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Need Some Help - Travel Credit Cards
Posted on 10/13/23 at 4:01 pm
Posted on 10/13/23 at 4:01 pm
I will admit that I’m an idiot when it comes to card benefits and travel. We haven’t traveled much the last few years, as we’ve been trying to become debt free. We accomplished that goal and are celebrating our 5-year anniversary next year. We are gunna stay at Excellence Playa Mujeres next June since it’s so highly recommended on TD.
We decided to get the United Explorer Card, and we already have the Chase Freedom Unlimited.
We obviously are going to book the airfare on the United card, but I need help figuring out which card to book the hotel on. I looked up the benefits of both, but can’t really figure out if one is better than the other. Can any of y’all recommend which one I should use that will give me the best rewards for the trip? I would greatly appreciate it!
We decided to get the United Explorer Card, and we already have the Chase Freedom Unlimited.
We obviously are going to book the airfare on the United card, but I need help figuring out which card to book the hotel on. I looked up the benefits of both, but can’t really figure out if one is better than the other. Can any of y’all recommend which one I should use that will give me the best rewards for the trip? I would greatly appreciate it!
4
Posted on 10/13/23 at 4:13 pm to lovethetigers7
Depending on how much you travel and/or eat out, look into the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. There is a $550 yearly cost, but you get $300 annual travel credit which lowers cost to $250 per year if you travel any at all. Some introductory offers may give you 60k-100k points after an initial minimum spend. Booking travel through the Chase portal (run by Expedia) gets you 10x points on hotels and car rentals, and 5x points on flights. Any other travel not booked through their portal gives 3x points. All dining (restaurants, fast food, Door Dash, etc) gets 3x points also. Those add up quick. Chase is a travel partner with United Mileage Plus, so you could transfer those points directly to United later if you choose to do so. If you decide to cancel the Reserve card later, you can move your points to the Freedom Unlimited card and keep them. Also, the Sapphire Reserve has no international fees so easy to use out of country.
My suggestion, since you already have the Chase Freedom, would be to get the Reserve, book your hotel and flights on it and any other future travel and dining. Use your Freedom Unlimited for all other purchases and then move your Freedom points over to the Reserve where they are worth more.
My suggestion, since you already have the Chase Freedom, would be to get the Reserve, book your hotel and flights on it and any other future travel and dining. Use your Freedom Unlimited for all other purchases and then move your Freedom points over to the Reserve where they are worth more.
Posted on 10/13/23 at 4:25 pm to lovethetigers7
Swap the freedom unlimited with sapphire preferred.
If a United flight, on that card.
Everything else, the sapphire
If a United flight, on that card.
Everything else, the sapphire
Posted on 10/13/23 at 4:28 pm to Tshiz
My wife is a HUGE budget stickler and already doesn’t like the idea of us paying the $95 annual fee for the United card. There is no way she would go for that high of an annual fee for the Saphire unfortunately
Posted on 10/13/23 at 4:56 pm to lovethetigers7
Look up 10X Travel insiders. They have a great path for credit cards with high sign up bonuses. They also have a very informative Facebook group page.
Posted on 10/13/23 at 6:12 pm to ProudLSUMom
/r/churning on Reddit is a better bet, since no one there is trying to sell you anything. Read the wiki and go from there.
Posted on 10/13/23 at 7:17 pm to lovethetigers7
quote:
My wife is a HUGE budget stickler and already doesn’t like the idea of us paying the $95 annual fee for the United card. There is no way she would go for that high of an annual fee for the Saphire unfortunately
You and your wife need to sit down and look at the annual fee versus the benefits of the card. If you plan and use the benefits they will more than offset the annual fee if used properly.
Posted on 10/14/23 at 1:08 pm to lovethetigers7
The sapphire preferred is a better value then the reserve for most people, imo.
Look out for promos for Excellence Playa Mujeres. Black Friday usually has a pretty good deal.
Look out for promos for Excellence Playa Mujeres. Black Friday usually has a pretty good deal.
Posted on 10/14/23 at 1:41 pm to Jack_Handy
Chase Sapphire user here. For the net cost of $250 I haven’t paid for hotels or car rentals in several years.
I haven’t flown United in years but the Sapphire card is worth the cost for the other benefits.
I haven’t flown United in years but the Sapphire card is worth the cost for the other benefits.
Posted on 10/15/23 at 8:40 am to lovethetigers7
quote:
My wife is a HUGE budget stickler and already doesn’t like the idea of us paying the $95 annual fee for the United card. There is no way she would go for that high of an annual fee for the Saphire unfortunately
You definitely need to look at your budget to decide. However, given the Reserve card's 2 additional points per dollar on travel & dining, and valuing those points at a minimum of 1.5 cents (booking travel through Chase), it only takes a yearly spend of $8300 for travel and dining to pay for itself. Any spend over that is profit. This is not even taking into account the value of the sign-up bonus points or the other additional perks (entry into Priority Pass travel lounges, rental car insurance, reimbursement for TSA PreCheck, etc).
Posted on 10/15/23 at 9:48 am to VABuckeye
quote:
look at the annual fee versus the benefits of the card.
100%
Not saying the fee is irrelevant but you can't weight the benefits without considering the annual fee; they go hand in hand
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