Credit Card Thread - Now with a Beginner's Guide to free travel/FAQ

That seems like a great pile of points to have imo but I've seen some discussion in the last few weeks about UA Europe redemptions shooting way up points wise and availability reduction generally. Not surprised to see you had little luck searching AV and ANA. Is IAH your home airport? Any others similarly viable as the gateway?

 

If you're looking for cards for her to churn, I'd suggest the Chase Ink cards. I don't have a "business" and was approved for all three. Don't know if they're still as easy to get now as when I did it a couple of years ago but the bonus spend has gone up a good amount. The business cards still don't count against 5/24 to my knowledge.

I have almost 350000 points between the CSP, CIP, CIC, and CIU. I've since cancelled the CIP as the fee wasn't worth it but I use the others as my main cards depending on spend category.

Also the Barclays AA card is an easy way to get a lot of AA miles. Barclays has a AA Business card but don't think it's easy to get. I've also churned the Citi AA and Citi Business AA cards. I have just over 250,000 AA miles.

 

Fuuuuuck. Just looked at Chase Ink cards and it's now $15k spend. Guess they got smarter.

 

AUS is actually my hope airport, so I usually fly DAL, but their point asks are 1.5x what UA’s are. We’ve got to be in Houston the day before we plan on leaving for gf’s family stuff (and to leave her dog with her folks while we travel), so I figured use the big airport to get the most options, but the options suck atm.

 

If your goal is to maintain and/or increase status with Delta plus gain lounge access with Delta/Centurion, then the Delta Amex Reserve is the card. Look into how many guests can access Sky Clubs with you. I know with Amex Platinum, any guest has to pay $39.

The Amex Plat does let you bring two guests in for free to the centurion lounge. Starting in 2023, no free guests under the Amex Plat. However, making your wife an authorized user may change that.

If you care at all about points, perhaps get the Amex Plat for the first year for the 125k sign up bonus. You’ll still get sky club and centurion lounge access. And if you’re flying 40 segments in a year, I’m sure you’ll maintain sufficient status. After a year of having the Plat, you can either have already used those 125k points or transfer them all to Delta and cancel the card. Then sign up for the Delta Amex Reserve and keep that card.

 

I am a dummy when it comes to credit cards, but I'd like to get into using them to get points/rewards. We don't travel too much (4 kids) but travel points wouldn't be bad either. Which cards give the best rewards generally speaking? I have a Chase Freedom right now but rarely use it. Talk to me like I'm 5.

 

I need to use my Amex Plat's Sak's Fifth Ave credit. Can somebody confirm that I can use it on a gift card even though it says gift cards are excluded?

 

Buy something, return it, get gift card in exchange. I recently ordered a polo and didn't like the colors when I got it and returned it for a gift card.

 

Well, you want to start with either the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve. Chase only lets you get 5 cards in 24 months, so starting with one of those is best. Get a referral from someone here (me).

You can get 60k points for spending 4k in 3 months on the CSP. You can then use that for $750 worth of travel through Chase's travel portal, or you can transfer the points to loyalty programs (Hyatt, United, etc.).

60k points transferred to Hyatt can get you 2 nights at an all inclusive. Get player 2 involved and you have a VERY cheap vacation.

Then... rinse and repeat. Get another card from Chase (maybe Southwest cards or United)

I'd then go to Capital One and get the Venture X, then maybe Barclays. Save American Express for last. If you have no need for a card when an annual fee posts, simply call to downgrade or cancel the card.

referral for csp: https://www.referyourchasecard.com/6/U2U608K324

 

If I'm not looking into getting into churning just yet, would you still say go with the CSP or CSR? I guess what is the best card for rewards if you are going to pay a fee?

 

I’d start with CSP to be honest. The $550 annual fee on the reserve is steep for what you get. The travel protections on the csp are still really good.

if you’re looking for one card to start, the Venture X might be a good fit too. Really good signup bonus. Has a nice Airbnb credit for the first year. It’s a good card for people who just want one or two cards. It has good travel protections and it’s really easy to recoup the annual fee each year. Get you priority pass with priority pass restaurants (airport lounge access).

