MilesBuzz! - The "What Credit Card Should I Choose?" Master Thread

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gleff

Jul 28, 05, 8:30 am

How to choose the best credit card

One of the most frequently asked questions on MilesBuzz is what credit card should I use? It's been discussed over and over, and still comes up frequently. I'd like to create a single repository of information in the hopes that it's useful to the 70,000+ members and countless more lurkers that come here. Why re-invent the wheel every time?

With this post I intend to outline the major issues that I believe should affect your choice of mileage-earning credit card and to offer some specific suggestions that will work in most circumstances.

Caveat: this post is entirely US-centric, and doesn't deal with the best cards for individuals based in other countries.

Feel free to leave comments if you feel like I'm missing any important issue, or if you'd like specific feedback on your own situation. This is a work in progress, but I hope that in the future we'll be able to direct members to this thread when the 'best credit card' question comes up.

Note that the bulk of this post is adapted from a piece on my blog, so apologize that some of the links are to more detailed explanations there.

Do you pay your bill in full at the end of each month? If not, stop. You may not want a mileage-earning card. At a minimum, miles probably shouldn't determine what card you choose. Instead, you want a card with the lowest interest rates. Perhaps you have balances already, look for a card with 0% balance transfers (and then pay very close attention to the card's terms and conditions in order to retain that 0% rate.)

How much spending are you going to put on the card? Signup bonuses aside (I'll talk about those shortly), if you aren't going to put more than $1000 a month on the card on average, it may not make sense to get a card with an annual fee. For instance, many airlines have free cards that offer one mile per two dollars spent. At $12,000 in annual spending, that's 6000 fewer miles but you'll save $60 - $80. You're basically buying those miles at 1 to 1.25 cents apiece. At lower levels of spending you're buying the miles at a higher premium. The enhanced earning that comes from cards with an annual fee may not make sense unless you're putting substantial charges on the card.

Are you striving for elite membership in a program? Check whether that program's co-branded credit card will help you get there.

Many hotel programs give you their lowest level of status for taking their program's credit card. The Hilton Visa gives you silver status the first year, enough to qualify for their elites-only awards. The Hilton American Express (http://makeashorterlink.com/?L1BC4228B) offers silver status as long as you hold the card and Gold status for spending $20,000 on the card in a calendar year. Both cards are free. Starwood gives you 'Preferred Plus' status for taking its credit card (https://www66.americanexpress.com/cards/Applyfservlet?csi=6/14478/b/57/1684444267/168001044906/0/n), basically Gold without the bonus points for spending money at their hotels. Marriott gives you Silver status for taking its Visa card as well.

The new United Visa Signature Platinum Class (http://blogs.flyertalk.com//blogs/viewwing/archives/2005/07/20000_mile_bonu.html) offers up to 15,000 Elite Qualifying Miles in the first year of cardmembership based on a combination of spending and United purchases (up to 10,000 qualifying miles in subsequent years). The Delta Skymiles Platinum American Express (http://www66.americanexpress.com/cards/Fmacfservlet?csi=24/2158/b/71/0/069223758602/0/n) comes with Elite Qualifying Miles, both with first purchase and based on annual spend. In the past the USAirways Visa Signature (http://www.bankofamerica.com/usairways_site/index.cfm?template=cc_usair_sign&referralid=) has offered miles towards elite status based on annual spend, though I don't think that's currently the case. However, the USAirways card does offer some of the benefits of first-tier elite status such as preferred checkin and boarding along with the occasional upgrade.

Update: There are now two competing USAirways credit cards. The one from Juniper Bank is a better deal (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=509447), offering fee waived for 2 years, 15k bonus miles with first purchase, 1.5 miles per $ for the first year, preferred checkin and boarding, and an annual club pass.

Do you spend a lot with 'everyday purchase' retailers like grocery stores, restaurants, or the US Postal Service? If you do, consider a card that offers bonuses for that kind of spending. Consider both the Delta American Express and the Hilton American Express. Since my primary mileage accumulation isn't in a Delta account, I choose to hold the no annual fee Hilton card and I use it specifically at grocery stores and restaurants.

Do you fly a particular airline? Miles towards elite status aside, there are some cards that offer specific benefits which are useful when traveling with their co-branded partner. Without these types of benefits, I'm not a fan of picking a credit card based on the airline that you fly. You're already earning miles with that airline and if you have enough of a balance to claim the awards you want it's better to diversify into other programs. That makes things much easier when it comes time to try to redeem -- if your main program doesn't have availability, perhaps your second or third program will. That said, some cards like the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature (http://www.bankofamerica.com/alaska_airlines_site/index.cfm?template=cc_alaskaair_sig) offer nice benefits to customers that fly the airline such as an annual $50 companion ticket (unlike most companion tickets, this one can actually be used -- on any published fare), lounge passes, and day of departure upgrade certificates.

General advice

If you pay your bill in full every month, charge a decent amount to the card, and don't have special needs like help making elite status, then some general advice is probably most useful.

The best general, all-purpose rewards card is the Starwood American Express (https://www66.americanexpress.com/cards/Applyfservlet?csi=6/14478/b/57/1684444267/168001044906/0/n) card.

It's free the first year and $30 thereafter, comes with a signup bonus of 6,000 points with your first purchase and up to 6,000 more for hotel stays, and offers points which can be used for hotel nights or converted 1:1 into most airline programs.
Caveat: the card isn't a good option for earning United Airlines miles, though, because the points only transfer at a rate of 2:1. BankOne, which issues the United Visa, provided lots of money when United went into bankruptcy and doesn't like the competition from this card.
When you covert 20,000 points at a time into airline miles Starwood gives you 5,000 bonus miles -- which means you're really earning 1.25 miles per dollar on most every carrier, better earning than most airlines' own co-branded offerings. The flexibility, though, is the best benefit. With, say, an American Airlines Mastercard you're stuck with American Airlines miles. With the Starwood American Express you earn whatever miles you want and you don't have to decide until later.

An example of the power of this card -- spend $50,000 on the United Visa or American Mastercard, and you have enough miles for a coach ticket to Europe. Spend $50,000 on the Starwood American Express, and you can transfer those 50,000 points to Cathay Pacific in exchange for 60,000 Asia Miles which are enough for a business class ticket on British Airways from the East Coast of the U.S. to most destinations in Europe.

Be aware, though, that transfers from Starwood into an airline program are not instantaneous so you may not be able to reserve your award before making a transfer on carriers that don't let you hold awards (e.g. Northwest) or that don't permit you to hold them for very long (e.g. United at 72 hours).
Still, with Starwood I can stay at some of the top hotels in the world and my airline mileage earning is supersized, 25% better than airline cards themselves. This is by far the best all-around mileage earning card.

I also carry a Diners Club card and a Hilton American Express.

The Diners Club card is now a Mastercard, so it's accepted universally. I use the card with merchants that don't take American Express. Their points program offers transfers into most airline and hotel programs. I can even launder United or American miles into other programs through this program (with some devaluation).

Since Diners Club became a Mastercard, it lost some of its unique features -- such as two billing cycles to pay and a lower than usual foreign currency conversion charge. But it maintains its primary insurance coverage on rental cars, and since it's a Mastercard it's useful for airline and hotel promotions that require payments with that brand of card (such as Hyatt's outstanding Faster Free Nights promo (http://blogs.flyertalk.com//blogs/viewwing/archives/2005/07/faster_free_nig.html)).
Downsides to the card are a charge for transferring points to airline miles (95 cents per 1000 miles) and a $90 annual fee. I rent cars enough to make this worthwhile.

I use the Hilton American Express only for things where I earn bonus points. I use it at the grocery store and at restaurants and my cell phone bill is automatically charged to the card. I run no more than $1000 or $1500 a month on this card. If I ever run out of Gold status with Hilton, I'll probably notch up the spending to reach $20,000 to retain my status.

Full disclosure, I also carry other cards that stand apart from this general advice. For example, I have an American Express Platinum card (http://www66.americanexpress.com/cards/Fmacfservlet?csi=17/22/b/3/2081875673/204144252479/20/n&from=0&mgmID=undefined) with Membership Rewards because it provides a greater credit line than traditional points-earning cards.

It's useful to me for charging large events, and has lots of extras like lounge access (Continental, Delta, and Northwest), elite status with Starwood and Avis, and the Fine Hotels and Resorts program which offers extras at properties like Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons. It's expensive at $395, so not useful for most.

The Membership Rewards program offers transfers to a variety of airlines and hotel programs, but it's been eroded over the years. Marriott dropped out last year. No replacement was ever made for Northwest or TWA (when the latter was acquired by American). But it works for me, because I couldn't otherwise put such large charges on a single card. And a seven figure membership rewards balance is certainly better than paying by check!

If you don't charge enough to warrant an annual fee card, consider a free card.

The Amtrak Mastercard (https://wwwa.applyonlinenow.com/USapp/Ctl/redirect?CV_sourceCode=HD0F&CV_MC=A000001K7X) gives one Amtrak point per dollar spent. The value in this card is that points can be used for train travel or transferred one-to-one into Continental, and Midwest Airlines and one-to-two into Hilton. You can transfer 25,000 points out of an Amtrak account each calendar year (elite members can transfer out 50,000 points.) The Amtrak card also offers redemption for gift certificates, generally valuing points earned at one cent apiece. The card offers pretty good earning considering that it's fee-free.

I don't trust the company running the Amtrak program, though. They tend to make changes without notice -- such as imposing a cap on points transferred out (it used to be unlimited) and ending transfers into United.

The Hilton American Express (http://makeashorterlink.com/?L1BC4228B) comes with 15,000 points as a signup bonus, Silver Elite status in the Hilton program, and earns 3 Hilton points per dollar spent (or 5 on 'everyday spend' charges like restaurants, grocery stores, and cell phone bills).

Consider also cash rebate cards. Most of them cap the amount of money you can earn, but if you're spending less than $15,000 or so a year that may not be an issue. This type of card is outside the scope of the post. Miles are usually worth more than money in a rewards program, since the latter tends to return only about 1%. But $150 may be worth more to you than 15,000 Amtrak points (though shrewdly used, the Amtrak points can be worth more than the money).

Stay away from proprietary rewards programs, like the CapitalOne GoMiles card.

Proprietary miles programs have marketing appeal, offering "any seat on any airline" and tapping into the frustration that some feel trying to redeem their miles. But these programs turn the value proposition of miles on their head. Miles are most useful for tickets that would have been too expensive to purchase -- international business or first class tickets, or even last minute transcon flights (which aren't as expensive as they used to be).

Proprietary programs generally offer coach seats, which have to be purchased a few weeks in advance, and often cap the amount of airfare that they'll pay.

Furthermore, proprietary miles can be earned only through credit card spending so it may be harding to reach the point of redeeming for a free ticket.

Airline and hotel points can be earned through a variety of partnerships, whether it's telephone or internet or mortgage financing, let alone actually flying or spending the night somewhere.

While some may get value from these offerings, my general advice is to avoid them. They more or less amount to a cash rebate card where you can only spend the rebate on specific travel offerings.

One exception: Most credit cards charge about 3% on foreign currency transactions. CapitalOne (at least with most of their offerings?) only charges 1%. Some MBNA cards also charge only 1%, though most now charge 3%. This foreign currency surcharge may be more expensive than the value of the miles you get in return -- so if you travel abroad a lot then your primary concern may be foreign currency charges rather than mileage earning.

Earning bonus miles from credit card signups

In some cases, depending on the credit card issuer, you can sign up for the same credit card more than once and pocket the signup bonus over and over (http://blogs.flyertalk.com//blogs/viewwing/archives/2004/12/applying_for_cr.html).

This is especially true for cards issued by BankOne (e.g. United, Marriott, British Airways, Priority Club) and Citibank (e.g. American Mastercard, Hilton Visa).

I'm not a frequent Northwest flyer, so I've used signing up for their credit card three times as my qualifying activity in the annual Fly Free Faster promo (http://blogs.flyertalk.com//blogs/viewwing/archives/2005/07/wrapping_up_nor.html). While it's not easy to get a signup bonus from US Bank more than once for the same card, you can sign up for each of their different cards and earn the signup bonus each time. I've gotten the Visa Platinum, the Visa Signature, and the Visa Business card, and each time that qualified me to earn an additional 10,000 miles from the summer promo. (I'd never sign up for the Northwest card unless it qualified me for some other offering, since those offerings come around so regularly and I wouldn't want to blow the chance to use the card as an activity towards the bonus.)

Credit cards generally can offer some of the richest bonuses around. The American Airlines Mastercard (http://makeashorterlink.com/?P2FA24C7B) is currently offering 15,000 miles with first purchase and fee waived for a year.

The United Visa (https://app.firstusa.com/ICBatch/?PID=UAB1&SPID=3H4B&CELL=60K2&AFFID=&CLICK=&CID=&PROMO=DF01#) is also offering 15,000 bonus miles with first purchase and fee waived for a year.

The Delta American Express (http://makeashorterlink.com/?C5DD2128B) makes that same 15,000 bonus mile with first purchase offer, fee waived the first year. (There are occasionally even better offers on this card as well.)

Both the American and United bonuses can be earned more than once (http://blogs.flyertalk.com//blogs/viewwing/archives/2004/12/applying_for_cr.html). The Delta American Express doesn't offer similar possibilities, although with all cards you can generally earn miles not just for a personal card but also for a business card. Some issuers require a certain minimum business income to qualify, and some consumers think "I don't have a business." But what if you are looking for consulting work on the side, even if you don't do any such work at this time? Most of us can qualify as "Our Name & Associates" - boom, our own business, and own business credit card with signup bonus.

Whenever you sign up for a new card print out the details of the offer. Sometimes promised bonuses don't post and you'll want some evidence of what you were supposed to receive. Also, in the event that you're signing up for a card whose fee is waived for a specific period of time, make sure to print out that promise as well.

Be aware that each time you apply for a credit card the issuing bank will pull your credit report. Each 'hard pull' on your report is logged, and too many pulls over a short period of time can temporarily reduce your credit rating. On the other hand, having a decent amount of unused credit can be valuable, a lower percentage utilization of your available credit helps your score. So does having a long average age for your accounts, so cancelling unused fee-free cards may not be wise.

Suffice to say that credit score issues are beyond this scope of this inquiry, but be aware that your credit score will affect your ability to obtain credit and the interest rates you'll pay (such as when applying for a mortgage). These are complicated issues worth understanding.

Here's a good basic overview (http://credit.about.com/cs/creditrepair/a/073003.htm). Here's a way to estimate your score for free (http://www.bankrate.com/brm/fico/calc.asp?prodtype=mtg&thisponsor=score) and play with the different variables.

maulah

Jul 28, 05, 9:32 am

Nice job gleff. Brilliant piece of work. One thing I will never understand about you is how do you get so many referrals for those ipods, computers and TVs.

Although I agree with you in principal about proprietary rewards programs, but one card I would like to hear from you or others more and that is Citibank PreimeirElite rewards card. This is one unique card that has been discussed pretty well in Visa/MC forum but surprisingly you are still quiet. Any comments.

gleff

Jul 28, 05, 9:48 am

Although I agree with you in principal about proprietary rewards programs, but one card I would like to hear from you or others more and that is Citibank PreimeirElite rewards card. WebFlyer offered a pretty good dissection of the family of cards when it was first introduced:
http://www.webflyer.com/programs/notiflyer/index.php?art_num=197

Definitely not for me, the points aren't going to be useful for upgrades/status/etc. But like most proprietary programs, the purchased tickets actually earn miles. Useful for some. And there's supersized earning for some cardholders depending on spend and travel patterns (paying the fee for the enhanced card).

The other proprietary program worth looking at is the Merrill+ Visa, since a $50k annual spender will receive 4 Ritz-Carlton nights in addition to points in the program. That's almost tipped it for me, but I'd still rather put that $50k in spend on my Starwood Amex. Still, that one's closest to one I'd consider for myself.

fun888

Jul 28, 05, 10:04 am

Excellent report. Much thanks.

Now the banks are getting greedy. Most the foreign transactions will have a 3% surcharge. Some local banks, such as Bank of China and Japan Post Office also tack on up to 2% local transaction fee making foreign charges or debit card usage very expensive... up to $50 more on my $1000 hotel bill.

Can you tell me which card still have only 1% foreign exchange charge.

ANDREWCX

Jul 28, 05, 10:38 am

My site has a heap of comparison tables that may be of interest including:

US Airline, Hotel, Points, Psuedo Miles, and Cashback Credit Cards (http://www.andrewcram.com/frequentflyerCC.html)
Australian and New Zealand Airline Cards (http://www.andrewcram.com/frequentflyerCC_AU.html)
Canadian, Irish & United Kindom Airline Cards (http://www.andrewcram.com/frequentflyerCC_CA.html)

Andrew

michaelr

Jul 30, 05, 7:27 am

Great analysis. One thing that could be added though is the opportunity cost of a cash back card. 1% is pretty much the base standard. The Costco Amex offers 2% on travel and 3% on dining out in addition to 1% on all other purchases.

Contrived example:
If you spent $3000 monthly for 16 month on a mix of 1500 travel/400 food/1100 other, you will end up with $848 in cash or 48000 Starpoints. Retail for 5 days in Hawaii is about $300/night placing the value of 48000 Starpoints at $1500. With just minimal research this price can easily drop to $1050 (by 30%). Starwood wins but IMO by a relatively thin margin taking into consideration that you lose the flexibility of cash and will not earn points on the otherwise paid stay. If this strategy is fine tuned by using other cards to make better use of the $1100 other spending such as grocery and gas station 5% cash cards, the call is even closer.

Anyway, this was mostly to illustrate that using reward cards comes at cost much higher than just the annual fee.

gleff

Aug 1, 05, 11:59 am

Anyway, this was mostly to illustrate that using reward cards comes at cost much higher than just the annual fee.
I think the broad point, which I make to a certain extent above, is that if your spending patterns are somewhat predictable (at least within a certain range), it makes sense to figure out what it is that you spend on and map that onto the rewards cards you're considering.

Some cards pay out greater rewards on specific types of spending, and if your habits match it could tip the scales.

dieuwer

Aug 1, 05, 12:37 pm

michaelr

Aug 1, 05, 2:35 pm

Seems to me that Citi Dividend Platinum Select beats them all with 5% cash back.
Only at grocery & drug stores + gas stations. Great addition to the Costco card though and a good backup for non-Amex taking vendors.

USAFAN

Aug 1, 05, 3:53 pm

The "What Credit Card Should I Choose?" Master Thread

gleff - what a great post! Thanks for putting this all together! ^

As far as I know, all your recommendations are first class. They mirror my experiences ... and I had at least 15 credit cards in the last couple of years ... and my credit score is still top notch :cool:

Thanks again.

acwolfe

Aug 2, 05, 11:26 am

[QUOTE=gleff]How to choose the best credit card

Gleff, I appreciate all your good advice about mileage cards. There seems to be an error in your 6th paragraph about mileage earnings. You seem to be talking about 1 mile earned for 2 dollars rather than 2 miles per dollar.

Art Wolfe

lessthanzero

Aug 2, 05, 12:24 pm

How about Green vs Gold vs Plat?

And Rewards vs Preferred Rewards vs Rewards Plus?

(all amex of course)

I know you can look this up at Amex' website of course, but upon trying I found it a painstaking exercise, and was hoping that somebody had already done this and wanted to donate the fruits of their labour.

gleff

Aug 2, 05, 12:27 pm

Gleff, I appreciate all your good advice about mileage cards. There seems to be an error in your 6th paragraph about mileage earnings. You seem to be talking about 1 mile earned for 2 dollars rather than 2 miles per dollar.

Art Wolfe
Not sure where you're pointing to? There may be a typo, help me find it, thanks!

CrazyOne

Aug 2, 05, 8:35 pm

Not sure where you're pointing to? There may be a typo, help me find it, thanks!

In the "How much spending are you going to put on the card?" section. I see it too. It's very good info, but right now it reads:

"For instance, many airlines have free cards that offer 2 miles per dollar spent."

