How often do you need to fly/travel to make credit card worth it? (1 Viewer)

[belljr]

Reading the SW thread got me wondering....

We don't fly very often maybe once or twice every 2 to 3 years. I have a pretty decent cash back credit card we use for everything. It's the only card I have.

How often do you need to travel to really have a credit card worth it?

 

[KGB]

We use the costco credit card.

Put everything we can on it, get $600+ spending spree every year.

simple, happy

 

[glvsav37]

I cant speak for all cards, but I think some of the comments in that thread were based on the benefits of flights/hotel purchased on that card—like built-in insurance, rebooking options, etc.

IDK if you need one for everyday purchases, but if you have say card for a specific airline and book the flights on that card, you get other benefits beyond the points like priority boarding, discounts on inflight service, waived bag fees, etc. Yes, the points are nice, but there may be other benefits when you book that trip specifically on that card.

So as long as there is no fee, and you don't mind having credit out there, it may be worth having a few hotel/flight cards on hand for specific trips.

 

[Judge Smails]

Haven’t found many with no fee. Entry level cards are $95, quickly goes to $495 for next tier, $795, etc. I use Marriott Chase card for just about everything. I can always use hotel points. Use AmEx for most business stuff and get points there.

 

[NutterButter]

I have the $95 per year chase sapphire. The point system is a little complicated. I just use it for airline purchases b/c its like 5 points when you purchase through their portal and then for hotels through airbnb (not through portal) since that's 2 points. Then if you use the points through the portal (rather than transfer them out or just cash out) you get an additional 25% (so each point becomes 1.25 points). In additional on your 1 year anniversary you get an additional 10% for points earned. So it adds up especially if you travel a lot which is the goal. It did save me about $300 recently for my car rental in costa rica since that card covers the additional insurance they make you have so that alone was worth it. I initially just signed up last year to get the 100k miles which came out to about $1200 in flight purchases.

 

[Captain Cranks]

I churn about 3-5 cards a year for the sign up bonuses. Usually net about $3k a year for hotels and flights. Easy, free money.

 

[Brunell4MVP]

The United Mileage Card has worked out well for us. It's not our primary card, but by the end of the year I'll usually have enough points for 3-4 free domestic tickets. And they never expire so I can hold onto them until retirement when I can travel at times that costs less points. I also like that I get a free checked bag for me and another person, early boarding, and seat upgrades like 2 days in advance since using 1 card for travel got us to silver status, They also don't mind if I check in in the premier lanes though it's not advertised that way. United is not considered one of the better cards and I know that. I've simply found that while they are bare bones they do treat cardholders with basic premier status well.

 

[worrierking]

The United Mileage Card has worked out well for us. It's not our primary card, but by the end of the year I'll usually have enough points for 3-4 free domestic tickets. And they never expire so I can hold onto them until retirement when I can travel at times that costs less points. I also like that I get a free checked bag for me and another person, early boarding, and seat upgrades like 2 days in advance since using 1 card for travel got us to silver status, They also don't mind if I check in in the premier lanes though it's not advertised that way. United is not considered one of the better cards and I know that. I've simply found that while they are bare bones they do treat cardholders with basic premier status well.

This is my situation. I live in a small city with only two airline carriers. I chose United several years back and am happy with the result. We spend 2-3 thousand in regular expenses each month that we put on the card and then pay off each month. We do a trip about once a year that's entirely paid for by points.

 

[houston]

Don’t most cash back cards get you a similar amount of value? And you can then use the money you get back on whatever you want, without restrictions of certain hotels or airlines?

 

[Zigg]

I churn about 3-5 cards a year for the sign up bonuses. Usually net about $3k a year for hotels and flights. Easy, free money.

I just started doing this. Very jealous of all the options you Americans have, but Canada is ok.

 

[culdeus]

Don’t most cash back cards get you a similar amount of value? And you can then use the money you get back on whatever you want, without restrictions of certain hotels or airlines?

