travel-rewards-optimizer

Points and Miles Case Study: Prague, Budapest, and Malta

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 14:15:32 GMT

Points and miles free up the travel budget for pilsner, paprika, and pastizzi*

When Ms. Optimizer and I take trips, I like to report on how travel rewards fit into our plans and how we benefited from them. After all, if I am going to give advice about turning credit card spending into free and reduced cost travel, I need to lead by example and show actual results.

Last month, we took a trip to Prague, Budapest, and Malta. Ms. Optimizer had never been to Prague or Budapest. I visited them decades ago when they were behind the Iron Curtain, so I was eager to see what had become of these great cities over the past 35 years. Neither of us had ever been to Malta but we found its compelling history a strong reason to add it to the itinerary.

Some highlights for us:

Prague – Learning about Alphonse Mucha and his role in the Art Nouveau movement and exploring the diverse architecture of Prague.
Budapest – Viewing the brightly lit Hungarian Parliament building at night from the Danube River and soaking in the Szechenyi Thermal Baths.
Malta – Walking along the cliffs of Gozo and descending into the Hypogeum to admire prehistoric art.

Naturally, points and miles played a key role in this adventure, both for reducing costs and for increasing comfort. We were able to utilize Air France miles and World of Hyatt points to lower our costs as follows:

For our flight to Prague, we redeemed 178,000 Air France miles for two business class seats. With a fair market value of $5466 for the tickets, this worked out to be a redemption of 3.1 cents per mile.
For our accommodations, it so happened that Hyatt had suitable and convenient properties in all three locations, so we were able to get 13 straight nights of free lodging with Hyatt points. In Prague we used 79,000 Hyatt points for a three-night stay. With a total cash rate of $921 for those nights, we got a return of 1.2 cents per point. While not the greatest redemption rate, we were pleased with this excellent property.
In Budapest, we used 80,000 points to stay in the elegant and centrally located Parisi Udvar for four nights. Against a cash rate of $1235, the points were worth 1.5 cents each, which tends to be the redemption rate we typically get for Hyatt properties in Europe.
In Malta, 78,000 points bought us six days at the Hyatt Centric. As the cash rate would have been $1265, this redemption worked out to 1.6 cents per point.
For our return trip, we bought two economy tickets on Air France with 50,000 miles. With a cash price of $2707, the per point value was 5.4 cents, the best redemption we have ever gotten with Air France.

Overall, the miles and points we utilized for this one trip saved us almost $11,600. Additionally, the use of travel rewards credit cards gave us additional benefits that enhanced our trip.

Through the Amex Platinum Card, we were able to use the airport lounges at Budapest and Malta.
Our Chase World of Hyatt card includes “Discoverist” status which allowed us to check in early upon arrival at all three properties. Also, we were given a modest upgrade at the Prague Andaz (a room identical to what we booked but facing a quiet courtyard rather than a busy street).
We used Uber so we were able to take advantage of a modest monthly Uber credit that comes with the Amex Platinum card.

For this trip to Central Europe and Malta, like other trips we have taken in recent years, the well-planned use of miles and points played a significant role in our travel by not only saving us thousands of dollars, but also by enhancing our experiences with more comfort and convenience.

Whether you are interested in sampling the world’s best pilsner beers in Prague, shopping for different varieties of paprika in Budapest, learning how Malta heroically held off an Ottoman siege, or any other type of travel adventure, we are prepared to design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you that will quickly generate free and reduced cost travel while keeping your annual card fees under control.

*Pastizzi are a savory Maltese snack food. They are crunchy and delicious little packets of puff pastry filled with ricotta cheese or peas.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Just Say "No" to Dynamic Currency Conversion

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 22:55:07 GMT

Card issuers offer "preferential" foreign exchange rates (for themselves)

As the summer travel season approaches, this is a friendly reminder to avoid "dynamic currency conversion" (DCC) when making credit card purchases outside of your home country. DCC gives you the option of selecting a payment amount in your home currency rather than in the local currency. Typically, when presented with a credit card reader at a shop or restaurant, the touch screen will show purchase amounts in the local currency and in US dollars (for those with American credit cards) and you have the opportunity to choose.

I have been seeing these “offers” for several years now and have learned, after doing a little mental math, they are almost always a bad deal for the purchaser. When presented with a credit card reader, I always choose to pay the amount shown in local currency rather than the amount shown in US dollars.

During a recent trip, I was making purchases in Euros, Hungarian Forints, and Czech Korunas. From what I could tell, the option of paying in dollars inflated the cost of the purchases around an average of five percent (5%). Once, a card reader screen acknowledged that making the purchase in dollars added an eight percent (8%) fee. Even a credit card with a foreign transaction fee (which you should avoid using when traveling abroad) would have added only three percent (3%) to the tab.

Currency games aside, Visa and MasterCard offer reasonable exchange rates when you choose to pay in the local currency. Upon returning home, our credit card statements showed exchange rates that were quite close to market rates. It is reasonable and fair for the credit card issuers make a fraction of a percent here and there as they are performing a service and accepting currency risk (although very briefly). But, claiming to offer a “preferential” rate to pad their bottom line is disingenuous.

Because exchange rates are reasonable, using credit cards while traveling abroad is still worthwhile for a points and miles program as long as you avoid cards with foreign transaction fees. Travel oriented cards can offer 2X and 3X spending bonuses for transportation and restaurants to give you a leg up on saving money and accumulating points or miles for your next vacation.

Beating the Delta Sky Club Lines at Atlanta International Airport

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 18:11:03 GMT

The FlyDelta App Helps You Avoid Lines and Crowded Sky Clubs

I have read a great deal recently about crowding at airport lounges or even lengthy waits to get into lounges. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, dominated by Delta Airlines, has eight Delta Sky Clubs (there is one in each of the airport’s seven concourses except for Concourse A which has two).

Even with the wide availability of Sky Club options, many of the Atlanta locations still get crowded and can have long lines of travelers waiting to get in. Despite flying Delta through Atlanta many times in the past couple of months, Ms. Optimizer and I have avoided this problem. We have used the Fly Delta app to keep us apprised of which Sky Clubs are crowded, and which are relatively empty. Although we might prefer a Sky Club near the gate we will use for our next flight, we often use a Sky Club on an adjacent concourse if the Sky Club closest to our gate is crowded or has a line.

The Atlanta International Airport has a straightforward configuration of parallel concourses starting with Concourse T, followed by Concourses A through F. These seven concourses are connected by the Plane Train. The Plane Train can transport you between adjacent concourses in about a minute. Or, if you want to get in some steps, you can walk to an adjacent concourse in about five minutes (less if you use the moving sidewalk). The walkways are below ground level and can be accessed where you get on the Plane Train.

The Fly Delta app is easy to use for assessing Sky Club capacity. When you arrive in Atlanta, go to the Delta Sky Club tab (it has a cocktail glass icon) and open. It will open to a list of the Atlanta Sky Clubs and describe their status ranging from “extremely busy” to “not busy.” Even if you can get into an “extremely” busy Club, bear in might that you might be the last person who brings the Club to full capacity. We have found that a short walk to the next concourse is well worth it as a less busy club offers a better choice of seating and a more relaxed atmosphere (and less likelihood of lines at the buffet, bar, coffee machine, etc.).

But, don’t forget to budget enough time to return to the concourse with your departure gate!!

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

American Miles Accumulation: As One Door Closes, Another Has Opened

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 15:23:33 GMT

Flexible point transfers create a new opportunity to earn American reward flights

Yesterday, I posted about how the Barclays American Aadvantage Aviator MasterCard will be disappearing soon . Along with Citi, Barclays offers a co-branded American Airlines credit card that gives points and miles players two options for amassing American miles. Even though this “double play” will not be an option much longer, there are new opportunities for travelers who want to earn free flights on American.

American Airlines is Now a Citi Transfer Partner

The recent launch of the premium Citi Strata Elite card coincided with a new ability to transfer Citi Thank You points to American miles. Previously, a key weakness of the American Aadvantage program was that it did not have a transfer partner like Delta (which takes transfers of American Express Membership Rewards points) or United and Southwest (which take transfers of Chase Ultimate Rewards points). This meant that accumulation of American miles required spending on co-branded American credit cards (with limited bonus categories), buying miles at a cost well above their fair market value, or actual flying.

Now, with Citi cards that generate Thank You points, travelers can accumulate American miles more quickly and get better value.

The Citi Strata Elite card ($595 annual fee) offers 3X points for restaurants (6X on Friday and Saturday nights), 6-12X points for travel booked on Citi’s travel portal, and 1.5X on other purchases.
The Citi Strata Premier card (with a $95 annual fee) offers 3X points on air travel, hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, and gas.

It is worth noting that, because you can exchange Thank You points for American miles at a 1:1 ratio, the bonus point structure for the Citi Strata Premier is better than that of most co-branded American Airlines cards for the purchase of American flights (3X vs. 2X) . The lone exception is the $595 American credit card with offers a 4X bonus for American purchases and gives you Admirals Club access.

You Can Even Make Transfers to American with No Annual Fee Citi Cards

In a post from a couple of years ago, I discussed how some credit cards with annual fees of about $100 were the keys to unlocking value because they allowed cardmembers to transfer flexible points to airline and hotel partners. However, Citi’s recently added option of turning Thank You points into American Miles also applies to cards with no annual fee such as the Citi Double Cash card and the new Citi Strata card.

While it is nice that cardmembers can make these transfers with a no annual fee card, it is important to point out that rather than a typical 1:1 transfer ratio, the ratio is 1000:700 with these free cards. This means that you would get only 700 American miles for cashing in 1000 points. The consensus value of an American mile is about 1.4-1.5 cents, so this transfer nets out to a value of about one cent per Thank You point, about the same as the return you get from using these cards for cash back. It might make sense to use a few thousand Thank You points this way if you have some miles in your American account that need to be “topped off” to get a free flight. However, if you have a larger number of Citi Thank You points to work with or are interested in flying American with regularity, you should spring for one of the cards with an annual fee that will give you a better transfer ratio.

It is unfortunate that the co-branded Barclays card will disappear soon (although they are still accepting applications ) but, on balance, the ability to convert Thank You points to American miles will provide more opportunities for American award flight than in the past.

Because credit cards like the ones discussed in this post can play a significant role in your points and miles pursuit, it is important to develop a comprehensive program to make sure you are getting the most free travel from your routine credit card spending. When we design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we take your travel goals, travel habits, spending patterns, and preferences into account. We want to ensure that the cards we recommend for you can quickly generate free travel and provide relevant benefits while keeping your annual card fees under control.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Barclays American Airlines Aadvantage Aviator Mastercard Will Disappear Soon

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 20:14:28 GMT

An easy way to add miles for those who fly American

UPDATE: As of 9/30/25, Barclays has stopped offering this card. I hope that those of you who were interested were able to pick up this card.

Barclays offers several co-branded travel cards, but will soon stop offering its American Airlines card as an agreement between American and Citi gives Citi exclusivity in offering a co-branded American Airlines credit card. Although the Aadvantage Aviator’s days are numbered, it is still available and offers an excellent opportunity to pick up a quick signup bonus.

Barclays American Aadvantage Aviator MasterCard

This card has been part of an American Airlines “double play” that both Ms. Optimizer and I have used. It is also a quick and inexpensive way to add Aadvantage miles to your account.

The current sign-up bonus offer is 50,000 miles after you have paid the $99 annual fee and made your first purchase on the card in any amount. In other words, you could get 50,000 miles added to your Aadvantage account in just one billing cycle and with a minimal spend. Our estimate is that these miles are worth perhaps $700.

Like many airline cards, the Aviator offers a free checked bag as well as earlier boarding when flying American.

The bonus structure for spending is not particularly exciting as you get a 2X mile bonus for American Airlines purchases and one mile per dollar for all other purchases.

Once Barclays gets dropped as American’s partner, my understanding is that this product will get converted to a Citi product. Any American miles you earn will, of course, remain in your account.

Risks of Applying for This “Short Termer” Card

From what I understand, there is little risk to the 50,000 mile sign-up bonus assuming you complete the minimum spending in a timely fashion. American miles stay in your Aadvantage account whether coming from a Barclays product, a Citi product, flying American, or other activities.

One risk is the temptation to “earn and churn” with this card. I like to think of the points and miles game as a long term and sustainable hobby and counsel clients to “play nice” with issuers rather than grabbing bonuses and cancelling the card after one year. Potential applicants should determine if they want to build a relationship with Barclays, especially as Barclays offers other co-branded travel cards you might want in the future including JetBlue, Emirates, Frontier, Lufthansa, Breeze, Wyndham, and Carnival.

Another consideration is that any new credit card can have an impact on your ability to get approved for future credit cards (i.e., the Chase 5/24 rule). You do not want to hinder future opportunities just to pick up some easy miles.

But, if this card makes sense for you and can fit into your future travel plans, it is better to apply sooner rather than later.

Because credit cards like this one can play a significant role in your points and miles pursuit, it is important to develop a comprehensive program to make sure you are getting the most free travel from your routine credit card spending. When we design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we take your travel goals, travel habits, spending patterns, and preferences into account. We want to ensure that the cards we recommend for you can quickly generate free travel and provide relevant benefits while keeping your annual card fees under control.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Just Say “No” to Offers to Pay Credit Card Charges in Dollars When Traveling Abroad

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 19:13:54 GMT

Banks offer "preferential" foreign exchange rates (for themselves)

Ms. Optimizer and I do not shop a lot when we travel but, Ms. Optimizer thinks alpacas are cute and likes things made of their wool. So, we went shopping for knit products during a recent trip to Aguas Calientes, Peru. As we were about to pay, we saw the sign pictured above with an offer from Visa/MasterCard offering an opportunity to:

“Pay in your own currency and get a preferential exchange rate”

I have been seeing these “offers” for several years now and, after doing a little mental math, they are almost always a bad deal for the purchaser. When presented with a credit card reader, I always choose to pay the amount shown in local currency rather than the amount shown in US dollars.

In the case of the purchase of some alpaca blankets, I was given the choice of paying: 1) 420 Peruvian soles; or 2) a bit over $125 US dollars and chose the local currency. When I reviewed my credit card statement, the charge ended up being a little over $117. Had I taken the option of the “preferential exchange rate,” I would have paid an extra eight dollars. Even a credit card with a foreign transaction fee of 3% (which you should avoid using when traveling abroad) would have added less than four dollars to the tab.

Currency games aside, Visa and MasterCard offer reasonable exchange rates when you choose the local currency. During our trip, the exchange rate for the Peruvian sol was 3.55 soles to the US dollar. My credit card statement reflected a rate of 3.57 which is entirely reasonable. It is fair for the credit card issuers make a fraction of a percent here and there as they are performing a service and accepting currency risk (albeit briefly). But, claiming to offer a “preferential” rate to pad their bottom line is disingenuous.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Why I’m Paying Annual Fees on Credit Cards I Barely Use

Thu, 22 May 2025 14:36:00 GMT

Some cards can have a place even if they don't boost your points and miles total

At any given time, I tend to use only two or three different credit cards as those few cards address the points and miles strategy I am currently following. Although I might carry only two or three cards in my wallet, there are several cards with annual membership fees that I hold onto even though I use them very little. So, why would I keep paying the annual fees year after year for cards that add little to my points and miles totals?

American Express Delta Gold Card ($150/year)

My first choice for domestic travel is Delta and this card generates two Delta SkyMiles for every dollar spent with Delta, at supermarkets, or at restaurants. However, I put most of my supermarket and restaurant purchases on an American Express Gold card because it yields four Amex Membership Rewards (MR) points per dollar and these MR points can transfer to Delta at a 1:1 ratio. I put airline purchases on an Amex Platinum Card as that card gives you five MR points per dollar. So, by using the Gold and Platinum cards in lieu of the Delta card for those purchases, I am able to get my free Delta flights twice as fast.

However, I keep the Amex Delta Gold card for one key reason – its “TakeOff 15” feature. This lets you redeem Delta SkyMiles for 15 percent less than a SkyMiles member who does not hold one of these cards. As an example, an award flight that would otherwise cost 40,000 SkyMiles will cost 34,000 SkyMiles to a cardholder. If I am taking Delta flights that would otherwise cost 100,000 SkyMIles in total per year, that 15,000 mile reduction is worth about $150-175 which covers the annual fee.

In addition to the “TakeOff 15” feature, cardholders get their first bag checked for free and earlier boarding. The earlier boarding has ensured that I have found adequate overhead bin space on most of my Delta flights.

The Amex Delta Gold card is useful because it enhances my trips on Delta and helps me obtain award travel faster. However, it has little use outside of travel on Delta and I would cancel or downgrade this card if I did not fly Delta enough to get value from it.

American Express Platinum Card ($890/year for membership + one authorized user)

This card accounts for a very large chunk of my credit card annual fee budget. And, I make few purchases with it. The sole exception is airline spending because the Amex Platinum generates five MR points for every dollar spent. Most other purchases give you one MR point per dollar, so I use other cards for those purchases.

The key benefit of this card for Ms. Optimizer and me is access to airport lounges when traveling. The extensive network of lounges offered by this card includes Delta lounges (when flying Delta), American Express’ proprietary Centurion lounges, and the 1400+ lounges worldwide covered by the Priority Pass.

Several other benefits of the Amex Platinum card revolve around air travel. They include a $200 airline fee credit, a $179 CLEAR credit, a $200 Uber credit, and a $240 digital entertainment credit.

Despite the high cost, we feel like we are getting good value as long as we are flying with some frequency. However, we would cancel this card if we foresaw an extended period of minimal or no air travel.

Chase World of Hyatt Card ($95/year)

A key benefit of this card is that you get one free room at your annual renewal. Hyatt has eight award levels and, while you must choose from award levels 1 to 4, it is easy to get a free room that would otherwise cost several hundred dollars. Recently, I used my annual free room benefit for a $600 room. Over the years, I have tended to get free rooms going for at least $300. This free room benefit alone pays for the annual fee.

Other benefits include occasional upgrades and priority for early check-in and late check-out.

On the occasions when we purchase Hyatt rooms or spend money at their properties (restaurant, parking, etc) we do use the card because Hyatt purchases yield four Hyatt points per dollar spent. Also, this card offers worthwhile bonuses from time to time (often the fourth quarter of the year) for achieving some spending threshold.

Citi Strata Premier ($95/year)

This travel card generates Citi ThankYou points with decent bonuses (3X) for gas, restaurants, supermarkets, hotels, and air travel. However, as I prefer to earn Chase points and Amex points, I do not use this card often.

The primary reason I happily pay for this card is that it is pairs with a Citi Double Cash card ($0 annual fee) that gives you two Citi ThankYou points per dollar spend on any purchase. The Double Cash card is essentially a two percent cash rebate card, but if you also have a Strata Premier card, you can transfer these points to airline and hotel partners. With some airline redemptions, I have been able to get three cents or more per point which triples the value of the points I earn with the Double Cash card.

Where the Travel Rewards Optimizer Fits In

When we create Travel Rewards Optimizer plans for people, we try to help clients get the most travel reward value with the least spending (including spending on credit card fees). In some cases, paradoxically, there are significant benefits to be gained with cards that you rarely use. We take these and many other factors into account to design custom and robust plans to get you to your next vacation faster.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Travel Rewards Optimizer April Wrap Up

Thu, 01 May 2025 15:41:19 GMT

April blog posts covered change and opportunity

In case you missed them, here is your "one-stop shopping" for the past month's posts.

There are big changes for Southwest Airlines with an upcoming switch to assigned seating and with a scrapping of the "two checked bags for free" policy. However, the recently rolled out credit card offerings do not reflect the transition.

American Express cards have a reputation of being difficult to use outside of the United States. Is this still the case ?

Barclays co-branded travel credit cards are facing pressure from the Alaska Airlines/Hawaiian Airlines merger and American Airline's decision to offer co-branded cards with only one bank. What moves make sense for those interested in flying these airlines?

Many are leery of the Points and Miles game and have a preference for cash back credit cards. But there might be a current offer that makes entry into Points and Miles very low risk.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

A Low-Risk Approach to Exploring Credit Card Points and Miles

Thu, 24 Apr 2025 14:49:12 GMT

This nothing-to-lose approach just might introduce you to a new passion

When I tell people about my passion for turning points and miles from credit card spending into free travel, a significant minority of them tell me they seek some sort of return from their spending in the form of cash back cards. There are a variety of cash back credit cards available, but typically, they effectively rebate about two percent of a cardholder's credit card purchases.

These cards are popular with users for several reasons:

Most cash back cards do not have an annual fee while the typical annual fee for credit cards with any noteworthy benefits is about $100 per year.
They are straightforward in how they work. You can get two percent back on any purchase although some offer bonuses for spending in certain categories.
The rebate is cash which offers the ultimate flexibility. You are not limited to using your rewards for gift cards, travel, etc. You are getting a cash rebate that you can use as you see fit.

For those who use cash back cards, the prospect of exploring the world of points and miles might seem like more trouble than it is worth. But, it is possible to give points and miles a trial with minimal risk. And, in fact, you might get more out of a points and miles card than you would get with cash back cards even if you ultimately use the points just as you would use cash.

I offer some scenarios to show how this might work.

Year One with a Cash Back Card

Let’s say your household has $2,500 in expenses per month ($30,000 annually) that can be put on a credit card, and you use a cash back credit card. The cash back feature will generate $50 per month or $600 annually. Considering that some cash back cards offer bonuses for select categories, let’s assume that you spend enough in those categories so that your actual cash return for the year is $800 (a 2.67% return). Furthermore, let’s assume that this is the first year of using the cash back card and they have offered a $200, one-time bonus to new cardholders for meeting some spending threshold.

You have accumulated $1000 cash back and there is no annual fee for the card so this scenario has netted $1,000.

Year One with a Flexible Points Credit Card

Flexible points credit cards tend to offer valuable sign-up bonuses for meeting spending thresholds but also come with annual fees. Currently, Chase is offering a 100,000-point sign-up bonus for its Sapphire Preferred card. To earn this bonus, you need to spend $5,000 with the card in the first three months of membership. Our hypothetical household that puts $2,500 per month on a credit card will have no problem doing this.

After one year of using this Chase card, this household has a minimum of 130,000 points (the 100,000-point bonus + 30,000 points from $30,000 spending). This is a minimum because this card actually gives bonus points for dining (3 points per $1 spent) and travel (2 points per $1 spent) so the point total after one year could be greater than 130,000.

These points can simply be used to pay your credit card bill at one cent per point so the 130,000 points would be worth, at a minimum , $1,300.

After subtracting the $95 annual fee, this scenario has netted at least $1205 in value.

While the approach of using the Chase points to pay your balance leaves you about $200 ahead of the scenario using a simple cash back card, there is even greater possible value. There is more value to be found by transferring the Chase points to its airline and hotel partners. Some examples:

Chase points can be converted to World of Hyatt points at a 1:1 ratio. Ms. Optimizer and I routinely get at least two cents in value per point when using points for Hyatt stays. Even with a conservative estimate of 1.5 cents/point, the 130,000 Chase points would be worth almost $2,000 for staying at Hyatt hotels.
Chase points convert to United Miles at a 1:1 ratio. United miles are worth about 1.3 cents per mile so the 130,000 Chase points would be worth around $1,700 if used for United flights.

Year One with a Hybrid Approach

Yet another approach would be to apply for a cash back card and the current Chase offer. For the household with $30,000 annual credit card spending, this could yield at least $1,650 in value after deducting the $95 annual fee for the Chase card as follows:

Cash back card’s sign-up bonus - $200
Chase card sign-up bonus (100k points) - $1,000
Chase points from spending $5,000 to obtain sign-up bonus (5,000 points) - $50
Cash back from $25,000 spending on cash back card - $500

Bottom Line

There are many cash back cards offered by banks as well as many flexible points cards that come with decent sign-up bonuses. I use the Chase Sapphire Preferred card in the examples above because Chase is currently offering an especially attractive sign-up bonus on that card. But, the usefulness of cards can vary depending on the spending habits and goals of cardholders.

Cash back cards are straightforward and satisfy my first rule of holding a credit card which is “Always get something back.” But, for anyone wondering if there is more to be had, you have an excellent opportunity to try out the points and miles game to see if you can get greater value. You will not be any worse off and, possibly, you might determine that it provides excellent value and new opportunities.

When we design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we take your travel goals, travel habits, spending patterns, and preferences into account. We want to ensure that the cards we recommend for you can quickly generate free travel and provide relevant benefits while keeping your annual card fees under control.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Disappearing Barclays Cards Offer Opportunity for Quick Addition of American/ Hawaiian Miles

Mon, 21 Apr 2025 14:49:31 GMT

Soon-to-be discontinued cards yield solid signup bonuses with minimal spending

Barclays offers several co-branded travel cards, but two of them will be disappearing soon. The American Aadvantage Aviator Red MasterCard is being discontinued as Barclays lost out in a new agreement between American and Citi to give Citi exclusivity in offering a co-branded American credit card. The Hawaiian Airlines World Elite Mastercard will be discontinued at some point because Hawaiian has merged with Alaska Airlines (which offers a co-branded card issued through Bank of America).

Although these cards’ days are numbered, both are still available and offer an excellent opportunity to pick up generous signup bonuses.

Barclays American Aadvantage Aviator MasterCard

This card has been part of an American Airlines “double play” that both Ms. Optimizer and I have used. It is also a quick and inexpensive way to add Aadvantage miles to your account.

The current sign-up bonus offer is 60,000 miles after you have paid the $99 annual fee and made your first purchase on the card in any amount . In other words, you could get 60,000 miles added to your Aadvantage account in just one billing cycle after spending a few dollars.

Like many airline cards, this one offers a free checked bag as well as early boarding when flying American.

The bonus structure for spending is not particularly exciting as you get a 2X bonus for American Airlines purchases and one mile per dollar for all other purchases.

Once Barclays gets dropped as American’s partner, my understanding is that this product will get converted to a Citi product. Any American miles you earn will, of course, remain in your account.

Barclays Hawaiian Airlines World Elite MasterCard

Although Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines have merged, Hawaiian miles can still be earned and this card is still being offered (for now).

The current offer is 60,000 Hawaiian miles after spending at least $2,000 in the first 90 days after approval. The annual fee is $99.

The bonus spending structure includes a 3X bonus for Hawaiian Airlines purchases and a 2X bonus for spending on dining, gas, and grocers. One benefit is a $100 companion ticket discount for travel between Hawaii and the continental US at each one year anniversary.

I am not certain what will become of this card but Hawaiian miles will be converted to Alaska miles at some point in the future.

Risks of Applying for These “Short Termer” Cards

From what I understand, there is no risk to the 60,000 mile sign-up bonuses assuming you complete the minimum spending in a timely fashion. American miles stay in your Aadvantage account whether coming from a Barclays product, a Citi product, flying American, or other activities. Hawaiian miles will be converted to Alaskan miles as the integration of the Hawaiian and Alaskan programs is completed.

Less is known about your status as a cardholder. Does the card become another Barclay product that no longer generates American/Hawaiian miles? Does the card get converted to a Citi or Bank of America product? If you are moved to another card issuer, are you automatically approved or do you have to reapply?

Another risk is the temptation to “earn and churn” with these cards. I like to think of the points and miles game as a long term and sustainable hobby and counsel clients to “play nice” with issuers rather than grabbing bonuses and cancelling the card after one year. Potential applicants should determine if they want to build a relationship with Barclays, especially as Barclays offers other co-branded travel cards they might want in the future including JetBlue, Emirates, Frontier, Lufthansa, Breeze, Wyndham, and Carnival.

But, if either card makes sense for you, it is better to apply sooner rather than later.

Because these cards might play an adjunct role in your points and miles pursuit, it is important to develop a comprehensive program to make sure you are getting the most free travel from your routine credit card spending. When we design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we take your travel goals, travel habits, spending patterns, and preferences into account. We want to ensure that the cards we recommend for you can quickly generate free travel and provide relevant benefits while keeping your annual card fees under control.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

The American Express Card Outside the US: Should You Leave Home Without It?

Fri, 04 Apr 2025 16:34:18 GMT

Acceptance of American Express cards has changed in recent years

I have been traveling long enough to remember taking a small stack of American Express Travelers Cheques with me when leaving the United States. In an age with fewer ATM machines and less widespread acceptance of credit cards, travelers cheques were an insurance policy against the loss or theft of your money. Many heeded actor Karl Malden’s advice: “Don’t leave home without them.”

Use of these instruments has declined as international travelers can now rely on ATMs and credit cards much more than in the past. As American Express is very much in the credit card business, we are now advised “Don’t leave home without it. ” But, American Express cards have a reputation for being less likely to be accepted than Visa and MasterCard cards, especially outside of the United States. Historically, American Express cards have charged higher fees to merchants that eat at their profit margins so understandably, merchants were less enthused about them.

So, should you “ leave home without it ” and just take Visa and MasterCard products?

If an American Express card is part of your program for accumulating points and miles, you should definitely take it along for several reasons.

First, importantly, many Amex cards do not have foreign transaction fees. That should be a primary consideration for taking any credit card as these fees (often around 3%) can nullify any travel rewards benefits you would otherwise accrue.

American Express has undertaken an aggressive campaign to get more merchants to accept their cards. In just the last decade, this effort has tripled the number of merchants outside of the US who will accept American Express cards.

Worldwide, 119 million locations accept American Express compared to 130 million that accept Visa/MasterCard. While this 92% acceptance rate is driven by a 99% acceptance rate in the US, it is still the case that American Express cards can be used widely during international travel.

When traveling, Ms. Optimizer and I take two American Express cards:

Amex Gold: This card delivers a 4X Amex point bonus for restaurant dining so we definitely use it at restaurants that will accept it. While the Amex Gold also gives you a 4X bonus at supermarkets, this is limited to the US, so we buy groceries with other cards when traveling abroad.

Amex Platinum: For us, this card is almost exclusively an air travel card that we use for airline purchases, flying benefits and airline credits. We travel with this card if we are likely to want access to a Delta Sky Club or a Centurion Lounge. We are only likely to make a purchase with the card if we need to purchase airline tickets or airline fees while traveling as these purchases yield a 5X point bonus.

If you have the classic Amex Green card and its bonus structure works for you, it would be worthwhile to take it on international trips. This card also does not have foreign transaction fees and offers a 3X Amex point bonus on travel, transit, and restaurant purchases.

Because acceptance of Amex cards can vary greatly , it is important to also have a Visa/MasterCard on hand (don’t forget to make sure they do not have foreign transaction fees). And, for that matter, it is a good idea to have some cash for establishments that do not accept any credit card.

American Express cards might or might not fit into a productive travel rewards plan for you. When we design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we take your travel goals, travel habits, spending patterns, and preferences into account. We want to ensure that the cards we recommend for you can quickly generate free travel and provide relevant benefits while keeping your annual card fees under control.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Southwest’s “New” Credit Card Offer: Familiar and Underwhelming

Thu, 03 Apr 2025 15:13:47 GMT

Despite imminent changes at Southwest, these credit card products are not forward looking

I have been following Southwest Airlines’ credit card offers with great interest as this airline is in transition. Like the other main domestic carriers, it will soon have assigned seating and will charge for checking bags. However, from what I can tell, the new products do not necessarily correspond with where Southwest will be a few months from now.

Southwest’s previous offer for personal credit cards, which ended March 31, was intriguing because it offered an easy way to get a coveted Companion Pass which allows two to fly for the price of one (whether paying with cash or miles). The catch was that this Companion Pass would only be good through February of next year. Typically, Companion Passes are good for the remainder of the year in which they are earned and then the entire following year.

With the new month, Southwest has unveiled a new offer for personal cards which is almost identical to the offer I reviewed a little more than a year ago . This personal credit card offer includes three options:

Southwest RapidRewards Plus

Southwest RapidRewards Premier

Southwest RapidRewards Priority

Common Offer Elements for All Three Cards

Apparently, Southwest and Chase want to make this easy. The current welcome bonus is 50,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points for all three cards. These points are worth approximately $650. You only need to spend $1,000 within three months to earn the sign-up bonus.

The spending bonus structures for the three cards are almost identical.

2X or 3X for Southwest purchases (2X for the Plus card and 3X for the Premier and Priority cards

2X bonus on purchases with Rapid Rewards car rental partners (most major brands)

2X bonus on purchases with Rapid Rewards hotel partners (Hyatt, Marriott, MGM, Choice, Best Western)

2X on local transit, commuting

2X on internet, cable, phone, streaming

1X all other

All cards also offer a 25% discount for in-flight purchases and 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points each year.

The differences in the three cards revolve around annual fees, annual Rapid Rewards point bonuses, and benefits.

RapidRewards Plus

This card has a $69 annual fee, and cardholders get 3,000 Southwest points (worth about $40) each year upon renewal. You also get two “Early Bird” check-ins per year so that you can board earlier (Southwest currently uses open seating).

RapidRewards Premier

The Premier card’s annual fee is $99 and the annual anniversary bonus is 6,000 points (worth about $80). These cardholders also get two “Early Bird” check-ins each year.

Those spending heavily on this card can get 1,500 tier qualifying points toward “A-list” status for every $5000 spent annually.

RapidRewards Priority

This highest end card in the family has a $149 annual fee and the annual bonus is 7,500 points (worth about $100).

The benefits of this card include four upgraded boardings per year when available. These upgraded boardings guarantee that you will be one of the first 15 people to get on the plane, so you have the best choice of seats and overhead space. You also receive a $75 Southwest travel credit.

As with the Premier card, those spending heavily on this card can get 1,500 tier qualifying points toward “A-list” status for every $5000 spent annually.

My Conclusions

When I reviewed these cards last year, I concluded that, on an ongoing basis, a cardholder could at least break even by flying at least one round trip per year on Southwest. At the same time, I did not see the potential for getting outsized value that you can get with some other co-branded airline cards. While the offers have not changed, I see them as less attractive than a year ago for several reasons.

The value of a Southwest point has declined and is now around 1.3 cents per point. A few years ago, Ms. Optimizer and I could regularly get about 1.7 cents per point when redeeming these points.

When Southwest moves to assigned seating in a few months, the Early Bird Check In and upgraded boarding benefit will become irrelevant so cardholders will not be able to use these benefits for the full year of card membership.

Although there is a 2X bonus for purchases with Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners, this might not be the best option for points and miles accumulation. Many cards already offer 2X or 3X bonuses for car rental or hotels and co-branded hotel cards tend to offer much better bonuses when staying at their properties.