It needs to be changed so that it correctly indicates that the free cards only earn half as much as the ones with annual fees (1 mile per $2 spent vs the standard 1 for $1 for the annual fee cards).

I'd call it a typo; you just did the math in the wrong direction. ;)

gleff

Aug 2, 05, 9:02 pm

Thanks, fixed!

dac

Aug 3, 05, 1:52 pm

Note: This Post Relates to Canadian Residents
While many people gripe about cards that offer the "seats on any airline", many of my Canadian brethern keep the RBC Avion Visa (http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/cards/personal/avion_p.html) in their wallets, which apparently is the best frequent flyer card in Canada. Previously most Canadians kept the CIBC Aeroplan Visa as a primary mileage earning card, (it was the only game in town for a long time, now Amex is a partner with AC as well), but the awful award ticket redemption options on Air Canada have prompted many to abandon this card altogether.

sdbarb

Aug 3, 05, 2:42 pm

gleff

Aug 3, 05, 5:59 pm

Thanks for the great post Gleff.

I'm hoping for a bit if a miracle here, but in May I applied for an Amex Delta Gold card (first year free). I strongly recollect that the sign up bonus was something like 25,000 or 30,000 miles. I know it was extremely appealing or I wouldn't have bothered. However, I have been credited with ony 15k miles and I have no proof of any other offer. I've contacted Amex and Delta but to no avail.

Is it possible anyone reading this is aware of that offer and have it cached or printed. In future - always, always print and hold onto any offers.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Offer was probably 15k with first purchase, 5k more for spending $5k on the card by X date, plus the 5k miles you'd normally get for spending that $5k = 25k miles.

But it could have been one of the offers discussed in these threads:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=439643
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=451825

superdawg

Aug 4, 05, 9:40 am

For Canadians, see the following articles, charts and FT threads to help in selection of a Canadian Credit Card:

Canadian FF Credit Card Comparison
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=361242

To see what programs you can earn miles in with Canadian credit cards see: http://www.rewardscanada.ca/airlinecc.html

Choosing A Travel Rewards Credit Card
http://www.rewardscanada.ca/ccarticle.html

Canadian Travel Credit Card Comparison
http://www.rewardscanada.ca/cccompare.html

Canadian No-fee Credit Card Rewards Programs go head to head
http://www.redflagdeals.com/deals/main.php/articles/

gleff

Aug 7, 05, 9:34 am

Thanks for the links to credit cards for Canadians. ^

As I mentioned, my analysis in this thread is limited strictly to US...

Stinkyxy

Aug 7, 05, 1:21 pm

MBNA, as of June, starting charging foreign transcation fees. These are fees for charges that are initiated outside of the US. For instance, I use a US Aeroplan MasterCard to buy an Air Canada ticket online and got hit with an extra 3%. MasterCard is charging the banks 1% and MBNA is tacking on another 2% across all cards. Visa is just sticking to the 1% for foreign exchange and not origination fees. MasterCard is considering dropping the origination fee to 0.5 or 0.8%.

As far as I know, Amex is one of very few cards that do not charge this fee. In the US, Amalgamated Bank, BMW Bank, Capital One, Discover and Tompkins Trust Company are the only ones that do not charge the foriegn transaction fee (origination). Below is a link to the 2005 credit card survey by the Consumer Action Group.

Taking this into consideration, why would Air Canada not make a deal with MBNA not to charge the fee to their customers, especially those using this card. I'll be switching to Amex, which i use for business now, and toss this one out. I am trying to get more information from a few people I know that work at MasterCard and Visa international.

Oh and a tidbit here, MBNA has not disclosed this information on their new apps. So, by law, they cannot charge this new transaction origination fee. This is a big legal boo boo on their part.

Cheers.

http://www.consumer-action.org:16080/English/CANews/2005_Credit_Card_Survey/

broadwayblue

Aug 7, 05, 2:26 pm

can anyone tell me what 'Preferred Plus' status gives me as a Starwood card holder? i can't seem to find a list of 'gold' benefits on the Amex site. thanks.

ps, never mind...i found it on the Starwood website. looks like gold status gets you free automatic room upgrades and late checkouts.

gleff

Aug 7, 05, 3:08 pm

can anyone tell me what 'Preferred Plus' status gives me as a Starwood card holder? i can't seem to find a list of 'gold' benefits on the Amex site. thanks.
Here (http://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/benefits/benefits_gold.html) are Starwood Gold benefits.

The Amex Plat gets you Gold. The SPG Amex gets you 'Preferred Plus' which is basically Gold without the bonus Starpoints for spending at Starwood properties.

Note that the 'upgrade' benefit is a bit overhyped. It can be useful at some properties, occasionally, but in general it means that you shouldn't be given the worst room on property.

acf573

Aug 7, 05, 7:57 pm

Stinkyxy, welcome to FlyerTalk!

MasterCard is charging the banks 1% and MBNA is tacking on another 2% across all cards. Visa is just sticking to the 1% for foreign exchange and not origination fees.
Visa is already charging the 1% for foreign origination. MasterCard will start charging it in October or something like that. (the Visa info is confirmed at the link you provide)

As far as I know, Amex is one of very few cards that do not charge this fee. In the US, Amalgamated Bank, BMW Bank, Capital One, Discover and Tompkins Trust Company are the only ones that do not charge the foriegn transaction fee (origination).
I know for a fact that Citibank does not charge an origination fee. T&C explicitly state foreign currency transactions. This means that for foreign transactions, they're eating the 1% from Visa/MC (don't cry for Citi--I'm sure they more than make up for it with the 3% on forex). Also many smaller banks and credit unions don't have the computer setup at the moment to levy the origination fee (because many of them in the past simply relied on Visa/MC to build the fee into the exchange rate--now they have to build and test software to do this for themselves). My credit union says they will start passing on the 1% whenever they get their systems setup.

rfrost

Aug 10, 05, 4:07 pm

[QUOTE=acf573][B]

I know for a fact that Citibank does not charge an origination fee. T&C explicitly state foreign currency transactions. This means that for foreign transactions, they're eating the 1% from Visa/MC (don't cry for Citi--I'm sure they more than make up for it with the 3% on forex). Also many smaller banks and credit unions don't have the computer setup at the moment to levy the origination fee (because many of them in the past simply relied on Visa/MC to build the fee into the exchange rate--now they have to build and test software to do this for themselves). My credit union says they will start passing on the 1% whenever they get their systems setup.[/QUOTE

So if I'm going to get billed in US$ for a foreign transaction, I should use my Citibank Hilton card, right?

MrAOK

Aug 11, 05, 4:56 am

You might want to add to the line "Do you spend a lot with 'everyday purchase' retailers like grocery stores, restaurants, or the US Postal Service?" "or gas"

The Amex hilton card also provides the bonus miles for gas purchases. Probably far more important than postage for most people.

So I use mine mostly for gas and grocery purchases.

philemer

Aug 11, 05, 7:55 pm

As a sidenote, if you normally fly UA, you can get 20,000 miles for a $60 annual fee, at this site ( http://www.firstusa.com/cgi-bin/webcgi/webserve.cgi?partner_dir_name=united_signature_20k&page=cont&mkid=6VBD) You can cancel the card after a few months and apply for a new one. My wife & I do this twice a year & earn enough miles for 2 r/t tickets to Hawaii ($60 X 4 = nice vacation). :cool:

Phil

kurjan

Aug 12, 05, 7:43 pm

The "5% on groceries, gasoline, and pharmacy purchases" is great, but note that the total annual cash back is limited to $300. So I use the Citi card for "5% cash back" purchases each year until I've reached the $300 cash back limit (at $6,000 annual spend), then switch to other cards (such as Starwood Amex) for the rest of the year. And I use other cards for all purchases at merchants that do not earn 5% cash back.

acf573

Aug 13, 05, 1:29 am

best

Aug 14, 05, 10:00 am

When you do this: do you lose anything? I thought that one also gets 5,000 additional miles for renewing or spending certain amount of dollars ??????

As a sidenote, if you normally fly UA, you can get 20,000 miles for a $60 annual fee, at this site ( http://www.firstusa.com/cgi-bin/webcgi/webserve.cgi?partner_dir_name=united_signature_20k&page=cont&mkid=6VBD) You can cancel the card after a few months and apply for a new one. My wife & I do this twice a year & earn enough miles for 2 r/t tickets to Hawaii ($60 X 4 = nice vacation). :cool:

Phil

hgm11101

Aug 14, 05, 10:10 am

I find that the easiest way to avoid the constant ups and downs of the airline's mileage programs, is to sign up for the Citibank Premierpass Elite credit card. It allows you to earn points, not miles, towards the equivilent ratio of awards for most airlies; 25K for a coach R/T ticket. Also, you can choose any airline to fly on those points, as well as garnering a kick-start of 15,000 points when you sign up (like some other credit cards)! Plus (I know, aren't you getting sick of all the benefits???) you get double points at numerous outlets including pharmacies, supermarkets, and gas stations - and who doesn't use those? Well, I've gushed enough about the bennies :rolleyes: ....find out for yourself! www.citicards.com is the place to make your choice. ^

How to choose the best credit card

One of the most frequently asked questions on MilesBuzz is what credit card should I use? It's been discussed over and over, and still comes up frequently. I'd like to create a single repository of information in the hopes that it's useful to the 70,000+ members and countless more lurkers that come here. Why re-invent the wheel every time?

With this post I intend to outline the major issues that I believe should affect your choice of mileage-earning credit card and to offer some specific suggestions that will work in most circumstances.

Caveat: this post is entirely US-centric, and doesn't deal with the best cards for individuals based in other countries.

Feel free to leave comments if you feel like I'm missing any important issue, or if you'd like specific feedback on your own situation. This is a work in progress, but I hope that in the future we'll be able to direct members to this thread when the 'best credit card' question comes up.

Note that the bulk of this post is adapted from a piece on my blog, so apologize that some of the links are to more detailed explanations there.

Do you pay your bill in full at the end of each month? If not, stop. You may not want a mileage-earning card. At a minimum, miles probably shouldn't determine what card you choose. Instead, you want a card with the lowest interest rates. Perhaps you have balances already, look for a card with 0% balance transfers (and then pay very close attention to the card's terms and conditions in order to retain that 0% rate.)

How much spending are you going to put on the card? Signup bonuses aside (I'll talk about those shortly), if you aren't going to put more than $1000 a month on the card on average, it may not make sense to get a card with an annual fee. For instance, many airlines have free cards that offer one mile per two dollars spent. At $12,000 in annual spending, that's 6000 fewer miles but you'll save $60 - $80. You're basically buying those miles at 1 to 1.25 cents apiece. At lower levels of spending you're buying the miles at a higher premium. The enhanced earning that comes from cards with an annual fee may not make sense unless you're putting substantial charges on the card.

Are you striving for elite membership in a program? Check whether that program's co-branded credit card will help you get there.

Many hotel programs give you their lowest level of status for taking their program's credit card. The Hilton Visa gives you silver status the first year, enough to qualify for their elites-only awards. The Hilton American Express (http://makeashorterlink.com/?L1BC4228B) offers silver status as long as you hold the card and Gold status for spending $20,000 on the card in a calendar year. Both cards are free. Starwood gives you 'Preferred Plus' status for taking its credit card (https://www66.americanexpress.com/cards/Applyfservlet?csi=6/14478/b/57/1684444267/168001044906/0/n), basically Gold without the bonus points for spending money at their hotels. Marriott gives you Silver status for taking its Visa card as well.

The new United Visa Signature Platinum Class (http://blogs.flyertalk.com//blogs/viewwing/archives/2005/07/20000_mile_bonu.html) offers up to 15,000 Elite Qualifying Miles in the first year of cardmembership based on a combination of spending and United purchases (up to 10,000 qualifying miles in subsequent years). The Delta Skymiles Platinum American Express (http://www66.americanexpress.com/cards/Fmacfservlet?csi=24/2158/b/71/0/069223758602/0/n) comes with Elite Qualifying Miles, both with first purchase and based on annual spend. In the past the USAirways Visa Signature (http://www.bankofamerica.com/usairways_site/index.cfm?template=cc_usair_sign&referralid=) has offered miles towards elite status based on annual spend, though I don't think that's currently the case. However, the USAirways card does offer some of the benefits of first-tier elite status such as preferred checkin and boarding along with the occasional upgrade.

Do you spend a lot with 'everyday purchase' retailers like grocery stores, restaurants, or the US Postal Service? If you do, consider a card that offers bonuses for that kind of spending. Consider both the Delta American Express and the Hilton American Express. Since my primary mileage accumulation isn't in a Delta account, I choose to hold the no annual fee Hilton card and I use it specifically at grocery stores and restaurants.

Do you fly a particular airline? Miles towards elite status aside, there are some cards that offer specific benefits which are useful when traveling with their co-branded partner. Without these types of benefits, I'm not a fan of picking a credit card based on the airline that you fly. You're already earning miles with that airline and if you have enough of a balance to claim the awards you want it's better to diversify into other programs. That makes things much easier when it comes time to try to redeem -- if your main program doesn't have availability, perhaps your second or third program will. That said, some cards like the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature (http://www.bankofamerica.com/alaska_airlines_site/index.cfm?template=cc_alaskaair_sig) offer nice benefits to customers that fly the airline such as an annual $50 companion ticket (unlike most companion tickets, this one can actually be used -- on any published fare), lounge passes, and day of departure upgrade certificates.

General advice

If you pay your bill in full every month, charge a decent amount to the card, and don't have special needs like help making elite status, then some general advice is probably most useful.

The best general, all-purpose rewards card is the Starwood American Express (https://www66.americanexpress.com/cards/Applyfservlet?csi=6/14478/b/57/1684444267/168001044906/0/n) card.

It's free the first year and $30 thereafter, comes with a signup bonus of 6,000 points with your first purchase and up to 6,000 more for hotel stays, and offers points which can be used for hotel nights or converted 1:1 into most airline programs.

When you covert 20,000 points at a time into airline miles Starwood gives you 5,000 bonus miles -- which means you're really earning 1.25 miles per dollar on most every carrier, better earning than most airlines' own co-branded offerings. The flexibility, though, is the best benefit. With, say, an American Airlines Mastercard you're stuck with American Airlines miles. With the Starwood American Express you earn whatever miles you want and you don't have to decide until later.

An example of the power of this card -- spend $50,000 on the United Visa or American Mastercard, and you have enough miles for a coach ticket to Europe. Spend $50,000 on the Starwood American Express, and you can transfer those 50,000 points to Cathay Pacific in exchange for 60,000 Asia Miles which are enough for a business class ticket on British Airways from the East Coast of the U.S. to most destinations in Europe.

Be aware, though, that transfers from Starwood into an airline program are not instantaneous so you may not be able to reserve your award before making a transfer on carriers that don't let you hold awards (e.g. Northwest) or that don't permit you to hold them for very long (e.g. United at 72 hours).
Still, with Starwood I can stay at some of the top hotels in the world and my airline mileage earning is supersized, 25% better than airline cards themselves. This is by far the best all-around mileage earning card.

I also carry a Diners Club card and a Hilton American Express.

The Diners Club card is now a Mastercard, so it's accepted universally. I use the card with merchants that don't take American Express. Their points program offers transfers into most airline and hotel programs. I can even launder United or American miles into other programs through this program (with some devaluation).

Since Diners Club became a Mastercard, it lost some of its unique features -- such as two billing cycles to pay and a lower than usual foreign currency conversion charge. But it maintains its primary insurance coverage on rental cars, and since it's a Mastercard it's useful for airline and hotel promotions that require payments with that brand of card (such as Hyatt's outstanding Faster Free Nights promo (http://blogs.flyertalk.com//blogs/viewwing/archives/2005/07/faster_free_nig.html)).
Downsides to the card are a charge for transferring points to airline miles (95 cents per 1000 miles) and a $90 annual fee. I rent cars enough to make this worthwhile.

I use the Hilton American Express only for things where I earn bonus points. I use it at the grocery store and at restaurants and my cell phone bill is automatically charged to the card. I run no more than $1000 or $1500 a month on this card. If I ever run out of Gold status with Hilton, I'll probably notch up the spending to reach $20,000 to retain my status.

Full disclosure, I also carry other cards that stand apart from this general advice. For example, I have an American Express Platinum card (http://www66.americanexpress.com/cards/Fmacfservlet?csi=17/22/b/3/2081875673/204144252479/20/n&from=0&mgmID=undefined) with Membership Rewards because it provides a greater credit line than traditional points-earning cards.

It's useful to me for charging large events, and has lots of extras like lounge access (Continental, Delta, and Northwest), elite status with Starwood and Avis, and the Fine Hotels and Resorts program which offers extras at properties like Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons. It's expensive at $395, so not useful for most.

The Membership Rewards program offers transfers to a variety of airlines and hotel programs, but it's been eroded over the years. Marriott dropped out last year. No replacement was ever made for Northwest or TWA (when the latter was acquired by American). But it works for me, because I couldn't otherwise put such large charges on a single card. And a seven figure membership rewards balance is certainly better than paying by check!

If you don't charge enough to warrant an annual fee card, consider a free card.

The Amtrak Mastercard (https://wwwa.applyonlinenow.com/USapp/Ctl/redirect?CV_sourceCode=HD0F&CV_MC=A000001K7X) gives one Amtrak point per dollar spent. The value in this card is that points can be used for train travel or transferred one-to-one into Continental, and Midwest Airlines and one-to-two into Hilton. You can transfer 25,000 points out of an Amtrak account each calendar year (elite members can transfer out 50,000 points.) The Amtrak card also offers redemption for gift certificates, generally valuing points earned at one cent apiece. The card offers pretty good earning considering that it's fee-free.

I don't trust the company running the Amtrak program, though. They tend to make changes without notice -- such as imposing a cap on points transferred out (it used to be unlimited) and ending transfers into United.

The Hilton American Express (http://makeashorterlink.com/?L1BC4228B) comes with 15,000 points as a signup bonus, Silver Elite status in the Hilton program, and earns 3 Hilton points per dollar spent (or 5 on 'everyday spend' charges like restaurants, grocery stores, and cell phone bills).

Consider also cash rebate cards. Most of them cap the amount of money you can earn, but if you're spending less than $15,000 or so a year that may not be an issue. This type of card is outside the scope of the post. Miles are usually worth more than money in a rewards program, since the latter tends to return only about 1%. But $150 may be worth more to you than 15,000 Amtrak points (though shrewdly used, the Amtrak points can be worth more than the money).

Stay away from proprietary rewards programs, like the CapitalOne GoMiles card.

Proprietary miles programs have marketing appeal, offering "any seat on any airline" and tapping into the frustration that some feel trying to redeem their miles. But these programs turn the value proposition of miles on their head. Miles are most useful for tickets that would have been too expensive to purchase -- international business or first class tickets, or even last minute transcon flights (which aren't as expensive as they used to be).

Proprietary programs generally offer coach seats, which have to be purchased a few weeks in advance, and often cap the amount of airfare that they'll pay.

Furthermore, proprietary miles can be earned only through credit card spending so it may be harding to reach the point of redeeming for a free ticket.

Airline and hotel points can be earned through a variety of partnerships, whether it's telephone or internet or mortgage financing, let alone actually flying or spending the night somewhere.

While some may get value from these offerings, my general advice is to avoid them. They more or less amount to a cash rebate card where you can only spend the rebate on specific travel offerings.

One exception: Most credit cards charge about 3% on foreign currency transactions. CapitalOne (at least with most of their offerings?) only charges 1%. Some MBNA cards also charge only 1%, though most now charge 3%. This foreign currency surcharge may be more expensive than the value of the miles you get in return -- so if you travel abroad a lot then your primary concern may be foreign currency charges rather than mileage earning.

Earning bonus miles from credit card signups

In some cases, depending on the credit card issuer, you can sign up for the same credit card more than once and pocket the signup bonus over and over (http://blogs.flyertalk.com//blogs/viewwing/archives/2004/12/applying_for_cr.html).

This is especially true for cards issued by BankOne (e.g. United, Marriott, British Airways, Priority Club) and Citibank (e.g. American Mastercard, Hilton Visa).

