Credit Card question

[nick1985]

I am looking to get a credit card that will allow me to start banking airline miles. Im planning on flying to South Africa for the 2010 world cup and figured I should just get a card and start saving up some miles.

I guess I have 2 questions

1) Which is a good card to have? I heard American Express is solid, what else should I be looking at?

2) There is almost no way I will spend enough between now and June of 2010 to get a free round trip flight to South Africa. Will I be able to apply the miles I have aquired towards my ticket and just get a discount on it, or are they an all or nothing deal?

Thanks!

 

[txrandom]

This is what I would do:
Get a few different Citi cards to maximize your Thank You Points.
1. Citi Amex Platinum - 5x Points on Supermarkets, drugstores, and gas stations and 3x on EDS (Everything else). + 15,000 bonus points after $300 in purchases.
This has a yearly fee, but the first year is free. You can just cancel it and get another one. But this means you can get the extra 15,000 again. The point structure changes after 24 months, but I wouldn't be worried about since June 2010 will pass by.

https://www.citicards.com/card...PE=constituency_detail">Text</a>

2. Citi Premier Pass - Don't use for normal spending. Only get this for the 10,000 bonus points after $300 in purchases within 3 months. Electronic stores usually are going to get you 1x (or 3x with Amex Plat) points. Put your mp3 player, computer, camera, etc on here.

Text

3. Are you in college? The mtvU Visa gives 5x on restaurants, book stores, music stores, video stores, and video theatres. No bonus points offers, but there is a version out there to get 10x instead of 5x for your first 6 months. Actually you can get bonus points for good grades, 4.0 = 2000 extra points.

Text

Basically, you want to max out the number of points by purchasing certain purchases on various cards and take advantage of any bonus offers.

So you'll need 80,000 ThankYou points to fly to South Africa for free (plus taxes). After the bonus offers, that's already 25,000. 55,000 points is a ton of spending, but it may be doable in a year and a half. I'm pretty sure you can buy extra ThankYou points just in case.

Hopefully some of that made sense. I'm still in college and don't spend much, but I've made 60,000 points in the past two years.

 

[sash1]

Originally posted by: nick1985
Im planning on flying to South Africa for the 2010 world cup

-jealous-

 

[nick1985]

^ for more opinions

 

[KillerCharlie]

Isn't it typically better to get a credit card with cashback? From what I remember, it's cheaper that way and you don't have to deal with blackout days.

 

[nick1985]

Looking at an AMEX Delta SkyMiles card atm...

Anyone have any feedback with this one?

 

[kranky]

A good cashback card will almost always beat a frequent flyer miles card.

- Cashback gives you a choice of any airline. FF miles don't.
- Cashback lets you get a ticket on any flight where there are seats available. FF miles don't. Only a few seats on any flight are available for use with FF miles.
- Cashback lets you buy a ticket using whatever rebate you've earned. With miles, if you don't have enough for the whole ticket, you can't use any.
- No expiration dates on cash.
- Airlines are in serious financial trouble. You might end up building up miles on an airline that goes bankrupt before you can use them.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: kranky
A good cashback card will almost always beat a frequent flyer miles card.

- Cashback gives you a choice of any airline. FF miles don't.
- Cashback lets you get a ticket on any flight where there are seats available. FF miles don't. Only a few seats on any flight are available for use with FF miles.
- Cashback lets you buy a ticket using whatever rebate you've earned. With miles, if you don't have enough for the whole ticket, you can't use any.
- No expiration dates on cash.
- Airlines are in serious financial trouble. You might end up building up miles on an airline that goes bankrupt before you can use them.

Interesting...got a recommendation on a cashback card I should check out?

 

[kranky]

If you are a big spender (let's say you can charge $800/month or more) look at the AmEx Blue Cash card, but the rebates are not that great if you spend less.

If that card doesn't fit for you, look at the Chase Freedom. 3% on your most popular categories. Need to research how your spending would work out.

If you have a solid credit history and have not applied for new cards in a year, look at the Pentagon Federal Credit Union Platinum Cash Rewards. 5% gas, 2% groceries, 1.5% everything else, no limit. You might need to join the National Military Families Association to become eligible to join PenFed (you can do this right on their web site). NMFA costs $20 to join but once you join and use that as your way into PenFed, you don't need to keep renewing the NMFA membership to stay in PenFed.

 

[imported_Lothar]

Originally posted by: nick1985

Originally posted by: kranky
A good cashback card will almost always beat a frequent flyer miles card.

- Cashback gives you a choice of any airline. FF miles don't.
- Cashback lets you get a ticket on any flight where there are seats available. FF miles don't. Only a few seats on any flight are available for use with FF miles.
- Cashback lets you buy a ticket using whatever rebate you've earned. With miles, if you don't have enough for the whole ticket, you can't use any.
- No expiration dates on cash.
- Airlines are in serious financial trouble. You might end up building up miles on an airline that goes bankrupt before you can use them.

