Credit Card Programs - Advise on the best mix of cards.

Hi, I am trying to figure out a better mix of credit cards that earn reward miles for the travel and was hoping for some advise based on the below situation / scenario.

Annual spend on credit cards: Around $750,000 - $1,000,000
Most of those charges are for foreign transactions and therefore the cards need to have a 0% foreign transaction fee.

I really haven't been making the best use of the miles earned and have primarily been spending on my AMEX Plat and transferring miles to whichever airline seems convenient at the time and I’d really like make better use and stretch those miles earned as far as possible for the below travel order of priority (Travel with my wife so flights are usually for two – flying out of LAX or SFO):

1- Atleast once a year to Johannesburg or Cape Town. Since I get two BA Chase travel together vouchers and can usually plan this trip a year out I’d like to fly BA F for this flight (300,000 avios)

2- Once a year to Paris. I always know what dates I would need to be in Paris a year out and its usually late Nov or early Dec so seats aren’t usually a problem. I figured I could use the second travel together voucher on BA F, but I wonder if I am wasting the voucher and paying the surcharges to fly via London and could find a better reward ticket option ?

3- Twice a year to NY. Though I would love to fly Virgin America F, I can’t see a good way to earn / transfer miles that doesn’t seem exorbitant. The last time around I ended up using 100,000 AA miles for two business class seats and later realized that I should have probably used 100,000 Avios miles especially since I had transferred miles during the 50% bonus offer.
Any J or F flights would be good and I’d like to use as little of my miles for these flights and save more for international travel.
Perhaps even purchase J or F seats on these sectors, when I need to travel if there are any good airfares at the time ?

4- Once a year to Dubai. Could possibly combine this with a trip to South Africa or Morocco or Seychelles or Maldives if I can fly Emirates. Cant see a good way to transfer / earn miles for Emirates F travel based solely on credit card spend though.

5-Once a year to Paris. This is very much a last minute trip – If I have nothing going on that week, I’d like to fly out on a Wednesday or Thursday and come back Sunday or Monday. LH F seems like a good option for absolute last minute travel, but not sure what would be the best way to accumulate miles on LH. I can always fly to MUC and take a train to Paris or skip Paris and go to Prague or Poland or Belgium or Austria, it doesn’t really matter..i’d just hate to pay the surcharge and fly BA for such a trip.

I also like the idea of having some LH miles handy incase I have a last minute trip to JNB and they have F seats available.

6- Another trip to JNB. Would like to be able to use Cathay F or Etihad F or perhaps Qatar or Emirates F, really doesn't matter.


So here’s the cards and roughly the miles I currently have and charge roughly $50 - 100K each month:

HSBC Premier:
Around 500,000 miles can be transferred to BA, Asia Miles or Kris Flyer. Hoping there is a transfer bonus offer at some point. Have a Premier account and it’s a handy card to have. Don’t like to spend on this card due to the limited use of miles.
Don’t know what would be a good use of those HSBC miles - BA, Asia Miles or Kris Flyer.

BA Chase Visa:
Have one card and wife has another. Signed up for the 100k offer + like the idea of having two of the travel together tickets each year. I generally just reach the 30,000 spend to get the voucher but not sure if I really should be spending more than that on this card..
Have about 600,000 miles in the household account.

Amex Plat:
Most of my spend is on the Amex Plat. Just transferred around 500,000 miles to BA – got 750,000 Avios and bought some F tickets to JNB with the Travel together voucher from last year.
Have around 200,000 miles.
Kind of like the idea of being able to borrow miles if I am short, since I can easily earn them in a couple months.

I like using this card and its convenient, just not sure if there is another set of cards I should be using for the travel I have in mind.
I seem to feel, i'm using BA too much and spending on the LON surcharge each time. I didn't mind much before as I liked stopping over in London for a day or two, but now a little tired of this option..

I have 300,000 miles in my Delta account that I had transferred during the 50% bonus offer to take a trip on AF F to Paris or JNB, but later realized I can’t book F tickets without status.
Plus I don’t like AF much and would rather take an indirect flight on LH F or BA F than waste my miles on AF.

So here’s what I am missing:
A good way to earn miles to fly LH, EK, EY or QR F on atleast one of the trips.

Wouldn’t mind flying VS to JNB or CPT, but not sure of AMEX to VS is the best way to redeem miles.
Or really any airlines with good F class.