I'm not a frequent Northwest flyer, so I've used signing up for their credit card three times as my qualifying activity in the annual Fly Free Faster promo (http://blogs.flyertalk.com//blogs/viewwing/archives/2005/07/wrapping_up_nor.html). While it's not easy to get a signup bonus from US Bank more than once for the same card, you can sign up for each of their different cards and earn the signup bonus each time. I've gotten the Visa Platinum, the Visa Signature, and the Visa Business card, and each time that qualified me to earn an additional 10,000 miles from the summer promo. (I'd never sign up for the Northwest card unless it qualified me for some other offering, since those offerings come around so regularly and I wouldn't want to blow the chance to use the card as an activity towards the bonus.)

Credit cards generally can offer some of the richest bonuses around. The American Airlines Mastercard (http://makeashorterlink.com/?P2FA24C7B) is currently offering 15,000 miles with first purchase and fee waived for a year.

The United Visa (https://app.firstusa.com/ICBatch/?PID=UAB1&SPID=3H4B&CELL=60K2&AFFID=&CLICK=&CID=&PROMO=DF01#) is also offering 15,000 bonus miles with first purchase and fee waived for a year.

The Delta American Express (http://makeashorterlink.com/?C5DD2128B) makes that same 15,000 bonus mile with first purchase offer, fee waived the first year. (There are occasionally even better offers on this card as well.)

Both the American and United bonuses can be earned more than once (http://blogs.flyertalk.com//blogs/viewwing/archives/2004/12/applying_for_cr.html). The Delta American Express doesn't offer similar possibilities, although with all cards you can generally earn miles not just for a personal card but also for a business card. Some issuers require a certain minimum business income to qualify, and some consumers think "I don't have a business." But what if you are looking for consulting work on the side, even if you don't do any such work at this time? Most of us can qualify as "Our Name & Associates" - boom, our own business, and own business credit card with signup bonus.

Whenever you sign up for a new card print out the details of the offer. Sometimes promised bonuses don't post and you'll want some evidence of what you were supposed to receive. Also, in the event that you're signing up for a card whose fee is waived for a specific period of time, make sure to print out that promise as well.

Be aware that each time you apply for a credit card the issuing bank will pull your credit report. Each 'hard pull' on your report is logged, and too many pulls over a short period of time can temporarily reduce your credit rating. On the other hand, having a decent amount of unused credit can be valuable, a lower percentage utilization of your available credit helps your score. So does having a long average age for your accounts, so cancelling unused fee-free cards may not be wise.

Suffice to say that credit score issues are beyond this scope of this inquiry, but be aware that your credit score will affect your ability to obtain credit and the interest rates you'll pay (such as when applying for a mortgage). These are complicated issues worth understanding.

Here's a good basic overview (http://credit.about.com/cs/creditrepair/a/073003.htm). Here's a way to estimate your score for free (http://www.bankrate.com/brm/fico/calc.asp?prodtype=mtg&thisponsor=score) and play with the different variables.

LV702

Aug 14, 05, 2:07 pm

Thanks for all the info.

Do you happen to know what airlines participate in the point exchange program with Starwood?

acf573

Aug 14, 05, 2:12 pm

Try SPG.com:
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/starpoints/transfer_ff_checkRoc.html
(found this in 30 seconds there)

outoftown

Aug 14, 05, 9:53 pm

There are a couple ways around this limit. First, if you have a spouse/SO, you can have them apply for a separate card. Each card has a $300 limit. Second, Citi allows you to have multiple accounts of the same card type. I believe the limit is 4-5 credit cards overall, but you could have 4-5 Citi Div Plat cards if your credit rating supported it.

Third, is the Citi Diamond Preferred card. This card gives 5 Thank You points per dollar spent at grocery stores/gas/drugstores. 5000 TY points = a $50 GC at many national merchants (including Target, Home Depot, etc.) for 1 cent/point. Personally I use TY points for plane tickets. I redeemed 50k points + $128 for taxes for a $845 ticket to Europe (on AA, my preferred carrier). That's 1.4 cents/point. Supposedly no dollar caps on these awards. Annual cap on this card is 75k points = $750 dollars in GCs.

Note to Gleff...great summary!!!

Per quote above,
Instead of dealing with multiple accounts, you can get basically the same deal now with Chase; 5% on gas/drug/groceries, 1% elsewhere, no annual fee and a $50 GC after first purchase. 1-888-787-0329 code Q7S to apply, offer is available until 9/30/05. I got my wife a second Citi card when I capped out at $300, but found myself needing the rebate card a lot when she wasn't around, so I got the Chase card to use to extend my rebate total to $600.

BiziBB

Aug 14, 05, 10:07 pm

Any Aussies/Kiwis with recommendations on cards with"
- OS travel insurance included or free upon spending with the card (a la ANZ Gold)
- first yr fee free
- credit toward status on either Ff or hotel (HH, *W) cards
- reasonable credit period e.g. 55 or 55 days +
- reasonable rate (I'm not in debt so credit t/fer deal n/reqd)
- other benefits e.g. ANZ Gold's 'nrma-style' road service, hotel bonuses w. HH or *W

Just asking after reading the Sun Herald's 'financial review' liftout which reveiwed a lot of cards.

thank you :)

ANDREWCX

Aug 14, 05, 11:27 pm

- OS travel insurance included or free upon spending with the card (a la ANZ Gold)

* Most of the Gold or Plat cards have this benefit (however it is travel accident insurance so you still need coverage for delays, illness etc)

- first yr fee free

* Good luck - sometimes there are promos but watch out for the fact that many Australian cards now have seperate annual and rewards program fees and sometimes they only waive one not both.

- credit toward status on either Ff or hotel (HH, *W) cards

* There are no Australian cards that offer either status level. Several years ago Citibank gold cards gave you access to Northwest Worldclubs but that is no longer the case (I tried once and went through the book of cards with the Worldclubs desk person and there was a little note saying Australian cards were no longer accepted).

- reasonable credit period e.g. 55 or 55 days +
- reasonable rate (I'm not in debt so credit t/fer deal n/reqd)
- other benefits e.g. ANZ Gold's 'nrma-style' road service, hotel bonuses w. HH or *W

I think the best thing is to prioritize what you want then look for the number one thing. Assuming you want to earn points/miles at a reasonable rate and have additional benefits you are looking at just a handful of gold cards - then once you decide if you want to have Amex or Visa/Mastercard you will quickly find just one or two cards meet your approval.

The unfortunate thing about Australian cards is that there is a small market (only 6-7% of the population of the US for instance), only one real airline with a FF program, and limited competition amongst the banks - all adds up to a far less competitive market than in the US. In the US it is the airlines more than the banks that throw in most of the airline benefits - in Aus Qantas has such a monopoly that they just don't try at all, they know they will get all the revenue from mileage cards whatever benefits they give.

hmc

Aug 15, 05, 12:15 am

in Aus Qantas has such a monopoly that they just don't try at all, they know they will get all the revenue from mileage cards whatever benefits they give.

I guess that's why things happen like Qantas no longer being a bonus partner with AmEx :(

Helsinki Flyer

Aug 15, 05, 3:20 am

The credit cards you have in the US and UK are just unbelievable. In most European countries we´re lucky to have a plain Amex, Diners, Visa and MC. No extras such as cashbacks (What on earth are those?). We do have some mileage earning cards (the legacy carrier in each country + one from a neighbouring country´s carrier). Mileage earnings are usually 1€=1 mile. Finnair for one has a kilometer based FFP and therefore you need more points to redeem awards. But you also get only 1point(1km) per € spent.
Rarely any sign up bonuses. Rarely any free first years either.

So, to me the question asked by the OP is totally irrelevant. We don´t have such cards.

gleff

Oct 17, 05, 7:54 pm

Several recent credit card advice requests recently, if I may be so bold as to recommend this thread for reading? :o

CaliforniasCentralCoast

Oct 19, 05, 9:20 am

at

http://www.andrewcram.com/frequentflyerCC.html

There is a nice chart, perhaps this will be helpful to the FT Community.

CCC

quinella66

Oct 19, 05, 10:20 am

Nice post, Gleff, you provide some of the most useful information here.

I would summarize it as "get the SPG Amex", pay it off in full every month, and the rest is icing on the cake!

rbAA

Oct 21, 05, 4:15 am

Looks like on my 2 week trip through Asia, the hands down winner was the Cap One Preffered Platinum MC, no miles though, with a 99.9% (less than 1%). Next was the Citibusiness AA Visa at 99.75% then Citibank AA debit check card at 98.75. By far the worst was the GH Erawan's DCC at 96.66%. I'll remember never to do that again.

Martinis at 8

Oct 21, 05, 8:12 am

OP, very interesting and informative, which is one of the resons I cast my TB vote for you ^

I think the card decisions also depend greatly on the individual's locus of travel, which of course may also dictate which airline and hotel chain the individual uses.

My locus for domestic US tends to be from NOLA to L.A. in the East-West direction, and the Gulf Coast region to Oklahoma City in the North-South direction. HOU to BUR being my longest domestic flight. Every now and then I will hit an out-laying city like NYC or Washington, DC. Southwest Airlines is the easiest carrier for my locus, so they are my preferred domestic airline. That being the case I use a Rapid Rewards Visa where all my expenses are booked, including the hotel stays. Only car rentals go to my AMEX Gold, because of the auto insurance. The spending done with the Visa, in addition to the WN flights earns me reward flights very quickly, much more so than what I was earning with CO. In fact the rewards have been building faster than what I can use them. Ms. M8 and I use the rewards for dates in different cities ;) I also re-invest the reward flights in my company, i.e., use them to visit US domestic clients, at no cost to the client as part of my marketing program.

For international trans-Atlantic, I again pay with the WN Visa, fly AirFrance, and send those miles to my DL account. For international trans-Pacific I use SQ and send those miles to KrisFlyer, again paying with the WN Visa. To get to L.A. in order to pick up the SQ flight I use WN. This works well for me since I tend to loiter in L.A. a day or two inbound/outbound for socializing/recreation before heading to SE Asia. I also use a private business charter for direct flights into Africa. The charter company banks miles on UA for me with some special arrangement that they have with UA.

I have some credit cards that I seldom use, like the AMEX, and an MC, and I am not sure anything happens with those reagarding miles/points. I will have to investigate this, because your post now leads me to believe that I am suboptimized with these other cards.

Thanks,

M8

ClassCAir

Oct 21, 05, 1:01 pm

I've found several great cards which can really maximize your rewards potential. Mileage cards are often the most rewarding, however some cash cards have even greater benefits in some categories.

Chase Cash Back- Is now giving people $100 (thru the end of Oct, $50 after Oct) to sign up for the card, plus 5% at gas, grocery, and drug stores. You max out at $300, but it is not bad. See my post (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=484611) and you will learn that you can actually earn 7.5% on your spending.

Discover Specialty Cards- Potentially can earn you the greatest rewards, although it is limited a bit. You can easily earn 6.25% back on your money, and possibly even 10% back on your Gas OR Home Improvement OR Restaurant Purchases. See the third post in an old thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=466085&highlight=gas+save) of mine to find out how (it cites the Gas card specifically, but the other cards work just the same and you can change between programs free)

Citi Premier Pass- I agree with hgm1101 and think that it is a great deal. It can't beat the above cash cards on the purchases earning 5 or more percent, but on everything else, I figure you earn about 1-2% if you figure that a free ticket is cash in your pocket. Consumer Reports recommends this as the best annual fee free miles reward.

and then of course there are the airline cards which carry an annual fee, but are often an excellent choice for many people who spend a lot. I do still believe that the above cash rebate cards are more rewarding (so you want to try to use those wherever you get 5% or more back) and then use either your own airline's card, or Citi Premier Pass.

fun888

Oct 25, 05, 10:21 am

Just returned from HKG, did the following experiment, transaction is done one the same time ( within 1 minute on the same day)

I used BofA ATM card at BA terminal and get HK$500, it costs US$64.52 from my checking account.

Used the CitiBank ATM card at Citi terminal for HK$500, it costs me US$65.34 from my checking account.

To avoid the 3 to 6 % surcharge by Citi and BofA, I used the Charles Shwab visa card, there is no surcharge in China, Hong Kong and Japan.

looks like BofA have a slightly better rate.

cornellalum

Oct 25, 05, 10:55 am

I've been quite annoyed with my Citibank Mastercard ... they're charging a service charge for transactions in a foreign currency.

I guess it's custom for most CCs to do that ... but I was accustomed to not paying a single dime! Guess I'll be using my ATM card more often during those international trips ... they give me better rates, even with the ATM service fee.

Kremmen

Oct 25, 05, 11:33 pm

- OS travel insurance included or free upon spending with the card (a la ANZ Gold)

* Most of the Gold or Plat cards have this benefit (however it is travel accident insurance so you still need coverage for delays, illness etc)

That's a misleading/incorrect answer. The ANZ Gold (non-points) card has OS travel insurance included. It is one of the few cards which does so. Westpac Altitude Gold is another.

Most gold or plat cards have "travel accident insurance", which is useless, nothing like proper travel insurance, and not really worth mentioning.

gleff

Dec 15, 05, 1:49 pm

Worth noting that AA/Citibank currently offering 20k signup bonus/1st year fee waived on both their business and personal mastercard products.

Also that BankOne has new Priority Club Visa products with 15k signup bonus and additional bonuses based on spending. (Not a good place to put $$$, but getting both the business and personal cards put you halfway to Platinum, and getting both cards twice in a year would make you Platinum.)

best

Dec 18, 05, 11:02 am

Gleff, thank you. Super thread.

gooseman13

Dec 20, 05, 8:03 pm

I just received my citi premier pass elite card in the mail, and while reading the information included, I came across this paragraph:
"Your Purchase Points transfer to your ThankYou Member Account at the close of each billing cycle. However, your Flight Points only transfer to your ThankYou Member Account when at least as many Purchase Points have been tranferred during the current or previous billing cycles."

So this means I need to gather up as many regular points as I do flight miles?

Anybody have experience as to whether this is true?

Thanks!

acf573

Dec 21, 05, 1:52 pm

I
So this means I need to gather up as many regular points as I do flight miles?
Yes, if you want to be able to use all of your flight points. I believe this is mentioned several times in both of the main PremierPass threads.

best

Dec 21, 05, 4:49 pm

On the current promo for 12,000 Lufthansa miles ending 12/31/5 the code is G8WX.

Otherwise it is only 6,000 miles.

Since it was very difficult to pry this code out of them, please post if successfull.

best

Dec 21, 05, 4:59 pm

There is a 25,000 bonus miles United promo. Platinum Class Visa Signature Promo. I do not have promo code.

As a sidenote, if you normally fly UA, you can get 20,000 miles for a $60 annual fee, at this site ( http://www.firstusa.com/cgi-bin/webcgi/webserve.cgi?partner_dir_name=united_signature_20k&page=cont&mkid=6VBD) You can cancel the card after a few months and apply for a new one. My wife & I do this twice a year & earn enough miles for 2 r/t tickets to Hawaii ($60 X 4 = nice vacation). :cool:

Phil

ptpinit

Dec 22, 05, 4:55 pm

Ah yes, this would be the right place to post such a question. I currently have the SPG AMEX as my primary earning credit card and the Alaska Platinum VISA as the secondary CC. However, with the decline in Alaska VISA perks such as no more NW/AS upgrade certs combined with the $75 annual fee, it didn't make sense to continue carrying the card for the 2,000 annual bonus miles and $50 companion cert (I try to fly as much UA as I can to maintain my lowly 2P status :D ). So, I have decided to not renew the Alaska card in the spring and have changed the majority of our spending over to the SPG AMEX.

This brings me to the question at hand: what low/no-fee cards do you carry as your secondary card for places that don't take American Express? The Diners Club/MC would be tempting to cover the Visa/MC places, but I can't really justify the $95 annual fee. The ones I have considered are the HHonors VISA or the Priority Club VISA. I am trying to build my SPG account for future grand vacation plans, but would consider freshening up my HHonors or PC accounts with the use of a credit card. This discussion also would seem to revolve around which hotel chains I prefer or stay most often at. Traveling typically for leisure, I find myself staying at more Hamptons and Holiday Inn Expresses than the upper tier levels. How would the Marriott VISA stack up against these two (I know it has a $30 annual fee after the first free year)?

The other thing to look at would be cash back cards as suggested at the top of the thread. But, I anticipate our non-AMEX monthly spending to be < $500/month, so on an annual basis, the 1% return (assuming all the gas, groceries, etc. can go to SPG AMEX) on $6,000 is only $60. Not a great deal IMHO.

ANDREWCX

Dec 22, 05, 5:57 pm

It all depends on what you want. My site has a comparison table for all the major US rewards cards so you can easily compare.

http://www.andrewcram.com/frequentflyerCC_US.html

gleff

Dec 22, 05, 6:53 pm

The ones I have considered are the HHonors VISA or the Priority Club VISA. If you're interested in Hilton points consider the Amtrak Mastercard, since points transfer 1:2 (thus earning 2 Hilton points per dollar just like the Hilton Visa, but giving you more flexibility for other uses).

But, I anticipate our non-AMEX monthly spending to be < $500/month, so on an annual basis, the 1% return (assuming all the gas, groceries, etc. can go to SPG AMEX) on $6,000 is only $60. Not a great deal IMHO.
Depends on what your non-Amex credit card spend tends to be on, several types on spending earn 5% cashback with the Citibank Platinum Dividend Cashback card for instance.

itsme

Dec 23, 05, 5:06 am

The SPG website explains the provision for transferring points to redeemable miles with different carriers, referring to points earned through Starwood stays. That doesn't mean, does it, that they draw any distinctions as to how the points are accumulated, distinguishing those earned by hotel stays from those earned by using the credit card to charge and somehow limiting redemption of points accordingly?

I see this card praised as superior in the opinion of many, but I'm not clear why it is seen as clearly superior, or at least not in all respects. (For whatever reason, the exchange rate with UA, my favored carrier.) Other hotel cards, e.g., Marriott, are not as good in different respects, e.g., how quickly points accumulate, how much to redeem awards, etc.?

The comparison chart is a helpful start, but I can see that the information about sign up bonuses with different cards is not currently correct with all of them.

Thanks. (And any final, definitive, authoritative word on what the current sign up points bonus is with SPG? Hard to understand how that can be in any real doubt, but I have seen the back and forth in this thread, including from someone who I take is an official Starwood representative and presumably knows for certain. What about what we see on the website, though, and then the pop ups?!)

ptpinit

Dec 23, 05, 10:17 am

Depends on what your non-Amex credit card spend tends to be on, several types on spending earn 5% cashback with the Citibank Platinum Dividend Cashback card for instance.

Seems to be mostly parking, few eating establishments that don't take AMEX, doctor's offices, and car insurance :( None of which are eligible for the 5% cashback, just the 1%. I'll look into the Amtrak MC and see how that might fit the bill.

rrgg

Dec 23, 05, 6:22 pm

Seems to me that Citi Dividend Platinum Select beats them all with 5% cash back.
Remember there's a reward cap of $300 per calendar year. I got this card to use strictly for gas and groceries, and easily reached the cap by summer. All my other purchases are on AA MC right now.

Gleff- I read your comments about the HHonors AMEX. You might want to mention this restriction:
Starting January 1, 2007, airline rewards will no longer be offered as an HHonors reward. Members can redeem HHonors points for airline rewards through December 31, 2006. HHonors members will continue to earn airline miles for their stays at more than 2,700 Hilton Family hotels worldwide, and can redeem their HHonors points for airline miles with select airline partners as part of the HHonors Reward Exchange.

I was considering switching back from AA MC to DC (now that it's MC and partners with more than just AA), but they charge $.95 per 1000 miles which kind of stinks.

xooz

Dec 23, 05, 9:42 pm

For me, I focus on hotel points. I can purchase air coast to coast for $200-300, but 6 nights in a great hotel may be $1500+. So, I like to get points to redeem for my hotel stays. The consensus here was the SPG card, which intrigued me, since I currently use HH Amex and Visa. I did a back-of-the-envelope (voodoo point-onomics?) comparison of SPG, Hilton, and Marriott cards.

