Hey all – longtime lurker looking for advice.
I recently established the go-to cash back setup with (mainly) BofA (Platinum Honors status) and am quite happy with it:
- BofA PR for Catch All
- 2 CCRs obtained during promo to get 8.25% CB on select category for first year, then downgrading to 5.25% CB
- 1 CCR set to Online Shopping
- 1 CCR set to Dining
- 1 older CCR that is 5.25% CB on select category
- Card has not seen usage recently due to prioritizing the promo CCRs I just got. Once the promo is over I’ll likely make this a second Online shopping card just to segment online shopping better (i.e. Amazon vs non-Amazon).
- Citi Custom Cash to get 5% on groceries
That being said, I have been increasingly on the fence on if I would benefit from a more traditional “travel” card. I have the Bilt card and enjoy the points experience from it. There was a rough 1.5 year period it was my main card, and the points I earned on it were enough to cover my flights for just over a year. I know Bilt 2.0 is going to reveal details in January, and we’ll see what the options are, but overall I am not optimistic and will likely just swap to the 0AF version just to keep paying rent via card for cash management purposes.
I’d appreciate any insight on the community for perspectives on how a travel card(s) might benefit me, if at all.
Things to note:
- I prefer simplicity and am not interested in scouring portals/scheming to figure out optimal point usage. I also like to travel when I want and when I need (this means no lockout periods are preferred).
- I’d prefer to keep the majority of my day to day spend on my cash back setup. I only want to consider moving my flights + hotel spend to a travel card/setup.
- 2026 travel will likely be the most I’ve traveled in a while (if everything shakes out as expected). I don’t think 2027 onwards would be the exact same travel load as 2026, but I could 100% see myself traveling myself more in general after 2026.
- Outside of flights, I don’t think I have any particular brand loyalty. For flights, I strongly prefer Delta but have flown American often as well.
- That being said, don’t really care about status for flights. For hotels, I might be a bit more enticed since those seem to have more concrete benefits.
Open Questions:
- Does a travel card benefit me?
- How can I synergize a travel card to work alongside my CB setup?
- I’m leaning towards the Amex Plat due to this concern, since I can sock drawer it for everything but flights + hotel (?), then use the coupon book to recoup the AF (I already use some of the benefits organically)
- Does it make sense to get a separate card for hotels? What criteria are useful to evaluate if this is “necessary” for me or not?
Below are my travel habits, along with the template for card recommendation requests. Thank you all in advance for taking the time to read this and respond. Appreciate you all for making the community here what it is today!
Travel Habits:
- Flights
- Main airport: DCA (sometimes IAD)
- Regular Travel 2-4x a year to go back home to see family.
- Over the last ~3 years I’ve flown maybe 3-4 times to other locations for vacations or catching up with friends.
- When I book flights, I usually use Google flights or other websites to see prices, then book directly with the Airline. Exception is when clearing out Bilt points, then I use the Bilt portal.
- I prefer flying Delta when possible.
- 2026 Flight Expectations:
- 1 international trip
- 2-3 flights home
- 3-4 additional domestic flights (one of these flights might be an Amtrak, depending on personal comfort with longer Amtrak ride)
- Car Rentals
- At least once a year I drive back home with friends instead of flying. I don’t usually rent the car myself but contribute to paying for it (not sure if relevant but wanted to include just in case). This trip may not happen in 2026 though.
- 2026 Rental Expectations:
- 1 car rental as part of international trip (but friends will be booking car directly and I’ll just pay them my portion)
- Amtrak
- Regular travel 4-5 times a year to visit friends and other cities on East Coast (usually 1 trip/quarter)
- 2026 Amtrak Expectations:
- 4-5 trips (1 might be a flight, depending on personal comfort with longer Amtrak ride)
- Hotels
- At least once a year a hotel is required, as part of the car travel with friends mentioned above. Same as above, I don’t directly book this hotel and just pay my portion to friends. For the travel I have upcoming though I’ll be booking myself.
- I don’t have a preference for a Hotel chain, just something clean with reliable enough service. I regularly travel to NYC, Boston, and Pittsburgh if that helps. I’ve enjoyed stays at Hyatt and Hilton (iirc).
- 2026 Hotel Expectations:
- 1 Hotel Stay for international trip (4 days) (~1k USD cost)
- 1 Hotel stay for domestic travel (1 week, East Coast) (~1.2k USD cost)
- 2 Hotel Stays for domestic travel (~2-3 days each, West Coast + East Coast)
- Maybe 1-2 more hotel stays (2-5 Days, East Coast. Usually when I Amtrak travel I stay with friends, but don’t want to over impose so might experiment with hotels)
r/CreditCards Template:
- Cards I Use
- BofA PR | $16k Limit | Nov 2025
- BofA CCR | $25k Limit | Sep 2025
- BofA CCR | $25k Limit | Sep 2025
- BofA CCR | $6k Limit | Pre-2019
- Bilt | $10k Limit | $10k Limit | 2022/2023
- Citi Custom Cash | $5.8k Limit | 2020/2021
- Cards I don’t use
- Apple Card | $5k Limit | May 2025
- Capital One Savor (PC from Quicksilver) | $3k Limit | 2020/2021
- Chase Prime Visa | $10k Limit | 2023
- PayPal Mastercard | $8.5k Limit | 2022/2023
- FICO Score: 769
- Oldest account age: ~20 years (Discover card that was closed). ~7 years if excluding that account.
