Zentos

Hi All --

I've been reading through the Amex MR and Other credit card forums for a few weeks now and have done numerous searches in both and it seems the more I search the more confusing it gets. In Summary, I'm looking to get a card for primarily airfare or cruise rewards which will give the best bang for my buck.

Here's our stats:
- Annual spend of 40-50k the past 2 years and I plan to increase that this year will more bill pays to the card, etc.
- Discover is primary card that we redeem for gift cards
- Amex Blue Cash is secondary card (Costco and places that don't accept Discover) [Is it possible to upgrade this card to something better?]
- 720+ credit scores, my wife had 780-805 last time we checked
- 200K+ income
- United Mileage Plus account with 45,000 miles that I'd like to use for international travel

I've read a lot of recommendations for the SPG card and that it's a great all around card. I've looked at it and I agree, except that it gives a 2:1 transfer for UA miles which is where I currently have a balance. I've also read about the new Premier Gold card which gives the MR bonuses as being a great card as well. The new UA MP cards are intriguing as well, but I'm not sure I want to be stuck with just UA miles.

I don't feel the Discover is anywhere near our best use of rewards right now, but I'm having trouble deciding which way to go as there are so many choices and so much good detail I've read and more to read on this forum.

I know this has been asked countless times on this forum, but I've seen where the people who have asked this got different answers based upon their situations and I didn't find one that lined up to mine.

Thank you for your time in reading this and any responses!

mia

Alas, American Express has no relationship with United Airlines. If you are committed to accumulating Mileage Plus miles long term there is no alternative to Chase. You can transfer Membership Rewards points to another Star Alliance program, such as Aeroplan, ANA, or Continental, and redeem through that program for travel on United, but there is no sensible way to earn Mileage Plus miles through any card issued by American Express.

Zentos

I'm not committed to Mileage Plus by any means, but if I was able to leverage my current accrued miles that would have been nice.

The trips we are looking to hopefully use these rewards for would be from ORD to Europe and Hong Kong. So, any airline that would accommodate those routes would work for us.

easygoing77

You may want to consider switching discover card to discover escape card that earns 2 points per dollar spend. 10K points can be redemmed for 100 dollar travel credit to your account. However it has 60 dollar annual fee, but the card comes with primary car rental insurance (means card insurance comes first, protecting your own car insurance).

You can find more information at -

http://www.discovercard.com/escape/

With 30K spending in a year you can earn 600 dollar travel credit - 60 dollar annaul fee = 540 dollar travel credit (1.8 cents per dollar spend).

lifeandmylens

This sounds like a cool card. I wonder if I can convert one of my discover more cards to this.

biggestbopper

IMHO, in what you describe your situation and goals to be I would forget about Discover (indeed, I personally would not use a Discover Card--bad service and low rewards, usually with a hassle) and close the account.

But, first, I would apply for a Chase United card and get the current bonus of 30K. http://www.chasecreditcards.com/airline-rewards.asp There is a $60 annual fee which I believe is not being waived right now. Once you get a couple of bonus UA cards you'll have enough miles to go somewhere internationally in First or Biz.

I would also think about applying for one or more American cards through Citibank to get the current bonuses of 30K.

SPG is good and usually should be used whenever possible in the US. SPG Starpoints transfer with a 25% bonus into American miles so it is actually better if you have an AA frequent flyer account. I believe there is currently a 25K Starwood Amex bonus out there with no annual fee for first year. 10K with first purchase and 15K after $15K spend in first 4 months.

mia

I'm sure there is no $30,000 bonus, but do you mean 30,000 miles or is there a bonus for spending $30,000 on one of the UA cards?

biggestbopper

You mean you didn't get the $30,000.00 bonus?

But seriously, folks ... I edited my original post to reflect that the bonus I meant was 30K miles.

lifeandmylens

Kind of off topic, but nope! I called just to see, since I have two "More" cards that I opened over 10 years ago and never use them except for the merchants that participate in shopdiscover. Anyway, I thought it might come in handy to switch one of them out for the Escape. I called in and the lady said they do not have a card called escape, but they have a miles card. I explained, no there is an escape card and then she told me the miles card and the escape card are the same. I said, go to your own home page and look and see there is one called the escape card. A few seconds later she came back and said oh yes, sorry "I forgot about that one"! But you cannot convert a non AF card to a card with an AF. But I can't believe she didn't even know they had a card called escape!

Oh and she would barely let me get off the phone because she was so insistent on selling me the "Identity Protection" plan. I almost had to hang up on her.

Club_IC

If status with Hilton is of interest, the new Amex Surpass Card provides Diamond Status after spending 40,000 per year, irrespective of actual number of stays or nights per year.

Hope this is useful.

cheapasiandad

Hey all,

I'm also considering a new primary card for the year. Looking to put all our regular expenses on it, and pay it off each month. I've narrowed down to 3 options - Discover Escape, Starwood Amex, and Citi AA card.

Currently we fly American the most. Goal is to save up miles for a trip to Hawaii in a few years for our 10th anniversary.

Discover Escape looks appealing to me, because it's 2 pts on any purchase, as well as a simple conversion - 10k pts = $100 travel credit, on any airline, and can be booked through any online site.

Citi American is appealing because we fly American the most, and you get the 30k free miles.

I just read about Starwood on these forums, wasn't considering it much before, but it seems like it also has some nice perks.

Thanks for any help,

Sam

mia

Welcome to Flyertalk.

If this sounds good you should also look at the two cards discussed in these threads:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...astercard.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...verything.html

freeflyin

It sounds as if AA miles is your primary goal.If so,my suggestion would be to get the Citi AA card,take the 30K miles then get the SPG Amex for everything else. SPG points transfer to AA at 1:1 plus a 5000 mile bonus for each 20K you transfer.

I would then cancel the AA card before the annual fee comes due.

You may want to consider another card to use for the times when the SPG Amex is not accepted-I am finding myself using my Schwab Visa very often these days.

lifeandmylens

Kind of off topic, but does anyone know whether the SPG Amex is underwritten by AMEX or SPG?

Edit, nevermind I see it's by amex, just applied and was approved. I'll probably put some spend on there, at least enough to pay for my flights and possible hotel stays at starwoods, in lieu of the 'taxable' plum rebate, the rest I guess will still go to the plum!

Also about the discover escape card, take into account the credit lines they give - they are generally quite low when compared to other issuers and from what I have seen very stingy on CLIs (then again I rarely use mine so maybe that's why I never get them lol).