Assumptions: ALL HOTEL POINTS COME FROM CREDIT CARD, $4K spend per month, 10% of spend must be Visa/MC, not AX
Goal: 6 night stay in highest class hotel for the chain in a standard room
Ignored: Travel spend (different point accumulation rates, etc.), "temporary" redemption specials, also ignored perceived differences in whether one chains top hotels were as good as another, and ease of redemption (I know...)
Loose interpretation: SPG point requirements as 120K (assumes non-peak), status at hotel (at least gold) is somehow acquired

So, I need to get 175K points at HH (ALON), 140K points at Marriott, or 120K points at SPG stay in a nice hotel for 6 nights on vacation with my family. Given all of the above, here is what I see:
SPG Amex Card (no MC in the US): 6000 point sign up, 3600 points per month accrual get me 6 nights (120K) after 32 months
Marriott Visa: 15000 point sign up, 4000 points per month, get me 6 nights after 32 months
HH Amex and Visa: 20K points for signup (2 cards), 11600 points per month accrual get me 175K points in 14 months

I got most of the SPG and Marriott details from their web sites and from the "AndrewCram.com" credit card summary site. SOOOOOO... the HH deal looks good for someone interested in maxing out the ability to redeem for hotel stays. Did I miss a MC/Visa opportunity (US) for SPG? Is my redemmption info incorrect? If not, I now feel pretty good about what I am doing, based upon my goal of redeeming points for hotel stays. I am undoubtedly in the minority here in not focussing on air miles... but just thought I'd share this perspective as well as see if someone could give me a reason to pursue a different card for hotel points.

itsme

Dec 23, 05, 9:58 pm

xooz

Dec 23, 05, 10:07 pm

Is this the link you want, where SPG compares programs with others?
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/benefits/benefits_competitive_grid.html

itsme

Dec 23, 05, 10:17 pm

Is this the link you want, where SPG compares programs with others?
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/benefits/benefits_competitive_grid.html

Thanks again xooz, this link is helpful. I already see that it is not 100% reliable, though, since it shows points to airline miles converting at 1:1, which while true for most SPG points to airline mile programs, is not true for UA, with SPG to UA 2:1, a most unfavorable conversion.

(BTW, if not looking to use with UA, then better than 1:1 conversion to airline miles, since there is the 5K mile gift with each conversion of 20K points to miles, taking it to 25K and making it more like $1 spent = 1 SPG point = 1.25 airline miles. That is 25% better than what comes directly from the airline cards themselves.)

Perhaps others will scrutinize this chart too and consider the side-by-side comparison of SPG with other hotel cards, since I expect Marriott, Hilton, etc. would come up with rather different charts showing their relative advantages over SPG.

gregorygrady

Dec 24, 05, 12:41 am

Goal: 6 night stay in highest class hotel for the chain in a standard room
Ignored: Travel spend (different point accumulation rates, etc.), "temporary" redemption specials, also ignored perceived differences in whether one chains top hotels were as good as another, and ease of redemption (I know...)
Loose interpretation: SPG point requirements as 120K (assumes non-peak), status at hotel (at least gold) is somehow acquired

SPG Amex Card (no MC in the US): 6000 point sign up, 3600 points per month accrual get me 6 nights (120K) after 32 months
Marriott Visa: 15000 point sign up, 4000 points per month, get me 6 nights after 32 months
HH Amex and Visa: 20K points for signup (2 cards), 11600 points per month accrual get me 175K points in 14 months.

Some of your assumptions are a little off base IMHO. First off, 6 nights in SPG Category 6 is 100,000 since the 5th night is free (I assume this is a single 6 night stay you are talking about since you compare to a 175K HH ALON). Second, your comparison should be more like Category 4 or 5 for SPG comparing to the top tier Hilton category. So let's say that is 11,000 per night (10,000 for Cat. 4 and 12,000 for Cat. 5). For 6 nights, that would only "cost" 55,000 SPG points (remember the 5th night is free if you book a 6 night award stay).

Second, I think your ease of redemption assumption is a little off as well. I think SPG's "no capacity controls on award rooms" has to be taken into account somewhat. Just try booking an award stay at Hilton as a non-Diamond vs. SPG. SPG is much easier to get award rooms at locations where you'd actually want to redeem your award nights.

I've got SPG AMEX, HH AMEX, HH Visa, Choice Visa, UAL Visa, SWA Visa, Citi Dividend (1-5%), Citi Platinum Select (1-5%), AA M/C, Discover, etc. I always try to use the SPG Amex as much as I can with the exception of gas, groceries, etc which I try to put on the cards I get 5% back and then the HH Amex where I get bonus points for those purchases too. I find that I get ~2% back in value with my SPG Amex and I find that to be the best choice around as do most other FTers. My rankings in terms of value back:

SPG Amex: 2%
HH Amex: 1.5%
HH Visa: 1%
Choice Visa: 1.6%
UAL Visa: 1%
SWA Visa: 1.66%
Citi Dividend: 1% (up to 5%)
AA M/C: 1%
Discover: ~0.25%

Of course these values above are all not taking into account any annual fees or any enrollment bonuses. I sign up for many cards just for the enrollment bonus and never use them (with the exception of any great promos that might be offered me) and then cancel them when the 2nd year annual fee comes due.

itsme

Dec 24, 05, 1:22 am

Some of your assumptions are a little off base IMHO...

Hmmm, sounds like a pretty case for SPG over the Hilton card. Do wish that for airmile conversion it was 1:1 between SPG and UA rather than 2:1, but this analysis has focused on use of points for miles, not flying, and just as no one can be all things to everyone, perhaps no card can be the best for all purposes. (Anyone know why UA should be the disfavored one among all those airlines? Do they demand more to sell their miles than other carriers?)

So what is the best one can do signing up for an SP AmEx at present? Or is that unknowable, given the confusion about their offer(s)?

gregorygrady

Dec 24, 05, 1:27 am

Hmmm, sounds like a pretty case for SPG over the Hilton card. Do wish that for airmile conversion it was 1:1 between SPG and UA rather than 2:1, but this analysis has focused on use of points for miles, not flying, and just as no one can be all things to everyone, perhaps no card can be the best for all purposes. (Anyone know why UA should be the disfavored one among all those airlines? Do they demand more to sell their miles than other carriers?)

So what is the best one can do signing up for an SP AmEx at present? Or is that unknowable, given the confusion about their offer(s)?
If you want UA miles, you can't go wrong with the first year annual fee waived UA Visa. You get 20,000 UA miles on signup 1 mile for every $ charged. That in conjunction with the SPG Amex is a great combination.

gleff

Dec 24, 05, 5:22 am

So, I need to get 175K points at HH (ALON), 140K points at Marriott, or 120K points at SPG stay in a nice hotel for 6 nights on vacation with my family. Given all of the above, here is what I see:
SPG Amex Card (no MC in the US): 6000 point sign up, 3600 points per month accrual get me 6 nights (120K) after 32 months
Marriott Visa: 15000 point sign up, 4000 points per month, get me 6 nights after 32 months
HH Amex and Visa: 20K points for signup (2 cards), 11600 points per month accrual get me 175K points in 14 months

Why do you need 120k SPG points for your Starwood hotel stays? First, don't forget that Starwood offers 5th night free on all free award nights of cat 3 hotels and up. And I think a cat 5 redemption is more appropriate for comparison purposes than cat 6 anyway. You're really looking at earning 60k SPG points for comparison purposes.

xooz

Dec 24, 05, 9:13 am

I have no insight to compare the hotel classes between HH and SPG. If someone wants to say that the Hilton Cavalieri is not on par with the St. Regis Grand in Rome... I can't refute it. I would say that if the list of Cat5 and Cat6 hotels is correct, it looks like there are 42 pretty fancy places. Hilton has something over 40 Cat 6 hotels, though in my estimation, there are some that are just popular, not great.. and there are some Cat 5s that are great but not popular. So, let's assume that Cat5 SPG is often the equivalent of a Cat6 HH. Note that this takes 11 great hotels out of the SPG redemption gene pool.

Thanks for the 6th night free info. It was difficult to find a single page on the SPG site where redemption requirements are discussed in detail

I modified the details about point bonusses for card activation. HH Amex has 20K avail, and SPG Amex has 10K, not 6K,

Finally, the issue of availability... since SPG advocates claim I have no problems getting a room where and when I want (would I consistently read this in the SPG forum?), then I will assume that my comparison should be at non-peak times, since non-peak times would make it likely I would find a room available at a HH hotel, negating that advantage. So I change the comparison for SPG to reflect peak time redemption, which appears to be 12K*5days = 60K.

So with that, the comparison of " time to vacation" looks more like this:
HH - 175K threshold reached in 12.5 months
SPGa: 60K threshold reached in 13.9 months (Cat5Non-peak)
SPGb: 80K threshold reached in a 19.5 months (Cat5 peak)
SPGc: 100K threashold reached in 25.0 months (Cat6 non-peak)

So for me personally, I still think HH is good, since I am Diamond there, and the better comparison is against scenario SPGb (12.5 vs 19.5 mo). With no HH status, it's close to a wash. That said, you did eliminate the Cat 6's from the equation, so your options are reduced.

Seems like there's not yet any Marriott folks who can play in this sandbox! Thanks to the previous posters for their insights and corrections.

CPRich

Dec 24, 05, 11:06 am

This brings me to the question at hand: what low/no-fee cards do you carry as your secondary card for places that don't take American Express?

I went with the Fidelity 529 MasterCard - no fee, 2% back on everything into my 529 account, up to $75,000 spend per year. I looked at the other "5%" cards, but they are 5% on the little things and 1% on most things, or have a restrictive cap on the annual total. My previous card allowed me to download 12 months of details, with spending categories, so running the numbers was pretty easy.

SPG Amex is the best deal financially, if you are OK dealing in Starpoints currency. For cash, I think the Fidelity 529/MBNA is best. Assuming you have kids and are already contributing to a 529, of course.

CPRich

Dec 24, 05, 11:19 am

I always enjoy a good statistical analysis. Can you help me and "show your work"?

I get an HH 140K award in 14.4 months and agree with the SPG Cat 5 numbers. Without the signup bonus, it's 16.2 vs. 16.7

If I believe SPG will always have the "if a room is available, you can have it" policy, and that I won't have status forever, the additional "optionality" value tips me towards SPG.

xooz

Dec 24, 05, 12:31 pm

Copy of my spreadsheet... not sure what this will format like in a post. Think I have the analytical baseline on the cards and I can review the individual program benefits, geographical opportunities, etc. I might consider SPG in 2006 since it looks like the Cat4 hotels at SPG are pretty nice and have pretty good coverage globally.

Goal: 6 nights at the highest class hotel in a standard room (assume comp upgrades!)
Assumption
Spend Level= 4,000 month
Amex Factor= 90% % of total spend accepted on AX
NOTE: Caved in to suggestions that HH Cat 6 doesn't match Cat6 SPG

Reward Targets
HH = 175,000 Assumes ALON Cat5-6
SPGa= 50,000 Assumes Cat4
SPGb= 60,000 Assumes Cat5 Non-Peak
SPGc= 80,000 Assumes Cat5 Peak
Marriott= 140,000 Assumes Cat 7

Months to Reward
First Award
HH = 12.50 mo
SPGa =11.11mo
SPGb = 13.89mo
SPGc = 19.44mo
Marriott= 31.25mo

Subsequent Award
HH = 15.09 mo
SPGa = 13.89 mo
SPGb = 16.67 mo
SPGc = 22.22 mo
Marriott= 35 mo

gregorygrady

Dec 24, 05, 12:40 pm

I modified the details about point bonusses for card activation. HH Amex has 20K avail, and SPG Amex has 10K, not 6K.
I don't know about this comparison either. The 10K SPG Amex enrollment bonus is actually only 4K (the other 6K requires 10 stays at SPG hotels within the first year). Likewise, the 20K HH Amex enrollment bonus is actually a straight 10K bonus and then the other 10K come from 4 HH stays. BTW, there is actually an offer out there for a HH 25K enrollment bonus. Look on pgary's website, it's a great source of info and a lot of this thread is already dealt with on that website.

So for me personally, I still think HH is good, since I am Diamond there, and the better comparison is against scenario SPGb (12.5 vs 19.5 mo). With no HH status, it's close to a wash. That said, you did eliminate the Cat 6's from the equation, so your options are reduced.
You probably should have initially mentioned you are HH Diamond. That changes things drastically! I saw in your profile you were HH Plat, but I didn't know what that was so I assumed you were HH base member. HH Diamond means no capacty controls on award nights AND (probably more importantly) upgrades to great rooms. So had you told me that, I would have definitely said stick to the HH Amex/HH Visa combo. There's really no reason to even look at SPG Amex if you are HH Diamond and SPG nothing, unless you have too many HH points to know what to do with (and I doubt that's the case otherwise you wouldn't have posted your OP). So my advice is to stick with the HH CC's.

xooz

Dec 24, 05, 12:51 pm

Yes.. the bonus issue will change over time, so maybe the ongoing rate is more important. In my post above, the ongoing accrual rate maintains the pattern set initially. As for me personally, if I went to SPG, I'd probably muddle my way to some type of status too, which impacts the points I would accrue as I stay (didn't try to address impact of travel spend at all). As for upgrades.. I get them about half the time or more at HH... don't know the drill at SPG, so I'd need to research that as a factor...

Don't want to bore others with my musings... the CC analysis did seem to apply to this particular thread somewhat. The analysis of the programs would belong in a different thread/forum I suppose.

Ferdinand Magellan

Dec 25, 05, 10:10 am

My answers:

(1) UA Visa and DL Amex when they are offering double miles on all purchases, which seems to be around four months a year. During those periods, they're usually the best.

(2) Any card with a substantial threshold bonus. Best example: a few months ago, for a new Green business card, Amex offered a 45K bonus if you made $15K in purchases within a certain period. Other example: DL Amex Plat 10K bonus for $25K in purchases each year.

(3) Starwood Amex 25% bonus all the time, occasionally with supplemented by other bonuses like 50% for BA and 25% for DL.

(4) For merchants that don't take Amex, and during periods when UA Visa is not offering double miles, the Diners Club MC, because of the 50% BA bonus and other smaller bonuses.

kristinelaine

Jan 8, 06, 6:06 pm

This is a very interesting and well-written article. I have one question -- we have recently been offered a Capital One No-Hassle Go Miles card with double miles for every dollar spent. It seems like a very good deal to me. What do you think, gleff?

gleff

Jan 9, 06, 3:57 am

Don't know the details on the double miles offer, but don't bother. Since I first wrote this post Capital One has massively devalued its program. Do not participate.

See this thread http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=483477

The only worthwhile thing for this card is foreign currency transactions.

toomanybooks

Jan 9, 06, 8:14 am

I've got SPG AMEX, HH AMEX, HH Visa, Choice Visa, UAL Visa, SWA Visa, Citi Dividend (1-5%), Citi Platinum Select (1-5%), AA M/C, Discover, etc. I always try to use the SPG Amex as much as I can with the exception of gas, groceries, etc which I try to put on the cards I get 5% back and then the HH Amex where I get bonus points for those purchases too. I find that I get ~2% back in value with my SPG Amex and I find that to be the best choice around as do most other FTers. My rankings in terms of value back:

SPG Amex: 2%
HH Amex: 1.5%
HH Visa: 1%
Choice Visa: 1.6%
UAL Visa: 1%
SWA Visa: 1.66%
Citi Dividend: 1% (up to 5%)
AA M/C: 1%
Discover: ~0.25%

Of course these values above are all not taking into account any annual fees or any enrollment bonuses. I sign up for many cards just for the enrollment bonus and never use them (with the exception of any great promos that might be offered me) and then cancel them when the 2nd year annual fee comes due.

Gregorygrady:

If you've determined those are the returns you are getting, one you might want to consider (if you haven't) is the Costco Amex. No annual fee with your Costco membership (which is highly worth it if you can shop at one), 3% cash back at restaurants, 2% back on "travelling" (hotels, airline tickets, rental cars), 1% otherwise.

3% cash back on meals is hard to beat.

toomanybooks

Jan 9, 06, 12:44 pm

There's really no reason to even look at SPG Amex if you are HH Diamond and SPG nothing, unless you have too many HH points to know what to do with... So my advice is to stick with the HH CC's.

Does your advice change if you are Hilton Gold and Spg nothing? Thanks.

gregorygrady

Jan 9, 06, 1:16 pm

Gregorygrady:

If you've determined those are the returns you are getting, one you might want to consider (if you haven't) is the Costco Amex. No annual fee with your Costco membership (which is highly worth it if you can shop at one), 3% cash back at restaurants, 2% back on "travelling" (hotels, airline tickets, rental cars), 1% otherwise.

3% cash back on meals is hard to beat.
I don't belong to Costco unfortunately. And since I already get 5% back with my Citi Dividend for restaurants, that card wouldn't really be an improvement for me anyways. I already get 2% back via SPG Amex which matches the Costco "2% travel feature" and it also beats that standard 1% for everything else.

As far as HH Gold vs. SPG nothing, that takes away a big advantage the HH Diamond has of no blackout/capactiy controls for award stays. You still get upgrades and free breakfast though as HH Gold on award stays, so personally I would probably stick with the HH Amex in that situation. Or maybe get both cards and charge the 5 pts/$ stuff to HH Amex (gas, restaurants, groceries, etc) and everything else to the SPG Amex. Tough call though.........

MikeInMass

Jan 10, 06, 8:49 pm

[...] I already get 5% back with my Citi Dividend for restaurants
Hmm, I have a Citi Dividend card and get 5% back only at gas stations, supermarkets, and drugstores. Are you sure you get 5% back at restaurants? Are there any Citi Web pages that mention that offer?

gregorygrady

Jan 11, 06, 2:49 am

Hmm, I have a Citi Dividend card and get 5% back only at gas stations, supermarkets, and drugstores. Are you sure you get 5% back at restaurants? Are there any Citi Web pages that mention that offer?
Whoops, my bad. I only get 5% back at gas, groceries, and drugstores too. You know you have too many CC's when you can't even remember what card gives what. And then all these stupid promos (like Discover) where I temporarily get 5% back towards restaurants, or others where I get $ back for fast food, it's just all too much to remember!!!

gleff

Jan 23, 06, 5:53 am

Update -- I've added info to the first post on the new USAirways credit card from Juniper bank. Related discussion here:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=509447

ANDREWCX

Jan 23, 06, 7:16 am

I have included the USAirways Mastercard in my credit card comparison tables.

thelostshark

Jan 24, 06, 8:57 am

gleff

Jan 24, 06, 9:27 am

I have found this thread immensely helpful. Thanks to everyone for the great info. I think it'd also be helpful if we could 1 post with a list of all the no-fee credit cards. So far we've seen Hilton Amex, Hilton Visa, Amtrak, UA, and AA (and perhaps others). Has that info been compiled already? I have a Hilton Amex and Visa. However, Citibank just screwed me over, so I'm cancelling the Visa card, and want to get another Visa with no-fee. I prefer the hotel points to airline miles, because I seem to burn through hotel points quicker than airline miles; however, I don't want to pay a fee, and it seems that you do for the hotel cards after a year. Anyway, thanks for the help. tls
No-fee Amtrak Mastercard earns Hilton points at the same rate as the Hilton Visa.

Though you'd prefer hotel points I'd probably go with the no-fee for 2 years US Visa from Juniper bank, 1.5 miles per dollar spent for the first 12 months of cardmembership and 15k miles with first purchase (plus a club pass annually, etc).

ANDREWCX

Jan 24, 06, 12:11 pm

I have found this thread immensely helpful. Thanks to everyone for the great info. I think it'd also be helpful if we could 1 post with a list of all the no-fee credit cards. So far we've seen Hilton Amex, Hilton Visa, Amtrak, UA, and AA (and perhaps others). Has that info been compiled already? I have a Hilton Amex and Visa. However, Citibank just screwed me over, so I'm cancelling the Visa card, and want to get another Visa with no-fee. I prefer the hotel points to airline miles, because I seem to burn through hotel points quicker than airline miles; however, I don't want to pay a fee, and it seems that you do for the hotel cards after a year. Anyway, thanks for the help. tls

My site includes credit card comparison tables for Airline & Railway, Hotel, Points, Cashback and Business cards (for the US - there are other tables with comparisons for other countries as well) - each listing includes the annual fee so you can pretty easily see the no-fee cards available in each category.

