The AA card and the AA business card both allow first free checked bag for card holder and up to 4 pax on same pnr (ticket reservation), eg for me that’s my wife and our son. It has somewhat early boarding when not flying F. If you want priority checkin then buy the expensive aa admirals club card which should offer it.
With miles devaluation as a standard, the Sign Up Bonus is useful. Assume you know that you’ll get more miles when charging AA flights with the AA card.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...be326690d5.png
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...10dad75e6b.png

Which new card to get - about to buy airfare for winter holidays
 

Looking to see if I can get an airline status boost through credit card spending. We are going to book potentially $5K of airfare (Delta, JetBlue or AA). Plus we are remodeling our kitchen so have some major $10-15K spend that we could rack up on our CC. What credit card should I get? Some other factors at play...

- I already have Chase Sapphire Reserve w/ over 700K points - overall happy with it but could potentially close it and use the new card to replace CSR
- I dont have any status with any of the airlines at the moment but could fly for work to get some additional miles/spend
- I have about 300K Delta SkyMiles points
- Would be nice to have TSA Pre/Global entry Perk

Choice Select card has 5x on home improvement stores,as well as TSA/GE, 30k annual bonus, $95 AF (waived first year).

Can you clarify what you mean by "airline status boost"? Do you mean that you sre looking for a card with status-like perks (free bags, etc)? Or are you literally seeking to acquire or improve elite status? If the latter, the only two programs I know in which credit card spend counts for status are AA and DL, so you would want to compare both the co-branded card offerings and elite status thresholds for each of those programs. And the number of accumulated miles would not be directly relevant.

Thanks. Looks like WF's Choice Card doesnt have any airline association.

Yes, I meant elite status. But you raise a good point, essentially free bags, priority check-in is what I really want out of the status, at least right now. My thinking was that if, through CC, I can get an elevated elite status, perhaps I can build upon that using spend and flying. I am NYC based so Delta is the more obvious or common choice (used to have Platinum pre-Covid) but I also know that Delta upgrades are not easy but upgrades are also not my first priority, additional (to Priority Pass) lounge access would be nice.

I mean i wouldnt expect any upgrades out of NYC except to small regional airports or unpopular routes especially with just cc spend, As for lounge access, the Delta Reserve will give you Centurion and Escape lounges. The delta gold/plat/reserve gives you priority-ish boarding. Dont forget the Amex Plat and the Delta Reserve are both cutting unlimited Sky Club access down to 15 visits per year with the reserve and 10 with the Amex Plat unless you spend $75k/yr on your card

Hi Guys..

Need some advice.. I used to live in US in 2012-2014/15 and was regular in the Credit Card points earning game.. however, after I left US, no activities has happened on the credit card front, so my score has dropped to 666 (even the devil was like, dayum !!)

Now I dont think this score is good enough to get my any good card with potential miles earning possibility.. can someone advise me on which credit card they think I can apply for and hopefully get approved, so i can work on rebuilding my score.. Im moving back to US later this month..

appreciate your help..

I took a look here:

https://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?/creditpulls/

Capital One Savor One and Citi AA Mastercard might be good starts.

You might also try buying some tradelines to boost your score.

That might be your best move.

Maximizing CC sign up bonuses in 2025
 

Hello,

Looking for some advice/guidance on some credit card moves I’m planning for 2025.

Background – I currently have Chase Sapphire Reserve (for the past 5 years) and 2 other credits cards that I have had for many years. I take at least 6 round trips a year – typically 4 cross country and 2 to Europe typically on United. So I definitely take advantage of CSR’s $300 annual travel credit. My monthly credit card spend is about $2500. I pay off balance each month. Credit score >800.

I am looking at adding the Capital One Venture X to my portfolio for the solid current SUB. I also like some of the airline partners and appreciate that a couple are in both CapOne and Chase, although I know United isn’t in Cap One so I wouldn’t be able to redeem there, but hopefully I could make use with partner airlines.

