idoc6

I have spent some time reading up on cards and programs, and I am more confused now then I was before. So I hope if I lay out a summary someone can offer some suggestions on the best card or FF program for us. I promise I tried to read up before I posted.

Right now between my work and home spending my wife and I spend about $18-24k a month split between two capital one cards. I currently have about 400of miles banked in cap1 system. The cap1 cards are 2 points per dollars spent.

2 . We travel 4 or 5 times a year usually between Norfolk and Detroit and Palm beach. And once a year to Europe. Usually on delta not enough to have any status. I am getting ready to book a trip Spain in oct. Most likely on Usair/AA because of schedule.
I have in my wallet a delta Amex card mainly for the free check bag and we got a 60k sign up bonus.

So my question max out my spending habits and find the best card for us. And if possible before our trip in Oct. Thanks

MrMoonlight

My wife, daughter and I just came back from Spain, and found the best availability (at least from NYC) is on Iberia through aa, or by transferring BA avios to Iberia avios. You could book directly through BA avios but would get stuck with surcharges.

I think for you, since you are looking to go in October, the transfer of BA avios may not work as you have to be an Iberia ff member for at least three months before you would qualify.

In your situation you'd want to get aa citi cards which could provide you with 50 - 60k in sign up bonuses, or get an Amex card that will give you a good return on mr, since mr is a partner with Iberia. With that kind of spending I assume you have your own business. For a quick sign up bonus, there are reports on these boards from people who have been able to fenagel (sp?) their way into a 100k Amex platinum bonus on a targeted offer, even though they have not been targeted. For monthly spend bonuses with MR, I use business gold which gives me 2x bonus on advertising ( my monthly budget is 5K) and the everyday preferred which effectively gets me 4.5 on groceries, 3 gas and 1.5 on everything else.

IMHO, you and your spouse should have an aor in which you get the Amex everyday preferred, Amex business Platinum or Gold, Chase BA (50k avios bonus) and Chase Ink (which gets you at least 50k ur which transfer to avios), citi aadvantage personal and citi aadvantage business.

That should get you enough miles to get you to Spain!

lwildernorva

Highly unlikely you can do this before your trip in October. If those dates aren't fixed, I'd suggest delaying the trip. You can more easily receive the cards for which you apply, receive your bonuses, and take advantage of AA's offseason 20K one-way award redemptions to Europe.

If you had the miles today and wanted to travel 10/17-10/26, you'd need 65K AA miles for each RT coach ticket--20K going to Europe, 45K coming back. These flights are all on AA metal, meaning your additional costs are only around $130 per ticket. By the time any AA miles post from credit card spending, you wouldn't be able to count on this availability.

For a sufficient stash of AA miles, I'd apply for the Citi AA Visa with a backup of the American Express SPG card. One each for you and your wife. The SPG currently has a lowered spend requirement of $3000 to earn a 25K bonus. Although I prefer to use these points for SPG hotels, these points transfer to many airline programs, including AA, and a transfer of 20K points attracts a 5K bonus--thus, meeting minimum spend on the card should result in about 33K AA miles.

The Citi Executive MasterCard, even with a bonus reduced from 100K a couple of months ago to a recent 60K, would have been my recommendation until last week, but recent reports indicate no working link for this offer higher than 50K. Just go for the regular card with a 50K bonus after $3K spending.

That's $12K spending and approximately 172K AA miles, well within your monthly spending pattern without resorting to manufactured spending. Sufficient miles, more than likely, even if you can't find the 20K offseason award both ways although you will need more if only higher-level awards are available. Little guarantee that all those miles will be in your AA account in time to book two coach seats in October. If you can delay your trip, the more likely it is you can get seats, especially for the 40K RT rate, and that you can save your SPG points for six nights at the Sheraton Madrid Mirasierra.