See http://www.andrewcram.com/frequentflyerCC_US_hotel.html for the hotel cards (just use the drop down menu at top to switch to the other tables).

Andrew

thelostshark

Jan 24, 06, 6:15 pm

Thanks Andrewcx, that's really helpful. I did not know that Choice hotels had a visa card, and I think I may go with that one. (I tend to stay at the lower end hotels.) Re the Priority Club Visa, you may want to note that the no fee is only for the 1st year. Anyway, thanks a bunch. tls

ANDREWCX

Jan 24, 06, 7:13 pm

best

Jan 25, 06, 10:39 am

Great work: would you consider adding section for especially good promos?

ANDREWCX

Jan 25, 06, 7:20 pm

Great work: would you consider adding section for especially good promos?

I am looking to add a "Limited time offers" section for the whole site (to cover online shopping as well as credit cards etc) - but given how busy I am this week at work it probably won't exist till at least next week.

pgary

Jan 25, 06, 8:31 pm

Great work: would you consider adding section for especially good promos?

Try the credit card section of my website below. Current good ones, all free of annual fee for at least 1 year:

On the Annual Fee Cards page:

American Airlines (20,000 miles)
United Airlines (20,000 miles)
U.S. Airways (15,000 miles+ 1.5/$1 spent first year)

On the Free Cards page:

Delta Airlines SkyMiles (17,500 miles+ 2,500 miles for adding another card holder)
Delta SkyPoints (7,500 points)
Starwood (6,000 points)
Priority Club (30,000 points)
Gold Points (20,000 points)
Marriott (15,000 points)

chrsb

Feb 4, 06, 9:21 am

I got a letter from MNBA for my Merrill card and they are increasing my APR to 8.9 from 5.9 for some unknown reason (I charge anywhere from 10k-30k a month on this and usually pay it off) With them changing the rewards program and the APR it is time to find a new Visa or Mastercard.

I already have a Platnium AE and a Starwood card and charge what I can on those (1k-2k a month). I also have an Quantem World Points card with MNBA.

What I want to achieve with my credit cards is a free vacation each year, I would love to charge everyting to the Starwood card but the place where I spend the 10k-30k a month only takes Visa or Mastercard.

I live in the Detroit area and am pretty sure Northwest is my best bet for an airline plus I have around 80k miles with them. I already have the Platnium Northwest card, am thinking of canceling that and getting the Signature one for the bonus miles.

I have been looking at the HH visa card, and so far it looks to be in the final running. I was wondering if anybody else has anymore sugestions. I have excellent credit so I can get any card. I would like to gain status also with my card. I am gold with Starwood already. Any help would be appreciated!

Chris B

gleff

Feb 4, 06, 9:51 am

Don't get the Hilton Visa. Very poor earning. If you want the card to help towards status, both UA and US have Visa/MC products that award status miles based on spend. But it's not enough for status exclusively via the cards... (Randy expects an airline card this year to offer status purely based on spend, so put this in the category of 'developing'...)

If I was going to put 10k - 30k/mo on a Visa/MC product I'd probably do it on either (1) the USAirways Mastercard from Juniper Bank which offers 1.5 miles per dollar spent for the first 12 months of cardmembership or (2) the Diners Club card for its flexibility to transfer points to various programs (though many major US carriers have dropped out, and the card is somewhat disfavored at the moment.. though mostly compared to its past glory, I do think it still compares favorably to most Mastercard products).

AvalancheZ71

Feb 4, 06, 4:54 pm

Use a debit card and you don't need to worry about intrest rates.

johnndor

Feb 14, 06, 1:46 pm

gregorygrady

Feb 14, 06, 1:59 pm

So, say I am only interested in sign-up bonuses...

I hadn't thought of this before, but I suppose i could sign up for the Midwest card for 12,500 miles, and then transfer them 1:2 to Hilton (fee-free), right?
You've been an FTer for 6 years with over a thousand posts and you are just figuring this out now...........? ;)

gleff

Feb 14, 06, 2:00 pm

I believe you can only transfer in blocks of 5000 miles, so either 2500 Midwest Miles would be stranded or you'll need to get 2500 more for your next transfer.

Ken in Phx

Feb 14, 06, 2:18 pm

chrsb

Feb 14, 06, 7:29 pm

Unless you are holding a balance on the card, who cares about APR%? Do you carry a large balance? If you are worried about rising APR's, well thats the current environment, I dont think you'll find a lot of 5.9% fixed with Int % climbing. If they are still low, they are sure to rise in the coming months.

Ken in Phx

I am an electrical contractor and sometimes we do not get paid in a timely manner and have to "float" some money. I liked the 4 free nights we got with the Merrill card along with the low APR. I am still thinking things through, I might just move some MBNA credit lines back to my Quantum card and take the Merrill card down to a minimum credit line until I use up the 100k points I have on it then cancel it. I wish Starwood had an US Visa or Mastercard.

I looked into the Dinners Club and it did not do anything for me. I have been still looking at various airline cards, but I like the option of hotel stays with the starwood card. I just had to make an 12k charge and have another 10k coming up soon so it looks like these will go to the Merrill card until I decide.

best

Feb 14, 06, 8:05 pm

Regarding the interest rate you may call them and ask to lower it.

I got a letter from MNBA for my Merrill card and they are increasing my APR to 8.9 from 5.9 for some unknown reason (I charge anywhere from 10k-30k a month on this and usually pay it off) With them changing the rewards program and the APR it is time to find a new Visa or Mastercard.

I already have a Platnium AE and a Starwood card and charge what I can on those (1k-2k a month). I also have an Quantem World Points card with MNBA.

What I want to achieve with my credit cards is a free vacation each year, I would love to charge everyting to the Starwood card but the place where I spend the 10k-30k a month only takes Visa or Mastercard.

I live in the Detroit area and am pretty sure Northwest is my best bet for an airline plus I have around 80k miles with them. I already have the Platnium Northwest card, am thinking of canceling that and getting the Signature one for the bonus miles.

I have been looking at the HH visa card, and so far it looks to be in the final running. I was wondering if anybody else has anymore sugestions. I have excellent credit so I can get any card. I would like to gain status also with my card. I am gold with Starwood already. Any help would be appreciated!

Chris B

johnndor

Feb 15, 06, 6:24 am

You've been an FTer for 6 years with over a thousand posts and you are just figuring this out now...........? ;)

I know, I know... it's just that I never fly Midwest, so hadn't looked at their card offers...

And I never fly Midwest, so I never looked at the transfer options to Hilton! :o

gregorygrady

Feb 15, 06, 10:08 am

I know, I know... it's just that I never fly Midwest, so hadn't looked at their card offers...

And I never fly Midwest, so I never looked at the transfer options to Hilton! :o
OK, I'll forgive you this one time...........;)

But I hope you've also already signed up for the AA Mastercard, with no-fee for six months (which means signup, get your points, and then cancel). It comes with either a 25,000 HH points or 30,000 HH points signup bonus (whoops, I mean 12,500 or 15K AA miles bonus ;) ). Last I checked though there's a $25 fee to transfer from AA to HH so this isn't as valuable as it previously was, but hey, free HH points are free HH points right.

MaryAO

Feb 15, 06, 5:23 pm

Ken in Phx

Feb 15, 06, 5:47 pm

OK. Trying to decide on which cards to 'let go' and ones to consider.
Travel for pleasure only. Accumulate points on AA Mastercard - fly using 'vouchers' from voluntary bumps. Worked twice last year. Have about 65,000 pts. in my and hubbys accounts. Can our points be combined??
Should I cancel the card before June (end of second year and reapply next year)? Do I chance losing points in our accounts? Also have had HH Amex.Exp
for years and have used for GLOP and AXON. Plan on continuing this card.
Have Marriott and Starwood cards and want to get rid of one. Which one?
(Both have fees). Considering replacing these two with Priority cr. card. (No fee but how are the redemptions?) Also an MBNA Plat. Plus with 38,000 pts in.
Want to consolidate cards to get the most from our spending. (Never have carry-on balances - always pay all off each month.) Any ideas? :confused:
Thanks

I think I can help. I think you do have too many cards.
#1 MBNA Plat. Use your 38k+ pts then get rid of it
#2 Cancel AA Mastercard. ( you wont lose your AA miles if you cancel)
#3 Get rid of your Marriott Card
#4 Keep your Starwood Card

Starwood card will allow you to earn AA miles 20k = 25k AA miles
Marriott is a stay-earning chain.
and No your accounts at AA cannot be combined into one account

I think Starwood has better Resorts/Vacation destination than Hilton. So you can earn "better" by accumulating Starpoints and only buring them for AA miles to top off an acct.

Just my opinion.

ken in phx

gregorygrady

Feb 15, 06, 10:55 pm

I think you do have too many cards.

Blasphemy!! :D You can never have too many cards!! I say cut the old ones and sign up for new ones for the signup bonus. Sign up for the IC CC for the 30K points (a free night at any IC worldwide), make a charge, get your points and cancel. Continue this method with UA credit cards, more AA credit cards, etc. Not SPG AMEX, they will only give you the signup points once. My philosophy is the more signup bonuses you can get, the better: it's like free money!!! The only reason not to do this is if you plan to get a new mortgage or re-finance in the next year or so.......

MaryAO

Feb 16, 06, 11:32 am

Have been accum. pts like this for a few years. It is a lot of work :rolleyes:
My husband thinks I'm crazy but loves the free nights and vouchers from airlines due to getting us bumped. It has almost become a way of life.
What next??? I just keep reading all the posts and learning :)

caprivi

Mar 6, 06, 10:24 pm

itsme

Mar 6, 06, 10:46 pm

Recreation

Mar 7, 06, 8:11 am

I don't know about this comparison either. The 10K SPG Amex enrollment bonus is actually only 4K (the other 6K requires 10 stays at SPG hotels within the first year). Likewise, the 20K HH Amex enrollment bonus is actually a straight 10K bonus and then the other 10K come from 4 HH stays. BTW, there is actually an offer out there for a HH 25K enrollment bonus. Look on pgary's website, it's a great source of info and a lot of this thread is already dealt with on that website.

In Dec '05 I signed up for an SPG Plat AMEX via the link on this site and I was given a 6k sign-up reward.

toomanybooks

Mar 7, 06, 12:13 pm

I'm seeking some ideas on an ideal CC strategy. Here's a bit about my profile:
- Consultant...travels 90% of the time.
- Have a lot of United miles (600K)...not looking for any more.
- Used to fly United exclusively, but now distributing to other US airlines. Used to fly a lot of international routes, but not so much anymore.
- Stay almost exclusively at Marriott properties during travel.
- Cashback seems more appealing to me right now since have accrued a lot of United miles and Marriott points, and when I do travel for vacation, I usually stay with friends or go the adventure route.

I seem so spend primarily on hotels, rental cars, and restaurants, a bit on gas, negligible on groceries.

The Amex TrueSavings 3/2/1 card seems intriguing, except I don't shop at Costco. I've just gotten the Starwood and Hilton Amex cards. I'm looking for a card that has good car rental coverage, and others to maximize returns on restaurant and hotel spending. Of course no/low fees are better, and it can not be a Chase card.

Thanks in advance.

You don't have to shop at Costco to get a Costco membership; I assume you can do it online. $45 at most a year; if you can find somebody to sign you up as an associate it's $35 at most. You can shop for TVs, digital cameras, digital memory cards, etc. online, at very good prices.

For you, it appears to me it would be hard to beat 3% cashback on restaurant purchases and in many cases 2% on travel (rental cars, airline purchases, etc.)

Often a Costco membership discount applied in addition to, say a Southwest car rental reservation, gives me about the best deal I can find ($13 a day in CLE recently for a mid-size).

They also have good deals on web space/ISP accounts, Sharebuilder, etc.

Costco Executive ($100 a year) has extra benefits.

caprivi

Mar 7, 06, 12:49 pm

Maybe Costco is another option then. Is there a link for any signup bonus or do i just go to the Costco/Amex site?
Thanks.

toomanybooks

Mar 7, 06, 3:11 pm

Maybe Costco is another option then. Is there a link for any signup bonus or do i just go to the Costco/Amex site?
Thanks.

I am not aware of any sign-up bonus to join Costco or to get the Costco Amex card.

If somebody "refers" you, he gets a few bucks or a few months membership. I'd be happy to do that and split the proceeds if you PM me your details.

LGA

Mar 11, 06, 9:07 am

...But I hope you've also already signed up for the AA Mastercard, with no-fee for six months (which means signup, get your points, and then cancel). It comes with either a 25,000 HH points or 30,000 HH points signup bonus (whoops, I mean 12,500 or 15K AA miles bonus ;) ). Last I checked though there's a $25 fee to transfer from AA to HH so this isn't as valuable as it previously was, but hey, free HH points are free HH points right.

Had to do a little hunting to find this: https://redeemaamiles.points.com/home.jsp

Decent value if you want one of those Scandic awards via HH. Handy to know. Thanks, gregorygrady.

best

Mar 11, 06, 10:31 am

Did you ask MBNA for the reason?

I got a letter from MNBA for my Merrill card and they are increasing my APR to 8.9 from 5.9 for some unknown reason (I charge anywhere from 10k-30k a month on this and usually pay it off) With them changing the rewards program and the APR it is time to find a new Visa or Mastercard.

I already have a Platnium AE and a Starwood card and charge what I can on those (1k-2k a month). I also have an Quantem World Points card with MNBA.

What I want to achieve with my credit cards is a free vacation each year, I would love to charge everyting to the Starwood card but the place where I spend the 10k-30k a month only takes Visa or Mastercard.

I live in the Detroit area and am pretty sure Northwest is my best bet for an airline plus I have around 80k miles with them. I already have the Platnium Northwest card, am thinking of canceling that and getting the Signature one for the bonus miles.

I have been looking at the HH visa card, and so far it looks to be in the final running. I was wondering if anybody else has anymore sugestions. I have excellent credit so I can get any card. I would like to gain status also with my card. I am gold with Starwood already. Any help would be appreciated!

Chris B

shragak

Mar 12, 06, 8:02 pm

How to choose the best credit card

One of the most frequently asked questions on MilesBuzz is what credit card should I use? It's been discussed over and over, and still comes up frequently. I'd like to create a single repository of information in the hopes that it's useful to the 70,000+ members and countless more lurkers that come here. Why re-invent the wheel every time?

With this post I intend to outline the major issues that I believe should affect your choice of mileage-earning credit card and to offer some specific suggestions that will work in most circumstances.

Caveat: this post is entirely US-centric, and doesn't deal with the best cards for individuals based in other countries.

Feel free to leave comments if you feel like I'm missing any important issue, or if you'd like specific feedback on your own situation. This is a work in progress, but I hope that in the future we'll be able to direct members to this thread when the 'best credit card' question comes up.

Note that the bulk of this post is adapted from a piece on my blog, so apologize that some of the links are to more detailed explanations there.

Do you pay your bill in full at the end of each month? If not, stop. You may not want a mileage-earning card. At a minimum, miles probably shouldn't determine what card you choose. Instead, you want a card with the lowest interest rates. Perhaps you have balances already, look for a card with 0% balance transfers (and then pay very close attention to the card's terms and conditions in order to retain that 0% rate.)

How much spending are you going to put on the card? Signup bonuses aside (I'll talk about those shortly), if you aren't going to put more than $1000 a month on the card on average, it may not make sense to get a card with an annual fee. For instance, many airlines have free cards that offer one mile per two dollars spent. At $12,000 in annual spending, that's 6000 fewer miles but you'll save $60 - $80. You're basically buying those miles at 1 to 1.25 cents apiece. At lower levels of spending you're buying the miles at a higher premium. The enhanced earning that comes from cards with an annual fee may not make sense unless you're putting substantial charges on the card.

Are you striving for elite membership in a program? Check whether that program's co-branded credit card will help you get there.

Many hotel programs give you their lowest level of status for taking their program's credit card. The Hilton Visa gives you silver status the first year, enough to qualify for their elites-only awards. The Hilton American Express (http://makeashorterlink.com/?L1BC4228B) offers silver status as long as you hold the card and Gold status for spending $20,000 on the card in a calendar year. Both cards are free. Starwood gives you 'Preferred Plus' status for taking its credit card (https://www66.americanexpress.com/cards/Applyfservlet?csi=6/14478/b/57/1684444267/168001044906/0/n), basically Gold without the bonus points for spending money at their hotels. Marriott gives you Silver status for taking its Visa card as well.

The new United Visa Signature Platinum Class (http://blogs.flyertalk.com//blogs/viewwing/archives/2005/07/20000_mile_bonu.html) offers up to 15,000 Elite Qualifying Miles in the first year of cardmembership based on a combination of spending and United purchases (up to 10,000 qualifying miles in subsequent years). The Delta Skymiles Platinum American Express (http://www66.americanexpress.com/cards/Fmacfservlet?csi=24/2158/b/71/0/069223758602/0/n) comes with Elite Qualifying Miles, both with first purchase and based on annual spend. In the past the USAirways Visa Signature (http://www.bankofamerica.com/usairways_site/index.cfm?template=cc_usair_sign&referralid=) has offered miles towards elite status based on annual spend, though I don't think that's currently the case. However, the USAirways card does offer some of the benefits of first-tier elite status such as preferred checkin and boarding along with the occasional upgrade.

Update: There are now two competing USAirways credit cards. The one from Juniper Bank is a better deal (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=509447), offering fee waived for 2 years, 15k bonus miles with first purchase, 1.5 miles per $ for the first year, preferred checkin and boarding, and an annual club pass.

Do you spend a lot with 'everyday purchase' retailers like grocery stores, restaurants, or the US Postal Service? If you do, consider a card that offers bonuses for that kind of spending. Consider both the Delta American Express and the Hilton American Express. Since my primary mileage accumulation isn't in a Delta account, I choose to hold the no annual fee Hilton card and I use it specifically at grocery stores and restaurants.

Do you fly a particular airline? Miles towards elite status aside, there are some cards that offer specific benefits which are useful when traveling with their co-branded partner. Without these types of benefits, I'm not a fan of picking a credit card based on the airline that you fly. You're already earning miles with that airline and if you have enough of a balance to claim the awards you want it's better to diversify into other programs. That makes things much easier when it comes time to try to redeem -- if your main program doesn't have availability, perhaps your second or third program will. That said, some cards like the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature (http://www.bankofamerica.com/alaska_airlines_site/index.cfm?template=cc_alaskaair_sig) offer nice benefits to customers that fly the airline such as an annual $50 companion ticket (unlike most companion tickets, this one can actually be used -- on any published fare), lounge passes, and day of departure upgrade certificates.

General advice

If you pay your bill in full every month, charge a decent amount to the card, and don't have special needs like help making elite status, then some general advice is probably most useful.

The best general, all-purpose rewards card is the Starwood American Express (https://www66.americanexpress.com/cards/Applyfservlet?csi=6/14478/b/57/1684444267/168001044906/0/n) card.

It's free the first year and $30 thereafter, comes with a signup bonus of 6,000 points with your first purchase and up to 6,000 more for hotel stays, and offers points which can be used for hotel nights or converted 1:1 into most airline programs.

When you covert 20,000 points at a time into airline miles Starwood gives you 5,000 bonus miles -- which means you're really earning 1.25 miles per dollar on most every carrier, better earning than most airlines' own co-branded offerings. The flexibility, though, is the best benefit. With, say, an American Airlines Mastercard you're stuck with American Airlines miles. With the Starwood American Express you earn whatever miles you want and you don't have to decide until later.

An example of the power of this card -- spend $50,000 on the United Visa or American Mastercard, and you have enough miles for a coach ticket to Europe. Spend $50,000 on the Starwood American Express, and you can transfer those 50,000 points to Cathay Pacific in exchange for 60,000 Asia Miles which are enough for a business class ticket on British Airways from the East Coast of the U.S. to most destinations in Europe.

