OliverB

I recently got the Chase Sapphire Preferred card for use on an upcoming trip, but I'm not sure that it's ideal for my needs. I tend to mostly fly on low tier tickets in economy class and I already have ample miles stacked with most frequent flyer programs, so booking flight rewards is not of particular priority for me.

I'm looking for a card that would offer the most benefit (highest rewards and flexibility) for the type of travel that I do most frequently and that seems to translate to boutique hotel stays. I almost always chose to stay in historic hotels or independent properties with local character, avoiding the big brands and chains. The few exceptions being Fairmont and Starwood (ocassionally others) but it's not enough to consider aligning myself with any brand's loyalty or membership card exclusively. In contrast to how I fly, when it comes to hotels I almost always book into top tier rooms and suites. Specific properties and room class are the biggest selling points for me when travelling.

Given my particular travel habits (cheap flights and luxury non-chain hotels) what do you recommend to get the most bang for buck from a rewards card? As mentioned, I currently have the Chase SP which I'd planned to use for an upcoming trip where I anticipate ~$40k in spending (hotels, restaurants, rental cars, etc). I'm not sure if it would make sense to put all of this spending on the Chase card considering the few smaller domestic trips that I have shortly following, in which I'd like to be able to use reward points or cash-back from the bigger int'l trip, to cover expenses. It just seems like a waste to hold a very high UR point balance but still be paying top dollar for expensive hotel suites, don't you agree?

What would be the most efficient and ideally suited reward card for redeeming nights on non-brand luxury hotel stays in most cities internationally?

Thanks!

nickerss

Barclaycard Arrival+

OliverB

Thanks nickerss!

Could you please tell me what the cashback percentage is per dollar spent on hotels, flights, and restaurants?

nickerss

2.2% on everything.

I don't really see how you could do better. Redeeming points for boutique hotels pretty much requires a cashback or cashback-style card.

You can read the original thread about it here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...l-credits.html

and the updated version after some changes were made: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...l-credits.html

Basically you get $400 worth of "miles" after spending $3k in 3 months, no foreign transaction fee, Chip+PIN for purchases abroad, $95 fee waived for the first year.

OliverB

Also what constitutes "travel expenses" in order to be eligible for the 10% bounce back on points spent? Would any hotel booking, whether made directly or through a third party website, travel agency, etc. qualify?

OliverB

Thanks so much!!

I should've applied for this card from the get-go.

Last question: on the off chance that I'm unable to get approved for the Barclay Arrival+ only weeks after getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred, is there any way to transfer Ultimate Rewards points from once card to the other at decent value?

Thanks for all of your help!

nickerss

There's a huge list of eligible and non-eligible expenses in the Wiki at the top of the original thread I just gave you a link to. You should be fine for most if not all travel agencies or direct hotel bookings. If you happened to book one that didn't count, you could call Barclays and they may let you redeem miles for it manually.

nickerss

As in transfer UR points into Arrival+ miles? Not possible.

I don't know much about UR, but can't you book hotels through the UR travel portal or something like that using UR points at 1 or 1.25 cents per point? You might be best off doing that if you have tons of UR points. Do they only include chain hotels?

OliverB

Thanks. I'm new to UR so I'm not entirely familiar, but I believe you could use services like Expedia through the UR Mall for non chain bookings. The services are fewer and far between though as many partner sites like Travelocity and others have dropped out. It's probably not the best way to maximize point value but I suppose it also depends on personal opinion and whether one values credit towards hotel stays over airmiles, regardless of which weighs more in the spender's favor. For me, it's unquestionably hotel stays so I may just take your advice and use the UR Mall for the points accumulated from this upcoming trip and then apply for the Barclay A+ several months from now.

acrollet

I am not a credit expert by any means, but if you have excellent credit and no other recent applications, I'd be somewhat shocked if barclay turned you down for the arrival. Also worth noting that UR points transfer to Hyatt, which you didn't mention but is more interesting/unique than most chains imo.