Which travel points program/credit cards do you use?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have the Chase United Club Mileage Plus card. I would say the answer probably depends on your spending and travel habits. For us, we can charge work travel and other expenses on our personal card so we are able to accumulate a lot of miles and you get 2x or 3x miles for certain purchases. From DC, United seems to have the most direct flights to the West Coast and Europe so it seemed like the logical choice for an airline card. It’s worked well for us and we have easily paid for the annual fee between free flights and use of the United Club for work and personal travel.

Another Chase United person here. We also have a Chase Marriott card. I generally only use the United card for United flights (including business trips as allowed by my company). Marriott for everything else. We haven't paid for a hotel in nearly two decades (unless we have wanted to for a special occasion or gone somewhere so remote there isn't a Marriott property). Another benefit on the United card is it covers the cost of Global Entry (and renewal).

I was just going to ask what card United/Marriott loyalists prefer (since it seems the often-recommended Chase Sapphire does not prefer those two brands).

The points earned on the Sapphire can be transferred to United, and the Sapphire earns points faster than the United card. But the transfer rate to Marriott isn't as good, so using the Marriott card bonus and free nights is the best approach for them. Sapphire points are really useful for transferring to Hyatt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go to 10x travel on Facebook and take their free online course. It’s an incredible hobby but there’s a pretty big learning curve. Start with a chase sapphire product but wait until the sign up bonus is elevated. Go from there.

+1! Yes, start with Chase Sapphire, then you go down their list - get the Chase Inks, etc. You can apply for the Chase Sapphire today, then take the course to learn how to earn big bonuses and to use them effectively.

[Anonymous]

I applied for Chase United Mileage and Chase Sapphire last year and received sign up bonuses totalling 110,000 points. Chase United has no fee the first year and it is $95 for the second year. It charges for an additional user. Sapphire has an annual fee (can't recall the exact amount) but doesn't charge to add an authorised user.

A big advantage of the Sapphire card is that each point is worth $1.20. For example, I can book a return flight to Australia at the moment for about $1700 but the same flight is available through Chase Travel for 140,000 points (ie $1400).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I applied for Chase United Mileage and Chase Sapphire last year and received sign up bonuses totalling 110,000 points. Chase United has no fee the first year and it is $95 for the second year. It charges for an additional user. Sapphire has an annual fee (can't recall the exact amount) but doesn't charge to add an authorised user.

A big advantage of the Sapphire card is that each point is worth $1.20. For example, I can book a return flight to Australia at the moment for about $1700 but the same flight is available through Chase Travel for 140,000 points (ie $1400).

That savings isn’t worth it to me if I have to deal with Chase travel due to a schedule change, delay or flight cancellation. No way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I applied for Chase United Mileage and Chase Sapphire last year and received sign up bonuses totalling 110,000 points. Chase United has no fee the first year and it is $95 for the second year. It charges for an additional user. Sapphire has an annual fee (can't recall the exact amount) but doesn't charge to add an authorised user.

A big advantage of the Sapphire card is that each point is worth $1.20. For example, I can book a return flight to Australia at the moment for about $1700 but the same flight is available through Chase Travel for 140,000 points (ie $1400).

That savings isn’t worth it to me if I have to deal with Chase travel due to a schedule change, delay or flight cancellation. No way.

Correct- booking airfare through a 3rd party is asking for problems.

The optimal use of these kinds of points is finding award availability and transferring to partners to book award tickets. The "Pay Yourself Back" option with Chase is pretty good also.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chase Sapphire. It’s the best card for travel.

So how do you accumulate points if it’s not tied to a specific hotel chain or airline?

For Chase Ultimate Rewards, you need the Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred and get the sign up bonus. Then pick the Chase Freedom Unlimited and/or Chase Freedom Flex and get the sign up bonus(es). Right now at least one of those earns 5x back at grocery stores. CFU earns 1.5x points on everything while CFF earns 5x back on rotating categories. All of them earn 3x back on dining and there are some other categories.