Once Southwest drops its two free checked bags policy, I understand they may offer free checked bags for Southwest cardholders, and they might position this as a new benefit. Of course, it won’t be and, if the benefit is for only one free bag, it is actually a benefit reduction.

The upcoming changes will make Southwest less distinct from competitors. Already, other domestic carriers are trying to poach Southwest flyers with status matches. It is difficult for me to see where Southwest will fit in the market six months from now. For now, I can see several types of travelers who might benefit from this (not so) new credit card offer:

Passengers who are currently well served by the flights offered by Southwest, find them to be a good value, and use them with some regularity.

Passengers who want to add Southwest to a mix of options by easily picking up some points. The $69 annual fee (Plus card) and $1000 in spending to reach the bonus threshold is a quick and uncomplicated way to cover a couple of round-trip flights.

Of course, the ongoing value of this card drops after the first year.

Passengers who can combine one of these personal cards with a Southwest business card and use the two sign-up bonuses (50,000 + 80,000) to get most of the way to the 135,000 points needed for a Companion Pass.

_________________________

The Southwest Airlines credit cards might or might not fit into a productive travel rewards plan for you. But if flying with Southwest is a potential part of your travel mix, one of the cards discussed in this post might be appropriate. When we design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we take your travel goals, travel habits, spending patterns, and preferences into account. We want to ensure that the cards we recommend for you can quickly generate free travel and provide relevant benefits while keeping your annual card fees under control.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Costa Rica Case Study: Points and Miles Free Up Budget for Coffee, Chocolate and . . . Agua de Sopa

Wed, 02 Apr 2025 14:47:41 GMT

When I travel, I like to report how the points and miles game fits into our plans. After all, if I am going to dispense advice about turning credit card spending into free travel, I need to lead by example and "show my work."

In January, Ms. Optimizer and I took a trip to Costa Rica to learn more about this fascinating country, its regions and climates, and its famously diverse flora and fauna. Although we usually plan our own trips, we took this one as part of a group with the Road Scholar organization (which creates and runs a broad range of excellent tours in Costa Rica and throughout the world).

Because the tour was mostly inclusive while in Costa Rica, we did not leverage points and miles as much as we would have if we planned the trip ourselves. Nonetheless, miles and points still played a role in making our trip less expensive and more comfortable.

We used 78,000 Delta SkyMiles for two round trip tickets to San Jose. These tickets had a fair market value of $1054 so our redemption came to 1.4 cents per SkyMile which is fairly good for Delta.

We have one Amex Delta Gold card which got us a 15% discount when redeeming SkyMiles as well as free checked bags.

Our Amex Platinum cards gave us access to airport lounges at our home airport and the San Jose airport. We also visited the spacious Centurion lounge in Atlanta during layovers both on our way to Costa Rica and when returning home.

We used the airline fee credit that comes with the Amex Platinum card to purchase better seats for our Delta flights.

We used Uber several times in San Jose and the cost of some of those trips was offset by the monthly Uber credit that comes with our Amex Platinum card.

Overall, using miles and points saved us about $1200 leaving us with more money for the excellent Costa Rican coffee, chocolate, museum admissions, souvenirs, and a refreshing beverage called Agua de Sopa (which literally translates to “toad water”).

Costa Rica is justifiably well known for ecotourism, but we also enjoyed the few days we spent in its capital, San Jose. A couple of recommendations if spending time in San Jose . . .

It is easy to see several key museums and sights as they are located along a 600 meter/yard section of Avenida Central. These include the National Museum of Costa Rica, the Jade Museum, the Pre-Columbian Gold Museum, and the National Theater. While the museums do not require timed entry tickets, the National Theater does for its guided tours (Spanish and English).

The San Jose Central Market (also on Avenida Central and about 500 meters from the National Theater) is a fascinating maze of stores selling produce, meats and fish, crafts, and souvenirs. There are also several eateries for quick and inexpensive meals. The key mistake I made on this trip was NOT buying typical Costa Rican crafts and souvenirs here. We learned there was less selection and things cost more elsewhere.

For this trip to Costa Rica, like other trips we have taken in recent years, the well-planned use of miles and points played a significant role in our travel by not only saving us money, but also by enhancing our travel with more comfort and convenience.

Whether you are interested in seeing sloths and toucans, admiring the craftsmanship of pre-Columbian goldsmiths, sipping great coffee right where it was grown or any other type of travel adventure , we are prepared to design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you that will quickly generate free and reduced cost travel while keeping your annual credit card fees under control.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Last Call for a Southwest Credit Card Offer that May Be of Value for Some

Mon, 31 Mar 2025 11:47:12 GMT

An offer that ends today (March 31st) may be worthwhile for Southwest flyers

Southwest Airlines is undergoing some significant changes, and these changes will certainly have an impact on the value that the points and miles community can get from participation in its Rapid Rewards program in the future. In the past, I have held Southwest credit cards (both personal and business) and, for one year, obtained a coveted Companion Pass. I liked the Southwest vibe when on their flights but always dreaded the prospect of being stuck in the “B” (or even “C”) boarding groups. The ability to check two bags for free came in handy for the Optimi-son when he was in college.

Going forward, it seems that Southwest will be less distinct. They are moving to assigned seating like other airlines and passengers will pay to check bags (unless they are elite flyers or hold Southwest credit cards).

The current Southwest credit card offer reflects an airline in transition. Although Southwest will shift to assigned seating, the current cards offer “EarlyBird Check-In” or “Upgraded Boarding” which gives passengers a better chance of getting a desirable seat. Of course, as Southwest shifts to assigned seating, these benefits will become irrelevant.

There are three versions of the personal card in this offer and, from what I can see, the key differences are how many bonus points you are awarded on your cardmember anniversary (from 3,000 to 7,500) and the annual fee (from $69 to $149). The sign-up bonus is 30,000 Southwest points if you spend $4,000 within the first three months for all three cards. Among some popular points and miles websites, the consensus value of a Southwest point is about 1.3 cents so this offer might have a value of about $400.

The other key component of this offer is that it comes with Southwest’s popular Companion Pass if you spend $4,000 which allows you to add a companion to your itinerary for just the cost of taxes and fees. Usually, you must accumulate 135,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points to get a Companion Pass so this is a great shortcut. Although you must designate one travel partner for the Companion Pass, you are allowed to change this partner (but you can have only one designated travel companion at a time).

The last day of this offer is March 31st.

The catch is that the Companion Pass that comes with this offer is only good through the end of February, 2026 so you have 11 months to put enough spending on the card to get the Pass ($4,000), make your flight reservations, and complete the travel. A key consideration is how much value you can get by using the Companion Pass to travel with one designated person. At the very least, using the Companion Pass with the 30,000-point bonus will effectively double the value of the point bonus to $800.

From my perspective, this offer could be of value for someone who has access to a decent stash of Southwest points (or a realistic opportunity to get them very soon) and can quickly take advantage of the short timeline for using the Companion Pass.

Possible scenarios where this soon-to-expire offer might be of value include:

You already have some Southwest miles, and you want to use them for travel with a partner in the next 11 months.
You want to travel with Southwest in the next 11 months and you have a significant number of Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) points that can be transferred to your Southwest account.
You can combine the bonus you might get with this offer with a bonus you get from a Southwest Rapid Rewards business credit card. The current bonus offer for the business card is 80,000 miles if you spend $5,000 in the first three months.

Like many credit card offers, this offer is not for everyone but has a place for some travelers. If you have a travel partner in mind and would like to fly to destinations served by Southwest in the next 11 months, this could be a useful deal. At the same time, you might not be able to fully utilize the Companion Pass or feel constrained to fly Southwest in the near term to get value from the Pass. Furthermore, as Southwest transitions and starts to look more like other major domestic airlines, some benefits of these cards will disappear and the benefits that might replace them (if any) are unknown.

Going forward, I do not know how Southwest credit cards will fit into the Travel Rewards Optimizer plans we create for our clients. As this offer is (very) short-lived, I believe we will soon learn what credit card offers Southwest is rolling out to replace these cards. I will keep you posted.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

The Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Card: A Potential Source of Flexible Points for Some Travelers

Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:01:02 GMT

Despite a short list of transfer partners, this card can be beneficial for some.

After almost a decade of pursuing travel rewards, it has become clear to me that the best return on routine spending is through credit cards that offer flexible points. Because these flexible points can be transferred to many domestic and international airlines, cardholders can choose the most valuable redemption for a particular itinerary and date. Points can also be transferred to hotel chains although it can be harder to get solid redemptions.

Last April, I was excited about the launch of the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey credit card as it added to the list of existing flexible points programs offered by Chase, American Express, Capital One, Citi, and Bilt. The Autograph Journey card stood out for offering excellent spending bonuses, especially for hotel and airline purchases. At the same time, a chief concern was that the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey card had a limited number of transfer partners (five airlines and one hotel group) compared to the other flexible points cards.

My hope was that the Autograph Journey would add more transfer partners after launch to increase its potential usefulness. Wells Fargo suggested that they were seeking more partners and planned to add them soon. After almost one year, Wells Fargo has added Virgin Atlantic Flying Club/Virgin Red as a transfer partner, but unfortunately, that is all.

While it is disappointing that the Wells Fargo transfer partner list is not as versatile as those offered by rival card issuers, there is still a place for this card in the wallet of some travelers. While we do not recommend it to many clients, there is a solid rationale for some to sign up for this card.

What We Like About This Card

Overall

The Autograph Journey card offers a 60,000-point bonus for making $4,000 in purchases in the first three months. The cash value of this bonus is $600. However, with point transfers to the right airline partners or for certain itineraries, the value can be much higher. The annual fee for the card is $95.

Spending Bonus Structure

The Autograph Journey is clearly oriented toward travel spending as travel categories will net you the best spending bonuses. The card is especially strong for its hotel and airline spending bonuses.

5X spending bonus for hotels – Aside from bonuses on co-branded hotel cards, this is the highest generic spending bonus for hotels of which we are aware.
4X spending bonus for flights – This is also an excellent bonus rate even compared to what is offered on many co-branded airline cards. While the best generic flight bonus is the 5X bonus with an American Express Platinum card, that card has an annual fee of $695.
3X spending bonus for dining – This is solid and competitive with other travel cards.
3X spending bonus for “other travel” – Again, this is solid and competitive.
1X for all other purchases

Importantly, none of these bonuses requires that you spend through a Wells Fargo (or any other) portal.

Other Benefits

This card offers some travel-related benefits.

A $50 per year credit for a $50 minimum airline purchase
$1 million in travel accident insurance
Trip cancellation/interruption protection
Lost baggage reimbursement
Cellular telephone protection

Potential Transfer of Points to Airlines and Hotels

While it is easy to get $600 in cash value out of this $95 card from its welcome bonus, there is greater potential value in transferring the points to airline partners. Airline partners include:

Air France (Flying Blue)
Avianca LifeMiles
British Airways Executive Club
Aer Lingus AerClub
Iberia Plus
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club/Virgin Red

These points can also be transferred to Choice Privileges, a hotel program that includes brands like Radisson, Clarion, and Rodeway Inn.

Who Might Benefit?

There are several types of travelers who might find this card useful.

Flyers who already participate in the loyalty programs of the six airline transfer partners.
Those interested in travel to the United Kingdom or Europe as well as those who want to use Avianca (which is based in Bogota, Colombia and serves Latin America).
Travelers who are not brand loyal to airlines and hotel groups and can benefit from the 3-4X category bonuses.
Travelers who frequently stay in hotels that are not part of any major chain or hotel group.
Travelers who want cash rewards and can benefit from the travel category bonuses.
Points and miles enthusiasts who are blocked from getting signup bonuses from other cards (Ex: beyond he Chase 5/24 limit).

At some point in the future, Ms. Optimizer or I might apply for the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey. It would make sense for us because, in recent years, we have been travelling to places that are not well served by the hotel groups we tend to use. The Autograph Journey would generate a 5X bonus for any non-chain hotels we book which is better than the 3X bonus we get for hotels from a Citi Premier or a Chase Sapphire Reserve card. For us, the Wells Fargo points would be put to good use by being transferred to Air France. The $50 airline credit would effectively reduce our annual cost for this card to $45 annually.

Conclusions

Overall, it is great to see another option for those interested in flexible point travel cards. Competition is good for those of us in the points and miles community because it gives us options and it will keep the banks who issue proprietary points from becoming complacent.

While it is disappointing that Wells Fargo has not expanded the list of transfer partners for the Autograph Journey card very much, the card can still be useful for some points and miles enthusiasts. Going forward, I will continue to watch for developments in this card, especially regarding transfer partners, and will keep you apprised.

The Wells Fargo Autograph Journey card might or might not fit into an optimized travel rewards plan for you. Our job at Travel Rewards Optimizer is to keep track of changes and opportunities in the world of points and miles so we can provide our clients with guidance to get the most value out of their travel rewards programs. When we design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we take your travel goals, travel habits, spending patterns, and preferences into account. We want to ensure that the cards we recommend for you can quickly generate free travel and provide relevant benefits while keeping your annual card fees under control.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

NYC Case Study: Points and Miles Free Up Travel Budget for Museums, Bagels, and Pastrami

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:05:04 GMT

Points and miles greatly reduced the cost of a visit to the Big Apple

When Ms. Optimizer and I take trips, I like to report on how the travel rewards game fit into our plans and how we benefited from it. After all, if I am going to dispense advice about turning credit card spending into free travel, I need to lead by example and show actual results.

At the end of last year, we took a trip to New York City to visit family, see some museums, and take in the tree at Rockefeller Center and other holiday decorations in Manhattan. Our hotel was close to Grand Central Terminal, where we could catch a commuter train to Connecticut to visit family and friends. The hotel was also located a short walk from the Museum of Modern Art and close to the bus lines that ran to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim Museum.

Naturally, points and miles played a key role in this trip, both for reducing costs and for increasing comfort. We were able to utilize World of Hyatt points and Delta miles to lower our costs as follows:

For our flights to and from JFK, we used 30,400 Delta miles for two round trips. With a value of $436 for the tickets, this worked out to a redemption of 1.4 cents per mile which is solid for a Delta redemption.
For our hotel, we used 145,000 World of Hyatt points for a five-night stay at the Grayson Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. With a total cash rate of $3608 for those nights, we got a return of 2.5 cents per point, another solid redemption.

Overall, the miles and points we utilized for this one trip saved us over $4,000. Additionally, the use of travel rewards credit cards yielded additional benefits that enhanced our trip.

Because we have one Amex Delta Gold card, we got a 15 percent discount when redeeming miles for the round-trip tickets to JFK. This card also allowed us to check bags for free.
Through the Amex Platinum Card, we were able to use the Delta lounge at our departure airport as well as for our return trip from JFK.
Our Chase Hyatt card includes “Discoverist” status which allowed us to check in early upon arrival.
We used Uber so we were able to take advantage of a monthly Uber credit that comes with the Amex Platinum card.
For this trip to the Big Apple, like other trips we have taken in recent years, the well-planned use of miles and points played a significant role in our travel by not only saving us thousands of dollars, but also by enhancing our experiences with more comfort and convenience.

Whether you are interested in checking out some of the greatest museums in the world, hunting down the perfect bagel or pastrami sandwich, shopping til you drop, or any other type of travel adventure , we are prepared to design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you that will quickly generate free and reduced cost travel while keeping your annual card fees under control.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

It’s Official: The American Aadvantage Miles Credit Card “Double Play” IS Going Away

Fri, 06 Dec 2024 22:15:18 GMT

But as one door closes, another might be opening up for American flyers

An interesting opportunity for those who fly American Airlines is that they can apply for credit cards from two banks that earn American miles and offer significant welcome bonuses. First, there are several cards offered by Citibank that range from a no annual fee card to a deluxe card that includes access to American Airlines’ Admirals Clubs. These are the most familiar and account for the largest share of American Airlines’ co-branded card business. However, there are also cards offered by Barclays Bank with some having similar features to the Citibank products.

In a September post , I warned that after a decade of this co-existence between Citi and Barclays, Citi and American Airlines were having talks about forging an exclusive co-branding relationship. Based on a recent announcement, it is indeed the case that, starting in 2026, Citi will be the only issuer of co-branded American Airlines credit cards.

The two-card arrangement has been great for people who want American miles, and I sometimes recommended the two cards for Travel Rewards Optimizer clients who need a “crash program” for getting some quick miles. The Barclays card is unique in that a new cardholder only needs to make one purchase (in any amount) and pay the $99 annual fee to get a 60,000-mile sign-up bonus (SUB). Most credit card sign-up bonuses usually require spending several thousand dollars at a minimum.

While this unique loophole in the points and miles game will be missed, it is still available (at least for now). Anyone who is potentially interested in the Barclays card should apply for it soon. Going forward, I do not know if these Barclay American Airlines cards will be closed or converted to Citi products.

Although the American Airlines credit card “double play” is going away, the exclusive relationship between Citi and American Airlines might offer a new opportunity for those wishing to accumulate American miles and fly this airline. A joint press release from the organizations stated that “the agreement creates an innovative alignment between the Citi ThankYou and AAdvantage card programs.” The Citi ThankYou card program has cards that generate proprietary ThankYou points that can be used as cash, turned into gift cards, or transferred to airline partners. A key weakness of this program is that, while is has many airline partners, it does not currently partner with a major domestic airline (American Express partners with Delta; Chase with United and Southwest). This “innovative alignment” mentioned in the joint press release suggests that Citi’s ThankYou program might add American Airlines as a transfer partner. Simply adding a major airline as a transfer partner alone goes a long way in making the ThankYou program cards more attractive. But, even better, some of the ThankYou cards, such as the Citi Strata Premier, allow you to accumulate ThankYou points at an accelerated rate.

More details will emerge and we will keep you posted.

This development with Citi and American Airlines is another example of how the points and miles landscape changes constantly. Opportunities appear and disappear every week. Let us create a comprehensive Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you so that you can get the most impact from your credit card usage.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Is the American Aadvantage Miles Credit Card “Double Play” Going Away?

Sat, 21 Sep 2024 15:14:27 GMT

Citibank and American Airlines discuss an exclusive co-branding arrangement

An interesting opportunity for those who fly American Airlines is that they can take apply for two credit cards that earn American miles and offer significant welcome bonuses. First, there are several cards offered by Citibank that range from a no annual fee card to a deluxe card that includes access to American Airlines’ Admirals Clubs. These are the most familiar and account for the largest share of American Airlines’ co-branded card business. However, there are also cards offered by Barclays Bank with some having similar features to the Citibank products.

The offer for the standard, personal Barclays card is unique is that earning the sign-up bonus (SUB) only requires one purchase rather than several thousand dollars of purchases as is common for most travel cards. You can earn the bonus on the Barclays card (currently 60,000 Aadvantage miles) with the simple purchase of a cup of coffee or a candy bar. That one purchase and paying the annual fee ($95) can get you well on your way to your next vacation. When flying, this card offers free checked baggage when flying American and earlier boarding so you can grab that coveted overhead bin space. For ongoing spending, the Barclays card is not particularly strong as it only offers spending bonuses (2X) for American flights. Other purchases generate one mile per dollar.

For clients who tend to fly American or plan to fly American, I have recommended that they apply for this card along with one of the Citibank cards. There is nothing preventing you from applying for cards issued by both banks at about the same time and this “double play” can put a lot of miles in your American account very quickly. And, because you earn the Barclay SUB with just one purchase, you do not have to worry about meeting spending thresholds for SUBs (usually several thousand dollars) on two different cards.

This two-card arrangement stems from the merger of American Airlines and USAir in 2013. Prior to the merger, the USAir cobranded credit cards were issued by Barclays and American Airlines’ cards were issued by Citibank. While cards from both issuers remained available, each bank was limited to specific marketing channels. The Citibank cards could be marketed online, by direct mail, and in Admirals Clubs. The Barclays cards are the ones that flight attendants promote inflight when you are flying American.

After a decade of co-existence between Citibank and Barclays, there are now talks between Citibank and American about forging an exclusive co-branding relationship. If this happens, the Barclays product might disappear (or at least be unable to take on new cardholders) along with the opportunity to “double dip” and receive two Aadvantage miles SUBs.

If you fly or plan to fly American, and want to take advantage of its frequent flyer program, it might be worthwhile to pick up the Barclays card sooner rather than later. As mentioned above, Barclays is limited in its ability to promote its co-branded card. However, even if Barclays cannot market directly to you (except for the in-flight promotions) you can go to their website and apply for their card.

The consensus among points and miles bloggers is that American miles are worth perhaps 1.5-1.7 cents per mile. That reflects the redemption rates that Ms. Optimizer and I have been getting in recent years. So, the 60,000-mile bonus on the Barclays card could be worth at least $900 and might surpass $1,000 with the right redemption. Not a bad return for a $95 annual fee card and, literally, one minor purchase.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

NO! You Don’t Need to Carry Two Dozen Credit Cards for an Optimal Travel Rewards Program

Fri, 06 Sep 2024 14:36:57 GMT

Card issuers might want you to do this but, it is completely unnecessary for travel rewards

A recent article on a travel rewards website was entitled “The 24 Credit Cards in My Wallet Right Now.” If you follow travel rewards websites, articles like this are common. Since the gurus of the points and miles game are doing it, one might get the impression that this is a useful strategy for pursuing points and miles. However, this approach only makes sense for a very small subset of travelers whose job is to write about the fabulous trips they have taken with the miles and points they have accumulated using credit cards for their fabulous trips. Nice work if you can get it!

Why this is a bad idea

For 99+ percent of credit card customers, using so many cards in the pursuit of travel rewards would not be very productive. In fact, it would almost certainly be counterproductive. There are several issues.

First, there is the simple burden of managing the cards – checking statements for accuracy, making monthly payments, and recordkeeping. Who has the time for that?

A second issue with having so many cards is that some benefits are redundant, so it is like paying for the same benefit multiple times. In fact, at least five of the cards held by the author of “24 Credit Cards” include a Priority Pass membership, a benefit of more expensive cards that lets you use a large network of airport lounges when traveling.

A third, and quite significant, issue is the enormous cost in annual fees for all those cards. The annual tab the cards listed in “The 24 Credit Cards in My Wallet Right Now” is almost $6000. In other words, you would need to generate $6000 in travel value just to cover the annual fees you pay every year.

The exciting thing about travel rewards is, if you are interested in travel, this is the way to get the most out of the credit card purchases you are already making. For those who just want cash back, there are plenty of excellent free cards that will reliably generate two percent on every purchase you make. But, with travel rewards, the percentage returned to you can be much higher . Eight percent is a reasonable target and one that I have met or exceeded year after year.

The math of too many travel cards

Now, imagine you or your household is putting $50,000 per year (about $4,200 per month) on a credit card. With an eight percent return, you would generate about $4,000 worth of free travel. But, with 24 credit cards costing $6,000 in annual fees per year, you are losing money. The simple cashback card would have netted you $1,000. In fact, assuming the eight percent return in travel value, you would need to spend $100,000 per year on credit cards (more than $8,300 monthly) to simply make the return from the 24 travel cards with their annual fees equal to what you could accomplish with a cashback card.

The good news is that you can earn lots of free travel without managing a one-inch stack of credit cards and without spending thousands of dollars in annual fees. And, on top of that, you can easily beat the two percent (or so) return you would get from a simple cashback card.

What I am doing in 2024

For most of my household spending in 2024, I am currently only using three credit cards.

Chase Freedom Unlimited – This is a free card that offers a cash back rate of 1.5% on most purchases and 3% on restaurant dining. While it is possible to get a better cashback return, the real power of this card is using it in conjunction with a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve card that allows you to treat the cash as Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) points. These points can be transferred to airline and hotel partners to increase their value. Better still, at the end of last year, Chase offered a double bonus to new cardholders for the first year. So, at a minimum, I will get three Chase points for any transaction and six Chase points for restaurant purchases for all of 2024.

There is one “catch” to the double bonus. Chase gives you half of the cash/points at the time of the purchase and you get the other half after your first year as a cardholder. Although there is a bit of delayed gratification, I am happy to wait for this huge payout of Chase points at the end of the year. Of course, at that time, the double bonus will end, and I will revise my strategy for 2025.

Chase Freedom Flex – This card is also free and offers 5% cash back for spending in specific categories that rotate every quarter. As with the Freedom Unlimited, this cash can be turned into more powerful Chase UR points. While these bonus categories change every quarter and are only announced just before the quarter begins, Chase has offered bonuses for using this card at restaurants, grocery stores, and gas stations in the past. The current offer is for gas so I will be keeping the card in my wallet for any visit to a gas station during the third quarter of this year.

American Express Gold Card – This card does have an annual fee ($250), and I use this card for all grocery store purchases as I get four Amex Memberships Rewards (MR) points per dollar spent. I like to turn them into Delta or Air France miles. This card also generates four MR points per dollar for restaurant purchases but, until the end of the year, I am using the Chase Freedom Unlimited to get the 6X bonus for restaurants.

Aside from these cards, I occasionally use an American Express Platinum card when making any airline purchases because the bonus is 5X MR points. As it is mostly a card used for lounge access and other travel benefits, I take it with me when I fly anywhere.

The amount of free travel I generate from routine credit card spending each year is worth far more than what I could get from cashback cards, even after factoring in annual card fees. This year will be no different. As you can see, my plan is largely driven by just three cards, two of which have no annual fee.

Our approach to travel rewards

When we design Travel Rewards Optimizer plans for our clients, we create a robust plan to help them leverage their routine spending for free or reduced cost travel. But, while we aim to get you to your next vacation faster, optimization is about more than piling up points and miles. Our plans are designed to help you reach your goals with two or three cards rather than a stack of new credit cards and the fees that come with them. The latter approach is only optimal for credit card issuers, but we work for our clients, not the banks. And, with fewer cards, you are going to spend less time managing a large credit card portfolio and less time figuring out which credit card to use for each purchase. We think you would prefer to spend that time planning your next trip.

If you are someone who wants to use credit card rewards for free travel, let us create a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

“Refreshed” American Express Gold Card Offers Benefits Some Will Find Worthwhile

Mon, 29 Jul 2024 19:16:56 GMT

A new credit will offset the annual fee hike for some cardholders

American Express has been “refreshing” its card portfolio over the past year or so and they have just announced changes for the popular Gold card.

Along with death and taxes, a third certainty could be that American Express card “refreshes” mean that annual fees are going up. So, to get the bad news out of the way, the annual fee is indeed increasing from $250 to $325. However, there are also changes to benefits that will easily offset the extra $75 a year for many cardholders.

What is the good news?

The best news is that the Gold card now offers an annual $100 Resy credit for using the card at one of the 16,000 restaurants worldwide that are part of the Resy online reservation system.

You can use $50 of the credit during the first half of the calendar year (January through June) and $50 during the second half of the year (July through December).
You do not have to make your reservation through Resy, you just need to use the Gold card when dining at a restaurant in the network.
While this two-part, $100 credit is structured similarly to the $100 Saks Fifth Avenue credit that comes with the Amex Platinum card, it is simpler to use. In fact, some cardholders might end up getting the credit without thinking about it.
For many cardholders, this credit will be as good as cash.

I went to the Resy website to see how useful this new benefit might be for my household. It turns out that Ms. Optimizer and I have recently dined at some of the Resy restaurants in our area and we had been planning to eat at another one in the next few months so it will be easy for us to use the credit. When reviewing the restaurants, most seemed to be some of the more expensive and well-regarded restaurants in my area. However, there were also several restaurants where a couple could cover most of a meal with the $50 credit.

One caveat is that Resy restaurants tend to be clustered in urban areas. While some cardholders will find it very easy to use this credit, those outside of urban areas might find few options.

There is also good news for those who frequent Dunkin Donuts. In addition to the $100 credit for more upscale restaurants, there is also a $7 per month credit ($84 per year) for purchases at this large chain. While few might be inclined to go out of their way to save a few dollars on a coffee and a cruller, this is good news for the chain’s regulars.

Possible good news is that there is a $10 per month restaurant credit that can be used with Five Guys, Grubhub, Cheesecake Factory, wine.com, and Goldbelly. Five Guys has just been added to this group, but Shake Shack and Milk Bar have been dropped. The possible good news is that there are far more Five Guys locations than Shake Shack locations so this might be a better benefit for those looking for burgers.

Other considerations

There is no change in the $10 per month Uber credit.

The card continues to offer a 4X spending bonus on both US supermarkets and restaurants so cardholders can quickly accumulate valuable Amex Membership Rewards points. Previously, the supermarket 4X spending bonus was limited to $25,000 of purchases annually and there was no limit to the spending bonus for restaurants. With the refresh, the spending bonus for restaurants is now limited to the first $50,000 of annual purchases. As this works out to an average of about $1,000 of restaurant spending per week, this new cap will affect very few cardholders.

Bottom Line

In a past post, I wrote about the “ couponization” of credit card benefits and these changes to the Amex Gold card fit with that trend. While I am no fan of this approach, this last round of changes to the Gold card may be well received by those who can take advantage of the Resy credit. Others may determine it is time to cancel or downgrade.

Benefits and credits aside, when determining whether to recommend this card for our clients, the key consideration is if the card will aid their pursuit of free travel and will the value of that travel be worth far more than the annual fee. You may be unable to use or forget to use the credits and we do not want clients worrying about whether they used a $7 Dunkin Donuts credit or not. But, even if the benefits and credits work well for a cardholder, the true power of this card is the 4X spending bonus for both grocery and restaurant purchases. We take those expenditures into account before suggesting a client commit to this card. In the past year, I have seen cases where a Gold card was not suitable for a client and cases where applying was a “no brainer.” But always, when we create a Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we remember that everyone is different and there is no such thing as a “one size fits all” solution.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Using the American Express Hotel Credit Benefits

Fri, 19 Jul 2024 19:08:03 GMT

In some cases, these benefits can provide an upgraded experience at lower cost

During a recent trip, Ms. Optimizer and I were able to take advantage of a hotel credit offered through the American Express Gold and Platinum cards. I wanted to share my experience so you can get the most value out of these benefits if you have an opportunity to use them.

What are these benefits?

The benefits differ for the Gold and Platinum card.

The benefit for Amex Gold card holders is a $100 hotel experience credit. To get the credit, you must use American Express Travel to book a hotel from “The Hotel Collection,” a select list of hotels chosen by Amex. There is a two-night minimum stay and, of course, you need to pay with your Amex Gold card. The “experience credit” tends to be money that you can use on the property (Ex: at the hotel’s restaurant or bar). The credit cannot be applied to the room rate itself.

The benefit for Amex Platinum card holders is more lucrative. First, there is a $200 statement credit ($200 total annual limit) when you stay in hotels from either “The Hotel Collection” or “Fine Hotels and Resorts” (which is another list of properties selected by Amex) lists. Again, you must book the hotels/resorts through American Express Travel and use your Platinum Card. In addition to the statement credit, the property might offer experience credits, room upgrades when available, and the option of late check-out. A two-night stay is required for properties from “The Hotel Collection” but only a one-night stay is required for the more expensive properties in the “Fine Hotels and Resorts” collection.

How does it work?

This credit was simple to use. Once I found a hotel in Amex’s “The Hotel Collection” that would be appropriate for our stay in Salzburg, Austria, I reserved the two nights I wanted on the Amex Travel website and paid with my Amex Platinum card. The full charge hit my account immediately and the $200 credit followed within a day, as I recall. Even though Amex had my money at this point, the reservation could be cancelled if necessary.

When we arrived to check in at the hotel, a gentleman at hotel reception walked us through the benefits we would receive in addition to the $200 discount on the room. They included:

An upgrade to a “junior suite.” While it was a stretch to call the room a “suite,” at 300 square feet, it was certainly larger than their standard 215 SF rooms.
A $100 credit that could be used on property for their rooftop terrace restaurant and bar, their spa, or their gift shop.
Late check-out.

He also handed me a letter from Amex that detailed the benefits he had just explained.

We used almost all of the $100 "experience credit" at the rooftop terrace restaurant/bar and checked out with a zero balance. So, in other words, the credit was applied immediately so there was no need to pay and get a refund later.

What is this benefit really worth?

As I mentioned in a past post, American Express has been pursuing a “couponing” strategy with its benefits and credits.

https://www.travelrewardsoptimizer.com/the-couponing-of-travel-credit-card-benefits These hotel credits are no exception. To get the credits, you must book the hotel through American Express travel. In another past post, I discussed how using online travel agencies (OTAs) such as Amex Travel can cost more than going directly to the hotel’s own website. https://www.travelrewardsoptimizer.com/hotels-com-announces-new-and-exciting-rewards-program-hmmm

In this case, I learned that, for the hotel I chose, it was indeed more expensive to book it through American Express Travel than though the hotel’s website.

For a hypothetical, two-night booking in October, a basic room with the option to cancel was $761 if booked through American Express Travel. The $200 credit would knock the cost down to $561.
If booked through the hotel website, the same room would cost $606 so the savings from the Platinum card benefit for the room netted out to $45 rather than $200.

However, the additional benefits added:

The $100 credit which were able to use at the hotel’s rooftop restaurant and bar
The upgraded room (a value of about $100)

Additionally, this hotel was a step up from where we otherwise would have stayed. The location on the Salzach River offered postcard worthy views of the historic center of Salzburg and put us a few minutes away from the things we wanted to see. On balance, it was clearly worth it to take advantage of this card benefit for this trip.

Bottom line

Ms. Optimizer and I rarely stay in places that leave chocolates on our pillow or provide thick terry robes (although we never complain about such touches). I doubt we would ever use the hotel credit benefit for the “Fine Hotels and Resorts” collection since these rooms tend to cost more than $500 per night. Even with the statement credit, we would be spending more than we typically spend. Of course, for those who like to stay in luxury hotels and resorts and tend to spend more on their stays, using the statement credit is a “no brainer.”

The properties in “The Hotel Collection” tend to be less expensive and I can see cases where the credits will lower accommodation costs for those who would be inclined to spend $200-300 per night on a hotel room. There are not loads of properties in the program that will work for this niche, but if it applies to you and you hold an Amex Gold or Platinum card, it may be worth looking into when planning future travel.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Bavaria Case Study: Points and Miles Free Up Travel Budget for Music, Museums, and Mozartkugeln

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 18:52:24 GMT

Points and miles greatly reduced the cost of this alpine adventure

When Ms. Optimizer and I take trips, I like to report how the points and miles game fit into our plans and how it benefited us. After all, if I am going to dispense advice about turning credit card spending into free travel, I need to lead by example and show results.

