Travel Credit Card perks?

gymbugmj2k · March 2012

FI and I are heading to Vegas around September and this IS a cross country trip for us...and i'd imagine the $ we spend would be fairly substantial...
we typically do 2-3 shorter/local trips throughout the year (just to give an idea of how frequently we travel)

I'd probably be looking for something to use occasionally starting now, and also use it to book the honeymoon and flights.

I guess my question has a few parts:
1 - what is a good credit card to rack up points (travel, cashback or other perks?)
2 - which would be better to go for - a card that does cashback or a card that does other perks?
3 - any other tips/tricks about credit card rewards and honeymoons?

It all seems like a TON of research to figure out which card is the best for us, so any tips or ideas before I dive in would be helpful. Thanks!

RYLZ · March 2012

We are big airmile collectors-- we just returned from our honeymoon in Micronesia, all 14 first class flights paid for with 120K airmiles on Continental. I'm sure there are other ways/plans but ours is to use the Presidential Credit Card (formerly Continental, about to become United) and to charge everything on it. We charged everything related to the wedding, and the prior 4 years to it and between that and travel, we racked up over a half a million miles. We pay EVERYTHING with it. The card is also useful because it has no foreign transaction fees when we travel abroad. It also eliminates checked bag fees, gets you access to the airport lounge and entitles you to upgrades on flights purchased with the card.

Also, a lot of airlines have partnerships with hotel brands. So for instance, we had our rehearsal dinner at a Wyndham hotel and we belong to Wyndham rewards, which is a partner with our FF program so we got all kinds of bonus miles (over 4000) for the rehearsal dinner bill!

Basically, whether Continental/United, or any other airline, if you get their frequent flier credit card and join their frequent flier program, then stay loyal to them and maximize their offers (especially doing all your online shopping through their "mall", we rack up tens of thousands of miles at Christmas), you'll be on the way to perks, upgrades and miles.

Jells2dot0 · March 2012

I carry three travel perks cards- Chase Mileage Plus for United, Citi American Airlines, and Starwood Amex. The best card on the market is the SPG Amex. You earn SPG points, which can obviously be used for hotels, but you also can use your points on airfare. I have found that depending on the airfare price, the SPG points redemption rate is better than what an airline offers. You can also transfer your SPG points to a airline FF mile acount. If you transfer 20K points, SPG will throw in a 5K bonus! So, if you transfer 20K points, you'll end up with 25K miles in your account. Do check the details of the transfer program because not every airline is a 1:1 transfer. United is a 2:1 transfer last time I checked. American Airlines is 1:1. I have been super happy with the SPG program and card. AmEx is a great card to have on hand and while it's not always accepted everywhere, I believe it's worth having. I've been a card holder for at least 5 years (not really sure the amount of time) and I've been SPG Platinum for several years. So, maybe I'm biased

Jells2dot0 · March 2012

Also heard great things about the Continental Presidential card that bezlu mentioned. I am not sure if it's available now since Continental is now United, but those who held the card get to keep it. I REALLY wish I had gotten it instead of the United Mileage Plus Explorer card I have, but I don't want to open yet another card. I'd look into the Continental card as well. I'd recommend either Continental (or United equivalent) Presidential or SPG Amex.

gymbugmj2k · March 2012

hm. interesting. thanks for the tips! FI and I just have one basic CC each, and we haven't really thought much past that since well, we haven't really needed to!

I should probably mention that we usually fly exclusively southwest or jetblue, and I am a member of both of their rewards programs (though not their card programs). im also a marriott member but dont use their card either lol

ill definitely look into that SPG one...thanks!

amymaysa · March 2012

There is a jetblue amex, not sure about southwest

TravelingJen · March 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_travel-credit-card-perks?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:11Discussion:2c498124-94b0-4b63-b677-c48b6b4d7973Post:2b245965-de50-4a06-b485-740fdd1a6256">Re: Travel Credit Card perks?</a>:
[QUOTE]We are big airmile collectors-- we just returned from our honeymoon in Micronesia, all 14 first class flights paid for with 120K airmiles on Continental. I'm sure there are other ways/plans but ours is to use the Presidential Credit Card (formerly Continental, about to become United) and to charge everything on it. We charged everything related to the wedding, and the prior 4 years to it and between that and travel, we racked up over a half a million miles. We pay EVERYTHING with it. The card is also useful because it has no foreign transaction fees when we travel abroad. It also eliminates checked bag fees, gets you access to the airport lounge and entitles you to upgrades on flights purchased with the card. Also, a lot of airlines have partnerships with hotel brands. So for instance, we had our rehearsal dinner at a Wyndham hotel and we belong to Wyndham rewards, which is a partner with our FF program so we got all kinds of bonus miles (over 4000) for the rehearsal dinner bill! Basically, whether Continental/United, or any other airline, if you get their frequent flier credit card and join their frequent flier program, then stay loyal to them and maximize their offers (especially doing all your online shopping through their "mall", we rack up tens of thousands of miles at Christmas), you'll be on the way to perks, upgrades and miles.
Posted by bezlu[/QUOTE]