Would greatly appreciate any suggestions..
Thank you. Bob

Have you considered Chase Ultimate Rewards cards? It's very easy to accumulate Chase UR points which can then be transferred to United, BA, Korean Air, and then for hotel stays at Hyatt, Priority Club, Marriot, and Ritz Carlton.

Chase Sapphire Preferred earns 2x points on dining and travel
Chase Freedom earns 5x points on rotating categories
Chase INK earns 5x points on "office supplies" 2x points on dining and 2x points on gas (depending which INK card you apply for)

Lastly, you can also consider JP Morgan Palladium card, which earns 2x points on travel, offers primary rental car insurance, offers amazing travel insurance and protection (should you pay for a trip), and 35,000 bonus points once you spend $100,000 annually on the card (sounds easy for you to do with your spend). Additionally, the Palladium card can give you United Lounge access, which Plat cannot. And your Palladium card can give you and your spouse access to lounges together without any additional fee.

The Chase mix of cards is a good recommendation, due to the ease of amassing points and the transferability. The CSP gives you an annual 7% bonus on your points too, so if you put $300K-$400K a year on it, and through applicable 2x categories earned 500K UR points, that'd be a nice little 35K point bonus.

MR points are often good for transfers to BA, but you already have a BA card, plus UR points transfer to BA as well, and are far easier to earn.

I might suggest the UR regimen yoyoyoo recommended, and possibily adding in the AMEX SPG, due to the ability to transfer to so many different airlines. Also, the 20K SPG > 25K airline transfer rate is a decent bonus (500K > 625K). Not as good as MR > BA during promotions, but you can transfer to a ton of partners from SPG, including AA. See here (http://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/account/starpoints/transfer/airline_partner_list.html)

Traveling through LHR on BA gets costly as you mentioned with the fuel charges. Using AA/UA or most anyone besides BA for long-haul travel is often the more efficient way.

In addition, having cards that give you a bonus 10, 20, 30K points etc each year for annual spends might be worth it, since you have the ability to meet the spend, too.

I doubt that threshold bonuses for spending $25 or $30K would be of great value, and the extra cards would mean extra fees.

You didn't say what categories you spend the money on. That could be significant. Chase is 2X on travel and restaurants, although it's hard to spend that much on restauarants.

The Chase 7% bonus would be nice, an extra 50-70K points a year.

I think it mostly comes down to whether you value the travel partners more for Amex or Chase, and whether the other benefits you get from Amex Plat are worth keeping for the $450 annual fee. Seems to me like both Amex Plat and Chase SP would be worth having, and to use Chase for the categories it has bonuses for. But a lot depends on your specific redemption patterns. Both Chase and Amex have BA, and neither has AA, so that really isn't a consideration. Starwood Preferred Guest is the only card that transfers to AA, and that has a forex fee, so that one is out.

Like others, I'm curious to know how the bulk of that is spent. Right now, I'm thinking that the lion's share of that spend is in the "other" category. If that is correct, I'm unsure as to what you can do to improve this.

Chase BA is fine since it is a flat 1.25 on everything except BA spend. SPG is fine when transferred in 20K increments but you already have that rate in the BA Visa without the amount restriction although you lose the variety of partners. I'm not big into SPG anymore but they do have their uses. What is your preferred brand of hotel lodging?

While I'm on the subject, what exactly makes you so heavy into BA? Personally, I could see using the companion pass for BA if the O/D was London but going to Johannesburg or Paris wouldn't make it an appealing option for me

That said, one option you may need to consider is the Club card for United as that will get you 1.5 on all spend and their FF program is highly regarded by many.

The problem with these types of cards is that you are locked in to that particular program without much choice. As mentioned by others, if your spend includes lots of things in bonus categories, cards such as the Sapphire preferred or Ink Bold would be fine additions to your arsenal.

All in all, your Amex plat/BA Visa combo is as good as you'll get assuming the transfer bonus continues to be an option. Otherwise, the UA club card and switching alliances may be better for you in the long run imho.

JP Morgan Palladium VISA earns one Ultimate Rewards point per dollar for general spending, two points for travel and awards a 35,000 point threshold bonus at $100,000. This would generate a better return than either the BA or Sapphire card, with the flexibility to transfer to four airline programs, four hotel chains, and Amtrak. Sapphire will also buy you a United Club membership, which would nicely compliment the American Express Platinum lounge access programs.

Discussion here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credit-card-programs/1089511-jp-morgan-palladium-card.html

JP Morgan Select VISA also earns one Ultimate Rewards point per dollar for general spending, two points for travel, and 25,000 point threshold bonus at $100,000. I do not know if Chase will permit the same person to hold both Palladium and Select and earn both bonuses, but I suspect they would.

