wooly

Hi everyone,

Occasional lurker of these wonderful forums and would love some advice. I travel only a bit for work (once every quarter), so my frequent flyer miles aren't that high, nor are my hotel points.

Next month, I have a large purchase of $7000, and was thinking of applying for a new card, so I can hit the usual $1000/3000 spend easily.

In terms of rewards, I'd prefer mileage over hotel points since I still "dirtbag" it using CouchSurfing/hostels/AirBnB. Simple cashback is also an option for me.

So long story short: which card would you recommend I apply for next?

Current cards
- AmEx Blue Cash Preferred
- Chase United MP Explorer
- Chase Marriott Premier (received back in mid-Dec)

All in good standing, with low utilization. I know the Chase BA 50/25/25 offer is ending in a few hours, but I don't see myself traveling until 2014. Should I still go for that?

Thanks!

imslippy

then I suppose get some AA cards and US airways

poser

Getting a airline card and using every few months should keep your points from expiring till you are ready to travel.

Pahill

Chase sapphire: the points accrued from the card are very flexible in terms to which airline or hotel program you want to transfer it to. 40k sign up bonus.

flykodo

I've been using sapphire as my primary card and really like it. Mainly use to transfer to Avios but also can go to United which is nice

sonofagunk

Might help to know what you are spending it on (in case it is somewhere that you can get better bonuses)

pgary

Do you have a business?

PancakeGames

Jewelry-related? Just guessing, of course. I ask because that could help shape your decision.

wooly

Haha, no not a ring. It'll be a payment for tuition, which I'm hoping I can pay via card with. So unfortunately there probably won't be any bonuses.

Just applied and received the AmEx PRG card. I can easily meet the $1k spend over the next three months, so I can still pick up another Chase/Citi card.

I was thinking about just a Chase Freedom for the revolving cashback for everyday purchases to pair with my AmEx BCP. Or should I go for the Sapphire Preferred (even though it's at 40K right now).

pgary--unfortunately I don't own my own business, so no Ink for me.

nall

Not sure the specifics of your case, but be aware that a large number of US universities charge a convenience fee to use credit cards for this purpose.

roki

My school used to allow me to pay with CC, but charged 3%. Really only worth it if you're able to utilize it to hit multiple signup bonuses, with the key being if it allowed you to hit more/bigger bonuses than you would have been able to otherwise.

I would probably do AA and CSP. $7000 in spend ($4K on CSP, $3K on AA), yields:

44K UR points
53K AA points

Which, at a lowly averaged 1.5c/p valuation, is $1455 value out of $7000 spend, or just shy of 21%. I'd say both of those points should be closer to 2.5c/p, making it $2425 / $7000 or 35%. Less, of course, a fee if your school charges you one for CC transactions.

wooly

Hi nall and roki, I'll double-check to see if there's a transaction fee--this is not for a conventional university (think General Assembly), so credit card payments are probably going to be the norm, but I'll double-check. Appreciate the forewarning.

roki, AA = Citi AA?

Thanks!