6 replies to this topic

[Scuba Snacks]

Hey, sorry if this is the wrong place for it, but I'm looking at that crazy long flight and thinking about how I could make it more bearable. Anyone have recommendations for a credit card that gives miles on airlines I'm likely to use for this trip so I can upgrade to business class and maybe actually be able to sleep on the plane? ;-)

[WreckWench]

I can't use cards that much so never accrue enough miles but MANY of our members are wicked good about how to do this. Hoping they jump on soon with suggestions. I'll even put it in our newsletter and link them to this topic so I"m sure we will get some great response soon.

[Cajun Diver]

I find that using an airline credit card works well if that's what you fly the most.

 

If you don't have one airline that you fly more then you can use one of the branded cards that give you miles and you can use it on airlines, hotels etc.  One site I use is "The Points Guy" which has recommendations for different cards (some are cards they are promoting though so note that).   I don't currently have any of the cards they recommend since the one for the airline does what I need at the moment.

 

You can follow them on social media for breaking deals too.

[MusicalDiver]

I use three cards.  American Express Gold, Chase Sapphire Preferred and the United Explorer Card.

 

American Express, because I have had it for years and its a business card with good point perks with double and triple points earned.  Easy to transfer points as well to other cards.  I've used it to fly business class quite a few times.  My mom and I flew to Spain and it was awesome to be able to sleep on the way!  Keep in mind we charge on this card all the time for bills etc instead of writing checks, and just pay it off at the end of the month.

 

For my personal use I chose Chase Sapphire (number one on the points guy website) and United Explorer as a combo.  I pay my bills on these cards to collect points.

 

Chase Sapphire has a sign up bonus normally for 60k points BUT you have to spend 3-4k on the card in the first 3 months.  It also has double miles on travel and dining so I do book trips on here often to get the points (and the travel protection!).  I also like the cards travel protection and have used it before in the states (cancellation, baggage insurance, trip delays, rental car insurance, no foreign transaction fees and whole lot more).  As always you have to read the fine print to find out what the limitations are, so on a trip like Raja I will have other protections in tandem with what my Chase card covers.  There is a yearly 95 fee however the perks balance that out in my opinion.  It also allows me transfer points to United Mileage at a 1:1 ratio.  

 

United Mileage works well for me since I'm out of New Orleans and I like the perks it gives me on United.  It usually has great sign up bonuses like Chase.  It also gave me a credit when I purchased my Global Entry card and I get to check my first bag free when I fly United.  I also get good deals to Houston!  If I need more mileage points I can transfer from Chase Sapphire to United Mileage.  Its 95 a year, but with the global entry credit and the first check bagged free, it also balances out.  The other cool thing is its part of the Star Alliance group so United points would work on other airlines as well (like Singapore Airlines).

 

You have to decide if you want the perks of airline CC in tandem with a card that will give you perks on that airline, other airlines and hotels.  You may just want one card alone.  If I would chose one it would be Chase Sapphire.

 

These are all my opinions and seems to work well for myself, but doing research is the best!  I use the two following sites (some of the sites get kickbacks so I used two to compare):

 

https://thepointsguy.com/

 

https://www.nerdwallet.com/

[Canuck Diver]

I second what MusicalDiver & Cajun Diver said, the points guy is the place to learn all about playing the points game. If your local airport is a hub for one of the carriers then their CC might work well for you, if not the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve are great options as are the AmEx Gold or Platinum, depending on how much you travel and how much you want to spend on the card. With either Chase Sapphire card I'd recommend adding the Chase Freedom Unlimited which has no fee but gets you 1.5% back on every purchase which can be converted into 1.5 points in the Sapphire portal, I use that for everything that isn't extra points on any other card I have. Lately I find AmEx points to be more useful to me since they transfer to more airline partners than Chase does, but that's mainly a benefit for where I'm living. The other thing that has worked out well for accruing points has been using the shopping portals anytime I'm buying things online. The points guy has the list and links to all of them, but just pick the one most useful to you, Chase or AA or United, etc, and click through to the stores anytime you're looking to buy something, it'll give you extra points per dollar you spend plus whatever points you're getting from the card you used. It can be overwhelming at first but you'll start racking up points quickly and be flying in business and first. The only other thing I would recommend when booking flights with points, especially international, business or first, is to look at the points needed on the airline sites as well as the credit card site since most times it's less points required by the airlines whereas the credit card site usually assigns a dollar value to the points, for example A business class ticket on AA might be 50,000 points roundtrip but Chase might be 120,000 round trip because that flight costs $1200.

Edited by Canuck Diver, 12 January 2021 - 02:51 PM.

[WreckWench]

I second what MusicalDiver & Cajun Diver said, the points guy is the place to learn all about playing the points game. If your local airport is a hub for one of the carriers then their CC might work well for you, if not the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve are great options as are the AmEx Gold or Platinum, depending on how much you travel and how much you want to spend on the card. With either Chase Sapphire card I'd recommend adding the Chase Freedom Unlimited which has no fee but gets you 1.5% back on every purchase which can be converted into 1.5 points in the Sapphire portal, I use that for everything that isn't extra points on any other card I have. Lately I find AmEx points to be more useful to me since they transfer to more airline partners than Chase does, but that's mainly a benefit for where I'm living. The other thing that has worked out well for accruing points has been using the shopping portals anytime I'm buying things online. The points guy has the list and links to all of them, but just pick the one most useful to you, Chase or AA or United, etc, and click through to the stores anytime you're looking to buy something, it'll give you extra points per dollar you spend plus whatever points you're getting from the card you used. It can be overwhelming at first but you'll start racking up points quickly and be flying in business and first. The only other thing I would recommend when booking flights with points, especially international, business or first, is to look at the points needed on the airline sites as well as the credit card site since most times it's less points required by the airlines whereas the credit card site usually assigns a dollar value to the points, for example A business class ticket on AA might be 50,000 points roundtrip but Chase might be 120,000 round trip because that flight costs $1200.

Thanks Canuck Diver! Way to jump right in and splash around!!!

 

Oh and GREAT INFO!!!

[Canuck Diver]

I may not know much about advanced scuba diving things yet, but I can tell you about beginner mistakes, whiskey and about the points/miles game.