Be aware, though, that transfers from Starwood into an airline program are not instantaneous so you may not be able to reserve your award before making a transfer on carriers that don't let you hold awards (e.g. Northwest) or that don't permit you to hold them for very long (e.g. United at 72 hours).
Still, with Starwood I can stay at some of the top hotels in the world and my airline mileage earning is supersized, 25% better than airline cards themselves. This is by far the best all-around mileage earning card.

I also carry a Diners Club card and a Hilton American Express.

The Diners Club card is now a Mastercard, so it's accepted universally. I use the card with merchants that don't take American Express. Their points program offers transfers into most airline and hotel programs. I can even launder United or American miles into other programs through this program (with some devaluation).

Since Diners Club became a Mastercard, it lost some of its unique features -- such as two billing cycles to pay and a lower than usual foreign currency conversion charge. But it maintains its primary insurance coverage on rental cars, and since it's a Mastercard it's useful for airline and hotel promotions that require payments with that brand of card (such as Hyatt's outstanding Faster Free Nights promo (http://blogs.flyertalk.com//blogs/viewwing/archives/2005/07/faster_free_nig.html)).
Downsides to the card are a charge for transferring points to airline miles (95 cents per 1000 miles) and a $90 annual fee. I rent cars enough to make this worthwhile.

I use the Hilton American Express only for things where I earn bonus points. I use it at the grocery store and at restaurants and my cell phone bill is automatically charged to the card. I run no more than $1000 or $1500 a month on this card. If I ever run out of Gold status with Hilton, I'll probably notch up the spending to reach $20,000 to retain my status.

Full disclosure, I also carry other cards that stand apart from this general advice. For example, I have an American Express Platinum card (http://www66.americanexpress.com/cards/Fmacfservlet?csi=17/22/b/3/2081875673/204144252479/20/n&from=0&mgmID=undefined) with Membership Rewards because it provides a greater credit line than traditional points-earning cards.

It's useful to me for charging large events, and has lots of extras like lounge access (Continental, Delta, and Northwest), elite status with Starwood and Avis, and the Fine Hotels and Resorts program which offers extras at properties like Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons. It's expensive at $395, so not useful for most.

The Membership Rewards program offers transfers to a variety of airlines and hotel programs, but it's been eroded over the years. Marriott dropped out last year. No replacement was ever made for Northwest or TWA (when the latter was acquired by American). But it works for me, because I couldn't otherwise put such large charges on a single card. And a seven figure membership rewards balance is certainly better than paying by check!

If you don't charge enough to warrant an annual fee card, consider a free card.

The Amtrak Mastercard (https://wwwa.applyonlinenow.com/USapp/Ctl/redirect?CV_sourceCode=HD0F&CV_MC=A000001K7X) gives one Amtrak point per dollar spent. The value in this card is that points can be used for train travel or transferred one-to-one into Continental, and Midwest Airlines and one-to-two into Hilton. You can transfer 25,000 points out of an Amtrak account each calendar year (elite members can transfer out 50,000 points.) The Amtrak card also offers redemption for gift certificates, generally valuing points earned at one cent apiece. The card offers pretty good earning considering that it's fee-free.

I don't trust the company running the Amtrak program, though. They tend to make changes without notice -- such as imposing a cap on points transferred out (it used to be unlimited) and ending transfers into United.

The Hilton American Express (http://makeashorterlink.com/?L1BC4228B) comes with 15,000 points as a signup bonus, Silver Elite status in the Hilton program, and earns 3 Hilton points per dollar spent (or 5 on 'everyday spend' charges like restaurants, grocery stores, and cell phone bills).

Consider also cash rebate cards. Most of them cap the amount of money you can earn, but if you're spending less than $15,000 or so a year that may not be an issue. This type of card is outside the scope of the post. Miles are usually worth more than money in a rewards program, since the latter tends to return only about 1%. But $150 may be worth more to you than 15,000 Amtrak points (though shrewdly used, the Amtrak points can be worth more than the money).

Stay away from proprietary rewards programs, like the CapitalOne GoMiles card.

Proprietary miles programs have marketing appeal, offering "any seat on any airline" and tapping into the frustration that some feel trying to redeem their miles. But these programs turn the value proposition of miles on their head. Miles are most useful for tickets that would have been too expensive to purchase -- international business or first class tickets, or even last minute transcon flights (which aren't as expensive as they used to be).

Proprietary programs generally offer coach seats, which have to be purchased a few weeks in advance, and often cap the amount of airfare that they'll pay.

Furthermore, proprietary miles can be earned only through credit card spending so it may be harding to reach the point of redeeming for a free ticket.

Airline and hotel points can be earned through a variety of partnerships, whether it's telephone or internet or mortgage financing, let alone actually flying or spending the night somewhere.

While some may get value from these offerings, my general advice is to avoid them. They more or less amount to a cash rebate card where you can only spend the rebate on specific travel offerings.

One exception: Most credit cards charge about 3% on foreign currency transactions. CapitalOne (at least with most of their offerings?) only charges 1%. Some MBNA cards also charge only 1%, though most now charge 3%. This foreign currency surcharge may be more expensive than the value of the miles you get in return -- so if you travel abroad a lot then your primary concern may be foreign currency charges rather than mileage earning.

Earning bonus miles from credit card signups

In some cases, depending on the credit card issuer, you can sign up for the same credit card more than once and pocket the signup bonus over and over (http://blogs.flyertalk.com//blogs/viewwing/archives/2004/12/applying_for_cr.html).

This is especially true for cards issued by BankOne (e.g. United, Marriott, British Airways, Priority Club) and Citibank (e.g. American Mastercard, Hilton Visa).

I'm not a frequent Northwest flyer, so I've used signing up for their credit card three times as my qualifying activity in the annual Fly Free Faster promo (http://blogs.flyertalk.com//blogs/viewwing/archives/2005/07/wrapping_up_nor.html). While it's not easy to get a signup bonus from US Bank more than once for the same card, you can sign up for each of their different cards and earn the signup bonus each time. I've gotten the Visa Platinum, the Visa Signature, and the Visa Business card, and each time that qualified me to earn an additional 10,000 miles from the summer promo. (I'd never sign up for the Northwest card unless it qualified me for some other offering, since those offerings come around so regularly and I wouldn't want to blow the chance to use the card as an activity towards the bonus.)

Credit cards generally can offer some of the richest bonuses around. The American Airlines Mastercard (http://makeashorterlink.com/?P2FA24C7B) is currently offering 15,000 miles with first purchase and fee waived for a year.

The United Visa (https://app.firstusa.com/ICBatch/?PID=UAB1&SPID=3H4B&CELL=60K2&AFFID=&CLICK=&CID=&PROMO=DF01#) is also offering 15,000 bonus miles with first purchase and fee waived for a year.

The Delta American Express (http://makeashorterlink.com/?C5DD2128B) makes that same 15,000 bonus mile with first purchase offer, fee waived the first year. (There are occasionally even better offers on this card as well.)

Both the American and United bonuses can be earned more than once (http://blogs.flyertalk.com//blogs/viewwing/archives/2004/12/applying_for_cr.html). The Delta American Express doesn't offer similar possibilities, although with all cards you can generally earn miles not just for a personal card but also for a business card. Some issuers require a certain minimum business income to qualify, and some consumers think "I don't have a business." But what if you are looking for consulting work on the side, even if you don't do any such work at this time? Most of us can qualify as "Our Name & Associates" - boom, our own business, and own business credit card with signup bonus.

Whenever you sign up for a new card print out the details of the offer. Sometimes promised bonuses don't post and you'll want some evidence of what you were supposed to receive. Also, in the event that you're signing up for a card whose fee is waived for a specific period of time, make sure to print out that promise as well.

Be aware that each time you apply for a credit card the issuing bank will pull your credit report. Each 'hard pull' on your report is logged, and too many pulls over a short period of time can temporarily reduce your credit rating. On the other hand, having a decent amount of unused credit can be valuable, a lower percentage utilization of your available credit helps your score. So does having a long average age for your accounts, so cancelling unused fee-free cards may not be wise.

Suffice to say that credit score issues are beyond this scope of this inquiry, but be aware that your credit score will affect your ability to obtain credit and the interest rates you'll pay (such as when applying for a mortgage). These are complicated issues worth understanding.

Here's a good basic overview (http://credit.about.com/cs/creditrepair/a/073003.htm). Here's a way to estimate your score for free (http://www.bankrate.com/brm/fico/calc.asp?prodtype=mtg&thisponsor=score) and play with the different variables.

shragak

Mar 12, 06, 8:06 pm

Be super careful about Diners car rental primary insurance propoganda. I almost got burned pretty badly last year. After a fender bender , I found out that while they may be primary , they don't cover a "few" issues. Admin. fees, dimunization of auto , loss of car rental days without explicit documentation etc

rafatmit

Mar 15, 06, 12:22 pm

gardener

Mar 15, 06, 12:41 pm

This is getting into the territory of more general credit card / credit scoring question, but it relates to miles, so I'll go ahead and ask it. How many credit cards do people here have? How many is too many -- where it will hurt your credit rating?

I would do some of the get-a-card-for-the-bonus-cancel-repeat schemes people discuss here, but that's just adding a lot of young accounts to my credit report. How much does this matter?

I have opened a lot of accounts in the past two years (Starwood Amex, AGR MC, New USAirways DM MC, and just now the new Marriott Visa.

My score hasn't budged, it was 788 when I last checked.

I don't cancel cards though. And I pay off my balances every month. And I have kept all my very oldest cards even though I don't use them (these are no annual fee obviously).

All in all I have 13 cards of the Visa/MC/Amex/Discover variety. Doesn't seem to hurt my score.

2whitedogs

Mar 15, 06, 1:26 pm

Try the credit card section of my website below. Current good ones, all free of annual fee for at least 1 year:

On the Annual Fee Cards page:

American Airlines (20,000 miles)
United Airlines (20,000 miles)
U.S. Airways (15,000 miles+ 1.5/$1 spent first year)

On the Free Cards page:

Delta Airlines SkyMiles (17,500 miles+ 2,500 miles for adding another card holder)
Delta SkyPoints (7,500 points)
Starwood (6,000 points)
Priority Club (30,000 points)
Gold Points (20,000 points)
Marriott (15,000 points)

Hello all, I took the day off work to do my taxes. But first, I had to go through my mail, saw the offer from USAirways about the 15,000 mile offer with 2 years waived annual fee. Decided to search the web to see if this offer had any hidden agenda and found this website. Half the day is gone and I still haven't started my taxes, because I've been obsessively reading these posts. I feel like I've been missing something big for a long time, by not playing the frequent flyer miles/credit card game. This is so fascinating!!

Anyway, can someone point me to the above-mentioned website?

Thanks,
Judy

rbessler

Mar 15, 06, 7:36 pm

Anyway, can someone point me to the above-mentioned website?

Thanks,
Judy

http://www.freefrequentflyermiles.com/index.htm

sprogis

Mar 21, 06, 12:13 pm

I have heard there is a 25K-mile offer for a United credit card. Unfortunately, I can't find a link for it. Could somebody please give it to me or maybe a link to the discussion thread?

itsme

Mar 22, 06, 12:48 am

I have heard there is a 25K-mile offer for a United credit card. Unfortunately, I can't find a link for it. Could somebody please give it to me or maybe a link to the discussion thread?

It is the Platinum Visa, for which the annual fee is $140, unless you are a 1K and can get it waived. The card offers not only 25K of RDM when you enroll, but also 5K of EQM and the possibility of up to 10K EQM more. If you search on "Platinum Visa" I expect you will find the link. If you call to sign up, you will probably strike out, because the principle call center is unfamiliar with that offer and will tell you that you are mistaken.

pgary

Mar 22, 06, 2:17 pm

I have this one listed on the Annual Fee Cards page of the Credit Card section of my website below.

Recreation

Mar 25, 06, 6:40 pm

Just wanted to add that the new Marriott Premium Visa (Chase) offers double miles on dining. So I'll use my SkyMiles card for gasoline and grocery purchases and my Marriott for dining. Gotta love double points.

gleff

Apr 3, 06, 5:59 am

Bump, I've recently pointed several folks with credit card questions to this thread...

lmk

Apr 4, 06, 9:28 am

DH & I are booking a safari package and can charge it to any credit card. It will involve flights on Air Botswana, plus light air transfers between camps and 8 nights at various camps in the Okavango Delta area. I have a UA Platinum signature card and a Diners Club card. He has Amex. No car rental is involved. Are there any benefits of charging this to one particular card over another?

lmk

Apr 4, 06, 10:10 am

I'm thinking of things like the following:

If I charge it to UA Platinum signature Visa I supposedly get --
• Up to $1,000,000 Travel Accident Insurance
• Up to $300 Trip Delay Reimbursement
• Up to $3,000 Lost Luggage Insurance
Have searched in vain for the fine print.

If I charge it to Diners I supposedly get --
Automatic travel accident coverage of up $200,000 on common carriers.
Coverage includes direct travel to and from the airport station, or terminal, on any public conveyance, including buses, trains and hotel or car agency courtesy vans (private/rental cars excluded), if your common carrier ticket has been purchased prior to departure for the station, terminal or airport.
Coverage applies for your spouse and dependent children.
AND
Baggage insurance coverage for both checked and carry-on baggage up to $1,250 after any other applicable insurance or coverage, including benefits provided by the Common Carrier. Reimburses the actual cost of repairing or replacing your checked and/or carry on luggage and personal effects therein.
Coverage begins when the baggage is checked in to an agent or skycap, or carried on board a common carrier. Coverage ceases when the baggage is checked out or carried from the common carrier by the Cardmember (includes curbside check-out with facility-designated personnel.

The real question is, if one actually had to file a claim for any of these, how good or bad is Diners and/or Chase about making good on promises.

Governator

May 16, 06, 12:36 pm

at

http://www.andrewcram.com/frequentflyerCC.html

There is a nice chart, perhaps this will be helpful to the FT Community.

CCC
Anyone know what happened to his site? Both andrewcram.com and rewardsdb.com just bring up a "404 Not Found" error.

May 16, 06, 1:14 pm

Anyone know what happened to his site? Both andrewcram.com and rewardsdb.com just bring up a "404 Not Found" error.

It's up now.

ANDREWCX

May 16, 06, 1:51 pm

Anyone know what happened to his site? Both andrewcram.com and rewardsdb.com just bring up a "404 Not Found" error.

Wow - that is a bit concerning.... still they seem to be up now. I will check with my hosting company and see if there was an outage of some sort. But I can assure you these sites are current etc - just some minor glitch no doubt.

Governator

May 16, 06, 2:20 pm

Wow - that is a bit concerning.... still they seem to be up now. I will check with my hosting company and see if there was an outage of some sort. But I can assure you these sites are current etc - just some minor glitch no doubt.
Thanks - I don't think I was seeing things, it was definitely erroring out earlier.

sfducati

Jun 17, 06, 12:32 pm

went through 9 pages of discussion and the thread on fatwallet and was convinced enough to apply for the SPG card(my first "miles" card per se..).
Thanks, OP! ^

itsme

Jun 17, 06, 12:47 pm

went through 9 pages of discussion and the thread on fatwallet and was convinced enough to apply for the SPG card(my first "miles" card per se..).
Thanks, OP! ^
Welcome to FlyerTalk, sfducati!

writetorich

Jun 17, 06, 12:49 pm

went through 9 pages of discussion and the thread on fatwallet and was convinced enough to apply for the SPG card(my first "miles" card per se..).
Thanks, OP! ^

Congrats, on your first Ft post that is , not on getting the card :)

Welcome to FT.

You made a solid choice with SPG Amex.

I rank then 1-2 or 2-1 its close.

For Non frequent flyers, I think Hilton is better.
For frequect fliers or those desiring international premium cabin flights on leisure
For BIG Chargers 70 G annually, I like SPG.

If over 20K but less than 70K then Hilton, for the gold elite status.

itsme

Jun 17, 06, 1:20 pm

Congrats, on your first Ft post that is , not on getting the card :)

Welcome to FT.

You made a solid choice with SPG Amex.

I rank then 1-2 or 2-1 its close.

For Non frequent flyers, I think Hilton is better.
For frequect fliers or those desiring international premium cabin flights on leisure
For BIG Chargers 70 G annually, I like SPG.

If over 20K but less than 70K then Hilton, for the gold elite status.
What do you rank "1-2 or 2-1," the Hilton and SPG AmEx cards? And I'm not clear why the choice of credit or charge card should differ according to whether one is a frequent flyer or not, rather than whether one ever flies a not so cheap itinerary. You don't explain why you think one should chose one card over another according to how much they expect to spend with the card ("if over 20K but less than 70K then Hilton").

sfducati

Jun 17, 06, 1:21 pm

thanks, itsme & writetorich! I've been a lurker for sometime but finally decided to signup and post a big thanks to gleff for this post! :)

writetorich: you mentioned "For frequect fliers or those desiring international premium cabin flights on leisure "...i think i fit into that category(and my spending on this is going to be between 20-70k ) so which one is a better fit...SPG or hilton?
One other card that I'm considering is Citibank PremiumPass Elite. I do fly international sometimes and I think i can convince some of my friends who fly to buy tickets on my card :D (so that i get the flight points from the miles they fly..)

itsme

Jun 17, 06, 6:28 pm

...writetorich: you mentioned "For frequect fliers or those desiring international premium cabin flights on leisure "...i think i fit into that category(and my spending on this is going to be between 20-70k ) so which one is a better fit...SPG or hilton?...
To what you have asked regarding "SPG or hilton," you should add, "And why," or "please explain." There are different views on the relative merits of these cards and it is of limited usefulness to just get categoric assertions as to which is better without meaningful analysis. I went with SPG because of what others said about it and my familiarity with Starwood properties over the course of years, while Hilton's affinity card seemed to get less favorable ratings. But read what others have to say about the cards here and in other threads on the subject, then decide for yourself.

sfducati

Jun 18, 06, 1:24 am

To what you have asked regarding "SPG or hilton," you should add, "And why," or "please explain." There are different views on the relative merits of these cards and it is of limited usefulness to just get categoric assertions as to which is better without meaningful analysis. I went with SPG because of what others said about it and my familiarity with Starwood properties over the course of years, while Hilton's affinity card seemed to get less favorable ratings. But read what others have to say about the cards here and in other threads on the subject, then decide for yourself.
Point noted. thanks!

breaux124

Jun 21, 06, 10:01 am

One other card that I'm considering is Citibank PremiumPass Elite. I do fly international sometimes and I think i can convince some of my friends who fly to buy tickets on my card :D (so that i get the flight points from the miles they fly..)

Just realize that you have to have purchase points to match the flight points you receive, right? Now for the first 15,000 flight points it's pretty much free because of the 15,000 point bonus for the cards signup. But after that you will need purchase points = flight points before they are released to the Thank You network.

sfducati

Jun 21, 06, 12:56 pm

Just realize that you have to have purchase points to match the flight points you receive, right? Now for the first 15,000 flight points it's pretty much free because of the 15,000 point bonus for the cards signup. But after that you will need purchase points = flight points before they are released to the Thank You network.
thanks for the clarification. I was under the impression that those points were purchase points! :confused:

breaux124

Jun 21, 06, 1:40 pm

thanks for the clarification. I was under the impression that those points were purchase points! :confused:

Inital signup points are treated as purchase points. So once you sign up for the card you will receive 15,000 points. Your first 15,000 Flight points will automatically be available for transfer into the Thank You network.

But any flight points after your first 15,000 will have to have purchase points to transfer into Thank You Network. But don't forget once your buy tickets that's purchase points too. It will add up, but don't expect it to go too fast if you do much more flying than buying.

Redeeming the Thank You points is good though and easy, I was able to get a flight to Mexico for 30,000 points when the cheapest price I saw online was $505.

sfducati

Jun 21, 06, 3:46 pm

Inital signup points are treated as purchase points. So once you sign up for the card you will receive 15,000 points. Your first 15,000 Flight points will automatically be available for transfer into the Thank You network.

