Can We Talk About Credit Cards and Travel Rewards? (1 Viewer)

[MTDB1983]

Alright, I made the plunge. I signed up for the Chase Sapphire Reserved card. $450 annual fee (+ $75 for my wife to be an authorized user), but $300 is automatically credited back on travel. And since I spend $400/mo on gas, that’ll happen quickly. So the fee essentially becomes $225. Then the points are: 3x on dining and gas, 1x on everything else. 50k point sign up bonus is nice, and the reward points are worth 1.5x when used through the portal, so essentially it’s a $750 sign up bonus.

I believe I did the math correctly. Maybe someone can check my math.

$225 fee basically. Spend minimum $1600/mo on dining and gas, and reward points are worth 1.5.

I come out ahead by $639 annually just on food and gas alone.

Someone check my math if possible please.

 

[Waymer]

Alright, I made the plunge. I signed up for the Chase Sapphire Reserved card. $450 annual fee (+ $75 for my wife to be an authorized user), but $300 is automatically credited back on travel. And since I spend $400/mo on gas, that’ll happen quickly. So the fee essentially becomes $225. Then the points are: 3x on dining and gas, 1x on everything else. 50k point sign up bonus is nice, and the reward points are worth 1.5x when used through the portal, so essentially it’s a $750 sign up bonus.

I believe I did the math correctly. Maybe someone can check my math.

$225 fee basically. Spend minimum $1600/mo on dining and gas, and reward points are worth 1.5.

I come out ahead by $639 annually just on food and gas alone.

Someone check my math if possible please.

Actually travel does not include gas for the CSR. That is your only error. Most people get a different card for gas.

 

[Twyst]

50k point sign up bonus is nice, and the reward points are worth 1.5x when used through the portal, so essentially it’s a $750 sign up bonus.

Don't use your points through the portal, transfer them out to another awards program.


Make sure to take advantage of the global entry/TSA precheck credit if you or your wife dont already have it.
You can actually just pay for some random stranger's fee if you and your wife both already have it, I have several cards that reimburse this every 5 years that I just give global entry to everyone lol

 

[MTDB1983]

Actually travel does not include gas for the CSR. That is your only error. Most people get a different card for gas.

Dang it! I studied the card for 2 days straight and made comparisons to 20 other cards and somehow missed that the travel doesn’t include gas. What a bonehead.

Best card for rewards when purchasing gas?

 

[tonytiger436]

I use the INK business for gas. I think it is 3X for gas and I transferred to the no fee version after the first year. It also gets you 5X on office supplies and wireless bills. Check out which version is best for you. I also use the Chase freedom for the 5X bonus categories. Chase does have the 5/24 rule so be careful. All Chase points are transferrable to Reserve so it increases to 1.5 times. Also consider the Chase Preferred for wife if you are churning.

 

[MTDB1983]

I use the INK business for gas. I think it is 3X for gas and I transferred to the no fee version after the first year. It also gets you 5X on office supplies and wireless bills. Check out which version is best for you. I also use the Chase freedom for the 5X bonus categories. Chase does have the 5/24 rule so be careful. All Chase points are transferrable to Reserve so it increases to 1.5 times. Also consider the Chase Preferred for wife if you are churning.

Couple of things: What categories with Freedom are 5x?

What is the 5/24 rule?

So I could have used 2 cards and transferred both to the Reserve rewards? One for gas?

This is too confusing.

 

[MTDB1983]

Don't use your points through the portal, transfer them out to another awards program.


Make sure to take advantage of the global entry/TSA precheck credit if you or your wife dont already have it.
You can actually just pay for some random stranger's fee if you and your wife both already have it, I have several cards that reimburse this every 5 years that I just give global entry to everyone lol

If the points are worth 1.5 by using the portal, why is it more advantageous to not use the portal?

 

[Saint_Ward]

I probably should ask my friend who travels an insane amount for business. I'm pretty sure his go to card is an AMEX. And he mostly flies Delta for work, so he always has a ton of points for free travel or upgrades.

Otherwise, I personally like Discover Card and their Discover IT card. They have two varieties. One that has a 5% (up to $75 of rewards) on a rotating basis, then 1% on everything, or one that is either 1.5 or 2% on everything. You can also use them to pay for stuff on Amazon, at the same rate. Gift cards are like half rate. So, it's smart to do Amazon or cash. And often their initial sign up rewards can be good. I think when I signed up years ago (different program name), there was like 1000 free points ($10) for just making a minimum purchase each month. I think it was good for 6 or 12 months. So, that's a free $60-120. No fees.

I just think DISC has great customer service. Of course, I've never had an AMEX to compare to them.

The one danger, that I'm sure you're aware of, is that when you get these points/rewards cards, it's really easy to start over spending.

I've heard a lot of good things about Chase Sapphire. I just haven't made the move.

 

[Waymer]

Honestly, for gas (or anything), find the card that works for you. And that may vary. Right now I'm actually using the Hilton Ascend, which is 7x points at gas. (A Hilton point is typically far less valuable, but you can get .5-.7 back on them...giving you at least 3.5% back). But that's primarily because right now I'm planning a big Hilton getaway because they allow point pooling pretty easily, and there are a few other perks with the Aspire card we're combining to take advantage of...but that's a targeted, planned trip -- which is why that's the card of choice right now. That may very well change after the trip, especially if one of the cards has the quarterly bonus going, etc.

There's so many factors to the points game. Twyst has hit on some great ones already.

The one thing I will tell you, is that you won't learn it all overnight. Start with a decent U.S. trip.

I'm also a huge proponent of shopping portals. If you don't know about them, check them out. Cashback Monitor is the resource I like. But various loyalty programs offer various points.

Just a small example: https://www.cashbackmonitor.com/cashback-store/walmart/

Walmart is universally 1 point per dollar (exc. taxes, etc). So if you have a $250 WM order, buy it through the portal and you get 250 points/miles. Is that a lot? No, not in the big picture, but it's roughly $2-3 back in points/miles. And of course some stores you already shop at may offer 4 or 6 or 8 points per dollar. And then there's routine bonues from airlines (such as spend $1,000 and get 3,000 points, or something like that...on top of your normal points).

Look at the end of the day, all this comes down to good money management and good organization. You can get some help with organization if you use a program like AwardWallent or something else. Nothing is perfect though...you can do it with a spreadsheet too.

The key is no matter what, don't spend more than you need. If you buy something through Office Max because it's 2 points per $1 on a portal, but pay $14 more than you would have at Walmart which is only 1/$1, then obviously that's not smart. The key to everything is to maximize your current spend, without jeopardizing your normal welfare. You'll read terms about manufactured spending, etc...that's not something to jump into as a beginner.

There were also questions about 5/24 and what that is. Basically Chase will not approve a card if you have opened more than 5 cards in 24 months with any provider, even if it is AMEX, etc. Now, there are loopholes. Business cards, etc. It's something you'll have to read up on.

So many, many factors. I know I and Twyst and many others could talk for days. So just take it slow, ask a few questions when need be and figure it out as you go. You'll make a mistake here or there and miss some points. That's fine. Just don't make the bigger mistakes that hit you in "real life."

 

[tonytiger436]

Couple of things: What categories with Freedom are 5x?

What is the 5/24 rule?

So I could have used 2 cards and transferred both to the Reserve rewards? One for gas?

This is too confusing.

The 5X for Freedom changes every quarter. 1st quarter this year was gas stations. Now it is groceries and home improvement stores. The 5/24 rule means you are not eligible to receive Chase card if you have received 5 credit cards in the last 24 months. You can get a lot of information from The Points Guy and Flyertalk. It is best you do a little research before getting started because different companies have different rules. I suggest you go to Flyer talk and browse for info.

 

[Waymer]

If the points are worth 1.5 by using the portal, why is it more advantageous to not use the portal?

Just a very basic example.

If the price of a Hyatt hotel is $250/night. It would take 16,667 points to book that hotel through the Chase portal.

On the other hand if that hotel goes for 15,000 points a night via Hyatt rewards rewards points, and Hyatt is a 1:1 partner, then you transfer 15,000 Chase points to Hyatt and book that way instead. Then you are getting 1.67 cents per point by spending less points for the same benefit ($250/15,000 = $0.0167). That's before you consider that booking via Hyatt with points also avoids various taxes, etc.

That's just a simple example of the math for something that gives better value. Sometimes, as I think Twyst mentioned, you can really boost your value of the points over and over if a certain booking lines up.

 

[Twyst]

If the points are worth 1.5 by using the portal, why is it more advantageous to not use the portal?

Points are worth 1.5 cents through the portal at a static rate. If you transfer the points to miles and make smart redemptions you can easily get more then 2 cents per point and if you find the right redemptions you can even get above 5 cents per point.