NFT: Best rewards credit card

It's usually rated as one of the top hotel rewards cards - and they have great properties. Westin, W hotels, St. Regis, Sheraton - there are others as well.

I have a MasterCard thru Chase with a tie-in to United Airlines. No annual Fee. Chase also has their Blue Card with various 5% cash back deals, they change categories every quarter.

Get yourself signed up for the Hilton Honors Guest Program, that covers your stay at any Hotel in the Hilton Family which includes Hampton Inns and such.

and typically split my expenses amongst 2 cards. I use the Capital One Quicksilver card and the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

The Quicksilver card gives you a flat 1.5% cash reward for all expenditures. No specials, no limits, no BS of any type, just 1.5% cash back for every dollar you put on the card. I have it set up to send me a check in November for the whole year, and it ends up covering a lot of our Christmas shopping.

The Sapphire card gives you points that can be transferred 1 for 1 with most of the major airline and hotel rewards programs. There are a lot of other things with this card but can't remember them all now. This gives you great flexibility in how you use the points.

I'm sure there will be others here that have differing opinions here, but these 2 work for me.

miles rack up especially if you use it to pay for your flights (double points and triple if you have a separate skymiles card ) and then get reimbursed for your card.

2x points earning on anything related to travel/entertainment, such as airfare, car rental, taxi, transit fare, restaurants, etc. I use it as my primary card for work related travel and earn a boatload of points per year.

Those points can be transferred for free to United, Hyatt, British Airways, Singapore Air, Southwest, Korean, Amtrak, etc., or exchanged directly for flights at a fixed value. Plus, at $95 annually, it's not a very expensive card to carry, at least compared to some of the premium Amex cards.

Given the possibility for outsize returns while using points/miles through airline programs (first class to Asia for +/- 140k points, about a $12,000 ticket otherwise) or hotels (Hyatt/Marriott), I find these types of credit card rewards programs much more valuable than a fixed 1-3% cash back card or one which limits you to a single airline or hotel loyalty program.

from the card, such as lounge access, while flying.

Each of the airlines offer their own 'lounge' card which comes with access to their airport clubs. Of the bunch, the United MileagePlus Club card gets you United Club access and 1.5 miles per dollar on all spend, which is pretty valuable. UA beat up their program pretty good last year but the earning rate is good on that card.

The best 'perks' card is still the Amex Platinum. The annual fee is huge ($450) but for a frequent traveler, the ability to get into the Delta and growing network of Centurion lounges is key. Plus, you get Priority Pass access (for the cardholder), a $200 fee credit and other travel benefits. Lastly, the Membership Rewards program has some good partners and a few 'sweet spots'. If you're on the road at least once or twice a month, I think the fee is pretty reasonable.

It just depends on what you're looking to get out of the card.

I was looking at the chase sapphire card. Looks decent. I am definitely torn between getting a airline loyalty card or a rewards card.

I am in sales and located in Austin TX. Most of my travel will be within TX and NM, however, at least once every other month I will travel outside my territory for a training/conference. Austin airport is on the smaller side, which typically requires a lay over, and makes it very difficult to stick to one airline. I tried sticking to american airlines, since they fly direct to most of my territory, however their fleet is horrible and outdated. I am still looking for my go to airline. Southwest seems to have the most options for flights, but I hate the whole first come first serve thing. United might be my next choice.

I guess I might have to wait until I find my airline of choice to decide on which card to use.

Funny you should mention this. This month I switched from my Amex Blue Cash that I've been using for 10-15 years to the new Citibank Double Cash card. The new card pays 1% when you buy, and another 1% when you pay off whatever debt you accrued. That 2% cumulative doubled my old Amex reward.

The real play is to probably have two cards -- one that pays massive rewards on gas/supermarkets/pharmacies (and use it just for those), and then a general rewards card for everything else. However, as a city dweller with no kids, my gas and supermarket spending doesnt justify the hassle.

Nerdwallet review of Citi Double Cash - ( New Window )

You should go over to nerdwallet. somewhere on the site they have a tool where you plug in a few categories of estimated monthly spending (travel, gas etc) and they give you a free custom ranking of credit cards based on how much in benefits you'd earn.

In comment 11890381 regulator said:

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from the card, such as lounge access, while flying. Each of the airlines offer their own 'lounge' card which comes with access to their airport clubs. Of the bunch, the United MileagePlus Club card gets you United Club access and 1.5 miles per dollar on all spend, which is pretty valuable. UA beat up their program pretty good last year but the earning rate is good on that card. The best 'perks' card is still the Amex Platinum. The annual fee is huge ($450) but for a frequent traveler, the ability to get into the Delta and growing network of Centurion lounges is key. Plus, you get Priority Pass access (for the cardholder), a $200 fee credit and other travel benefits. Lastly, the Membership Rewards program has some good partners and a few 'sweet spots'. If you're on the road at least once or twice a month, I think the fee is pretty reasonable. It just depends on what you're looking to get out of the card.

