VISA/MC Complement to my SPG AmEx?
 

Hi all,

My "preferred" card is my SPG AmEx, but as we all know, AmEx isn't accepted quite as widely as Visa/MC. Does anybody have a good recommendation for a Visa/MC to complement my SPG AmEx? TBH, I can use my AmEx at enough places that I suspect my total spend on the "backup" card to be less than $1k annually.

Thanks.

If you're talking about less than $1k, something with no annual fee for sure. You wont be spending enough to obtain any serious rewards, so you might want to consider something like the Citi Platinum Select in case you need to do Balance Transfers in the future, or another benefit which might be of use to you.

Interesting. I already have that card, and have been using it.

If you are talking about 1K/year, it probably does not matter if it is a 2% or 0% cashback - it is only $20 difference.

On the other hand you may want to look for a visa/MC with a 5% category. For example, the PenFed visa gives you 5% on gas and 1% on everything else; Citi Forward visa gives you 5% on dining and 1% on everything else; there are other similar choices out there if you want to remember which card to pull out for a certain category.

Another thought will be getting a fee free World MC or Signature Visa for the benefits.

Do you redeem Starpoints for hotel stays or for airline miles? If miles, which carriers?

SPG Amex is my primary card

Capital One is my secondary card - 1% cash back and no foreign transaction fees which saves 1%-3% on foreign charges as compared to most other cards.

I too am looking for a backup to my SPG Amex. Something that I could move 100k in annual spend to. But I'm not interested in applying for a card that offers 5% on gas or groceries as I don't spend enough on those categories to justify having the card.

Unless there's a material ticket price difference, we are AA exclusive. Starwood AMEX is, by far, my first choice due to (i) the bonus on conversion to AA miles and (ii) the ability to move points back and forth among members of the same household.

After that, I use Citibank's AAdvantage MasterCard.

Only exception is foreign transactions, for which I use the Schwab 2% cashback card since it imposes no foreign currency fees. I understand those are no longer available, so Capital One may be another option for foreign currency transactions.

Can you explain your second point a little bit?

What is that for and how do you do that? Thanks

Ample discussion here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...er-thread.html

if you are interested in miles get an mc/visa card from the primary airline you fly with.

Hotel stays. One of the nicest things about SPG is that you can get an award for as little as 1200 points (Category 1 Cash & Points Award).

I was an elite with NW for 4 years, and these days, I fly so little that it makes more sense to fly the best price/schedule for any given trip than it does to go out of my way for miles. FT heresy, I know, but still...

I don't have a primary airline.

Honestly, this makes the most sense.

For annual spending of $1000, an airline, or hotel or any other points/miles card doesnt make much sense, much less so for any such card that has an annual fee. 1% (or 2%) CB is meaningless somewhat meaningless as well ... you're talking about $10-$20 back a year.

IMO, its better to go with a card that has some other benefit... such as 0% BT, or $0.00 foreign exchange fee as someone else above mentioned if the OP does international travel.

Now, for someone who is going to put $100k spend on a card, an airline card to complement their SPG AMEX is a great route to go. If your primary airline is AA, get their AA MC or Visa card, or if you fly UA or CO, get one of their cards. $100k spend a year will get you some nice reward travel.