Best Rewards Credit Card

I want to hit 1,000,000 miles first. Once I do that, then I might change or get a different one.

 

I played the whole points game for a trip to europe in 2019 using a Delta Amex and the Points Guy recommendations- what a waste of time! I tried to book a flight from LA to London with points and found the availability of flights simply disappeared. Same result for return flight from Paris to LA. We were finally able to use to the points for booking a small, grossly overpriced hotel room in Paris. Maybe for domestic flights the points make sense. I came away believing the cash back cards are the better way to go if at all.

 

This is what I have found to be the magic of the Chase Sapphire card. When you use their booking service it adds 50% to your points. While they are not as complete as other services they seem to have access to most flights and most hotels at regular rates.

 

Southwest Airlines pretty much owns St. Louis gates and goes almost everywhere I want to go. So I have their rewards card which is consistently ranked 1 of the top. Have to admit that Sapphire looks good but I don't think I'm eligible for the bonus since SW card is also Chase.

 

You need to put time in for points to be worth it. A small amount of research would’ve gone a long way for you (for instance, trying to book long haul flights from your origin to your destination is rarely possible - you would’ve needed to book/find the legs separately), but it’s definitely not for everyone.

 

You should look at getting the additional two Southwest cards and getting the companion pass - it’s the best deal there is for domestic travel. Any ticket you buy, you can bring someone along for free (even if you “buy” with points).

 

Additional 2? Do you mean the higher tier cards? I have the Priority which is the highest and agree. Well worth the upgrade!

 

There used to only be three SW cards (two personal, one business) - looks like there’s five now.

https://awardwallet.com/blog/southwest-companion-pass-strategy/

 

Oh I spent plenty of time researching the trip using 75,000 Delta SkyMiles for a european trip. I tried booking on-line and using a customer service agent for a month. They explained that there is very limited seating per flight for purchase using points, esp for international flights. Often the tickets available for purchase with points included layovers- bad idea for such an expensive trip- and a change of terminal, an even worse idea. I tried booking out of Delta's hub in Paris for our return flight to no avail. I'm paying cash next time and using the "cash back rewards" to cover the ground transportation...LOL!

 

The best rewards card(s) depend on your spend. You need to identify whether you should chase (no pun intended) multipliers or sign up bonuses. If you have a business that spends hundreds of thousands per year (eg advertising, travel, etc), then you’d want to focus on whatever cards have the highest multiplier. On the other side, if you have normal family spend type stuff (eg 1k or 2k per mo), then there isn’t a specific ideal card....you want to churn through all of them to target sign up bonuses. Fill out a credit card app, use the card for 3 months to hit minimum spend, get a $200-1k sign up bonus, then rinse and repeat.

 

It used to be. They increased the annual fee and well there's less travel happening currently. I know they tried other benefits, but they don't apply to me

~sent from mobile

 

Fidelity Rewards Signature is 2% cashback on everything without limits. Same thing with Capital One Spark Cash for Business. I've tried juggling the airlines/points rewards and many of the points cards and just couldn't justify spending all the time to change spending for each category and/or spending a ton of time searching for rewards flights. At the end of the day, 2% cash back on all purchases ended up being close to the cost of airline tickets and was much more flexible as it just deposits your money into a Fidelity Money Market account you can just transfer to your bank.

 

Hmmmm...spend $100,000 to get $2000. I know who does math better than almost anyone in this thread....

 

I had to come into a credit card rewards thread to realize how much I miss traveling for work.

 

While I am reading it trying to remember the last time I was forced to sit in an aluminum tube with a hundred other nasty-ass humans for 4 hours at 37000 feet.

4 years, IIRC.

 

It’s spend 100,000 and get nothing (use a debit card or cash).

Spend 100,000 and get 2,000 using a standard rewards card for all spend.

Spend 100,000 and get 20,000 by capturing the lucrative signup bonuses for many different rewards cards.

 

Ok...keep thinking the math works out in your favor but I see nothing there about the interest you paid for that or the risk you took if the inbound cash flow falters. Last time I checked the average APR is still way higher than 2%. If you carry any balance at all you are losing the game....

I'd rather just not be in debt to anyone...

 

So get a 2% cash back card, use it, and pay the full balance each month before the interest starts accumulating. With a no-fee cash back card, its a straight 2% tax-free gain on your spend.

It won't make you rich, but hey, in retirement every little bit helps.

 

Ohh I understand the idea. I also understand most people fail miserably at it. I'm more than happy to stay away from the creditors...

I'm included in the group of failures at one point in time. Never gonna happen again.

 

Discipline is the key to all success.