Backup Card needed - Visa/MC
 

I have been a lurker on the forum for a while and I"m just getting into posting here.

The site has a wealth of knowledge and there are a ton of great people.

Right now I'm having an issue. I travel a lot for work and need a pretty extensive line of credit. I have great credit and no real debt but would like to squeeze as much as possible out of rewards.

Right now I have an AMEX platinum (US) and need a solid backup card for travel where AMEX is not accepted.

Any recommendations on a backup MC or VISA, I just want the best possible rewards and have looked at VISA black already (doesn't seem that great)?

Thanks

Welcome to Flyertalk!

Mild understatement :rolleyes:, read here:

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

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...sa-black.html?

How do you redeem Membership Rewards points, for airline miles, giftcards or...? How much do you expect to spend in a year on the backup card?

chase aarp (5% cash back on everything and possibly 7% on travel for 6 billing cycles)

I am not eligible for AARP due to my age (30).

I will put probably 30K-40K/year on the backup card at least.

there's no age requirement for the aarp card.. just paying the $16 will get you in (need a member # before applying)

It would still be helpful to know what type of rewards you value. For example, spending $30,000 per calendar year on a Chase British Airways VISA card earns a 2-for-1 voucher which can effectively double the value of BA miles - but you need to understand the restrictions.

A lot of it depends on the mix of your spend.

I'm using the Citi Forward card as my Amex backup. 5 points per dollar on dining (both full-serve & fast food), books (including amazon.com) and entertainment. 100 points per month for paying your bill on time. A bulk of my spending falls under the dining category so this works out very well for me. I rarely shop for gas/groceries/drugstores so those bonuses don't work for me but could for you.

A good cash back visa/mc would be a good bet. Asiana is a good option as well, 2 miles/dollar. Citi has an Hilton HHonors Visa which might be useful for you (nothing spectacular on the earn rate). Chase Sapphire ($85 version) or a Chase United/Continental card might be useful if you want if you want UA/CO miles there (tough to transfer in). the US credit card might be helpful if you want to earn EQM on a Star carrier - 10k EQM after 25k spend, and they've consistently offered an additional 10k EQM for 50k spend. Makes it easy to buy-up or fly the rest for Silver status.

I believe the Asiana credit card issued by Bank of America is an Amex-network card:


https://www4.bankofamerica.com/credi...7C2047565%7CJU

do you have many foreign purchases? if so, check out the penfed promise card (visa) with no fees for anything. since you state this will be a back-up card, rewards should not matter and having a zero-percent foreign transaction fee might save you more than other cards' rewards systems pay you.

Hi,

thanks for the link! I applied today and got approved in 1 hour! (they just need tax return copies).

Because I live in Switzerland, I think can be a really good backup card! (I hate the 3% of my bofa visa).

My first idea was the citi at 500$ annual fee, but I think is simply to much for just a backup card!