Best CC for a Consultant?
 

This is a funny thing to me. My new firm (a boutique strategy consulting firm) doesn't have a firm AmEx for everyone to use. We are supposed to use our personal cards and then we get reimbursed.

What card do you recommend for me? I'll likely be traveling Mon-Thu most weeks (unless I get on a local NYC project). I'd be putting airfare, hotel, and meals on it, along with whatever other incidentals are there.

One of my colleagues told me to get an AmEx Platinum for the lounge access and a bunch of their other perks. I am leaning in that direction. I think Membership Rewards is the best program out there, especially since it's nice to not have to commit to one airline or hotel chain for rewards. Most of the rewards I'd be interested in are of the ilk of using for hotel/airfare for vacations, but getting people AmEx gift cards and the like seems like it could be nice as well.

Thanks! (fun question!)

The Platinum Card offers the most comprehensive lounge access package, but there is an important gap. The card itself is accepted at AA, DL and US lounges (AA & DL require that you be on one of their flights), plus they provide a Priority Pass Select membership. However, the membership specifically excludes CO/UA lounges. If you will frequently fly on CO/UA you may need to buy a United Club membership or one of the cards offered by Chase which bundles a membership.

Discussion here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...arge-card.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...ss-select.html

I am sure your company/associates have a preference for a hotes chain ? Our professional services group prefers Marriott, so we almost always stay there, so we all have Marriott Visas. The additional nights and bonus points make it worth it.

Then each of us has an AMEX and some others. It depends on what you want to use the points for. Personally, I have moved my spending temporarily from my SPG Amex to Chase Sapphire, but I agree flexibility is a great thing especially when you are racking up hotel and airline miles in other ways.

For me, I am use the Sapphire primarily because of the transfer option to Hyatt, Marriott and PC. If I needed airline miles, I would probably be using my SPG Amex, but I have enough right now. Only exception would be if you needed United miles where the Amex ratio is 2:1, Chase is 1:1.

Lounge access to me is not a big deal, so not a big pro/con either way in my assessment.

Thanks, y'all. Over lunch with one of the partners, it came up that we're probably going to get company AmEx cards early next year. So what I'll do in the meantime is just get another card issued on my SPG AmEx, which I'll use for work expenses. Doesn't cost me anything, I get lots of SPG points, and work spend will be separated from personal spend on my bill.

Sounds like you already have your answer, but I'm a consultant and almost exclusively use my SPG Amex for all travel expenses. Of course I stay at *wood properties every week, so it makes sense.

+1
 

Title says it all.

Update - renewed request
 

Hey all,

So, it turns out that we're not getting company Amexes after all. I'm once again in the same boat. Some more info...

- I currently have the SPG Amex and use it for all travel expenses.
- I will probably try to stay at SPG properties, but it looks like Marriott is a common choice among others so I'll likely be at Marriotts as well fairly often.
- I'd prefer not to pay an additional annual fee, but I would be willing to do so if there's a compelling case.
- I plan mainly to use the points I accrue for leisure travel benefits (mainly hotel, but redeeming for air tickets would also be nice).

What do y'all think? Stick with SPG (I use a separate card on my main account for work spend to keep them separate)? AmEx Green? Gold? Platinum? Something else?

Just to reiterate what I said before - I see no reason to get anything other than the SPG card. I fly delta, have DM status for the sky club, and find *points more valuable than airline miles. Also the annual fee on the SPG card is much lower than many others. If I didn't have club access I would consider the Delta Reserve card. The annual fee is steep but it would give club access and it is also used somewhere down the list as a tiebreaker in DLs upgrade formula.

On redemption you can use *points for flights and hotels so it's really all you need. Someone who is more familiar with Marriott can probably make a better reasoned argument, but point-for-point SPG has more value, so the CC bonus is more valuable with SPG than Marriott. Of course if your projects require you to stay at at Marriotts then that card probably makes more sense. At our firm, we have about as many SPG loyalists as Marriott. I'm one who is willing to drive a bit farther to stick with SPG.

I'm well aware that (a) what I'm about to say is not directly relevant to THIS forum and (b) it will not help you at all in your miles quest.

But you should consider Priceline for your hotel stays. If you know what you're doing you can get nice hotels near where you want to be, for half of what you will probably pay otherwise.

I'm sure your company won't offer you any cash inducements to do this (and it would be taxable anyway) but if you are going to be traveling that much, maybe you could cut a deal with them to look the other way if you occasionally stretch a trip through a weekend, or have dinner at Ruth's Chris instead of Longhorn.

PM me if you want additional tips on getting the best deals on Priceline.

Congrts on the new job! I'd think the lounge access with the AMEX plat would be well worth the fee if you are traveling weekly... It certainly will help with the sanity. I would make sure that you have a visa to use if you plan to stay at Marriotts give that they sometimes run cc related promos...but if you are keeping the CSP then no issues. I'd think a three card combo would serve you well: SPG Amex for SPG stays, CSP for flights and meals and other travel expenses, and the AMEX plat for lounges. All three have transfer options, so it'd give you a lot of reward flexibility... The fees will hit you up front, but you'll make up all but the plat fee...


One last thing... If you firm doesn't have rental insurance and you are renting a car, you may want to look into the Chase Continental visa as it has primary rental car insurance. I'm not sure of legalities when on business travel, but something to look into.

This is very similar to my approach,although I cancelled my SPG Amex 2 years ago and have never looked back. I just did not stay in Starwood properties enough and I have more airline miles than I can currently use.

The Marriott card is a no brainer if you are going to be staying in their properties often. The new category changes make it less attractive,but I can still justify the annual fee.

All my regular spending goes on my Sapphire Preferred,with the exception of gas,which goes on my Costco Amex,unless one of my other cards is offering a spending bonus.

Continental card is no more, I think the United Explorer offers primary coverage, though.

In the same boat as the OP on this one (might even work at the same firm...) Appreciate all the suggestions.

*wood Amex vs Amex Plat
Marriott visa vs AA mastercard (as a back up)

Sapphire preferred IMO - 2x very flexible and valuable points on everything that consultants spend money on (travel and food).

I also have the SPG amex for stays at starwoods (I stay at SPG exclusively) and the Citi Forward card for 5x points on meals. Both are nice for this sort of job as well.

The American Express(R) Premier Rewards Gold Card gives 3X points on airfare charges. The Chase Sapphire Preferred card offer 2X points on all (liberally defined) travel expenses. Depends on where you want your points to go. A description of both cards can be found in the Credit Cards section of my website below - the former on the Annual Fee Cards page in the American Express section near the bottom of the page, and the latter on the Bank and Other Dedicated Cards page.