I do this, except using a Delta AMEX and Alaska Visa through BOA. We literally put every single thing we can on our credit card, and pay it off each month. You will be surprised at how quickly the miles add up. I have received two roundtrip tickets to Europe the past four years for free using my miles.

Katred08 · March 2012

i have the southwest chase card, and I like it ok. i'm a moderate traveler, but usually try to fly SW domestically whenever i can. i use it basically exclusively, unless there's an excellent cash back offer going on w/ discover, in which case i'll use that one for a few months. but the SW Chase card is my primary. i finally bit the bullet and signed up for it about two years ago when they were offering two free flights for signing up, which seemed too good to refuse. since then they've changed their whole credits/points program and I don't think the card is quite as worthwhile anymore (especially compared to some of the great cards that the above posters have)....but like you said, the programs and options are so confusing that I just don't have the energy to switch right now! but anyway, basically its 1 point per dollar spent on regular purchases, but you can get bonus points when you book w/ partner hotel, car rental company, etc., as well as when you shop through their online "mall," which includes a ton of retail stores. every once in awhile they'll have bonuses like 500 points for signing up an authorized user, or for using turbo tax...things like that. it's $65/year annual fee, which kind of bugs me, but seems pretty standard for miles cards, and i charge enough to earn several flights a year, so it's like i'm getting 2-3 flights for $65, which, for me, is pretty good. you said you were an almost exclusive SW flyer, that's why i mention this card at all. if you preferred other airlines, I don't think the SW Chase is the best out there. one interesting thing i haven't looked into much is that you can cash in your SW miles for tickets on other airlines, for hotel stays, etc (you can't do this just being a member of the rapid rewards program, need to be a card member), but at a quick glance it doesn't really seem like it's the best use of the points.

do you or your fiance travel much for work? if so, might be worth looking into what airlines your company prefers and get a card for that airline.

to really rack up the points, you should try to get one card and use it for basically anything you ever purchase. for me, that's the best way to accrue miles, since i don't travel enough to really get too many that way.

sunshine_day_dreams · March 2012

I have the Capital One Venture card and really like it. You earn 2 miles per dollar, but have a $60 annual fee. They have another card that is only 1.25 miles, but no annual fee. They also have an online shopping portal where you can earn up to 15 bonus points per dollar spent at different stores, Expedia, hotels.com, etc. Extra points for booking with specific hotel chains as well.

The things that I like about this card vs. an airline card are that you earn 2 miles per dollar on EVERY purchase, not just travel purchases or restaurant puchases, etc. like other cards. I can use my rewards for ANY travel expense - hotels, apartments, flights, rental cars, etc., not just flights, and not restricted to any airline, no blackout dates, etc. I also have upgrade perks with specific hotels and airlines by using my card.

We use our CC for every single expense during the month and then pay it off at the end of the month. Just in the first two months of this year, I've earned over $500 in rewards that can be used for any travel expense of my choice.

I pair this up with a FF program through Alaska Airlines. We chose Alaska b/c they partner with a ton of airlines (American, Delta and 10 or so others), including Iceland Air, which I've found to be the cheapest for our travel routes to Europe over the past few years. They also reward you miles for for stays at certain hotel chains, rental car days, etc. And you can use e-miles to earn even more miles on top of that.

AllyG303 · March 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_travel-credit-card-perks?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:2c498124-94b0-4b63-b677-c48b6b4d7973Post:e53beee1-8588-4008-ad38-3879d44b4122">Re: Travel Credit Card perks?</a>:
[QUOTE]hm. interesting. thanks for the tips! FI and I just have one basic CC each, and we haven't really thought much past that since well, we haven't really needed to! I should probably mention that we usually fly exclusively southwest or jetblue, and I am a member of both of their rewards programs (though not their card programs). im also a marriott member but dont use their card either lol ill definitely look into that SPG one...thanks!
Posted by gymbugmj2k[/QUOTE]

<div>I have a Southwest Visa card and got 2 free roundtrip flights when I signed up for the card. I haven't had it for very long, and don't charge much to it, so I can't tell you much more than that.</div>