Recently, we took a trip to Bavaria and Austria for some alpine hiking and a bit of culture. In Bavaria, we spent a week hiking around the towns of Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Mittenwald. Highlights included taking a cogwheel train and cable car to the top of the Zugspitze, the highest point in Germany, and walking through the Partnach Gorge. We balanced the outdoorsy part of our trip with two nights in Salzburg that included a concert at the Hohensalzburg fortress overlooking the city. (Of course, this included several Mozart pieces, among others.)

A couple of factoids for travel to this area:

In Bavaria outside of Munich, restaurants and merchants often prefer cash. Of course, I prefer using credit cards as much as possible, but I made the adjustment.
The alpine towns we visited appear to cater mostly to German tourists (we never ran into other Americans or native English speakers) but, as English is a common second language, we had no communication issues.
There are several brands of Mozartkugeln (a chocolate containing marzipan, nougat, and pistachio) which can be found throughout Austria. The brands have different claims to fame. The Furst brand are hand made and are the only brand that can describe itself as the “Original Mozartkugeln.” Furst was, in fact, first. The Mirabell brand is the only brand that is allowed to market a perfectly spherical Mozartkugeln. The Reber brand, manufactured in Germany, must market with a hyphenated name (Mozart-Kugeln). There are a couple of other manufacturers. It is probably heresy, but I like the German brand the most.

Naturally, points and miles played a key role in this trip, both for reducing costs and for increasing comfort. We were able to utilize Air France miles, Delta miles, and Hilton points to lower our costs as follows:

To catch our transatlantic flight, we used 22,800 Delta miles for two, “Comfort Plus” tickets to New York’s JFK airport. With a value of $397 for the tickets, the redemption of 1.7 cents per mile was much better than we normally get on Delta.
We redeemed 110,00 Air France miles for two, one-way business class tickets from JFK to Munich. With a value of $5055, we got an excellent redemption of 4.6 cents per mile.
For our return trip to the US, we redeemed 33,000 Air France miles for two, economy class tickets from Munich to Newark. The fair market value of these tickets was $1303 so the redemption worked out to 3.9 cents per mile. (We generally fly economy back to the US since these flights are during the day and we do not need the lie-flat beds in business class. Being wide awake, I used the opportunity to binge on movies!)
Our only use of hotel points was for a room at the Munich Airport Hilton the night before our return home. We used 45,000 Hilton points for a room that would go for $159. At 0.35 cents per point, this was a so-so redemption.

Overall, the miles and points we utilized for this one trip saved us over $6,900. Additionally, the use of travel rewards credit cards yielded additional benefits that enhanced our trip.

Because we have one Amex Delta Gold card, we got a 15 percent discount when redeeming miles for the positioning flight to JFK. This card also allowed us to check bags for free.
Through the Amex Platinum Card, we were able to use the Delta lounge at our departure airport.
By using the Amex Platinum Card “Hotel Collection” benefit, our room in Salzburg was upgraded to a “junior suite,” we were given $100 of credit to use at the hotel’s rooftop terrace restaurant, and we were able to get a late checkout.
Our Hilton credit card conveys silver status in the Hilton Honors which entitled us to free breakfast at the Munich airport hotel.
Using our Priority Pass that we receive with our Amex Platinum cards, we had access to the Air France lounge before leaving Munich (although 6 AM was a bit early to take advantage of the self-serve beer on tap that they offered!!).
With a United MilesPlus card, we used the two complimentary lounge passes United provides each year to pass the time in Newark airport.
Finally, we were able to upgrade our seats on our final leg from Newark to our home airport with the airline fee credit offered by the Amex Platinum card.

For this trip to the Alps region, like other trips we have taken in recent years, the well-planned use of miles and points has changed the way that we travel by not only significantly reducing our costs, but also by enhancing our experiences with more comfort and luxury.

Whether you are interested in hiking in Bavaria, listening to “A Little Night Music” on a Salzburg night, sampling Mozartkugeln, checking out Baroque churches, or any other type of travel adventure, we are prepared to design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you that will quickly generate free and reduced cost travel while keeping your annual card fees under control.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Hotel Chains: Offering Different “Footprints” for Different Types of Travelers

Fri, 21 Jun 2024 13:05:26 GMT

Be sure that hotel credit cards and loyalty programs match your travel goals

A great way to save money in the points and miles game is to combine a co-branded hotel credit card with a hotel loyalty program. You get points for your stays, and you can get significant spending bonuses for using the co-branded card when staying with that chain. The offers for co-branded hotel credit cards often come with attention-getting sign-up bonuses (SUBs). Currently, Mariott Bonvoy has an SUB of 150,000 Mariott Bonvoy points; IHG has an SUB of 140,000 IHG points. But, the decision to pursue free rooms should be based on more than a cards ability to generate points. A key question to ask is “Will the hotel chain’s loyalty program and co-branded credit card provide the types of accommodations I need when I travel?”

Even the largest hotel chains cannot be all things to all travelers. This post discusses some of the key differences you might want to take into consideration before pursuing a specific program.

Mariott Bonvoy

This chain is the largest in the world with 8700 properties in 139 countries. The chain encompasses 30 brands including Ritz-Carlton, Sheraton, Westin, Aloft, Courtyard, and Residence Inn.

An interesting feature of this program is, if you redeem points for four consecutive nights, the fifth night is free.

There are several co-branded credit cards offered by both American Express and Chase. https://www.travelrewardsoptimizer.com/marriott-bonvoy-credit-cards-five-cards-from-two-issuers Given this relationship, you can transfer both Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) points and Amex Membership Rewards (MR) points to your Marriott Bonvoy account. Additionally, Marriott Bonvoy points can be transferred to dozens of airlines.

A key strength of this program is its versatility. It offers properties throughout the world, at a range of price points and amount of luxury, and for short as well as extended stays.

Hilton

Hilton is also a chain with a large footprint as it offers 7400 properties in 124 countries. Its portfolio of brands includes Waldorf-Astoria, DoubleTree, and Hampton.

Like the Marriott Bonvoy program, the Hilton program lets you add a fifth night when you redeem four consecutive nights.

Hilton’s co-branded cards are issued by American Express. https://www.travelrewardsoptimizer.com/hilton-credit-cards-delivering-value-at-different-price-points-for-the-right-traveler You can also transfer Amex MR points to your Hilton account.

This is another comprehensive chain that offers properties in many places and at many price points.

Intercontinental Hotels Group

This large chain has 6000 hotels in over 100 countries. IHG’s brands include InterContinental, Holiday Inn Express, and Crowne Plaza.

For lengthier stays, the IHG rewards program surpasses the Marriott and Hilton programs by adding a fourth free night with redemptions of three consecutive nights.

Chase offers three co-branded credit cards and your IHG account can take point transfers from either Chase or Bilt. https://www.travelrewardsoptimizer.com/hyatt-and-ihg-cards-basic-cards-with-an-annual-free-night

World of Hyatt

While not having the footprint of Marriott or Hilton, this is a popular program. Hyatt has 1200 properties in 70 countries. Brands include Hyatt Place, Grand Hyatt, Andaz, and Hyatt Regency. The portfolio includes many all-inclusive resort properties. Properties are most likely to be found in larger cities.

Chase offers two World of Hyatt credit cards (personal and business). https://www.travelrewardsoptimizer.com/hyatt-and-ihg-cards-basic-cards-with-an-annual-free-night The program takes transfers of both Chase and Bilt points. As Hyatt points tend to be worth more than the points of other chains, getting the 1-to-1 transfers from Chase yields some of the best hotel redemptions.

As Hyatt properties tend to be in and near cities, World of Hyatt is not a good choice for those looking for accommodation in smaller cities or rural areas.

Wyndham

This is a very large chain – 9000 properties in 95 countries – which is oriented toward midscale and economy travel. Its two dozen brands include La Quinta, Super 8, Days Inn, and Howard Johnson.

There are three credit cards offered by Barclays that can help you add to your Wyndham Rewards account. Additionally, you can transfer Citi Thank You points and Capital One points to the Wyndham program.

This chain is especially useful for those looking for economy hotels in small town, rural America.

Choice Hotels

This chain also focuses on travelers looking for value. Choice has 7000 properties in over 40 countries. Its brands include Comfort Inn and Quality Inn.

Wells Fargo offers two co-branded credit cards and the program takes points transfers from Citi, Capital One, Amex, and Wells Fargo.

Like the Wyndham program, this is for travelers who are not concerned with luxury and are traveling to small town America.

As with many aspects of travel, people have unique needs and preferences when choosing hotels. When we create a Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we take your travel plans, destinations, and travel style into consideration so that you can get the most out of any hotel program recommendations that we might make.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Now is the Time to Plan Your Visit to America’s Popular National Parks (for Next Summer)

Wed, 05 Jun 2024 17:46:56 GMT

Early planning is the key to seeing America's iconic national parks on your terms.

The Friday before this year’s Memorial Day set a record for domestic air travel as almost three million passengers went through TSA screening. With inflation rates dropping and COVID in the rear-view mirror, it appears that we are headed for another highly active summer travel season.

The increase in travel during the summer has an especially high impact on visits to some of the country’s most popular national parks. Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming may get fewer than 50,000 visitors per month during the winter, but monthly visits can top one million in the summer. Glacier National Park in Montana has fewer than 25,000 visitors monthly between November and March, but visits swell to 750,000 per month or more in the summer.

As you can imagine, prices for flights and accommodation rise in the summer months with the jump in demand to visit these great parks. Rooms at normally budget friendly brands like Holiday Inn Express, Hampton Inn, or Hyatt Place can approach $400 per night. Last summer, Ms. Optimizer and I spent over $300 for a night at a Super 8 in Kalispell, Montana (a 40-minute drive from the western entrance to Glacier National Park).

So, where does the points and miles game fit into visiting these parks during high demand periods? Unfortunately, it is difficult to get exceptional value from travel rewards when visiting some of the popular national parks. Most hotel chains and airlines have dynamic pricing with points and miles that mirrors demand. Also, at least in remote parts of the western United States, the properties of major hotel chains are hard to find.

The best advice I can offer is to make your plans as early as possible to take advantage of any points and miles opportunities that might be available to you. As always, determine if the redemption is worthwhile or not. For our trip to Glacier National Park last summer, we were able to get an acceptable redemption on United Airlines (1.6 cents per point) but struck out when trying to get free rooms for either Glacier or Yellowstone.

While it is very difficult for me to admit this as an apostle of travel rewards, an excellent solution for accommodation is to pay actual money and book your rooms inside the national parks . There are several good reasons to do this:

First, these rooms tend to be less expensive, and sometimes much less expensive, than comparable properties outside the parks. It is possible to get a room that will accommodate a family of four for under $300 in parks such as Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, and Glacier. The reason is that accommodations inside these parks are operated by concessionaires who have been awarded contracts by the National Park Service. While I am not familiar with the contracts, they seem to come with price controls.

Staying inside the parks saves the time and hassle of driving to the park every day, negotiating policies for when you can and cannot enter, and waiting in long lines to enter.

Often the properties inside the park can be very close to key areas. For example, the Yavapai Lodge at the Grand Canyon is within walking distance of the Canyon’s southern rim. Lodges at Yellowstone can put you close to the iconic Old Faithful geyser. The Bryce Canyon Lodge is about a five-minute walk from the famous Bryce Amphitheater which is populated by the famous and picturesque “hoodoos.”

Above, I suggested booking early to get any benefit from the points and miles game. This would mean booking hotels a year in advance and flights when they become available (usually about 11 months in advance). The same advice applies to booking accommodation inside the parks. The National Park Service websites for national parks that have lodging in the park will direct you to the websites run by the lodging concessionaires. Many properties are run by Xanterra or AraMark.

For booking rooms, a typical pattern is that availability for a given month opens on the first day of that month in the previous year . As an example, if you would like to stay in Glacier National Park in July of next summer (2025), all the July 2025 rooms will become available for booking on July 1 ^st of this year. You can book starting at midnight (local time for the park of interest) on the first of the month. My experience is that rooms can be in high demand even one year out and they start to disappear quickly.

While there are excellent points and miles strategies for many of the trips we take, they do not always work out for some of America’s iconic national parks. Even so, these parks are a national treasure, are worth visiting, and deliver excellent value. And remember, when paying for lodging, be sure to use a credit card that has spending bonuses for hotels or travel purchases.

What have been your experiences with utilizing points and miles for visiting national parks?

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Seek and Ye May Find a Better Sign-Up Bonus

Thu, 16 May 2024 00:16:20 GMT

A few minutes can yield thousands of extra points and miles

A key strategy of the points and miles game is taking advantage of sign-up bonuses (SUBs) after applying for a new credit card. Some can be quite generous and provide enough points or miles for a roundtrip ticket to Europe or several nights at hotels. Several SUBs I have picked up over the past decade have been worth more than $1,000 in free travel.

When using a new credit card that offers a SUB, the gravest sin is to not reach the spending threshold the issuer requires to award you the bonus. When you apply for a new card that offers a SUB:

Be sure that you will be able to put enough purchases on the new card in the allocated time. Most personal cards have bonus spending thresholds that are easily achievable; thresholds for some premium business cards might be more challenging for smaller businesses.
Be prepared to meet the threshold at least two weeks before the time the issuer gives you. If the issuing bank gives you three months to meet the spending threshold, complete it in 2.5 months. This is because the period the issuer gives you (typically 3-6 months) begins when you are approved, not when you receive and activate the card. There is often a gap of 7-10 days between approval and receipt of the card.
Bear in mind that the annual fee charged by the issuer does NOT count toward your spending threshold.

And now, an important secret about SUBs. All SUBs are not created equal.

It is common for issuers, especially American Express to offer one, common sign-up bonus at the primary site for a credit card but higher offers at other sites. Some current examples include:

The main offer for the Amex Gold card is a 60,000-point SUB, but some people are finding 80,000-point SUBs.
The standard offer for the Amex Platinum is an 80,000-point sub, but I have run across 100K and 120K point SUBs.
I have seen very different offers for the Chase Freedom Flex card. Some offer a modest flat bonus where some offers include 5X points on groceries for the first year (an offer that would be worth significantly more for some households).

Because the more generous offers are not standard, they require some digging and different people will get different results. My practice, when applying for a new card, is to spend about five minutes looking for better SUB offers by:

Trying different search engines when researching a specific card.
Performing a search for the card in incognito mode.
Using a different device than the laptop I work on most (phone, another computer).

Sometimes, the offers with a higher SUB are identical to the standard offer in every other respect. However, they might differ in that the spending threshold for the bonus is higher or perhaps the higher SUB offer requires you to pay the annual fee for the first year while the standard offer waives the annual fee for the first year. If there are such differences, you need to decide if the value of the higher SUB is compelling enough to take it.

When you start your search, it is important that you be ready to apply if you find an attractive offer. Strong offers might disappear if you leave the website and come back later. It is important to have your Social Security number and household income information available (or an EIN if you are applying for a business credit card and your business has an EIN).

When we create a Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, our guidance is based on the assumption that you will be able to procure standard sign-up bonuses. But, of course, we encourage you to spend a brief amount of time hunting for a better offer.

If you have your own stories about finding higher SUBs, we would like to hear about them.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Credit Card Referrals: It Just Might be Better to Give than to Receive

Thu, 09 May 2024 19:58:09 GMT

Referral programs provide an easy way to pad your points and miles portfolio

A great way to get miles or points with almost no effort is to refer friends or family members for cards that you carry. Chase, American Express, and Capital One all have very active referral programs. Examples include:

If you hold a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you will get 10,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for referring a new cardholder once their application is accepted. If used with transfer partners, these points could be worth $150-200.
Holders of the Chase United Explorer card can get 10,000 miles per successful referral. These points would be worth $150 or more.
Those holding an American Express Gold Card can get 10,000 Amex Membership Rewards points (worth up to $200 if used with transfer partners) for referrals; the referral bonus for the Amex Platinum is 20,000 MR points.
The referral bonus for those with an Amex Delta Gold card is 7,500 Delta SkyMiles (worth about $75) per successful referral.
Capital One offers a 25,000-mile referral bonus for holders of the Venture X card.

These programs are fairly simple to use. The card issuer gives you a unique referral link that you can copy and send to others, and they can take it from there. If the friend applies and their application is approved, the bonus miles or points appear in your account. In addition to creating unique referral links that you can copy and paste, American Express also offers the option of sending emails on your behalf. Of course, if you use this option, you are giving someone’s contact information to American Express so you should ask for their permission.

A few years ago, these programs tended to be capped at 50,000 miles or points of referral bonuses per year. Now, you can collect as many as 100,000 miles or points in referral bonuses annually for some cards.

It is important to note that the points or miles you receive from referrals are treated as taxable income. Sign-up bonuses and the points or miles you accumulate from your credit card purchases are not taxable because they are essentially a rebate – you must spend money to get them. But, miles and points for referrals are truly free so, if you get a referral bonus during a year, you are likely to get a 1099-MISC in January of the next year. Typically, the value stated on the 1099-MISC is reasonable (often one cent per point) and you should be able to get that much value or more out of the points/miles.

When we create a Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we do not take referral programs into consideration unless we know it can benefit you directly. The bottom line is helping you get to your next vacation faster and at a lower cost. However, if the credit cards we recommend happen to be linked to a referral program, we will bring it to your attention so you can do a small favor for a friend or family member if you are so inclined. In fact, I have recommended credit cards that I do not hold to clients, and later asked those clients to refer me so they could pick up a few thousand free points from my application. It all adds up in the points and miles game, and it can be better to give than to receive.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Make Your Travel Plans for the Next Total Eclipse NOW!

Fri, 12 Apr 2024 10:22:53 GMT

View an upcoming total solar eclipse from a great destination

The Optimizer household enjoyed viewing Monday’s eclipse with our nifty protective goggles. While we thought the effects of 80 percent coverage were fascinating, we could only imagine how cool it would be to have witnessed this event from within the 120-mile path of totality that stretched across Mexico, the United States, and Canada. And, we started to wonder when we might have that opportunity again.

There is bad news, good news, and great news.

The bad news is that the next opportunity to view a total eclipse from the contiguous 48 states will be in August 2044. Furthermore, in the United States, the total eclipse will only be seen from three states – Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

The good news is that a total solar eclipse occurs every so often somewhere on the planet and there will be seven total eclipses in the next ten years.

The great news is that some of these total eclipses will take place in popular and easy-to-reach vacation destinations. Three opportunities seem especially intriguing.

August 12, 2026 – The path of totality will include Reykjavik, Iceland and northern Spain. Areas in the path of totality will be very close to Barcelona so this would be an easy place to fly before setting out to nearby towns and cities that will have a total eclipse.
August 2, 2027 – The path of totality will cut through the Strait of Gibraltar and across northern Africa and include Malaga, Spain , the Spanish islands of Mallorca and Ibiza , and Tangier, Morocco .
July 22, 2028 – Sydney, Australia will be directly in the path of totality which will cross Australia and the South Island of New Zealand. The period of totality in Sydney will last an astounding 4 minutes.

Travel Rewards Optimizer is ready to help you get there (and the time to plan is now!!)

If you are interested in getting to these international destinations with travel reward flights, it will take a lot of miles or points, especially if you are going with a significant other, taking your family or opting to fly business or first class. We are prepared to help you set yourself up for significant cost savings on flights and hotels by helping you turn your routine credit card spending into travel for these rare opportunities.

The 2026 total eclipse is more than two years away but the time to start thinking about accumulating travel rewards is now . Because these total eclipses will be visible from areas that are already popular destinations, it will be important to plan your travel well in advance. This might mean nailing down hotels a year in advance and making flight reservations as soon as flights become available (typically 11-12 months in advance). If you are paying with miles and points, you want them to be available by August of next year. And, working backwards from August 2025, you need to put your travel rewards strategy in place so that you can accumulate what you need in the next 15 or 16 months.

Whether you are interested in catching one of these upcoming total eclipses or any other type of travel adventure, we are prepared to design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you that will quickly generate free and reduced cost travel while keeping your annual card fees under control.

H/T: Kat Little

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

The Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Card: An Intriguing New Source of Flexible Points

Tue, 02 Apr 2024 18:55:41 GMT

Strong travel spending bonuses with one significant (but hopefully temporary) weakness

In my experience, the best return on routine spending is through credit cards that offer flexible points. Because these flexible points can be transferred to many domestic and international airlines, cardholders can find the most valuable redemption for a particular itinerary and date. Points can also be transferred to hotel chains although it can be harder to get solid redemptions.

Currently, the key five flexible points programs are offered by Chase, American Express, Capital One, Citi, and Bilt. This week, they will be joined by Wells Fargo, which will offer flexible points through its recently launched Autograph Journey card.

The Autograph Journey card is offering a 60,000-point bonus for making $4,000 in purchases in the first three months. The cash value of this offer is $600. The annual fee for the card is $95.

Spending Bonus Structure

The Autograph Journey is clearly oriented toward travel spending as travel categories will net you the best spending bonuses.

5X spending bonus for hotels – Aside from bonuses on co-branded hotel cards, this is the highest generic spending bonus for hotels of which I am aware.
4X spending bonus for flights – This is also an excellent bonus rate even compared to what is offered on co-branded airline cards. While the best generic flight bonus is the 5X bonus with an American Express Platinum card, that card has an annual fee of $695.
3X spending bonus for dining – This is solid and competitive with other travel cards.
3X spending bonus for “other travel” – Again, this is solid and competitive.
1X for all other purchases

Importantly, none of these bonuses requires spending through a Wells Fargo (or any other) portal.

Other Benefits

This card offers some travel-related benefits.

A $50 per year credit for a $50 minimum airline purchase
$1 million in travel accident insurance
Trip cancellation/interruption protection
Lost baggage reimbursement
Cellular telephone protection

Potential Transfer of Points to Airlines and Hotels

While it is easy to get $600 in cash value out of this $95 card from its welcome bonus, there is greater potential value in transferring the points to airline partners. Airline partners include:

Air France (Flying Blue)
Avianca LifeMiles
British Airways Executive Club
Aer Lingus AerClub
Iberia Plus

These points can also be transferred to Choice Privileges, a hotel program that includes brands like Radisson, Clarion, and Rodeway Inn.

This is a very limited list compared to the list of transfer options offered by the other issuers of flexible points (Ex: Amex points can be transferred to 18 airlines; Capital One points to 15 airlines). However, Wells Fargo has indicated that they are talking with other carriers about partnerships and expects to add to the above list soon. I am inclined to believe this will happen as such partnerships are profitable for airlines and hotel chains and, as discussed in a recent TRO post, many non-US airlines partner with multiple issuers of flexible points.

If Well Fargo can significantly expand its transfer partner options, the Autograph Journey could become a significant player in the travel card market.

Conclusions

Overall, it is great to see another option for those interested in flexible point travel cards. Competition is good for the points and miles community and will keep the current banks who issue proprietary points from becoming complacent.

A key strength of the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey is its spending bonus structure. For the key spending categories of travel – flights, hotel, car rental, restaurants – the spending bonuses tend to match or surpass what is currently being offered by competitors. It is easy to imagine that a business traveler or vacationer could rely heavily on this card if airline and hotel brand loyalty is not important.

At the same time, the limited list of transfer partners is a key weakness. The benefit of flexible points is that they can be used with a variety of airline and hotel partners. For the near term, the Wells Fargo flexible points will not be so flexible with respect to travel partners. However, it remains to be seen how many partners Wells Fargo will add in the coming months.

For now, I could see this card as useful for several types of points and miles enthusiasts.

People highly likely to plan travel on one of the five partner airlines
People who travel but are not particularly brand loyal to any airline or hotel chain
People who have points on another Wells Fargo card and want the option of combining them with points from an Autograph Journey card
People who are blocked from getting welcome bonuses with other flexible point cards (Ex: beyond Chase 5/24 limit)

The Wells Fargo Autograph Journey card might or might not fit into a productive travel rewards plan for you. Going forward, I will be keeping an eye on this card, especially any changes in transfer partners, and will keep you apprised. For now, I think its value is limited, but I also expect its value will improve and for this card to become an option for more people. Our job at Travel Rewards Optimizer is to keep track of changes and opportunities so we can provide our clients with guidance to get the most value out of their travel rewards programs. When we design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we take your travel goals, travel habits, spending patterns, and preferences into account. We want to ensure that the cards we recommend for you can quickly generate free travel and provide relevant benefits while keeping your annual card fees under control.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Is the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card Suffering “Death by a Thousand Cuts?”

Sat, 30 Mar 2024 13:30:20 GMT

Another benefit of the once wildly popular travel credit card is taken away

In October, I posted about the Priority Pass, a feature of many travel credit cards, and how the benefits of a Priority Pass varied from card to card. One special benefit of a Priority Pass issued through the Chase Sapphire Reserve card was that, in addition to giving access to hundreds of airport lounges, this version of the Priority Pass could be used at numerous airport restaurants in the United States and abroad.

These restaurants were not stellar, but most were adequate, and the price was right. They were especially helpful in airports that did not have lounges in the Priority Pass network. The typical benefit has been a $28 credit that can be applied to a meal. Better yet, many of these restaurants will let you bring a guest so the credit can be doubled to $56. In fact, the optimi-daughter and I were able to get both breakfast and dinner at a Priority Pass restaurant at the Miami airport when on a day trip (a $100+ value). Our family also got significant use of this restaurant benefit at the Denver and Portland, OR airports.

As the saying goes “All good things must come to an end.” Chase has announced that the restaurant benefit of the Priority Passes issued with the Sapphire Reserve card will end on June 30th. While these Priority Passes will still give access to over a thousand airport lounges worldwide, this change will drop three dozen restaurants in 25 US airports. It also means that about 40 airport restaurants outside of the US (almost half of which are in Australia) will also be dropped. However, the “experiences” that are offered by the Priority Pass (Minute Suites, spas) will remain.

The loss of the Priority Pass restaurant credits for Sapphire Reserve cardholders might be a significant blow to travelers who frequently fly from and through airports with the included restaurants. Assuming you liked the Pass’ restaurants, this benefit alone could go a long way towards justifying the annual cost ($550) of the card.

When the Sapphire Reserve was launched in fall 2016, I regarded it as the “Queen of Travel Cards.” Chase offered a welcome bonus of 100,000 Chase Ultimate Points (worth over $2,000 to my household), a $300 travel credit, the Priority Pass, a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, an excellent car rental collision damage waiver (CDW), and 3X Chase points per dollar spent on dining or travel (with travel defined very broadly). The annual fee was $450 but, as the $300 travel credit had no restrictions and was very easy to use, the CSR was a de facto $150 card.

The card was almost too good to be true. Demand was so high that Chase ran out of the metal they used to stamp the cards. No doubt, many points and miles enthusiasts who had surpassed Chase’s 5/24 limit (five new cards within two years) wept at being excluded from the frenzy. I was ineligible for the CSR at the time because I had picked up a Sapphire Preferred card earlier that year, but fortunately, Ms. Optimizer was able to apply. Chase reported that, with respect to new customers, the CSR was wildly successful. However, they also acknowledged that providing the promised benefits was very expensive and they expected to lose hundreds of millions of dollars on this card (but don’t worry, Chase will survive).

This impending reduction in Priority Pass benefits follows other changes that have lessened the CSR’s value proposition in absolute terms as well as vis-à-vis the less expensive Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

The welcome bonus has been reduced to 60,000 points (which is the same as the welcome bonus for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card).
While spending bonuses are the same, the restaurant spending bonuses on both the CSR and CSP are three points per dollar. So again, there is a parity between the two cards.
The annual fee of the Sapphire Reserve has increased to $550. Because the $300 travel credit is completely unrestricted (you do not have to use a specific travel portal) it is easy to use. I consider this a $250 a year card but it is now $155 more than the Sapphire Preferred card.
And simply, Chase’s competitors have stepped up with their own offerings in the travel card market.

The loss of the Priority Pass restaurant credits is not good news, and I think it will definitely influence some current cardholders to drop the CSR or downgrade to the cheaper CSP card. This will certainly have an impact on my own thinking as I create Travel Rewards Optimizer plans for clients. However, while the “Queen of Travel Rewards Cards” has been dethroned, there are reasons why some might want to retain the card or even add it to their wallet.

The Priority Pass can still be quite useful for air travelers who frequently use certain airports and especially certain airports outside of the United States.
Like American Express and Capital One, Chase has gotten into the airport lounge business. Sapphire Reserve cardholders can access Chase's proprietary lounges in Boston, New York (both LaGuardia and JFK), and Hong Kong. Lounges are also planned for Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Diego, and Philadelphia.
A cardholder can add an authorized user, giving them access to Priority Pass airport lounges, for only $75 per AU. The cost of adding AUs to an Amex Platinum (which comes with the same level of Priority Pass) is $195 per.
The CSR generates more category bonus points for travel than the CSP (3X vs 2). If spending $10,000 or more annually for travel, the value of the additional points can make up for the higher annual fee. This could be especially beneficial for those purchasing cruises or expensive vacation packages.
If using the Chase portal for travel purchases, CSR cardholders get 1.5 cents per point in value vs. 1.25 cents per point for Sapphire Preferred cardholders.

Bottom line: This card is no longer the “no brainer” that is was at the time it was launched. But, like most travel cards, it has a place for some travelers.

While no one likes to hear about devaluations or the loss of a travel card’s benefits, new products and opportunities in travel rewards are always appearing. The overall lesson of this recent change with the CSR is that value propositions shift constantly. Our job at Travel Rewards Optimizer is to keep track of changes and opportunities so we can provide our clients with guidance to get the most value out of their travel rewards programs.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Airlines as Recipients of Flexible Point "Transfusions"

Thu, 28 Mar 2024 15:09:15 GMT

Some airlines take flexible point transfers from multiple sources for high value redemptions

In blood transfusions, it is important to know blood type because sometimes a possible donor and recipient are a good match and sometimes the blood donation would be dangerous to the recipient. Individuals with Type O negative (O-) blood are considered “universal donors” because they can donate to anyone regardless of blood type. Individuals with AB positive (AB+) blood are “universal recipients” because they can safely get a transfusion of any blood type – A, B, O, or AB whether Rh positive or Rh negative.

Blood transfusion is a good analogy for the relationship between proprietary transferable points which can be earned from credit card spending (donors) and airline loyalty programs (recipients). Sometimes, these flexible points awarded by banks can be transferred to a loyalty program and sometimes not.

There are five (and soon to be six) key sources of flexible points. The sixth will become available next week when Wells Fargo begins allowing transfers of its points to several travel partners. These sources are:

American Express Membership Rewards
Bilt Rewards
Capital One Miles
Chase Ultimate Rewards
Citi Thank You Points
Wells Fargo (starting April 4 ^th )

These sources of flexible points and the various airline programs that accept transferred points provide tremendous opportunities for value but also create a complex “transfusion” landscape.

Are there any “universal donors” to all airline loyalty programs?

From what I know, there are at least 27 airline loyalty programs that will take transferred points. There is no “universal donor” that covers them all. The flexible points currency that would be closest to being a “universal donor” would be American Express Membership Rewards. These points can be transferred to 18 airline programs.

The other flexible points can be transferred to fewer airline programs as follows: Capital One (15); Citi (14); Bilt (14); Chase (11); and Wells Fargo (5).

Universal (and Near Universal) Recipients

All the airlines that accept flexible points from at least four banks are non-domestic airlines.

Currently, one loyalty program stands apart as a universal recipient of flexible points and that is Flying Blue, a joint Air France/KLM program.

You can transfer the flexible points of Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, and Citi to this program.
Next week, Wells Fargo will be added to this list.

Several other programs come close as they accept the flexible points from five of the six key transferable currencies.

Avianca LifeMiles – Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Citi, Wells Fargo
British Airways Executive Club – Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Wells Fargo
Emirates Skywards – Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi
Virgin Atlantic – Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi

Honorable Mentions

These programs can take four types of flexible points.

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer – Amex, Capital One, Chase, Citi
Aer Lingus Aer Club – Amex, Bilt, Chase, Wells Fargo
Air Canada Aeroplan – Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles – Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Citi

Which US airlines accept the most flexible currencies?

Domestic airlines tend to accept only one or two (if any) forms of transferable points.

The domestic airline program with the most transfer partners is JetBlue TrueBlue which will take points from Amex, Chase, or Citi.

Other domestic carriers have more limited partnerships:

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan – Bilt
American Airlines Aadvantage – Bilt (but this partnership is ending in June)
Delta SkyMiles – Amex
Hawaiian Miles – Amex, Bilt
Southwest Rapid Rewards – Chase
United – Bilt, Chase

Bear in mind that, although there are more transfer opportunities with non-domestic airlines, many of these carriers will let you redeem their miles for domestic (i.e., US) flights. As an example, it is possible to use Flying Blue miles for a domestic flight and you are simply ticketed on Delta, Flying Blue’s US partner.

What is the value of having airline loyalty programs that are universal recipients?

There are several benefits to loyalty programs that can accept points from different flexible point cards.

You can choose which airlines are offering you the lowest price (in points) and transfer your flexible points to them accordingly. For most transfers, the transfer rate is simply one-to-one meaning there is no complex math, and you are making an “apples to apples” comparison. If Iberia will get you a round trip to Europe for 48,000 miles and TAP Portugal wants 40,000 miles, TAP is the way to go if you are otherwise indifferent.
You might need to concentrate a lot of points in one place for a big trip. International travel generally takes more miles, and you can supply a loyalty program from multiple sources to build up the mileage balance you need.
Using multiple sources of flexible points will allow you to make credit purchases strategically for faster accumulation of points for use with a specific airline. Category spending bonuses vary from card to card and bank to bank so different flexible point programs can help you optimize your routine credit card spending.
If you have run afoul of Chase’s “5/24 Rule” or have already taken many welcome bonuses from other banks, you can find a new flexible points “donor.” I am sure the new Wells Fargo card and the ability to transfer their points to airlines will be a boon for hard core members of the “points and miles” crowd.

Conclusion

Flexible points and the airline loyalty programs that accept them are a key component of an efficient travel rewards program. This is an area where our clients can achieve the highest return on their routine spending. However, the landscape of “donors” and “recipients” is constantly shifting as new products are offered, new partnerships develop, and partnerships end. We stay up to date about these changes and opportunities at Travel Rewards Optimizer so we can create productive and efficient plans that will get our clients to free or reduced cost travel quickly and cost effectively.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Hyatt and IHG Cards: Basic Cards with an Annual Free Night

Wed, 27 Mar 2024 14:57:45 GMT

Under $100 travel credit cards that can pay for themselves every year

Chase offers several co-branded hotel credit cards that easily pay for themselves as their annual fee is less than $100 and they include the benefit of a free night each year upon renewal. Several weeks ago, a post on the Marriott Bonvoy family of credit cards discussed the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, a $95 annual fee card which includes one free night after each annual renewal. Today’s post discusses Hyatt and IHG co-branded cards, two of which include a free room upon each annual renewal. The cards are:

Chase IHG Traveler MasterCard
Chase IHG Premier MasterCard
Chase World of Hyatt Visa

IHG Traveler

This card has no annual fee, and the current welcome bonus is 100,000 IHG points after spending $2,000 within three months. These points tend to be worth about one-half of a cent, so the welcome bonus is worth around $500.

