OT - Best Airline Points Credit Card?
I am now finally ready to move on from my Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card because the new point system does not seem to pay off as well as the previous "free ticket" rewards system (which was years ago - I am apparently slow to change, I know).
So I thought I would reap the benefits of the MGoBlog hive mind to inquire about the best credit cards to accumulate and redeem points for airline travel (and from what I can tell, it's been about 3 years since this was last discussed).
Chase Sapphire Preferred or Delta Sky Miles Gold. Capital One Venture is pretty good too.
I enjoy the Chase brand cards and the ability to transfer your points around.
Thirded on chase Sapphire reserve. There is an annual fee but you get some of it back in travel credit.
You get multipliers when using it at restaurants or travel items like hotel, flights, cars. But if you book travel on their chase travel site you get more multipliers.
And they are still running the 1.5x deal that they started during COVID to pay yourself back with those points.
Fifth on CSR. I recently app'd as they had a 100,000 mile sub for $4k spend in 3 months. I typically hit $4k per month anyway.
I also have Delta Platinum AMEX as well. The yearly companion ticket is well worth the annual fee. Delta will occasionally have a promotion for reduce price on WiFi and other perks. I fly out of DTW anyway so it is a perfect fit for my wallet.
Agreed. The am ex platinum although somewhat pricey if you look at it from an annual fee is awesome. I work with my wife (don’t ask) and we get so much out of it. Free meals and booze in almost every major airport as well as flights and baggage. We’ve never cashed in any points as we’re waiting for that on really special trip. Uber eats credits, the list goes on and on. Factor in that we put all company expenses on our card and then get reimbursed make it a can’t lose.
Agree on Sapphire and the ease of miles movement between Chase cards. Actually, if you don't fly much Discover is pretty good for a nonairline/nonfee card with "miles" benefits .
AMEX Delta Reserve is a great card if you're exclusive to Delta. Otherwise, the AMEX EveryDay card is a good get.
Agree on Delta Reserve. Pricey ($450/yr?) but you het a “free” companion ticket every year. Can use for coach or first class. Contiguous 48. Also has “boost” options to get you to elite status. Like Jeff said, may only be worth it if you are exclusive to Delta.
Also, I wouldn’t get ANY mileage card until/unless they have a promotion for signing up. Those can be quite lucrative.
I fly a ton and have this AMEX. The $450 annual fee is worth it as you have free access to the Delta Sky Clubs. I’ve spent many hours relaxing through flight delays eating free food along with beer/wine. Great for the late night red eye flights when you get to the airport at 5:00. Well worth it!
Probably still worth it for you but the Delta AMEX Reserve is $550/year now.
Why are you getting to the airport so early??
Just curious, when you say you fly a ton, how much/how often are you flying?
And it's made with recycled plane parts!
I'll add my name to the list of endorsements on this one. When I got mine, it came with 100,000 bonus miles. I've also utilized the referrals to get additional bonus miles.
With my travel, plus the amount of spend on the card, I easily maintain platinum status. 95% of the time I am upgraded to first class.
Add the Delta lounge (plus companions a couple of times a year), luggage perks, reimbursement for Precheck, plus 15K MQM miles at every $30K of spend. Well worth the $550 annually to me.
As a first year bonus, I think you get something like $300 back if you spend $3,000 in the first 30 days on the card. While not huge, helps make the first year fee less intimidating.
How much do you fly?
Amex Plat (5x MR points, 2x1 international business travel works for some destinations) or Chase Sapphire Reserve offer the most flexibility if you aren't a hub/*A/OW/ST captive.
If you primarily fly Delta, their Amex products are probably the way to go.
It's all about your travel patterns. If you are redeeming domestic v. international, econo flyer v. business/1st, how often you fly, etc.
Seconding the Amex Platinum. Their customer service is excellent (not a guarantee everywhere, to say the least) and Centurion Lounge is HUGE if you travel a lot. Really great lounges that are in most major airports
You make a great point, and I am by no means a high-volume traveler. My travel is pretty random each year:
- 2-4 conferences in the U.S.
- 1-2 flights with family
- My daughter is studying in Spain this Fall, so at least 1 European trip
- We live in AZ
I simply am hoping to get as many points in order to get some "free" flights in order to minimize the emotional pain of spending thousands of dollars to fly my family of 5 somewhere.
Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserved. The bonus for sign up can sometimes be between 80-100K. Can redeem rewards through Ultimate Rewards on United (which also means travel on Lufthansa, Swiss, Swiss and Aer Lingus to Europe). Also Iberia and I believe BA, as well as Southwest. One of those also gives you credit every year for the Global Entry application.
Not as big of a fan of AMEX. Too few airlines for me with Membership Rewards.
As for Spain, we are here now visiting my wife's family, partially based on the Chase Sapphire card.
This is what I use. Go for the bonuses whenever you can get them. Spend EVERYTHING on the card as long as you pay it off every month. I have racked up huge miles doing this.
