Difference between revisions of "Reciprocal museum programs"

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(→‎Holding onto a premium card for travel and restaurant spending)
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{{DISPLAYTITLE: Temp - {{Title|premium cards}} (2018)}}
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Temp - {{Title|general purpose}} (2018)}}
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{{seo|description=Which credit card is your best choice for earning the highest reward rate on your everyday spending: the Chase Freedom Unlimited, Citi DoubleCash, or some other card?}}
 
{{Page|article|Card Strategies}}  
 
{{Page|article|Card Strategies}}  
  
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{{Image|PremiumCards.png|420}}  
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{{Image|BestChoice.jpg|full}}  
  
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“Premium” reward cards have high annual fees. But, they come with the annual credits, bonus reward rates, lucrative signup bonuses, and valuable benefits (such as free airport lounge access), that can make these fees worthwhile.  
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If you are following our advice, you will eventually get a handful of credit cards for their travel benefits—such as one or more {{Link|premium cards|premium travel-oriented credit cards}}, an {{Link|Checked Bags|airline credit card for the airline you fly the most}}, and perhaps a couple of hotel credit cards.
  
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The most famous premium cards are the Amex Platinum card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve, but there are also several lesser-known premium cards available from other credit card companies.
+
You could use any of these credit cards to earn rewards on your purchases. But unfortunately, they probably don't offer the highest possible reward rate for your most of your spending. Since your goal is to earn as many points as you can, it is worthwhile to sign up for an additional credit card—one that is specifically chosen to earn the best possible reward rate on your everyday purchases.  
  
 
<blockquote>
 
<blockquote>
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The ongoing benefits of premium credit cards can be very valuable. Depending on your travel patterns, you may want to add one or more of these cards to your "permanent" credit card collection.  
+
GET the cards that make sense for their travel benefits; but USE the card that earns the best rewards for your spending. And use it, instead of cash or checks, whenever you can.
 +
</blockquote>
  
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Even if you don't, you probably want to eventually apply for each of these cards, if only to collect their extremely lucrative signup bonuses. By spreading your applications over time, you’ll not only earn hundreds of thousands of points, you'll be able to freely access airport lounges for years to come.
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You'll slowly and surely earn enough points for free airplane tickets and hotel rooms. If you make the effort to use your card to pay for as many of your expenses as you can, you'll increase the amount of free travel that you earn.
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</blockquote>
 
  
 
{{TOC}}
 
{{TOC}}
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*[[#What all the premium cards have in common|What all the premium cards have in common]]
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*[[#(Almost) never use cash—earn rewards instead|Use your card as often as you can]]
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*[[#Our recommendation: Sign up for all the premium cards (over time)|Our recommendation: Sign up for all the premium cards (over time)]]
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*[[#The best general purpose reward card (for most people)|The best general purpose reward card (for most people)]]
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*[[#Keeping one or more cards for the long term|Keeping one or more cards for the long term]]
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*[[#Who should get a different card?|Who should get a different card?]]
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*[[#Obtaining continuous airport lounge access|Obtaining continuous airport lounge access]]
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*[[#The best alternative is a great cashback card (for most people)|The best alternative is a great cashback card]]
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*[[#Holding onto a premium card for travel and restaurant spending|Holding onto a premium card for travel and restaurant spending]]
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*[[#Advanced options|Advanced options]]
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*[[#Side-by-side comparison|Side-by-side comparison]]
 
 
{{/TOC}}
 
{{/TOC}}
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{{Main|article}}
 
{{Main|article}}
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=== Our recommendation: Sign up for all the premium cards (over time) ===
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=== <span id="Never Use Cash"> (Almost) never use cash—earn rewards instead </span> ===
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If you are comfortable getting credit cards just for their signup bonuses, the answer to "Which premium card you should get?" is easy—you should sign up for "all of them". {{Link|Signup Intro}}
 
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When you factor in their signup bonuses and annual credits, every premium credit card is worth getting, at least for the initial year.
 
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<ul class="bulletlist">
 
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<li>'''Most premium cards have generous signup offers'''. For example, a typical bonus for the Amex Platinum cards ranges from 60,000 to 100,000 Membership Reward points, valued at {{Value|MR|60000}} to {{Value|MR|100000}}. If you highly value, and are patient enough to redeem, premium cabin frequent flyer tickets, these points are even more valuable.</li>
 
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<li>'''Each of these cards have travel credits which can offset their expensive annual fees'''. For example, the Sapphire Reserve comes with an automatic $300 travel credit, that can partially offset the annual fee. While you need to pay out $450, you’ll receive back $300 in free travel (on top of the signup bonus), dropping your effective out-of-pocket expense to a more reasonable $150. </li>
 
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<li>'''In some cases, you can take advantage of the travel credit twice in your initial year'''. For example, the Amex Platinum, Citi Prestige, and Hilton Aspire cards allow you to earn travel credits each “calendar” year. That means you can use the credit twice during your initial signup year. For example, if you sign up for the card in August, you can use the full credit between August and December, and then again between January and August.</li>  
 
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For some premium cards, you can get back more in credits, than you need to pay in annual fees—and that doesn’t even include the value of the signup points or ongoing benefits. In an extreme case, the CNB Crystal Infinite card will reimburse $250 in incidental expenses, twice in the initial year, for up to 4 separate cardholders, for a maximum total of $2,000.
 
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<li>'''You can earn the signup bonus from multiple different versions of the Amex Platinum card'''. Amex has partnered with a number of other companies, such as Charles Schwab, to offer slightly different versions of their Platinum cards. While you can only earn each Amex signup bonus once per lifetime, you are entitled to earn the bonus from every different version of the Platinum card.</li>
 
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</ul>
 
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<center>'''Premium credit card credits and signup values'''
 
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(Range of signup values based on credit used)
 
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</center>
 
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{{Table|left|6in}}
 
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!style="width: 1.5in;"|Card
 
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!style="width: 1in;"|Signup Points
 
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!style="width: .75in;"|Net Signup Value
 
−
!Credit
 
−
|-
 
−
|'''{{Card|PlatinumCard|short}}''' (multiple versions)||50-100,000||$300-1,600
 
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|$200 airline incidental (one airline) x2, $200 Uber, $100 Saks
 
−
|-
 
−
|'''{{Card|PlatinumBiz|short}}''' ||75-125,000||$500-1,600
 
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|$200 airline incidental credit x2
 
−
|-
 
−
|'''{{Card|SapphireReserve|short}}''' ||50,000||$700
 
−
|$300 travel credit
 
−
|-
 
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|'''{{Card|CitiPrestige|short}}''' ||50,000||$700
 
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|$250 travel credit x 2
 
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|-
 
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|'''{{Card|CrystalInfinite|short}}''' |50-75,000||$200-2,500
 
−
|$250 airline incidental credit x2 (for up to 4 total cardholders)
 
−
|-
 
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|'''{{Card|HiltonAspire|short}}''' ||150,000||$500-1,500
 
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|$250 airline incidental credit (one airline) x2, $250 Hilton resort credit, free night certificate
 
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|-
 
−
|'''{{Card|SPGLuxury|short}}''' ||100,000||$450
 
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|$300 Marriott credit
 
−
|-
 
−
|'''{{Card|Altitude|short}}''' ||50,000||$600
 
−
|$325 travel credit
 
−
{{/Table}}
 
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<ul class="bulletlist">
 
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<li>'''If you plan to apply for all the premium cards (over time), you’ll get a “free” year to decide whether the ongoing benefits are worthwhile'''. You don't need to evaluate these cards ahead of time. You can try out each card for a year. If it delivers enough value, you can hold onto it, when you get to the end of the initial year. If not, it was still worthwhile for just the first year.</li>
 
−
</ul>
 
  
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=== Obtaining continuous airport lounge access ===
+
Your goal is to collect as many miles or points (or as much cash back) as you can. That means that you should use your rewards credit card whenever possible, rather than paying with cash, a debit card, or a check. Start putting everything on your card, and your rewards will build up quickly.
  
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One of the main attractions of premium cards is the airport lounge membership. Every premium card provides free access to airport lounges, for you and some number of additional traveling companies.. With most of the cards, you'll get a Priority Pass membership that provides access to over 1,000 lounges and restaurants at airport all over the world. They aren’t the fanciest lounges around, and there may not be one in the terminal you are using for your flight, but you should still have plenty of opportunities to take advantage of this benefit on your travels. {{Link|lounge access}}.
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{{ImageX|LockedCash.jpg}}
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{{ImageX|PriorityPassCard.jpg}}
 
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Most people are going to always want at least one card that provides this benefit.
 