- Chase 5/24 status: 4/24
- Income: 200k
- Monthly Spend Categories (Average monthly spend: $3745.86):
- Bills (Rent, Utilities, Etc): $2200
- Online Shopping: $500 (will be closer to 50-100 next year, got a lot of my purchases out of the way this year)
- Groceries: $400
- Dining: $300 (cap I set, don’t usually hit)
- Fun/Friend Activities: $250
- Annual Costs (Costco, Amazon Prime, Insurance, Gifts) converted to monthly: $142
- Flights: ~$65 (averaged out to monthly)
- Hotels: ~$8.86 (Single hotel stay in November where my portion cost $106.33. This number will definitely increase next year due to increased travel in general.)
- Amtrak: ~$22 (averaged out to monthly)
- Open to Business Cards?
- Probably not. Read an interesting use case for Chase Ink Preferred for travel, but aside from that and considering how Chase has been over the last year, most likely no.
- What's the purpose of your next card?
- Seeing if a travel card makes sense for me.
- Do you have any cards you've been looking at?
- Amex Plat (farm this then move to CS Amex Plat)
- C1 Venture X (but I’ve heard for domestic travel the card isn’t that great in terms of points value?)
- Wells Fargo Autograph / Autograph Journey
- Hilton Aspire / Surpass
- Chase Ink Preferred Business
- Are you OK with category spending or do you want a general spending card?
- Category specific. Focused on travel => flights + hotels.
Travel card(s) for someone predominately on Team Cashback with regular travel habits, expecting a large increase in travel for 2026
byu/qtips-in-ears-are-gr inCreditCards
Posted by qtips-in-ears-are-gr
9 Comments
WF Autograph gives 3% back on travel, restaurants, gas, parking, public transit, and streaming services along with no AF.
Delta Gold Amex is worth it for free checked bags and earlier boarding. The $100 stays credit and then checked bags get me value and then some. If I put $10k on it in a calendar year the $200 Delta ecredit is the cherry on top.
I don’t travel enough to justify the plat.
Honestly, just get more BofA CCRs or PRE for simplicity.
BofA has the broadest travel category of any card, nothing else will be able to beat it in cashback.
Since you are are flying out of DC airports, I’d really recommend the Venture X if you can grab it. Don’t be surprised though if you get rejected, it’s one of the harder ones to get if you already have an established credit profile. From what I’ve heard the Cap One lounges are great.
It is one of the easier cards to justify the AF. See if it works well for you in 2026, if not just cancel or downgrade it.
OP, I am a cash back person, and crave simplicity. I also fly mostly out of IAD, but sometimes DCA.
I would ask five questions:
1. Why am I not getting an airline card (Citi or Chase) (for AA or United)? The answer may be that you don’t regularly fly those despite the hub status.
2. Why am I not getting the CSR? 4% cash back on direct flight and hotel bookings, lounge status, hotel status, and excellent travel insurances. Option to transfer UR points to United. Its expensive and harder to offset the fee than the Platinum.
3. Why am I not getting the Venture X? Cheap travel card with lounge access and DCA and IAD have C1 lounges. Drawback is this is not a cash back set up but you can use travel eraser.
4. Why am I not getting the Platinum? 5X on flights direct, decent transfer partners, and good lounge and excellent hotel statuses. Well, you note it is a sock drawer option, and you get 5x on flights and FHR, but this is not a cash back set up, and one really only uses this card for flights and for the benefits.
5. Why don’t I just upgrade my BofA PR to a PRE? This is a good option, but does limit you to just cash back and limited statuses. However, this card has arguably the best PP membership in the business.
While I love the Autograph, if you were going to go this route it would be duplicative with your PR, and you might as well just upgrade to the PRE.
Good luck in your decision.
US Bank Altitude Connect gives 4% on travel, but you need to open a checking or savings account to deposit the cashback in order to get 1:1 points to money.
Probably not worth it if that’s your only account with US Bank.
One other thing to consider is one of the Kroger cards. No foreign transaction fees, 5% cashback on mobile wallet, 3% on dining, up to $3k each annually. (note, only a few like Ralphs, HT, have the dining category). Useful to pay for dinners and shopping when overseas to avoid fees.
Hate to say it but the PRE will do most things you want. I’d just take out the BoA PRE and PC the PR
As a BOA connoisseur myself you should be looking for one of four things if you want travel points:
1. A specifically dedicated currency – you need to pick 1 currency and not more – UR, MR or Thankyou points. When BOA is the main driver you do not want too many distractions
* I have a setup like this. I hoard Chase points via 3x or more only – specifically on office supply stores, dining and the Freedom 5% category – while putting all other spend on the BOA cards to passively stack Hyatt points
2. A card that is net positive with your current spend. The Amex Plat is the best example – if you save >900 on bills you already have been spending money on, you win
3. An amazing SUB
4. Specific benefits the cashback cards don’t have i.e. Delta checked baggage on a Delta card
I also run a hybrid strategy with BoA platinum honors and travel cards. Here’s my experiences:
* If you have any interest in priority pass and restaurants, the PRE is a fantastic card. The $450 credits were surprisingly easy to use for me (the $300 airline credit can be used up in a few minutes using gift cards).
* If you enjoy flying Delta, consider their $150 AF card that pays for checked luggage (assuming you don’t travel with carry ons only). Same applies for the $99 American card. In general I find that the $95-150 cards always work for someone who flies that airline enough.
* The $95-99 hotel cards are all keepers if you spend one night with them each year. On solo trips and sometimes with friends, I default to the IHG premier card punches way above its weight (I can explain more in a follow up post). With family, I seek out Hyatts (I also have the card).
* As an alternate to the PRE, I think the Venture X card could work for you. I use the $300 portal credit towards hotels and car rentals. The priority pass access is weak but it can get you into the C1 lounges in DC. I find that C1 lounges have the best food in the country.
Agree with everyone on the PRE. You could get a new PRE for the SUB and transfer your PR points to it for 25% bonus on points booking through travel portal then PC your PR to another CCR or just PC your PR to a PRE.