Discussion here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credit-card-programs/1256202-j-p-morgan-select-visa-signature.html

I would also keep the BA card, spend $30,000 to earn the companion pass, and then put it away until next year.

There are so many great ways to handle your situation...

If you are open to the overhead, you could possibly do better by diversifying. For example, although you can use the travel together voucher to fly to South Africa for a total of 300,000 Avios, you could book that trip for two without any voucher on LH using 300,000 UA or US miles...

Then you could take advantage of any category spending bonuses. And you'd have the freedom to enjoy a different airline, when the in-flight experience might be better on a particular trip, and also have options when availability is low.

There is also something to be said for putting some spend on hotel cards in order to earn status. If you had $40,000 of domestic US charges, that could earn you Hilton Diamond; $105,000 anywhere for Marriott Gold; etc.

It's really a decision about how much bookkeeping you want to do for what could very well be a small marginal return. Could be a fun exercise if you like such things.

(As far as Virgin America goes, there is not a good way to use points or miles for those flights, especially in First Class. The best you could probably do is use Citi ThankYou points or book via their portal for a discount.)

I will second that you can go with Chase UR cards.

Thank you so much for all your replies. Relooking at my original post I realized how structured I am trying to make this whereas as pointed out it could be a little more fun, perhaps interesting.

My biggest issue has been that I seem to be too locked into BA. I initially picked BA, as I was under the impression they had a lot more seats available on F reward tickets, but I haven't really found that to be true anymore + I am tired of flying in and out of London, I really would love to visit other cities.

I agree on getting one of the Chase or JP Morgan cards. I am going to go over all the posts and threads mentioned above and get a better sense of what cards sound appealing.

Most of the spend would be "other", but I think I easily have atleast $100 - $200,000 on Travel, so a 2k travel spend card should be a priority...
I don't know why I hadn't looked into that earlier.

Even if I do nothing else, I should atleast ensure I can have enough miles to transfer to LH, even if just for last minute travel.

Infact if seats weren't such an issue on LH F that might be my first choice for most travel - I really like flying in and out of Munich and the Kempinski makes a one night transit so much nicer.

Hotel / Lodging: I dont think much benefit can be gained from cards as I dont stay at Hilton, Marriott type brands.
I like the Kempinski in some cities and Mandarin Oriental in some, but usually more exclusive local hotels that I don't believe are part of any reward program...In Paris Fouquet's Barriere or Crillon.

I feel I am in a very lucky position of being able to spend about 1M and gain reward points and really would just hate wasting opportunities to see the world for not having planned out my travel better...

Thank you for all the input this far...It is sincerely appreciated.

...I should atleast ensure I can have enough miles to transfer to LH, even if just for last minute travel.

Of the cards mentioned, only the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card (issued by American Express) earns points which can be transferred to LH Miles & More.

However you may redeem through another Star Alliance program for travel on flights operated by LH. You can do that now through Membership Rewards (use AC, NH or SQ). If you earn Chase Ultimate Rewards you would redeem though UA for travel on LH.

Hotel / Lodging: I dont think much benefit can be gained from cards as I dont stay at Hilton, Marriott type brands.
I like the Kempinski in some cities and Mandarin Oriental in some, but usually more exclusive local hotels that I don't believe are part of any reward program...In Paris Fouquet's Barriere or Crillon.

I feel I am in a very lucky position of being able to spend about 1M and gain reward points and really would just hate wasting opportunities to see the world for not having planned out my travel better...
Definitely respect the enviable situation you're in. More as a comment to anyone else reading the thread:

One popular use for miles/points is insurance. That's why it's good to carry a certain balance outside your usual programs.

For example, during the winter olympics, we realized the travel restrictions would require us to get up at 4am one day. That's not good while on vacation. There was one Holiday Inn Express that could be used as a positioning location the night before. It was selling for over CAD$ 250... or 15k PC points. Great redemption value. And who wants to spend $250 for a HIX ever?

Actually, I think the Priority Club Visa is great to have as an insurance policy. PC has hotels everywhere, so it's great if, say, your flight is diverted in the middle of the night. The signup includes at least 60k points, which can easily turn into 2-4 emergency nights. The annual fee is offset by a free night yearly in any PC hotel, including Intercontinental. And the card automatically gives you Platinum status each year.

Regardless, it's good that you're thinking of diversifying, even if only to open up more options to let you travel more freely.