  
 
<ul class="bulletlist">
 
<ul class="bulletlist">
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<li>'''If want to hold onto one of these cards (for other reasons), you’re all set'''.  For example, if you are planning on holding onto the Sapphire Reserve card to use in conjunction with the Freedom Unlimited as your general purpose reward card, or the Citi Prestige card for its 4<sup>th</sup> night free benefit, you'll already have airport access lounge access from those cards. Many premium cards are worth holding onto for their unique benefits and/or valuable bonus reward rates, giving you airport lounge access along the way. </li>
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<li>'''Every time you use cash, a check, or your bank card (when you could have used your credit card), you are losing out on points you could have had'''. Each individual transaction may not seem like much, but it adds up over time.</li>  
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<li>'''You may want to spread out your Amex Platinum applications for access to additional lounges'''. The Amex Platinum card provides access to additional lounges, beyond the Priority Pass program, most notably the Amex Centurion lounges. If this is important to you, you should spread out your Platinum card applications.</li>
 
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There are currently five different versions of the Platinum card that don’t have daunting access restrictions, and that either have a valuable signup bonus or a waived first-year annual fee—the regular, Schwab, Ameriprise, Morgan Stanley and small-business versions. By signing up for a different one each year, you’ll have ongoing access to the additional Amex lounges (and the other benefits), while you are collecting each card’s signup bonuses. Hopefully, other versions will become available sometime over the next five years, and you can extend this strategy even further. Alternatively, you could periodically apply for the Ameriprise version and take advantage of its fee-free first year. 
 
−
 
−
Even if you want to permanently hold onto an Amex Platinum card, you are better off signing up for a different version each year, and saving your favorite version until last.
 
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<li>'''Each person will usually need their own card, if they want to access lounges while travelling separately'''. While each card lets the cardholder bring in at least one guest, this doesn’t let another member of your family access a lounge without you. To do this, they will need their own card, or you will need to add them as an authorized user (which usually requires an extra fee).</li>
 
−
</ul>
 
  
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<center>'''Lounge Access Policies'''</center>
+
<li>'''Using a credit card, instead of cash, has some other benefits as well'''. You’ll have better records of your spending, build up your credit history, and make fewer trips to the ATM (paying less in ATM fees). In addition, your credit card will often give you some protection if something you buy breaks, is stolen, or even drops in price.</li>  
  
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{{Table|left|6in}}
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<li>'''While we strongly recommend putting as much of your spending as possible on a good reward card credit, you don’t have to take it to an extreme'''. If you are making a small purchase, and paying cash will speed up the process for everyone, don’t worry about a few cents worth of points. If you are under the store’s minimum for taking credit cards, don’t make a fuss, just pay with cash.  And you usually don’t want to use your credit card with any business that charges an extra fee to use a card.</li>  
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!style="width: 2in;"|Card
 
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!style="width: .75in;"|Guests
 
−
!Notes
 
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|-
 
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|'''{{Card|PlatinumCard|short}}''' (multiple versions)||2||Access to range of additional lounges
 
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|-
 
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|'''{{Card|PlatinumBiz|short}}''' ||2||Access to range of additional lounges
 
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|-
 
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|'''{{Card|SapphireReserve|short}}''' ||2||
 
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|-
 
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|'''{{Card|CitiPrestige|short}}''' ||2, or entire family||
 
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|-
 
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|'''{{Card|CrystalInfinite|short}}''' ||Unlimited||
 
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|-
 
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|'''{{Card|HiltonAspire|short}}''' ||2||
 
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|-
 
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|'''{{Card|SPGLuxury|short}}''' ||2||
 
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|-
 
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|'''{{Card|Altitude|short}}''' ||1||Limited to only four visits per year
 
−
|-
 
−
|'''{{Card|UBSInfinite|short}}'''||Unlimited||
 
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{{/Table}}
 
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<ul class="bulletlist">
 
−
<li>'''Even if you don't want to hold onto any of these cards, you can obtain free lounge access for years to come'''. By simply spreading out your applications over time, you can make sure you are always within the first year of having a card that provides a lounge access membership. The signup bonuses and travel credits will more than pay the cost of the card for that year.</li>  
 
  
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<li>'''As a result, we don't count lounge access as being a valuable benefit when deciding whether to hold onto a premium card'''. While lounge access is valuable, you should always have it available from another card, and therefore it isn't a reason to decide to keep any single premium card. You'll need to justify the card based on its unique benefits.</li>  
+
<li>'''Many of the bills that you pay each month can be paid with a credit card, rather than with a check or automatic bank withdrawal'''. For example, pretty much every wireless and cable company accepts credit card payments, as do many utilities, insurance companies, and gyms. Go back over a few months of bank statements, and see who you are paying on a regular basis. Then see which of these companies, you can switch over to credit card payments. You'll probably be surprised, at how much more credit card spending you can generate, without changing the total amount of money you are spending each year.</li>
 
</ul>
 
</ul>
  
−
=== Keeping one or more cards for the long term ===
+
=== The best general purpose reward card (for most people) ===
−
 
 
−
Some premium cards have unique benefits which are potentially very valuable. Depending on your travel patterns, it may be worthwhile to make the card part of your core credit collection, and keep beyond the initial year.
 
  
−
====The Sapphire Reserve Card ====
+
Which general-purpose reward card is best?  For most people, the answer is clear...
  
 
<blockquote>
 
<blockquote>
−
If you follow our general recommendation, and decide to use the Chase Unlimited combo for your everyday spending, you'll generally need to hold onto the Chase Sapphire Reserve card.
+
You should get BOTH the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and the Freedom Unlimited card. The two cards work together to give you fantastic reward rates on your purchases.
−
</blockquote>
+
</blockquote>  
−
 
 
−
In order to get full value from your Ultimate Rewards points, you need to have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. If you wind up taking advantage of the combo, you also get to take advantage of the Sapphire Reserve's other benefits, such as the best reward rate on travel purchases (other than airfare), airport lounge access, and primary rental car insurance. The Sapphire Reserve has a $450 annual-fee, but an automatic $300 travel credit makes the effective annual fee only $150. {{Link|general purpose}}.
 
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−
{{Card|SapphireReserve|guide}}
 
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−
If you decide to use another option for your everyday spending, you may still want to get the Sapphire Reserve card to optimize the points you earn from your travel (and potentially dining) purchases. See more details below.
 
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−
==== Citi Prestige Card ====
 
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−
<blockquote>
 
−
If you expect to stay four nights or longer at a hotel, at least two times per year, you'll want to hold onto the Citi Prestige card. You may also want the card for its 5x ThankYou point reward rate on dining and airfare and dining.
 
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</blockquote>
 
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The signature feature of the Prestige card is its 4<sup>th</sup> night free benefit. When you book your hotel room via Citibank, they will reimburse the cost of one night on almost any hotel reservation of four or more nights. You can even take advantage of the hotel's special rates and promotions, and still get the free night. As of now, you can use the benefit as many times as you want each year. But, starting in September 2019, you'll be limited to a total of two uses per year.
 
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−
{{Image|4thNightFree.jpg}}
 
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−
For example, if you pay $1,200 for a four night stay at a beach resort, Citibank will give you $300 back. Later in the year, if you pay $900 for a four night stay at a another hotel, Citibank will give you another $225 back. Depending on your travel patterns, you can save hundreds of dollars per year (some people could get thousands of dollars per year using the unlimited benefit). {{Link|4th night free}}.
 
−
{{Card|CitiPrestige|guide}}
 
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−
In addition, the revamped Citi Prestige card will offer 5x ThankYou points on dining and air travel purchases. If you are comfortable using your points for frequent flyer tickets, this is the highest possible reward rate available on these categories. (The Amex Platinum card also offers 5x points on airfare, but doesn't come with all the free travel insurance coverage that comes with the Citibank card.)
 
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−
The Citi Prestige is currently not available for new signups. The revamped version of the card, which will be available in January 2019, costs $495 per year, but comes with an automatic $250 travel credit, making the effective annual fee $245. If you are a preferred Citibank customer, the annual fee is only $350, and the effective annual fee is $100.
 
−
 
 
−
==== Amex Platinum Card ====
 
  
−
<blockquote>
+
The Freedom Unlimited card earns 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points on every purchase, which normally are worth 1 cent each towards travel purchases or gift cards.  
−
The value of the Amex Platinum card depends on how much you can take advantage of its various benefits and travel credits. It can be very attractive to some people, and less attractive to others. Because it is available in many different flavors, it is possible to get a different version each year, rather than holding onto the card.  
 
−
</blockquote>
 
  
−
Unfortunately, it isn't straightforward to determine whether the unique benefits of the Amex Platinum card are worth paying its $550 annual fee (beyond the initial year). It has several different benefits, rather than a main signature feature. Furthermore, some people will struggle to take full advantage of its different credits, while other people will be able to use them to almost completely offset the annual fee.  
+
However, if you also have the Chase Sapphire card, you can use these points to purchase travel, through the Chase website, at 1.5 cents each. This gives you a "cash" rewards rate of 2.25 cents per dollar, higher than most cash back cards.  
  
−
{{Card|platinumcard|guide}}
+
Even better, these points are "transferable". You can convert your Ultimate Reward points to any of a set of different types of airline and hotel points, and then redeem them for frequent flyer tickets or free hotel nights. At a "base value" of {{Value|UR}} cents per point, you'll be earning {{Value|UR|1.5}} cents per dollar, and you can earn even more with particularly good redemption opportunities.
  