Interesting...got a recommendation on a cashback card I should check out?

PenFed.
AB Cash Rebate Card.

Those are the only cashback cards you need.

 

[imported_Lothar]

Originally posted by: nick1985
I am looking to get a credit card that will allow me to start banking airline miles. Im planning on flying to South Africa for the 2010 world cup and figured I should just get a card and start saving up some miles.

I guess I have 2 questions

1) Which is a good card to have? I heard American Express is solid, what else should I be looking at?

2) There is almost no way I will spend enough between now and June of 2010 to get a free round trip flight to South Africa. Will I be able to apply the miles I have aquired towards my ticket and just get a discount on it, or are they an all or nothing deal?

Thanks!

I'm thinking about going too.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: nick1985

Originally posted by: kranky
A good cashback card will almost always beat a frequent flyer miles card.

- Cashback gives you a choice of any airline. FF miles don't.
- Cashback lets you get a ticket on any flight where there are seats available. FF miles don't. Only a few seats on any flight are available for use with FF miles.
- Cashback lets you buy a ticket using whatever rebate you've earned. With miles, if you don't have enough for the whole ticket, you can't use any.
- No expiration dates on cash.
- Airlines are in serious financial trouble. You might end up building up miles on an airline that goes bankrupt before you can use them.

Interesting...got a recommendation on a cashback card I should check out?

Chase Freedom (3% on 3 most popular categories)
Citi Dividend Platinum Select (2% gas, 2% groceries, 2% drug stores)
Discover More (5% on select things, changes every few months)
Amex True Earnings (3% food, 3% gas, 2% travel, 1% everything else)

These are the 4 cards I live with. If you cycle certain things around you can figure out what to buy on which card.

Blue Cash for AMEX is only worth it if you spend a BUTTLOAD of money. The base is like 0.5% or something? 5% is only if you spend a crapload and its a marginal rate like tax brackets... so your overall cashback is still not that much.

 

[supastar1568]

Originally posted by: Lothar

Originally posted by: nick1985
I am looking to get a credit card that will allow me to start banking airline miles. Im planning on flying to South Africa for the 2010 world cup and figured I should just get a card and start saving up some miles.

I guess I have 2 questions

1) Which is a good card to have? I heard American Express is solid, what else should I be looking at?

2) There is almost no way I will spend enough between now and June of 2010 to get a free round trip flight to South Africa. Will I be able to apply the miles I have aquired towards my ticket and just get a discount on it, or are they an all or nothing deal?

Thanks!

I'm thinking about going too.

me three. Think it will be safe?

Thats a serious question and would be a concern.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: Lothar

Originally posted by: nick1985
I am looking to get a credit card that will allow me to start banking airline miles. Im planning on flying to South Africa for the 2010 world cup and figured I should just get a card and start saving up some miles.

I guess I have 2 questions

1) Which is a good card to have? I heard American Express is solid, what else should I be looking at?

2) There is almost no way I will spend enough between now and June of 2010 to get a free round trip flight to South Africa. Will I be able to apply the miles I have aquired towards my ticket and just get a discount on it, or are they an all or nothing deal?

Thanks!

I'm thinking about going too.

Whose your team?

 

[imported_Lothar]

Originally posted by: nick1985

Originally posted by: Lothar

Originally posted by: nick1985
I am looking to get a credit card that will allow me to start banking airline miles. Im planning on flying to South Africa for the 2010 world cup and figured I should just get a card and start saving up some miles.

I guess I have 2 questions

1) Which is a good card to have? I heard American Express is solid, what else should I be looking at?

2) There is almost no way I will spend enough between now and June of 2010 to get a free round trip flight to South Africa. Will I be able to apply the miles I have aquired towards my ticket and just get a discount on it, or are they an all or nothing deal?

Thanks!

I'm thinking about going too.

Whose your team?

Super Eagles.

 

[txrandom]

Using the Citi ThankYou points is a lot better than cash back because those points are very valuable when applied to fixed flight redemption. I don't think there are blackout dates or anything as well.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: kranky
If you are a big spender (let's say you can charge $800/month or more) look at the AmEx Blue Cash card, but the rebates are not that great if you spend less.

If that card doesn't fit for you, look at the Chase Freedom. 3% on your most popular categories. Need to research how your spending would work out.

If you have a solid credit history and have not applied for new cards in a year, look at the Pentagon Federal Credit Union Platinum Cash Rewards. 5% gas, 2% groceries, 1.5% everything else, no limit. You might need to join the National Military Families Association to become eligible to join PenFed (you can do this right on their web site). NMFA costs $20 to join but once you join and use that as your way into PenFed, you don't need to keep renewing the NMFA membership to stay in PenFed.