This card will generate 17 IHG points per dollar spent at IHG hotels and resorts. The 17X breaks down as follows – 5X for using the card, 10X for membership in the IHG loyalty program, and 2X for Silver Elite status which comes with the card. The spending bonus structure for other categories is as follows:

3X IHG points for monthly bills including utilities, internet, cable, telephone, and streaming
3X points for gas and dining
2X points for other purchases

An interesting feature of this card is that you can redeem three nights to get a fourth night free in a consecutive four-night stay.

This no fee card also offers a few modest benefits.

20% discount on IHG point purchases
Purchase protection on items within 120 days of purchase
10,000 bonus points after spending $10,000 in one calendar year
Gold Elite status for spending $20,000 in one calendar year

IHG Premier

The annual fee for this card is $99. The current welcome offer is 165,000 points for spending $3,000 within three months so the bonus is worth around $800-850.

The spending bonus structure allows for the accumulation of points as follows:

26X IHG points for stays at IHG hotels and reports (10X for card, 10X for being an IHG One Rewards member, and 6X for Platinum Elite status which is included with the card)
5X points for travel and gas
5X points for dining
3X points for other purchases

This card also offers a fourth night free when redeeming points for three nights (the four nights must be consecutive).

Upon each renewal, cardholders are awarded one free night. These award nights are capped at 40,000 points (about a $200 value) but you can add points already in your account for rooms costing more points.

Other benefits of the IHG Premier include:

A statement credit for up to $100 for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry every four years
20% off IHG point purchases
$100 + 10,000 points for spending at least $20,000 in a calendar year
$50 in United TravelBank Cash each year
IHG Diamond status for spending at least $40,000 in one calendar year
Purchase protection and trip cancellation/interruption insurance

World of Hyatt Visa

There is only one personal Hyatt card and it has an annual fee of $95. The base sign-up bonus is 30,000 Hyatt points for spending $3000 within the first three months. I consider these points to be worth about two cents each, so the base bonus could be worth about $600.

It is possible to earn more welcome bonus points beyond these initial 30,000 points. The offer is that the cardholder will receive two Hyatt points for purchases that normally generate one point for the first six months with a cap of 30,000 additional welcome bonus points. I was unable to discern if receiving the full potential bonus (60,000 points) requires spending $15,000 beyond the $3000 needed for the first 30,000 points (a total of $18,000) or if the first $3,000 counts toward the $15,000 needed for the full bonus.

Spending bonuses for this card are as follows:

9X Hyatt points for Hyatt stays booked directly with Hyatt
2X points for restaurants
2X points for airline purchases
2X points for some local transit and commuting
2X points for fitness clubs
1X for other purchases

Cardholders are awarded one free night upon renewal each year and this free night can be used for properties in Hyatt categories 1-4 (up to 15,000 points). Cardholders can also earn an additional free night by spending at least $15,000 in a calendar year.

Other benefits include a range of insurance coverages geared to travelers:

Trip cancellation/interruption insurance
Purchase protection for damage or theft within 120 days of purchase
Baggage delay insurance
Lost luggage reimbursement
Auto rental collision damage waiver

My Conclusions

The basic IHG Traveler card offers some value for a no fee card. The 100,000-point welcome bonus currently being offered might net several nights at one of the less expensive properties in the IHG portfolio (Ex: a Holiday Inn Express) or a couple of nights at a mid-level property in some markets.

The spending bonuses are not very exciting. While the card offers 3X points for a range of categories, each point is only worth about one-half of a cent so this amounts to a return of 1.5% on spending outside of spending on IHG properties. It is more efficient to direct your credit card spending toward flexible points that are not limited to IHG. Also, given the low per point value of IHG points, it is never a good idea to transfer Chase’s flexible points to IHG unless you need a small number of points (say 1,000-2,000 points) to top off your IHG account for a free room.

For someone who already has IHG points, or who wants to use the welcome bonus for less expensive IHG properties, the “fourth night free” feature can add value for the cardholder.

This card could be good for someone who needs accommodation every so often but wants to avoid annual fees. It also might be useful for someone who accumulates IHG points here and there and wants to supplement their account to get some free rooms faster.

The IHG Premier card, at $99, can deliver some significant value. The welcome bonus alone is worth at least $800, and the free annual room easily covers the annual fee. In fact, Ms. Optimizer and I routinely use the free night awards to get rooms that would otherwise cost around $250. Also, we have had a good track record with getting upgrades at IHG properties due to the Platinum Elite status that comes as a benefit of the card.

The spending bonus structure of this card is more attractive than the one offered for the no fee IHG Traveler card. The 26X bonus for spending at IHG properties is akin to a 13% return on IHG spending meaning that, if using this card, every eighth night at IHG properties could be free. The spending bonuses for travel, gas, and dining (5X) are not exceptional but are better than those offered for the IHG Traveler.

The IHG Premier will always pay for itself as long as you use the annual free night award. With the 26X bonus for IHG purchases, it is an easy choice when staying in those properties. However, it is probably not a good choice for everyday spending. And, even though IHG is a transfer partner for Chase Ultimate Rewards points, it is rarely a good idea to transfer those flexible points to IHG since the transfer ratio is 1:1 and you are turning points worth perhaps two cents each into points worth a fraction of that. This would be like exchanging dollars for pesos one-for-one.

The World of Hyatt card has a respectable base welcome bonus that is worth about $600, and its welcome offer creates an opportunity to earn a higher sign-up bonus. This is less straightforward than past Hyatt card offers but, given the value of Hyatt points (two cents per), this is a reasonable deal for someone who expects to be making purchases in categories that typically do not have spending bonuses (auto, medical, etc.).

Because the points can be worth about two cents each, the spending bonus structure is attractive if you are interested in staying at Hyatt properties.

The 9X point bonus for Hyatt stays returns about 18% per dollar spent meaning that every sixth Hyatt stay could be free.
The 2X bonus for restaurants and airline purchases return 4% per dollar spent.
The 2X bonus for fitness clubs is not offered by many cards so this is a unique opportunity to net a 4% return for this expenditure.
The 1X bonus for other purchases matches the 2% that is common for cashback cards.

World of Hyatt is also a transfer partner with Chase and, as the points are worth about two cents each, there is good value in transferring Chase points to the Hyatt program. In fact, the principal use of the flexible Chase points for our household is to turn them into Hyatt points.

The annual free night award easily covers the card’s annual fee even if you stay in some of the least expensive properties. However, in recent years, I have been able to get rooms costing about $300-350 per night with this benefit so I automatically renew this card every year.

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These IHG and Hyatt cards offered by Chase might or might not fit into a productive travel rewards plan for you. The IHG and Hyatt chains serve different types of travelers because each chain has very different footprints within the United States and globally. But if staying at these chains’ hotels and properties is a potential part of your travel mix, one of the cards discussed in this post might be appropriate. When we design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we take your travel goals, travel habits, spending patterns, and preferences into account. We want to ensure that the cards we recommend for you can quickly generate free travel and provide relevant benefits while keeping your annual card fees under control.

If you have not already, please check out the previous Travel Rewards Optimizer posts on other hotel credit card families.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

No! Carrying Credit Card Balances Will Not Help Your Credit Scores

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 19:58:28 GMT

Banks, of course, are happy if you do

I have enjoyed talking with lots of people about the Travel Rewards Optimizer over the past few months. The topics that we cover run the gamut and the topics like credit scores and the factors that have an impact on these scores come up frequently.

One comment I hear often is that you can improve your credit score by carrying balances – that is, by not paying monthly credit card statements in full. The idea is that by doing this, you are showing the credit reporting agencies that you can reliably pay debt over time. Then, you will be rewarded with an improved FICO score.

When I hear this, I respond with a four-letter word: NOOO!

I did a little digging and learned that a poll conducted just last year revealed that almost one-half of Americans believe that it is beneficial to carry balances. It is certainly beneficial, but not for cardholders (more on that later).

There are several factors that go into FICO scores. A key factor, which can account for one-third of your score, is your payment history. Simply paying your credit card bill on time, every time, builds a history of reliability. But, there are no bonus points for carrying a balance and pushing some of what you owe into the next month.

A second key factor, also accounting for about one-third of your score, is based on the amount you owe as a percentage of the credit available to you. Another term for this is utilization. If the total amount of credit available to you is $10,000 and you put $1,000 on a credit card in a month, your utilization is 10%. Banks do not like to see utilization going beyond 30% because this might be an indicator of financial trouble. When you pay that $1,000 in full, those purchases are removed from the utilization equation (but are, of course, replaced with new purchases for your next monthly statement). Now, let’s say you only pay $500 of your $1,000 balance. Rather than knocking $1000 out of the utilization equation, you are only removing $500. The $500 that remains is increasing your utilization rate beyond what it would otherwise be if you had paid in full. In some cases, the utilization could be high enough that you are actually lowering your credit score despite your efforts to appear responsible.

Aside from the impact or lack thereof on your credit scores, the key reason you should avoid carrying balances is that the interest rates on credit cards purchases are very high. Travel rewards cards, because of their great benefits and free travel potential, have some of the highest interest rates. There is no positive impact on your credit scores for carrying balances and you end up financing groceries, gas, cappuccinos, etc. at 20-something percent interest.

The only winner when you carry a balance is the bank that issues the credit card. But, I can assure you, they will love you for it!!

I always hope to create a Travel Rewards Optimizer for anyone I meet who wants to travel. But, if someone carries credit card balances, I warn them that the interest they will pay will probably outstrip the travel rewards they receive. My advice to them is to avoid carrying balances and avoid paying interest. If that is not possible, opt for cards with the lowest interest rates you can find. And, for those who pay their credit card statements in full, the Travel Rewards Optimizer might be for you.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Travel Card Issuers Pushing an Upgrade?: The Offer Might Make Sense (but So Might a Downgrade)

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 14:48:00 GMT

Travel card "families" offer a range of options

Many travel credit cards, whether offering points and miles for hotel chains and airlines or flexible proprietary points, come in card families. The cards in these families range from free cards that can get you started in your quest for travel rewards to cards with annual fees of over $500 that are packed with luxury benefits.

Over the past few weeks, we have published eight posts, each focusing on a different credit card family. In these posts, we covered current bonus offers, spending bonus structures, benefits, and annual fees. Additionally, we have provided commentary on who might find each card useful.

When we create your unique Travel Rewards Optimizer plan, we take a range of inputs (your travel style, destinations of interest, spending patterns, etc.) into consideration so that you can meet your travel goals as efficiently as possible. Some of the most productive travel rewards cards come with annual fees and, if appropriate, we recommend you apply for them. But also, in the interest of keeping your annual credit card fees under control, we often recommend downgrading a card you might have to a less expensive card in the same family . After all, we don’t work for the banks; we find ways to make them work for you.

We hope you have seen some of these posts on credit card families, but if not, here are links to the entire series.

Chase Freedom/Sapphire: From cashback cards to cards creating a foundation for a robust travel rewards program

https://www.travelrewardsoptimizer.com/chase-freedom-and-sapphire-credit-cards-in-points-and-miles

American Express: Cards that leverage different purchase patterns and offer different benefits

https://www.travelrewardsoptimizer.com/american-express-cards-offering-a-range-of-benefits-and-approaches-to-accumulating-flexible-points

Delta Airlines: Four cards to accommodate very different types of Delta flyers

https://www.travelrewardsoptimizer.com/amex-delta-cards-a-range-of-options-for-very-different-flyers

United Airlines: From a basic, no fee card to a card loaded with benefits

https://www.travelrewardsoptimizer.com/united-airlines-credit-cards-from-a-solid-no-fee-card-to-a-perk-loaded-option

American Airlines: From a free card to Admiral’s Club access

https://www.travelrewardsoptimizer.com/american-airlines-credit-cards-from-a-no-fee-option-to-admirals-club-access

Southwest Airlines: Straightforward and basic cards for Southwest enthusiasts

https://www.travelrewardsoptimizer.com/southwest-airlines-credit-cards-an-option-to-match-your-love-for-southwest

Hilton Hotels: Solid performers at different price points

https://www.travelrewardsoptimizer.com/hilton-credit-cards-delivering-value-at-different-price-points-for-the-right-traveler

Marriott Bonvoy: A mixed bag with some solid cards

https://www.travelrewardsoptimizer.com/marriott-bonvoy-credit-cards-five-cards-from-two-issuers

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Southwest Airlines Credit Cards: An Option to Match Your Love for Southwest

Fri, 15 Mar 2024 20:29:50 GMT

It's very easy to earn the welcome bonus, but ongoing value is minimal.

The latest Travel Rewards Optimizer post on credit card families checks out the Southwest Airlines credit cards offered by Chase. Previous posts have looked at the following card families: Chase Freedom/Sapphire, American Express, Delta, United, American Airlines, Marriott Bonvoy, and Hilton.

This post will discuss three credit cards.

Southwest Plus
Southwest Premier
Southwest Priority

Common Offer Elements for All Three Cards

Apparently, Southwest and Chase want to make this easy. The current welcome bonus is 50,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points for all three cards . These points are worth approximately $700-750. You only need to spend $1,000 within three months to earn the sign-up bonus.

The spending bonus structures for the three cards are almost identical.

2X or 3X for Southwest purchases (2X for the Plus card and 3X for the Premier and Priority cards
2X bonus on purchases with Rapid Rewards car rental partners (most major brands)
2X bonus on purchases with Rapid Rewards hotel partners (Hyatt, Marriott, MGM, Choice, Best Western)
2X on local transit, commuting
2X on internet, cable, phone, streaming
1X all other

All cards also offer a 25% discount for in-flight purchases and 10,000 Companion Pass qualifying points each year.

The differences in the three cards revolve around annual fees, annual Rapid Rewards point bonuses, and benefits.

Southwest Plus

This card has a $69 annual fee and cardholders get 3,000 Southwest points (worth about $45) each year upon renewal. You also get two “Early Bird” check-ins per year so that you can board earlier (Southwest seating is first come, first served).

Southwest Premier

The Premier card’s annual fee is $99 and the annual anniversary bonus is 6,000 points (worth about $90). These cardholders also get two “Early Bird” check-ins each year.

Those spending heavily on this card can get 1,500 tier qualifying points toward “A-list” status for every $5000 spent annually.

Southwest Priority

This highest end card in the family has a $149 annual fee and the annual bonus is 7,500 points (worth about $110-115).

As with the Premier card, those spending heavily on this card can get 1,500 tier qualifying points toward “A-list” status for every $5000 spent annually.

My Conclusions

Because the welcome bonus is the same for all three cards, and the cards are not that differentiated, there is a temptation to determine that the least expensive Southwest Plus card is the way to go. This approach would make sense for those who want to add Southwest points to their travel rewards mix but have no preference for Southwest.

From the standpoint of ongoing value, the card’s ability to pay for itself year after year increases with the annual fee. For the $69 Plus version, the annual bonus and two “Early Bird” check-ins are a break-even proposition as long as you take a trip each year and want to continue accumulating Southwest points over time. The Premier will also allow you to break even if you are taking at least one round trip on Southwest annually and are interested in accumulating their points. With the top tier Priority card, a cardholder can come out ahead with two round trips per year when using the upgraded boarding benefit. However, while cardholders who fly Southwest with some regularity can cover the annual cost of the cards, there do not appear to be the opportunities for outsized value that some other co-branded cards offer.

One caveat is that, although there is a 2X bonus for purchases with Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners, this might not be the best option for points and miles accumulation. Many cards already offer 2X or 3X bonuses for car rental or hotels and co-branded hotel cards tend to offer much better bonuses when staying at their properties.

To end on a more positive note, Southwest offers a Companion Pass that allows a companion flying with you to fly for free (whether you are paying with cash or miles). You can acquire a Companion Pass by accumulating 135,000 Southwest points during a year. Because these points can come from welcome bonus points, 50,000 points is an excellent head start. That 50,000 points can also be combined with the welcome bonus for a Southwest business credit card (currently 80,000 points) to get you almost all the way there.

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If you have not already, please check out the previous Travel Rewards Optimizer posts on other credit card families.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Hilton Credit Cards: Delivering Value at Different Price Points for the Right Traveler

Thu, 14 Mar 2024 18:00:45 GMT

Three cards that offer surprisingly useful spending bonus structures for Hilton fans

The latest Travel Rewards Optimizer post on credit card families will look at the Hilton credit cards offered by American Express. Previous posts have looked at the following card families: Chase Freedom/Sapphire, American Express, Delta, United, American Airlines, and Marriott Bonvoy.

This post will discuss three Hilton credit cards.

Hilton Honors
Hilton Honors Surpass
Hilton Honors Aspire

Hilton Honors

This is a card with no annual fee and the current welcome bonus (through 4/17) is 100,000 Hilton Honors Bonus points after spending $2,000 within six months. These points tend to be worth about 6/10ths of a cent, so the welcome bonus is worth about $600.

This card will generate seven Hilton points (7X) per dollar spent at Hilton properties when booked through Hilton. The spending bonus structure for other categories is as follows:

5X Hilton points for US purchases at grocery stores, restaurants, and gas stations
3X for other purchases

This no fee card also offers a few modest benefits.

Hilton Silver Status which gives you a 20% bonus on base points earned during Hilton stays
Car rental loss and damage insurance
The ability to reach Hilton Gold status with $20,000 in purchases on the card

Hilton Honors Surpass

This card has an annual fee of $150 and currently (through 4/17) offers a welcome bonus of 155,000 Hilton points ($900+ value) that requires $3,000 in spending within six months.

The spending bonus structure allows for the accumulation of points as follows:

12X for Hilton stays booked through Hilton
6X Hilton points for US purchases at grocery stores, restaurants, and gas stations
4X points for online retail
3X for other purchases

This card confers Hilton Gold status which gives you an 80% bonus on base points earned during Hilton stays and space-available upgrades at some properties.

A key benefit is an annual credit of up to $200 ($50 per calendar quarter) for stays at Hilton properties.

Cardholders spending at least $15,000 per year get a free room.

Hilton Honors Aspire

This top tier Hilton card has an annual fee of $550 and currently offers a 175,000-point welcome bonus after spending $6,000 within six months of approval. This bonus is worth around $1050.

Spending bonuses for this card are broadly geared to travel.

14X for Hilton stays booked through Hilton
7X Hilton points for air travel, car rental (with some companies), and US restaurants
3X for other purchases

These cardholders have automatic Hilton Diamond status which includes a 100% bonus on base points earned during stays and space-available upgrades at some properties.

The Aspire card offers several benefits for travelers, especially if they plan to stay at Hilton properties with some frequency.

Up to a $400 annual credit ($200 every six months) for Hilton resort properties
Up to a $200 annual credit ($50 per quarter) for airline purchases
A $100 on-property credit at some Hilton luxury properties (with 2+ night stay)
A free night upon card approval and every year upon card renewal
A $189 CLEAR membership that uses biometric data to clear airport security

My Conclusions

The basic Hilton Honors card offers a surprising amount for a no fee card. The 100,000 point welcome bonus currently being offered might net several nights at one of the less expensive properties in the Hilton portfolio (Ex: a Hampton Inn) or a couple of nights at a mid-level property in some markets.

The spending bonuses are also solid. Typically, no fee co-branded cards are not very good for points accumulation except with the airline/hotel partner. However, this card offers 5X points for US supermarkets, restaurants, and gas stations. Hilton points are worth, perhaps, 6/10ths of cent so this is a three percent return on spending in these categories which is unusual for a free card.

This card could be good for someone who needs accommodation every so often but wants to avoid annual fees. It also might be useful for someone who accumulates Hilton Honors points here and there and wants to supplement their account to get some free rooms faster.

The Hilton Honors Surpass card has recently been updated to mixed reviews. Previously, the Surpass offered a sort of “budget Priority Pass” for lounge access at airports. This version of the Priority Pass provided 10 lounge visits per year, a flexible perk in that the visits could by used by an individual traveler ten times or a family of five two times. That benefit was removed and placed with a credit of up to $200 for stays at Hiltons. However, the credit is capped at $50 per calendar quarter so cardholders would need to stay at a Hilton property in each quarter to take full advantage of the credit. For some, this new benefit might remove any pain caused by the recent increase in the annual fee to $150. Those who could use the complimentary lounge visits will not be too happy.

With some decent spending bonuses (inc. 6X for gas stations, restaurants, and supermarkets) this is a reasonable card for those who might stay at a Hilton property a few times a year.

The Hilton Honors Aspire is a more comprehensive travel card as the spending bonuses and benefits extend beyond stays at Hilton properties. In addition to hefty bonuses for Hilton stays, there is a 7X bonus for airline, (some) car rental agencies, and restaurants. This is about a four percent return for purchases in these categories.

The benefits, for some cardholders, might more than cover the annual fee. The annual flight credit and the CLEAR membership fee alone can cover two-thirds of the annual fee. There is one free night per year which can be worth hundreds of dollars. There are also credits for stays but they tend to be at some Hilton resorts or luxury properties, so you have to spend significant money with Hilton to take advantage of them. But, if you like Hilton or are interested in luxury accommodations, this might be the option for you.

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The Hilton Honors credit cards might or might not fit into a productive travel rewards plan for you. But if staying at this chain’s hotels and properties are a potential part of your travel mix, one of the cards discussed in this post might be appropriate. When we design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we take your travel goals, travel habits, spending patterns, and preferences into account. We want to ensure that the cards we recommend for you can quickly generate free travel and provide relevant benefits while keeping your annual card fees under control.

If you have not already, please check out the previous Travel Rewards Optimizer posts on other credit card families.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards: Five Cards from Two Issuers

Fri, 08 Mar 2024 19:13:32 GMT

If you like Marriott Bonvoy, one of these should work for you.

Today, we resume our series on credit card families. Previous posts have looked at the following card families: Chase Freedom/Sapphire, Delta, United, American Airlines, and American Express. Now, for the first time, we examine a family of co-branded hotel credit cards.

This post will discuss five Marriott Bonvoy personal credit cards. Interestingly, three are offered by Chase and two are offered by American Express.

Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful
American Express Marriott Bonvoy Bevy
American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant

The three Chase cards are the less expensive options while the cards issued by American Express could be considered intermediate or luxury. Among the five, a traveler interested in staying in Marriott Bonvoy properties should find a good option.

Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold

This is a card with no annual fee and the current welcome bonus is 30,000 Marriott Bonvoy points after spending $1,000 in the first three months. These points tend to be worth about 6/10ths of a cent, so the welcome bonus is worth about $175.

This card will generate 14 points per dollar spent at Marriott Bonvoy properties (3X from the card, 10X for being in the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program, and 1X for Silver Elite status). Aside from this spending bonus, this card will not generate much travel value. There is a 2X spending bonus for travel through July 10th, but otherwise, you receive one point per dollar.

The card gives you 15 Elite Night credits annually which, along with other activity, can help you achieve higher status in the loyalty program.

Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless

This card has an annual fee ($95) and requires $5,000 in spending within three months to earn the welcome bonus. The current bonus for this card, rather than a pile of Marriott Bonvoy points, is five free nights. These free nights are capped at rooms going for 50,000 points per night, so the maximum from this bonus would be 250,000 points for a value of up to $1500.

The spending bonus structure allows for the accumulation of points as follows:

17X for Marriott Bonvoy stays (6X from the card, 10X for being in the loyalty program, and 1X for Silver Elite status)
3X on the first $6000 spent on groceries/gas/dining each year; 2X after the first $6000
2X on other purchases

This Marriott Bonvoy card confers Silver Elite status and annual credits that can speed advancement to Gold Elite status.

Upon renewing, cardholders are awarded one free night capped at a room going for 35,000 points a night (a $200+ value).

Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful

This mid-tier card has an annual fee of $250 and currently offers an 85,000-point welcome bonus after spending $4,000 within three months of approval. This bonus is worth around $500.

Spending bonuses allow for a faster accumulation of points than the free and entry level Chase products.

18.5X for Marriott Bonvoy stays (6X with card, 10X from the loyalty program, and 2.5X for Gold Elite Status)
4X on the first $15,000 spent at supermarkets and restaurants each year; 2X after the first $15,000
2X on other purchases

These cardholders automatically have Gold Status and receive credits that can speed advancement to Platinum Status. Gold Status includes a few benefits:

Late checkout when available
Upgrades when available (no suites)
1,000 bonus points per paid stay

Cardholders are awarded a free night (capped at 50,000 points) for spending $15,000 on the card during the year.

American Express Marriott Bonvoy Bevy

This mid-level card has an annual fee of $250 like the Chase Bountiful product. It is currently offering a 155,000-point welcome bonus after spending $5,000 within six months of approval. This bonus is worth around $925.

Its spending bonuses allow for a faster accumulation of points than the less expensive Chase products.

18.5X for Marriott Bonvoy stays (6X with card, 10X from the loyalty program, and 2.5X for Gold Elite Status)
4X on the first $15,000 spent at supermarkets and restaurants each year; 2X after the first $15,000
2X on other purchases

These cardholders automatically have Gold Status and receive credits that can speed advancement to Platinum Status. Gold Status includes a few benefits:

Late checkout when available
Upgrades when available (no suites)
1,000 bonus points per paid stay

Cardholders are awarded a free night (capped at 50,000 points) for spending $15,000 on the card during the year.

American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant

The luxury member of the Marriott Bonvoy family has an annual fee of $650 and currently offers a 185,000-point welcome bonus after spending $6,000 within six months of approval. This bonus is worth around $1,100.

Spending bonuses for the Brilliant are as follows:

21X for Marriott Bonvoy stays (6X with card, 10X from the loyalty program, and 5X for Platinum Elite Status)
3X on restaurants and flights
2X on other purchases

Those with the Brilliant card get automatic Platinum Elite status and also receive annual credits that can get them closer to the next Marriott Bonvoy status level. Platinum Elite status benefits include:

Guaranteed 4 pm late checkout
Upgrades when available, including suites
Bonus points per paid stay or breakfast

This card also offers a free night on each renewal anniversary but, unlike the “free night” offered with the Bountiful or Bevy cards, this free night does not require any minimum spend on the card. The free night can be for a room up to 85,000 points (a value of up to $500).

There are other benefits that make the Brilliant a broader travel card.

Up to $300 in dining credits ($25 per month)
Priority Pass membership for access to 1,200+ airport lounges
Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fee

My Conclusions

The no fee Chase Marriott Bonvoy card is branded as “Bold” but that may be a misnomer. The modest bonus will net the cardholder a free night at one of the hotel chain’s less expensive properties. However, on an ongoing basis, this card would only provide value for someone who stays at Marriott Bonvoy properties frequently as those are the only purchases with good spending bonuses. And, if you are going to spend a lot of time at Marriott Bonvoys, there could be value in choosing a card that offers more for frequent guests.

The Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless presents an interesting opportunity. Its annual fee is $95 but, of the five cards discussed here, it might have the most valuable welcome bonus. The catch is that the bonus comes in the form of free rooms as opposed to points. Points are flexible and can be used as long as you have a loyalty account in good standing. However, the free rooms come with expiration dates, so you need to book and complete stays within one year of receiving this bonus. While I was able to learn that the five free nights can expire, I could not determine with certainty if it is possible to apply the 50,000 per night cap to a room and use additional miles or cash to pay the difference. If Marriott allows this (as IHG and some others do) it would be easier to get full value out of the welcome bonus.

Except for Marriott Bonvoy purchases, the Boundless is not a good card for points accumulation. Although there are 2X and 3X categories, bear in mind that Marriott Bonvoy points are worth less than one cent each and, once you have them, it is difficult to use them for anything other than stays at Marriott Bonvoy properties.

Although I cannot see using this card for routine spending, it can pay for itself as one key benefit is a free room (with a value of up to $200) each year upon renewal.

The Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful and American Express Marriott Bonvoy Bevy are very similar cards. Both have $250 annual fees. The key difference is that the current bonus for the Bevy is significantly higher than the one for the Bountiful (155,000 points vs. 85,000). This math is pretty easy and thus the discussion of the Chase Bountiful ends here.

The Marriott Bonvoy Bevy offers a solid bonus. Like the less expensive cards, there is good reason to use it for Marriott Bonvoy purchases. The spending bonuses for supermarkets and restaurants are okay for people who really like Marriott Bonvoy, but those expenditures might be better made on other cards.

Although this card is more expensive than the Boundless offered by Chase, there is no free room upon renewal. Cardholders spending at least $15,000 per year can get a certificate for a “free” room but, unless someone is spending thousands of dollars at the chain’s hotels, spending on this card to get the free room is not very efficient.

The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card offered by American Express really intrigues me. Earlier this week, I posted on the topic of “couponing,” and I think some American Express products, such as the Platinum Card, are key offenders. With an annual fee of $650, I was prepared to be leery about this card.

Upon examination, I think this card could be quite useful and worth the high annual fee for many. First, there is a solid welcome bonus worth at least $1,100 which about covers two years of the annual fee. The card confers Platinum Elite status which includes guaranteed late checkout and possible upgrades to suites.

Like the less expensive cards, I do not see any compelling reason to use it for many purchases outside of Marriott Bonvoy stays on an ongoing basis. However, year after year, if the benefit structure does not change, this card could pay for itself.

It offers a $300 annual credit for dining. Even though this is broken up into $25 per month credits – a form of “couponing” that I often deride – many people go to a restaurant at least once a month. The key is that you must remember to use the card for occasional restaurant outings to take full advantage of this.
Cardholders are awarded a free room each year (capped at 85,000 points) with a value of up to $500. This is not dependent upon any level of spending.
Priority Pass membership for access to airport lounges when flying.

Travelers, especially those who like Marriott Bonvoy, could certainly come out ahead.

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The Marriott Bonvoy credit cards might or might not fit into a productive travel rewards plan for you. But if staying at this chain’s hotels and properties are a potential part of your travel mix, one of the cards discussed in this post might be appropriate. When we design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we take your travel goals, travel habits, spending patterns, and preferences into account. We want to ensure that the cards we recommend for you can quickly generate free travel and provide relevant benefits while keeping your annual card fees under control.

If you have not already, please check out the previous Travel Rewards Optimizer posts on credit card families.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

The Couponing of Travel Credit Card Benefits

Wed, 06 Mar 2024 15:33:04 GMT

Does your ability to use travel credit card benefits match the hype of card issuers?

For the past few weeks, we have offered a series on credit card families (i.e., families of co-branded airline or hotel cards and families of cards that generate flexible points). We are taking a brief break from posting about credit card families. This post is related to the topic of card families as credit cards that offer more benefits often take what we call a “couponing” approach. We will return to the series on credit card families later this week.

When I look at some credit card offers these days, I am reminded of those Entertainment Coupon books that middle schoolers sold for fundraisers. As I recall, the books would cost $20 or $25 and promise hundreds of dollars’ worth of discounts with dozens of local restaurants and other businesses. I would always buy them because it was a fundraiser, and I wanted the kids to be able to go on their class trip. After purchasing the books, I would find the discounts to be of some value – certainly enough to cover the cost of the book – but never worth the significant savings that was suggested.

Credit cards issuers are ratcheting up the “couponing” approach to benefits. Many cards appear to be quite loaded with enticing benefits but, upon closer inspection, are offering benefits that are difficult to fully realize without considerable effort or changes in spending practices on the part of the cardholder.

Based on my personal experience, and an ongoing review of card offerings, I would deem the American Express Platinum card as the “King of Couponing.” The application page for this card boasts “You can get over $1,500 in value” each year. Benefits include a $200 hotel credit, a $200 airline fee credit, a $155 Walmart+ credit, a $240 digital entertainment credit, a $200 Uber credit, a $300 Equinox health club credit, a $189 CLEAR credit, and a $100 Saks Fifth Avenue credit.

Some quick math shows that you “can” get over $1,500 in value. But, it is highly unlikely that you will get this amount of value.

The hotel credit requires at two-night minimum stay at a select group of luxury or resort properties, and you must book them through American Express’ travel services.
The airline fee credit covers incidentals like bag fees, inflight beverages, or seat upgrades. You must choose one domestic airline at the beginning of the year and use the credit with only that airline.
The digital entertainment credit is limited to $20 per month.
The Uber credit is limited to $15 per month (exc. December which is $35).
The Saks credit is limited to $50 during each half of the year. If you are shopping online, they slap on a $30 delivery charge, so you are not getting much from Saks unless you spend more than the $50 credit.

American Express cards appear to be the leader in the couponing game. The Amex Hilton Surpass card recently increased its annual fee from $95 to $150. This makes the Surpass an expensive mid-tier hotel card especially given that it does not offer a free room each year like some of the competing sub-$100 cards. However, the “refreshed” Surpass card now offers a $200 Hilton credit. However, the credit is broken into $50 per quarter. So, you must stay at Hilton properties four times per year, and one stay in each calendar quarter, to receive the full $200 benefit.

American Express is not the only card issuer doing this. The Citi Aadvantage Executive World Elite card will provide holders of this $595 card with $120 in credits for the Lyft rideshare service. These credits are dispensed at $10 per month for months where you use Lyft at least three times . Another way of looking at it is that you can maximize this benefit and get the full $120 credit if you take Lyft 36 times spread out evenly over 12 months ($3.33 per ride).

Although credit card issuers often overstate the real-world value of card benefits, and that “couponing” has increased, every client we have worked with is unique and many can benefit from a card’s array of benefits (even if the benefits are overstated and difficult to obtain for other clients). In fact, we have one Amex Platinum card in the Optimizer household. When renewal time rolls around, we do some “back of the envelope” calculations to see if we want to pay the steep annual fee for another year.

We believe we use most of the $200 Uber credit since the Optimi-daughter uses Uber a lot.
We have signed up for Walmart+. It is not worth $13+ a month to us but we get some value out of it once or twice a year.
We tend to use most of the $240 digital entertainment credit.
We use most of the $200 airline credit through seat upgrades and baggage check fees.