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Regardless of the exact value you place on the card, you have the option of getting a new version each year. That way, you are always receiving a fresh signup bonus (and a double-dose of the airline incidental credit). It may be quite a few years before you have to make the final decision about whether to hold onto the Amex Platinum beyond its initial year.
+
{|style="margin: auto;"
 +
|style="width: 50%;"|{{Card|freedom|guide}}
 +
|<span style="font-size: 48pt;">+</span>
 +
|style="width: 50%;"|{{Card|sapphirereserve|guide}}
 +
|}
  
 
<ul class="bulletlist">
 
<ul class="bulletlist">
−
<li>'''The Amex Platinum card gets you into more Airport Lounges than the other cards'''. Like the other cards, it comes with a Priority Pass membership, but the Amex Platinum also provides access to Amex’s new Centurion lounges, to Delta lounges (when flying Delta), and to a small set of additional lounges. This is a big advantage if you live in a Delta hub or a city with a Centurion lounge. {{Link|lounge access}}.</li>
+
<li>'''These cards earn flexible award points, that you can use for free nights at some hotels, and free flights with almost any airline'''. Chase’s Ultimate Reward points can be converted into points with many different frequent flyer programs. You can then redeem these frequent flyer miles for award tickets on over a hundred airlines, and take advantage of whichever of frequent flyer program offers the best value for each trip. That makes them more valuable, and much more flexible, than regular frequent flyer miles. {{Link|transferable points}}.</li>
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Just be aware that, unlike some of the other cards, you are limited to 2 free guests when you visit Priority Pass lounges (and when you are visiting one of their own Centurion lounges); and only the cardholders receive free access to Delta lounges. So, if you frequently travel with a family, and don’t pay the $175 additional fee to add authorized cardholders, the Platinum card’s lounge benefit can be less valuable than the lounge benefit from some of the other cards.
 
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{{Image|CenturionLounge.jpg}}
 
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<li>'''The Platinum card gives you automatic Gold status at Hilton (and Marriott / Starwood hotels)'''. At Hilton that’s good enough for free breakfast. While you can also easily get Hilton Gold status from one of the Hilton credit cards, they each come with their own annual fees. {{Link|free breakfast}}.</li>
 
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−
{{ImageX|ContinentalBreakfast.jpg|480}}
 
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<li>'''Along with the revamped Citi Prestige card, the Platinum card earns the highest reward rate on airfare'''. You’ll earn a whopping 5x Membership Rewards points on your airfare purchases. For every $1,000 that you spend, you’ll earn approximately $40 in extra rewards by using the Platinum card, instead of using a card like the Sapphire Reserve. On the other hand, the Platinum card doesn't offer the extensive set of free travel protections that you can get from most of the the other premium cards, including the Citi Prestige (which also offers 5x points). The Platinum card's 5x reward rate on hotels may sound good at first, but isn’t worth much, because of the drawbacks associated with needing to purchase pre-paid rates on a 3<sup>rd</sup> party booking site.)</li>
 
  
−
<li>'''Amex's “Fine Hotels & Resorts” is a valuable program, but you can get similar benefits elsewhere'''. If you stay in luxury hotels, you can get great benefits with the Platinum card’s highly-touted Fine Hotel and Resorts program. But to be fair, many of the hotels in the program participate in similar programs run by the other credit card programs or luxury travel agents. On the other hand, Amex’s Fine Hotel & Resorts more frequently provides 3<sup>rd</sup> and 4<sup>th</sup> night free offers. While the potential upside can be high, you might not get any real value from this in any given year, especially if you don’t often pay for the most expensive hotels and resorts. {{Link|luxury hotels}}.</li>
+
<li>'''Ultimate Reward points are worth at least 1.5-2 cents each, and sometimes significantly more'''. Not all points are equal—some points are worth more than others. For most people, Ultimate Rewards is the best credit card rewards program.  When you use your points to book frequent flyer tickets you’ll typically receive at least 1.5 to 2 cents in value per point. And, if you highly value premium-cabin airplane travel, you would typically receive more than 4 cents per point (and often much more) on international business and first-class award tickets. That means you'll be making anywhere from 2.25% to 6%+ in rewards.</li>  
−
</ul>
 
  
−
The annual fee for most versions of the Platinum card is $550. Like the other high-end cards, it comes with some credits that can offset that fee, but unlike the Citi Prestige, Altitude Reserve, and Sapphire Reserve cards, it isn’t easy to get full value from these credits.  
+
<li>'''Unlike other transferable reward programs, you can get good value from your Ultimate Reward points, even if you don’t want to deal with the hassles involved with frequent flyer tickets'''. Truth be told, it can sometimes be difficult to redeem frequent flyer points. The big advantage of Ultimate Rewards, over other transferable reward programs (such as Amex’s Membership Rewards), is that there are good options for redeeming your points, besides frequent flyer tickets. </li>
  
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<ul class="bulletlist">
+
When you use your Ultimate Reward points for hotel stays through Hyatt, you can usually get more than {{Value|Hyatt}} cents per point in value, and sometimes more than 2-3 cents per point. You can always use them, at a fixed value of 1.5 cents each, to make any travel purchase through the Chase website. And you can sometimes get a slightly higher rate when you use them to purchase Southwest Airlines tickets, without worrying about award availability. 
−
<li>'''You get $200 worth of Uber credits each year, but not everyone uses Uber every month'''. The card gives you a $15 credit per month, and an extra $20 in December. The credits only apply to rides within the US, or food delivered via Uber Eats, and you'll have to activate the credit each time you want to use it. If you frequently use Uber, this credit will wind up coming right off your bill, and the effective annual cost of the card drops by up to $200. However, if you only use Uber infrequently, you’ll only get a partial benefit.</li>
 
  
−
<li>'''You get $50 of Saks credit every six months, but not everyone shops at Saks'''. The card comes with a $50 credit for purchases between January and June, and another $50 credit for purchases between July and September. You'll need to spend at least $50 in a single transaction to qualify for the credit. Once you've activated this feature, it works automatically when you use your card at Saks or on Saks online.</li>
+
<li>'''The Freedom Unlimited card earns 1.5x Ultimate Reward points per dollar (valued at {{Value|UR|1.5}} cents per dollar) on every purchase'''—for most people, this is the highest possible reward rate for your everyday spending.</li>  
  
−
<li>'''You get a $200 "airline incidental" credit, but it hard to take full advantage of it'''. The travel credit on the Amex card is much less useful than the travel credit you get from from the Sapphire Reserve, Citi Prestige, and Altitude Reserve cards.</li>  
+
<li>'''In addition, the Sapphire Reserve card earns 3x Ultimate Rewards points (valued at {{Value|UR|3}} cents per dollar) on travel and restaurant spending'''. Chances are that you spend a significant amount of money on travel and restaurants. When you use the Sapphire Reserve card, you’ll be earning the highest possible reward rates on those categories as well. (However, you can do slightly better on airfare purchases with an expensive {{Card|platinumcard|only}}.)</li>
  
−
It only covers incidental expenses like baggage fees and onboard food, not airfare, or even seat upgrades. And it only pays for fees on a single airline that you choose at the beginning of the year. Odds are you have ways to avoid these fees on airlines you fly frequently (such as the airline credit card's free baggage benefit). But, if you choose a less frequently flown airline, you might not be able to naturally take full advantage of the credit.
+
<li>'''You’ll start out with 50,000 points (valued at $900) from the Sapphire Reserve card, plus a $150 signup bonus from the Freedom Unlimited card'''. 50,000 points is two domestic tickets on United Airlines, or 5 nights in a very nice Hyatt hotel.</li>
  
−
However, if you are willing to work harder, there is a “trick” that allows you to receive the "full amount" of incidental airline credit. Even though it is technically against the terms-of-use, Amex often refunds gift card purchases you make with certain airlines (e.g. American and Delta). You can then use these gift cards to pay for actual airline tickets (at a later time). Taking this approach is a hassle, but it lets you take advantage of the entire credit, dropping the effective annual fee by another $200. {{Link|incidental credits}}.
+
<li>'''You'll get some other attractive benefits with the Sapphire Reserve card'''. These include airport lounge access, primary rental car insurance, and top-of-the-line travel and shopping protections.</li>
 
</ul>
 
</ul>
  
−
Depending on how fully you can use the Uber, Saks, and Airline Incidental credits, the effective annual fee of the Platinum card ranges from $50 - $550. If you don’t frequently use Uber, and don’t want to play gift-card games with the airline incidental credit, you might bear nearly the full brunt of the $550 annual fee. On the other hand, if you can take full advantage of the credits, you aren't paying much for the Platinum card's other benefits.
+
The Freedom Unlimited card has no annual fee. However, the Sapphire Reserve’s annual fee is a whopping $450, and you need to have it, in order to get good value from the points you earn with the Freedom Unlimited card.  
  
−
==== Amex Platinum Business Card ====
+
However, this isn’t as bad as it first appears. The Sapphire Reserve provides an automatic $300 travel credit. That means that the first $300 you spend on travel each year is automatically taken off your credit card bill.  So, the total out-of-pocket cost is $150 per year. For most of our readers, airport lounge access, high reward rates, and primary rental car insurance make this money well spent. 
  
−
<blockquote>
+
{{Box|Higher reward rates are possible with bonus categories}}
−
If you decide you want to hold onto an Amex Platinum card, you should consider the business version instead.
 