Earn rate is usually a little less. If you value the travel items at book cost.

 

[culdeus]

There's a giant thread on credit card points. Buckna and I both do this as more or less a second job/hobby. Earn rate last year was about 35k/player.

 

[NutterButter]

I churn about 3-5 cards a year for the sign up bonuses. Usually net about $3k a year for hotels and flights. Easy, free money.

Which one's did you open this year? I did my 1st last year with the chase sapphire preferred and netted about $1100 after the annual fee and I'd love to get that again.

 

[Captain Cranks]

I churn about 3-5 cards a year for the sign up bonuses. Usually net about $3k a year for hotels and flights. Easy, free money.

Which one's did you open this year? I did my 1st last year with the chase sapphire preferred and netted about $1100 after the annual fee and I'd love to get that again.

Chase Sapphire Reserve
Capitol One Venture
Citi Premier
US Bank Altitude Connect.

I follow this site for the best deals. Doctor of Credit

 

[Captain Cranks]

There's a giant thread on credit card points. Buckna and I both do this as more or less a second job/hobby. Earn rate last year was about 35k/player.

How much manufactured spending you have to do for that number?

 

[FreeBaGeL]

Don’t most cash back cards get you a similar amount of value? And you can then use the money you get back on whatever you want, without restrictions of certain hotels or airlines?

Generally, not really.

Valuations change all the time, but generally Amex Membership Rewards Points and Chase Ultimate Rewards points are valued at about 2 cents per point. So roughly double what you'd get in cash, Of course it depends on how you redeem them (IE if you travel internationally you can do even better than that), but that's the average.

So if you're looking at something like the Amex Blue Business Preferred card that pays 2x membership rewards points that's really like getting 4% back on spend. Because you get 2 points per dollar on the front end, and then 2 cents per point on the back end. Compare that to, say, the Wells Fargo Active Cash card where you get 2% back in cash and it's just the flat 2%, so half the value back. But you get it in cash which is a lot more flexible, and a lot less time consuming to redeem properly.

This scales with the other Amex/Chase cards as well. So for instance the Amex gold which gives 4x pts on Grocery/Restaurants is really like getting 8% back on Grocery/Restaurant spend, assuming you redeem it right (which, again, can take a bit of time and a bit of luck), whereas the cash stuff is just set it and forget it.

 

[pollardsvision]

Reading the SW thread got me wondering....

We don't fly very often maybe once or twice every 2 to 3 years. I have a pretty decent cash back credit card we use for everything. It's the only card I have.

How often do you need to travel to really have a credit card worth it?

I'm no expert in travel cards (don't have one), but I can't imagine it's worth it for a flight every couple of years. I've generally heard you need to be flying a half a dozen times a year for most to make sense.

I just do cash back cards, like you. I don't travel much, prefer the simplicity/flexibility and don't want to fool with points, which can be devalued.

Speaking of SW, can you imagine building up points on a SW branded card the last 2 years to pay for your Christmas 2022 travel plans?

 

[DA RAIDERS]

if you travel twice a year, yes.

 

[culdeus]

There's a giant thread on credit card points. Buckna and I both do this as more or less a second job/hobby. Earn rate last year was about 35k/player.

How much manufactured spending you have to do for that number?

Yes

 

[massraider]

I'm no expert in travel cards (don't have one), but I can't imagine it's worth it for a flight every couple of years. I've generally heard you need to be flying a half a dozen times a year for most to make sense

There's a misconception here, I think.

Getting a card with travel benefits isn't a bunch of work, or expensive. You could open a Sapphire, and three Ink business cards, and be paying $95 a year total. And have somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 grand in points. You don't need to go pro like @culdeus or @Buckna to see value.

Someone who travels once a year or two would still enjoy a free flight, and free hotel rooms.

 

[Orange&Blue]

I'm no expert in travel cards (don't have one), but I can't imagine it's worth it for a flight every couple of years. I've generally heard you need to be flying a half a dozen times a year for most to make sense

There's a misconception here, I think.

