my parents can’t really help with this stuff so i’m calling in my Reddit parents – currently I have:
Citi double cash card – 2% on everything
Freedom Flex (3% on dining and drug stores, 5% on travel if you book through the chase portal, 1% on everything else, 5% on 3 categories every quarter which vary)
I travel quite frequently (1-2 international trips per year, about one trip a month within the US)
should I keep using chase portal to book travel or get an Amex or airline specific card? I’m looking to know what the benefits are to using an Amex or equivalent over the free Chase Freedom Flex – do they have better ways to get point transfers?
sorry if anything i said seems like I’m uninformed about something – its probably because I am
should i get a travel credit card?
byu/Miserable_Analysis01 inCreditCards
Posted by Miserable_Analysis01
5 Comments
Since I work for airline, I can tell you that airline cards usually give you priority boarding and free checked bags which saves lot of money if you travel that much – way better than booking through portals.
a of it depends on your expenditure. travel cards
can elevate your spending on travel ( most offer at least 5x back via portal). point transfer cabe rewarding for first class flights. better hotel rate ( such as in case of hyatt. though it might get worse). then some card also offer benefits suxh as travel protection. primary car insurace. tsa precheck or lounge visits.
in your case . you can try for strata premier or csp to pair with your existing card. if you have.big expenditure. you will get some handsome opening bonus.
if you dont want to spend any mobey. there some really good no annual fee card like wellsfargo autograph. or altitude connect card
If you’re traveling internationally, you should get a card without foreign transaction fees, if nothing else.
For travel cards, are you more interested in getting get returns on your travel spending? Or benefits to make travel nicer?
If you got a Chase Sapphire Preferred for $95/year, you could solve your foreign transaction problem, open up transferring points from your Freedom Flex, and get some travel protections.
If you’re spending money paying to check bags, an airline credit card could help.
Citi Strata Premier pairs nicely with Double Cash. Chase Sapphire Preferred is another mid-tier travel card with $95 AF, but the Chase ecosystem is underpowered. With those 2 Citi cards in hand, Freedom Flex could be tucked away in a sock drawer for emergencies.
An airline card only makes sense if you are dedicated to one airline for some percentage of your travel.
If you want a premium travel card, you may want to start easy with Venture X before looking into Chase Sapphire Reserve or Amex Platinum. All include airport lounge access and various other perks.
One negative about Amex is its acceptance rate overseas. All the other cards mentioned above are Visa or Mastercard, which is good.
P.S. In case you qualify, Navy Federal Flagship Rewards is an excellent option. No lounge access, but AF is $49 and Amazon Prime membership is included, along with the usual Global Entry credit you get with most travel cards.
What airlines you use?