−
</blockquote>
 
  
−
The business card costs $100 less, and provides all the valuable unique benefits of the personal card, except for the Uber and Saks credit. And it gets a few interesting extra benefits, that are not available from the personal card:
+
Before we discuss the best general-purpose reward cards, it helps to understand how “bonus categories” work.  
−
{{Card|PlatinumBiz|guide}}
 
  
 
<ul class="bulletlist">
 
<ul class="bulletlist">
−
<li>'''You can redeem your Membership Reward points, to pay for certain airplane tickets, at a value of 1.54 cents each'''. While you should be able to get more value than this, by transferring your Membership points to airline partners to redeem for frequent flyer tickets, having the Business Platinum card gives you the option to get solid value from your points, with hardly any effort. It makes the Membership Rewards program much more attractive for people who don’t want to mess around with frequent flyer tickets.</li>
+
<li>'''Many reward credit cards offer higher-than-normal rewards on spending within certain categories'''. For example, one card may give bonus rewards for purchases from gas stations and supermarkets, while another card may give bonuses on travel and restaurants.</li>  
  
−
This only works for tickets from a single airline of your choice (plus business and first class tickets on any airline). Choosing the airline you frequently fly may limit your ability to take full advantage of the airline incidental credit.
+
<li>'''Chances are, that as part of building out your core credit card collection, you will naturally wind up with a card that earns bonus reward rates on travel, restaurants, and some other purchases'''. Eventually, you may even choose to expand your credit card collection to specifically include cards just for their bonus rewards. {{Link|optimize rewards}}.</li>
  
−
<li>'''You’ll also get 10 Gogo Inflight Internet passes per year and a few other minor benefits, that you don’t get with the Personal card'''.</li>
+
<li>'''Regardless, you always want to get one general-purpose card that earns a good reward rate, whenever you use it, and not just on specific categories'''. This will be your “fall back” card for any purchase where you don’t have a card that earns bonus points, or when you just want to keep things simple, and put all your charges on a single card.  It is sometimes called your card for “everyday spending”. But, we call it your “general-purpose” reward card.</li>
 
</ul>
 
</ul>
 +
{{/Box}}
  
−
The annual fee is $450, which is $100 less than the fee for the personal card. However, you don’t get the $200 Uber and the $100 Saks credit. If you would get full value from these credits, the business card will wind up costing you more. If you get little value from them, the business card will wind up costing you less.
+
=== Who should get a different card? ===
  
−
You need to have some sort of business to be entitled to get this card. It can be a part-time gig, and you don’t need a special Tax ID number. Amex requires that the business revenue is at least $1,000 per year, but many people believe that is a projection of revenue over the following year, and not a summary of revenue over the previous year. {{Link|business cards}}.
+
While the Freedom Unlimited / Sapphire Reserve combination is the right solution for most people, it isn't for everyone.
  
−
There is one other consideration. With the business version, it costs $300 to add an authorized user. With the personal version, you can add up to 3 authorized users for $175 total. If you need to add someone else on the card (so that they get airport lounge access when they are traveling alone), the pendulum can swing back to the personal card.
+
<ul class="bulletlist">
 +
<li>'''You might not be able to get the Freedom Unlimited and Sapphire Reserve card, due to the Chase 5/24 rule'''. Chase limits access to the Sapphire Reserve and Freedom Unlimited cards to people who have signed up for fewer than five new credit cards in the past two years. This is called the “Chase 5/24” rule, and they count every new credit card you’ve gotten, regardless of whether it came from Chase, or from another bank, and even if you are just an authorized card holder.</li>
  
−
==== Altitude Reserve ====
+
If you’ve signed up for more than three credit cards in the last two years, you won’t be able to sign up for both these cards, regardless of your income and credit score. You can either hold off getting any new credit cards, until you are under the limit; or you can choose an alternative general-purpose reward credit card.
  
−
<blockquote>
+
<li>'''You might get even more value from one of the advanced credit card options'''. There are some other cards that can earn even more valuable rewards than the Freedom Unlimited / Sapphire Reserve combination. They each have restrictions, caveats, or complexities that make them hard to broadly recommend. But, depending on your circumstances, one of these advanced options (see below) might be for you. </li>  
−
Anyone who can make $5,000 or more of mobile wallet purchases each year, should get  the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve card for its 4.5% reward rate on these purchases. Plus you'll get 12 Gogo Inflight Internet passes per year.  
 
−
</blockquote>
 
  
−
The signature feature of the Altitude Reserve card is a 4.5% reward rate whenever you use a mobile wallet, like Apple Pay or Google Pay, to make a payment. This is much higher reward rate than you would get from any other card. For each $1,000 you spend with your mobile wallet (at brick and mortar stores, in apps, or online), you’ll earn somewhere between $15-25 in extra rewards. If you have a Samsung phone or smart watch, you can use your mobile wallet at any location that has a credit card swipe machine. {{Link|mobile wallet}}.
+
<li>'''You may not spend enough money to justify the Sapphire Reserve's annual fee'''.  
 +
If you expect to spend less than about $15,000 per year on your general-purpose reward card (and on travel and restaurant charges), the extra reward points you earn from the Freedom Unlimited / Sapphire Reserve combination may be smaller than the $150 effective annual fee. </li>
  
−
Depending on your overall rewards strategy, you might also take advantage of the card's 4.5% reward rate on travel purchases.  
+
If you don't get much value from the airport lounge benefit, and don't expect to use your points for premium-cabin frequent flyer tickets, you are probably better off with a cash-back card instead. Keep in mind, that even if you are interested in free airport lounge access, you can receive that benefit, for years to come, by spreading out your premium credit card applications (to collect the signup bonuses) over time.  
  
−
{{Card|altitude|guide}}
+
<li>'''You may prefer to earn points that can be used for an even wider variety of travel purchases'''. You can use your Ultimate Reward points to pay for hotels, airfare, and other travel expenses through the Chase website (as well as for freqeunt flyer tickets and award nights). But, you can't use them to purchase hotels on other websites (where you might find lower rates), on AirBnBs, or on admissions and activities. If you earn points from a cash-back card, you can use your points for any of things (or anything else).</li>
  
−
The Altitude Reserve costs $400 per year, but comes with an automatic $325 travel credit, making the effective annual fee $75. This makes it the least expensive of the premium cards. But, U.S. Bank will usually deny your application if you've gotten too many recent cards. So, if you want this card, you'll need to get it early.  
+
For most people, earning Ultimate Rewards points is the better option. They can easily use up all of the points they earn on worthwhile redemptions, and will generally get more value from their reward points, than they could earn from a cash-back card. But, if you don't expect to easily use up all your Ultimate Reward points on worthwhile purchases, because you don't expect to spend enough on airfares and hotels, or because you are earning tons of points in other ways, you may want to just earn cash, or cash-like points, instead of Ultimate Reward points, from your purchases.  
  
−
Keep in mind that this card only has limited airport lounge access—you only get 4 visits per year (and 4 total guest visits). Since you are likely to want at least one of the other cards that offers full access, this isn’t a big deal. But, if this is going to be your only premium card, you’ll need to live with more limited lounge access.
+
<li>'''You might want to use an everyday card that includes price and return protection'''. Some credit cards provide "price protection", which will refund the difference, if something you bought drops in price during the first few months; and "return protection", which will let you return an item to the credit card company, for a refund, if the store won't accept a return. The Chase Unlimited card does not provide either of these benefits. If price and/or return protection are important to you, you'll want to use another card, either for all of your non-bonus-category purchases, or for purchases where you are more likely to take advantage of these benefits. {{Link|purchase protections}}.</li>
−
 
+
</ul>
−
==== The Hilton Aspire Card ====
 
−
 
 
−
<blockquote>
 
−
If you can take full advantage of its various "credits", you'll definitely want to hold onto the Hilton Aspire card.  
 
−
</blockquote>
 
−
 
 
−
The Hilton card provides an annual $250 airline incidental credit, an annual $250 Hilton Resort, and an annual free weekend night certificate (good at almost any of Hilton's most expensive hotels). If you use fully use the two credits, you'll already receive $500 back, which is more than the $450 annual fee. And you can get hundreds of dollars of additional value from the free night certificate. In addition, you'll get automatic Hilton Diamond status, good for free breakfast and lounge access (and a better chance of an upgraded room, particularly overseas). In this case, holding onto the card is an easy decision.
 
−
 
 
−
{{Card|hiltonaspire|guide}}
 
  
−
The problem is that you may struggle to take full advantage of the annual credits. The $250 airline incidental credit follows the same rules as the credit from the Amex Platinum card—it only covers "incidental expenses" (not ticket purchases) from a single airline of your choice. Unless you make the effort to use gift card "tricks", it is hard to naturally take advantage of this credit. The $250 Hilton resort credit covers room rates, but it only works at "resort" hotels. If you don't have an opportunity to visit a Hilton resort in any given year, it doesn't provide any value. If you don't wind up getting value from these credits, the free night certificate and Diamond status aren't usually worth the annual fee.
+
=== The best alternative is a great cashback card (for most people) ===
  
−
==== The SPG Luxury Card ====
+
There are several credit cards which give you 2% back on every purchase, and you may be able to get a card that earns even more. Other than the Chase Freedom Unlimited combo, there is no other simple solution that routinely provides more value than 2% cash back. 
  
 
<blockquote>
 
<blockquote>
−
Holding onto the SPG Luxury Card allows you to get a valuable hotel certificate each year for the equivalent of $150. For some people it also provides the only possible path towards very valuable high-level Marriott / SPG Status.</blockquote>
+
For most people, the next best option, after the Freedom Unlimited card, is a great cash-back card.
 +
</blockquote>  
  
−
The card's $300 hotel credit can be used to offset actual room charges, and not just incidental expenses. Given the number of hotels in the combined program, many people will naturally spend more than $300 at Marriott / Starwood hotels over the course of the year and get full value from this credit (unlike the Hilton Aspire card's credit that must be used at a limited number of Resort hotels). This lowers the card's out-of-pocket cost to $150.  
+
Each alternative option involves extra time, effort, and/or fees, special relationships with banks; or only works for people who highly-value premium-cabin award redemptions, and can earn enough points to make those a reality. These cards can make sense for many people.  But we can’t recommend them to most people who want to keep things simple and flexible.  
  
−
{{Card|SPGLuxury|Guide}}
+
{{ImageX|FlyingCash.jpg|600}}
  
−
$150 is a worthwhile price to pay for a free night certificate every year, especially since, unlike the certificates from the "regular" Marriott and SPG cards, it is capped at 50,000 points (rather than 35,000). 50,000 points are valued at {{Value|Marriott|50000}}, and can be used for free nights at many nice hotels, even in expensive locations. Of course, the certificate is less valuable than the points, because it has less flexibility  and expires after one year. The card also get Marriott / SPG Gold status, which comes with some minor benefits.  
+
<ul class="bulletlist">
−
 
+
<li>'''If you are going to spend MORE than $12,000 per year on your general-purpose reward card you should try to get the Alliant Cashback Visa card'''. It earns 2.5% cash back with a $59 annual fee, and earns 3% cash back during the first year. Getting this card isn’t completely straightforward. If you aren’t already an Alliant credit union member, you need to make a $10 donation to Foster Care for Success to join. And if you’ve opened too many credit cards (which hopefully isn’t a problem), they may deny your application.</li>
−
Marriott / SPG Platinum status is the status level that comes with free breakfast and lounge access (at most hotels), as well as free room upgrades to the best available room (including regular suites) at check-in. The Luxury card allows you to receive Platinum Status by spending $75,000 with the card in a year. Assuming you have a way to generate this amount of spending, doing this could conceivably be worthwhile, as this is a compelling status level and can last for up to two years. You'll need to stay frequently enough to get enough benefit, but not so frequently that you would naturally earn this level of status.
+
{{Card|alliant|guide}}
  
−
==== CNB Infinite Card ====
+
<li>'''If you are going to spend LESS than $12,000 on your general-purpose reward card, you should get the PayPal Cashback card'''. It gives you 2% cash back, with no annual fee, and no foreign transaction fees. If you are only spending this much, it isn’t worth the $59 per year, to earn the extra .5% in rewards from the Alliant card. In addition, the PayPal cards comes with price and return protection, which isn't available on the Alliant card. Just make sure you’re the type of person who will make the extra effort to take advantage of these protection benefits, before you give up higher up-front rewards, to get this card instead. {{Link|purchase protections}}.</li>
 +
{{Card|Paypal|guide}}
  
−
<blockquote>
+
The other good no-annual-fee options are the {{Card|DoubleCash|only}} and the {{Card|Fidelity|only}}. The reason that we recommend the PayPal card is that it doesn't have a foreign transaction fee, and both of these cards do. Some people might prefer the Double Cash card, because it comes with slightly better extended warranty and price protection benefits, and they don't expect to use the card very often for overseas purchases. The Fidelity card only has a 1% foreign transaction fee (versus the Double Cash's 3% fee), but it comes with weaker purchase protections.  
−
If you can take advantage of the reusable "Visa Infinite" $100 airfare credit a couple of times per year, you should try to get the CNB Crystal Infinite card. This little-known card is probably the most well-rounded premium card, and is extremely valuable for anyone who is willing to make the effort to get full value from its airline incidental credits.
 
−
</blockquote>
 
  
−
This card is one of only three cards, along with the UBS card (described below) and the no-longer-available-for-new-signups Ritz Carlton card, that comes with the valuable “Visa Infinite $100 Airfare Benefit”. Every time you book a domestic economy airplane reservation for two or more people, you get a $100 refund. For example, if you booked a quick getaway for two people on flights that cost $180 each, you would wind up paying $260, instead of $360. If you fly as a couple or family on several domestic flights per year, these rebates can really add up. {{Link|Visa Infinite}}.
+
<li>'''Be careful when you predict how much money you will spend per year'''. If you take our advice, and take advantage of credit card signup bonuses, to earn lots of points, much of your credit card spending will be focused on meeting the initial spending requirements on your new cards. If you acquire cards that earn bonus rewards on other categories, there will be fewer purchases left over, where you use your general-purpose card. You might find yourself spending less than you expected, and be better off with a no-annual-fee card.</li>
  
−
{{Card|CrystalInfinite|guide}}
+
<li>'''If you highly value international business and first-class tickets, you are always better off with a transferable points card'''. No cash-back or fixed-value card can provide as much value as you can get from redeeming your points for business and first-class frequent flyer tickets. You may not always be able to find award space, and it will require a lot of points for each ticket, but you’ll eventually be able to redeem your points for massive value per point. {{Link|Transferable Points}}.</li>
  
−
You’ll also get 12 Gogo Inflight Internet passes per year, unlimited airport lounge access, and primary car rental insurance.  
+
If you can't get the Freedom Unlimited card, get one of the advanced options that earns Membership Reward points.  
  
−
The annual fee is $400, but is comes with a $250 automatic airline incidental credit usable on domestic flights. Unlike Amex’s credit, this works for any airline. And unlike all the other similar credits, up to three additional authorized cardholders receive their own individual $250 credits. Depending on how much money you spend on these purchases, or how willing you are to try to get around the terms-of-use by buying airline gift cards, you can receive up to $1,000 each year in credits (and up to $2,000 in your initial year). {{Link|incidental credits}}.
+
Just be sure that you really value the free tickets at close to their regular cost. If you don’t place as high a premium on these seats, the value you’re really receiving can be much closer to the normal 2.5-3 cents per point. 
  
−
Unfortunately, it can be difficult to get this card. You need to apply in-branch. Most of the branches are in California and Nevada, but they have “entertainment industry” branches in New York City, Nashville, and Atlanta, and a trust office in Wilmington. You are also likely to have to produce paperwork detailing your financial position, rather than just filling in a quick application form.
+
<li>'''While these are the best combinations of cash-back rate and annual fees for most people, you may be able to do even better with one of our advanced options'''.  
 +
</ul>
  
−
==== UBS Infinite Card Guide ====
+
=== Advanced options ===
  
−
<blockquote>
+
For most people, the best options are to earn 1.5x Ultimate Reward points with the Freedom Unlimited combo, 2.5% cash-back with the Alliant Card, or 2% cash-back with one of the no-annual fee options.  
−
The UBS Infinite Card is a less desirable option for taking advantage of the Visa Infinite $100 airfare credit.
 
−
</blockquote>
 
  
−
It has a $495 annual fee and a $250 airline incidentals credit that is good on only a single airline. In addition, there is no online access to manage your card or your points, unless you have a separate cash management account with UBS (and no online applications either).  
+
'''However, some people can earn even more valuable rewards with other general-purpose cards.'''
  
−
{{Card|ubsinfinite|guide}}
+
<center>
−
 
+
{{tile|advanced everyday}}
−
On the plus side, it does come with up to 24! free authorized users, primary rental car insurance, 12 Gogo inflight wi-fi passes, and airport lounge access. And it is easier for many people to get the Crystal Infinite.
+
</center>
−
 
 
−
=== Holding onto a premium card for travel and restaurant spending ===
 
−
 
 
−
{{ImageX|Restaurant3.jpg}}
 
  
−
The best reward rates for travel and restaurant spending are generally available from premium credit cards. The extra rewards that you can earn from one or more of these cards may be enough to tip the balance towards holding onto the card for the long term.
+
{{Box|Most Likely Candidates}}
  
 
<ul class="bulletlist">
 
<ul class="bulletlist">
−
<li>'''Start with a baseline of 4% for restaurants and 3% for travel'''. This is the reward rate you can get from the {{Card|Uber|Short}}, without needing to pay an annual fee.</li>
+
<li>'''If you are eligible for a business card, comfortable to use it for your personal purchases, and willing to redeem all your points for frequent flyer tickets, the most valuable general-purpose reward card is almost certainly the Amex Blue for Business Card'''. If you are committed to using your points for frequent flyer tickets, earning 2x Membership Reward points is better than earning 1.5x Ultimate Reward points. Just remember, that with Membership Reward points, you don't typically have good options for other types of redemptions.</li>
−
 
 
−
<li>'''Increase your baselines based on any cards that you have already decided should be part of your credit card collection'''. For example, if are planning on holding onto the Altitude Reserve (for its mobile wallet reward rate), increase your travel baseline to the Altitude Reserve's 4.5%.  Or if you are planning on holding onto the Amex Platinum card, increase your airfare baseline to 5x Membership Reward points.</li>
 
−
 
 
−
If you have (or are planning to get) the Amex Gold card, increase the baseline for restaurant spending to 4x Membership Reward points.
 
