Hi Everyone, I'm new here and I'm looking for advice about which CC to apply for.

I have seen offers for the Cap One Venture (I think there are two versions of this), the Chase Sapphire Preferred, and a few others. I'm not sure which is the best to apply for. Generally, is it worth the upgrade in points rewards to pay the annual fee? Are there other companies I should know about?

A few details:
I live near Boston, so I'm not near any hubs, so I'm assuming that I shouldn't bother with a specific airline card? Although when I fly domestically, it's usually Southwest.

A few more details:
I usually fly 1-2 times per year domestically and 1 time internationally (every 1-2 years). I plan making as many purchases as possible (gas, drugstores, paing bills, restaurants, etc) during the month with my CC and then paying off the balance each month. My credit score is about 750-760 last time I checked. I use hotels probably 3-5 nights per year.

I know it would take a long time to rack up points to pay for, say, a $1500 ticket to Paris, but can you (with any of these cards) use some points to upgrade from economy to first class? I haven't looked at the price differentials lately, so I don't know if you would recommend that?

I won't be getting into playing the 'point games' most of the flyer talk members here do, so I'm not sure where to start.

Thank You for any advice you can offer. .

Check out this thread for what offers are currently available

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...er-thread.html[/QUOTE]

Welcome to FT!

What's your expected monthly credit card spend?

Hi again, I would love to put 600-800 a month on the card, maybe more. Do you know if I put my bills (such as cable, cell phone, etc) would those count too towards points with the Cap One or Chase Sapphire cards ? If so, I would probably up the total to 800-1000 per month. Thanks.

On the Chase Sapphire Preferred card you would earn a minimum of one ultimate reward (UR) point for every dollar charged on the card. So if you are able to charge your cable and cell phone bills to it, you will earn UR points for them. UR points can be transferred to several air and hotel partners if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

Sign-up bonuses are your key to free travel. Let's say you apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred. The current sign-up bonus is 40,000 UR points if you spend at least $3000 on it within the first 3 months of being approved for the card. It has an annual fee, but it is waived for the first year. So if you can put $1000 per month on the card, then you will earn a minimum of 43,000 UR points in 3 months (I say "a minimum" because certain categories like restaurants earn 2 UR points per $ spend).

91 days after applying for the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you could apply for the Chase United Mileage Plus Explorer you. This gives you 30,000 bonus United Airlines miles after $1000 spend on the card in the first 3 months after being approved for the card. It too has an annual fee, but it is waived for the first year. So if you put one month's normal monthly spend of $1000 on it, you will earn the 30,000 United Airlines miles from the sign-up bonus, plus 1000 miles for the $1000 spend on it for a total of 31,000 United miles.

The 43,000 UR points can be converted to United Airlines miles in a 1:1 rate as long as you have your Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

So within 4 months you could have a total of 74,000 United Airlines miles. United has a good website for checking and booking award travel on United Airlines and Star Alliance partners. A round-trip coach saver award from US to Europe is only 60,000 miles. So with these two cards you have enough for a ticket to Europe.

I do not recommend putting more on your card than you can comfortably pay off at the end of the month. And do your own research. This is just an example of how sign-up bonuses can help you earn travel just using your normal monthly spend.

Thank you Tomsam for explaining this to me in simple terms that makes the most sense to me.

A question though -is it a good idea to keep opening up a whole bunch of credit cards- i thought this affects your credit score negatively?

You're right. Every credit card application has a negative impact on your credit score. It's up to you to research your score, expected impact and do what you feel comfortable.

Conventional experience is that each credit card application has a 2-5 point drag on your credit score, but over a few months your score can rebound or even go higher if you use your credit responsibly and have a low utilization rate (ratio credit used to total credit line).

Generally credit scores over 740 are considered excellent and sufficient for lowest rates on insurance, automobiles or mortgages. However, if you're expecting to make a major auto or home purchase, you should probably not apply for credit cards within 12 months of the expected purchase.

Note I am not advising you apply for "whole bunch of credit cards". I am giving you an example where applying for 1, waiting for 3 months and then applying for another would give you what you need for a round-trip trip to Europe. Most people on FT would characterize this is a gradual dip into the world of credit card applications without being overly aggressive. I myself have around 15 credit cards, and a credit score around 780.

Read and listen to people that have experience in this area, but ultimately you should do your own research, and do what you're comfortable with. Ease into it - there's no rush!