Ms. Optimizer and I fly enough to get in several airport lounges visits each year and especially like having access to Delta lounges and Amex Centurion lounges. In sum, we are at least getting value that equals the annual fee. However, another COVID-like situation or a slow air travel year would make this card a money loser for our household.

When creating a Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we sometimes factor in the potential benefits of a card and the likelihood that you can use them. But, rather than thinking about the potential value of benefits, we try to think in terms of their realistic, ongoing usefulness to you and spell it out clearly in the plan.

The main thrust of Travel Rewards Optimizer plans is to set you up for accumulating points and miles so you can achieve free and reduced cost travel as quickly and efficiently as possible.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

American Airlines Credit Cards: From a No Fee Option to Admirals Club Access

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 17:20:46 GMT

This is the fifth post in the TRO series on credit card “families” and how cardholders can choose between different types and levels of benefits and different annual fees. Over the next few weeks, Travel Rewards Optimizer posts will discuss credit card families for co-branded cards (airlines and hotel chains) as well as families of cards that generate proprietary points or cash. Previous posts have covered the Chase Freedom/Sapphire cards, Delta credit cards, United credit cards, and American Express cards.

Today’s post will discuss three American Airlines co-branded cards offered by Citi. (Note: There are also American Airlines co-branded cards offered by Barclays Bank that will be covered at a later time.) The three cards discussed in this post are:

Aadvantage MileUp
Aadvantage Platinum Select World Elite
Aadvantage Executive World Elite

Aadvantage MileUp

Citi’s entry level American card, the Aadvantage MileUp, has no annual fee. This card comes with a welcome bonus of 15,000 miles after spending only $500 within three months. Based on my own experience and what I have read elsewhere, I estimate this welcome bonus is worth around $250 in American purchases.

MileUp cardholders get double (2X) miles per dollar spent for groceries and for American Airlines purchases.

There are no benefits from the card when flying American except for a 25% discount for in-flight purchases (drinks and snacks).

Aadvantage Platinum Select World Elite

Despite the long and impressive name, this is a basic airline card. The annual fee of $99 is waived for the first year. The welcome bonus is 50,000 miles (worth perhaps $800) after spending $2,500 within the first three months.

For ongoing miles accrual, spending bonuses are as follows:

2X for restaurant purchases
2X for gas station purchases
2X for American Airlines purchases
1X for all other purchases

Unlike the free MileUp card, the Platinum Select World Elite offers several benefits when flying American.

Free checked bag for you and up to four others when flying domestic on the same reservation
Priority boarding

This card also offers a $125 discount on American Airlines purchases if you spend $20,000 per year and renew the card.

Aadvantage Executive World Elite

The Aadvantage Executive World Elite card’s annual fee is $595. Currently, the welcome bonus is 70,000 miles (worth about $1100) after spending $7,000 on the card in the first three months.

The key benefit of this card is access to American Admirals Clubs at airports.

Cardholders can visit Admirals Clubs when flying American.
Cardholders can bring family members or up to two guests.
Cardholders can also add up to three authorized users (AUs) for $175 so that the AUs can get Admirals Club access. However, while AUs have access, they cannot bring guests.

The bonus structure for card purchases is good for American Airlines purchases, but not very attractive for more routine spending.

The card generates 10X points per dollar on hotels and car rentals if booked through American Airlines.
There is a 4X bonus per dollar spent for American Airlines purchases.
All other purchases earn one mile per dollar.

When flying, the Executive World Elite card offers:

Priority check-in, boarding, and screening (where available)
First bag checked free for you and up to eight companions traveling on the same domestic itinerary.

This card is helpful for those interested in achieving status levels with American Airlines as you earn Loyalty Points with you purchases.

Other benefits and discounts include:

A $10 per month Lyft credit after taking three eligible Lyft rides during a calendar month.
Up to a $120 credit for eligible Avis or Budget car rentals
Up to $10 per month credit for Grubhub purchases
Up to $100 credit every four years for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck

My conclusions

The Aadvantage MileUp card can get you started on collecting American miles or might help you get a free flight when added to American miles that you already have. For ongoing points accrual, I don’t know that this card would have a lot of value since the only spending bonuses are for American Airlines purchases and groceries.

The Platinum World Select Elite card can have clear value during the first year since the annual fee is waived and the welcome bonus is worth about $800 on American flights. On an ongoing basis, you can certainly cover part or all of the annual fee if you take advantage of the free checked bags. Also, as restaurant and gas station purchases offer bonus miles, everyday expenses can add to your American mileage total.

The Platinum World Select Elite card also offers a $125 credit with American if you spend $20,000 during the year. Since this works out to a rebate on your spending of about 0.6%, and must be used with American, there are better ways to use credit cards for free or reduced cost travel.

The Executive World Elite is a good option for American loyalists (or those who live in or pass through American hubs) who fly American with some frequency. With enough travel on American flights, it is possible to get enough value to justify the premium annual fees. I would add here that, based on Admirals Club guest policies and authorized user opportunities, American is (for now) much less restrictive than Delta with its Sky Clubs or Amex with its Centurion lounges.

Based on the bonus structure for spending, the Executive World Elite card is probably not very good for accumulating free travel unless you fly American a lot and want to book hotels and rental cars through their travel portal.

One of these three American credit cards might or might not fit into a productive travel rewards plan. But when flying American is a good option for meeting travel goals, one of the cards discussed in this post might be appropriate. When we design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we take your travel goals, travel habits, spending patterns, and preferences into account. We want to ensure that the cards we recommend for you can quickly generate free travel and provide relevant benefits while keeping your annual card fees under control.

If you have not already, please check out the previous Travel Rewards Optimizer posts on credit card families.

https://www.travelrewardsoptimizer.com/chase-freedom-and-sapphire-credit-cards-in-points-and-miles

https://www.travelrewardsoptimizer.com/amex-delta-cards-a-range-of-options-for-very-different-flyers

https://www.travelrewardsoptimizer.com/united-airlines-credit-cards-from-a-solid-no-fee-card-to-a-perk-loaded-option

https://www.travelrewardsoptimizer.com/american-express-cards-offering-a-range-of-benefits-and-approaches-to-accumulating-flexible-points

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

American Express Cards: Offering a Range of Benefits and Approaches to Accumulating Flexible Points

Wed, 28 Feb 2024 22:51:05 GMT

Five cards for very different types of cardholders

This is the fourth post in the TRO series on credit card “families” and how cardholders can choose between different types and levels of benefits and different annual fees. Over the next few weeks, Travel Rewards Optimizer posts will discuss credit card families for co-branded cards (airlines and hotel chains) as well as families of cards that generate proprietary points or cash. Previous posts have covered the Freedom/Sapphire cards offered by Chase, Delta credit cards, and United cards.

Today’s post will discuss five American Express cards that generate Amex Membership Rewards (MR) points.

Amex Everyday
Amex Everyday Premium
Amex Green
Amex Gold
Amex Platinum

Amex MR points can be used for statement credits or gift cards. But, there greatest value is realized when these points are transferred into the points and miles of American Express’ many airline and hotel partners.

American Express Everyday Card

This is an entry level card with no annual fee. It comes with a welcome bonus of 10,000 MR points after spending $2,000 within six months. For statement credits or gift cards, these points will be worth no more than $100 but more value can be realized if transferred to some airline partners. Currently, Amex is also offering 0% APR for the first 15 months after approval.

Cardholders get two MR points (2X) per dollar spent on groceries and one point (1X) for all other purchases. There is a modest extra bonus (20%) added if you use the card at least 20 times during a billing cycle.

American Express Everyday Premium

This card comes with a $95 annual fee but offers greater opportunities for MR point accumulation. New cardholders can get a 15,000 MR point bonus for spending $2,000 in the first six months. Interest is also 0% APR for the first 12 months.

The bonus structure is as follows:

3X points per dollar spent at supermarkets/grocery stores (capped at $6,000/year)
2X points per dollar spent at gas stations
1X points per dollar spent in other categories
50% bonus if you use the card at least 30 times during a billing cycle

With the 50% bonus, the effective bonus can be 4.5X for supermarket purchases and 3X for gas station purchases.

American Express Green Card

The iconic Green card now has a $150 fee, and the welcome offer is 40,000 MR points for spending $3,000 in the first six months.

The bonus structure is broader than that offered for the Everyday Premium card and is well tailored for travel.

3X points per dollar spent at restaurants
3X points per dollar on transit such as taxis, trains, ride sharing services, tolls, parking, etc.
3X on travel including flights, hotels, and vacation rentals
1X points per dollar spent in other categories

Additionally, there are two credits that might be of interest for air travel.

A $189 annual credit for CLEAR Plus which uses your biometric data to get you through airport security faster
A $100 credit with Lounge Buddy for access to airport lounges

American Express Gold Card

The annual fee for this card is $250 and the current welcome offer is 60,000 MR points for spending $6,000 in six months.

This is a great card for anyone who . . . eats.

4X bonus for restaurant spending.
4X bonus for supermarket or grocery store purchases
Also, there is a 3X bonus for airline purchases

There are also two credits.

A $120 dining credit ($10 per month)
A $120 Uber credit ($10 per month)

While these credits have a potential value of $240 which is close to the annual fee, they will not be worth that much for many (and perhaps most) cardholders. To get all the value of the Uber credit, you need to use Uber at least a dozen times and in each month. The dining credit is more limited in that it is only good at a very short list of restaurants.

American Express Platinum Card

With an increase about a year ago, this card comes with a hefty annual fee of $695 (plus $195 per additional card for authorized users). The welcome bonus is 80,000 MR points for spending $8,000 in the first six months.

The Platinum Card, primarily, is a card for people who fly based on the MR points spending bonus structure, the annual credits offered, and the benefits.

First, the spending bonus structure is simple. You get 5X MR points for airline purchases, 5X points for hotel purchase if you reserve them through American Express Travel, and 1X points for everything else.

Second, several credits are related to air travel.

A $200 credit for flight incidentals like seat upgrades, checked baggage, snacks and beverages
Cannot be used for tickets
You must limit the credits to one airline that you choose at the beginning of the year
A $100 credit every four years for Global Entry/TSA PreCheck membership
An annual $189 credit for CLEAR Plus

Third, for many, the key benefit of this card is access to an extensive network of airport lounges including:

Priority Pass Lounges – an international network of over 1,500 lounges
Centurion Lounges – American Express’ proprietary lounges
Delta SkyClubs – when flying Delta Airlines

Other credits and benefits include:

A $200 credit for luxury hotels if reserved through American Express Travel
A $300 credit for Equinox health clubs
A $100 credit at Saks Fifth Avenue ($50 twice a year)
A $240 digital entertainment credit ($20/month) for streaming, New York Times, etc.
A $200 Uber credit ($15 per month and $35 in December)
Wal-Mart Plus membership
Gold status with Hilton and Marriott Bonvoy

My conclusions

American Express offers a broad range of credit cards that provide cardholders with an opportunity to transfer Membership Rewards to airline and hotel partners. The cards can also meet the needs of different market segments.

The Everyday Card has a small welcome bonus, and the category bonus is limited to grocery stores or supermarkets (groceries purchased at warehouse clubs, Targets, Wal-Marts, etc. are not bonused). However, this is a no annual fee card that allows you transfer your points to airline partners. The no fee cards offered by Chase do not allow this and the no fee Citi Double Cash has very limited transfer partners. If someone is interested in the benefits of transferring MR points to travel partners and really wants to avoid annual fees, this is a card to start with.

The Everyday Premium Card brings improved opportunities to accumulate MR points with bonus points for both supermarket and gas station spending. Those using the card frequently (30X month) can accumulate even more points with the extra 50% bonus. I have used this card myself in the past but moved up to the Gold card because the supermarket spending bonus was limited to the first $6,000 per year and the Optimizer household buys lots of groceries.

The Green Card is a well-balanced travel card that is great for accumulating points since spending bonuses are 3X for a range of purchases – restaurants, transit, flights, hotels, and other categories. Also, for the right cardholder, the annual credits for CLEAR Plus and Lounge Buddy can cover the annual fee.

The Gold Card can be worthwhile for a household that spends enough at supermarkets and restaurants to justify the annual fee. This might not be so worthwhile for those who don’t eat out much or who purchase a large portion of their groceries from warehouse clubs or “big box” stores like Wal-Mart and Target. For many, the modest credits will not offset much of the annual fee.

The Platinum Card is highly oriented toward people who fly with some frequency. Unless you book hotels through American Express Travel, the only good spending bonus category is for air travel. Access to the Amex Global Lounge Collection can be quite valuable. The flight related credits might save you a few hundred dollars per year. However, if you don’t fly much, it is hard to get $700 in value out of the other miscellaneous credits and benefits that come with this card.

These five cards can meet the needs of different households. And, in some cases, it would make sense for an individual or household to hold at least two of them. Ms. Optimizer and I fly enough and purchase enough food in supermarkets and restaurants to justify having one Gold Card and one Platinum Card between us. We see the two cards as complementary. However, to some extent, American Express sees the cards as part of a continuum, as if the Platinum Card is an “upgrade” relative to the Gold Card. In last week’s post on Amex Delta cards, I warned how American Express might not give a new cardholder a welcome bonus for a card that is deemed as a downgrade from a previously held card. In other words, if you have had a Platinum Card in the past, and applied for a Gold Card, they may approve you for the Gold Card but withhold the sign-up bonus. Because there are differences in how the different cards might be used, I see this as short sighted. I find the Platinum Card useful, but I would never use it for dining or groceries because those purchases only yield one MR per dollar spent if I use the Platinum Card. It seems that it would be better for Amex to encourage me to apply for the Gold Card so that it could capture my restaurant and grocery spending in addition to the annual fee Amex already collects for the Platinum Card. To summarize, if it is possible that you might pick up more than one of these Amex cards or might change cards over time, the order of you applications could matter.

These cards offered by American Express might or might not fit into a productive travel rewards plan. But for many, especially those interested in flexible points, one of the cards discussed in this post might be appropriate. When we design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we take your travel goals, travel habits, spending patterns, and preferences into account. We want to ensure that the cards we recommend for you can quickly generate free travel and provide relevant benefits while keeping your annual card fees in check.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

United Airlines Credit Cards: From a Solid No Fee Card to a Perk Loaded Option

Fri, 23 Feb 2024 20:40:39 GMT

This is the third post in the TRO series on credit card “families” and how cardholders can choose between different types and levels of benefits and different annual fees. Over the next few weeks, Travel Rewards Optimizer posts will discuss credit card families for co-branded cards (airlines and hotel chains) as well as families of cards that generate proprietary points or cash. Previous posts have covered the Freedom/Sapphire cards offered by Chase and the Delta credit cards offered by American Express.

Today’s post will discuss four United Airlines co-branded cards offered by Chase.

United Gateway
United Explorer
United Quest
United Club Infinite

Chase United Gateway

This is an entry level card with no annual fee. It comes with a welcome bonus of 30,000 United miles after spending $1,000 within three months. Based on my own experience and what I have read elsewhere, these miles are worth about 1.5 cents each meaning the bonus would be worth about $450 – enough for a domestic round trip.

Gateway cardholders get double (2X) miles per dollar spent for local transportation, gas station, and United purchases. Other purchases earn one mile per dollar.

There are no benefits from the card when flying United except for a discount for in-flight purchases (drinks and snacks).

Chase United Explorer

This is the least expensive of the United cards with annual fees. The current offer for this card is that the annual fee is waived for the first year and then is $95 per year after that.

The sign-up bonus is 60,000 United miles (worth $900) after spending $3,000 within the first three months.

For miles accrual, cardholders get 2X miles for restaurant, hotel, and United purchases.

Unlike the free Gateway card, the United Explorer card confers some benefits when flying United.

Free checked bag
Priority boarding
Two United Club one-time passes per year

United claims the two United Club passes have a value of over $100. I think this estimate is high. However, between the free checked bags and use of these passes, a cardholder traveling with a companion can easily cover the annual fee if taking at least one United trip per year.

The Explorer card also offers a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.

For those interested in status with United, cardholders can accumulate up to 1,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) based on their spending.

Chase United Quest

The Quest card, the mid-tier United product, is currently offering a welcome bonus of 70,000 United miles (worth around $1050) after spending $4,000 in the first three months. The bonus offer also includes 500 PQPs to get you on your way to achieving some level of status with United. The annual fee for this card is $250.

The Quest card offers broader bonus categories for accumulating miles. Cardholders get 3X miles for United purchases and 2X miles for spending on dining, hotels and other travel, and streaming services.

As with the Explorer card, flight benefits include priority boarding but add a second free checked bag. However, there are no United Club passes.

There is a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.

Other benefits that have value, but require taking United flights to make use of them, include:

A $125 annual purchase credit for United tickets and other charges.
Up to 10,000-mile flight award credits each year (a sort of rebate after using United miles).

For those interested in status with United, cardholders can accumulate up to 6,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) based on their spending.

Chase United Club Infinite

The United Club Infinite card annual fee is $525, and the welcome offer is 80,000 United miles (worth about $1,200) after spending $5,000 on the card in the first three months.

Many benefits are similar to the Quest card. The key additional benefit for this card level is access to United Clubs at airports.

Cardholders can visit United Clubs when flying United.
Guest policies for holders of an authorized user (AU) card were unclear.

The card accumulates 4X points per dollar spent on United purchases and 2X points on dining and travel. However, the bonus for purchasing streaming services offered by the Quest card is not offered with this version.

Like the Quest card, the Club Infinite card offers two free checked bags and a $100 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. Rather than “priority boarding” this card offers “Premier Access” which is described as priority check-in, screening, boarding, and baggage handling where available .

The Club Infinite card comes with enhanced status with Avis and IHG as well as a $75 credit with IHG hotels and resorts.

This card offers a 10% discount on United Economy Saver Awards.

For those interested in status with United, cardholders can accumulate up to 10,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) based on their spending.

My conclusions

The United Gateway card can net you a free round trip domestic flight with a modest $1,000 in spending over three months. It also might be used to get a quick mileage boost for someone who is already a United MilesPlus member and would like to add miles quickly for a more expensive trip. For points accrual, I don’t know that it would have a lot of value after the first year since it does not provide many categories with spending bonuses and any points would have to be used for United flights.

The Explorer card can have clear value during the first year since the annual fee is waived and the welcome bonus is worth about $900 on United flights. On an ongoing basis, you can certainly cover the annual fee if you take advantage of the free checked bags and use the two free United Club passes.

Ms. Optimizer and I have both held United Explorer cards in the past and we now have one between us. We don’t use it much for purchases because, if we want United miles, it is much easier to accumulate Chase Ultimate Rewards points and simply transfer them at a ratio of 1:1 to our United MilesPlus account. Nonetheless, we keep the one United Explorer card on hand to get the free checked bags and access to the United Club as there is one in our home airport.

The Quest and Club Infinite cards can be good options for United loyalists (or those who live in or pass through United hubs) who fly United with some frequency. With enough travel on United, it is possible to get enough value to justify the premium annual fees. With the PQP accrual through spending, these cards are also a good option if achieving some sort of level of status with United is a priority.

United credit cards might or might not fit into a productive travel rewards plan. But when flying United is a good option for meeting travel goals, one of the cards discussed in this post might be appropriate. When we design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we take your travel goals, travel habits, spending patterns, and preferences into account. We want to ensure that the cards we recommend for you can quickly generate free travel and provide relevant benefits while keeping your annual card fees in check.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Amex Delta Cards: A Range of Options for Very Different Flyers

Wed, 21 Feb 2024 20:55:50 GMT

The TRO post from February 9 ^th brought up the topic of credit card “families” and how cardholders can upgrade within a family to increase benefits or downgrade to decrease annual fees. Over the next few weeks, Travel Rewards Optimizer posts will discuss credit card families for co-branded cards (airlines and hotel chains) as well as families of cards that generate proprietary points or cash.

Today’s installment, and the second in the series, will discuss four Delta Airlines co-branded cards offered by American Express.

Amex Delta Blue
Amex Delta Gold
Amex Delta Platinum
Amex Delta Reserve

The Delta cards have had a recent “refresh” that has added some benefits and modified others. This refresh has come with some hefty increases in annual fees for the three cards that have an annual fee.

Amex Delta Blue

The Delta Blue card is an entry level offering that has no annual fee. It comes with a welcome bonus of 10,000 SkyMiles for spending $1,000 within six months. I would estimate this bonus to be worth about $120.

Cardholders get double (2X) SkyMiles per dollar spent at restaurants and for Delta purchases. Other purchases earn one SkyMile per dollar.

There are no benefits when flying Delta except for a discount for in-flight purchases (drinks and snacks).

Amex Delta Gold

The current offer for this card is that the annual fee is waived for the first year and then is $150 per year after that. This new annual fee reflects a recent increase of $55.

The sign-up bonus is 70,000 SkyMiles (worth $800+) after spending $3,000 within the first six months. And, for every year you spend at least $10,000, you get a $200 Delta flight credit.

For SkyMiles accrual, cardholders get 2X miles for restaurant, grocery, and Delta purchases.

Unlike the Delta Blue card, the Gold card confers some benefits once you fly Delta.

Free checked bag
Priority boarding (for that coveted overhead space)
A 15% reduction when redeeming SkyMiles for travel on Delta

Between the free checked bags and the savings when redeeming SkyMiles, a cardholder can cover the annual fee if taking at least a couple of Delta trips per year.

Delta Platinum

The Delta Platinum card is currently offering a welcome bonus of 90,000 SkyMiles (worth around $1050) after spending $4,000 in the first six months. The annual fee has recently increased from $250 to $350.

SkyMiles accrual is similar to that with the Delta Gold card except cardholders get 3X miles for Delta purchases and also 3X miles for stays in eligible hotels.

Flight benefits such as priority boarding, free checked bag, and a 15% SkyMiles redemption discount are also the same as with the Gold card.

The Platinum card adds a group of benefits that can make it worth the extra $200 over the annual fee for a Gold card.

After the first-year renewal, you receive a companion certificate for a free round trip in the United States, the Caribbean, or Central America. This companion certificate is limited to Main Cabin.
A $10 per month credit for ride share services such as Uber and Lyft
A $150 annual credit for bookings though Delta Stays
A $10 per month credit for restaurant visits through Resy
A credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck applications

The Delta Platinum may be helpful for those who want an upgraded Delta experience.

These cardholders are prioritized for upgrades (although upgrades can’t be expected).
Cardholders are credited with 2,500 Delta Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) each year to give them a head start on achieving Medallion status.
Cardholders receive one MQD per $20 spent which can accelerate their progress toward Medallion status levels.

Amex Delta Reserve

The Delta Reserve card annual fee is $650, and the welcome offer is 100,000 SkyMiles (worth about $1,200) after spending $6,000 on the card in the first six months.

Many benefits are similar to the Platinum card. The key additional benefit for this card level is access to Delta SkyClubs.

Cardholders can visit Delta SkyClubs or American Express Centurion lounges when flying Delta.
Cardholders also get four guest passes each year for companions flying with them on the same flight.
Starting in 2025, Delta SkyClub visits will be limited to 15 per year. This limit will be waived for cardholders spending at least $75,000 per year on the card.

Some of the benefits of the Platinum card are enhanced for Delta Reserve cardholders.

The companion certificate is not limited to Main Cabin and can be used for First Class or Delta Comfort.
The credit for bookings with Delta Stays is $200 per year.
The Resy credit is $20 per month.
Reserve cardholders receive one MQD per $10 spent so progress toward Medallion status will be faster.

The one drawback relative to the Platinum and Gold cards is that there is no SkyMiles bonus for grocery, restaurant, or hotel spending. There is only a 3X bonus for Delta purchases.

My conclusions

While the Amex Delta Blue card has no annual fee, I don’t really understand its niche. The sign-up bonus has minor value and perhaps with some restaurant spending might net the cardholder one-half of a domestic round trip or perhaps a shorter round trip. However, with Delta SkyMiles having a value of about 1.2 cents each, this card could generate a little more than 2% return in Delta flights per dollar spent. That is assuming you used the card only for restaurants or Delta purchases. At the same time, you could use a no fee, cashback card that could generate 2% on all purchases and you would not have the constraint of having to use the cash on Delta.

Perhaps this card would have a place with someone who lives in a Delta hub (like Atlanta or Minneapolis/St. Paul), wants to avoid annual credit card fees, and wants to save a little money on the occasional Delta flight.

The Delta Gold card can have clear value during the first year since the annual fee is waived and the welcome bonus is worth at least $800 in Delta flights. On an ongoing basis, you can certainly cover the annual fee if you take advantage of the free checked bags and use the SkyMiles redemption discount when booking free flights.

Ms. Optimizer and I have both held Delta Gold cards in the past and we now have one between us. We don’t use it much for purchases because, if we want Delta SkyMiles, it is much easier to accumulate Amex Membership Rewards points and simply transfer them at a ratio of 1:1 to our SkyMiles account. Nonetheless, we keep the one Delta Gold on hand to get the 15% redemption discount, the free checked bags, and slightly earlier boarding to snag the coveted overhead baggage space. I expect we will keep one Delta Gold card going forward as we tend to “shop” the airlines and Delta is always in our choice set.

The Platinum and Reserve cards seem to be good options for Delta loyalists (or those who feel they are hostages in Delta hubs) who fly with some frequency and are highly likely to be flying Delta. With enough travel on Delta, it is possible to get enough value to justify the premium annual fees. With the MQD boosts and MQD accrual through spending, these cards are also a good option if achieving some sort of Delta Medallion status is a priority.

Because this series on credit card families has been written with an eye to the possibility of upgrading and downgrading cards as one’s needs change, I want to point out that Amex has recently enacted a new policy for many of its credit card families including the Delta credit cards. To discourage downgrading to less expensive cards, the language in the current applications suggests that if you have had a more expensive card in the past, you may not be eligible for the signup bonus offered with the less expensive card in the same card family. So, if you have held a Delta Platinum and want to downgrade to a Delta Gold, you may still be approved for the Delta Gold card, but you will not get the sign-up bonus. As far as we know, there is no similar policy for cardholders who want to upgrade to a more expensive card. It appears that, if you have never held that card in the past, you can get the welcome bonus as you upgrade.

When we design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we take the types of information discussed in this post into consideration. We look into your unique travel goals, travel habits, spending patterns, and preferences so that the cards we recommend for you generate free travel quickly and provide relevant benefits while keeping annual card fees in check.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Chase Freedom and Sapphire Credit Cards in Points and Miles

Fri, 16 Feb 2024 15:12:02 GMT

While the Chase Freedom cards are limited to cash back, a Chase Sapphire card can boost a travel rewards program.

The post from February 9 ^th brought up the topic of credit card “families” and how cardholders can upgrade within a family to increase benefits or downgrade to decrease annual fees. Over the next few weeks, Travel Rewards Optimizer posts will discuss credit card families for co-branded cards (airlines and hotel chains) as well as families of cards that generate proprietary points or cash.

Today’s first installment will discuss Chase Freedom and Chase Sapphire cards. Although these are different card brands, there is a logical progression for those interested in travel. The Freedom cards include entry level and cashback credit cards while the Sapphire cards are travel oriented and provide opportunities for leveraging Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

Chase Freedom Rise
Chase Freedom Unlimited
Chase Freedom Flex
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Chase Sapphire Reserve

Chase Freedom Rise

The Freedom Rise is a “starter” card for people who are new to credit cards. There is no annual fee, and the card generates 1.5% cash back on all purchases. With this card, you will be getting the 1.5% return on all spending, but this card is clearly for students and people who have never had a credit card before.

Chase suggests that your chances of approval are higher if you open a Chase checking account and deposit at least $250.
Chase indicates that it will evaluate you for a credit limit increase after six months or more suggested that the credit limit will not be very high to begin with.
The Annualized Percentage Rate (APR) starts at a whopping 27%.

Because the Travel Rewards Optimizer plans we create are for people with established credit histories and higher FICO scores, we would not incorporate this card into a client’s program. However, with the cash back feature, it could be a good starter card for a young adult who could pay their statements in full to avoid the high interest charges.

Chase Freedom Unlimited

This card also has no annual fee and, like the Freedom Rise, generates 1.5% cash back on many purchases. At the same time, it is much more attractive for several reasons.

The cashback rate is 3% for restaurants and drug stores.
Chase offers a $200 bonus if you spend $500 in the first three months.
Currently (and this is subject to change) this card offers a 5% cashback rate on groceries and gas for the first year.
The initial APR is 0% for 15 months and, once an APR kicks in, it could be as low as 20.5%.

Chase Freedom Flex

This card also has no annual fee but has a different bonus structure than the Freedom Unlimited. The Freedom Flex offers 5% bonuses on rotating categories that change every quarter. In the past, categories have included grocery stores, gas stations, Amazon, gyms, and warehouse clubs. Typically, the featured bonus category is announced just before the beginning of a quarter to maintain the interest and engagement of cardholders. The 5% bonus is limited to the first $1500 spent in the category during the quarter.

Most other purchases generate 1% cashback.

Like the Freedom Unlimited, the Freedom Flex has other attractive features.

The cashback rate is 3% for restaurants and drug stores.
Chase offers a $200 bonus if you spend $500 in the first three months.
Currently (and this is subject to change) this card offers a 5% cashback rate on groceries and gas for the first year.
The initial APR is 0% for 15 months and, once an APR kicks in, it could be as low as 20.5%.

For someone interested in only getting cash back, these Chase Freedom cards are a reasonable option. Using both a Freedom Flex and one of the Freedom cards that returns 1.5%, a cardholder who pays careful attention to the rotating bonus categories could net a cashback return of perhaps 2% or perhaps even better in the first year. However, there are other free cards that generate 2% on every purchase without having to think about which card you are using.

Those who want to turn their routine spending into free travel can do far better than a 2% return and this is where the Chase Sapphire cards come into play. These cards have annual fees, but both accelerate your ability to turn credit card expenditures into travel.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

This card has a $95 annual fee and offers a welcome bonus of 60,000 Ultimate Rewards (UR) points if you spend $4,000 within three months. Treated as cash, those points are worth $600. Like the Freedom Flex and Unlimited, the bonus for restaurants is 3X (three points per dollar spent) and there is also a 2X bonus for travel expenses. In addition to the 2X bonus for travel purchases, there are other factors that make the Sapphire Preferred especially worthwhile for travelers.

The Ultimate Rewards points can be exchanged (often 1:1) for the points and miles of many airlines and several hotel chains. In some cases, the miles or points of these partners can be worth much more than the one cent per point you can get in cash back. In fact, Ms. Optimizer and I routinely double the value of our UR points by transferring them to certain airlines or the Hyatt program.
If you purchase travel through the Chase portal, each point is worth 1.25 cents or 25% more than if you used them as cash. (NOTE: I do not know if purchases made through this portal are competitively priced or not and that is a topic that will be addressed in the near future.)
Holders of this card can combine UR points with the points earned through the no fee Freedom cards to turn those points into flexible UR points. This makes those points worth considerably more than the one cent per point you get if you use them as cash.

Chase Sapphire Reserve

When launched in 2016, the Chase Sapphire Reserve was the queen of travel cards. Since then, other issuers have upped their game and offered highly competitive products. Still, this card has a place for many travelers.

The card’s annual fee, at $550, is deceptively high. A card benefit is an annual travel credit of $300 and this credit differs from those offered by other card issuers because there are no restrictions such as a requirement to purchase travel through Chase's travel portal. There is no need to apply for the credit. You simply make travel related purchases (which Chase defines liberally) and the credits appear on your statement automatically. You can utilize the credit with one purchase or spread out over multiple purchases.

After factoring out this easy-to-use credit, the Sapphire Reserve is a de facto $250 annual fee card. To assess its value compared to the Sapphire Preferred, the question to ask is if the card is worth an additional $155. The signup bonus for both cards is the same (60,000 URs) and both offer a 3X bonus on dining.

The Sapphire Reserve surpasses the Sapphire Preferred as follows:

There is a 3X bonus for travel expenses compared to the 2X offered by the Sapphire Preferred.
The URs are worth 1.5 cents each (vs. 1.25 cents for SP) if purchasing travel through the Chase portal.
The Reserve will cover the cost of TSA PreCheck or Global Entry every four years.
The Reserve includes a Priority Pass which gives the cardholder access to a network of airport lounges all over the world.

In the past, Ms. Optimizer and I used the Sapphire Reserve but have since downgraded to Sapphire Preferred for several reasons.

Our Global Entry memberships are paid for the next few years.
We have access to an airport lounge network through another credit card.
We do not tend to use the Chase portal for travel purchases.
We estimated that we would need to spend at least $8,000 each year on travel (most of our flights and hotel stays are free) to take advantage of the fact that the Sapphire Reserve has a higher bonus (3X) than the Sapphire Preferred (2X) for travel purchases.

In our case, a downgrade saved us money on the annual fee and cost us very little, but this is largely because our travel rewards program has matured, and our needs has changed over time.

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To conclude, for some, these Chase products can be combined to create a formidable travel rewards program. The Freedom cards, by themselves, can give you a decent cash back program although it will be unexceptional after picking up the first-year bonuses. However, one of the Sapphire cards can be the foundation of a productive travel rewards program for those who want to turn their credit card spending into travel. Because the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve cards are more similar than they were in the past, a key criterion for choosing between them might be your interest in airport lounge access and lounge availability in places you might fly.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Downgrading Credit Cards for More Efficient Points and Miles Accumulation

Fri, 09 Feb 2024 16:54:53 GMT

When credit card issuers ask you to step up, it may be advantageous to step back.

In the past few months, some clients and friends have received offers from their credit card issuers to upgrade their credit cards to cards offering more benefits along with, of course, higher annual fees. This is obviously a good move for the credit card issuers. They are asking people with $100 annual fee cards to step up to a card with an annual fee of $200 to $300. Cardholders with these mid-level cards are being offered an opportunity to move up to premium cards with annual fees surpassing $500.

In most of the cases brought to my attention, I could NOT see any significant benefit of taking the upgrade. And in some cases, the upgrades could actually harm the client’s strategy for accumulating points and miles leaving them with higher card fees and fewer points or miles to show for their routine credit card spending.

