Advice on credit cards rewards/air miles

[Balisong]

Hey folks,
My girlfriend and I are finally at a point where we'd like to take advantage of getting points on money we are spending anyway on things like groceries, restaurants, normal monthly bills etc. Obviously we will pay it off every month and not put large purchases on it that we would need to make payments on. Think we have it narrowed down to American Express gold, or the Capital One Venture card. We've got a pretty good grasp on the point accrual system for each card, but what I would like to hear first hand experiences about, is the quality of rewards you get when it comes time to use those rewards. Primarily we're interested in the airline miles as we like to travel and would like to lessen the financial burden of airfare. Are either of these better than the other in terms of ease of use for flying wherever you want on what airline you want? Peak use gouging? Venture 1 says no blackout dates, I have not seen that addressed on the Amex gold. Do either offer good inexpensive upgrades to business or 1st class? Any personal experiences with a rough idea how many points needed for flights would be appreciated as well. Any other experiences/suggestions on the use of the rewards is appreciated as well. Thanks so much everyone!

[shootist26]

have you done research on thepointsguy.com? That's pretty much the go-to site to find the best rewards card for you.

I haven't used the venture card in a long time (i still have it though). Its points back system didn't go nearly as far as my Chase Freedom Unlimited and Chase Sapphire Preferred cards do for my normal spending.

My CFU gets me 1.5% back on everything, and 3% back on restaurants/takeout and 5% back on grocery stores. My CSP gets 2x points on all travel related expenses (tolls, subways, flights, trains, hotels, rental cars), plus provides primary rental car insurance, lost bag insurance, delayed flight insurance, and has zero international fees. Plus both offered significant sign on points bonuses that were easy to hit with my normal day to day spending. Plus your chase points can be combined and redeemed on Chase's own travel portal at an even higher rate.

Your mileage may vary. If you're a small business owner with different types of expenses, there are other cards out there that would be a better choice. Same with if you like to stick with a specific airline for loyalty/status preferences.

[RoyGBiv]

If AA is big out of Sky Harbor you should also consider the Citi AAdvantage card. When I signed up for it a while ago we got 100k miles as a bonus, and every over-18 cardholder gets access to the Admirals Clubs. Even my kids have appreciated that. It's spendy but we get our money's worth out of it. They also reimburse for Trusted Traveler fees.

[pangloss]

We have a American Express Platinum card affiliated with Delta. We save points just for airline tickets for big vacations. The best deal we got was two tickets to Santiago, Chile in 2011. In 2018 we bought 3.5 tickets to Paris and back. Not having to pay for airfare out of pocket is what makes these trips possible for us. I put every single thing I can on this can, and if >15 years, I've failed to completely pay off the balance in only one month when I just forgot. The card also comes with a companion fly free tickets each year that can be used for flights in the 48 continental states.

The downsides are that Delta does restrict your travel dates. A couple of years ago, they increased the point cost of flights. This year American Express increased the yearly membership fee for the card to $250 (I think). I go back and forth on whether or not it's worth it. We use the companion fly free ticket less than half the time. I think the last time I "used" it was when I traded it to my dad for frequent flyer miles to cover the last part of the Paris tickets. Definitely pay attention to what airlines fly out of the airport most convenient to you. For the year or so we lived in Kansas, Delta did not fly out of the small airport near our town, so the card was somewhat less useful then. Driving two hours to an airport is not a big deal when you're leaving on a trip (depending on flight time), but driving two hours home when you're jetlagged from an international flight is not something I want to do.

[BehindBlueI's]

Of course some of it depends on your spending habits and what perks you value. If your eligible for Navy Federal membership, I'd suggest at least taking a look at their Visa Flagship card: https://www.navyfederal.org/loans-ca...signature.html

There's an annual fee, but they give you a free Amazon Prime account and the annual fee is less then Prime costs. 2x points on pretty much everything, 3x on travel.. Decent travel card.

[scw2]

The Points Guy is a good place to start reading and learning the basics. I don't know if their referrals are always the highest, and normally will look around on a few other sites to check. I also like to check Doctor of Credit and Frequent Miler since often those sites are very transparent if there are better sign up offers even if it means they don't get paid any referral money. If you're starting out, the quickest way to earn points is going to be signup offers. Also remember you both plan to get the same card, see if one person can apply first then refer the second person which can often get you several thousand extra miles. Search on the afore mentioned sites to make sure you're getting a good offers, especially if there is a 1 per lifetime limit.

I think historically Chase and Amex points are the way to go for value and flexibility, and you can get multiple cards with big sign up bonuses plus cover tons of bonus spend categories. They also have tons of partner options for transferring points, as well as specific airline/hotel cards to get even more miles/points. I think Capital One has started adding partners recently so the gap may start to close, though Chase and Amex seem to have more cards offering points so you can get more signup bonuses faster.

One thing to remember too is the different perks related to travel that come with the cards such as travel and rental car insurance, lounge access, and global entry membership. In terms of lounges, Amex lounges seem nicest but Priority Pass can help supplement overseas or in airports that don't have an Amex lounge.

[LOKNLOD]

I've run a lot of money through a United card and was using them to fly as well because of work travel, but it only was helpful with travel once; it paid for our family of five on the return trip from a Disney World trip - but we had to travel on an odd day to make that work. Did use the points to "buy" and iPad and a new vacuum cleaner the next year when I didn't have any trips planned.

Last year I got a Fidelity card, which gives 2% if you deposit into a Fidelity investment account. It can dump savings into a college 529 plan or your retirement account or just a brokerage account where it can grow more. I've been really pleased with that setup.

ETA: I realize this is no help at all for the OP, sorry. Just on topic for the general conversation

[alamo5000]

I've been doing this stuff for years (literally). If I buy anything it goes on my CC. I pay it completely off with each paycheck (every two weeks) so I never have a bill. Before when I was traveling for work all the time I would put hotel bills for 5-6 nights a week for 3-4 weeks at a time (and sometimes multiple people), plus meals and so forth all on my card. When I got reimbursed I would pay the whole thing off and start over again.

There are a ton of benefits to doing this beside the points. If there is ever any fraud of any type it's substantially easier to deal with via CC than a debit card. Never ever use a debit online period full stop. It's just asking for trouble. I typically carry no less than three types of payment. CC is my first option always. Then I will keep a bit of cash on hand (depending on where I am at or what I am doing), and a debit card. Generally debit is last in line. If my CC gets compromised for whatever reason I still have two back up ways to pay.

Also this will run up your credit score a lot if you are regular about doing it. Gas, groceries, even cel phone bills, or whatever all go on the CC. NEVER set up direct debit from your bank account if you can avoid it.

I've used a Chase CC for years but admittedly I've not shopped around to see if anything is better. What I like to do is get a card that allows flexibility. I can use my points for airline miles or at a variety of things to redeem for gift cards or my most often used is for cash. I just get them to put it all against my bill.

I've had numerous times where every so often I paid off all my entire CC for the month just using points. I let them accumulate then one month, bam, burn them all in one swoop.

If you travel for work (like I do in normal times) getting hotel points and CC points is awesome. I've gotten a lot of free nights stays. Anyway I think your plan to put everything on a CC is a fantastic idea. I would however try to concentrate everything on one account and not have them spaced out because then you have a little bit all over the place and your options become limited.

Me personally I always opt to cash out. I would make sure your card allows this vs 'just' earning airline miles or whatever. Again though thats a personal option so your individual circumstances might allow for better use in other ways than me. None the less being able to pretty much pay off a whole christmas CC bill using just points is pretty nice if you let them build up over the course of the year.