A couple of additional suggestions. Consider booking from Richmond, Raleigh, or DC/BWI to increase the potential pool of seats. And, it's a lot easier to play the credit card game when you leave yourself sufficient lead time to do spending, earn the bonus, and have the miles/points post. Sixty days just isn't enough time.

idoc6

Thanks for the replys. I found Usair tickets for about $1300 each on the dates (10/7- 10/12) we need to go. I can use the cap1 points to pay for the tickets. Is that a good use of those points? I realized I waited too long to pull off free tickets I was asking more to the long run.

That said if I was looking long term knowing we fly mostly on delta between Norfolk and Detroit a couple a times a year with my family of 4 and palm beach once or twice. And usually once to Cali and once a year to Europe. Is the Amex card still my best delta card? I do own my own business and can run some purchases on a card to help. I saw the citi 100k offer and reget not jumping on it a few months ago. I have no loyalty to one hotel chain usually pick a cool boutique type or when with the kids cheap and clean.

What about these large annual fees $450 for a Amex card is that worth it? If I understand are most people getting the bonus and canceling the card? I assume that is not great for your credit.

Once again I thank you I have for years enjoyed this site and have always be envious of the members here who work the system. I wish I had the time because it looks and sounds like fun. But with 2 small boys and a small business to run will have to live vicariously through you all. So any more advice you have to offer is greatly appreciated.

lwildernorva

Best use of the Cap One points because it's strictly a point to dollar exchange, just like the Chase Southwest card. I'd consider getting a Barclay's US Airways card if you think you'll check bags. The card recently received the benefit of a free checked bag for the cardholder and four companions. One trip can more than offset the annual fee. UA, DL and AA also have this benefit with their associated credit cards, and I'd take that card with any airline you expect to fly with for that reason.

In addition, this is a particularly good time to apply for a Delta card as the signup bonus for this card has increased to 50K. This is the highest bonus this card has offered for quite some time. I'm not a big Delta fan, but I might apply for this card for that reason as well as the free checked bag.

There is no domestic airline card I'd regularly spend on after meeting the sign up bonus, however--except for the Chase BA card, and there are tons of caveats associated with that card. Everyday spend could then go to three cards, for three different reasons. The SPG card, for the reasons in my earlier post (DL and US are also SPG transfer partners with the same 5K bonus for transfers in blocks of 20K). Any Amex card in the Membership Rewards program--because Amex tries to do regular transfer bonuses, and Delta is long overdue for one. And, cards that participate in Chase's Ultimate Rewards program--because the Sapphire Preferred earns 2 points per dollar spent on travel and restaurants, the regular Sapphire card has quarterly earnings bonuses of 5 points per dollar spent in rotating categories, the Ink business cards have fixed bonuses of 5 points per dollar in fixed categories, and judicious purchases through the UR mall can boost your points earning.

With those latter three earning programs, you can earn at a higher rate than regular airline cards, after earning the sign up bonus, and will have points in all three of the airline alliances. You can then selectively apply for cards with temporarily increased bonuses.

I mentioned the Chase BA card earlier. For ORF flyers, BA Avios can be very useful for flights on AA and US to NYC, Miami, Charlotte, Philadelphia, and Dallas, all for award rates lower than the amounts required if redeeming AA or US miles. One of the caveats I mentioned above--BA charges for redemptions by segment so you want nonstop flights to those cities. I regularly fly ORF to JFK for 9K Avios roundtrip, but if I routed through Miami on a connection--frequently offered as an option on the AA website, my cost rises to 15K, each way. And for transatlantic flights on BA metal, surcharges and fees can make an award redemption in coach cost almost as much as a purchase made solely with cash.

No reason to rush out to apply for the BA card, by the way. The current 50K offer is pretty standard. Chase has increased these offers to 100K, generally sometime during the spring.

Your regular spending is not insignificant--until you compare it with the serious MS folks. No reason you can't create enough points to offset a fair amount of the cost of a trip or two per year for a family of four without having to spend every leisure hour keeping track of your spending and new credit card offers.

Dieuwer

I suggest getting the Delta Amex Plat card. Comes with a MQD waiver if you spend $25k annually on it (should be easy for you) and helps you attain status.