But any flight points after your first 15,000 will have to have purchase points to transfer into Thank You Network. But don't forget once your buy tickets that's purchase points too. It will add up, but don't expect it to go too fast if you do much more flying than buying.

Redeeming the Thank You points is good though and easy, I was able to get a flight to Mexico for 30,000 points when the cheapest price I saw online was $505.
I see what you mean. thanks again for the explanation ^

dave_SEA

Jun 21, 06, 5:44 pm

Does the Starwood AMEX or Citi AA MC offer travel insurance? I'm about to book a trip and can't decide which to use?

rrgg

Jun 21, 06, 6:55 pm

Does the Starwood AMEX or Citi AA MC offer travel insurance? I'm about to book a trip and can't decide which to use?
Citi AA MC Platinum Select offers free trip cancellation/interruption insurance, but not all Citi AA MC do.
http://www.citibank.com/us/cards/cardserv/worldcard/plat-svbenits.jsp

If you want the details, you have to contact the underwriter (Virginia Security?). Citi reps couldn't tell me by phone. I think I have a scan of the document if you'd like to see it.

mcoope3

Jun 22, 06, 8:28 pm

I would argue there are some advantages to Amex Gold/Green with full membership rewards.

In the past 12 months they have probably had double points at least 8 months and some months they have had triple points, though the offer terms are often confusing and vary as to whether this is triple points on everyday spending or everything. They offer double points on everyday purchases standard, if your 5% card rewards are done. Some of these promotions have seemed to overlap and I have gotten a lot of points so the triple points work and/or overlapping promotions double dipped.

They also sometimes have 20-35% bonuses for transfering to Delta or Continental, though I have not seen a bonus lately.

They have very good signup bonuses. I got 25K points and first year free through a targeted offer and I have seen better offers.

Amex Delta is also good but has less bonuses and sometimes they are lame like 20.06% extra points.

Amex Delta and Gold/Green occasionally give you free points for things like agreeing to have the option of not paying in full for travel charges or adding other cardholders.

SPG is great if you want to keep things simple but if you are in a phase of getting signup bonuses and having several cards SPG loses value because you have some other card with double points most of the year. If AMEX Gold/Green keeps having all these offers it is probably competitive with SPG in a lot of situations if you have the time to check sites for promos.

At a minimum I would say it makes a lot of sense to sign up for a Amex gold introductory offer and convert it to SPG after the first year for new cardholders without the highest spending levels.

LarryKahan

Jun 28, 06, 7:22 pm

For those who have not previously had a BP visa, the new BP VISA from Chase Bank offers:

A $40 BP gift card for first use of the card within 3 months of account opening (but the expiration date of 8/31 might shorten that).

An additional $35 BP card when you use your card for transactions totaling $1000 within the first 3 months of account opening (but the expiration date of 8/31 might apply).

PLUS you get double rebates for the first two billing cycles after receiving the card. Standard rebates (which will be doubled for the first two cycles) are 5% for "participating BP locations" , 2% on "eligible travel and dining" (the fine print says "retail establishments that classify their merchant location for Visa/Mastercard as Dining (excluding establishments classified as Fast Food Restaurants), Airline, Auto, Rental or Lodging), and 1% on "all other eligible purchases". I love the idea of 4% cash back on air travel, hotels, car rentals and restaurants for 2 months.

You do not get rebates on balance transfers and other types of cash related transactions, nor on non-BP gas purchases. There is no limit on the amount of rebates you can accumulate. Rebates are redeemed in increments of $25 as BP gift cards, a check, or a donation to The Conservation Fund.

The card has no annual fee and 0% interest on purchases and balance transfers for the first 6 months, but the usual horrendous interest rates after that.

The offer is valid only for first time BP Rewards Visa cardmembers. Existing BP Rewards Visa cardmembers are not eligible. If your account is not open for at least 6 months, BP and Chase reserve the right to deduct the Double Rewards from your BP Rewards Program account.

You can apply on the web at http://www.newbpvisa.com or by phone at 1-888-312-7247 (offer code 69LL)

best

Jul 2, 06, 7:06 pm

Gary, please point to where you have the details on the 25,000 FF miles card?

I have this one listed on the Annual Fee Cards page of the Credit Card section of my website below.

deburn

Jul 7, 06, 3:44 pm

This is a great community and this thread in particular is a great source of information. I normally fly about 2 - 4 flights a month, mostly short trips on the East Coast, out of Boston. I've been meaning to apply for some of these cards for a while but kept getting side-tracked and also was concerned about getting rejected (a residue from when I moved here from Canada and had a hard time getting a credit card).

So now I've gone completely the other way and applied for 7 cards between yesterday and today! Got approved immediately for all of them except Marriott which said they would get back to me in 30 days. My credit score was 742 before all this, let's see what effect all these applications have on it!

I fly US Air a lot (and some CO) so applied for the Juniper card. Also got 2 cash back cards from Citi, Amex SPG and the business and non-business from Priority Club.

Thank you everyone for the great information!

DB

gregorygrady

Jul 8, 06, 3:50 pm

So now I've gone completely the other way and applied for 7 cards between yesterday and today!

Nice!! ^ I applied for 5 cards in one day about a year ago. Loved all the signup bonuses rolling in all at once. ^

PandaPal

Jul 8, 06, 5:35 pm

I'm really surprised no one has mentioned the jetBlue Amex. My LDR necessitates a million IAD-OAK runs a year, so this works out really well for me. 200 points = 1 Trueblue point and 100 Trueblue points = 1 free flight. Restaurant/fun place (i.e. movies, amusement parks) charges cash in for double points, so it accumulates pretty fast.

gleff

Jul 8, 06, 9:31 pm

200 points = 1 Trueblue point and 100 Trueblue points = 1 free flight. Why is that good? $20k in spend gets a free domestic coach ticket on a limited route network. :td:

PandaPal

Jul 8, 06, 10:30 pm

It won't get you a free flight on its own, that's for sure. It's good b/c:

1) The greatest # of points you get on a BIS flight is 24. 24x4=96. Just short of a free flight. You can bump that up easily with one month's credit card statement (100-96=4, $200x4=$800 you need to spend).

2) They're really good about transferring the points, and award availability isn't nearly as tight as it is on legacy carriers.

If the routes work for you, it's a real life saver.

CheyennePress

Jul 9, 06, 12:34 am

So now I've gone completely the other way and applied for 7 cards between yesterday and today! Got approved immediately for all of them except Marriott which said they would get back to me in 30 days. My credit score was 742 before all this, let's see what effect all these applications have on it.

DB

7 cards in one day???? Yeesh! You're a braver soul than me, though probably with reason. :)

I just signed up for 2 in one day and was a little worried about it. My credit score was 760+, but I only have 8 years of credit history and I'm sure that I make less (hard not to make less than a med school student, even if I do have some income now. ;) )

Let us know how it goes. I'm curious. With a score like yours, though, I'm sure you'll be just fine. And now you'll be racking up the miles! :D

yancantcook

Jul 9, 06, 3:37 am

7 cards in one day???? Yeesh! You're a braver soul than me, though probably with reason. :)

I just signed up for 2 in one day and was a little worried about it. My credit score was 760+, but I only have 8 years of credit history and I'm sure that I make less (hard not to make less than a med school student, even if I do have some income now. ;) )

Let us know how it goes. I'm curious. With a score like yours, though, I'm sure you'll be just fine. And now you'll be racking up the miles! :D

hey, it's nice to have another medical student interested in flyertalk!

im addicted to the forum even though I don't fly all that much...about 20k/yr

rrgg

Jul 9, 06, 6:24 pm

7 cards in one day???? Yeesh! You're a braver soul than me, though probably with reason. :)
Actually it's been suggested that if you're going to open multiple cards, you should do it all on the same day. The idea is it might minimize impact on your score and also some creditors might not "see" the other inquiries.

CMHFlyerOH

Jul 9, 06, 11:16 pm

I have about 6 years of credit history and had a credit rating of around 750 at the begining of the year.

Since January, I have opened about 7 credit cards (spread out evenly over the past 6 months) and it has not affected my credit score whatsoever. What seems to affect your score more is how high your balance to available credit ratio is and whether you have any late payments.

Since I have low balances on my cc, pay them off each month, and don't have any late payments, the effect of opening mutiple credit cards in a short period of time appears to be negligible.

psychtobe

Jul 20, 06, 10:00 pm

The IC Visa bonus now appears to be only 10k points - didn't it used to be 30k?

http://www.insideflyer.com/tools/credit_comparison/index.php

gregorygrady

Jul 21, 06, 11:47 am

Yes, there's been a huge cutback in enrollment bonus by IC Visa. However, the site you referenced is pretty bad (or out of date). Most of the better offers are not included there. You can actually get 15K bonus points at IC. You should check pgary's website and it's much more comprehensive and up to date. ^

Blam104417

Aug 20, 06, 8:54 pm

I currently have a CitiBank Platinum AAdvantage card and I normally put from $6000 to $10,000 per month on my card. We use it for everything and pay the the balance off each month. I just got off the phone with an American Airlines representative trying to book a flight to Europe next JUNE (2007) and it was like pulling teeth. I use almost all of my "points" for airline travel and I am really frustrated with trying to use airline miles. Would I be better off with an American Express Card or Capital One Card that is not affiliated with any particular airline? I am open to any suggestions! Thanks.

gleff

Aug 21, 06, 5:28 am

Welcome to Flyertalk!

Would I be better off with an American Express Card or Capital One Card that is not affiliated with any particular airline? I am open to any suggestions! Thanks.
Capital One? NO! No. Nyet. No. NOOOOO. Don't make that mistake.

Get a Starwood American Express card (see the first post in this thread) or relieve your frustration a bit by outsourcing your award booking to www.awardplanner.com ... *since your current AA card is far better than the Capital One program).

biggestbopper

Aug 21, 06, 6:47 am

I just got off the phone with an American Airlines representative trying to book a flight to Europe next JUNE (2007) and it was like pulling teeth.Thanks.

Perhaps you should try to use some of the partners for your Europe trip. Often you can get a partner airline seat to Europe when you can't get one on AA. Also, often seats open up as the travel dates get closer. In any event, I suspect you will find trying to get a seat through the scam artisits at Cap One harder than with AA (lots harder).

dieuwer2

Aug 21, 06, 8:46 am

acf573

Aug 22, 06, 1:15 am

It looks like all true 5% cash back cards have been discontinued.
Not true. HSBC recently introduced the Direct Rewards Platinum card:
http://www.directrewardscard.com/
5% back groceries/gas/drugstores, $500 annual cap. 0.5% on other purchases < $3k, 1% once you clear the hurdle. And the Chase Cash Plus card is supposedly still available if you apply in a branch.

maulah

Aug 22, 06, 6:22 am

And the Chase Cash Plus card is supposedly still available if you apply in a branch.

And also if you apply through certain internet links which are not availible on chase web site. I hope I am correct as I got my card this way last week. It does not mention much about benefits which I will receive with my first statement.

dieuwer2

Aug 22, 06, 9:39 am

Not true. HSBC recently introduced the Direct Rewards Platinum card:
http://www.directrewardscard.com/
5% back groceries/gas/drugstores, $500 annual cap. 0.5% on other purchases < $3k, 1% once you clear the hurdle. And the Chase Cash Plus card is supposedly still available if you apply in a branch.

The rumor is the card is an identity theft scam :eek:

acf573

Aug 22, 06, 1:01 pm

And also if you apply through certain internet links which are not availible on chase web site. I hope I am correct as I got my card this way last week. It does not mention much about benefits which I will receive with my first statement.
I think some people have reported getting a card other than what they were expecting. Flexible Rewards (which I think is 3 pts/$) instead of Cash Plus or Rewards Plus. It's sort of hard to tell with Chase since all of those cards look the same... Good luck though. :)

themicah

Aug 22, 06, 1:39 pm

The rumor is the card is an identity theft scam :eek:

While the directrewardscard.com site does look a bit sketchy, it looks like it's probably legit, since several FatWalleters report a legit-seeming approval process:

http://www.fatwallet.com/t/52/645200/

The Verisign verification link on the application page also looks like it works (assuming HSBC.com, Inc. in Illinois is actually HSBC).

I'd hold off on seeing more folks get it at FatWallet before applying myself, however.

drbond

Aug 22, 06, 2:03 pm

Has anyone else been harrassed by Watchguard Identity Theft Solutions as a result of signing up with Citibank? They call every other week at all hours and days of the week. I have told them NO and they still keep calling. I contacted Citi and told them to take me off of marketing due to this.

gregorygrady

Aug 22, 06, 3:04 pm

It looks like all true 5% cash back cards have been discontinued. Citibank no longer offers the Dividend Platinum Select nor the AT&T Universal Card. Similar for Chase.
The AMEX Blue Cash card still gives you 5%, but only when you spend over $6500.

Yikes, I just got notification from my Citi Dividend Plat Select card yesterday that they were downgrading the 5% cash back on gas/groceries/drugstore purchases down to 2% effective Oct. 13, 2006. :mad: :td:

Time to take that card out of the rotation. :mad:

dac

Aug 22, 06, 7:13 pm

The Citi Driver's Edge card https://www.accountonline.com/ACQ/Chooser/LearnMore?siteId=CB&CARD_KEYS=4TZZ5Z15-M is still offered, it offers 6% rebates on purchases at supermarkets, drugstores and gas stations for 12 months; 3% after that, 1% rebates on other purchases.

SF Pauillac

Aug 23, 06, 6:11 pm

It looks like all true 5% cash back cards have been discontinued. Citibank no longer offers the Dividend Platinum Select nor the AT&T Universal Card. Similar for Chase.
The AMEX Blue Cash card still gives you 5%, but only when you spend over $6500.
The AT&T Universal Card (https://www.accountonline.com/View?docId=Index&siteId=AC&langId=EN) is still offered, with 10,000 bonus Thank You points plus 5 points per dollar on Gas, Grocery and Drugstore purchases, and 1 point for everything else. 5,000 Thank You points can be converted to $50 gift cards for gas stations, various stores and Amazon. The Thank You points can be converted to a bit more than 1 cent per mile if you redeem them for travel tickets, and you still get to earn miles on those tickets.

Blam104417

Aug 29, 06, 10:02 am

dieuwer2

Aug 29, 06, 10:34 am

The AT&T Universal Card (https://www.accountonline.com/View?docId=Index&siteId=AC&langId=EN) is still offered, with 10,000 bonus Thank You points plus 5 points per dollar on Gas, Grocery and Drugstore purchases, and 1 point for everything else. 5,000 Thank You points can be converted to $50 gift cards for gas stations, various stores and Amazon. The Thank You points can be converted to a bit more than 1 cent per mile if you redeem them for travel tickets, and you still get to earn miles on those tickets.

I stand corrected. The AT&T Universal Rewards Card is still available, the AT&T Cash Rewards Card is not.
However, the 5 points per dollar spend on gas, grocery and drugstore purchases are offered only for a limited amount of time (one year). After that you get the usual 1 point per dollar spend.

bluester

Aug 29, 06, 4:09 pm

I have decided to apply for the Starwood American Express card and use my CitiBank AAdvantage Platinum card as a backup. I read somewhere on one of these boards that in addition to the normal sign-up points you get for applying for the card you can also get additional points for ordering a second card. Does anyone out there know anything about this? I don't want to order both cards now if I am leaving points on the table. Thanks in advance for any assistance.

I have not heard of Starwood Amex offering bonus points for a second card (I'm assuming you mean a second cardholder on the same account). I know that Delta Amex offers points for a second cardholder. If you mean "second card" by get a card, cancel, then apply for another card, typically the Amex cards will only give bonus sign-up points once, and never again.

gregorygrady

Aug 29, 06, 4:12 pm

I have not heard of Starwood Amex offering bonus points for a second card (I'm assuming you mean a second cardholder on the same account). I know that Delta Amex offers points for a second cardholder. If you mean "second card" by get a card, cancel, then apply for another card, typically the Amex cards will only give bonus sign-up points once, and never again.
The bonus points for an additional cardholder rumor has a thread over in the SPG Forum, go look at that for more info. But basically it boils down to the fact that it is a targeted promo and most people aren't able to get in on it unless they were targeted........

ExclusiveDorothy

Sep 1, 06, 5:32 pm

Marriot VISA has been really good for me, I prefer the Marriots worldwide (Paris is my fave), and when I check in with their own VISA I have had great upgrades, including Presidential floors and countlesses breakfasts and free nights!

MKEbound

Sep 12, 06, 6:14 pm

I've heard that starting in October the Starwood AX will offer an additional bonus point per dollar spent at Starwood hotels, i.e. 1 point per dollar spent, and 2 points per dollar spent for a stay at the Westin.

Can anyone confirm this or provide a link?

AKronin

Sep 14, 06, 3:57 am

MKEbound

Sep 15, 06, 10:31 am

https://www201.americanexpress.com/cards/Applyfservlet?csi=4/15882/b/223

New offer for the HHonors AMEX - Upto 65,000 points for 4 stays and 5k in spend by March of 2007

Best deal I've seen yet.

biggestbopper

Sep 15, 06, 3:30 pm

Got a targeted U.S. Mail solcitation from HSBC for a 6% cash rebate MasterCard today. No annual fee, no interest balance transfer to Sept. '07. The catches appear to be: 1. 3% balance transfer fee, 2. 6% rebate does not kick in until you spend 12K in a year, til 12K it is a measly 1% (but, apparently the cash back is on everything put on the card), 3. Maximun yearly rebate is $300. No annual fee.

"Perfect for anyone who lives to the MAX." Guess that let's me out. :p

But, what do you think, is this offer worth considering?

IMHO, the UAL "pre-approved" Plat Visa solicitation I got in the same mail looks much better. 20,500 miles for getting card, fee waived for first yeart. I figure that 20,500 miles is worth at least 500 bucks and I don't have to spend any stinkin 12 grand to get it. In fact, I already sent in the UAL app to Chase. Still thinking about the HSBC offer, but think it will be :td:

themicah

Sep 15, 06, 4:02 pm

Got a targeted U.S. Mail solcitation from HSBC for a 6% cash rebate MasterCard today. No annual fee, no interest balance transfer to Sept. '07. The catches appear to be: 1. 3% balance transfer fee, 2. 6% rebate does not kick in until you spend 12K in a year, til 12K it is a measly 1% (but, apparently the cash back is on everything put on the card), 3. Maximun yearly rebate is $300. No annual fee.

"Perfect for anyone who lives to the MAX." Guess that let's me out. :p

1% on the first $12k + 6% above $12k up to $300 total cash back = maximum 2% average cash back per year ($300 back if you spend exactly $15k). Not bad, but certainly not for those "who live to the MAX." :rolleyes:

BTW, you should never use the same card for both balance transfers and purchases, unless the purchase APR is equal to or lower than the balance transfer APR. This is because almost all credit cards have a rule in their fine print that says payments go first to the lowest-interest-rate portion of your balance. So if you have a $3000 balance earning 0%, and you buy $500 worth of stuff at a purchase APR of 15%, you have to pay off the $3k at 0% before you can start to pay off the $500 purchase (meanwhile the $500 is earning the card issuer a tidy 15% APR).

biggestbopper

Sep 15, 06, 5:27 pm

Thanks for doing the math I was too lazy to do. If I was that interested in cash back, I think I'd go for an Executive Costco Amex rebate card.

Actually, I was kind of thinking of establishing a "relationship" with HSBC because I understand they have good, low (or no) fee ATM access in much of the Orient. But I guess the MAX offer is not going to do it. Not with a $12K spend requirement for the best rebate.

I love my miles. ;) And, they are worth more than the rebate (think Starwood).

themicah

Sep 16, 06, 10:20 am

Actually, I was kind of thinking of establishing a "relationship" with HSBC because I understand they have good, low (or no) fee ATM access in much of the Orient.