Actually kranky, the Chase Freedom has an effective rewards rate of 3.75% for your top 3 purchase categories each month, and 1.25% for everything else. This is because they allow you to redeem $200 in rewards for a $250 check.

The Chase Freedom is the best general purpose rewards card out there, IMO.

 

[kranky]

Originally posted by: txrandom
Using the Citi ThankYou points is a lot better than cash back because those points are very valuable when applied to fixed flight redemption. I don't think there are blackout dates or anything as well.

Last info I read is that the fixed point redemptions work out to about a 1%-1.5% rebate. And very few credit cards qualify for Thank You Points fixed redemptions. The ones that do are elite cards. But those who already bank with Citi can accumulate points in other ways, which can help.

Originally posted by: Special K
Actually kranky, the Chase Freedom has an effective rewards rate of 3.75% for your top 3 purchase categories each month, and 1.25% for everything else. This is because they allow you to redeem $200 in rewards for a $250 check.

The Chase Freedom is the best general purpose rewards card out there, IMO.

Could very well be the right choice for some people especially if you can bunch your purchases up in a few categories to drive the average rebate towards the 3% level. For me, my purchases were too spread out across categories (with many purchases not counting toward any 3% category), so only a small percentage of my total charges ended up in a 3% category. On balance I was ahead with the PenFed card.

 

[LS21]

Originally posted by: kranky
A good cashback card will almost always beat a frequent flyer miles card.

- Cashback gives you a choice of any airline. FF miles don't.
- Cashback lets you get a ticket on any flight where there are seats available. FF miles don't. Only a few seats on any flight are available for use with FF miles.
- Cashback lets you buy a ticket using whatever rebate you've earned. With miles, if you don't have enough for the whole ticket, you can't use any.
- No expiration dates on cash.
- Airlines are in serious financial trouble. You might end up building up miles on an airline that goes bankrupt before you can use them.

I *used* to be a big proponent of cashback vs mileage points... back when flights were cheap and my travel pattern was domestic.

It used to be 250$ coast-to-coast.. which is 25,000 miles... which is 25,000$ of spending... so the 2 redemption are more or less the same, but you get more flexibility with cash

But if you think about 80,000 miles to go across the ocean ... you'd be hard pressed to find a flight for 800$. And if you want to fly premium class, it's impossible to get a 1200$ ticket over the pond in a nice cabin.

Now that all airline fares have gone up drastically, mileage wins out *easily*.

-Get a points program that has good transfer rates, vs a mileage card into 1 airline. This way, you can redeem with any airline - and have flexibility of choosing the most favorable one. (if Delta is booked, go Continental, or Alaska, etc etc)



No, you CANNOT do partial redemption. But think about this - is this going to be your last international trip ever? Hopefully not. Pay for South Africa, gain a few more miles/points, then go to Australia the next year (for example).

With all that said, TXRandom has great suggestions with the Citi Amex Plat and TY points or the PP or the mtvU. Starwood SPG has been a huge favorite of frequent travelers.


ANOTHER option is find a card with a big incentive. I got an offer for 25,000 points off the bat with Amex Gold today. My sister signed up a while back for 50,000 points instantly. That makes you more than half-way there.

 

[akshatp]

Starpoints AMEX. They allow you to transfer the points to any airline of your choosing at no cost. They even give you 5000 bonus if you transfer 20000. And a 10000 bonus for signing up and using the card.

This way when the time comes to book, you can see which airline is offering the award ticket (all of them wont work out for you) and transfer the points to the program you need the miles in!!

 

[LS21]

Originally posted by: akshatp
Starpoints AMEX. They allow you to transfer the points to any airline of your choosing at no cost. They even give you 5000 bonus if you transfer 20000. And a 10000 bonus for signing up and using the card.

This way when the time comes to book, you can see which airline is offering the award ticket (all of them wont work out for you) and transfer the points to the program you need the miles in!!

im on the fence between getting this and amex gold. only thing is spg transfers to continental and united at 2:1, both of which are my FF programs. theres no benefits when flying on reward tickets (no ff accrual, no upgrades), so theres no reason for me to want to stick to them..but still... and i hate switching to a new car since ive switched to a new "primary" amex every 6 month now...

 

[akshatp]

Originally posted by: LS21

Originally posted by: akshatp
Starpoints AMEX. They allow you to transfer the points to any airline of your choosing at no cost. They even give you 5000 bonus if you transfer 20000. And a 10000 bonus for signing up and using the card.

This way when the time comes to book, you can see which airline is offering the award ticket (all of them wont work out for you) and transfer the points to the program you need the miles in!!

im on the fence between getting this and amex gold. only thing is spg transfers to continental and united at 2:1, both of which are my FF programs. theres no benefits when flying on reward tickets (no ff accrual, no upgrades), so theres no reason for me to want to stick to them..but still... and i hate switching to a new car since ive switched to a new "primary" amex every 6 month now...

If continental or united is your FF program, then SPG is not for you