I worry that the cost is getting too much in carrying both CSR and CapOne Venture X, but with the X’s $300 Travel Credit when booked through their travel portal, it seems that the cost increase isn’t too much. I’m not a fan of booking through 3rd parties so not eager to book through Capital One's travel portal to get that credit, but probably could make it work for one flight or hotel stay and make up the $300.

So I think I’ve talked myself into keeping my CSR and applying for the CapOne Venture X. Any red flags with this strategy?

If my travel were to decrease and/or my financial situation change in 2026, I assume I could downgrade my CSR to CSP or a no fee Freedom Unlimited without killing my credit history, credit limit and could keep my points. Same with downgrading the X to a Venture or a free Venture One card.

Thanks for any thoughts!

Card recommendation
 

I have $30,000 in property taxes due soon. So meeting minimum spend not an issue. Aside for Amex plat, CSP, Ink, Hyatt, SWA cards, what is the best deal going for points/miles on a cc?
I see the CapitalOne X business card, Citi AA cards. I don't need the lounge perks. Opinions?

You might want to see if fees for using a business card are higher than using a personal card. The fees for paying federal taxes are significantly different if you use a business card.

Using card for property taxes includes a 2.4% fee. Wondering if there is any new card out there to make this worth the added expense....

Don't recall if it was quite that much, but a few years ago I did it to reach minimum spend to get the signup bonus.

Don't remember which card it was, and that was the one and only time I've done it. I've done the bank transfer of dropped off a check before / after.

Hopper travel pportal works well enough
 

I can relate to all of this, actually as I travel for leisure, extensively (I'm retired and I spend most of my time abroad). I also got rid of two cards with annual fees last year, because they offered little value going forward.
I get it, the AF of the CSR is exorbitant and if you have to make a special effort to make it pay off, it's not worth having. But, I find lots of value in my CSP - AF is still $95 a year, so maybe you can get a downgrade from the CSR or maybe your eligible for a new SUB on the Preferred. If you fly UNITED regularly, and you have a CSR then you probably already know that you can x-fer you UR points to United's MP program in a short minute. The Sapphire Preferred will do the job for a much low AF. I think everyone in the Chase realm with agree that you can't go wrong with the CSP as your daily driver if you just want to acquire points. NOTE: you cannot x-fer points to other programs with the Freedom Unlimited.
As for C1 and their travel portal, I have had better luck with their HOPPER based travel portal for flights than what Chase or Citi have to offer in their travel portals. That's probably because Hopper is an ITA existing in a very competitive and crowded market. You don't survive in a market like that, unless you are you are doing something right. That's not an endorsement of Hopper, but it's better than most in my experience.
Back in 2023, I got the SUB from the Venture card and was able to book myself a flight from the US to Brazil, from Brazil onto Argentina, and then onto Colombia, and then back home to DFW. I did that by mostly using acquired points from the points and spending over 6 months of travel in South America, and very little out of pocket cash. And that was using the C1 portal.
OTOH, I've never booked a hotel on the Chase portal (the options for what I need just aren't there. It's just abysmal), though I've gotten a few cheap flights at the last minute there, just using my UR points. And in general, it's sometimes good for flights. As for Citi's travel portal - it's great for hotels if you like what AGODA has to offer - because it's basically Agoda but flights are not a good value there. While YMMV, I was able to make the C1 Hopper-based program work for me. I am not so sure if you can downgrade your Venture X card, based on comments I've read on the C1 forum. But, if you can get the SUB, why not? I certainly would.

Get the Cap 1 business - usually 30k spend = 150k bonus = total 210k
Cost 720$ +395 for card = $1115 for 210k points = about 0.5c
If you get it today then in Jan 2027, you can get 300$ value later - book UA nonrefund ticket and cancel after a week
Then if you are up to it the day after the annual fee hits do it again = 300$ more back in delayed travel spend
Total cost 420$ now for 210k = about 0.2c each per transferable point
I think it is worth the expense