I think Delta just limited its Sky Club access for Amex Platinum to Holder-Only status. No guests allowed without a day pass. Im Executive with Sky Club and have heard some business associates complain recently that they can no longer being guests in. Not to mention the changes coming to the SM program next year. Great for business travelers like us though.

Is easily the Amex Starwoods card and it isn't even close.

In comment 11890487 B in ALB said:

Quote:

In comment 11890381 regulator said: Quote: from the card, such as lounge access, while flying. Each of the airlines offer their own 'lounge' card which comes with access to their airport clubs. Of the bunch, the United MileagePlus Club card gets you United Club access and 1.5 miles per dollar on all spend, which is pretty valuable. UA beat up their program pretty good last year but the earning rate is good on that card. The best 'perks' card is still the Amex Platinum. The annual fee is huge ($450) but for a frequent traveler, the ability to get into the Delta and growing network of Centurion lounges is key. Plus, you get Priority Pass access (for the cardholder), a $200 fee credit and other travel benefits. Lastly, the Membership Rewards program has some good partners and a few 'sweet spots'. If you're on the road at least once or twice a month, I think the fee is pretty reasonable. It just depends on what you're looking to get out of the card. I think Delta just limited its Sky Club access for Amex Platinum to Holder-Only status. No guests allowed without a day pass. Im Executive with Sky Club and have heard some business associates complain recently that they can no longer being guests in. Not to mention the changes coming to the SM program next year. Great for business travelers like us though.

Yea, it's $30 for a guest right now. The new lounge in JFK is pretty sweet though.

Venture for personal and Capital One Spark for Business. 2x points on all expenditures. Cost of travel is one to one. If ticket costs $800, then you will need 80,000 miles. Price of tickets through capital one is very competitive to other airline ticket sites. I don't think there is one that gives more points/purchase.

points/miles are better than cash back? I've never really understood it -- I prefer the freedom of getting cash that I can spend however I want, and that doesnt expire. But I surely must be missing something.

In comment 11890551 JoeMoney19 said:

Quote:

In comment 11890487 B in ALB said: Quote: In comment 11890381 regulator said: Quote: from the card, such as lounge access, while flying. Each of the airlines offer their own 'lounge' card which comes with access to their airport clubs. Of the bunch, the United MileagePlus Club card gets you United Club access and 1.5 miles per dollar on all spend, which is pretty valuable. UA beat up their program pretty good last year but the earning rate is good on that card. The best 'perks' card is still the Amex Platinum. The annual fee is huge ($450) but for a frequent traveler, the ability to get into the Delta and growing network of Centurion lounges is key. Plus, you get Priority Pass access (for the cardholder), a $200 fee credit and other travel benefits. Lastly, the Membership Rewards program has some good partners and a few 'sweet spots'. If you're on the road at least once or twice a month, I think the fee is pretty reasonable. It just depends on what you're looking to get out of the card. I think Delta just limited its Sky Club access for Amex Platinum to Holder-Only status. No guests allowed without a day pass. Im Executive with Sky Club and have heard some business associates complain recently that they can no longer being guests in. Not to mention the changes coming to the SM program next year. Great for business travelers like us though. Yea, it's $30 for a guest right now. The new lounge in JFK is pretty sweet though.

I haven't been to the new one in JFK yet but I hear it's similar to the ATL Concourse F Sky Club with the outdoor lounge. That's pretty fucking sweet.

Plus now they have breakfast, sandwiches and hors deurves. Not to mention the open bar. I save thousands on that alone when meeting customers during layovers, traveling with family and flying solo.

The Chase Sapphire is $95 a year AMEX Platinum is $450. For that extra AMEX money you get Priority pass which I believe is a $99 value and the $200 airline fee credit which is worth $200 if you use it. AMEX also has priority seating to events, Chase is lacking in that area. Advantages of Chase is that their points go a lot further, you get a bonuses for booking travel with Chase and generous threshold bonuses. Chase also participates in more programs with AMEX. Chase give you a 1:1 exchange for airline mile for no fee, AMEX nickels and dimes you on this.

Beyond that who you fly on is a factor. Delta is AMEX's biggest partner, however Delta is not big on the West Coast. United is Chase's biggest partner.