−
 
 
−
<li>'''Once you've calculated the reward rates that you'll already be earning on airfare, other travel, and restaurants, you can re-examine whether you want to get any of the other premium cards'''. If they offer an even higher reward rate, you need to estimate the extra rewards you would earn. To do this, you'll need to estimate the amount of money you'll be spending in that category per year. For example, if you expect to spend $3,000 per year on non-airfare travel purchases, and you can get an extra 2% in value from the Sapphire Reserve card, holding onto that card is worth an extra $60 per year.</li>
 
−
 
 
−
<li>'''While you are focusing on collecting signup bonuses, earning higher reward rates is usually not very valuable'''. Much of your spending will be towards meeting the minimum spending requirement of new cards. Also, because you will have a wide variety of cards for a year at a time, there is a good chance you'll temporarily have other cards that offer higher-than-normal reward rates on the travel and restaurant categories.</li>
 
−
 
 
−
<li>'''If you don't want to mess around with frequent flyer tickets, stick to cards that earn Ultimate Reward points or cash-like points'''. If you aren't committed to using your points for frequent flyer tickets, earning 5x ThankYou points on dining is not as good as earning 3x Ultimate Reward points.</li>
 
−
 
 
−
<li>'''On the other hand, if you highly value premium-cabin award redemptions, try to earn as many Membership Reward, Ultimate Reward, or ThankYou points as possible'''. They will always be worth more than cash-like points. And more points is almost always better, regardless of which type of these points you usually prefer.</li>
 
−
</ul>
 
  
−
{{List|Card}}
+
{{Card|BlueBiz}}
−
{{CardItem|CitiPrestige}}
 
−
If you are comfortable using your points for frequent flyer tickets, the Citi Prestige card is the best possible option for airfare and restaurant purchases (5x ThankYou points on both). You can usually significantly increase your rewards with this card, especially if you value the extra travel insurance coverage you get compared to the Amex Platinum card. Also, the 3x points earned on cruises and hotels are about what you can earn from the Sapphire Reserve.
 
  
−
If you don't want to earn ThankYou points, you are usually better off sticking with the Sapphire Reserve for the travel and restaurant categories, or simply going with other cards that earn less, but let you avoid paying an extra annual fee.  
+
<li>'''If you are eligible for a business card, comfortable to use it for your personal purchases, and want to avoid being locked into frequent flyer redemptions, you can get the Ink Unlimited card, instead of the Freedom Unlimited card'''. Both cards earn the same 1.5x Ultimate Reward points on every purchase, but the Ink Unlimited card has a better signup bonus, and some extra benefits.  
  
−
{{CardItem|SapphireReserve}}
+
{{Card|InkUnlimited}}
−
The Sapphire Reserve card earns 3x Ultimate Rewards on travel, which is the generally the highest possible reward rate (except on airfare). Getting this card will probably boost your travel rewards.
 
  
−
If you don't want to earn points that need to be spent on frequent flyer tickets, the Sapphire Reserve also provides the best reward rate on restaurant purchases (3x Ultimate Reward points). It isn't much better than earning 5x Thank You points or 4-4.5% cash back, but it is somewhat better.  
+
<li>'''If you highly value premium-cabin award tickets, can earn enough points to redeem for them, and have the patience to find award space, you are always better off earning transferable points, rather than cash back'''. If you can't get the Sapphire Reserve / Unlimited combo, or use the Blue for Business Card, you should probably use the Amex EveryDay Preferred card. </li>
  
−
{{CardItem|PlatinumCard}}
+
{{Card|EverydayPreferred}}
−
The Platinum Cards's 5x reward rate on Airfare is only interesting if you don't have the Citi Prestige card and you don't care that Amex doesn't include a range of extra travel insurance coverages.
 
−
{{/List|Card}}
 
  
−
=== Other benefits available from most premium cards ===
+
In order to earn enough points to make this card worthwhile, you'll need to make sure to use it for more than 30 purchases every month. If that doesn't seem likely, we've got some tricks that can help. {{Link|30 charges}}.
  
−
While each premium card has valuable unique benefits, they also share some general features, other than lounge access.  
+
<li>'''If you have $100,000 in investment or retirement assets that you would be willing to manage through Merrill Lynch, you can earn 2.625% cash back with the Bank of America Travel and Premium credit cards'''. That level of assets qualifies you for Bank of America "Platinum Honors" status, which gives you a 75% bonus for the rewards you earn from some Bank of America cards. The bonus boosts the earning rate from the Travel Rewards and Premium Rewards card from 1.5 cents per dollar to 2.625 cents per dollar (which is the highest long-term cash back rate available from any card). If you have assets at another broker, you can usually transfer them to a Merrill Edge account, and manage them there (at little or no additional costs), to qualify for the higher reward rate.</li>  
−
 
 
−
<ul class="bulletlist">
 
  
−
<li>'''Global Entry rebate'''. Each high-end card (and some lower-end cards) also pays up to $100 for Global Entry / TSA PreCheck application fees. Since, you only need to pay these fees once every five years, each card’s credit can only be used once every four to five years. If you need to pay fees for family members, you may need to take advantage of the TSA fee credit from multiple cards. The Hilton Aspire cards is the only premium card that doesn't offer a TSA credit. </li>
+
{{Card|BOAPremium|guide}}
  
−
{{ImageX|TSAPre.jpg}}
+
<li>'''If you are willing to signup for a new account each year, you can 3% cash back with the Discover Miles card'''. It earns 1.5% cash back, but gives you double the points at the end of your first year. The catch is that you'll have to get a new card ever year (and use up an credit card application slot) to maintain access to this effective 3% rate.</li>
  
−
<li>'''Some sort of elite car rental status'''. Most of the high-end reward cards entitle you to elite status with at least one car rental company. While this is nice to have, it isn’t much of a reason to go out and get these cards. Elite car rental status usually just amounts to a one-car class upgrade, and some extra bonus points from the rental company’s reward program.</li>
+
{{Card|DiscoverMiles|guide}}
 
</ul>
 
</ul>
−
 
+
{{/Box}}
−
=== Side-by-side comparison ===
 
−
<br/>
 
−
{{Table|basic|6in}}
 
−
!
 
−
!style="width: 1in;"|Chase Sapphire Reserve
 
−
!style="width: 1in;"|Amex Platinum Card
 
−
!style="width: 1in;"|Revamped Citi Prestige card
 
−
!style="width: 1in;"|U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve
 
−
!style="width: 1in;"|Hilton Aspire
 
−
|-
 
−
| colspan="6" style="background-color: ghostwhite;"|Points Earning
 
−
|-
 
−
|Type of points
 
−
|Ultimate Rewards
 
−
|Membership Rewards
 
−
|ThankYou
 
−
|Altitude
 
−
|Hilton
 
−
|-
 
−
|Bonus Categories
 
−
|3x Travel
 
−
 
 
−
3x Restaurants
 
−
|5x Airfare, prepaid hotels through Amex travel
 
−
|5x Restaurants
 
−
 
 
−
5x Airfare
 
−
 
 
−
3x Hotel and Cruises
 
−
|3x Travel
 
−
 
 
−
3x Mobile Wallet
 
−
| 7x Flights and rental cars with Amex travel
 
−
 
 
−
7x Restaurants
 
−
 
 
−
14x Hilton
 
−
 
 
−
|-
 
−
| colspan="6" style="background-color: ghostwhite;"|Lounge Access
 
−
|-
 
−
|Locations
 
−
|Priority Pass
 
−
|Priority Pass
 
−
 
 
−
Centurion
 
−
 
 
−
Delta
 
−
|Priority Pass
 
−
|Priority Pass (4 times only)
 
−
|Priority Pass
 
−
|-
 
−
|Guests
 
−
|2
 
−
|2 (none at Delta)
 
−
|Family or 2
 
−
|1 per visit
 
−
|2
 
−
|-
 
−
| colspan="6" style="background-color: ghostwhite;" |Other Benefits
 
−
|-
 
−
|Primary Rental Car Insurance
 
−
|Yes
 
−
|
 
−
|
 
−
|Yes
 
−
|
 
−
|-
 
−
|Global Entry Fee Credit
 
−
|Yes
 
−
|Yes
 
−
|Yes
 
−
|Yes
 
−
|
 
−
|-
 
−
|Hotel Elite Status
 
−
|
 
−
|Hilton Gold
 
−
 
 
−
Marriott Gold
 
−
 
 
−
SPG Gold
 
−
|
 
−
|
 
−
| Hilton Diamond
 
−
|-
 
−
|Gogo inflight Internet passes per year
 
−
|
 
−
|10 (business version only)
 
−
|
 
−
|12
 
−
|
 
−
|-
 
−
|$100 off domestic coach airfare for 2 or more people
 
−
|
 
−
|
 
−
|
 
−
|
 
−
|
 
−
|-
 
−
|4<sup>th</sup> night free at any hotel
 
−
|
 
−
|
 
−
|Yes
 
−
|
 
−
|
 
−
|-
 
−
|Other notable benefits
 
−
|
 
−
|Fine Hotel Resorts
 
−
 
 
−
Amex Offers
 
−
 
 
−
Discount Airfare Program
 
−
 
 
−
Boingo Wi-Fi
 
−
|
 
−
|
 
−
|Annual free night certificate
 
−
|-
 
−
| colspan="6" style="background-color: ghostwhite;" |Credits
 
−
|-
 
−
|Travel Credit Applies
 
−
|$300, any travel
 
−
|$200, airline incidentals w/1 airline
 
−
|$250, any travel
 
−
|$325, any travel
 
−
|$250, airline incidentals w/1 airline
 
−
|-
 
−
|Per Year
 
−
|Cardholder year
 
−
|Calendar year
 
−
|Calendar year
 
−
|Cardholder year
 
−
|Calendar Year
 
−
|-
 
−
|Other credits
 
−
|
 
−
|$15/month ($35 in December) for Uber rides or Uber eats. 2x $50 credits at Saks.
 
−
|
 
−
|
 
−
|$250 resort credit (cardholder year)
 
−
|
 
−
|-
 
−
|Applies
 
−
|Automatically
 
−
|Automatically
 
−
|Automatically
 
−
|Automatically
 
−
|Automatically
 
−
|-
 
−
| colspan="6" style="background-color: ghostwhite;" |Signup Bonus
 
−
|-
 
−
|Bonus
 
−
|50,000 points
 
−
|40-100,000 points
 
−
|40-50,000 points
 
−
|50,000 points
 
−
|100,000 points
 
−
|-
 
−
|Spending Requirement
 
−
|$4000
 
−
|$5000
 
−
|$4000
 
−
|$4500
 
−
|$4000
 
−
|-
 
−
| colspan="6" style="background-color: ghostwhite;" |Annual Fee
 
−
|-
 
−
|Base Fee
 
−
|$450
 
−
|$550
 
−
|$495, $350 for Citigold
 
−
|$400
 
−
|$450
 
−
|-
 
−
|Authorized card Holder
 
−
|$75
 
−
|$175 for up to 3
 
−
|$50
 
−
|$75
 
−
|$0
 
−
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Revision as of 13:55, 31 October 2018

  Credit Card Reference

BestChoice.jpg

If you are following our advice, you will eventually get a handful of credit cards for their travel benefits—such as one or more premium travel-oriented credit cards, an airline credit card for the airline you fly the most, and perhaps a couple of hotel credit cards.

You could use any of these credit cards to earn rewards on your purchases. But unfortunately, they probably don't offer the highest possible reward rate for your most of your spending. Since your goal is to earn as many points as you can, it is worthwhile to sign up for an additional credit card—one that is specifically chosen to earn the best possible reward rate on your everyday purchases.

GET the cards that make sense for their travel benefits; but USE the card that earns the best rewards for your spending. And use it, instead of cash or checks, whenever you can.

You'll slowly and surely earn enough points for free airplane tickets and hotel rooms. If you make the effort to use your card to pay for as many of your expenses as you can, you'll increase the amount of free travel that you earn.


Jump to


(Almost) never use cash—earn rewards instead

Your goal is to collect as many miles or points (or as much cash back) as you can. That means that you should use your rewards credit card whenever possible, rather than paying with cash, a debit card, or a check. Start putting everything on your card, and your rewards will build up quickly.

LockedCash.jpg
  • Every time you use cash, a check, or your bank card (when you could have used your credit card), you are losing out on points you could have had. Each individual transaction may not seem like much, but it adds up over time.
  • Using a credit card, instead of cash, has some other benefits as well. You’ll have better records of your spending, build up your credit history, and make fewer trips to the ATM (paying less in ATM fees). In addition, your credit card will often give you some protection if something you buy breaks, is stolen, or even drops in price.
  • While we strongly recommend putting as much of your spending as possible on a good reward card credit, you don’t have to take it to an extreme. If you are making a small purchase, and paying cash will speed up the process for everyone, don’t worry about a few cents worth of points. If you are under the store’s minimum for taking credit cards, don’t make a fuss, just pay with cash.  And you usually don’t want to use your credit card with any business that charges an extra fee to use a card.
  • Many of the bills that you pay each month can be paid with a credit card, rather than with a check or automatic bank withdrawal. For example, pretty much every wireless and cable company accepts credit card payments, as do many utilities, insurance companies, and gyms. Go back over a few months of bank statements, and see who you are paying on a regular basis. Then see which of these companies, you can switch over to credit card payments. You'll probably be surprised, at how much more credit card spending you can generate, without changing the total amount of money you are spending each year.

The best general purpose reward card (for most people)

Which general-purpose reward card is best? For most people, the answer is clear...

You should get BOTH the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and the Freedom Unlimited card. The two cards work together to give you fantastic reward rates on your purchases.

The Freedom Unlimited card earns 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points on every purchase, which normally are worth 1 cent each towards travel purchases or gift cards.

However, if you also have the Chase Sapphire card, you can use these points to purchase travel, through the Chase website, at 1.5 cents each. This gives you a "cash" rewards rate of 2.25 cents per dollar, higher than most cash back cards.

Even better, these points are "transferable". You can convert your Ultimate Reward points to any of a set of different types of airline and hotel points, and then redeem them for frequent flyer tickets or free hotel nights. At a "base value" of 1.7 cents per point, you'll be earning 2.55 cents per dollar, and you can earn even more with particularly good redemption opportunities.

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  • These cards earn flexible award points, that you can use for free nights at some hotels, and free flights with almost any airline. Chase’s Ultimate Reward points can be converted into points with many different frequent flyer programs. You can then redeem these frequent flyer miles for award tickets on over a hundred airlines, and take advantage of whichever of frequent flyer program offers the best value for each trip. That makes them more valuable, and much more flexible, than regular frequent flyer miles. Introduction to 'Transferable' Reward Points.
  • Ultimate Reward points are worth at least 1.5-2 cents each, and sometimes significantly more. Not all points are equal—some points are worth more than others. For most people, Ultimate Rewards is the best credit card rewards program.  When you use your points to book frequent flyer tickets you’ll typically receive at least 1.5 to 2 cents in value per point. And, if you highly value premium-cabin airplane travel, you would typically receive more than 4 cents per point (and often much more) on international business and first-class award tickets. That means you'll be making anywhere from 2.25% to 6%+ in rewards.
  • Unlike other transferable reward programs, you can get good value from your Ultimate Reward points, even if you don’t want to deal with the hassles involved with frequent flyer tickets. Truth be told, it can sometimes be difficult to redeem frequent flyer points. The big advantage of Ultimate Rewards, over other transferable reward programs (such as Amex’s Membership Rewards), is that there are good options for redeeming your points, besides frequent flyer tickets.

    • When you use your Ultimate Reward points for hotel stays through Hyatt, you can usually get more than 1.7 cents per point in value, and sometimes more than 2-3 cents per point. You can always use them, at a fixed value of 1.5 cents each, to make any travel purchase through the Chase website. And you can sometimes get a slightly higher rate when you use them to purchase Southwest Airlines tickets, without worrying about award availability. 

  • The Freedom Unlimited card earns 1.5x Ultimate Reward points per dollar (valued at 2.55 cents per dollar) on every purchase—for most people, this is the highest possible reward rate for your everyday spending.
  • In addition, the Sapphire Reserve card earns 3x Ultimate Rewards points (valued at 5.1 cents per dollar) on travel and restaurant spending. Chances are that you spend a significant amount of money on travel and restaurants. When you use the Sapphire Reserve card, you’ll be earning the highest possible reward rates on those categories as well. (However, you can do slightly better on airfare purchases with an expensive Amex Platinum Card.)
  • You’ll start out with 50,000 points (valued at $900) from the Sapphire Reserve card, plus a $150 signup bonus from the Freedom Unlimited card. 50,000 points is two domestic tickets on United Airlines, or 5 nights in a very nice Hyatt hotel.
  • You'll get some other attractive benefits with the Sapphire Reserve card. These include airport lounge access, primary rental car insurance, and top-of-the-line travel and shopping protections.

The Freedom Unlimited card has no annual fee. However, the Sapphire Reserve’s annual fee is a whopping $450, and you need to have it, in order to get good value from the points you earn with the Freedom Unlimited card.

However, this isn’t as bad as it first appears. The Sapphire Reserve provides an automatic $300 travel credit. That means that the first $300 you spend on travel each year is automatically taken off your credit card bill.  So, the total out-of-pocket cost is $150 per year. For most of our readers, airport lounge access, high reward rates, and primary rental car insurance make this money well spent. 

Higher reward rates are possible with bonus categories

Before we discuss the best general-purpose reward cards, it helps to understand how “bonus categories” work.

  • Many reward credit cards offer higher-than-normal rewards on spending within certain categories. For example, one card may give bonus rewards for purchases from gas stations and supermarkets, while another card may give bonuses on travel and restaurants.
  • Chances are, that as part of building out your core credit card collection, you will naturally wind up with a card that earns bonus reward rates on travel, restaurants, and some other purchases. Eventually, you may even choose to expand your credit card collection to specifically include cards just for their bonus rewards. Optimize Rewards by Using Different Cards for Different Purchases.
  • Regardless, you always want to get one general-purpose card that earns a good reward rate, whenever you use it, and not just on specific categories. This will be your “fall back” card for any purchase where you don’t have a card that earns bonus points, or when you just want to keep things simple, and put all your charges on a single card.  It is sometimes called your card for “everyday spending”. But, we call it your “general-purpose” reward card.

