I'm looking to get a new credit card with the purpose of accruing points for travel.

I'm looking for suggestions here. I'm leaning towards the Chase Sapphire Reserve right now as it has the 100,000 point sign-on bonus and the annual fee of $95 is pretty nominal.

Any suggestions or other cards I should look at? I was looking at some of the airline cards as the free checked bag is nice, but then again I don't travel enough on 1 airline for the benefits to make sense. I also looked at the Sapphire Preferred card, but again, I don't fly enough to make extra perks like lounge access worth the annual fee.

_________________
“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

I think you nailed it. I used to enjoy the lounge access when I was flying pretty regularly, but that went away in 2020. So it's not worth it.

_________________
Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

The Preferred annual fee is $95. The Reserve is $550.

Are you looking for international travel or primarily U.S. and Mexico? Do you spend enough that you will accumulate a lot of points throughout the year? I ask because 100,000 points really doesn’t go very far these days - particularly if you want to go overseas. For U.S. travel, the Southwest card is great because the points required are based upon the airfare. Thus you can get to a lot of places for a relatively low point outlay. For somebody that does travel a bit more there is also a likely chance for a companion pass which is a huge benefit. For international travel I like airline specific cards if you will primarily be flying out of an airport which caters to one of the big guys (United in Chicago, Delta in Atlanta, etc). While it might seem like they limit your options I feel like they are easier to use if that will likely be the choice anyway. Also, the free bags pays for the card in a single use. If you think you will be driving more than flying the hotel cards are a good value.

_________________
“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

That $550 would be worth it if I traveled enough to take advantage of the lounge access that it grants you, but in my case it wouldn't be enough to justify it. That's what has me leaning Preferred

_________________
“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

Seacrest will know

If my airport was a hub for a major airline, I think one of the airline cards probably would've been my choice. Southwest doesn't serve my airport so I ruled their card out for that reason, but I would reconsider if they added it to their routes. If I want Southwest, I have to drive 2 hours to Tulsa rather than use the airport that is 5 minutes from my house.

In my case I'm liking the fact that if I ever do want to book directly through an airline, I can transfer the Chase points to most carriers and see how that compares in point usage vs. booking directly through Chase's portal so I have some options.

_________________
“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

Alaska Airlines

You get a yearly companion fare to anywhere in the world they travel - meaning you pay full fare and you can get 1 other person to fly for only 100 bucks round trip.

The points also accumulate pretty rapidly. So say you saved up your points for a year you'll basically fly for free.

So it's great if you travel say once a year.

Annual fee is $75.

Chase Sapphire Preferred (the cheaper one, $95) is the best card for somebody who doesn't travel enough to have loyalty to any particular airline or hotel, but still travels once a quarter. Primary rental car protection with it is substantial. Points transfer to a reasonable number of providers and you can get a very good return (I transferred 10000 points last week to get one of my relatives a couple of nights at a suburban Hyatt Place that was going for $170/night).

But a 2% cash back card like the Citi DoubleCash works better for most people who travel less than four or five times a year.

_________________
"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

I don't like using a credit card to collect points in programs where points are tied to a specific monetary value, like Hilton or Southwest. I'd rather just get 2% cash back and pay for the travel that way.

An underrated card if you live in Chicago and fly to the east coast a lot is the British Airways Visa from Chase. A lot of domestic first class travel on American is only 15000 points each way. For someone with family in NYC, Philly, or DC, first class award space is generally easy to find 6-7 days out when coach awards are all gone on busy routes. And first class award tickets come with two checked bags included.

_________________
"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Just noting you have them flipped in your OP.

I used to be into this but really the differences between them isn't much. The cheaper the annual fee the better, generally speaking. I like Southwest a lot, so I have their card. They don't me international, but then again I haven't paid for a domestic flight in years.

_________________
"Yes, I would just like to say I'm sailing with the rock, and I'll be back, like Independence Day, with Jesus. June 6, like the movie. Big mother ship and all, I'll be back, I'll be back."

Zippy and Chet are both spot on.

Sapphire has had flights more than once in the past few years that were cheaper then anything I could get at that time on United or American.

As a nice perk, Sapphire has also been offering a 25% points bonus on meals for the last 16 months. I have not paid for a meal out of any kind in over a year.

