Assuming she doesn't kill me first as we try to whittle down the guest list, my fiance wants to get a credit card to use for all our wedding planning, both to reap the rewards and simplify the accounting. She wants to add a second card for her mom as well. I think we'd prefer points/miles to cash-bask, although if there is a cash-back card that will give a better return, we'd certainly take it.

Probably should be Visa or MC as many merchants don't accept Amex or Discover.

I'm thinking either the United Explorer Card or Chase Sapphire Card, but I have just begun to research. If it's a miles card it should be United or American.

Any ideas/suggestions?

Thanks!

Will there be substantial expenses (e.g. rehearsal dinner, reception) at a chain hotel?

I'm also planning a wedding and find that very few merchants accept credit cards. If they do, they often charge an extra 3%. I think the most benefit you would gain is that if a vendor DOES accept credit cards, ask for a 3% discount if you pay in cash/check.

For us, the only things we can charge are the honeymoon, wedding rings, and cake. That means everything else, like the photographer, videographer, photobooth, church, reception, limo (etc) all want checks.

For your honeymoon, assuming it is international, you'll save quite a bit of money getting a card that doesn't ahve a foreign transaction fee. Capital One Venutre is one of them, there are others. If it is domestic, you should consider getting sing up bonuses for hotels chains you want to stay at or airlines you want to fly.

Can you get one card for each of you? that would double the rewards. Or if you're willing to put a little work into it and will be spending enough, both of you do the AA two browser trick to get four cards total for 200k AA miles.

Chase Sapphire Preferred would let you shop through the UR mall and maybe get lots of extra points, depending on where you buy. And again, lots of different cards that you could use to build up points there - Freedom, ink bold, etc.

If you're looking for cash back, the new Capital One Cash Rewards is okay at no fee and 1% plus 0.5% bonus (50% of rewards) after each year of membership. The Capital One Venture Card also offers 2% back if used for travel (1% as straight cash), but it does have a fee. Chase Sapphire offers a nice signup bonus. Part of the challenge is running the numbers based on what you will spend.

If I were going to spend like $20k, I would take out multiple cards for multiple signup bonuses or one card that offers certain status/rewards with say $20k-30k minimum annual spend.

You are best off applying for several cards each and using the wedding expenses to easily cover the minimum spends. Barring that, get the Chase Sapphire or Fidelity Amex (2% cash back every purchase 0 annual fee).

But lets say you had $15k in expenses and got 3 card each with an average spend of $2500 and 50k points, you are netting 20% back if you conservatively value each point at .01.

For the 3 cards I'd suggest both Citi AA cards and the Chase Sapphire, might as well throw in the US Airways card too. If you have good credit and havent applied for cards recently you should both get approved for all 4. (apply same day)

What kind of spending level are you thinking? ~$10K? ~$25K?

Depending on your amount that you intend to spend, it is tough to go wrong with the Sapphire Preferred combined with the Freedom for the award/$ spent ratio. Getting the min. spend with those would be ~$3500. The Marriott rewards premier is another solid card but I prefer the Ritz card although the annual fee is a turn-off to many. The benefits of it versus the Marriott more than make up for the difference in annual fee imo. The Ink Bold is another possibility but the spend is higher. This is where your budget comes into play.

Given that all these cards are issued by Chase, you'll have to make a clear decision on your strategy as you're going to have to stagger your applications. Right now, Chase has the best non-Amex offers right now imo so that should probably be your starting point.

The Citi TY Premier is OK but nothing special to me unless you have plenty of flights to bump up your return. I know some like the Cap. One Venture but that bank left a sour taste in my mouth many years ago so I avoid them but their 2 points/$ earning rate is tempting.

Personally, I wouldn't mess with the airline cards as the value is not there beyond the sign-up bonus. I'm sure that the churners would disagree but that is their right.

You definitely have to narrow down what category the merchants will be in. For us, we're having a rehearsal lunch at a restaurant so we'll be using the Chase Sapphire Preferred for 2x in Dining.

Like a previous poster said, if you are going to spend a lot at a hotel (venue), then again, Sapphire Preferred is your staple at 2x points for Travel.

Other than that, I didn't come across many other categories of merchants that would receive a bonus on any other cards so I just used whatever card I wanted to earn on.

Thanks everyone!

Spending will probably be in the $20K range.

The reception will likely be at a winery, but may be catered by a local hotel, so that's a good point.

Also a good point that many vendors may not even take CC.

I don't want to get too complex, so it sounds like the Sapphire preferred is probably the way to go.

could get 5% cash back with the AARP card, considering you would be doing all this spending over a short time, and the 5% is for the 1st 6 months

Yeah, since you are gonna get grey hair planning the wedding anyway, so apply for a regular or associate (under 50) AARP membership and grab the card and the cash.

My boyfriend and I will get married in Sept. so we are about to spend (to us) an unusually large amount of money. I thought maybe we could get rewards points or cashback while we are at it.

We have the cash to pay for everything so interest rate isnt a real concern. We can pay the items off before incurring an interest charge as we go along. What would be the best rewards card for receiving cashback or rewards points?

We are enrolled in Southwest Airlines' rewards program but we would prefer to receive our rewards in cash...unless we could get a GREAT deal on miles.

Thanks for any input!

You may wish to begin by reading these threads:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...-expenses.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...honeymoon.html

What are you planning on spending money on, specifically?

The best cashback cards come in two categories: those with a flat percentage on everything, and those with higher percentages on rotating categories. For the former, I believe the best right now is Capital One cash rewards (1.5%) and for the latter, Chase Freedom.

If a good chunk of your spending will be travel, then getting a card for that airline or hotel, or a general travel card such as Chase Sapphire, might be worth it.

I believe this offer has expired and AARP card now offers only a $100 new account bonus.