HSBC ATMs can be hard to find in Asia outside the major cities. If all you want is low-cost overseas ATM withdrawals, it's probably better to simply open a bank account with a bank that doesn't charge any fees. We have just such a guide to credit card and ATM fees over at the FlyerTalk wiki:

http://www.flyertalk.com/wiki/index.php/Credit/Debit/ATM_Cards_and_Foreign_Exchange

AussieInUSA

Jun 12, 07, 1:45 am

gleff, thanks so much for this digestible analysis - very helpful. I came to this site as a newbie looking for advice, did a few searches, and found your comment(s) and blog - the best so far. I have an impending choice to make, and would appreciate your (and others') opinions, if you'd be willing to comment about a specific scenario...

My situation:

Relocated by my company to the US from Australia.
Have just opened a Citibank bank account.
Am an AAdvantage Gold Member (achieved through flights alone - no input to date from credit cards or other methods of accumulating Miles - want to correct this from here on!).
Am a Qantas FF (Ruby, I think) but am not currently "feeding" points into that.
Hold Hilton HHonors, Priority Club and Starwood loyalty cards (Priority Club used most because of company preferred hotel arrangements).

Because of a hectic lifestyle and a mental allergy to paperwork/administration, I need an approach that's simple and doesn't require a lot of monitoring or maintenance. So I'm inclined towards just having one credit card (in addition to my Citi Gold debit card), through which I run everything - flights, car rental, hotels, groceries, online shopping, the works. Citibank's current New Card 40,000 Bonus Miles Offer (3 years: 20 + 10 + 10) looks pretty good in light of my needs.

My questions:

What are the relative merits of the "Citi Platinum Select / AAdvantage World MasterCard" vs. the "Citi Select / AAdvantage American Express Card"?? Longer term impact on accumulation of Miles? User experience? Quality of customer service? Dispute resolution? What else?
What is making you think "Sheesh, she could do much better for herself and still keep it simple if only she was prepared to [pick one]: add an XXX card/do XXX/get her act together/... (OK, you can't actually choose this last one :) ). ??
What else should I be considering?

BTW, this is my first ever post, anywhere, about anything (so please forgive any newbie missteps). I hope I haven't blotted my copybook with such a lengthy debut, but the US banking systems are so complex and bogged down in documentation, and there's limited line-of-sight to the likely "lived experience".... quite overwhelming :confused:

All advice/input gratefully received - thanks in advance.

Kremmen

Jun 12, 07, 2:03 am

Am an AAdvantage Gold Member (achieved through flights alone - no input to date from credit cards or other methods of accumulating Miles - want to correct this from here on!).
Am a Qantas FF (Ruby, I think) but am not currently "feeding" points into that.

First, just having one credit card is always a dangerous approach. Mistakes happen and one huge unauthorised charge to your card could make it unusable. Personally, I never travel with less than 4 credit cards, split between Mastercard, Visa and Amex. Apart from the risk factor, there's what they offer. Qantas has about the least valuable FF points in existence, so it's good to be going where the competition is better.

Starwood's Amex is worth much more than AA points in my opinion, but either are far better than any Aussie cards.

AussieInUSA

Jun 12, 07, 2:28 am

Kremmen, thanks for the prompt reply. Just to clarify: (a) I now live in the USA, and all my banking arrangements are therefore in America - I won't be using any Australian cards; and (b) My focus is on AAdvantage, not Qantas. Apols if that wasn't clear in what I wrote - maybe it got obscured in the lengthy post! I appreciate your general advice and also the safety aspect of having more than one card.

Kremmen

Jun 12, 07, 3:18 am

I now live in the USA, and all my banking arrangements are therefore in America - I won't be using any Australian cards

I usually find that banks fail to provide what's wanted when it's wanted, so I tend to keep old accounts open. (If they have fees, you can usually convert them to a fee-free version which can be converted back later. Same applies locally, so, for example, when I stopped using my Westpac Altitude card, I converted it to a fee-free Westpac card. Don't want to lose the credit limit and have to start again if they start offering a better product some year.)

Many people I know keep accounts (bank debit accounts and/or credit card accounts) open in multiple countries. Makes it much easier if you return, or even if you just want to pay for something in the other country, esp. at a web site which doesn't accept international credit cards, or only does BPay, etc. (For non-Australians: BPay is an almost ubiquitous bill payment system in Australia. It allows payment by various means including credit card, but this has to be initiated from the payer's online banking, which means it can't work for any bank which doesn't support BPay.)

Also, it's particularly useful to have more than one card in the USA: A significant part of the US credit scoring system is based on what proportion of your credit limit you are using, so you get better rates/deals/offers/etc if you have lots of unused credit.

AussieInUSA

Jun 12, 07, 3:23 am

Yep, I agree. I have kept an investment account active in Australia - I just won't use it for everyday banking. Thanks!

rrgg

Jun 12, 07, 7:42 am

AussieInUSA, Others will complain about Citi, but I can say they recovered a few thousand dollars in a dicey dispute for me. I was pretty happy with Citi.

In the US, AMEX is widely accepted, but every once in a while you'll find a place that only takes Mastercard or Visa. Abroad, I find Mastercard does better but YMMV. I agree with others that you should have more than 1 card. The suggestion about Starwood AMEX is that it can earn 25,000 AA miles per $20,000 spent. On the other hand it does not come with the large bonus you're being offered.

gpapadop

Jun 12, 07, 9:26 am

Hi and welcome to FT:

If I were you I would get the Starwood Amex. As a secondary card I would get the Citi AA Mastercard since not all places accept Amex. I would do enough on the MC to make sure I get all the bonuses and keep it for the duration of the no fee period. Then get a Citi Business credit card and repeat:D

Welcome to USA and the world of miles/points...It is very hard to keep it as simple as you want...We all here have a high tolerance for detail to pounce on these "opportunities":)

toomanybooks

Jun 12, 07, 2:50 pm

AussieInUSA You will apparently be charging a lot of travel-related expenses to your new card. I think you should also consider the Costco Amex card, fee-free with membership in Costco ($45-100 a year as I recall, depending on benefit level).

Main features:

1. 5% cash back for gasoline, at FedEd and FedEx/Kinkos, with Gateway Computers, with Hertz, with Marriott, and with Wingate Inns.
2. 3% cash back on restaurant meals, with Delta, Hyatt, and with JetBlue.
3. 2% cash back on hotels, rental cars, and airline tickets ("travel" category, they call it).
4. 1% on everything else.

Plus some other discounts. Rebate cash goes right against your monthly bill (at least it does for me) and with these vendors will likely will exceed the value of any FF miles or points you might otherwise get.

And if there is a Costco nearby, you can save a lot shopping there. I recently bought a new car and for sure saved several hundred dollars through their program.

Also check the Southwest Visa, should you travel with them or use any of their many partners. 1 Southwest RR credit per $1200 spent on anything, and 1 RR credit per $600 spent with Southwest or any of their partners (as I understand it).

And the Choice Privileges Visa (fee-free), especially if you stay in those hotels. They have a killer deal on right now through Aug. 15.

mia

Jun 12, 07, 3:12 pm

... consider the Costco Amex card

The features you mention match the Costco business card, not the consumer version, and many of these features are shared by all American Express business cards. Note, however, that business cards are not afforded the same legal protections as consumer cards.

biggestbopper

Jun 12, 07, 3:44 pm

Note, however, that business cards are not afforded the same legal protections as consumer cards.

You ain't kidding. Biz cards have essentially no legal protections for the user under the Fair Credit Billing Act. :td: They are very dangerous.

I only use them when it is the means to getting big bonus miles. ^ For example, Amex Delta Biz card. :)

rrgg

Jun 12, 07, 4:01 pm

I'm guessing AussieInUSA probably wants a program that goes to Oz, and since disputes were mentioned forget the business card. So Southwest and Costco cards don't seem to be in the running.

tommyking

Jun 13, 07, 1:53 pm

themicah

Jun 13, 07, 1:58 pm

I'll be in Tuscanny (near Sienna) in June. Does anyone have any suggestions regarding credit card use? Should I use my Discover card or Citi MC or Chase Visa? Are any of them better regarding currency exchange? If this is not in the right thread I apologize.... I'm going over there with about $215 Euros and any other suggestions regarding currency exchange/ best ways to spend are greatly appreciated...

http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php/Credit/Debit/ATM_Cards_and_Foreign_Exchange

EugeneV

Jun 13, 07, 3:48 pm

I've posted this in the Chase Freedom (http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=605077) thread, but it probably belongs here too.

Depending on how you value CO, UA or BA miles, you may want to use the Freedom card to earn points that convert 6000 to 5000 miles. Of course, you would do better with the co-branded cards, but this one has no annual fee and converts to all three. Starwood is only 2:1 for UA and CO (but you can still convert SPG to Amtrak 1:1, which converts to CO 1:1 - probably not for much longer, because Chase will be the next issuer of the Amtrak card).

When it comes to shopping at supermarkets, drugstores and gas stations/convenience stores, unlike the co-branded cards, Chase Freedom will give you 3 points per dollar (equivalent to 2.5 miles). And now they have a version of this card that has 15 "essential" shopping categories. You get 3 points per dollar in top three (where you spend the most) automatically, every month. In addition to supermarkers/drugstores/gas you have fast food, telecom, cable/sat TV/ISP, video rental, dept stores, dry cleaners, movie theaters, public transportation/tolls/bridges/parking/taxi/limo, pet supplies/vet, utility, beauty shops, gym membership. I prefer 5% cash back in those categories where it's available, but otherwise 3 points (2.5 miles) per dollar is pretty good. And you can always choose cash, 1 point = 1c ($50 min) or giftcards. If you collect $200 in Chase Freedom money, they will actually send you a check for $250. 1.25% cash back is impressive, too. Make it 3.75% if all your shopping is within three out of 15 categories. Points/cash back are unlimited, but you get 2% bonus on only up to $600 of monthly spending. There are yearly caps on point-to-mile conversion though. Current Freedom card holders can upgrade to this version, and your account number will stay the same if you have a MasterCard.

Also, I've posted elsewhere (http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=542048) that if you are collecting El Al Matmid points and are based in the US, HAS Advantage card (issued by US Bank) beats AMEX MR Rewards and Diners (and has no annual fee). Starwood currently does not convert SPG to Matmid points at all.

biggestbopper

Jun 13, 07, 3:54 pm

rrgg

Jun 13, 07, 5:21 pm

IMHO, while overseas you should try to avoid use of any of the mileage and bonus cards because they all pretty much have very steep currency conversion charges. :td: Charges which more than overbalance the miles benefits.

Instead, look for a card which has minimal forex charges and use that instead. I love miles, but I hate paying more than they are worth to get 'em. :p
You can get both of those things in one card. While overseas, Capital One charges a 0% forex fee, absorbs the visa/mc surcharge and gives a 1% reward. (see earlier discussion)

Jun 13, 07, 9:15 pm

The features you mention match the Costco business card, not the consumer version, and many of these features are shared by all American Express business cards. Note, however, that business cards are not afforded the same legal protections as consumer cards.

The Costco consumer card pays 3% on restaurants, 2% on all travel (hotel, car, transportation, etc), and 1% on everything else.

AussieInUSA

Jun 14, 07, 3:33 am

Thanks rrgg - that's helpful to know.

AussieInUSA

Jun 14, 07, 3:44 am

Welcome to USA and the world of miles/points...It is very hard to keep it as simple as you want...We all here have a high tolerance for detail to pounce on these "opportunities":)

Thanks for the welcome and advice, gpapadop. It seems from your own and others' advice that I would be wise to increase my own tolerance (at least one extra card) in order to sensibly use the opportunities available to me. Oh well, so be it!

AussieInUSA

Jun 14, 07, 3:49 am

Thanks TooManyBooks, Mia and BiggestBopper for the Costco discussion - useful advice, possibilities and cautions for me to ponder.

themicah

Jun 15, 07, 11:20 am

Thanks TooManyBooks, Mia and BiggestBopper for the Costco discussion - useful advice, possibilities and cautions for me to ponder.

One note about the Costco card: at least with some versions you have to redeem your rewards at an actual Costco store. That's no big deal if you shop there anyway, but for those of us who have never even been to a Costco, it makes the cards pretty unattractive.

retired43

Jun 15, 07, 12:21 pm

I'll be in Tuscanny (near Sienna) in June. Does anyone have any suggestions regarding credit card use? Should I use my Discover card or Citi MC or Chase Visa? Are any of them better regarding currency exchange? If this is not in the right thread I apologize.... I'm going over there with about $215 Euros and any other suggestions regarding currency exchange/ best ways to spend are greatly appreciated...
I've lived & traveled extensively overseas & I've never seen Discover accepted (except in US military associated stores). So that would narrow your choices. I would recommend a Cap One account because of the no forex charge.

wsbombers

Jun 15, 07, 4:25 pm

One note about the Costco card: at least with some versions you have to redeem your rewards at an actual Costco store. That's no big deal if you shop there anyway, but for those of us who have never even been to a Costco, it makes the cards pretty unattractive.

Actually, I'm pretty sure you do not need to spend the rewards at Costco with those cards. You do need to go to the store to pick up the money, though.

tom911

Jun 15, 07, 4:43 pm

I'm pretty sure you do not need to spend the rewards at Costco with those cards

True. I took my check in last year and redeemed it at the register, as I didn't buy anything that day and kept forgetting to cash it.

themicah

Jun 15, 07, 4:44 pm

I've lived & traveled extensively overseas & I've never seen Discover accepted (except in US military associated stores). So that would narrow your choices. I would recommend a Cap One account because of the no forex charge.

Discover is only accepted in North and Central America, parts of the Caribbean and recently in China. It is completely useless everywhere else.

CMHFlyerOH

Jun 17, 07, 2:43 am

I've posted this in the Chase Freedom (http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=605077) thread, but it probably belongs here too.

And now they have a version of this card that has 15 "essential" shopping categories. You get 3 points per dollar in top three (where you spend the most) automatically, every month. In addition to supermarkers/drugstores/gas you have fast food, telecom, cable/sat TV/ISP, video rental, dept stores, dry cleaners, movie theaters, public transportation/tolls/bridges/parking/taxi/limo, pet supplies/vet, utility, beauty shops, gym membership. I prefer 5% cash back in those categories where it's available, but otherwise 3 points (2.5 miles) per dollar is pretty good.

Any links out there to this version of the card? Any links to apps for this card that have sign on bonuses?

EugeneV

Jun 18, 07, 7:16 pm

Any links out there to this version of the card? Any links to apps for this card that have sign on bonuses?

It is possible that this card is only offered as an upgrade and you cannot apply for it directly. It seems, though, that you get the extra categories automatically if you request to upgrade your card to Visa Signature. My wife has hers on "regular" Platinum MasterCard, though. If you don't have a card to convert ("trade", in Chase' terminology), you can apply for the regular Freedom Visa. There are a bunch of sites that will pay various rewards for it, but occasionally Chase offers even bigger rewards for "direct" applications - as much as $250. This is discussed in some threads in other subforums - search for "freedom".

TravellingMan

Jun 18, 07, 11:30 pm

NOTE: Just realized that it has already been covered in the wiki. Stale news, but for anyone who could use it...good luck.

http://www.us.hsbc.com/1/2/3/personal/hsbcpremier/privileges

HSBC has introduced a new card that charges no forex charges. I am a bit leery of them since they want details down to the size of my shoes before issuing a card.

Widest International Acceptance1

Shop with confidence across the globe, knowing that your card is accepted at over 24 million locations worldwide. Equipped with the purchasing power of a no pre-set spending limit, it's the only card you'll need:

* 0% Introductory APR on credit card purchases for the first 12 months from Account opening2
* No annual fee
* No pre-set spending limit3
* No foreign transaction fees on purchases made in a foreign currency

rrgg

Jun 19, 07, 7:25 am

Earn a full 1% cash back on every credit card purchase
The HSBC card sounds like the Capital One, no forex and 1% reward. Thanks for posting this.

HSaxa

Nov 6, 07, 6:40 pm

Any credit cards that award more than 1% cash back on travel purchases (airfare, hotels, car rentals, restaurants)? 1% seems to be the norm for these types of purchases, so I'd love to know if any cc's offer more.

I have all the points I can use, so some cash might be better at this point. Thanks

rrgg

Nov 6, 07, 7:28 pm

Any credit cards that award more than 1% cash back on travel purchases (airfare, hotels, car rentals, restaurants)? 1% seems to be the norm for these types of purchases, so I'd love to know if any cc's offer more.You might check out this new card:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=747267

themicah

Nov 7, 07, 9:58 am

CapOne Cash Rewards now offers 1.25% cash back on everything (1% immediately + an additional 0.25% year-end bonus).

Their customer service is pretty remarkably terrible, though.

pgary

Nov 7, 07, 6:44 pm

Duke5150

Nov 8, 07, 10:04 am

frank_10b

Feb 12, 08, 3:35 pm

rushnrockt

Feb 14, 08, 12:44 pm

Costco TrueEarnings. 2% on travel. 3% dining.

Any credit cards that award more than 1% cash back on travel purchases (airfare, hotels, car rentals, restaurants)? 1% seems to be the norm for these types of purchases, so I'd love to know if any cc's offer more.

I have all the points I can use, so some cash might be better at this point. Thanks

pgary

Feb 14, 08, 7:29 pm

Who has the most complete list of best cards?

Perhaps I do. See the credit card section of my website below.

tev9999

Feb 14, 08, 7:47 pm

Who has the most complete list of best cards? Are there any blogs recommended out there? Everything on ft and fw is just so spread out I feel like I am on a research question literature review!!! Also where is the best cardoffers.com etc site to apply from?

thanks!

Check the "Which Credit Cards Should I Get" thread at fatwallet - in finance forum in the stickies at the top. It will also link to a couple other threads for balance transfer and signup bonus cards. The summaries (2nd or 3rd post in each thread) are pretty comprehensive.

thorthor

Jul 28, 09, 11:17 am

Well, I've read through some of this thread and I think the Travelocity MC may potentialy be the best card out there, with its up to 4% back on all purchases.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other-credit-card-programs/978593-how-good-travelocity-mastercard.html
But I'd love to get more feedback on it from someone who actually has it before I apply - how easy it is to book awards etc.

skibum85

Aug 2, 09, 10:07 am

Does anyone know if its possible to get the United Mileage Plus Visa with "Blink"?

pierre mclopez

Aug 4, 09, 8:57 am

....I have all the points I can use, so some cash might be better at this point. Thanks

I like the idea of setting up a Schwab or Fidelity account for Mad Money and funding it with cash back cards (2% Schwab Visa or Fidelity AMEX; 1-1/2% Fidelity Visa). Pretty good motivator. :cool:

rodrigo

Oct 4, 09, 5:31 pm

Is there a place where we can build AND MAINTAIN a list or comparison chart for all the relevant credit cards? A place that keeps their APR, annual fees, miles/points per dollar, compatibility with other programs, etc?

I feel like a forum is not the best place for this. I'm looking for cards and I just read the OP's post. It's excellent, but it's years old and some of it is outdated (I think the Starwoods card is $45 instead of $30, for example). So I can't fully trust it. And reading 11 pages worth of forum is not time-effective (and I'll be reading possibly outdated information).

Any ideas on how to do this or where to look if such list already exists?

Thanks

Edit: The fatwallet Finance forum pointed me to this site, which is very useful:
http://www.creditcardtuneup.com/

gleff

Oct 4, 09, 5:44 pm

This isn't fully what you're after, but at least more up-to-date:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milesbuzz/973934-consolidated-best-rewards-credit-card-discussion-hugely-comprehensive.html

RustyC

Oct 4, 09, 6:49 pm

I'm starting to get notices for "changes to agreements" related to the new credit card law. The gist so far seems to be that banks can't do the mixed-balance trick anymore or shenanigans with too-short payment periods, saying a payment arriving after 1 PM is "next day" or approving overlimit charges so they can charge overlimit fees rather than just declining the charge.

To try to replace those questionable profit streams they're raising minimum payments, raising upfront costs for cash advances and balance transfers to 5%, and really raising interest on cash advances or balance transfers to prime + 23% or something looking loanshark-like (one thing the credit card bill didn't do was cap interest rates).

It all probably won't be good for paying off balances every month and playing the mileage game. The overall size of the credit-card business could well shrink, as could the role. OTOH, the situation it had gotten to before the changes was unsustainable.