Who should get a different card?

While the Freedom Unlimited / Sapphire Reserve combination is the right solution for most people, it isn't for everyone.

  • You might not be able to get the Freedom Unlimited and Sapphire Reserve card, due to the Chase 5/24 rule. Chase limits access to the Sapphire Reserve and Freedom Unlimited cards to people who have signed up for fewer than five new credit cards in the past two years. This is called the “Chase 5/24” rule, and they count every new credit card you’ve gotten, regardless of whether it came from Chase, or from another bank, and even if you are just an authorized card holder.

    • If you’ve signed up for more than three credit cards in the last two years, you won’t be able to sign up for both these cards, regardless of your income and credit score. You can either hold off getting any new credit cards, until you are under the limit; or you can choose an alternative general-purpose reward credit card.

  • You might get even more value from one of the advanced credit card options. There are some other cards that can earn even more valuable rewards than the Freedom Unlimited / Sapphire Reserve combination. They each have restrictions, caveats, or complexities that make them hard to broadly recommend. But, depending on your circumstances, one of these advanced options (see below) might be for you.
  • You may not spend enough money to justify the Sapphire Reserve's annual fee. If you expect to spend less than about $15,000 per year on your general-purpose reward card (and on travel and restaurant charges), the extra reward points you earn from the Freedom Unlimited / Sapphire Reserve combination may be smaller than the $150 effective annual fee.

    • If you don't get much value from the airport lounge benefit, and don't expect to use your points for premium-cabin frequent flyer tickets, you are probably better off with a cash-back card instead. Keep in mind, that even if you are interested in free airport lounge access, you can receive that benefit, for years to come, by spreading out your premium credit card applications (to collect the signup bonuses) over time.

  • You may prefer to earn points that can be used for an even wider variety of travel purchases. You can use your Ultimate Reward points to pay for hotels, airfare, and other travel expenses through the Chase website (as well as for freqeunt flyer tickets and award nights). But, you can't use them to purchase hotels on other websites (where you might find lower rates), on AirBnBs, or on admissions and activities. If you earn points from a cash-back card, you can use your points for any of things (or anything else).

    • For most people, earning Ultimate Rewards points is the better option. They can easily use up all of the points they earn on worthwhile redemptions, and will generally get more value from their reward points, than they could earn from a cash-back card. But, if you don't expect to easily use up all your Ultimate Reward points on worthwhile purchases, because you don't expect to spend enough on airfares and hotels, or because you are earning tons of points in other ways, you may want to just earn cash, or cash-like points, instead of Ultimate Reward points, from your purchases.

  • You might want to use an everyday card that includes price and return protection. Some credit cards provide "price protection", which will refund the difference, if something you bought drops in price during the first few months; and "return protection", which will let you return an item to the credit card company, for a refund, if the store won't accept a return. The Chase Unlimited card does not provide either of these benefits. If price and/or return protection are important to you, you'll want to use another card, either for all of your non-bonus-category purchases, or for purchases where you are more likely to take advantage of these benefits. Automatic Protection for the Things You Buy with Your Credit Card.

The best alternative is a great cashback card (for most people)

There are several credit cards which give you 2% back on every purchase, and you may be able to get a card that earns even more. Other than the Chase Freedom Unlimited combo, there is no other simple solution that routinely provides more value than 2% cash back. 

For most people, the next best option, after the Freedom Unlimited card, is a great cash-back card.

Each alternative option involves extra time, effort, and/or fees, special relationships with banks; or only works for people who highly-value premium-cabin award redemptions, and can earn enough points to make those a reality. These cards can make sense for many people.  But we can’t recommend them to most people who want to keep things simple and flexible.

FlyingCash.jpg
  • If you are going to spend MORE than $12,000 per year on your general-purpose reward card you should try to get the Alliant Cashback Visa card. It earns 2.5% cash back with a $59 annual fee, and earns 3% cash back during the first year. Getting this card isn’t completely straightforward. If you aren’t already an Alliant credit union member, you need to make a $10 donation to Foster Care for Success to join. And if you’ve opened too many credit cards (which hopefully isn’t a problem), they may deny your application.
  • If you are going to spend LESS than $12,000 on your general-purpose reward card, you should get the PayPal Cashback card. It gives you 2% cash back, with no annual fee, and no foreign transaction fees. If you are only spending this much, it isn’t worth the $59 per year, to earn the extra .5% in rewards from the Alliant card. In addition, the PayPal cards comes with price and return protection, which isn't available on the Alliant card. Just make sure you’re the type of person who will make the extra effort to take advantage of these protection benefits, before you give up higher up-front rewards, to get this card instead. Automatic Protection for the Things You Buy with Your Credit Card.

    • The other good no-annual-fee options are the Citi Double Cash Card and the Fidelity Rewards Credit Card. The reason that we recommend the PayPal card is that it doesn't have a foreign transaction fee, and both of these cards do. Some people might prefer the Double Cash card, because it comes with slightly better extended warranty and price protection benefits, and they don't expect to use the card very often for overseas purchases. The Fidelity card only has a 1% foreign transaction fee (versus the Double Cash's 3% fee), but it comes with weaker purchase protections.

  • Be careful when you predict how much money you will spend per year. If you take our advice, and take advantage of credit card signup bonuses, to earn lots of points, much of your credit card spending will be focused on meeting the initial spending requirements on your new cards. If you acquire cards that earn bonus rewards on other categories, there will be fewer purchases left over, where you use your general-purpose card. You might find yourself spending less than you expected, and be better off with a no-annual-fee card.
  • If you highly value international business and first-class tickets, you are always better off with a transferable points card. No cash-back or fixed-value card can provide as much value as you can get from redeeming your points for business and first-class frequent flyer tickets. You may not always be able to find award space, and it will require a lot of points for each ticket, but you’ll eventually be able to redeem your points for massive value per point. Introduction to 'Transferable' Reward Points.

    • If you can't get the Freedom Unlimited card, get one of the advanced options that earns Membership Reward points.

    Just be sure that you really value the free tickets at close to their regular cost. If you don’t place as high a premium on these seats, the value you’re really receiving can be much closer to the normal 2.5-3 cents per point. 

  • While these are the best combinations of cash-back rate and annual fees for most people, you may be able to do even better with one of our advanced options.

Advanced options

For most people, the best options are to earn 1.5x Ultimate Reward points with the Freedom Unlimited combo, 2.5% cash-back with the Alliant Card, or 2% cash-back with one of the no-annual fee options.

However, some people can earn even more valuable rewards with other general-purpose cards.

FlyingCash2.jpg
Advanced Options for Everyday Spending
Most Likely Candidates
  • If you are eligible for a business card, comfortable to use it for your personal purchases, and willing to redeem all your points for frequent flyer tickets, the most valuable general-purpose reward card is almost certainly the Amex Blue for Business Card. If you are committed to using your points for frequent flyer tickets, earning 2x Membership Reward points is better than earning 1.5x Ultimate Reward points. Just remember, that with Membership Reward points, you don't typically have good options for other types of redemptions.

    • BlueBiz2.png

  • If you are eligible for a business card, comfortable to use it for your personal purchases, and want to avoid being locked into frequent flyer redemptions, you can get the Ink Unlimited card, instead of the Freedom Unlimited card. Both cards earn the same 1.5x Ultimate Reward points on every purchase, but the Ink Unlimited card has a better signup bonus, and some extra benefits.

    InkUnlimited.png

  • If you highly value premium-cabin award tickets, can earn enough points to redeem for them, and have the patience to find award space, you are always better off earning transferable points, rather than cash back. If you can't get the Sapphire Reserve / Unlimited combo, or use the Blue for Business Card, you should probably use the Amex EveryDay Preferred card.

    • EverydayPreferred.png

    In order to earn enough points to make this card worthwhile, you'll need to make sure to use it for more than 30 purchases every month. If that doesn't seem likely, we've got some tricks that can help. Tips to Generate More than 30 Charges per Month.

  • If you have $100,000 in investment or retirement assets that you would be willing to manage through Merrill Lynch, you can earn 2.625% cash back with the Bank of America Travel and Premium credit cards. That level of assets qualifies you for Bank of America "Platinum Honors" status, which gives you a 75% bonus for the rewards you earn from some Bank of America cards. The bonus boosts the earning rate from the Travel Rewards and Premium Rewards card from 1.5 cents per dollar to 2.625 cents per dollar (which is the highest long-term cash back rate available from any card). If you have assets at another broker, you can usually transfer them to a Merrill Edge account, and manage them there (at little or no additional costs), to qualify for the higher reward rate.
  • If you are willing to signup for a new account each year, you can 3% cash back with the Discover Miles card. It earns 1.5% cash back, but gives you double the points at the end of your first year. The catch is that you'll have to get a new card ever year (and use up an credit card application slot) to maintain access to this effective 3% rate.



CreditCard.jpg
Credit Cards 101
ChooseCard.jpg
Optimize Rewards by Using Different Cards for Different Purchases
Chase524.jpg
Dealing with the Chase 5/24 Rule
Send comments or suggestions to editor@travelstrategies.com or leave a comment below.



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