Spot on Frankie.
I’m on Delta AmEx Platinum and I love it. $250 annual fee so it’s not cheap, but with the free checked bags and free companion pass it pays for itself. What I love about it too is that it’s also really beneficial for every day purchases. 2x points on restaurants and groceries, so I use it for almost everything. Only thing I don’t use it for is hotels, since we’ve got the Marriott card as well and that’s my wife’s go-to card.
Takes quite a bit to build up to status, though. I’m going to hit silver this year and the benefits at that level overall don’t mean much, especially with living in Atlanta where you’ve almost certainly got at least ten people with higher status than you on any given flight, so upgrades are probably slim to nil. But seven points for every dollar spent on Delta is a really solid deal, especially if you travel at least a few times a year.
I thought about the Reserve card, but decided it wasn’t worth it. We can more than afford the $500 annual fee, but you lose the 2x points for every day purchases since it’s meant for frequent fliers, so if you’re not on a plane at least once a month or travel a bunch for work, I’d tell you the Reserve is a waste of money. Just my opinion.
Last thought: I’d tell you to only get the Delta AmEx if you live near an airport where Delta is one of the main airlines. I live in Atlanta so outside of maybe Southwest it makes no sense to get any other airline card. But if you lived in Dallas, Chicago, Houston, or some other non-Delta hub, don’t get this card.
My favorite part about “status” is still being able to skip the general bag check and boarding lines.
If you live in a major hub like I do, aside from the points boost that’s about all you can reasonably expect to get from status. Assuming you’re not amongst the top tier of status.
I recommend starting with your spending habits and whether or not you're tied into an airline (e.g. Delta) as each "travel" card optimizes for spend differently and has various perks that provide some value (e.g Chase Sapphire Reserve gives 10% back on all Lyft rides).
Overall I generally prefer the Chase ecosystem for a few reasons:
- Their perks are pretty generous and are in categories that I generally benefit from. You definitely get good bang for your buck from both the Sapphire Reserve and Preferred.
- Sapphire reserve are currently running a promo where you can redeem your points at a 1.5cent/point value on various categories such as restaurants which basically means any yield you get you can multiply by 1.5 (e.g. 3X on flights is really 4.5X). I think sapphire preferred is 1.25
- It's tied in with United which is part of Star Alliance and has a stronger global network. I am a loyal delta flyer though and only plan on using the points for trips and airfare I normally would not spend money on (e.g. business class tickets)
As a benchmark, you want to get at least 1.4 cents/mile when redeeming points for an airfare. I don't recommend redeeming your card rewards for hotels as they are generally less valuable.
Below is a breakdown of the AMEX and Chase ecosystems and the cards that I have looked at fairly closely and view as the better values. They all have miscellaneous sign-up bonuses and I recommend browsing in incognito mode as you'll sometimes get better deals (I got 150K for the AMEX platinum vs. the standard 100k). Reddit also has a plethora of refer a friend links where you can get better sign-up bonuses instead of the standard offer. I may have some as well if you're interested, I'd have to check, feel free to DM me.
Please note that I only really fly Delta so I haven't paid much attention to what United, American, Southwest, etc have to offer. I'm sure they have cards that are similar to what I've listed below.
AMEX Ecosystem
- Transfer partners can be found here, just note that there is a $0.006/mile transfer fee.
Delta AMEX Platinum -
- 1 buy one get one free on delta per year (after your first year)
- 3X on delta and hotels, 2X on restaurants and groceries
- Free checked bags and discounted lounge access
- $250/year
AMEX Gold -
- 4X on restaurants, groceries, 3X on flights
- $120 dining credit (specific restaurnts)
- $120 on Uber
- $250 annual fee (but net $10 if you use the credits correctly)
AMEX Platinum -
- 5X on flights, 1X everything else
- Lounge access to Delta and AMEX Centurion
- Various other random perks that are too long to list here but are explained on the AMEX Platinum page
- Annual Fee - $695, but $175 total for up to three additional cards which can also use many of the benefits that the primary card member gets (e.g. lounges)
Chase
- Transfer partners can be found here, no transfer fee to my knowledge.
Chase Sapphire Reserve -
- 3x air, hotel, any travel
- $300 travel credit (good as cash)
- $550 annual fee (net $250 after the travel credit)
Chase Sapphire Preferred -
- 3X grocery, dining, and streaming services, 2X on travel
- $95 annual fee
Hope this helps!
With Chase Sapphire reserve you get a bunch of other stuff like free lounges around the world. The ones outside the US can be super nice too.
Or just play credit card roulette and sign up for 6-8 credit cards a year and dump them before the annual fee becomes due. Rack up all the sign up points.
I would be cautious about churn and burn, Chase has what’s known as a 5/24 rule where they start to lock down if you’ve opened 5 or more cards across all banks in the past 24 months.
In some cases you can only get a sign up bonus once per card per lifetime so if the bonus isn’t good it may be worth waiting
Excellent breakdown and I totally agree that, assuming one is not locked into using one particular airline, the Chase cards are the best.
After more than ten years' experience with Chase I would add two thoughts:
1. If you find a great sign-up bonus you might want to consider having your spouse sign up for the same card in his/her name. In my experience they qualify for the same up bonus and you could double your pleasure. Each of you could then add the other as a card user and while you'd be on the hook for twice the annual fee you'd get twice the benefits. Well worth it IMHO.
2. Chase also advertises their included coverage for lost/broken items purchased with the card. After many years of not needing this I had occasion to use it earlier this year. It was not a fun or easy process. Despite plenty of documentation it took many phone calls and a bit of pleading on my part to achieve resolution. My take is the coverage is good to have but not exactly a benefit in the sense that if you need to use it the net gain may be hardly worth it for moderately priced items due to the effort required to resolve your case.
Good idea about having your spouse sign up. You can often get a bonus for referring them as well.
Don’t forget the $200 hotel credit with the regular am ex platinum. I didn’t realize it was $695 now. Not long ago it was $450. Either way, a few drinks and a buffet 4-5 times a year, along with baggage and Uber credits and it’s a wash. I seem to travel through Atalanta quite often and the delta longe there is second to none.
United Airlines has the best one IMO, they give you free United Club vouchers as well.
Not sure if you've flown at all in the last 4 months, but most clubs aren't permitting, "one time passes". United card loses a lot value when you can't use the perk they give you.
Stay away from all chase credit cards, they will screw you when ever they can
Do we need a MGO churning group on telegram? MGO Award Travel?
I agree with the delta American Express cards. I have a platinum and a reserve for business. I have a family of 5, so the companion tickets and free bags pay for the cards. Since Detroit is a Delta hub, it just makes sense for traveling from that airport. The sky lounge access is nice when I need it, although I’m not usually in an airport that long to use it. Plus whenever I have an issue, it seems when I pull out that card, the staff seems to be more attentive.
It really depends on your own habits and what you want from it.
If you just want free flights or hotels, chase is probably the best. The trifecta of a saphire, freedom (rotating 5x cats), freedom flex (1.5x everything) allows you to build points quickly. They have the best hotel transfer partner (by a mile) in Hyatt and a pretty robust airline partner network. Plus, with a saphire, you can book through their portal at a decent conversion rate.
Amex tends to be more stingy on the points, but can add some luxury features like a nice lounge network for platinum holders. Hotel transfer partners are a waste.
If you want to have your CC usage lead to status with an airline, you should just pick the card that best fits your needs with that airline.
Also, don't sleep on a good cash back card. Airline points, in particular, are getting harder and harder to use, particularly if your schedule is inflexible. Sometimes cash back can be just as good.
Cash back is solid if you want simplicity but the yield is definitely higher for the travel cards. In the case of domestic flights most airlines are dynamically pricing their tickets so you usually get more than the 1 cent per point value and it helps you hedge against devaluation.
Agreed that you can get more out of points for travel than cash, but you generally need to accumulate a lot for intl business class and be very flexible in your schedule to achieve peak value.
Yup totally agree. Now that delta dynamically prices their domestic trips I’ve been burning miles that way since the yield is usually pretty good.
If you want 5X on every dollar you spend then put all your spend on Visa Gift Cards from Staples/Office Depot and buy them with your Chase Ink Business Cash when they are on sale. Then get a Chase Sapphire and transfer the UR points to your airline of choice, or Hyatt. Do the same thing for P2 and you should have 500k Chase UR points by the end of the year. Coupling a layover in a good lounge (e.g. AA Dallas, Korean LAX) with a long haul flight in lie-flat business class seats for the whole family makes a strong impression FWIW.
I know the OP is moving on from the Southwest Card, but if Southwest is one of your primary airlines, getting it every other year or so when they offer a companion pass as a signup bonus is still one of the best deals out there. Chase won’t let you get the signup bonus if you’ve previously earned one for a Southwest card in the prior 24 months, but keep an eye out in January or February for that offer. It’s easily saved me $3k this year, and hopefully it will again in 2024, after I cancel it next year.
Cut up your cards. Pay with your debit. Put 18% of what you pay into your own miles fund. Enjoy the 1800% increase in miles!
I disagree. In this age of cyber hacks and companies putting a large hold on user account, debit cards should be used as a last resort.
Of course, if the credit card is not paid in full every month, that's a different story.
The paid in full crowd knows what they are doing. The ones that dont are best served to get out of the credit card racket.
Amex Delta reserve. Free first class ticket every year, access to lounges, travel insurance, upgrades, status elevation.
Deltas Amex Gold
I have an American Advantage Mastercard. And I have about 700,000 miles that I need to use, that have been accumulating since I used to travel a lot for work. I recently booked a trip with miles and it was super easy and there were a lot of available flights. The processing fee was $11. If you fly American a lot, it's a good card. No annual fee.