Getting a card with travel benefits isn't a bunch of work, or expensive. You could open a Sapphire, and three Ink business cards, and be paying $95 a year total. And have somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 grand in points. You don't need to go pro like @culdeus or @Buckna to see value.

Someone who travels once a year or two would still enjoy a free flight, and free hotel rooms.

Ink business cards?

 

[culdeus]

I'm no expert in travel cards (don't have one), but I can't imagine it's worth it for a flight every couple of years. I've generally heard you need to be flying a half a dozen times a year for most to make sense

There's a misconception here, I think.

Getting a card with travel benefits isn't a bunch of work, or expensive. You could open a Sapphire, and three Ink business cards, and be paying $95 a year total. And have somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 grand in points. You don't need to go pro like @culdeus or @Buckna to see value.

Someone who travels once a year or two would still enjoy a free flight, and free hotel rooms.

Ink business cards?

Inks are great, but the real money is the nll Amex cards.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

I'm no expert in travel cards (don't have one), but I can't imagine it's worth it for a flight every couple of years. I've generally heard you need to be flying a half a dozen times a year for most to make sense

There's a misconception here, I think.

Getting a card with travel benefits isn't a bunch of work, or expensive. You could open a Sapphire, and three Ink business cards, and be paying $95 a year total. And have somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 grand in points. You don't need to go pro like @culdeus or @Buckna to see value.

Someone who travels once a year or two would still enjoy a free flight, and free hotel rooms.

Ink business cards?

Inks are great, but the real money is the nll Amex cards.

Nll?

 

[Orange&Blue]

Since starting the credit card game, we've booked 2 separate trips to france and Italy and a couple of smaller domestic trips at drastically reduced prices. wish i had started this years ago.

if interested in starting, look at the 10x travel group.

 

[Buckna]

Cool, not sure I saw this thread back in the day. I was churning majorly around this time, the CC companies were just throwing $ at people but they have started tightening up and making changes to block some of this activity. I’ve slowed down considerably other than some unexpected expensive vet bills recently and about to prepay some estimated taxes. Did get an AMEX Biz Gold mailer recently that I signed up for, first new AMEX card in over a year as I’ve been stuck in PUJ. My spending is way down as I don’t have any real estate projects, so I’ve slowly paid off most of my zero % cards and cancelled most other cards as annual fees rolled around. I have been getting mailers for Chase United cards (Hub in my area) but I’ve already built up a massive United Travel Bank deposit thanks to many different AMEX cards in the past. Plan to use that for trips in the next 2 years to visit friends in the Bahamas and Italy.

At this point I’ve settled into a pattern going forward of a couple of Inks a year (hopefully Chase doesn’t mess with this even more) sprinkled in with a few other cards and floating some zero % balances with the money in a MMKT fund or getting a bank account bonus from time to time. Not nearly as lucrative as before but still netting 4k or 5k a year for my efforts. Someone just starting out can net a lot more initially as some of the bonuses these days are quite sizeable but not as repeatable as in the past. I’ve already used up a lot of my options with certain banks and have to cool down for a while.

I’ve actually been helping family members dip their toe into the game in a conservative manner, for instance my parents had multiple AMEX business platinums and weren’t using any of their credits and had nearly $7k worth of points just sitting there doing nothing. Got them to use some credits, cancel some fees for AU’s they weren’t using, and put a schedule together to cash out their points and cancel the cards they didn’t need. Brother-in-law was spending a fortune on Southwest flights for his family, i wanted to get them double companion passes for wife and kids but they aren’t ones to follow directions. At least they got over a $1k in flight points to save a little $. Father-in-law had some sizeable amts of $ sitting in cash, took a lot of convincing but got him signed up for some brokerage & bank account bonuses, his first ever pts card, his 1st Roth IRA, and at least most of the money into a MMKT. Trying to get him to put some $ into an index fund at least but he’s super conservative on $. His banks and credit unions must have absolutely loved him never doing anything with his money and it sitting there for years.

