Hi! Looking for advice on what card I should get for the best outcome on travel rewards. The Wells Fargo card I have rn gives cash back, but can only be redeemed to my account or to buy travel through their site. Chase Freedom is decent so far, but I rarely use it. Considering switching to either Chase Sapphire or the Costco credit card because I use Costco so much.
Particularly curious about what might get me more bang for my buck – points I transfer out to travel partners (with Chase) or cash back with Costco Citi card? Any thoughts appreciated!
CREDIT PROFILE
* Current credit cards you are the primary account holder of:
* Wells Fargo Platinum, $15,000, opened ~2017
* Chase Freedom Unlimited, $4000, opened ~2024
* Apple Card, $3400, opened ~2022
* FICO scores with source: Experian 704
* Oldest credit card account age: ~10
* Cards approved in the past 6 months: 0
* Cards approved in the past 12 months: 0
* Cards approved in the past 24 months: 1
* Annual income $: 42500
CATEGORIES
* Ok with category-specific cards?: Yes
* Ok with rotating category cards?: No
* Estimate average monthly spend in the categories below.
* Dining $: 80
* Groceries $: Costco ~400
Aldi ~200
* Gas $: Costco ~80
* Travel $: 125
* Using abroad?: No
* Other categories or stores: Pest control, AC warranty
* Other spend: if I have saved for something nice I nearly always buy it on Costco.com for that sweet warranty
* Pay rent by card? No
MEMBERSHIPS & SUBSCRIPTIONS
* Costco or Sam's Club member: Costco
* Big bank customer: Chase, Wells Fargo
PURPOSE
* Purpose of next card: Travel Rewards
* Travel rewards preferences: American Airlines or Delta, no preference for hotels (would love to hear opinions especially for US travel!)
* Cards being considered: Chase Sapphire Preferred, Costco Citi Card
Travel Card Recommendations?
byu/Which-Dimension-8955 inCreditCards
Posted by Which-Dimension-8955
4 Comments
You mention a preference for American Airlines and Delta Airlines. Citi ThankYou Rewards transfers to American, and AmEx Membership Rewards to Delta. Chase Ultimate Rewards does not transfer to either of those but rather to United and Southwest. Thus by that measure Citi or AmEx would make more sense than Chase. But, the big issue that arises with trying to find the ideal Citi or AmEx setup for you is that your spend is rather low across the board and heavier on categories that do not receive elevated multipliers in most travel points ecosystems. Costco is not considered groceries but rather wholesale clubs, and with just $80 dining, $80 gas (which only takes Visa), and $200 groceries, meaningfully accumulating travel rewards to transfer out is unlikely. E.g. the Citi Strata Premier is highly coveted for 3x on groceries, dining, gas, airlines, and hotels, but here it’d only get 3x on 200 + 80 + 0 + 125 = 405 of monthly spend, aka 1,215 points per month. Not really enough to win you any big award travel deals. Maybe enough for one domestic flight in 1.5 years of saving up, but then you look at the annual fees and AmEx doesn’t even remotely make sense while Citi slashes your earnings in half with just a $95 AF.
Which isn’t at all to be rude or say you should spend more. Money not spent is money you get 100% back, and one should live within their means. But to say that the travel game likely won’t make sense for you and that you should lean into cash back. The AAA Daily Advantage would make a lot of sense for you. 5% groceries, 3% wholesale clubs, pharmacies, gas, and streaming, no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee. Costco Visa isn’t actually that good at Costco shopping, since it only earns 2% at Costco and distributes rewards once per year. Another card to look into is the Wells Fargo Autograph. One of a very small handful of annual fee free credit cards with direct transfer partner access, though not with any of the big four domestic airlines unfortunately – transfers like 1:1 JetBlue, 1:1 Air France, and uniquely 1:2 Choice hotels. It’s mainly used as a cash back card though as it earns 3x on a lot of great categories including travel, transit, and gas.
Delta would require Amex, I do not believe any other card has them as transfer partner. I’m talking non co-branded Amex unless it’s Delta’s Amex of course. For American airlines most transfer ratios suck so it is not worth it unless again you go with a American airlines co-branded card. I would say for your particular case preference and income try the Citi Strata premier $95 annual which the $100 hotel credit more than covers, currently a 60k point bonus but this occasionally goes higher and they transfer 1:1 with American airlines if and when you need. Otherwise you can stack the $100 hotel credit with a $100 experience credit on select hotels in their travel portal while getting a hefty 10x multiplier on it.
Definitely Wells Fargo Autograph if you want a *travel* card. This card won’t earn anything grocery-wise though. Your spend is fairly low to justify any annual fee cards.
The AAA daily advantage is the only other realistic option that comes to mind. It isn’t a travel card, but it does 3% Costco, 3% gas, 5% grocery.
Again, my advice is to avoid the cards with fees for now.
Feel like you can apply to a CSP (to get the SUB) and keep your freedom, bc CSP can turn your freedom points to UR and allow transferring to partners (although airline partners Chase have are not what you preferred)