How good is the Travelocity credit card? [Originally Mastercard, now Amex]
 

This is actually more of a statement then a question...
Because I think it is pretty good.

Annual fee $69
2 points for every $1 spent
so $10,000 gets you 20,000 points, which is a $400 credit on TL (4%)
no blackout dates, Points can be redeemed for anything on TL
10,000 sign up bonus
http://www.mytravelocitycard.com/

you might want to check your math there....

My math was correct but I edited the original post to make it clearer -
$10,000 gets you 20,000 points - and that gets you $400, which is 4% of the $10,000 you spent.

...so if you spend $20,000 on a airline rewards credit card you would still be short of getting a free domestic flight (which has many limitations on airline choice and dates), but with the TL master card it would get you $800 (to use on any airline/date , or for hotels etc.)
A much better alternative imho

....example 2 - with the spg amex $20,000 would get you one night in a categroy six hotel. With the TL MC you get $800 credit, which is likely enough for at least 2 nights at a comparable hotel (depending on location/dates of course).

If travelocity has good price, this looks good deal.
I do not usually use travelocity to book flight or hotel, how does it compare to Expedia?

5,000 points = $50 credit
7,500 points = $100 credit
12,500 points = $150 credit
15,000 points = $200 credit
20,000 points = FREE air ticket, up to $400
27,500 points = $500 credit
32,500 points = $550 credit
35,000 points = $600 credit
40,000 points = $800 credit
45,000 points = $850 credit
47,500 points = $900 credit
52,500 points = $950 credit
55,000 points = $1,000 credit

It's strange that higher points do not alwasy get better rate.
40,000 points = $800 credit seems best.
For 20,000 points = FREE air ticket, up to $400, you need to have the flight ticket close to $400 to get best rate.

For housekeeping purposes, I'll move the thread to the appropriate credit card forum.

HCA- I've used TL in the past for hotels, and for last minute packages which are usually a good deal. In general I believe they are comparable with expedia.
It seems that multiples of 20,000 always get the best reward %. I agree its a bit odd.

Does anyone have any experience with this program? for 20,000 points do you actually have to book an air ticket or can you use it on anything on the site?

More information, please
 

1. It's odd that Travelocity has no link to these cards on its homepage, but instead has a blurb declaring that American Express is the official card of Travelocity.

2. The award chart included in the credit card terms and conditions is capped at 20,000 points / $400...

e) As a Cardmember you may redeem Travelocity Points for the following Account statement credits when they purchase travel, services, and products on Travelocity.com:

Redeem 5,000 Travelocity Points for a $50.00 statement credit, or
Redeem 7,500 Travelocity Points for a $100.00 statement credit, or
Redeem 20,000 Travelocity Points for the cost of an airline ticket or Flight + Hotel Package up to a maximum credit of $400.00.

https://www.juniper.com/app/japply/l...req=CCMWC21188


3. The rewards chart found here which runs up to 300,000 points / $6,000 may or may not still be valid. I found it by searching for "rewards" on travelocity.com, but I did not find any link to it from the homepage.

http://svc.travelocity.com/info/info...LEVELS,00.html

Yes, I'd like to have more info on this too.

7500 points gets you a $100 statement credit, which is effectively 2.6% cash back. Not bad as long as you spent enough to regularly hit that 7500 point threshold. If you actually use Travelocity a lot, it's even better (5.2% cash back on those purchases).

But 20,000 points doesn't get you a $400 credit, it gets you one free plane ticket or flight/hotel package UP TO $400, which is a big difference. It's still probably possible to get >3% cash back equivalent value using that, but it'll be a challenge to really hit 4%. And keep in mind the $69 annual fee and the issue of having "stub" points if you don't regularly get to 20k.

There are some conflicting reports as to the reward levels:
- can you redeem 40,000 points for $800 credit?
- at the $400 level can you buy a flight/ flight and hotel for more than $400 and be reimbursed the $400 on that transaction? If so it should be fairly easy to hit.
-I believe that the $100 credit is not in the form of cash that you get in your account, but that it is credit towards use on TL.
- You can also redeem 5000 points for $50 - that is effectively 2% credit.