_________________

Here is a question. Have you tried doing the Freedom Unlimited pairing with the Sapphire? I've come across some interesting ideas where people get that card along with the Sapphire. They use the Sapphire welcome bonus and for its travel perks but then get the Freedom Unlimited (which has no fee) and rack up points there at 1.5 per $1 vs the $1 per $1 on Sapphire and can transfer the points to the Sapphire and use it to book their travel with the bonus the Sapphire offers on point redemption for travel. I'm looking to possibly do that after I hit the spending level for the Sapphire welcome bonus.

_________________
“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

I love the Southwest card.

_________________

Thanks for the heads up.

I have never looked at a Freedom card. Now I will.

I'm looking for a new card.

I have reached the top possible level with the Marriott card and have no real use for it anymore. They charge $95 a year, but I get a free room with that yearly which easily covers that fee.

_________________

I still have the old Freedom for the 5% category bonuses. I haven't tried combining the points yet, but I have read that it worked.

Now that I'm semi-retired I'm not touching anything credit related for myself, whatever cards I have are good enough. I miss the old app-o-rama days when the credit files didn't update until the next day, and you could apply for 10 credit cards in a single day and get them all approved and make about $3k in bonuses for an hour's worth of work.

_________________
"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Thoughts on Capital One's Venture Card for Travel? Gives you 2x points for every dollar.

I looked into it, problem was that the airlines they transfer to are mostly international. I chose Chase because of their transfer partners so that was important to me.

_________________
“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

so update, I'm going full speed ahead with the points game. I already hit the bonus on the Sapphire and am now pushing it on the United Explorer card. Freedom Unlimited was also added, but that is more for everyday spend than the sign-up bonuses

Looking to get hotel cards to max out Chase's 5/24 limit. I'm between the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, IHG Rewards, or World of Hyatt.

I like choosing from those options as any of those cards is a "keeper" where the free benefits are worth more than the annual fee.

_________________
“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

Not Marriott, their new CEO after Sorenson died has been clear that his customer is the franchisee and not the person paying to sleep in the rooms. I have lifetime Gold from years of Starwood status, but I have made no effort to earn with them via the credit card since they gutted the old SPG AMEX which easily earned 2.5% all day long.

IHG vs Hyatt is really location specific for your travel patterns. Hyatt has been very generous with redemption at suburban properties as their categories are tied to ADR and occupancy rate. A surprising number of Cat 1 and Cat 2 Hyatt Place and Hyatt House redemptions. Easy to get a legitimate $0.02/point return. But Hyatt doesn't have the reach outside of metro areas and the original Hyatt Places (ex-Amerisuites, 20+ years old) are about ready for gut rehabs.

IHG... Holiday Inn Express is usually a good baseline property for a one night stay off the Interstate in less populated areas. If you have some flexibility, you can get a legitimate $0.008 redemption rate. But they are a generally useless brand in the larger cities, except for some Kimptons (but that brand has had so much property turnover since it was sold to IHG).

What type of properties do you frequent and is it your spend or OPM? I think that makes a big difference.

_________________
"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

I use Chase Southwest. Specifically because they fly exactly where I need to in order to get to granddaughters. Plus they added Caribbean.

Not sure if this came up in the thread but for a Vegas rewards card I strictly use Caesar’s. Their veteran treatment is great (platinum right away) and they own so many properties now all over.

_________________
Elections have consequences.

I would agree with Chet on IHG. Their properties aren’t necessarily the most fancy, but they are everywhere and offer the best value in terms of point usage. Often they are 5-10,000 pts/night less than comparable competitors.

_________________
“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

Did you see that Southwest is offering free companion pass for most of January and February if you register on line and book a flight in the next month (note, I didn’t check but it may have just expired so look quickly if interested).

_________________
“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

I saw that but could take advantage.

_________________
Elections have consequences.

That's kind of where I am. IHG has the better intro bonus, but Hyatt points I get from transferring over from Chase UR are worth more. I see the Hyatt properties as nicer, but again there aren't as many so I'm really on the fence here.

One thing IHG has over Hyatt is the fact they have a lot of properties in Israel that I have stayed at. Again however, for US travel, I do recognize Hyatt has more upscale properties so it's a toss-up I'm deliberating on.

_________________
“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson