is only really $75.  It also give 4.5% back when using it with mobile wallets like Google/Apple/Samsung Pay and I know Costco uses NFC so you could use them there.  It has a SUB worth ~$750.

Goodluck with whatever you choose, the United Card above looks like a good choice, too, if you fly United.  Can't go wrong with any of those cards really.

[asterix]

@digitek - Thanks. I noticed that you have the Us Bank Reserve. What is the Travel Accident Insurance coverage offered by this card?

[asterix]

Has anyone explored this card - California Bank Trust Reserve? 

https://www.calbanktrust.com/personal-banking/credit-cards/reserve-card/

200$ in net fees after 250$ of credit. 3% on Travel/Dining and 2% Rest, with 1Mil Travel Accident Insurance and Lounge Access - seems like a pretty strong offering for travel/dining and other daily purchases.

They seem to limited to CA, but have other affilites with the exact same offering in 5 to 6 other states, under different names (Amegy, Zion, etc)

I'm wondering if anyone has compared this card to the Chase Sapphire Reserve benefits?

[notmyrealname23]

I don't see why you should be paying hundreds of dollars per year for a super-premium travel card if your travel is "perhaps two to three times in a year, mostly domestic. International travel is once in two years".

In my opinion you're better off self-insuring as needed for international travel  (buy a policy if you feel nervous) and paying the $32 entry fee for lounge visits on your current REI card if you need it. You might come out ahead.

If you were doing more travel it might be worth paying lots of money for a card, but even then, I travel 40,000-70,000 miles a year (international trip rvery year or so, domestic every month or two, except now when we're all freaking out about coronavirus) and I can't really justify anything over an AMEX Green. I've thought about the Schwab Platinum but even then $400 of break even from annual fee is hard to come by- I would lose points long term once I get past the sign up bonus.

[asterix]

@notmyrealname23 - I'm usually conservative in my approach. But my quest for a new credit card seems to be taking me towards cards with nice travel benefits and each one comes with hefty fees. UNFCU Visa seems to be an exception.

Specifically, w.r.t your comment on the concern about Travel Accident Insurance, I just like to be safe. I'd encourage you to get a quick quote for standalone Travel Insurance from Amex, sample quote for a 40+ year old passenger, 5000$ ticket cost, 1 month long trip is 375$ for one trip and it provides only 200K in Accident Insurance. 

So if I can obtain 500K to 1 Mil of Accident Insurance via a Credit Card, that offers me peace of mind.. Plain and simple. There are many cards which offer 1Mil in AD&D insurance at no cost, but they lack rewards.