thorthor

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/

HappyCoachFlyer

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

thorthor

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).

HCA

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.

Moderator2

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

thorthor

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?

mia

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

thorthor

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

themicah

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.

thorthor

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.

themicah

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?

themicah

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.

thorthor

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...

themicah

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!

HCA

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?