After churning through them all, I now do a Venture X and Freedom Flex. The Amex cards are just becoming a hassle with all their dumb credits.

Venture X link if you decide to do it: Here’s my Venture X referral link: https://capital.one/3x53q9H

edit: my favorite part of the Venture X is the free authorized users who can also get priority pass. So you can add your parents as an AU, and they can get PP if they want it.

 

Venture X data point for people who have it: I purchased an Airbnb experience, got the credit a few days later, cancelled the Airbnb experience and still kept the credit.

 

Depends on your goals and objectives but in general CSR is the best card to me, CSP is the best value for dipping a toe in

 

Also add: capital one is sometimes a bitch to get approved for after you sign up for a few cards.

 

The Airbnb credit is a one time thing, correct? Wonder how long they’ll off that. I’m still taking advantage of 10x bonus on Amex Plat, so not ready for a new card yet.

 

What airlines are the best for transferring points to from an Amex? Fiancée signed up for the Amex with a 150k sign up bonus so looking to use those points to save on flights to most likely Italy

 

there's an argument for any of em imo
I'd figure out which route(s) and/or products are of most interest and work backwards
Keep in mind each major alliance is represented at least once, so you have the option potentially of transferring to a carrier you don't actually end up flying with (redeeming for one of that carrier's partners.)

 

Yeah first year

 

This. Determine the general time of year you want to go. What US airport(s) would be easiest for you to depart from. What product (first/business/economy/etc.). There are so many transfer options from airline program to airline program. Then Amex occasionally has bonus transfer periods (I think Singapore and Virgin have them right now).

 

so I got curious and started poking around... (forgive me in advance if you've figured all this out already)
UA is definitely being super stingy with the saver awards to Italy in that timeframe - in fact I don't think there are any that get you all the way to FCO or even MXP without a final economy leg from another EU gateway (BRU seems like the main one for the time being fwiw.)
But with your pile of URs/MRs I'd be fairly tempted to transfer to mileageplus and just pick out a moderately agreeable ITIN with IAH origin and 2 connections - probably one of ORD/EWR/IAD (keep in mind there are some sweet lounge options in that list for a premium star alliance passenger, to say nothing of the added options you have via amex) and an EU gateway like BRU or VIE where you could fly the last little leg with a decent intra-eu business product and would still have your bags checked through etc.

 

I think best value for Amex is transferring 80k miles to ANA for round trip business class to Japan, but if youre looking at Italy/Europe go to awardhacker.com and put in your airports and it will tell you how many points it takes and what credit card programs are transferrable to them, so you can just put in amex UR and see where you can transfer for that route.

 

Appreciate the advice, but am gonna need some translation (sorry if I’m dumb):

- What’s an ITIN? Is that just an itinerary?
- By IAH as the origin and ORD/EWR/IAD as a connection do you mean book the award flight from one of those airports and just book a round trip from those and IAH for going and coming?
- Or by saying BRU or VIE, do you mean book flights there on awards and then fly from there to FCO or MXP on cash?

Gracias in advance.

 

Yea sorry about the avgeek acronym speak.
Yes intin lazy for itinerary.

I've realized since my last post that I misread the charts a bit. That said, with your UR stash you do have some UA options that might make sense. For example if you connect to the EWR FCO flight from IAH the redemption cost can be as low as 125-130k one way for domestic first and polaris. If you are willing to fly an economy leg in the US to either an Air Canada or United EU gateway hub before crossing the pond, it drops to 75k (still in business class/polaris for that transatlantic leg)

With your point stash you likely have other non-UA options but just thought I'd point out that as far as UA/mileage plus goes, it isn't as cut and dry as 155k per person each way.

 

Data point- got approved for the Venture X last night. Had a bk in 2017, but have had Capital One since early 2018, with no negatives anywhere on my credit since the bk.