 

[msudaisy26]

We have been saving up points, but the free checked bag with Delta is a huge bonus for us.

We are going to go to Hawaii in 2026 or 2027 and all we need is spending money. Flights and hotels will be free.

 

[Desert_Power]

Barely fly at all and get several thousand back each year. Don't really do much manufactured spending but may need to crank some up to hit some offers.

 

[Ridgeback]

Cool, not sure I saw this thread back in the day. I was churning majorly around this time, the CC companies were just throwing $ at people but they have started tightening up and making changes to block some of this activity. I’ve slowed down considerably other than some unexpected expensive vet bills recently and about to prepay some estimated taxes. Did get an AMEX Biz Gold mailer recently that I signed up for, first new AMEX card in over a year as I’ve been stuck in PUJ. My spending is way down as I don’t have any real estate projects, so I’ve slowly paid off most of my zero % cards and cancelled most other cards as annual fees rolled around. I have been getting mailers for Chase United cards (Hub in my area) but I’ve already built up a massive United Travel Bank deposit thanks to many different AMEX cards in the past. Plan to use that for trips in the next 2 years to visit friends in the Bahamas and Italy.

At this point I’ve settled into a pattern going forward of a couple of Inks a year (hopefully Chase doesn’t mess with this even more) sprinkled in with a few other cards and floating some zero % balances with the money in a MMKT fund or getting a bank account bonus from time to time. Not nearly as lucrative as before but still netting 4k or 5k a year for my efforts. Someone just starting out can net a lot more initially as some of the bonuses these days are quite sizeable but not as repeatable as in the past. I’ve already used up a lot of my options with certain banks and have to cool down for a while.

I’ve actually been helping family members dip their toe into the game in a conservative manner, for instance my parents had multiple AMEX business platinums and weren’t using any of their credits and had nearly $7k worth of points just sitting there doing nothing. Got them to use some credits, cancel some fees for AU’s they weren’t using, and put a schedule together to cash out their points and cancel the cards they didn’t need. Brother-in-law was spending a fortune on Southwest flights for his family, i wanted to get them double companion passes for wife and kids but they aren’t ones to follow directions. At least they got over a $1k in flight points to save a little $. Father-in-law had some sizeable amts of $ sitting in cash, took a lot of convincing but got him signed up for some brokerage & bank account bonuses, his first ever pts card, his 1st Roth IRA, and at least most of the money into a MMKT. Trying to get him to put some $ into an index fund at least but he’s super conservative on $. His banks and credit unions must have absolutely loved him never doing anything with his money and it sitting there for years.

I'd like to do that but all the zero % offers usually have a minimum 5% transaction fee attached.

 

[Desert_Power]

Cool, not sure I saw this thread back in the day. I was churning majorly around this time, the CC companies were just throwing $ at people but they have started tightening up and making changes to block some of this activity. I’ve slowed down considerably other than some unexpected expensive vet bills recently and about to prepay some estimated taxes. Did get an AMEX Biz Gold mailer recently that I signed up for, first new AMEX card in over a year as I’ve been stuck in PUJ. My spending is way down as I don’t have any real estate projects, so I’ve slowly paid off most of my zero % cards and cancelled most other cards as annual fees rolled around. I have been getting mailers for Chase United cards (Hub in my area) but I’ve already built up a massive United Travel Bank deposit thanks to many different AMEX cards in the past. Plan to use that for trips in the next 2 years to visit friends in the Bahamas and Italy.

At this point I’ve settled into a pattern going forward of a couple of Inks a year (hopefully Chase doesn’t mess with this even more) sprinkled in with a few other cards and floating some zero % balances with the money in a MMKT fund or getting a bank account bonus from time to time. Not nearly as lucrative as before but still netting 4k or 5k a year for my efforts. Someone just starting out can net a lot more initially as some of the bonuses these days are quite sizeable but not as repeatable as in the past. I’ve already used up a lot of my options with certain banks and have to cool down for a while.

I’ve actually been helping family members dip their toe into the game in a conservative manner, for instance my parents had multiple AMEX business platinums and weren’t using any of their credits and had nearly $7k worth of points just sitting there doing nothing. Got them to use some credits, cancel some fees for AU’s they weren’t using, and put a schedule together to cash out their points and cancel the cards they didn’t need. Brother-in-law was spending a fortune on Southwest flights for his family, i wanted to get them double companion passes for wife and kids but they aren’t ones to follow directions. At least they got over a $1k in flight points to save a little $. Father-in-law had some sizeable amts of $ sitting in cash, took a lot of convincing but got him signed up for some brokerage & bank account bonuses, his first ever pts card, his 1st Roth IRA, and at least most of the money into a MMKT. Trying to get him to put some $ into an index fund at least but he’s super conservative on $. His banks and credit unions must have absolutely loved him never doing anything with his money and it sitting there for years.

I'd like to do that but all the zero % offers usually have a minimum 5% transaction fee attached.

Are you referring to a balance transfer fee? The Chase Inks he is referring to don't have a purchase APR for an intro period. Some personal cards do as well.

 

[Ridgeback]

Cool, not sure I saw this thread back in the day. I was churning majorly around this time, the CC companies were just throwing $ at people but they have started tightening up and making changes to block some of this activity. I’ve slowed down considerably other than some unexpected expensive vet bills recently and about to prepay some estimated taxes. Did get an AMEX Biz Gold mailer recently that I signed up for, first new AMEX card in over a year as I’ve been stuck in PUJ. My spending is way down as I don’t have any real estate projects, so I’ve slowly paid off most of my zero % cards and cancelled most other cards as annual fees rolled around. I have been getting mailers for Chase United cards (Hub in my area) but I’ve already built up a massive United Travel Bank deposit thanks to many different AMEX cards in the past. Plan to use that for trips in the next 2 years to visit friends in the Bahamas and Italy.

At this point I’ve settled into a pattern going forward of a couple of Inks a year (hopefully Chase doesn’t mess with this even more) sprinkled in with a few other cards and floating some zero % balances with the money in a MMKT fund or getting a bank account bonus from time to time. Not nearly as lucrative as before but still netting 4k or 5k a year for my efforts. Someone just starting out can net a lot more initially as some of the bonuses these days are quite sizeable but not as repeatable as in the past. I’ve already used up a lot of my options with certain banks and have to cool down for a while.

I’ve actually been helping family members dip their toe into the game in a conservative manner, for instance my parents had multiple AMEX business platinums and weren’t using any of their credits and had nearly $7k worth of points just sitting there doing nothing. Got them to use some credits, cancel some fees for AU’s they weren’t using, and put a schedule together to cash out their points and cancel the cards they didn’t need. Brother-in-law was spending a fortune on Southwest flights for his family, i wanted to get them double companion passes for wife and kids but they aren’t ones to follow directions. At least they got over a $1k in flight points to save a little $. Father-in-law had some sizeable amts of $ sitting in cash, took a lot of convincing but got him signed up for some brokerage & bank account bonuses, his first ever pts card, his 1st Roth IRA, and at least most of the money into a MMKT. Trying to get him to put some $ into an index fund at least but he’s super conservative on $. His banks and credit unions must have absolutely loved him never doing anything with his money and it sitting there for years.

I'd like to do that but all the zero % offers usually have a minimum 5% transaction fee attached.

Are you referring to a balance transfer fee? The Chase Inks he is referring to don't have a purchase APR for an intro period. Some personal cards do as well.

Yes, I don't have the Ink anylonger and have far too many account openings in the last couple of years to get another.

 

[Gatorade]

I fly to Mexico twice a year. With the American card, one of those trips is always free, flying first class.

 

[Buckna]

Cool, not sure I saw this thread back in the day. I was churning majorly around this time, the CC companies were just throwing $ at people but they have started tightening up and making changes to block some of this activity. I’ve slowed down considerably other than some unexpected expensive vet bills recently and about to prepay some estimated taxes. Did get an AMEX Biz Gold mailer recently that I signed up for, first new AMEX card in over a year as I’ve been stuck in PUJ. My spending is way down as I don’t have any real estate projects, so I’ve slowly paid off most of my zero % cards and cancelled most other cards as annual fees rolled around. I have been getting mailers for Chase United cards (Hub in my area) but I’ve already built up a massive United Travel Bank deposit thanks to many different AMEX cards in the past. Plan to use that for trips in the next 2 years to visit friends in the Bahamas and Italy.

At this point I’ve settled into a pattern going forward of a couple of Inks a year (hopefully Chase doesn’t mess with this even more) sprinkled in with a few other cards and floating some zero % balances with the money in a MMKT fund or getting a bank account bonus from time to time. Not nearly as lucrative as before but still netting 4k or 5k a year for my efforts. Someone just starting out can net a lot more initially as some of the bonuses these days are quite sizeable but not as repeatable as in the past. I’ve already used up a lot of my options with certain banks and have to cool down for a while.

I’ve actually been helping family members dip their toe into the game in a conservative manner, for instance my parents had multiple AMEX business platinums and weren’t using any of their credits and had nearly $7k worth of points just sitting there doing nothing. Got them to use some credits, cancel some fees for AU’s they weren’t using, and put a schedule together to cash out their points and cancel the cards they didn’t need. Brother-in-law was spending a fortune on Southwest flights for his family, i wanted to get them double companion passes for wife and kids but they aren’t ones to follow directions. At least they got over a $1k in flight points to save a little $. Father-in-law had some sizeable amts of $ sitting in cash, took a lot of convincing but got him signed up for some brokerage & bank account bonuses, his first ever pts card, his 1st Roth IRA, and at least most of the money into a MMKT. Trying to get him to put some $ into an index fund at least but he’s super conservative on $. His banks and credit unions must have absolutely loved him never doing anything with his money and it sitting there for years.

I'd like to do that but all the zero % offers usually have a minimum 5% transaction fee attached.

Are you referring to a balance transfer fee? The Chase Inks he is referring to don't have a purchase APR for an intro period. Some personal cards do as well.

Yes, I don't have the Ink anylonger and have far too many account openings in the last couple of years to get another.

Chase had really cut back on Ink approvals but loosened back up recently, most people can usually get a new Ink these days if they have no more than 2 open currently. I just got a 3rd last month with 2 open and both sporting some sizable 0% balances. But it was my first Ink in about 9 months when I used to get one almost every 3 months.

There are some other options out there too as @Desert_Power mentioned. US Bank has some decent zero % biz cards that are easy to get and almost as good as Inks. Their technology and customer interface is well behind Chase though, and it's pretty much a straight up cash back option as opposed to Chase's point system.

Edit: based on your post I just realized you may be past 5/24 mentioning the account openings so would lock you out of Inks.

 

[comfortably numb]

I cancelled my United mileage plus card this year

While I did use it for several domestic flights and a couple international flights, just didn't use the other perks.
I often travel to Portugal maybe twice a year and depending on the price United could be $200/$600 more
Factoring in the $95 yearly fee and every time I wanted to use my miles for flights I had to pay a fee + miles..i decided to scrap it and just use my other card to accumulate cash back and when I need to fly somewhere i use the banked cashback to buy hte tickets.

I didn't like that when i would go book flights i could get flights to various locations a lot cheaper on other airlines but if i wanted to use my miles i was possibly paying a premium

Right now I move my spending to
Chase Freedom
Wells Fargo Active Cash
Amazon Visa


I will eventually consolidate all into 1

 

[zed2283]

What's up guys? My Venture X annual travel credit ($300) expires in two days and I'm not sure what to do with it. Can I book a hotel or flight or something out in the future, cancel it later, and get the credit/cash back?