You mostly earn points on the sign up bonus, referral bonuses, and regular spend.

[Anonymous]

Do you all close out cards and open new ones every few years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I applied for Chase United Mileage and Chase Sapphire last year and received sign up bonuses totalling 110,000 points. Chase United has no fee the first year and it is $95 for the second year. It charges for an additional user. Sapphire has an annual fee (can't recall the exact amount) but doesn't charge to add an authorised user.

A big advantage of the Sapphire card is that each point is worth $1.20. For example, I can book a return flight to Australia at the moment for about $1700 but the same flight is available through Chase Travel for 140,000 points (ie $1400).

This is only true for CSP, not CSR.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you all close out cards and open new ones every few years?

If you want to get deeper into the game, yes, that's part of the process to get a bunch of signup bonuses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you all close out cards and open new ones every few years?

If you want to get deeper into the game, yes, that's part of the process to get a bunch of signup bonuses.

Just don't shoot yourself in the foot in terms of your FICO score because the age of your accounts matters:
https://www.bankrate.com/personal-finance/credit/length-of-credit-history-credit-score/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you all close out cards and open new ones every few years?

If you want to get deeper into the game, yes, that's part of the process to get a bunch of signup bonuses.

Just don't shoot yourself in the foot in terms of your FICO score because the age of your accounts matters:
https://www.bankrate.com/personal-finance/credit/length-of-credit-history-credit-score/

All good, thanks. Keep a few long haul cards open to balance things out. Always been 800+ on FICO..

https://onemileatatime.com/guides/applying-credit-cards-hurt-credit-score/

[Anonymous]

Chase Sapphire and when DH travels for work be tries to.stick to a.specific airline like United if possible so that we can transfer points there.

Stack all possible purchases on that card and pay it off each month. Other than our mortgage, pretty much all purchases are on the Chase card so we accrue points, thousands of points every month.

Chase also has extra points deals through retailers so I shop through them for things like clothing, shoe, retail purchases for 2-4x reward points.

You want to sign up when they have a good deal. DH got 100k points awhile ago when they had a special deal. I got 60k points when I signed up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you all close out cards and open new ones every few years?

Absolutely.
Ditto to Chase Sapphire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chase Sapphire and when DH travels for work be tries to.stick to a.specific airline like United if possible so that we can transfer points there.

Stack all possible purchases on that card and pay it off each month. Other than our mortgage, pretty much all purchases are on the Chase card so we accrue points, thousands of points every month.

Chase also has extra points deals through retailers so I shop through them for things like clothing, shoe, retail purchases for 2-4x reward points.

You want to sign up when they have a good deal. DH got 100k points awhile ago when they had a special deal. I got 60k points when I signed up.

In addition to waiting for the higher bonuses (I.e. 100k points for Chase Sapphire) to sign up, referring your partner to the same card gets you another 10-15k points in the Chase world.

Along the same lines, never add yourself or your partner as an authorized user since it goes on your credit report and therefore takes away from more lucrative signup bonuses you could otherwise get in your own name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have the Chase United Club Mileage Plus card. I would say the answer probably depends on your spending and travel habits. For us, we can charge work travel and other expenses on our personal card so we are able to accumulate a lot of miles and you get 2x or 3x miles for certain purchases. From DC, United seems to have the most direct flights to the West Coast and Europe so it seemed like the logical choice for an airline card. It’s worked well for us and we have easily paid for the annual fee between free flights and use of the United Club for work and personal travel.

Another Chase United person here. We also have a Chase Marriott card. I generally only use the United card for United flights (including business trips as allowed by my company). Marriott for everything else. We haven't paid for a hotel in nearly two decades (unless we have wanted to for a special occasion or gone somewhere so remote there isn't a Marriott property). Another benefit on the United card is it covers the cost of Global Entry (and renewal).

I was just going to ask what card United/Marriott loyalists prefer (since it seems the often-recommended Chase Sapphire does not prefer those two brands).

OP here. Also curious since we both a lot