 

Awesome. Appreciate the tips!

 

Anyone have the Amazon prime rewards card? Looks ideal to me - 5% back at amazon and whole foods, no annual fee, no foreign transaction costs. $150 amazon gift card at signup. I probably spend $500 a month on food alone at amazon and don't really travel. I pay the full balance every month.

Any cons that I'm missing?

 

I just got a $200 gift card on that yesterday FYI, so check that out.

 

Was that through a targeted email, or a link somewhere? I got an email on the $150 deal.

 

Honestly, I just went to buy something and it said “want $200 credit, sign up for Amazon Prime Rewards Card”. But maybe you could call and say you heard about a $200 offer?

 

Sounds like an ideal card for you tbh

 

Looks like I got the better offer last week but didn't see it. Amazon wouldn't match since it's paid out by chase, but it still seems pretty good

 

I agree especially for a $0 annual fee and no spend requirement….. I’ll actually keep using it for all Amazon moving forward too

 

I have the Amazon card. It’s a no brainer IMO if you want something easy to get 5% on.

 

Is this card worth going after right now? Im just churning chase business cards between the wife and I for now.

 

FWIW, this did work. I guess you just have to do it in store and not online.

 

Idk how it stacks up relative to business cards, but the 100k bonus is one of the better intro offers, and the af is less than some of the other premier cards. The $200 air bnb credit made it a no-brainer for me.

We’re furnishing a house, so the $10k spend won’t be any kind of problem.

 

did you purchase S5A GCs or someone elses?

 

S5A. Going to compile a few and put it towards a coffee maker or something.

 

I have the venture card, debating getting the venture X as well since we’ll have a bunch of expenses with a new baby in February and getting the bonuses would be cool

 

Have some big projects that are going to be done on the house in 2022. New Roof, Replace a Door Frame and new hard wood floors and carpet. Looking to take advantage of the amount of money this is going to cost and score some more points. I have a CSP so I was looking at getting a Freedom or Flex to put this on and get the Cash %, or getting a Platinum/Gold Amex, or getting the Wells Fargo Cash Rewards card. I am currently at 4/24 so I can get one more Chase.. Originally I was thinking of getting a business card since the amount of money is going to be substantial but I am not seeing any significant rewards being offered on Business Cards.

Thoughts?

 

There are some 150K sign up bonuses going around for the Amex Plat Business.

 

I'd get the three Chase Ink cards. That's 250,000 points between the three of those. The Ink Cash is a nice everyday card as you get 5x points for cable, internet, phone, and office supply stores and 2x for gas. And I use the Ink Unlimited for my non-category purchases.

 

Amex Plat people:

Before the end of the year...

Can I use the $200 hotel credit (e.g. the Fine Hotels & Resorts or The Hotel Collection) for a stay that I book on say April 3rd
and then in the new year make another separate booking at the same hotel for April 4th, to maximize the credit?

 

No brainer for the first year with the Airbnb credit and maybe even a keeper as you go through all the banks.

Im working on the sign up bonus now. Let me know if you’d use a referral link.

 

What are the specifics for the southwest companion pass? Regular card and business card? Is there a certain time of the year that is best? How long does the pass last?

thanks for the refresher.

 

This is the cheapest way to qualify, if you can get a business card. It's all about getting 125,000 pts (if you don't qualify via 25 round-trip flights) so two signup bonuses are best. You could get it with a single card, if you're willing to spend the $20k or whatever it takes to earn the extra points beyond the sign up bonus.

As early in the year as possible, see below

Pass is good for the rest of the year you earn it plus the entire following year. So it can be good for almost 24 months if you qualify in Jan/Feb. Or closer to 12-13 months of you qualify in Nov/Dec

 

I’m guessing the business card needs to be the 5k spend for 80k option.

What about the personal card? Any of the 40k options?

Do I need to apply for these at the same time or since it is a business does that make the timing not matter