Max Palmer

So by simply opening up a new card, my existing blue points will convert to transferrable ones?

jags86

navi_jen

I need the collective help picking a new card:

Moi: Business traveler, Delta and Starwood (boo hoo) Platinum annually. Usually meet these minimums via business travel. Have Corp Platinum AMEX, so I get lounge access gratis.

Currently have 2 cards:
a) Delta AMEX, last year spent $45k on it. Merchandise, Travel and Business services were 3/4 of that spend.
b) SPG AMEX, last year spent $25k on it. Merchandise and Business services were 3/4 of that spend.

I don't churn or want be forced to, hey it's X spend, I need to use Y card. But now that Costco has dumped Amex (and given Amex isn't nearly as widely accepted in smaller towns) I need a Visa/MC. I was thinking about replacing the SPG with a Visa (or keeping the SPG/Bonvoy only to get spend for status). Don't need cash back, want miles/points to spend on vacations, particularly FC airfares. Chase Sapphire was recommended a while back, but I understand that card is less valuable nowadays. In looking at my AMEX account, it looks like I am eligible to upgrade to the Bonvoy card (the 100k points seems like a good deal).

Excellent credit, ratios and investments. Current cards have maybe a $40k limit between the two cards (I rarely check nor ask for credit increases).

Options? Willing to wait for the right offer.

Thanks

Jen

happychic

You mentioned FC airfare. What airline or destinations do you want to fly to? What's your home airport?

mia

Which Delta card (personal or business, gold or platinum), and what are the benefits of using that card rather than (say) an American Express card that earns points convertible to Skymiles?

On which card do you pay for your business airfare?

navi_jen

Mia, My main personal card is my Delta Platinum Amex. SPG Amex is my backup. I put every bit of spend I can on these cards (tho I don't do manufactured spend).

All my work travel, by policy, must go on my Corporate Platinum AMEX (which is my 3rd amex that I forgot to mention...average between $50k and $75k per year on that card, biz travel only)

Home Airport is BOS, so Delta and JetBlue are my best bets for travel. Really prefer to avoid United and American if I can.

No specific destinations in mind, tho Europe, the Caribbean, interUS and Asia are usually on the itinerary. Have not done my vacation planning yet for this year

I have approx 750k miles for Delta, 250k points for AMEX and 750k points on Marriott in the bank...if that makes a difference.

mia

Unless you need MQM's earned with the Skymiles Platinum card you might do better to switch to Blue for Business, which will earn two Membership Rewards points per dollar on all spending, capped at $50,000 per year. This is a free card, but there is a foreign transaction fee, you wouldn't want to use it when spending in other currencies. Membership Rewards points can be transferred to Delta or JetBlue or several other airlines, but be aware that there is a small excise tax fee if you transfer to a domestic airline (Delta, JetBlue or Hawaiian). No fee when transferring to foreign programs.

I would look at Citi Premier as a replacement for the Marriott card. It earns ThankYou points which can be transferred to JetBlue (but not to Delta). There is no foreign transaction fee, it earns three points per dollar in a broad Travel category, and two point per dollar for dining.

LINKS:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...-referral.html

Citi Premier MasterCard (60,000 points for $4,000 spend in 3 months)

happychic

From your two posts this is what I gathered:

* Re-evaluating total spend of 70k/year on personal Amex cards
* Spend is mostly on Merchandise, Travel and Business Services
* Now looking for a recommendation for Visa/MC
* Would like to redeem travel rewards for JetBlue or Delta FC travel

Since Delta has an exclusive agreement with Amex, there is no Visa/MC cards that will transfer or earn you SkyMiles. You can, though, use the rewards from your Visa/MC credit card to redeem for a Delta ticket on the appropriate travel portal (thus earning you SkyMiles since Delta will see it as a ticket purchased from a travel agency). Chase, Citi and Amex points all transfer to True Blue. You probably are aware that Amex MR points transfer to Jetblue True Blue program at a ratio 5:4 ratio, not 1:1.

Do you know what the breakdown of "Travel" and "Business Services" categories are? If a lot of the spend is on Airfare, consider getting Citi Prestige. The annual fee is a bit hefty at $495, but you get $250 travel credit that is easy to use, and you will get 5x Citi TY points on Airfare & Restaurants.

Another card that may be a good fit for you is a Chase Ink credit card. You didn't mention having or looking into getting any business credit cards, but it is easier to get one than you think. A lot of "Business Services" fall into categories that will earn you 5x Chase UR if you have the Chase Ink Cash card (no annual fee), 3x if you have the Chase Ink Preferred ($95). Note that if you only have the Ink Cash card, you will not be able to transfer those points to True Blue program, but you can still use those points on Chase UR portal to buy Delta and Jetblue plane tickets. Or you can combine those points with a CSR or CSP or Chase Ink Preferred card to transfer to True Blue program (1:1).

If you just want a workhorse in your wallet and be able to not have to pore over the miles and points situation, Citi Premier and Chase Sapphire Preferred are very popular for a reason.

wco81

I'm interested in bonuses for MR, UR points and UA miles. Also have some AA miles so would be open to getting more AA miles, though their award redemptions aren't attractive.

I have CSR, Ink Cash and Unlimited.

Last 3 cards I've gotten were for business, a business AA card, business Explorer and Business Ink Unlimited.

Not sure if I am over 5/24.

I wanted the new Premier Gold but didn't get a targeted offer so looks like that's out. I see the Bonvoy cards in the "best offers" lists but I don't stay at Marriott hotels or even the former SPG hotels that much so I don't know how useful they'd be for transferring to miles.

I don't know too much about the Citi fee cards (do have Double Cash) with their points. I don't see an airline on their transfer partners list that I could probably redeem with.

Are there any other Chase cards offering a lot of UR points for the welcome offer at the moment?

happychic

Chase Ink Preferred offers 80k signup bonus. You will not be eligible if you don't meet the 5/24 rule.

wco81

Had Ink Preferred last year.

mia

Experian mobile app will answer this question.

wco81

Thinking of going for AA card, either Barclay's Aviator or the Citi AA Select, which offer 60 and 50k miles respectively.

I've had various flavors of the Citi AA cards but not the Barclay's Aviator.

So you have to pay the AF upfront for the Aviator but no required spend? The Citi Select, you have to spend but no AF in the first year.

sdsearch

As of this moment, on the Personal Aviator it's:

"Limited Time Offer: Earn 60,000 bonus miles

after making your first purchase in the first 90 days and paying the annual fee2"

So no particular spend amount, but yo do have to make a first purchase.

However, they just changed the Business Aviator (in the past week or so) to where you need to do $1000 in spend plus pay the annual fee. So there it is spend plus fee, but much less spend required than on the comparable Citi card.

But since the Business Aviator signup requirements change was very recent, we can't know if they might not make a similar change to the Personal Aviator very soon. There are rumors that the Personal Aviator benefit changes are going to be announced Mar 1 or so, so there could for example be signup requirements changes as of that time perhaps.

wco81

So essentially you're getting miles for $99 or whatever the annual fee is, assuming the charge you make is something you would have bought, not some MS.