AurorasEnvy · March 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_travel-credit-card-perks?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:2c498124-94b0-4b63-b677-c48b6b4d7973Post:ddf53b34-b1da-49ff-965a-465360a3d7c9">Re: Travel Credit Card perks?</a>:
[QUOTE]I have the Capital One Venture card and really like it. You earn 2 miles per dollar, but have a $60 annual fee. They have another card that is only 1.25 miles, but no annual fee. They also have an online shopping portal where you can earn up to 15 bonus points per dollar spent at different stores, Expedia, hotels.com, etc. Extra points for booking with specific hotel chains as well. The things that I like about this card vs. an airline card are that you earn 2 miles per dollar on EVERY purchase, not just travel purchases or restaurant puchases, etc. like other cards. I can use my rewards for ANY travel expense - hotels, apartments, flights, rental cars, etc., not just flights, and not restricted to any airline, no blackout dates, etc. I also have upgrade perks with specific hotels and airlines by using my card. We use our CC for every single expense during the month and then pay it off at the end of the month. Just in the first two months of this year, I've earned over $500 in rewards that can be used for any travel expense of my choice. I pair this up with a FF program through Alaska Airlines. We chose Alaska b/c they partner with a ton of airlines (American, Delta and 10 or so others), including Iceland Air, which I've found to be the cheapest for our travel routes to Europe over the past few years. They also reward you miles for for stays at certain hotel chains, rental car days, etc. And you can use e-miles to earn even more miles on top of that.
Posted by sunshine_day_dreams[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>This! We'll have had the Capital One Venture card (the one with no annual fee) for a year and a half by the time the wedding rolls around, and we'll have gotten $1000 towards our honeymoon. We put everything on our credit cards, and pay off the balance each month (I've had a credit card for 9 years and never have had a finance charge). The nice thing is you can use the miles towards anything (travel, gifts, money off your balance), and rack up extra by buying stuff online through their Perk Central (so instead of going straight to amazon.com, you go to Capital One's website first and they direct you to amazon.com, and then there are a lot of bonus miles to be had).

</div>

saritak · March 2012

We have the Citi Premier Card. The thing I really like about it is that we can redeem our points for virtually anything--plane tickets, hotels, merchandise, gift cards, cash, charity, pretty much anything (we've gotten everything from a Grind and Brew coffee maker to a 32-inch flat screen to booking a hotel for 2 nights for our wedding and a night for part of our HM in London). It's basically 1 point for every dollar spent, but some places you get more than one point per dollar, there's extra bonus points for shopping online through certain vendors and you also get points for miles flown when you purchase your plane ticket with it. It has an annual fee, but for us it's been worth it. Plus, you can get one free companion ticket (Continental US) a year when you purchase a ticket through their travel benefits provider.

https://creditcards.citi.com/credit-cards/citi-thankyou-premier-card/

Here is where you go to redeem your points:

https://www.thankyou.com/

Soon2BeMrsTing · March 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_travel-credit-card-perks?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:2c498124-94b0-4b63-b677-c48b6b4d7973Post:ec874a7a-1602-48ff-938b-292577dcd5e1">Re: Travel Credit Card perks?</a>:
[QUOTE]I carry three travel perks cards- Chase Mileage Plus for United, Citi American Airlines, and Starwood Amex. The best card on the market is the SPG Amex. You earn SPG points, which can obviously be used for hotels, but you also can use your points on airfare. I have found that depending on the airfare price, the SPG points redemption rate is better than what an airline offers. You can also transfer your SPG points to a airline FF mile acount. If you transfer 20K points, SPG will throw in a 5K bonus! So, if you transfer 20K points, you'll end up with 25K miles in your account. Do check the details of the transfer program because not every airline is a 1:1 transfer. United is a 2:1 transfer last time I checked. American Airlines is 1:1. I have been super happy with the SPG program and card. AmEx is a great card to have on hand and while it's not always accepted everywhere, I believe it's worth having. I've been a card holder for at least 5 years (not really sure the amount of time) and I've been SPG Platinum for several years. So, maybe I'm biased :)
Posted by Jells2dot0[/QUOTE]

I carry only one travel perks card, and it's Amex SPG. When researching cards in 2009, it came out tops for travel rewards and has brought lots of benefits to us.

When we honeymooned in 2010, I actually left my wallet behind in CT, and didn't realize it until we were boarding our plane for Hawaii! Luckily, we were staying at a friend's time share for the first seven nights, but we were counting on my SPG card to get us into our hotel in Waikiki for free for the last two nights. I placed a call to Amex, was given exceptional customer service, and my replacement card was there at the hotel lobby in Waikiki days before I arrrived to claim it. We love SPG and Amex!

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