But this post is not really about upgrading your credit cards. It is about the possibility that you should sometimes downgrade a credit card when it is to your advantage. After all, just as there are cases where there is little or nothing to gain from upgrading, there can also be cases where there is little or nothing to lose from downgrading. Understandably, you won’t be getting mail pieces or emails from your credit card issuer offering you an opportunity to downgrade. The topic of downgrading comes up from time to time in other points and miles blogs but, there is more emphasis on upgrades. This is no surprise since many points and miles blogs rely on advertising from card issuers as well as collecting fees when you sign up for a credit card through links they provide. ( TRO does not accept advertising and has no relationship with credit card issuers. )

Why Downgrade a Credit Card

The bottom-line reason for downgrading a credit card to a less expensive card in its family is that the cardholder is simply not getting good value for the annual fee that they are paying. A downgrade can quickly save you hundreds of dollars in annual fees. Reasons that you are no longer getting good value might include:

You no longer use the benefits and credits, or you use them less frequently.
The issuer changes or reduces benefits so that they no longer resemble what you originally signed up for.
Your spending patterns have changed so the card’s bonus structure is less beneficial.
You learn that points accrual will be similar or even better with a downgraded card.
The annual fee has increased but any promised new “enhancements” are of no benefit to you.

When to Downgrade

Usually, you cannot downgrade a credit card until you have held it for at least one year.

There is no point in downgrading before the year is up anyway as you have already paid the annual fee and can still take advantage of any benefits.
In cases where the annual fee was waived for the first year, the issuing bank will probably not be keen to offer a downgrade before you have paid your first annual fee. In fact, if you were to try to cancel the card or seek a downgrade to a no fee card, the bank might try to “claw back” any sign-up bonus you received. Furthermore, they might be hesitant to issue you cards in the future.
Also, if you are planning to get a new card from an issuer in the near future, it is probably not a good idea to ask for a downgrade of one of their current cards and they might see you as a less desirable (i.e. less profitable) customer and be less inclined to approve your application.

You should downgrade around the time that your annual fee is about to be renewed. First, you might as well take advantage of any benefits or credits for the full year. Second, if you have decided to downgrade, you want to get that done before the renewal fee kicks in. Typically, after renewal fees appear on your statement, you have a brief grace period to drop or downgrade a card and avoid the new annual fee, but policies can vary from bank to bank.

How to Downgrade

Downgrades require a call to a card issuer’s customer service.

If you have been a good customer, they might try to keep you with your current card by offering some incentive which might or might not be compelling enough for you to stay put.
In some cases, perhaps if you have not used their card very much, they might not approve a downgrade even if they have a lower tier product. In that case, you need to decide if you want to keep the card for another year or cancel it.
Don’t forget that the downgrade also affects any authorized users who hold the card so you need to alert them to changes.

Why Not Just Cancel the Card

A common myth of credit cards and credit ratings is that cancelling a card will improve your FICO score. However, a huge component of your credit score (perhaps one-third) is your credit utilization rate (i.e., the percentage of all your available credit that you are using at a given time). The credit rating agencies and banks like to see a low percentage. Let’s say you tend to put $4,000 per month on credit cards and have a total credit line (from all sources) of $40,000. Your utilization is 10%. Now, imagine that you cancel a card with a $16,000 credit limit. Your total credit now drops to $24,000 and your utilization would increase to about 17% ($4,000/$24,000) which will have an impact on your FICO score.

By downgrading, you maintain the credit limit and your relationship with the bank. Maintaining the relationship with the bank is important because you want your ongoing pursuit of travel rewards to be sustainable. You may be interested in other products offered by that bank in the future or even upgrading back to the card you moved away from.

Potential Pitfalls of Downgrading

Obviously, you will lose certain benefits with a downgrade. If your current card benefits include credits for certain expenditures, it makes sense to take advantage of them before a downgrade. As an example, some cards will cover the application fee for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck so you could apply for these or cover the application fee of a family member or friend if you already have this.

Another concern is the fate of flexible points that you have accumulated. For most card families, you need a card with an annual fee to transfer points to airline and hotel partners. If you are downgrading to a free card, you might lose that capability. For example, if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred card ($95/year) you can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to partner loyalty programs. But, if you downgrade to one of the Chase Freedom no fee cards, you are limited in how you use the points and they tend to be worth less. In this case, if you were downgrading to a free card, you might want to proactively transfer points where they would be most useful before you lose the opportunity.
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When we create a Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we often recommend that you apply for cards with annual fees.

Generally, the best benefits and accumulation of points and miles tend to go hand in hand with cards that have fees.
When we recommend these cards, our plans are designed to ensure that the travel value you receive will pay for the higher fees many times over.
But, at the same time, we also look for opportunities for you to strategically downgrade cards when we learn that pricier cards are less efficient for point and mile accumulation, offer redundant benefits, or offer benefits that don’t justify the additional costs. That’s optimization.

In the next few weeks, our posts will take a closer look at some of the credit card “families” and what this might mean for upgrading and downgrading. We hope you will check them out.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Credit Card Sign-Up Bonus Gluttony: Probably Not a Viable Travel Rewards Strategy for Most of Us

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 16:42:25 GMT

Rapid fire card applications could bring potential credit issues

A couple of weeks ago, Gary Leff of the View from the Wing blog, wrote about how he applied, and received instant approval, for five credit cards over the course of a weekend. The cards – four business cards and one personal card – will yield him 460,000 bonus points and miles (or around 500,000 when including the points and miles he will earn for the spending needed to reach the bonus thresholds).

The cards that will soon appear in Gary’s mailbox are:

The American Express Business Platinum card – He gets 150,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $15,000 in the first three months.
Chase INK Preferred Business card – 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $8,000 in the first three months.
CitiBusiness Advantage Platinum Selection Mastercard – 65,000 American miles after spending $4,000 in the first four months.
Alaska Airlines Visa Business card – 75,000 Alaska miles after spending $4,000 in the first three months.
Alaska Airlines Visa card – 70,000 Alaska miles after spending $3,000 in the first three months.

The clock for spending enough to meet a card’s bonus threshold starts as soon as you are approved (not when you receive the card in the mail and activate it). Some quick math shows that Mr. Leff needs to put $34,000 on his new credit cards in the next three months to get all those bonuses.

View from the Wing is a popular travel blog, and I am sure Leff is good for the minimum spend and then some. However, I do not believe that this approach is feasible for most people. There is the high level of spending in a brief period of time, of course. And the total annual fees for these five cards will approach $1100.

A greater concern could be the impact that moves like this could have on most Americans’ credit ratings and their relationships with banks. Leff was smart to apply for all these cards at about the same time and to spread his applications out among four card issuers -- Amex, Chase, Citi (American Airlines), and Bank of America (Alaska Airlines). But, a credit card application generates a “hard pull” with credit reporting agencies and banks get nervous when they see an applicant who has applied for multiple sources of credit in a short period of time. Perhaps Leff applied for the five cards faster than information about his “hard pulls” could appear on credit reports and the different banks did not know what was afoot. I would be interested in knowing how his bold move will affect his FICO score going forward as well as his ability to pick up his next credit card.

Points and miles blogs have lots of interesting and entertaining anecdotes but much of what the bloggers do and write about is impractical for most Americans. The Travel Rewards Optimizer plans we create are designed to fit with our clients’ routine spending so that they can have a predictable , reliable , and sustainable source of free and reduced cost travel for years to come.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Points and Miles and 1099 Forms: What is Taxable?

Wed, 31 Jan 2024 15:39:55 GMT

Do you remember that referral bonus you received last year?

The end of January is the time when businesses need to file 1099 forms and when some of us start receiving these forms in the mail. In some cases, credit card issuers who offer travel rewards will send 1099 forms to customers who have picked up miles and points outside of the miles and points they receive for their spending or for sign-up bonuses.

The miles and points you get for your credit card spending and even the credit card sign-up bonuses, while valuable, are not taxable income. Because you must spend money to get these rewards, they are considered to be rebates. A good analogy is a coupon you might use at the grocery store. You do not pay tax on the value of the coupon because the coupon only has value to you if you use it to get a discount.

The 1099s issued by credit card companies are often for referral bonuses. You earn these bonuses by referring friends and the points and miles you get are a sort of “finder’s fee” for helping the card issuer sign up a new customer. Because this is something of value you receive for your services, it is treated as income and is taxable. It is also possible that cardholders receive 1099s for a year when they were offered retention bonuses. Like the referral bonus, the retention bonus is a gift from the card issuer for your agreement to stick around for another year. If not linked to actual spending, it is income rather than a rebate and is also taxable.

Your feelings about having the value of some points and miles added to your taxable income might be related to the value you expect to get from them. From what I understand, issuers tend to make conservative (i.e., low) estimates of the value of their miles and points. If you are using the miles or points, and getting at least their estimated value, you are coming out ahead. If the issuer reports to the IRS that your points are worth one cent each and the actual value that you are getting is one-half that, the hassle and taxes are probably not worth it.

Of course, you will not know the putative value card issuers place on their points and miles if you do not get the 1099 in the first place. My understanding is that businesses are required to file 1099s only for payees receiving at least $600 during a year (although they might still file for those receiving less than $600). Typically, credit card companies place a cap on the total amount of referral bonuses they can give you each year. Based on my estimates, it would appear the issuers want to keep the total estimated value of the referral bonuses below $600 so they are not obligated to file the 1099s. However, they still may file them and, in recent years, it appears that more cardholders are receiving 1099s for amounts of less than $600.

Regardless of whether you receive a 1099 or not, if you received miles and points as a referral bonus, you owe tax on the value of those awards.

If you get a 1099 for referral and retention bonuses, you can determine if the value you get from the points and miles, once factoring in your tax liability, is worth it or not. Because this “income” is voluntary, if it is not a good deal for you, you can simply stop referring friends.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

How the New Chase Sapphire Lounges Might Work for You

Mon, 29 Jan 2024 21:08:21 GMT

A perk for Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders that you can, perhaps, test for yourself

Chase has jumped into the airport lounge game and, with the addition of two new lounges this month, has doubled its number of locations. Before this year, there were Chase Sapphire Lounges at Hong Kong (HKG) and Boston Logan (BOS) airports. They have recently been joined by Chase Sapphire lounges at New York LaGuardia (LGA) and New York JFK (JFK) airports.

I have not gotten a chance to visit these new lounges, but the word is that they are an outstanding and welcome addition to lounge options for harried flyers. Early reports are that they are beautifully decorated and furnished and that the food and beverages offered are top notch. What remains to be seen is if they remain pleasant oases in their busy airports or if their popularity creates the recent crowding problems seen at Amex Centurion lounges and airline lounges.

Admission to the Chase Sapphire lounges is a perk of the Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR) credit card. The CSR annual fee ($550/year) includes a Priority Pass which allows holders to access a worldwide network of airport lounges. But, all Priority Passes are not created equal. The Priority Passes that come with some of the premium Chase cards (Sapphire Reserve, J. P. Morgan Reserve, Ritz-Carlton) are the ones that get you unlimited visits.

Priority Passes issued to holders of premium American Express and Capital One cards do not offer the same unlimited entries. However, if you hold a Priority Pass through cards such as the Amex Platinum or Capital One Venture X, you are allowed one visit per year (across all four lounges). So, if you have one of these versions of the Priority Pass, you can try out one of the Chase Sapphire lounges. Alternatively, you can pay cash ($75) for a single visit.

Those whose travel takes them to Boston, New York, or Hong Kong with some regularity, and who want lounge access, might find it worthwhile to pick up a Chase Sapphire Reserve card for access to these lounges. The CSR’s $550 annual fee is a bit misleading. The fee comes with a $300 travel credit that has no limitations. In other words, you do not have to purchase travel through the Chase portal or any other specific source to use the credit. The $300 is simply applied to the first $300 you spend during the year on flights, trains, car rental, hotels, etc. If you are traveling even a little and use this card, the de facto cost of the card is $250 per year. With unlimited visits to the Chase Sapphire lounges – and you can take up to two guests per visit by the way – and some of the other CSR benefits, the $250 per year might be a bargain for those using the Boston and/or New York airports.

For the time being, these lounges do not fit into our plans. However, both Ms. Optimizer and I have Priority Passes through American Express. The next time we travel through New York or Boston, we might cash in our free visit to see what all the excitement is about.

And, if you have visited one of these lounges recently, please let us know your impressions.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

How Much Return Can You Expect from Your Points and Miles Portfolio?

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 15:46:39 GMT

Part III of a three-part series on the Points and Miles "Portfolio"

This is the third part of a three-part series “Your Points and Miles ‘Portfolio.’” On Monday, I discussed key principles for building and protecting your points and miles portfolio. Yesterday, the focus was on evaluating the portfolio. Today’s post will discuss how to assess the “return” of your portfolio.

The previous posts in this series have discussed the idea of seeing your points and miles as you might see an investment portfolio, the principles for creating this portfolio, and an approach to determining its value.

The last piece will focus on the idea of the return on your points and miles. With an investment portfolio, you want to see growth, even if you are not adding funds to it. A points and miles “portfolio” can grow simply because you are spending money with credit cards.

While growth is a given, the actual return – what you are getting in travel value relative to the amount you are spending on your credit cards – is what matters. Greater return means that you are getting more free or reduced cost travel from your routine spending. But return is also important from the standpoint that credit cards can have annual fees and you need to spend at least a little time keeping up with your points and miles.

There are cards that do not have annual fees that can generate a two percent return so, if you are paying annual fees, you definitely want to see a return that is appreciably better than two percent.

This is the formula I use to determine my return:

FMV of Travel + Value of Benefits – Annual Card Fees – Interest/other fees

Return = ____________________________________________________________________

Total amount of spending put on credit cards

Where:

FMV of Travel = the fair market value (actual price) you would pay in cash for the flight or hotel room at the time you make a redemption minus any taxes or fees you may have to pay that are not covered by the redemption. (Ex: With airline ticket redemptions, you must pay a TSA fee of $5.60 per one-way ticket/$11.20 round trip. There are also taxes and fees you cannot avoid when using miles for international travel.).

Value of Benefits = perks, discounts, etc. that are offered by a credit card. These can include: checked bag fees, food vouchers, lounge access, and Global Entry/TSA Pre-check application fees.

Annual Card Fees = Annual membership fees that are not optional. This would include authorized user fees which can be assessed for cards offering premium benefits.

Interest/other fees = interest charged if you carry a balance, late fees, fees for exceeding your credit limit, and other fees that should be avoided. (If you tend to carry a balance, interest charges could wipe out any value you are getting from your program and you should be looking for credit cards with the lowest rates.)

Again, if you are interested in travel rewards, you should be getting more than the two percent return you can get with a simple (and free) cashback card. Otherwise, there is no reason to pursue travel rewards. But, eight years of experience has shown me that if you want to travel, travel rewards deliver considerable value beyond that two percent.

When I ran this return calculation for Ms. Optimizer and myself, our 2023 return came out to 10.8 percent . In other words, for every dollar we spent last year on a credit card, we got about 11 cents back in travel value.

I would add a couple of important points.

For my calculation, I did NOT include any benefits (checked baggage fees, upgrades, Uber discounts, lounge visits, etc.) in my calculation. They tend to be many small amounts that are hard to price individually but they do add up. I would estimate that, if included, they would increase our return beyond 11 percent.

We tend to grab at least two sign-up bonuses (SUB) between us each year. We only took advantage of one last year, so we were not relying on multiple SUBs to boost our return.

In case you were wondering, these returns in the form of free travel are not taxable. Because you are spending money to get the points, including the large new cardmember bonuses, your points and miles are considered rebates, not taxable income or gifts.

Obviously, if we create a Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we cannot guarantee any specific amount of return. However, we are confident that the travel value you receive will easily exceed the flat fee we charge for your TRO plan.

Whether you choose to ever use our services or not, I hope this week’s three-part series has demonstrated the potential of points and miles. With regards to travel, it has been a game changer for me and my clients.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Determining the Value of Your Points and Miles Portfolio

Thu, 18 Jan 2024 15:12:16 GMT

Part II of a three-part series on the Points and Miles "Portfolio"

This is the second part of a three-part series “Your Points and Miles ‘Portfolio.’” On Monday, I discussed key principles for building and protecting your points and miles portfolio. Today, the focus will be on evaluating the portfolio. Tomorrow’s post will discuss how to assess the “return” of your portfolio.

Why bother to determine the value of your points and miles?

In travel rewards, your points and miles only become worth something when you actually use them. Until then, they are a number or perhaps a dream of future travel. However, for purposes of travel budgeting, it is good to have an idea of what they can potentially do for you when you decide to redeem them.

I think a common mistake many people make with points and miles is failing to take their potential value seriously. Points and miles might be seen as a nice bonus for using a particular credit card, but not something that can have a meaningful impact on your life. However, with a solid plan and some awareness of how your routine credit card spending contributes to travel rewards, you can be on your way to your next vacation more quickly and easily.

Approaches to determining the value of points and miles

When I first got involved with points and miles for my family years ago, I tended to think in terms of how many miles or points I needed for a flight (or hotel room) rather than the value of a mile or point. Airlines and hotels would publish awards charts that would explain how much of their “currency” you needed for a flight or room. As an example, a common figure for a domestic flight might be 25,000 miles; a transatlantic flight might be 50,000 or 60,000 miles. These figures would give you a target to reach and upon reaching a target, I would often pivot to collecting some other airline’s miles to diversify or to take advantage of a sign-up bonus.

A few years ago, most airlines moved to a dynamic model meaning that prices in miles can vary with supply and demand (just as fares do when paying in dollars). This has been a mixed bag for people who like to fly with miles. The good news is that award travel is much less likely to be subject to “blackout” dates or limited availability. The bad news is that, while there is greater availability of seats, the dynamic (i.e., market) pricing can cost you a lot of your hard-earned miles if redeeming miles for last-minute travel or high demand flights.

With dynamic pricing now the rule, to evaluate your points and miles portfolio, it helps to be able to put a specific value on a point or mile. By doing this, you will have a better idea of the dollar value of the free travel that is available to you.

Some points and miles blogs provide point and mile valuations that can help you estimate the value of your “portfolio.” In a September post, I wrote about an algorithm developed by The Points Guy to estimate the value of points and miles. https://www.travelrewardsoptimizer.com/the-true-value-of-your-points-and-miles-it-really-is-all-about-you Despite the fact that this algorithm was based on 23,000 data points and subjected to “extensive validation testing” I asserted that it was of limited value because . . .

Ultimately, the value of your points and miles is all about you and how you travel

The “Your Mileage May Vary” (YMMV) rule applies to the valuation of points and miles. I would concur that a United mile is almost always worth more than a Hilton point. But beyond such generalizations, point and mile valuations can vary greatly.

Are the miles for domestic or international travel? If international, which global regions?
Do you use hotel points for budget accommodations or luxury hotels and resorts?
Do you tend to fly main cabin, or do you try to fly business class?
Are you able to plan travel months in advance or do you tend to make travel plans much closer to travel dates?
Do you start air travel at a regional airport or a major national airport like LAX or JFK? Is your local airport an airline hub?

Valuations of points and miles are as unique as you and your travel goals. Just as there is no “one-size-fits-all” figure for most valuations, there is no “one-size-fits-all” Travel Rewards Optimizer plan. When creating your customized plan, we examine the above questions and many others to get you to free travel as efficiently as possible. Included in your plan is a spreadsheet template that helps you track the value of your points and miles “portfolio.” Over time, you can gain an idea of the value of your points and miles based on your individual experience with redemptions.

Tomorrow’s post will complete this series and discuss what level of “return” is plausible from your points and miles program. I hope you check it out.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Building and Protecting Your Points and Miles “Portfolio”

Tue, 16 Jan 2024 19:39:51 GMT

Part I in a series on the Points and Miles "Portfolio"

The theme of this week’s Travel Rewards Optimizer posts will be the “Points and Miles Portfolio.”

There will be three posts:

Building and Protecting Your Points and Miles “Portfolio”
Determining the Value of Your Points and Miles “Portfolio”
How Much Return Can You Expect from Your Points and Miles “Portfolio”

I tend to think of points and miles the same way I think of an investment portfolio. When we create a Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for clients, our goal is to help them build points and miles “wealth” in the form of travel value for their future use. While this is a straightforward goal, there are certain principles to take into consideration to ensure the greatest potential for growth. Additionally, like an investment portfolio’s assets, there are potential risks to your points and miles that you want to minimize.

Travel Goals and Timing

A common purpose for an investment portfolio is to fund your retirement. You want to have enough money to live on during your expected remaining years after you stop working. But people want to build their wealth for all sorts of reasons. Similarly, travel goals vary widely from wanting to visit family on domestic trips to taking a dream vacation to an exotic locale. How you amass and utilize your points and miles can be a significant factor in how quickly and easily you meet travel goals.

Diversification

Investment portfolios are diversified to reduce the risk of market swings. Your points and miles portfolio should also be diverse but not necessarily for the same reasons. While the value of points or miles can vary over time, their value is not subject to sudden “corrections” or “crashes.” However, when you go to redeem points or miles for a flight or hotel room, the value you can get from different loyalty programs can vary greatly and diversity will give you options.

At the same time, you do not want too much diversity. When I first started paying attention to my own points and miles years ago, I realized that I had small balances with many airline and hotel programs – a few Marriott points here, a few JetBlue miles there, etc. I was not likely to be getting free flights or rooms from these programs any time soon. In fact, I ended up using these “scraps” for charitable donations or magazine subscriptions because these small batches of points and miles would otherwise expire.

In the context of a points and miles portfolio, diversification means giving yourself some options but not every option.

Flexible Points

An excellent way to diversify your points and miles is to collect the proprietary flexible points of issuers such as Chase, American Express, Citi, and Capital One. These flexible points can be used similarly to cash for paying your card balances, but they really deliver value when transferred into the points and miles of airlines and some hotel chains. Even better, for many of the banks’ transfer partners, transfers can be made instantly meaning you do not have to decide how to utilize your flexible points until you are ready to make bookings.

Of course, even though these points are flexible, it is still important to have an idea of what you want to do with them. The different issuers have different partnerships so you need to make sure you are pursuing flexible points that can be turned into airline or hotel points/miles that you will find useful.

Maintain Balance

Investment portfolios can get out of balance over time due to market corrections, significant growth in a particular sector, sales of assets, etc. As you are (hopefully) redeeming points and miles for travel every so often, the balance of your points and miles portfolio will shift and may become less diversified. Maintaining balance through diversification will ensure that the points and miles of different loyalty programs will be available for your redemptions so that you can get the best deal.

Don’t Hoard Points and Miles

Investment portfolios (at least during my lifetime) tend to grow in value and, if balanced and diverse, tend to grow faster than the rate of inflation. Unfortunately, that is not the case with your points and miles. In fact, over time, devaluation is a very real possibility.

Your points and miles are only a number until you turn them into actual travel, and they probably will never buy you more travel than they will in the present . To be blunt, my philosophy is “earn ‘em and burn ‘em.” Besides, as long as you have expenses and use credit cards, you are replacing what you use.

My general timeline is that if you have more points and miles than you will use in the next year or two, perhaps you should consider utilizing them in other ways. During COVID, Ms. Optimizer and I amassed points and miles much faster than we could use them, so we turned our Chase points into statement credits at a rate of 1.5 cents per point. While we typically aim for a redemption of at least two cents per point for airline travel, the cash redemption rate was high enough to make it worthwhile for us, especially with the uncertainty about when we might travel again.

Portfolio Sustainability and Growth

While we recommend that you set travel goals with a one-to-two-year horizon and use your points and miles to avoid devaluation, it is also important to think about the sustainability of your points and miles program. Our hope is that clients will enjoy free or reduced cost travel through credit card reward programs for the rest of their lives.

A points and miles portfolio needs to be designed for the long term, so loyalty programs and credit cards need to be added or dropped over time. The goal is to continue to get the client to their free travel as quickly as easily as possible. But for sustainability, it is also possible to make sure that clients do not abuse their relationships with credit card issuers.

In addition to building a sustainable portfolio, it is also important to design the points and miles portfolio so that it continues to grow, or be replenished, at a decent rate.

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When we create your customized Travel Rewards Optimizer plan, we design it to take the factors discussed above into consideration, not only for your short-term goals, but also with an eye to ongoing accumulation of free travel for years to come. Our service does not monitor your “portfolio” or send statements like a brokerage firm does with an investment portfolio. However, part of the service is that we provide you with an easy-to-use spreadsheet template that you can use to keep track of your points and miles.

The next post in this series, “Determining the Value of Your Points and Miles ‘Portfolio,’” will appear on Thursday of this week. We hope you check it out.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Travel Rewards Optimizer Client Hops the International Date Line to Ring in the New Year (Almost) Twice

Fri, 12 Jan 2024 18:40:41 GMT

Points and Miles Play a Key Role in Attempting "Time Travel"

I recently caught up with John Gasquet, one of the first Travel Rewards Optimizer clients, who had an eventful New Years Eve and enjoyed a few minutes of fame via the Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/01/03/united-airlines-new-years/

When I worked with John several years ago, he was interested in “time travel” – a trip that would take him over the International Date Line so that he could ring in the New Year twice. John was a loyal United flyer and already held a United credit card. I recommended a Chase Sapphire Preferred card, because based on his spending patterns, that card would accelerate his point accumulation while giving him the flexibility to turn the Chase points into United miles or the miles of some other airline.

John wisely booked flights and hotels as soon as they became available (almost a year out). With his early booking, he was able to get good deals for first-class seats on some legs as well as United’s Polaris product which offers lie-flat seats. As a Hilton Honors member, he also used points for his hotel stays. The United miles took John, and friend Monique Dixon, to Guam for their first countdown to the New Year, and then across the International Date Line the next day to ring in the New Year again from Honolulu, Hawaii.

Despite careful planning, his flight out of Guam was delayed and this was the focus of a story in the Washington Post . Although John and Monique were not on the ground in Honolulu at the stroke of midnight, a silver lining was that they were able to see the fireworks over Honolulu from the air as they descended just after midnight. United offered passengers champagne for a midnight toast as partial compensation for the late arrival.

As John suggested in the Post story, it was hard to be too upset about his plans not being fully realized while sitting on a beach in Hawaii.

The most interesting thing from our conversation, for me, was one of John’s observations about Guam, a US territory 4,000 miles west of Hawaii. John described shopping and retail as a throwback to the 1990’s, an era before widespread internet and Amazon deliveries. Guam residents can shop at Kmart (remember them), a chain with only two remaining locations in the continental United States. Residents can eat pizza from Sbarro, a once ubiquitous chain in American malls. I jokingly asked if they still had Blockbuster Video. John said they did not, but that DVD rental was still common. So, perhaps Guam should be a future destination or a stopover on the way to Asia. English is spoken, the currency is the US dollar, and one can relive the 1990’s.

At the end of our conversation, John told me that he might attempt another dual New Years Eve in the future. However, John is always coming up with new and audacious travel goals and he is now contemplating a trip to the 2024 Olympics. But, John is not thinking about a trip to Paris. That is not nearly bold enough for him. John is thinking about a trip to Tahiti for the Olympics . . . because that is where the surfing events will be held!

Regardless of John’s future travel goals, we plan to play a role in helping him get there with points and miles. And, of course, we are ready to create a customized Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you that is as unique as your own travel dreams.

Oh, and Happy New Year (or as John might say “Happy New YEARS”).

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Boosting Your Travel Rewards “Portfolio” With Transfer Bonuses

Tue, 09 Jan 2024 18:32:16 GMT

The right offer at the right time can get you closer to your next flight

As I have mentioned before, I am a huge fan of flexible points such as Chase Ultimate Rewards points or American Express Membership Rewards points. While they can be used like money to pay down your credit card balances or turned into gift cards, the real value comes from transferring these points into the points or miles of airline (and sometimes hotel) partners.

Typical transfer ratios are 1:1 and do not change much over time. However, there are occasional transfer bonus offers that pop up as incentives to transfer your flexible points to specific airlines or hotel chains. These offers tend to appear without warning and might last up to a few months but can be short-lived. Although the extent and timing of these bonuses vary and are unpredictable, there are a few commonalities.

For airlines, transfer bonuses for domestic (US) airlines are very rare. Bonuses tend to be for non-US carriers.
There are transfer bonuses for hotel chains, but these transfers should be made with great care.
Before taking advantage of a transfer bonus, you should have a specific plan in mind for the points.

An overview of recent transfer bonus offers for the major flexible point “currencies” follows. The order of offers shown for each currency does not imply any preference or ranking. However, the bolded airlines and hotel chains are the ones that tend to offer transfer bonuses more frequently (1-2 times per year) while the non-bolded ones offer bonuses less frequently.

American Express Membership Rewards (MR)

Virgin Atlantic – 30% transfer bonus
Flying Blue (Air France + KLM) – 25%
British Airways – 25-30%
Avianca LifeMiles – 10-15%
Hawaiian – 20%
Marriott – 20%
Hilton Honors – 30-50%
Cathay Pacific – 10-20%
Singapore Airlines – 20%
Qatar – 10%
JetBlue -25%
Qantas – 20%
Iberia – 30%
Aer Lingus -25%
Aeromexico – 20%
Air Canada – 20%
Choice Hotels – 25%

Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR)

Virgin Atlantic – 30%
Flying Blue (Air France + KLM) – 25%
Marriott – 40-50%
Air Canada – 20-30%
British Airways – 30%
Iberia – 30%
Aer Lingus – 30%
IHG Hotels – 70%

Citi Thank You Points

Qatar – 25-30%
Virgin Atlantic – 30%
Avianca LifeMiles – 20-25%
Flying Blue (Air France + KLM) – 25%
Wyndam Hotels – 20%
Cathay Pacific – 10%
Accor Hotels – 50%

Capital One points

Avianca LifeMiles – 10-15%
Virgin Atlantic – 30%
Flying Blue (Air France + KLM) – 20%
TAP Portugal – 15%
Etihad – 30%
British Airways – 20%
Cathay Pacific – 10%
Accor Hotels – 20%

Transfer Bonuses for airlines

As you can see, the airline transfer bonus offers tend to be for non-US carriers. Although there are occasional bonus offers for JetBlue and Hawaiian, I do not know of transfer bonuses ever being offered for the major carriers (American, United, Delta, Southwest).

However, you are in luck if you are interested in flying with Virgin, Air France, KLM, or Avianca. These airlines not only offer bonuses with some frequency, but also offer transfer bonuses for the flexible points of multiple credit card issuers.

Transfer Bonuses for Hotel Chains

Marriott and Hilton are the hotel chains that are most likely to offer transfer bonuses. However, transfers to these chains, and to IHG for that matter, are rarely a good deal. The points for these chains tend to be worth about one-half cent each while airline miles can often be redeemed for two cents each or more. Even as cash, the flexible points are worth one cent. Transferring flexible points to most hotel points would be like trading dollars for pesos at a 1:1 ratio. Even with the transfer bonuses (including the 70% bonus that IHG once offered) it is rarely a good use of your flexible points .

One exception might be if you need a small number of hotel points (say 1,000 or 2,000) to “top off” your account and give you enough points for a specific redemption (ex: a free room that you would otherwise pay for with cash). Another exception might be if you participate in the Accor loyalty program and anticipate using their points within a year (as their points might be worth about two cents each).

Have a Specific Reason for the Transfer if Taking Advantage of a Bonus Offer

Transfer bonuses are nice but, even if you are getting free points, you should only take them when you have a specific use for them in mind and plan to use them within a year or so. Once you turn your hard-earned flexible points into airline miles (or hotel points) it is difficult to use them for anything other than that specific loyalty program.

To provide a personal example, Ms. Optimizer and I have a small stash of Citi Thank You points and we tend to look to the Flying Blue program (Air France + KLM) for award flights to Europe. There are no other Citi points transfer partners that are currently of interest to us so, with or without the bonus, those Citi points will ultimately go to Flying Blue. Should a transfer bonus opportunity appear, we will take it even without immediate plans to use the points since there is a high likelihood they will be redeemed within a year. As a backup, Flying Blue miles can sometimes be used for travel within the US (on Delta flights). So, while we would be locked into Flying Blue points, there is a low probability that this would be a poor or wasted transfer.
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To summarize, transfer bonuses are occasionally offered, and they can be a worthwhile opportunity if they fit into your travel goals . However, it is rarely a good idea to take advantage of these offers speculatively because, once the transfer is made, you lose flexibility. Furthermore, offers from hotel chains for bonus transfers only make sense in very specific situations.

Because these transfer bonuses are offered sporadically, we do not incorporate them into the Travel Rewards Optimizer plans we create for clients. It is impossible to predict when (and if) they will appear and we want TRO plans to generate a predictable flow of free or reduced cost travel for you.

One benefit of being a Travel Rewards Optimizer client is, if we are aware that you collect specific types of points, we can alert you when relevant transfer bonus offers appear so that you can take advantage of these opportunities.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

My Year in Travel Rewards Redemptions

Wed, 13 Dec 2023 16:14:12 GMT

Another great year for credit card travel rewards

Because I give others advice on points and miles and how to play the travel rewards game, it is only fitting that I report on my own outcomes at the end of the year. After all, if I do not “practice what I preach” or demonstrate solid results, why should you listen to me?

2023: A Fantastic Year

2023 was an excellent year for redemptions for our household. The total fair market value of all flights and hotel rooms we got from miles and points redemptions was over $15,000 . This total included:

Two roundtrip airfares to Munich on Air France (Business class to Europe; main cabin returning)
Two one-way flights to Montreal
Two roundtrip airfares to Kalispell, MT for a visit to Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks
Three additional domestic roundtrips
Sixteen hotel nights (with four that could be classified as luxury or resort)

In addition to saving over $15,000 on flights and hotel stays, the credit cards we use to generate points and miles add various perks and benefits including: airport lounge access, Uber discounts, room upgrades, airplane seat upgrades, checked bag fees, free food and cocktails, discounts, and of course, bottled water. While the individual value of each of these things is de minimis, I would estimate the value of all these extras at between $500 and $1000.

Some highlights from the year:

Best Short Notice Redemption: Andaz Scottsdale Resort

We tacked three nights at this resort onto one of Ms. Optimizer’s business trips. We got $1737 of value with a redemption of 71,000 World of Hyatt points.

Best Hotel Room Upgrade: Montreal Intercontinental

As holders of the Chase IHG credit card, we were upgraded from a standard free room to one of the hotel’s “turret” rooms on a top floor which gave us spectacular views of Mount Royal.

Best Value Redemption: Business Class seats on Air France

We were able to snag business class seats to Europe for 55,000 Air France miles each. This worked out to about 4.6 cents per mile.

Bottom line

As I mentioned in a post about six weeks ago, you need to hold some of the credit cards that charge annual fees to unlock significant travel rewards so the $15,000+ in value did come at some cost. The total annual fees for the cards that Ms. Optimizer and I hold add to a tad over $2,000. However, this total is largely driven by an American Express Platinum card plus the cost of an authorized user ($890). This is mostly a luxury card that we use for the benefits because it is not so great for point accumulation. If we did not have this card, our total annual fees would drop to less than $1200 and we still would have generated the $15,000+ we got in free travel. In fact, we have been averaging more than $11,000 per year for the past seven years (despite reduced travel due to COVID in 2020 and 2021).