That's not in the T&Cs posted directly on mytravelocitycard.com or any page linked from it, but comes from another unlinked page HCA found by googling, so it's not clear if that really exists or not (it could be from an older program, or it could be a draft that wasn't intended to be made public). Or it could simply be further details that they're omitting from the initial disclosures. Who knows?

It's unclear. The language of the official T&Cs linked from mytravelocitycard.com distinguishes between redeeming 5,000/7,500 points for a $50/$100 "statement credit" and redeeming 20,000 points for "the cost of an airline ticket or Flight + Hotel Package up to a maximum credit of $400."

You are more correct than I was. I read "statement credit" and assumed it meant it was just a general statement credit on your credit card bill. But the T&Cs clarify that it's a statement credit "when [you] purchase travel, services and products on Travelocity.com" and that "[s]tatement credits will be reported on your monthly Account statement for the billing cycle in which your Travelocity purchase is posted."

So it IS a statement credit, but it can only offset Travelocity purchases, not other purchases. Supposedly. I wonder how they enforce that?

Also note that to get the 10,000 point signup bonus you have to do a balance transfer of at least $5k (there's an automatic 5,000 point signup bonus + 1 point per $ in balance xfers up to 5k).

The card has 0% for nine months on balance transfers, but you'll pay a $50 fee (which will then accrue interest at the regular 12-18% APR until you pay off the balance transfer entirely). You'll also pay the regular 12-18% APR on any purchases you make until you pay off the balance transfer in its entirety.

Add in the $69 fee, and it's not the cheapest way to get an up-to-$400 Travelocity credit.

I suppose it all hinges on the interpretation of the $400 credit. If it is lenient (I can use it to buy a flight for more then $400, I can use it to buy a flight for two people together at one time, I can stack two or more awards, etc.) then it is a great deal, even with the $69 fee. In fact I would go so far as to call it the best travel cc out there.

But if they are killing it with restrictions... then its still not bad to use it at the $100 reward level, as you stated above. But certainly not nearly as good a deal.

This is the page that links to the credit card offer on TL:
http://leisure.travelocity.com/Promo...415|23,00.html

if you look hard enough, you'll see two pop up links with different reward charts on that same page. Very confusing...

I'm guessing that because they distinguish between the "free flight up to $400" and a "credit of $100" there is a difference and the $400 can only be used for a single purchase of $400 or less. But I still don't understand how it would actually work in practice.

That seems to be an older offer from. In addition to having two conflicting reward schemes (one of which has information "as of August 2006"), it links to https://www.travelocitymastercard.com/ not to http://www.mytravelocitycard.com/, and the "apply" button doesn't work (it says the offer is no longer available). It also makes no mention of the annual fee version of the card and talks about triple points for Travelocity packages, which aren't mentioned on mytravelocitycard.com.

I suspect that the scale with the $800 for 40,000 point redemptions is from the 2006 offer and not current any more. But it sure as hell is confusing!

It seems my random google search result in previous post got some interesting discussion. Do some more research but still did not find better result. I guess the best way to find out is either call or see if anyone actually has this card.

The original link does not even have a phone number to call. I did find a related one:
www.BarclaycardUS.com, Customer Service at 302-622-8990
I am too lazy to call. Anyone want to check?

If you spend 20k on your SPG Amex you get 25k miles on most airlines...enough for a free domestic flight (assuming you were foolish to redeem 25k miles for a domestic ticket in coach.

$800 is far better than free domestic flight ticket in my opinion.
However, this card also has higher $69 annual fee than SPG's $45.

well someone at the fatwallet forum made the call and they told him the reward chart found here applies:
http://svc.Travelocity.com/info/info...LEVELS,00.html

pretty great stuff.

Oh, one more thing that occurred to me, when you book a flight reward on TC you also get the airline miles...

That is very tempting, although I already have SPG AMEX, Citi AA, US Bank Flexperks, and Citi PremierPass. Anyone can give me an excuse to pull the trigger? $20K spend for $800 of credit is a great deal, and the $69 annual fee becomes nothing if I can get that much of value out of the card. I just can't handle that many cards all at once, or I may ditch the US Bank Flexperks.

I'm in with buschoi, already have SPG Amex, Delta Amex, Schwab 2%, citi mtvU, etc... Is it really worth it to make the jump to this card.... What kind of credit limits are people getting?

Verified 4% card
 

I have had this card for a few weeks and my first statement just closed. I used the link in the OP's first post (thanks!), and the card is earning points as described. I got a $12K limit. Tried to increase the limit and was told to check back in 6 mos. There is no limit to the number of points you can earn. The redemption process allows for 4% back as a statement credit when you use the card to purchase flights and/or hotels on Travelocity.com, according to this redemption scheme:
http://svc.travelocity.com/info/info...LEVELS,00.html
Best part is you choose how many points you want to redeem, and get the corresponding statement credit. You can redeem in $400 increments to get the best value.^^
Of note, the website and some of the papers that accompany the card are very confusing, describing the 3/2/1% earnings feature of the other Travelocity card. I emailed CS to make sure my acct was set up properly and got a statement in writing that it was, and I have been receiving the number of points I expected.

Does your written confirmation explicitly verify that you can stack multiples of 20,000 points to redeem against a single purchase? The online terms for the card do not show the possibility of redeeming 200,000 points for a $4,000 credit to pay for one ticket.

My written confirmation from them does not explicitly state this. When I go to the travelocity website to schedule an expensive flight, it allows me to pull up the redemption scheme in my post above to request the statement credit of my choosing. So yes, a $4000 credit would require 200,000 points. I cannot tell yet whether you can request a $400 credit to cover the price for (2) $200 flights, but I think that could also be the case.
In addition, it appears that you earn Travelocity points for the purchase, but I have not done this yet to confirm whether it is true. The website allows me to go through all of the steps to make a redemption, but I had to stop before hitting "confirm" because I am not ready to make travel plans yet, and once redeemed the points are nonrefundable.
I still have lots of airline credit from the February TYP devaluation, so it will be a while before I actually book any travel. Just wanted to share my experience and observations so far, as this card is very much out of the radar and it's difficult to find information.

That's very encouraging, thank you for the details.

OK, I think I am confused. Is the 3/2/1 (3 points for Travelocity packages, 2 points for single Travelocity purchases, 1 point for all other purchases) scheme the only rewards program, or is there a separate rewards scheme that gives you 2 points for every dollar spent no matter what you spend it on? The only information I can find on-line is for the 3/2/1 program...

ON EDIT: Never mind, I found both programs... now the question is why did I get put in the 3/2/1 program and how do I switch to the 4/2 annual fee program?

If you applied through the link in this thread, you should have been set up with the 4/2 annual fee program. You can check your acct on Barclay's website and determine whether you are receiving the correct number of points. The website is very confusing in its description of what your card earns, but the number of points should be correct if you applied through the link. If you applied for the card elsewhere, you most likely do have the other version of the card. You can try to call and ask Barclay's to switch you over, but you may find it easier to just apply for a new card via the proper link and cancel or sock-drawer the other one.

After using the Travelocity Call Center in India 3 different times they would have to give me at least 10% off what I spend on their card to use them. The are the Pits.

I called about this card a few weeks ago. It took me forever to get to someone who knew about this program. Rental cars and Hotels are no longer allowed unless part of a package. He said you can not combine two $200 flights. $400 credit was the max of per ticket with nothing back if the flight was under. I still might get this card for flights from $200 to $600. Earns miles and is better than spending 25k. That is if you can even find an award seat for 25k.

I don't think you have found that person yet, based on my experience so far. :rolleyes:
I think you may be pleasantly surprised when you get the card and use it.

So you have not earned a level above $400 at this point. Unless you are prepaying. How do you know that you will be able to go over $400

Link is from Aug 2006.
Terms for new card w/ $69 fee is https://www.juniper.com/app/japply/l...req=CCMWC21188
e) As a Cardmember you may redeem Travelocity Points for the following Account statement credits when they purchase travel, services, and products on Travelocity.com:
Redeem 5,000 Travelocity Points for a $50.00 statement credit, or
Redeem 7,500 Travelocity Points for a $100.00 statement credit, or
Redeem 20,000 Travelocity Points for the cost of an airline ticket or Flight + Hotel Package up to a maximum credit of $400.00.

Clearly states flight + hotel package. So hotels would fall in the 7500 = $100 but could you use 30000 = $400 for a max of 3% return?

Hope that is true. Not what they told me.

Agree that it is very confusing.

Hope this is true. But how does this work if you don't have a $4000 credit? Not sure you would know this with what seems to be a max of a 400 dollar credit in your acct at this point. Also did you try with a hotel alone?

I would like to hear from someone who has hit confirm and received Barkley's statement for it is really Barkley who is handling the program.

I hope you are right. I talked to a bunch of people at Barkley's and Travelocity before being connected to someone who seemed to know the program very well. And what is with the rolled eyes? Just trying to figure this program out as you are.

I hope so. Regardless, this card has great potential.

The rolled eyes were not meant for you, it was for the many clueless CSR's I have dealt with. I can see that my message may have been unclear about that and sorry if you interpreted it that way. No offense to you intended. I find flyertalk info to be much more reliable than many credit card program CSR's.
Here is a quote from this month's statement, and yes it is from Barclay's bank:
Reward travel on your Travelocity
MasterCard starts at just 5,000 points!
Even better? Redeem points for any
air, car, hotel, or package on
Travelocity with no black-out dates or
seat restrictions.
You are correct that I have not accum. enough of a balance yet to confirm that you can go over the $400 credit. However, the redemption site allows me to pull up the statement credit menu from that 2006 link, and choose how many points I want to redeem.
I have tried to book a hotel room and can request a statement credit for that too.
So while I cannot confirm 100% that this is going to work as I anticipate it will, because I have not actually hit "confirm" and seen it done, from everything I have seen, it appears to be as I've described. If anyone else has more to add, I too am all ears.

is the 2 points per dollar for all purchases?

is the 2 points per dollar for all purchases?
yes, except those made on Travelocity.com, which earn 4 pts/$

Be careful
 

Just a word of advice--make SURE you apply for the right card. I did a phone app and the CSR put me in the "lower tier" program (no annual fee, but the 3/2/1 rewards scheme) and I have been trying for two weeks to get moved into the rewards program I originally asked for. This better be worth it....

A few notes
 

I've had this card for a little over a month now. There's a few interesting details I've discovered:

Points for purchases are immediately available for use after the purchase posts. You don't have to wait for a statement to close.

I have over 25k points right now, so I did some test bookings. When booking a $500 hotel-only trip, I was given the option of redeeming up to $450 in points, including 20k for $400 and 25k for $450. The $400 "Free Flight" tag line is just a tag line. It seems to simply be 20k = $400 in travelocity credit. I did not complete the reservation, but I'm certain that if I had both the 20k and 25k reward options would have been available to me.

I also had my account placed on hold for a week at one point because I made payments on two consecutive days. They didn't like that for some reason. My credit limit is only 8k, so I need to make semi-monthly payments to get the most out of it.

Oh, and the CSRs are horrible. I've yet to be able to get them to forward me to anyone outside of the main CSR call center.

Thanks budblab and jdstecker. I am going ahead and applying. Will transfer my Airtran line of credit over as I did with my Usair card. This could be better than any other card.

I heartily agree. My solution was to stop calling the number on the card-try calling 1-866-408-4064. It is the application number, but when you call, just ask to be transferred to customer service, and you will get the US customer service center, rather than the dreadful overseas one.

Like others, I have to admit that this is a very tempting offer. Only if Barclays not be rejecting our applications in the past. I no longer feel comfortable risking a hard pull when I am not confident that the application will be approved.

Too bad as they could get really good business out of me and I too would have gained excellent returns from them. Very unfortunate!

+1