Also, it is worth pointing out that almost all the points and miles we used this year came from our routine household spending. Very few points and miles were earned through actual paid flights or paid hotel stays.

Looking ahead to 2024, Ms. Optimizer and I expect more great redemptions and memorable travel. Start your own year off with a customized Travel Rewards Optimizer plan to cut your travel costs and get you on your next trip faster.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

What the Travel Rewards Optimizer Website Is (And Is Not) About

Mon, 04 Dec 2023 19:46:59 GMT

When I tell people about the Travel Rewards Optimizer and the website, many will say something along the lines of “Oh, like The Points Guy.”

Well, yes and no.

Like many websites that address the world of miles and points, the Travel Rewards Optimizer website covers news, strategies, and tactics for people interested in turning their credit card spending into free travel. But, the Travel Rewards Optimizer (TRO) is also a service that takes client specific information about travel goals, spending patterns, and travel preferences and turns this information into a customized plan for getting free travel as quickly and efficiently as possible. Other points and miles websites tend to provide very general information and are upfront about this.

A key difference between our website and other miles and points sites is the relationship with credit card issuing banks. Other sites accept advertising from credit card issuers and these sites get some sort of compensation from banks if you use the links they provide to apply for the cards. They are very open about this. On the other hand, our site has no relationship with banks whatsoever. You will not see their advertising (or any advertising for that matter) on our site. When we recommend specific cards in your custom TRO plan, how you apply for the card is your business (if fact, we encourage you to “shop” for the best deal as sign-up offers for new cardmembers can vary).

Because we do not have and do not seek relationships with banks, you can be assured that our recommendations are unbiased. While I do not know how much advertising dollars or other forms of compensation affect the content of other miles and points websites, it does seem that some of the writers for these websites energetically promote some cards. Sometimes I get the impression that they never met a credit card they did not like.

Bottom Line: We do not work for the banks. Our job is to find ways to make the banks work for you .

A second difference is that some points and miles websites include posts on destinations or reviews of specific hotel locations and airline flights. By doing so, they certainly provide some ideas about how you might use your points and miles. The Travel Rewards Optimizer is more focused on showing you how to get the miles and points you need for your dream travel. When creating a custom TRO plan, we learn about your travel destinations of interest and your travel style and then adapt the plan to meet your goals.

Another difference is that, while some other websites tend to offer an entertainment component. I leave topics such as “The Disgusting Meal I Was Served in Business Class” or “The Heartache of Missing Out on an Upgrade” to others. If you are looking for stories of randy passengers trying to join the “Mile High Club,” you will not find them here. (There was a recent story on a website that actually included video.) I like to keep the Travel Rewards Optimizer posts focused on our task of connecting people’s routine spending to free or reduced cost travel.

While I want to explain what makes the Travel Rewards Optimizer website different, I do not do so to knock other websites. In fact, I check on them from time to time as they alert me to some important developments in the points and miles world. But, my key goal is arming readers and clients with unbiased, bottom-line information that will quickly get them on their way to their next vacation. I hope that you get that out of my posts and thanks for reading.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Dave Ramsey Bashes Travel Rewards Credit Cards: I’m Glad I Did NOT Listen

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 20:40:05 GMT

Some financial experts are not so keen on travel rewards programs and Dave Ramsey is one of the most vocal critics. Mr. Ramsey has done a great service for many by helping them erase ruinous debt and get their financial houses in order. Avoiding credit cards is a key component of his money management philosophy. (In fact, you cannot make purchases from his website with a credit card.) But, I take issue with his one-size-fits-all approach that no one should be using credit cards. For me and my Travel Rewards Optimizer clients, travel rewards programs have made travel more affordable and enhanced our lives with great experiences and priceless memories.

Mr. Ramsey is quick to cite the high interest rates charged by card issuers as well as the fact that 40 percent of Americans carry balances and are subject to these interest rates (which can exceed 20%). I would be the first to acknowledge that anyone who is paying interest on credit card debt should not be pursuing travel rewards (or cashback, gift cards, or any other type of rewards). These individuals should at the very least try to find credit cards with the lowest interest rates, and preferably, they should work toward getting away from paying any interest at all.

This leaves us with 60 percent of credit card holders who are NOT carrying balances and paying interest. If you are this type of credit card customer, you should definitely explore ways to get something back for your routine spending. At the very least, there are cards with no annual fee that can generate a two percent return on your spending. And, if you are interested in travel, the return can be much higher.

Articles posted at Ramsey Solutions suggest that credit card issuers are manipulative villains who are “robbing people like you blind” and that the rewards programs are “like gambling in a casino.” Gambling suggests that you can win or lose and, over time, will lose. But, I am about to close out my eighth year in a row of getting far more value from travel rewards programs than I spend on credit card annual fees. (I even came out far ahead in 2020 during the worst of COVID.) Having averaged over $10,000 in travel rewards annually, I certainly have not been robbed.

Mr. Ramsey sees travel rewards as problematic even for those who pay their balances in full every month. He is concerned that people might use credit cards as their money management system rather than budgeting. He is correct that budgeting makes one accountable, requires discipline, and keeps you apprised of where your money is going. However, for me, tracking my credit card use is another approach to maintaining accountability and practicing financial discipline. Useful tools provided by credit card issuers can help you detect trends, patterns, and spending anomalies. Annual statements can provide useful insights. Ramsey’s ideas about budgeting and credit card use are not necessarily incompatible.

Mr. Ramsey also has an argument for those who avoid credit card interest, use sound financial management practices, and benefit from travel rewards programs. He argues that these programs are a sort of zero-sum game, and any benefits you might receive are at the expense of others. In his view, if card issuers reduced travel awards, the 40 percent of people who carry balances could have a lower interest rate. However, banking is a competitive business and there are plenty of financial institutions that are charging less interest than the banks that issue travel rewards credit cards.

Dave Ramsey prescribes some bitter, but essential, medicine that has helped many people recover their financial health. But like medicine, his advice about avoiding credit cards at all costs is not for everyone. If your financial house is in order, you do not carry credit card balances, and you are interested in travel, you may be missing a wonderful opportunity if you follow his dictum.

Check out the sample plan at our website to get an idea of what a Travel Rewards Optimizer plan can do for you.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

The Lowdown on Credit Card "Upgrades"

Mon, 20 Nov 2023 20:02:54 GMT

In some cases, upgrading your travel rewards credit card can inhibit your accumulation of points or miles

Products or services are often offered as packages with hierarchies like “good, better, and best” or perhaps “gold, silver, and platinum.” Cars are sold with different trim levels that give you some latitude in your choice of features and accessories. Of course, as you move from more basic packages to packages with more features or services, you pay more.

Often, the different levels in the product or service build on one another. For example, if you buy the gold package, you get everything in the silver package plus additional services or features. If you choose the next trim level on a new car, you get all the features of the lower trim level, plus perhaps heated seats or a better sound system. You can then determine if the extra features or services that are included justify the cost of upgrading to a higher level.

Credit cards that offer travel rewards might or might not work like this. The card issuers generally offer three or four levels of credit cards for both their co-branded cards (which give you miles or points for specific airlines and hotels) and their flexible point cards. But, as you move from free cards to cards with annual fees of around $100 to luxury cards with annual fees of $500 or more, it is not safe to assume that the more expensive cards build on the features and capabilities of the less expensive cards.

A recent offer I received is a good example of how a “better” card would actually have a detrimental effect on my miles and points strategy.

I currently have an American Express Gold card and was offered an opportunity to “upgrade” to American Express’ Platinum card. The Amex Platinum comes with a broad range of benefits and discounts that are not offered by the Amex Gold card. But, at the same time, the annual fee for the Platinum card is $695 and the cost for each authorized user has recently been hiked to $195. (The current annual fee for the Gold card is $250 with no additional fees for authorized users).

It was clear to me that I could probably use enough of the Platinum card benefits to offset the steep annual fee. But, there was a more important consideration . . . the long-term impact on my points and miles strategy . The important distinction between the two cards is that, while both generate American Express’ Membership Rewards points, the bonus structures for the two cards are entirely different. The Gold card gives hefty bonuses for grocery and restaurant purchases (4 points per dollar) while the Platinum card gives excellent bonuses for air travel purchases (5 points per dollar). However, if you convert the Gold card to a Platinum card, you lose the bonuses for grocery and restaurant spending and only get one point per dollar spent. After factoring in the extra cost of an Amex Platinum card, and the opportunity cost of missing out on points from dining and groceries, this "upgrade" clearly did not make sense for me and Ms. Optimizer.

Certainly, if you spend a lot on air travel, the Platinum card might be a better choice (especially as many card benefits of this card such as lounge access are geared to people who fly). But, for people who spend more on food than flight, the Gold card is better for building your points and miles portfolio. Of course, picking up both is an option, but you need to make sure the benefits and potential accumulation of points justify paying American Express almost $1,000 every year.

To return to the car trim level analogy, if you opt for a more expensive trim package, the sound system might be better, and you can enjoy the heated seats on a chilly morning. But, essentially, you are still driving a car. With some credit cards, however, upgrading to the next level (or downgrading to a lower fee product) might be giving you a fundamentally different card with respect to your miles and points strategy.

When we create a Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for clients, this is one of the many issues we take into consideration. Travel rewards credit cards issuers offer a broad range of products and their offerings change frequently. But, we stay on top of this constantly changing landscape so the plans we create will help you reach your travel goals as quickly and efficiently as possible.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

The $100 Annual Fee Credit Cards: THE Keys to Unlocking the Most Travel Rewards Value

Mon, 30 Oct 2023 18:41:00 GMT

With respect to annual fees (AFs), I tend to think of travel rewards credit cards or charge cards as falling into three categories:

Cards with no annual fee
Cards with an annual fee of around $100
Cards with an annual fee of $500 or more

Cards with a $0 AF, despite being free, can offer as much as two percent (2%) cash back on purchases. If you are not particularly interested in rewards travel, this is an easy play for reducing your expenses and you have the flexibility to use the cash any way you choose. Typically, people might use their cashback balance as credits against their statements or to purchase gift cards.

Travel cards with high ($500+) AFs tend to be luxury cards which add various perks for travelers such as elevated status with hotels, access to airport lounges, and credits for rideshare services. These cards often provide opportunities to accelerate your mile or point accumulation by giving you bonus points for spending in certain categories. In addition, those that offer the proprietary points of the issuer (Ex: Chase Ultimate Rewards Points, American Express Membership Rewards Points) give the cardholder the option of transferring these flexible points to airline and hotel loyalty programs.

For those new to the points and miles game, or those who are not looking for luxury, the travel cards with AFs of around $100 are the “sweet spot” for travel rewards. Like the luxury cards, they can offer bonus points for purchases in certain categories to accelerate your earning. And, as with the luxury cards, if the cards yield flexible points, those points can be transferred to airline and hotel loyalty programs. It is this process of transferring flexible points to the issuing bank’s airline or hotel partners that provides the greatest travel value.

The major credit card issuers tend to follow the pattern of offering a $0 AF cashback card and the option of stepping up to a $100 AF card that gives you the opportunity to pursue more valuable travel rewards. As I suggested in the title, these cards are the keys to unlocking significantly more travel value.

Chase

Chase offers no fee cards like the Freedom Unlimited and the Freedom Flex that operate as cash back cards. The Freedom Unlimited is effectively a 1.5% cashback card. The Freedom Flex offers 1% cashback on most purchases, but that yield can be raised slightly as this card offers 5% cashback on quarterly rotating categories such as gas, dining, or groceries. The 5% cashback is limited to the first $1500 spent in the category.

The least expensive travel rewards “key” card offered by Chase is the Sapphire Preferred card. This $95 card comes with a generous sign-up bonus (worth at least $750) and gives bonus points for spending in certain categories. Chase’s proprietary points (Ultimate Rewards points) can be used to pay down balances or for gift cards. But, most importantly for travel rewards, these points can be transferred to 11 airline (including United and Southwest) and three hotel partners.

Citi

Citi’s no fee cashback card is the Citi Double Cash which gives you 2% cashback on all purchases. This card generates “ThankYou points” and these points give cardholders access to three airline and hotel partners. However, the redemption rates for these partners are not very attractive.

The Citi travel rewards card that unlocks real travel value is the Citi Premier card which has an AF of $95. It comes with a generous sign-up bonus and offers a 3X bonus in several categories: flights, hotel, gas, dining, supermarkets. And, the ThankYou points can be transferred to 14 airlines and three hotels.

American Express

American Express’ Blue Cash Card is a free card that lets you apply cash back to statement balances. It offers 3% in some categories with limits or ceilings before the cashback amount drops to 1%.

To earn and transfer American Express’ Membership Rewards points, you need to step up to the EveryDay Preferred card with a $95 AF. This card has a modest sign-up bonus and gives you bonus points for certain categories. There is an additional 50% bonus if you use the card at least 30 times per month. The Membership Rewards points can be transferred to 17 airline (including Delta) and three hotel partners.

Capital One

This bank’s free card is the VentureOne Rewards card. You might or might not get a sign-up bonus with this card depending on your credit history. Unlike the no fee cards offered by other banks, the points you earn on the VentureOne card can be transferred to airline and hotel partners. However, the downside is that this card earns at a 1.25% rate which is poorer than the cashback rates of the no fee Chase, Citi, and Amex products.

Capital One’s Venture card, at $95 a year, earns two points per dollar spent on all categories and these points can be transferred to 15 airline and three hotel partners. Additionally, this card comes with a valuable bonus and some other perks.

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The adage “you have to spend money to make money” certainly applies when leveraging your miles and points for the most lucrative travel rewards. No fee cards are great options for some people but your “return” on your regular spending is going to top out at about two percent. However, stepping up to cards with annual fees of just under $100 can turbocharge your accumulation of points and miles and get you on your next vacation faster. The value of the sign-up bonuses alone will cover the AF. Just as importantly, these cards offer category bonuses that will help you accumulate miles and points more rapidly on an ongoing basis. And finally, the points from flexible point cards can be transferred to many domestic and international airlines.

Our Travel Rewards Optimizer plan takes our knowledge of the above-mentioned cards and many others, and incorporates an analysis of your travel goals, travel style preferences, spending patterns, and loyalty programs to give you a customized blueprint for generating free and reduced cost travel.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Quebec Case Study: Points and Miles Free Up Travel Budget for Poutine and Museum Visits

Wed, 18 Oct 2023 16:00:53 GMT

Recently, Ms. Optimizer and I took a short trip to Montreal and Quebec City for our anniversary. We were interested in learning more about our northern neighbor, experiencing the rich and distinct French-Canadian culture, exploring the art and history of First Nations people, and catching some early fall colors. And, of course, we wanted to sample the Montreal style bagels, poutine, and other great cuisine that we have always heard about.

As usual, points and miles played a role in this trip. We were able to utilize United miles, IHG points, and the World of Hyatt program to lower our costs as follows:

We redeemed 27,600 United miles for two, one-way tickets to Montreal. With a value of $462, we got a reasonable redemption of 1.7 cents per mile.
We used the annual free room credit I get with my IHG credit card to cover one night at the Montreal InterContinental. The free room credit covered most of the room but, as this is a high-end property in the IHG portfolio, we had to pay an additional $60. Once backing this out, the IHG card yielded $286 in value.
We used annual free room credits that we get from holding World of Hyatt credit cards to stay at Montreal’s Hyatt Centric, a $937 value.

Overall, the miles and points we utilized for this one trip saved us almost $1,700. However, the use of travel rewards credit cards yielded several less tangible, but useful, benefits that enhanced our trip.

For the flight to Montreal, we used the airline credit from our Amex Platinum card to upgrade from economy class to premium economy.
The United MilesPlus credit card includes two passes for United lounges each year, so we had access to the United lounge before departure.
The IHG credit card gives us some level of status, so we were upgraded to one of the hotel’s “turret” rooms on one of the highest floors. We were also offered two complimentary cocktails at the hotel’s excellent bar.
On our return trip, we were able to visit a lounge in the Toronto airport with our Priority Pass membership which is a benefit of the Amex Platinum card.

Even for brief trips like this, the well-planned use of miles and points has changed the way that we travel by reducing our costs and enhancing the experience.

This area is described as a place where “Europe meets North America.” If you are interested in traveling to this “piece of Europe” in North America, or Europe itself, or anywhere else for that matter, let us create a Travel Rewards Optimizer plan to get you on your way with less expense.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

The Priority Pass Can Be Useful for Airport Lounge Access and Dining, But Benefits Can Vary

Fri, 06 Oct 2023 18:11:42 GMT

The Priority Pass is a program which gives members access to a network of over 1400 airport lounges and experiences worldwide (including 150+ in the US and Canada). This program allows even passengers flying on economy class tickets an escape from the crowds and chaos of today’s airports. Also, in some airports, the Priority Pass offers a $28 credit at participating restaurants. (There is a full restaurant list below.)

While the Priority Pass can provide tremendous value for air travelers, they come in different forms offering different benefit levels. The goal of this post is to quickly break down the pros and cons of different options so you will know if a Priority Pass is right for you and how you might go about getting one.

Direct Purchase from Priority Pass

You can buy three levels of Priority Pass directly from their website:

Standard ($99)

After paying $99 for one year, you can utilize the pass for $35 per visit. You can also take guests for $35 per visit.

Standard Plus ($329)

You pay $329 for a one-year membership and this includes 10 visits for the member. After that, visits are $35 each. All guest visits are $35 per visit.

Prestige ($469)

For this version, after paying $469, the member gets one year of unlimited visits. Guest visits are $35 each.
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Personally, I do not see the value of the first two options. The putative value of a visit is $35 but a visit could be stopping in for 20 minutes to get a cup of coffee and a cookie or sitting down for a light meal and a beer and working for two hours. With the first option, you have effectively paid for three visits before having the ability to start paying $35 per visit. With the second option, you are paying an average of $33 per visit for the first 10 visits and then the price of subsequent visits goes up. Also, in both cases, you are losing money if you opt for the $28 restaurant credit since the use of the Pass is costing you $33-35 per visit.

If buying directly from Priority Pass, it would seem that the Prestige level membership might be of use for some travelers if they used it enough (perhaps twice a month or more). Before spending almost $500, it would be worthwhile to visit the Priority Pass website to make sure that airports you are likely to use during a one-year membership have lounges and restaurants in the Priority Pass network.

A direct purchase from Priority Pass might not be optimal for most air travelers (at least in my opinion). That leads to the option of:

Acquiring a Priority Pass as a Benefit of a Credit Card

Several credit card issuers offer cards that include some form of the Priority Pass as a perk. I say “some form” because there are different versions of the priority pass and the issuers do not do the best job of explaining these differences. The key difference is that some of the Priority Passes included as benefits allow the cardholder to use the lounges and eat at the restaurants in the network. However, some Priority Passes offered as a card benefit are limited to the lounges so, with those, you do not get the $28 credit at participating restaurants.

One key advantage of these credit card related passes is they often allow you to bring up to two guests at no additional charge.

These are the cards that include a Priority Pass and the specifics:

Chase Sapphire Reserve ($550 annual fee)

This card comes with the version of Priority Pass that includes access to restaurants in the network. Better yet, authorized users (AUs) can be added for $75 each and each authorized user gets a Priority Pass membership. This is a great option for those who can utilize the restaurants and want to share this specific benefit with other members of their household.

Capital One Venture X ($395 AF)

The Priority Pass you get with the Venture X does not include restaurant access. However, you can add authorized users at no charge which means the AUs also can have lounge access.

American Express Platinum Card/Business Platinum ($695 AF)

The Priority Pass included with these Platinum Cards is limited to lounges. You can add AUs for $195 (personal Platinum) or $300 (Business Platinum) each.

American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant ($650 AF)

The included Priority Pass is limited to lounges.

American Express Hilton Surpass Card ($95 AF)

The included Priority Pass is limited to 10 lounge visits per year.

Although this is the most limited version of the Priority Passes available, it is also the least expensive way to get lounge access as the card’s annual fee is $95. And, of course, the card offers a signup bonus and other perks.

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Even though the Chase Sapphire Reserve is the only credit card offering a Priority Pass that includes the $28 credits at participating restaurants, this benefit is only useful if you travel through airports with these restaurants. Otherwise, the Priority Pass offering only access to lounges might be all you need.

Airports with Restaurants Participating in Priority Pass

Participating restaurants change frequently and are always being added or deleted so these lists may not be 100% current.

There are over three dozen participating restaurants at 25 airports in the United States. Numbers in parentheses denote airports with multiple participating restaurants.

Atlanta
Baltimore
Boston (3)
Cleveland
Dallas/Ft. Worth
Denver (2)
Detroit
Ft. Lauderdale
Houston G. W. Bush (2)
Indianapolis
Little Rock
Miami
Minneapolis
Nashville
New York JFK
Portland, OR (3)
Providence
St. Louis
San Francisco (4)
Seattle (3)
Syracuse
Tampa
Tucson
Washington Dulles
Washington National (2)

Also, there are over 40 participating restaurants in airports outside of the United States (with 17 in Australia!!).

Berlin
Brisbane, Australia (3)
Buenos Aires (One each in AEP and EZE)
Canberra, Australia (2)
Coimbatore, India
Hong Kong
Lima Peru (2)
London Gatwick
London Heathrow (3)
London Luton
Melbourne, Australia (3)
Nagoya, Japan (2)
Osaka, Japan (2)
Papeete, French Polynesia
Phnom Penh, Cambodia999
Queensland, Australia (OOL)
Sao Paolo, Brazil (2)
Singapore (4)
Sydney, Australia (8)
Taipei, Taiwan (2)

As the post-COVID travel rebound has made air travel and airports as hectic as ever, airport lounges can offer respite and refreshment. Annual memberships offered by airlines for their lounges can come with a price tag of $600 or more and you can only use them when flying with that airline. The Priority Pass offers an affordable alternative, especially if acquired as a credit card benefit, that might be appropriate. When creating a Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for clients who might benefit from lounge access, we take this possibility into consideration.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

The Annual Year End Bonus Points and Miles Push: Should You Bite?

Wed, 04 Oct 2023 17:56:43 GMT

This is the time of year when credit card holders start getting offered points and miles bonuses if they meet a spending threshold for the year’s last quarter. Historically, these have arrived in my email (and occasionally in the mailbox) toward the end of September and offer a bonus (usually 5,000 points or miles) if I spend at least $3,000 before the end of the year. In my experience, the cards offering these bonuses tend to be the ones I use less frequently and tend to be cards that offer specific miles or points (airline and hotel co-branded cards) rather than flexible points.

Perhaps the credit card issuers are trying to entice you to incorporate the card into your holiday shopping and other end of year spending when use might be higher. Maybe the banks have internal benchmarks they need to meet, and this is a last gasp push to pump up their revenues before December 31 ^st .

While the bonus is nice and can get you closer to a free flight or night in a hotel, it may or may not be useful for you depending on your circumstances and near-term travel plans. As an example, I will walk you through an offer I received last week.

Chase offered me a bonus of 5,000 points if I spend $3,000 on my IHG co-branded card in the next three months. (IHG is the hotel group including Holiday Inn, InterContinental, Kimpton, Crowne Plaza, and others.) For any routine, non-bonus spending, this card gives you three points per dollar spent so, if I took the offer and met the spending threshold, I would get at least 14,000 IHG points. (3 points x $3,000 + 5,000-point bonus)

This offer would give a quick boost to my IHG points total but, I might need 25,000 points or more for one night in a Holiday Inn Express. Currently, I have about 2,000 points in my IHG account so, despite this bonus offer, even a modestly priced room is out of range for me. Those points might sit unused for some time. However, for someone who already has a larger balance in their IHG account, this might be an efficient means of getting a free room faster.

In general, I view these offers the way I view the occasional “sales” for points and miles. They might be useful if you are trying to “top off” an account to have enough miles for a room or flight AND you have a plan to use them in the near future (within months and certainly within one year). If these conditions do not apply, although these bonus miles or points might have value in theory, they will be “stranded” and of little or no use. Again, these offers might be worthwhile for you, but you should have a clear plan for utilizing the bonus points before you change your spending patterns.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Marriage and Travel Rewards: When 1 + 1 > 2 in the Points and Miles Game

Tue, 03 Oct 2023 17:47:04 GMT

Travel Rewards Optimizer plans can leverage powerful household synergies

I recently learned that October is the most popular month for weddings. It just so happens that Ms. Optimizer and I had an October wedding (more than a few years ago). We had a great honeymoon but, as I was not yet playing the points and miles game very effectively, the only free part of the entire trip was one international round-trip ticket purchased with Northwest Airlines miles.

Oh, to have known what I know now about the impact that points and miles can have on a young couple’s travel budget.

Getting hitched presents tremendous opportunities for both the use and accumulation of travel rewards. The use side is self-evident as many new couples take honeymoons. The average amount spent on a honeymoon is $5,000 and 60 percent of couples leave the continental United States. Without a doubt, and especially for those traveling abroad, airfare is a significant part of the budget. And resorts and hotels take another large bite. Obviously, having points and miles in place can lower the cost of the post-nuptial trip or allow the couple to think in terms of more luxury, more exotic locations, or more time.

There are also opportunities on the accumulation side as the average wedding cost (based on the most recent data) is almost $30,000. That level of spending on a range of products and services means that the credit card is going to be coming out often. Given the scale of purchases, it makes sense to use a spending strategy geared to the types of travel rewards you want to pursue. Additionally, this period of unusual spending might be a time to consider applying for new cards that are offering good sign-up bonuses (SUBs) since the SUBs often require meeting spending thresholds of several thousand dollars.

The benefits of marriage in the points and miles game continue after the wedding and this is where the title of this post (1 + 1 > 2) comes into play. When we create a Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for a couple (or a household), having a second person who can apply for credit cards creates powerful synergies that can yield more travel rewards than the sum of what two individuals could generate alone.

Credit card applications can consider household income or the funds that you will have access to for paying statements. The higher household income of two earners could give you access to more generous and productive credit cards.
Many credit card issuers allow you to pool their proprietary flexible points with other household members so you can utilize points and miles faster and more efficiently. Also, some airline loyalty programs let household members pool miles.
Because you can use your points and miles to purchase flights and hotel rooms for others, different household members can spread out their participation in loyalty programs to cover more airlines and hotel networks. (Ex: One member handles United, Hyatt, and Chase programs while the other handles Delta, Hilton, and American Express programs.)
For credit cards that offer useful benefits, one household member can hold the card and designate the other(s) as authorized users (AU). Even with fees for AUs, this is less expensive than it is for two household members to hold the same card.
Some cards offer referral bonuses so household member who refers can collect the bonus while the other household member collects the sign-up bonus.

So, if you are a couple planning to get married, consider a Travel Rewards Optimizer plan to provide guidance for generating free travel from your credit card spending. Perhaps, if you are having a lengthy engagement, that guidance might be used soon enough to significantly reduce the cost of your honeymoon. And, you can certainly put a Travel Rewards Optimizer plan on your wedding registry for your future travel together.

*While most of this post discusses households in the context of married couples, the advantages and synergies of creating plans for multiple individuals can apply to a range of households.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams

Recent Delta, AMEX Changes: A Reminder to Maintain Flexibility, Diversity in Your Points and Miles

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 19:34:58 GMT

Change Happens!! But, You Can Prepare

There has been a lot of news in the past couple of weeks about changes in the Delta SkyMiles loyalty program and the co-branded Delta Amex credit cards. I am not going to revisit the changes here as others have already covered them in detail. Reaction to these changes has been quite negative. In fact, reaction has been so negative that, earlier this week, Delta CEO Ed Bastian acknowledged that “No question, we probably went too far.” But this was not an apology and there was no real suggestion that the changes would not stick. As Bastian put it, “Our team kind of wanted to rip the band aid off.” In other words, Delta wanted to put out lots of unwelcome news quickly. This would suggest that, even if some changes are reversed or postponed, it is still clear where Delta SkyMiles is headed.

The recent changes in SkyMiles, other loyalty programs, and travel rewards credit cards could give one whiplash. However, Travel Rewards Optimizer (TRO) plans are designed to help you address the inevitable changes in these programs in the same way that a well-designed investment portfolio allows you to ride out the turbulence of financial markets.

First, a feature of your custom TRO plan is that we can send you alerts about changes in loyalty programs or credit card policies that might affect you , positively or negatively, for one full year.

Second, the TRO plans are designed to provide an opportunity to diversify your points and miles so that you can choose which ones to use for the best redemptions when you are ready to plan travel. I get nervous when I hear about someone who has most of their points or miles in one “currency.” Their impressive total might make them feel “rich” in miles but, the simple truth is that your points and miles are only a number until they are turned into travel purchases. Diversification of the miles and points in your travel rewards “portfolio” makes you less vulnerable to changes in loyalty programs.

Third, TRO plans often emphasize the flexible points offered by several of the major card issuers like Chase, Citi, and American Express. At a minimum, these points can be used like cash for statement credits. But, they can become far more valuable when transferred to (some) airline and hotel loyalty programs. As an example, Ms. Optimizer and I only have a few thousand miles in our Delta SkyMiles accounts, but we have healthy balances of American Express Membership Rewards (MR) points. We can quickly turn those MR points into Delta miles (most transfers to domestic airlines are almost instantaneous). But, if Delta is not offering any suitable miles redemptions that give us good value, we have the option of transferring them to more than a dozen other airlines.

As in many aspects of life, change is inevitable and the miles and points game is no different. However, travel rewards continue to offer some of the greatest returns on routine credit card spending. With a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan based on your travel goals and preferences, you can spend your time enjoying travel while we worry about the shifting landscape of points and miles.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Getting a Bonus Vacation Destination for Free with Stopovers: Non-European Carriers

Wed, 27 Sep 2023 18:34:19 GMT

Many Airlines Offer Stopovers For Free And Make Booking Easy

In early August, I wrote a post about European carriers who offer free stopovers and how this option can give travelers a chance to see a city or country they might not otherwise have visited. ( https://www.travelrewardsoptimizer.com/using-stopovers-to-add-a-second-vacation-destination-europe ) For this post, I would like to focus on non-European carriers that are also based outside of the contiguous 48 states. As in the earlier post, stopovers are defined as gaps between flights that allow enough time to leave the airport and explore the city.

The offer of a stopover for many of the carriers I will mention might be especially welcome for those traveling between the United States and the Asia/Pacific region since these itineraries can often link two long and grueling flights.

It is certainly easy to create your own stopovers by simply booking a round trip to the stopover city and a second round trip between the stopover city and your ultimate destination city. Of course, the two round trips are highly likely to cost more than the round trip that would take you directly to your final destination. Also, using two round trips would require that you undergo an extra round of picking up your baggage, rechecking baggage, and getting through security. Also, if your first flight is late or there are other issues (E.g., lost luggage), there will be an impact on the second flight which is on a different reservation.

Fortunately, many carriers with flights to Europe offer stopovers as part of a seamless itinerary. With one reservation, you can stop off in a hub city for one or more days and then continue to your ultimate destination. You can also take advantage of a stopover during your return trip. Many carriers offer this stopover option at no extra charge and some even offer very attractive incentives for you to spend a bit more time in their country.

Emirates: Dubai, UAE

You can book stopovers with the multi-city booking page
Emirates can assist with arranging discounted accommodations, meals, and visas

Qatar: Doha, Qatar

You can book stopovers with the multi-city booking page
The airline offers large discounts on tourist packages
If you come from a country requiring a visa, you can apply for a free transit visa

Etihad: Abu Dhabi, UAE

Stopovers can last up to four days
Etihad offers free or discounted accommodations

Oman Air: Muscat, Oman

Stopovers can be 1-3 nights
Oman Air offers hotel discounts
There is a free city tour if your stopover is at least eight hours

Ethiopian Airlines: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

If you have a long layover with no connection to your final destination, Ethiopian Airlines will arrange hotel, airport transportation, and transit visa for free

Japan Airlines: Tokyo or Osaka, Japan

You can book stopovers with the multi-city booking page

China Southern / Air China: 32 Cities

The stopover can be taken at 32 cities in China
No visa is needed for travelers from 53 countries
Stopovers can be up to 144 hours (6 days)

Singapore Airlines: Singapore

You can book stopovers with the multi-city booking page
Stopovers must be at least 24 hours
There are discounts on packages
You must pay $100 for the stopover if traveling on a free ticket or a saver ticket

Copa Airlines: Panama City

Stopovers can be 1-7 days
Hotel discounts

Avianca: Bogota, Columbia

There is a 24-hour limit

Air Canada: Toronto

Stopovers can be up to 48 hours

Hawaiian Airlines

You can book stopovers with the multi-city booking page
This is not a formal program

So, when thinking about future international travel, consider breaking up your trip with a little beach time in Hawaii or a chance to see the Panama Canal or the Great Wall of China.

How would you take advantage of these stopover opportunities?

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Taking the Plane + Train for French Destinations Beyond Paris

Mon, 25 Sep 2023 17:52:15 GMT

In France, is opting for the train in lieu of a domestic flight your best option?

Recently, I was using the Air France app to research a future trip that Ms. Optimizer and I might take to Lyon, France and/or Marseille, France. (Pro Tip: The Air France app is easier to use for itinerary searches than the website.) While browsing itineraries, I noticed that in addition to the airport codes for Marseille (MRS) and Lyon (LYS), the app provided itineraries with the unfamiliar codes XRF and XYD. XRF is the code for the St. Charles train station in Marseille; XYD is the code for the Part Dieu train station in Lyon.

The French government is trying to cut carbon emissions by reducing flights within Metropolitan France that can be replaced by a train journey of less than two and one-half hours. Even though Paris is in the northern part of France, many large cities in other parts of the country can be reached in just a couple of hours thanks to France’s excellent high-speed (TGV) trains.

This plane + train combination, or intermodality, can offer several advantages. First, it offers a significant reduction in CO2 emissions. In fact, the CO2 emissions for domestic train travel per passenger are less than one-third that of the emissions for a domestic flight. Second, the plane + train journey requires just one seamless booking, rate, and ticket number. Third, if you miss a connection (either plane to train or train to plane) Air France guarantees they will put you on the next available train or plane. And fourth (as this is a travel rewards website, after all) you still accrue Air France miles for the train portion of your journey.

https://wwws.airfrance.us/information/prepare/voyages-combines-avion-train

As I understand it, Air France was not happy about the mandate to reduce domestic flights but has made this option sound attractive and appears to have made it as painless as possible. But, as Air France still offers the domestic flights that the train segments are meant to replace, I wanted to dig into the pros and cons of each option and how US travelers might be affected upon their arrival at Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport.

First, even though transiting air passengers arriving at CDG from outside the Schengen zone must clear immigration before their next flight, their baggage can be checked to their final destination in France. If you opt for the plane + train option, you must retrieve your checked baggage at CDG and take it to the train and keep it with you during the train segment. Conversely, if starting with a train segment, you must manage any baggage you would like to check for the flight and then check it when you get to the airport.

A second consideration is getting between your train and plane. At CDG airport, North American passengers transiting to other French cities tend to use Terminals 2E and 2F. This is good news because the TGV (high speed) train station is a short walk from these terminals. Also, when catching a train, you only have to hop on at least two minutes before departure. They will not close the train doors 15 minutes prior to departure. There is no standing in line and no need to jockey for position at the gate to quickly get on the plane for that coveted overhead space.

The picture for Paris’ Orly airport is not so straightforward because the Massy TGV train station is about a 35-minute drive from Orly airport (according to Air France). Air France’s website states that the taxi between the train station and Orly is covered in the price of your ticket and that a driver will be waiting for you. Perhaps Air France has worked this out, but this not only adds a third travel modality, but also the too familiar risk of traffic delays. Ms. Optimizer and I will NOT be the first to test out intermodality at Orly.

A final consideration is where are you spending your time in France. Few leisure travelers want to stay near airports. When visiting cities, Ms. Optimizer and I usually stay in central areas for walkable access to monuments, churches, shopping, and museums. And, it just so happens that a city’s main train station is often centrally located. So, at the end of your train segment, you can get to where you are staying with a short and inexpensive trip on public transportation, or sometimes, even on foot. And, when it is time to return home, you do not have to think about leaving for the airport hours in advance. You just need to get to a train station within a few minutes of your train’s departure.

I must admit that I was initially skeptical of the idea of using Air France’s intermodality approach to get to destinations beyond Paris. Perhaps, this was because I associate air travel with speed or because we do not have a train system in the United States with the speed, reliability, or coverage of many European systems. However, in the continued pursuit of optimization , Air France’s afford or intermodality could be an attractive and useful option.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

I Discuss Points and Miles on the Orange Hammer Podcast

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 17:01:09 GMT

I hope you can listen in on my discussion of travel, points and miles, and turning home renovations into points and miles with Corbett Storyk of the Orange Hammer Podcast. Corbett brings on guests from a range of backgrounds to spend the first half of the podcast talking about what they do. After a freewheeling discussion of Travel Rewards Optimizer and the wonderful world of points and miles, the second half of the podcast covers Corbett's area of expertise which is home repair and renovation. After living in a home that Ms. Optimizer and I built 30 years ago, I certainly learned a lot from Corbett. And, as you can imagine, I make a case for turning any necessary home repairs and updating into free travel.

Check out the podcast at:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ZNDYvu2vbTyyzsMwGO6Zs

The True Value of Your Points and Miles: It Really Is All About You

Thu, 14 Sep 2023 20:59:49 GMT

Some points and miles websites take a stab at estimating the value of the currencies of airline miles, hotel points, or flexible credit card points. For example, The Points Guy website puts out a monthly post with updated values for the miles and points of dozens of programs. Having paid careful attention to my own points and miles redemptions for almost a decade, I would describe these TPG valuations as very rough estimates. In my experience, American or United miles tend to get me a little more than Delta miles. Hyatt points tend to buy more than Hilton, Marriott, and IHG points. So, my personal rank ordering of those currency values matches those from that website even though the actual values I get in point and mile redemptions can vary a great deal.

Recently, The Points Guy announced a “data-driven valuation” based on a “proprietary formula.” The approach included an analysis of 23,000 data points, a weighting algorithm, and “extensive validation testing.” Apparently, the folks at The Points Guy believe there is a great deal of precision in this “updated methodology” as the new valuations are reported down to one-twentieth of a cent (or 0.0005 dollars).

Gary Leff of the View From the Wing website described these new valuations as “nonsense built on stilts.” He pointed out the difficulty of saying that points or miles are worth a certain amount of money when your use of miles or points is constrained, but money can be used for things other than travel. He is not saying that miles have no value, he just disagrees that you can simply use a straight division of miles into an airline ticket cost to determine a per mile value.

I have a different concern about the TPG methodology. My concern is that, despite the 23,000 data points and proprietary alchemy, they are providing no more than a one-size-fits-all average. We would never say all American men are five feet, nine inches tall. In fact, only a minority of American men are 5’9”; this figure is an average of men of varying height. Similarly, the average mile or point values provided by TPG might only apply to a minority of people playing the miles and points game. This is certainly a place where the expression “your mileage may vary (YMMV)” applies.

Numerous factors can influence variation in per point valuations. As an example, say there are two women who have identical profiles with respect to travel goals, credit cards held, spending patterns, etc. However, one lives in Charlotte, North Carolina (an American hub) and the other lives in Atlanta (a Delta hub). The relative value of American and Delta miles for each woman will probably be different. Now imagine both women live in the Atlanta area and both are loyal Delta flyers. However, one uses her Delta miles for domestic flights to visit her grandchildren during holidays and the other uses her miles to fly to Europe off season. Again, they are likely to see different values when they redeem their miles.

To bring this closer to home, when using Delta miles post-COVID, I have struggled to get the per mile value suggested by TPG and other websites. Perhaps, it is a function of where we fly with our Delta miles or how Delta structures award travel to and from our home airport. At the same time, Ms. Optimizer and I fare much better with our redemptions for travel to Europe and, happily, easily surpass the TPG valuations for using miles and flexible points for these flights.

The bottom line is that points and miles valuations can vary as much as individuals. Every client we encounter is unique, so each Travel Rewards Optimizer plan is completely custom. We do not provide “one size fits all” solutions because the value you will derive from your miles and points can be influenced by where you live, where you want to travel, when you want to travel, and a range of other factors which we take into consideration.

It really is all about you (and you are certainly not average).

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

American Express Platinum Card Hikes Fees for Authorized Users

Mon, 11 Sep 2023 18:02:58 GMT

Several weeks ago, I wrote about how American Airlines increased annual membership fees and one day pass costs for their Admirals Club lounges. Additionally, the annual fee for the Citibank Aadvantage credit card that includes Admirals Club lounge access has also increased.

Now, American Express has changed the pricing for adding authorized users (AUs) to its Platinum card. Previously, a key benefit of the authorized user option was that a cardholder could give up to three other people access to the American Express Global Lounge Collection which includes Centurion Lounges and Delta SkyClubs (when flying on Delta). The Amex Platinum Card comes with a hefty annual fee of $695 and, until recently, the three authorized users could be added for $175 (just under $60 each).

To reduce crowding in lounges, Amex has increased the AU fee to $195 for each authorized user. With this increase, a cardholder who lists a spouse and two children as authorized users will now pay $585 for adding them for, with the $595 annual fee, a total annual fee of $1280. For that family of four, this is a price hike of more than $400.

This increase will affect different households in different ways. Ms. Optimizer and I travel together and use lounges frequently, so it makes sense for me to remain an AU on her platinum card. Our two children are also authorized users, but they rarely fly anywhere so they can easily be dropped as AUs going forward. The net change for us will be a $20 increase in cost for about the same level of lounge usage. But, of course, many cardholders from households who have been able to take advantage of adding three authorized users for $175 are going to be very unhappy. They will have to choose between dropping some AUs, paying $195 for each AU, or perhaps having AUs get their own Amex Platinum card.

The post-COVID rebound of air travel has led to a lot of crowding in lounges and airlines and credit card issuers have responded by raising costs, enacting new policies to restrict access, or both. It will be interesting to see how this increase in fees for authorized users of the Platinum card will unfold over the coming months. It is likely that there will be more changes to come but we will be keeping an eye on them for you.

Lounge access remains an attractive benefit for many travelers but changes in fees and rules for access are altering the value proposition for some while leaving others unaffected. As we create Travel Rewards Optimizer plans for our clients, we will keep these changes in mind for clients who are interested in lounge access to ensure they get the greatest value.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams

Using Stopovers to Add a Second Vacation Destination: Europe

Wed, 09 Aug 2023 14:47:55 GMT

Many Airlines Offer This For Free And Make Booking Easy

Because of the time and cost required to get to Europe from the United States, it can be cost effective to add a second destination through stopovers. For purposes of this post, I would define a stopover as a gap between flights that gives you enough time to leave the airport and visit the city or nearby area.

It is certainly easy to create your own stopovers by simply booking a round trip to the stopover city and a second round trip between the stopover city and your ultimate destination city. Of course, the two round trips are highly likely to cost more than the round trip that would take you directly to your final destination. Also, using two round trips would require that you undergo an extra round of picking up your baggage, rechecking baggage, and getting through security. Also, if your first flight is late or there are other issues (E.g., lost luggage), there will be an impact on the second flight which is on a different reservation.

Fortunately, many carriers with flights to Europe offer stopovers as part of a seamless itinerary. With one reservation, you can stop off in a hub city for one or more days and then continue to your ultimate destination. You can also take advantage of a stopover during your return trip. Many carriers offer this stopover option at no extra charge and some even offer very attractive incentives for you to spend a bit more time in their country.

Icelandair: Reykjavik

Icelandair was the first to do this in the 1960s to promote tourism with stopovers in Reykjavik.
Stopovers can last from one to seven days.
Stopovers are free and can be booked from the Icelandair website.

Turkish Airlines: Istanbul

Stopovers, if longer than 20 hours, include a free night in a four-star hotel for economy passengers or two free nights in a five-star hotel for business passengers.
Turkish Airlines also offers a city tour for shorter stopovers.
To take advantage of this offer, you must contact Turkish Airlines in advance.

TAP Air Portugal: Lisbon or Porto

Stopovers in Lisbon or Porto can last from one to five days and can be booked online.
The stopover is free but must be part of an intercontinental round trip.
The carrier’s mobile app offers discounts on hotels and attractions and travel guides.

Finnair: Helsinki

Stopovers are free and can last up to five days.
Finnair also provides itineraries and suggestions.

Swiss International Air lines: Zurich

Stopovers can last from one to four days and can be booked online.
While the stopovers themselves are free, you can only take advantage of them if you purchase a tourism package that bundles accommodation and transportation. These packages start at 180 Swiss francs (about $205 US).

Aer Lingus: Dublin

Stopovers in Dublin can last up to seven days and can be booked online or by phone.
While there is no formal stopover program, there is no cost for stopovers.

Iberia: Madrid

This new program (Hola Madrid) allows stopovers of one to six days in the Spanish capital.
It includes discount offers.

Flying Blue(Air France/KLM): Amsterdam or Paris

These stopovers are free and can last up to one year .
All flight segments must be on Air France and/or KLM.
This program is new and, from what we understand, requires telephone reservations.

So, when on your way to a European destination in the future, perhaps you can stop in Iceland to see the Aurora Borealis, drop in for a pint (or two) of Guinness in Dublin, or sample pasteis de nata in Lisbon.

How might stopovers fit into a European vacation for you?

This post focused on Europe but there are other excellent stopover programs offered by non-European carriers. They will be covered in a future post.

Let us know where you want to go. We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

American Airlines Raises Costs for Admirals Club Ahead of Promised Improvements

Wed, 02 Aug 2023 18:00:39 GMT

In the past, I have been a member of American Airlines’ Admirals Club – one year through a paid membership and several years as a benefit of a Citibank American Aadvantage credit card. It made sense years ago as American was my “go to” airline and offered the best itineraries from my home airport.

Currently, I have access to American Express Centurion lounges and Delta Sky Clubs through an American Express Platinum Card. Overall, I think both are better than Admirals Clubs based on staffing, the variety and healthfulness of food offerings, and the quality of food and beverages. While my exposure to different Centurion and Delta lounges is not comprehensive, the consensus of what I have read and heard from others is that these lounges are a cut above Admirals Clubs.

American is now in the process of upgrading the clubs in its system with the first completed upgrade at Washington National Airport (DCA). Early reports are that American has created a beautiful and functional space and that this Admirals Club will be a wonderful oasis for passengers. Other Admirals Clubs are supposed to follow this model. Additionally, American intends to upgrade food and beverage offerings in advance of improving the lounge spaces.

Although nicer facilities are in the works, and the jury is still out on food and beverage improvements, American is already asking for a stiff increase in what they charge for access.

The day rate that non-members can pay for access to an Admirals Club increased from $59 to $79 at the end of July. United offers a day rate of $59 for non-members. Centurion and Delta lounges have day rates of $50 but you must be a guest of a member.

An individual annual membership for the Admirals Club has recently been increased from $650 to $850. Currently, individual memberships are $650 for United Clubs and $695 for Delta Sky Clubs.

The annual fee for the Citi Aadvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard, which includes Admirals Club access, has increased from $450 to $595. Another change is that there is a $175 annual charge to add three authorized users. In the past, a cardholder could add 10 authorized users for no additional charge, and they all had Admirals Club access. There are other benefits as well including a 100,000-mile sign-up bonus. For comparison, the top end affiliated credit cards for Delta and United that come with lounge access cost $550 and $525 respectively.

The bottom line is that the price of access for the Admirals Club – whether through a day pass, annual membership, or membership through a credit card – has increased by about one-third and has vaulted over the access costs for the clubs of its rivals. But, aside from one very attractive and well-received DCA location, there is not yet any evidence that Admirals Clubs will warrant this premium. It is hard for me to get excited by this “pay now, relax and indulge later” model. There is also the question of how long it will take before a significant number of Admirals Clubs rise to the new, promised standards or how much this upgrade process will disrupt current operations.

In the coming months, we will keep an eye on developments with Admirals Clubs and get back to you. When creating Travel Rewards Optimizer plans, we look for opportunities to incorporate lounge access if clients are interested. But, we also want to make sure that we are recommending a plan that will provide you with excellent value. It remains to be seen if these changes will deliver.

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Hotels.com Announces New and “Exciting” Rewards Program: Hmmm

Wed, 26 Jul 2023 14:37:21 GMT

When booking chain hotels, if I participate in the chain’s loyalty program and hold an affiliated credit card, I will certainly pay for the room with the affiliated card. There are potential benefits to using the card such as room upgrades (and those free bottles of water). But, a better benefit is that the points you earn from the program and affiliated credit card combined can give you a return of about 16 to 18 percent. In other words, for every six nights stayed with the chain, you can get a seventh night of comparable value free with points.

Over the past few years, my strategy for non-chain hotels was to purchase them through Hotels.com. Their Rewards program offered a free night for every ten nights you book through them – a 10% rebate of sorts. I would use a credit card that generates transferable points (like Chase Sapphire Reserve or Citi Premier) to further boost my “rebate” by getting 3X points per dollar spent. With those transferable points, using Hotels.com for non-chain hotels tended to give me a return that matched what I got using my hotel credit cards.

Recently, Hotels.com shifted from their Rewards program to the OneKey program which rolls up your purchases with Hotels.com, Expedia, and VRBO. Rather than getting your free hotel room after 10 nights, you get an immediate two percent (2%) rebate that can be applied to your next booking. More use of OneKey can push you into tiers that offer a higher rebate percentage.

Hotels.com assured me that they were very excited about the new OneKey program, that it is going to be great, and that I will love it. Having read about the changes in various travel blogs, I have yet to find many people expressing any excitement or love for OneKey.

While learning that your rebate is dropping from 10 percent to two percent is not happy news, perhaps the Hotel.com pricing structure and potential discounts for members might offset this steep drop. Perhaps the naysayers were too hasty in panning the new OneKey program.

To learn more, I did some research on possible destinations for trips that Ms. Optimizer and I hope to take over the next 12 months. These destinations covered five cities/towns in three countries. To compare costs, I would first find a property on Hotels.com, note the price, and deduct the two percent rebate (which is only calculated on the room rate and excludes taxes and fees). Then, I would find the website of the hotel in question and price the same exact room on the same dates.

I should point out that several of the hotel websites I investigated were for hotels that are not in English-speaking countries. Nonetheless, some offer an English language option or can be readily translated. Also, many allow you to select your preferred currency so you can easily make dollars to dollars comparisons.

The results were very clear. For almost all the rooms assessed, the price on the hotel’s website was less than the price offered by Hotels.com and the savings tended to range from 10 to 15 percent.

The significant savings are a compelling enough reason to book through the hotel’s website. But, another important benefit is that booking directly with the hotel might enhance your stay. Everything you pay (minus taxes) goes to the hotel and the hotel does not have to pay a fee to a third party. Some of these non-chain hotels are small businesses or even family run operations. And, they know which guests booked through a third-party site. If there are less desirable rooms (charming view of an alley, proximity to a noisy elevator, allegedly haunted, etc.) it might be the price shoppers using third party sites who get to stay in them.

Although I am not excited about OneKey, it is important for me to acknowledge that one property in my sample was less expensive on Hotels.com than on the hotel’s own website. Perhaps Hotels.com was offering a special discount and it was large enough that I would use Hotels.com in this case despite my earlier caveat.

Going forward, I will still utilize Hotels.com. It is a great search tool for reducing large numbers of properties down to a manageable list based on one’s preferences for location, price point, quality, and amenities. You also might find a unique bargain that is not available elsewhere. But, I will also be checking directly with the hotels that interest me to make sure that I am optimizing my choice.

Thanks for reading this post and please return often to learn more about travel rewards and how a personalized Travel Rewards Optimizer plan can turn your routine spending into the travel of your dreams.

Travel Rewards Might Be Your Best Use of Transferable Points (But Do the Banks Want You to Know This?)

Tue, 25 Jul 2023 14:47:08 GMT

The Travel Rewards Optimizer plans we create are for people who want to turn their routine credit card spending into free or reduced cost travel. Major card issuers (Chase, Amex, Citibank) have proprietary flexible points programs or “currencies” that can be used in a variety of ways. You can use these points to pay down your credit card bills or exchange the points for gift cards. However, we believe that the most lucrative use of these flexible points is to transfer them to the loyalty programs of airlines and/or hotels.

What we find interesting is that the banks that allow you to transfer your points to airlines and hotels do not go out of their way to let you know about this opportunity. They might make you do a little searching to find the greatest value.

Citibank Thank You (TY) Points

Citibank is quick to let you know that you can pay balances with points at the rate of 8/10ths of a cent ($0.008) per point. They also offer opportunities to purchase travel through their portal, make Amazon purchases, or purchase gift cards at one cent ($0.01) per point.

To transfer these points to travel partners, you must click on a nondescript link entitled “See More Ways to Redeem.” At the bottom of a long list, you will find the transfer partners which include 14 airlines (one domestic – JetBlue) and three hotel chains.

Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) Points

Chase also steers you to using your points to pay balances, buy gift cards, or utilize their travel portal. For these uses, they are a bit more generous than Citibank as the value per point ranges from one cent to 1.25 cents ($0.01 – 0.0125). Amazon purchases will net you 8/10ths of a cent per point ($0.008).

To transfer your points to a travel partner, you must click on “More Ways to Use” and from there, the opportunity to transfer to travel partners is the last option shown. Chase’s transfer partners include 11 airlines (three domestic – JetBlue, United, and Southwest) and three hotel chains.

American Express Member Rewards Points

American Express’ first preference is that you use your hard-earned points to pay down your bill. For this use, each point is worth 6/10ths of a cent ($0.006). They also offer opportunities to buy gift cards or use your points to purchase travel through their travel portal at a value of about one cent per point ($0.01).

To their credit, American Express makes it easier for you to get to their list of transfer partners (through a link labelled “Transfer Points”). This lengthy list includes 17 airlines (three domestic – Delta, JetBlue, Hawaiian) and three hotel chains.

Bottom Line

If you use flexible points to pay down card balances, or buy gift cards, you might get a penny per point or a little bit more if you are careful. However, if these points are converted to some of the more generous airline or hotel programs, you can routinely get two cents per point in value or more . In some cases, Ms. Optimizer and I have gotten more than four cents in value per point. It is no surprise that the banks are not eager to let you know about this.

The difference of a cent here and there might seem inconsequential. But, our Travel Rewards Optimizer plans put our clients’ households on the path to netting hundreds of thousands of points per year when taking sign-up bonuses, category spend bonuses, and simple routine spending into account. A difference of one cent per point translates into $1000 for a household generating a modest 100,000 points.

Start thinking about your future travel plans, and let us design a Travel Rewards Optimizer plan that will help you get there for less.

Fighting Travel Rewards Inflation in the Miles and Points Game

Mon, 26 Jun 2023 16:12:19 GMT

The inflation we have experienced post-COVID is not limited to groceries, housing, and other routine expenses. There has also been inflation in travel rewards as airlines want more miles for free flights and hotel chains want more points for free rooms than in the past. Any devaluation of miles and points that you have accumulated is unwelcome, but there are ways to fight back.

The first strategy is to take advantage of new credit card offerings and harvest sign-up bonuses . While there has been inflation in what airlines and hotel chains want for free travel, there has also been inflation in the sign-up bonuses offered for new cardholders. As an example, a Delta gold card I picked up about 12 years ago offered a 25,000 SkyMile bonus after meeting a spending threshold. The current offer on a Delta SkyMiles gold card is 65,000 SkyMiles. The current bonus will get you a free domestic trip (if not more) just as that 25,000-mile bonus would get you a free domestic trip. If you have gone years without taking advantage of a sign-up bonus, you are missing out.
A second strategy for beating inflation is to make sure you are taking advantage of spending categories that offer the richest bonuses. Just as there has been inflation in sign-up bonuses, there has been inflation in bonuses for categories like dining, groceries, gas and other routine purchases. A decade ago, an airline card might have offered two miles per dollar spent with the airline and one mile per dollar spent for all other purchases. Some currently offered cards have bonuses of 3X, 4X, and even 5X per dollar spent which can greatly accelerate your point and mile accumulation. These high bonuses can be found on cards with quarterly rotating bonuses but also cards that offer extra points all year.
Diversifying your points and miles “portfolio” is an important third strategy. Just as a diverse investment portfolio for retirement can reduce risk, you do not want to accumulate mileage or points in just one program. A great way to diversify is with flexible points, which are points offered by major card issuers that you can transfer into the miles or points of different programs. With this flexibility, if an airline or hotel program devalues its miles/points, you can use your points elsewhere to get the best value.
Your points and miles will never be worth more than they are in the present so, a fourth hedge against travel rewards inflation is to simply earn and burn your points. People have told me of plans to take a major trip several years from now that will require hundreds of thousands of miles – perhaps they want to take their family to a distant and exotic location and fly business class. The problem with this hoarding approach is that, by the time they are ready to book their travel, the airline will have increased the miles needed for this dream trip.

The Travel Rewards Optimizer (TRO) plans takes these and other factors into consideration so that you can get more travel out of credit card loyalty programs while lowering your exposure to travel rewards inflation . The TRO plans provide guidance for the credit card offerings that will marry your routine spending patterns to your specific travel goals. And, because our advice includes strategies for diversification and is geared to meeting shorter term (one year) travel goals, we help you avoid travel rewards inflation so you can focus on enjoying your vacations.

Dining Tourism: Where Will Your Stomach Take You?

Tue, 20 Jun 2023 22:36:06 GMT

For me, travel is about seeing famous sights, browsing museums, and learning more about different cultures. But, I cannot lie. Another key motivating factor is . . . food. Some of my greatest travel memories are linked to food and any plans for future travel always include numerous ideas about what, where, and when to eat.

My key area of interest is pastries and desserts. Favorites include the cornetto in Rome, pain au chocolat in Paris, and Esterhazy torte in Vienna but the research must continue. Who knows if I have truly found my favorites?

The attached article discusses foods from around the globe that you must experience at their source of origin. As I grew up in an area known for barbeque, I certainly endorse the first entry, but you might have your own ideas about essential food destinations.

What about you? What are your memorable food experiences and how does food fit into your travel plans?The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.

https://www.godsavethepoints.com/quintessential-world-food-experiences/

The Surprising History of Tipping in the US

Fri, 26 May 2023 13:19:47 GMT

In the past few years, tipping in the United States has become more pervasive (and much more confusing). One thing Ms. Optimizer and I like about travel outside of the US is there is less tipping guesswork. In many countries, you see prices on a restaurant menu and that is what you are paying for your meal since waiters are paid a living wage and taxes are included.

This interesting article briefly discusses how tipping came to America and how the concept was, initially, not well received in many places.

Have a safe holiday weekend. If you are flying, may you make your connections and arrive on time with luggage and nerves intact.

https://news.yahoo.com/americans-hate-tipping-much-once-150351658.html?

Using Positioning Flights to Optimize Your Frequent Flyer Miles

Tue, 23 May 2023 19:07:44 GMT

Ms. Optimizer and I start our air travel at Raleigh-Durham International (RDU) airport. While RDU is conveniently located for us and is highly efficient to use, it is not as “international” as its name would suggest. When traveling abroad, we almost always leave the United States through a major hub airport like JFK or Boston.

We envy the choices that people living in areas like Washington, DC, New York, Miami, or Los Angeles have for international flights. But, in addition to more choices, travelers who start their international trips at major airports can fly abroad for far fewer miles than those of us starting at smaller, regional airports.

Some examples of current redemption costs for flights in March 2024:

A round trip, main cabin ticket on Delta from RDU to Budapest will require 104,000 Delta miles but only 73,000 miles from JFK.

A main cabin ticket on Delta from RDU to Rome goes for 130,000 miles but only 76,000 from JFK. If you want to fly Delta One class, the difference is 415,000 miles versus 290,000 miles.

A round trip, business class ticket from RDU to Prague on United will set you back 235,000 miles while the flight from Washington Dulles would cost 168,000 miles. But interestingly, for main cabin, you need 84,000 miles starting from either airport.

A solution to these discrepancies is to take advantage of positioning flights from your regional airport to the major hubs. For example:

You can get round trip tickets in Delta main cabin from RDU to JFK for 12,000 points so, in total, you would need 85,000 miles instead of 104,000 miles. Similarly, the cost of the trip to Rome would be reduced from 130,000 miles to 88,000 miles.

You can get round trip tickets in United main cabin from RDU to Washington Dulles for 25,000 miles. This would lower the cost of the business class trip from 235,000 miles to 193,000 miles.

Obviously, this approach is not as convenient and as seamless as having all your air travel on one reservation. You must fly to the gateway airport, retrieve any luggage, check in again, and clear security again. You should certainly allow for extra connection time in the gateway airport to minimize any risk of missing the international flight.

However, as the examples above illustrate, the savings can be considerable. For the Rome example, the savings for main cabin would be 42,000 miles per passenger . The savings for the business class trip to Prague would also be 42,000 miles. The savings for the Delta One (business class) trip would be over 100,000 miles per passenger.

If there is any pattern as to when positioning flights are useful or not, I have not been able to detect it. Sometimes there are considerable savings and sometimes there are none or the savings are negligible. However, if you are not already flying out of a major international airport, there is value in testing your options when booking award travel. Who knows? You may save enough miles for an entirely new trip.

Airline Junk Itineraries: Don’t Let Travel Rewards Become a Punishment

Wed, 17 May 2023 20:40:40 GMT

So, you have amassed a truckload of frequent flyer miles for a vacation trip to Europe. You decide you want to redeem your miles for a business class ticket and take advantage of a lie flat seat so you can arrive at your destination relaxed and rested. When booking your overseas flight, you skip over flights requiring 300,000 or 400,000 miles and are thrilled to find an option that only requires 58,000 miles. But, before you continue to book the ticket, you click on the flight details to learn more about routings and connections. And then you realize, to your horror, that you have been offered a “junk itinerary.”

The ”junk itinerary” vaguely resembles a feasible itinerary but, as soon as you think through the logistics, you realize that what the airline is offering could turn you vacation into a nightmare before it even begins. There are several types of junk itineraries.

The Ludicrously Short Layover (LSL): I have seen published domestic (US) connection times as short as 25 minutes. Even if your first flight arrives on time, if you are sitting in the back of the plane, it might take 15 minutes just to get off the plane. Then you must get to the next gate. Don’t forget, airlines might wrap up boarding and close the door on your second flight 15 minutes before departure time. And, of course, your initial flight might be late. There are itineraries with connections through major European hubs that only allow for an hour to connect. It can often take an hour to simply get off the plane and clear immigration.
The Ludicrously Long Layover (LLL): Some layovers can last 12 hours or more, forcing you to spend the night at a connection city or to spend long stretches in an airport. By putting in two long layovers, some itineraries can require as much as 36 hours of travel to get you from the eastern US to a European destination.
The Airport Switcheroo: Many itineraries that send flyers through New York City or Washington, DC can require you to change airports. Some of the connection times are dangerously short and do not seem to account for the possibility of heavy traffic. But even without traffic issues, there is the hassle of collecting your luggage after the first leg of your itinerary and rechecking it at the next airport.
The Cabin Class Switcheroo: This is a special type of “junk itinerary” where the carrier will put you in business class for your domestic positioning flight or your flight within Europe but the transatlantic flight to Europe is in coach class (so no lie flat bed). Apparently, the carrier believes you will burn lots of your hard-earned miles for the privilege of sitting in the front of the plane on the short flights.
The Airline Partner Ludicrous Surcharge: There are cash surcharges for any award travel even if it is only the $5.60 TSA surcharge on domestic flights. International flights can carry higher surcharges which range from the minimal to the obscene. Some airlines with international flights will offer good mileage deals but stick you with a higher cash surcharge (sometimes in the hundreds of dollars) when putting you on a partner airline while their own flights with reasonable surcharges require many more frequent flyer miles.

All the major US carriers that offer international flights mix in some junk itineraries with reasonable and humane options, so all bear some guilt. When booking flights with miles or points, it is critical to look out for these no-win situations.

When we create your customized Travel Rewards Optimizer plan, we examine itinerary offerings in the context of your travel goals and location. By doing this, we determine which carriers are most likely to give you reasonable itinerary options, so you have the best chance of starting your vacation without any undue stress.

France Case Study: Points and Miles Free Up Travel Budget for Wine, Cheese, and Pastries

Mon, 08 May 2023 16:19:20 GMT

Last fall, Ms. Optimizer and I traveled to Toulouse, France with two other couples to learn more about France’s Languedoc region and to sail along the Canal du Midi in a houseboat. Like most trips we have taken in the past seven years, points and miles helped us cut our expenses.

For this trip, we used Delta miles, IHG points, and American miles as follows:

We redeemed 70,000 Delta miles for two, one-way tickets to Toulouse. With a value of $1283, we got a better than average redemption of 1.8 cents per mile.
We stayed at an IHG property in Toulouse (Crown Plaza) located directly on the Place du Capitole, the city’s main square. The four nights cost 64,000 IHG points. Compared to a cash cost of $516, this worked out to a redemption of 0.8 cents per point which is above average for IHG awards.
Our flight home from Paris was on American Airlines and we redeemed 85,500 Aadvantage miles for two, one-way tickets. With a value of $1213, this redemption worked out to 1.4 cents per mile, which is a bit lower than we typically get with American.

Overall, the miles and points we utilized for this one trip saved us about $3,000. However, the use of travel rewards credit cards yielded several less tangible, but useful, benefits.

On the way to France, we were able to use multiple Delta SkyClubs and an Air France lounge through the American Express Platinum Card.
With the Chase IHG credit card, the hotel upgraded us to a “Club Room” which overlooked Toulouse’s vibrant Place du Capitole.

The well-planned use of miles and points has changed the way that we travel. In this case, it significantly reduced what we paid for a memorable adventure with friends. It also freed up our budget for more tours, museum visits, and the wonderful wines, cheeses, charcuterie, and pastries of southwest France.

Let us create a customized Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you to enhance your future travel.

No, You Don't Need 30 (or Even 10) Credit Cards for Optimal Travel Rewards

Mon, 01 May 2023 23:40:47 GMT

A recent article on a travel rewards website was entitled “The 30 Credit Cards in My Wallet Right Now.” If you follow travel rewards websites, these articles are common. It would be easy to get the impression that this is a useful strategy for pursuing miles and points. However, this approach only makes sense for a very small subset of people whose job is to write about the fabulous trips they have taken with the miles and points they have accumulated using credit cards for their fabulous trips. Nice work if you can get it!

For the vast majority of credit card customers, using so many cards in the pursuit of travel rewards would not be very productive and, in fact, might be counterproductive. There are several issues.

First, there is the simple burden of managing the cards – checking statements for accuracy, making monthly payments, and recordkeeping. Who has the time for that?
A second issue with having so many cards is that the benefits often overlap so it is like paying for the same benefit multiple times. In fact, six of the cards held by the author of “30 Credit Cards” include a Priority Pass membership, a benefit that lets you use a large network of airport lounges when traveling.
A third, and quite significant, issue is the enormous cost in annual fees for all those cards. The annual tab for “The 30 Credit Cards in My Wallet Right Now” is over $6000. In other words, you would need to generate more than $6000 in travel value to justify the fees you pay every year.

With the Travel Rewards Optimizer, our goal is to find a select (and small) number of credit cards that will turn your routine spending into free and discounted travel as quickly and efficiently as possible. Our plans typically recommend that you apply for three or so credit cards over the span of one year. After all, we believe you want more travel experiences rather than an impressive credit card collection.

What is the Travel Rewards Optimizer?

Mon, 01 May 2023 22:22:05 GMT

Over the past few decades, the number of credit card travel reward programs for airlines and hotel chains has exploded. Every week, new products and offers become available with eye-popping bonuses of points and miles. But these opportunities are as bewildering as they are exciting.

The Travel Rewards Optimizer is a customized plan to help you negotiate the array of credit card products so that you can choose the cards that will turn your routine credit card spending into travel as quickly and efficiently as practicable. The Travel Rewards Optimizer factors in your travel goals and style, spending patterns, and currently available credit card offers to determine which cards will give you the best return. Additionally, the TRO takes into consideration timing and sequencing of credit card applications, coordination with other members of your household, and the rapidly changing credit card and loyalty program landscape.

The TRO costs $150 for a one year plan. The TRO plan provides specific guidance for which credit cards to apply for, when to apply for them, and projections for the expected travel value. In order to keep you abreast of changes in the points and miles landscape, you will also receive updates addressing any significant opportunities or issues pertaining to your plan that we become aware of.

You can download a sample TRO plan here: