Best Credit Card

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BLADEMDA

BLADEMDA

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Best Initial Bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred Card – Spending at least $3,000 with this card in the first three months will get you 40,000 bonus points, redeemable for $500 in travel or $400 cash. While you might be able to score more total points with another card, the redemption value of those provided by the Sapphire Preferred Card are unparalleled, especially since its $95 annual fee doesn't take effect until the second year.
 
Best Airline Miles Card: Capital One® Venture℠ Rewards Credit Card

Capital+One Venture+Rewards Credit Card
Frequent flyers and hotel-goers, road-trippers and backpacking-through-Europers, take note: the Capital One® Venture℠ Rewards Credit Card offers incredible rewards and versatility. It gives a full 2 No Hassle Miles per $1 spent, which can be redeemed against any travel expense, from airfare to baggage fees to dinner at your hotel. They never expire, and Capital One even suggests categories to use on your monthly statement. The $59 annual fee is waived the first year, and offset by the signup bonus of 10,000 Capital One No Hassle Miles℠ signup bonus. Perhaps most importantly, it has no foreign transaction fee. This charge usually sets you back 3% of all the money you spent overseas. If you spend $2,000 abroad, you've made up for the card's annual fee in foreign transaction savings alone.
 
The best credit card? That's sort of an oxymoron isn't it? I had to get one two years ago but once it's paid off I am done with them.
 
W222 said:
The best credit card? That's sort of an oxymoron isn't it? I had to get one two years ago but once it's paid off I am done with them.
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Credit cards can be money makers for the holders. Cash back cards that you always pay off on time and never carry a balance on. Penfeds VISA platinum rewards cash back for gas, groceries and every where that doesn't take AMEX. An AMEX cash back card for everything else. I put everything I can on them that doesn't have a convenience fee: utility bills, cable, cell phone, medical copays and deductible, no worrying about checks lost in the mail
I get well over $1k back per year. One caveat, cash back cards tend to be horrible on fees if late payment and have lousy interest rates if you do occasionally carry a balance. I pay electronically so I don't have to worry about late fees.
 
dr doze said:
Credit cards can be money makers for the holders. Cash back cards that you always pay off on time and never carry a balance on. Penfeds VISA platinum rewards cash back for gas, groceries and every where that doesn't take AMEX. An AMEX cash back card for everything else. I put everything I can on them that doesn't have a convenience fee: utility bills, cable, cell phone, medical copays and deductible, no worrying about checks lost in the mail
I get well over $1k back per year. One caveat, cash back cards tend to be horrible on fees if late payment and have lousy interest rates if you do occasionally carry a balance. I pay electronically so I don't have to worry about late fees.
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How did you get a PenFeds Visa Platinum rewards card? Do you have to join the Credit Union?

I have AMEX Preferred Cash Back and average over a $1,000 in cash back per year.

I just got another one yesterday with a $250 cash back bonus. Now, I can charge up to $12,000 per year at the grocery store and get 6% back which is $720.
 
BLADEMDA said:
Best Airline Miles Card: Capital One® Venture℠ Rewards Credit Card

Capital+One Venture+Rewards Credit Card
Frequent flyers and hotel-goers, road-trippers and backpacking-through-Europers, take note: the Capital One® Venture℠ Rewards Credit Card offers incredible rewards and versatility. It gives a full 2 No Hassle Miles per $1 spent, which can be redeemed against any travel expense, from airfare to baggage fees to dinner at your hotel. They never expire, and Capital One even suggests categories to use on your monthly statement. The $59 annual fee is waived the first year, and offset by the signup bonus of 10,000 Capital One No Hassle Miles℠ signup bonus. Perhaps most importantly, it has no foreign transaction fee. This charge usually sets you back 3% of all the money you spent overseas. If you spend $2,000 abroad, you’ve made up for the card’s annual fee in foreign transaction savings alone.
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You also have to like at how the rewards points play out as far as buying reward tickets go. 20,000 points on one airline will get you worth say $250 and then on another airline worth maybe $400. A lot depends on the conversion factor.

Personally the Amex rewards gold card has been pretty good. Between the rewards system and the purchase protection plan, it's hard to see myself using another card. I will say the cash back options from the listed cards are nice, but if you're a frequent flyer I think an Amex card is the way to go
 
Comparing Chase 50,000 Point Offer Vs 100,000 American Express Business Platinum Bonus Offer (Targeted)

Posted by The Weekly Flyer on May 2 | 5 Comments



Check your mailboxes! Another round of targeted offers has been sent for 100,000 bonus points with the Business Platinum Card® from American Express OPEN. But don't worry if you don't receive it, because there are other offers which may provide as much value (or more depending on who you like to redeem points with) and at a lower cost in terms of annual fees.

The targeted 100,000 offer is being sent to business owners and provides a staggering 100,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $10,000 on eligible purchases within 3 months of receiving the card.

This is a significant offer on two fronts. First, 100,000 American Express Membership Rewards points will go far if you transfer to partners like British Airways, ANA and other airline or hotel programs. Second, because the next level of credit card bonus offers is around the 50,000 bonus point mark. But I'll also explain why you shouldn't discount or ignore the other offers around the 50,000 bonus point mark.

Targeted 100,000 Business Platinum American Express Card Offer

The targeted offer provides 100,000 Membership Rewards points by spending $10,000 on the new card within the first 3 months of obtaining the card. Applications must be received and approved by June 14, 2013.

If you have a targeted offer, simply call 800-971-6736 or visit open.com/getplatinum and provide your personal RSVP code contained in the offer. Bonus offer code A3V5 was referenced in the offer as well.
 
BLADEMDA said:
How did you get a PenFeds Visa Platinum rewards card? Do you have to join the Credit Union?

I have AMEX Preferred Cash Back and average over a $1,000 in cash back per year.

I just got another one yesterday with a $250 cash back bonus. Now, I can charge up to $12,000 per year at the grocery store and get 6% back which is $720.
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yup. If you or a family member are not military you can join by making a one time donation to the national association of military families. (A solid charity- I donate to them annually). Also open a savings account with $5.
 
dr doze said:
yup. If you or a family member are not military you can join by making a one time donation to the national association of military families. (A solid charity- I donate to them annually). Also open a savings account with $5.
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what do you think about a MasterCard with no annual fee which gives a flat 2% cash back on all purchases? Gas, Groceries, stores, bills, etc. all result in 2% cash back. I currently have such a card but was think of getting the PenFeds Visa card instead.

The problem with the AMEX card is that 1% cash back on most store purchases is low.
 
I dislike annual fees. Usually I'll use my Chase Amazon Visa for most purchases because it's easy to get cash back/pay off bill with excess. When Discover has a category I purchase in as their monthly for 5% bonus, I'll use that. Capital One card for rare foreign travel where I am not using cash. Pay the bills fully at the end of every month. I don't need any other card in my opinion.

Unless you are a frequent flier, most of these miles things are gimmicks. I prefer cash back. Only exception I might consider (need to look into) is this No-Hassle Capital One card.
 
BLADEMDA said:
what do you think about a MasterCard with no annual fee which gives a flat 2% cash back on all purchases? Gas, Groceries, stores, bills, etc. all result in 2% cash back. I currently have such a card but was think of getting the PenFeds Visa card instead.

The problem with the AMEX card is that 1% cash back on most store purchases is low.
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Sounds very reasonable.
 
rsgillmd said:
I dislike annual fees. Usually I'll use my Chase Amazon Visa for most purchases because it's easy to get cash back/pay off bill with excess. When Discover has a category I purchase in as their monthly for 5% bonus, I'll use that. Capital One card for rare foreign travel where I am not using cash. Pay the bills fully at the end of every month. I don't need any other card in my opinion.

Unless you are a frequent flier, most of these miles things are gimmicks. I prefer cash back. Only exception I might consider (need to look into) is this No-Hassle Capital One card.
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How do your cards stack up against this one? http://romsdeals.com/2013/02/13/ame...referred-250-or-blue-cash-everyday-150-bonus/



American Express Blue Cash Preferred
•Earn 250 Reward Dollars after you make $1,000 in purchases in the first three months of Cardmembership
•Get 6% cash back at U.S. stand-alone supermarkets, 3% cash back on gasoline at U.S. stand-alone gas stations and select major department stores; 1% cash back on other purchases
•Cash back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit
•The first $6,000 of purchases at U.S. stand-alone supermarkets in a calendar year qualifies for 6% cash back; 1% thereafter
•Simple and Straightforward: With the Blue Cash Preferred Card, you can start earning cash back. No rotating reward categories. No enrollment required
•$75 annual fee


Thanks
 
Top Bad-Credit Card: Capital One® Secured Mastercard®

Capital+One Secured+MasterCard Credit Card
If you have little credit, no credit at all, or simply bad credit, a secured card might be the only line of credit you'll qualify for. The Capital One Secured MasterCard is one of our favorites. It's especially hospitable to bad-credit consumers, even those just out of bankruptcy. And it's hard to beat an annual fee of $29 – secured cards almost always come with a fee, but they often hit $35 or more.

It also has one of the lowest minimum deposits out there. The deposit could be $49, $99, or $200, and then you can start with a $200 credit limit. If you're short on cash, no worries: You can pay the deposit in installments, for as long as 80 days after signup. Once you've built up some solid credit, you can close the account, get your deposit back, and graduate to a card with lower APR and fees.
 
I have so many cards. There are no "best cards" consistently.

It all depends what your goals are.

The centurion Amex card is the best. But it's exclusive. So many perks. Well worth the $2500 annual fee and a ridiculous $7500 initial fee. It was $5000 initial fee.

But my colleague swears by it. He spends a lot. Like has his own plane. All I know is the panera bread credit card machine has a hard time reading the card. It's a heavy card.

U get access to all the airport lounges. Automatic top tier travel status at most major airlines and hotels (aka free upgrades). Buy one get one free first class.

If u are a big spender the perks can more than double or triple the $2500 annual fee.
 
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aneftp said:
I have so many cards. There are no "best cards" consistently.

It all depends what your goals are.

The centurion Amex card is the best. But it's exclusive. So many perks. Well worth the $2500 annual fee and a ridiculous $7500 initial fee. It was $5000 initial fee.

But my colleague swears by it. He spends a lot. Like has his own plane. All I know is the panera bread credit card machine has a hard time reading the card. It's a heavy card.

U get access to all the airport lounges. Automatic top tier travel status at most major airlines and hotels (aka free upgrades). Buy one get one free first class.

If u are a big spender the perks can more than double or triple the $2500 annual fee.
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I'll stick with the advice from Doze. He is more my speed.😉 Thanks for posting though.
 
aneftp said:
I have so many cards. There are no "best cards" consistently.

It all depends what your goals are.

The centurion Amex card is the best. But it's exclusive. So many perks. Well worth the $2500 annual fee and a ridiculous $7500 initial fee. It was $5000 initial fee.

But my colleague swears by it. He spends a lot. Like has his own plane. All I know is the panera bread credit card machine has a hard time reading the card. It's a heavy card.

U get access to all the airport lounges. Automatic top tier travel status at most major airlines and hotels (aka free upgrades). Buy one get one free first class.

If u are a big spender the perks can more than double or triple the $2500 annual fee.
Click to expand...

For reference, the average Centurion cardholder has $16.3 million in assets and an annual household income of $1.3 million
 
aneftp said:
I have so many cards. There are no "best cards" consistently.

It all depends what your goals are.

The centurion Amex card is the best. But it's exclusive. So many perks. Well worth the $2500 annual fee and a ridiculous $7500 initial fee. It was $5000 initial fee.

But my colleague swears by it. He spends a lot. Like has his own plane. All I know is the panera bread credit card machine has a hard time reading the card. It's a heavy card.

U get access to all the airport lounges. Automatic top tier travel status at most major airlines and hotels (aka free upgrades). Buy one get one free first class. My friend booked hotel at regular standard room rate and got upgrades to $5000 a night room at Vegas MGM hotel. It's crazy what upgrades u may get.

If u are a big spender the perks can more than double or triple the $2500 annual fee.
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I use a Delta AmEx reserve card. $450 annual fee, but the perks make it well worth my while. Each $ spent is 1 mile, some purchases can be double or triple miles. But the big kicker is at 30K I get 15,000 miles towards Medallion status and at 60K I get another 15,000. So by spending 60K per year on it I get an extra 30K miles towards status which puts me well past Delta's Silver and heading towards Gold without even flying once. But I fly a lot. So I alternate between Gold and Platinum status which nets me free upgrades to first class on the majority of flights I take (I'm flying pleasure, not the business heavy routes). Also get free bags on all flights. Also get into the lounge for free.

So for $450 a year, I get plenty of upgrades to first class, free bags, and lots of free liquor in the lounge.
 
BLADEMDA said:
For reference, the average Centurion cardholder has $16.3 million in assets and an annual household income of $1.3 million
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Damn. There is no way my colleague has this much money. Or else he wouldn't be working.

He's anesthesiologist also. But older. In his mid 50s. Wife is stay at home mother.
 
AMEX Blue Cash Preferred for groceries gives me 6% cash back. Also 3% on gas.

Citi Forward Visa gives me 5% cash back equivalent (checks made out for my student loans) at restaurants, movie theaters, bookstores, and on amazon.com.

My wife and I also have Sony cards because we were able to get $600 worth of stuff (PS3 and a TV) for signing up. Not sure what the promotion is now.
 
Mman said:
I use a Delta AmEx reserve card. $450 annual fee, but the perks make it well worth my while. Each $ spent is 1 mile, some purchases can be double or triple miles. But the big kicker is at 30K I get 15,000 miles towards Medallion status and at 60K I get another 15,000. So by spending 60K per year on it I get an extra 30K miles towards status which puts me well past Delta's Silver and heading towards Gold without even flying once. But I fly a lot. So I alternate between Gold and Platinum status which nets me free upgrades to first class on the majority of flights I take (I'm flying pleasure, not the business heavy routes). Also get free bags on all flights. Also get into the lounge for free.

So for $450 a year, I get plenty of upgrades to first class, free bags, and lots of free liquor in the lounge.
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What do you think of the AMEX Platinum Card with 100,000 points as a bonus for signing up?


There are many reasons I like the Platinum American Express card and the Business Platinum American Express card. The benefits are great but a 100,000 bonus point signup offer is the best benefit.

I’ve taken advantage of the 100,000 signup bonus offers in the past, but for some reason I continue to get more of these little treasure offers in the mail. This weekend I received not one, but two targeted offers for 100,000 bonus membership rewards points when I apply and meet spending requirements with the Business Platinum Card from American Express Open. Only one problem, I’ve already applied for these cards with the 100,000 bonus so I’m prevented from applying again. But hopefully some of you will see this new targeted campaign appear in your mailbox soon.
 
BLADEMDA said:
What do you think of the AMEX Platinum Card with 100,000 points as a bonus for signing up?


There are many reasons I like the Platinum American Express card and the Business Platinum American Express card. The benefits are great but a 100,000 bonus point signup offer is the best benefit.

I’ve taken advantage of the 100,000 signup bonus offers in the past, but for some reason I continue to get more of these little treasure offers in the mail. This weekend I received not one, but two targeted offers for 100,000 bonus membership rewards points when I apply and meet spending requirements with the Business Platinum Card from American Express Open. Only one problem, I’ve already applied for these cards with the 100,000 bonus so I’m prevented from applying again. But hopefully some of you will see this new targeted campaign appear in your mailbox soon.
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Blade, I go on flyertalk a few times. Those guys are the expert. They know all the secrets and the slight hacks to get those targeted offers without being targeted.

Like Marriott offers 40-50k points promo. But one little change to credit card link can get u 70k point promo without being targeted and any random person could get the hidden targeted 70k promo.
 
BLADEMDA said:
How do your cards stack up against this one? http://romsdeals.com/2013/02/13/ame...referred-250-or-blue-cash-everyday-150-bonus/



American Express Blue Cash Preferred
•Earn 250 Reward Dollars after you make $1,000 in purchases in the first three months of Cardmembership
•Get 6% cash back at U.S. stand-alone supermarkets, 3% cash back on gasoline at U.S. stand-alone gas stations and select major department stores; 1% cash back on other purchases
•Cash back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit
•The first $6,000 of purchases at U.S. stand-alone supermarkets in a calendar year qualifies for 6% cash back; 1% thereafter
•Simple and Straightforward: With the Blue Cash Preferred Card, you can start earning cash back. No rotating reward categories. No enrollment required
•$75 annual fee


Thanks
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Got to look at the individual situation. I'm single so I don't spend too much at supermarkets. Usually get my groceries at Kroger. For bulk purchases I go to Walmart. I drive a Prius, and generally only fill up once a month. If I don't eat at home, I eat at a restaurant.

My Chase Visa's website says:

Earn points on every $1 spent:

3 points on Amazon.com purchases
2 points on gas station, restaurant, drugstore and office supply store purchases
1 point on all other purchases

100 points = $1.00. No minimum to redeem.

Discover is more picky in how they reward. Discover also requires $50 to redeem for statement credit. The only reason I have that card is because it was my first card in college. I only use it when my purchase fits the monthly 5% back category.

Have not paid an annual fee yet.
 
rsgillmd said:
Discover is more picky in how they reward. Discover also requires $50 to redeem for statement credit. The only reason I have that card is because it was my first card in college. I only use it when my purchase fits the monthly 5% back category.

Have not paid an annual fee yet.
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Discover links to Amazon now. You can apply any amount in rewards to your Amazon purchases.
 
i had amex blue cash for a while but recently switched to bank of america cash reward. in addition to cash back, if you choose to redeem to a bank of america savings or checking account, you get additional 15%. i thought it was initially a promotional thing but i've been doing it every month without a hitch. other thing i like is that they dont have you jump through hoops to redeem. everything straight forward on internet. couple of clicks and done.
 
aneftp said:
Blade, I go on flyertalk a few times. Those guys are the expert. They know all the secrets and the slight hacks to get those targeted offers without being targeted.

Like Marriott offers 40-50k points promo. But one little change to credit card link can get u 70k point promo without being targeted and any random person could get the hidden targeted 70k promo.
Click to expand...

I found the offer for 70K in points. It looks quite good. Since starting this thread the posts have been very helpful and there are many great credit card deals.

My wife wants to start traveling more so should I go with Marriott, Hilton or Airline card?

I will end up with 3 main cards:

1. Amex Preferred Blue for groceries and gas
2. MasterCard with 2% cash back on everything but rewards start at $2500 in charges
3. Airline or Hotel card for points.

I need help deciding on number 3. Marriott does look tempting but I don't like losing my rewards if not redeemed within 6 months.
 
Best airline miles credit card: The Capital One® Venture℠ Rewards Credit Card

Forget best rewards card – the Capital One® Venture℠ Rewards Credit Card is probably our favorite card out there. With a stellar rewards rate, easy-to-redeem miles and travel-friendly perks, what's not to love? It earns a solid 2 No Hassle Miles per $1 spent anywhere – no caps, no thresholds, no fuss. And the miles are actually not a hassle, because you redeem them as a statement credit to offset any travel expense, be it airfare or gas or hotel rooms. There's a $59 annual fee, waived the first year, and offset by a bonus of 10,000 Capital One No Hassle Miles℠. Plus, it's a Visa, so it's accepted anywhere, and it has no foreign transaction fee, which often sets you back 3% of whatever you pay overseas. If you travel – or if you simply put money on your card – the Capital One® Venture℠ Rewards Credit Card is the card for you.
 
BLADEMDA said:
Best airline miles credit card: The Capital One® Venture℠ Rewards Credit Card

Forget best rewards card – the Capital One® Venture℠ Rewards Credit Card is probably our favorite card out there. With a stellar rewards rate, easy-to-redeem miles and travel-friendly perks, what’s not to love? It earns a solid 2 No Hassle Miles per $1 spent anywhere – no caps, no thresholds, no fuss. And the miles are actually not a hassle, because you redeem them as a statement credit to offset any travel expense, be it airfare or gas or hotel rooms. There’s a $59 annual fee, waived the first year, and offset by a bonus of 10,000 Capital One No Hassle Miles℠. Plus, it’s a Visa, so it’s accepted anywhere, and it has no foreign transaction fee, which often sets you back 3% of whatever you pay overseas. If you travel – or if you simply put money on your card – the Capital One® Venture℠ Rewards Credit Card is the card for you.
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For travel, since I only go places twice a year, I just find the credit card out there that has the freebie. Then to avoid the fee I immediately cancel the card. Probably hurts my credit, but I don't really care.

For gas and groces I use Sallie Mae for 5% off.

For 2% of anything I buy I use fidelity amex and priceline visa.
 
As a resident on a tighter budget, I have found this to be my favorite credit card combination:

1. Chase Sapphire Preferred for 1 year, downgraded to Chase Freedom Visa + Chase Checking Account

I first signed up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred when moving between cities, spent the minimum to collect the 40,000 points, and accumulated points on all my purchases plus the extra 7% annual points dividend. I charged as much as I could afford on this card for a year, then downgraded to the Chase Freedom (the Sapphire Preferred is only worth the $95 annual fee if you spend over $135,000 a year... which obviously I could not). This move was golden, because I transferred all the rewards points I had accumulated to my new Chase Freedom card, which now gave me 1-5% cash back on new purchases. Having a Chase checking account maximizes my rewards because it gives an extra 10% points on all purchases plus 10 points per transaction (so a $2 coffee gets me 12 points). I think this has changed recently, and they now just give a 10% annual dividend on your points... which is still decent. I use this card for all my day-to-day purchases.

2. Capital One Venture Rewards Visa Signature

Two points for every dollar spent is pretty sweet. I charge my larger monthly expenses (rent, phone and cable bills, etc.) and all travel expenses on this card. This card easily gets me 2-3 free plane tickets a year. The $60 annual fee isn't a huge deal since I spend much more than the $3,000 needed to cancel out the fee.

I'm sure I can receive greater rewards with more credit cards, but I'm a fairly minimalist individual and like to keep it simple. I've found that this combination works nicely for me. Hope it helps!
 
BLADEMDA said:
I found the offer for 70K in points. It looks quite good. Since starting this thread the posts have been very helpful and there are many great credit card deals.

My wife wants to start traveling more so should I go with Marriott, Hilton or Airline card?

I will end up with 3 main cards:

1. Amex Preferred Blue for groceries and gas
2. MasterCard with 2% cash back on everything but rewards start at $2500 in charges
3. Airline or Hotel card for points.

I need help deciding on number 3. Marriott does look tempting but I don't like losing my rewards if not redeemed within 6 months.
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Blade, I had the Marriott rewards (got 70K points promo along with $75 statement credit) card last year (free for first year, than $95 annual fee starting 2nd year). I got rid of the card after one year to avoid the annual fee. Than signed my wife up for a separate 70K points promo last month.

Marriott will give you one free hotel stay (I think category 4-5 for the first year) and one tier higher second. But the free hotel stay voucher sucked. It was impossible to find a "free hotel" And they change the rules for each hotel depending on location. So a residence inn would be a category 5 at location 1. But residence inn would be a category 4 at location 2.

Read the complaints about free night limitations.
http://www.rewards-insiders.marriott.com/thread/9485

So if you sign up for the 70K points promo, just go into it by realizing the free night (unless you are real flexible) shouldn't the the thing that decides whether you get the card or not.

By the way 70K points essentially gets you 2 free nights at most of their luxury hotels (usually a $600-900 value). It will be tough to get 5-6 free nights as they claim. Most of the hotels you or your wife will want to stay will cost you 20-40K points. It all depends on your lifestyle.

Same goes for Delta Amex card. It was very difficult to use the buy one, get one free plane ticket with Delta Amex Plat card. Again you need maximum flexibility if you are going to use these free perks. Often times they want you to travel at 6am instead 10am. And they always try to gear you towards the super dirt fares at inconvenient times

Same for British Airways Visa 100K promo I got a couple of years ago. Hard to redeem. My wife and I got each 100K British airways points. Good for 2 business class tickets each international to Europe. But they want you to fly Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday most of the times.

Personally I would go with hotel points because you know you get X amount of bonus points you are going to redeem and the bonus hotel points are for the most part a lot easier to redeem than airline points. In my head I am always doing the points conversion. Delta wants 40K points many times for me to fly from Florida to DC (a 2 hour flight) But I know tickets are usually less than $250 on the airlines. So it's not a good value. Whereas I got a luxury Marriott hotel at $450 a night for 35K points. That's value can be had easier.
 
aneftp said:
Same goes for Delta Amex card. It was very difficult to use the buy one, get one free plane ticket with Delta Amex Plat card. Again you need maximum flexibility if you are going to use these free perks. Often times they want you to travel at 6am instead 10am. And they always try to gear you towards the super dirt fares at inconvenient times

In my head I am always doing the points conversion. Delta wants 40K points many times for me to fly from Florida to DC (a 2 hour flight) But I know tickets are usually less than $250 on the airlines. So it's not a good value. Whereas I got a luxury Marriott hotel at $450 a night for 35K points. That's value can be had easier.
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I agree with your points about some things being more difficult to redeem, but in regards to the Delta Amex, you can use "pay with miles" with that card to redeem any miles for any route with a conversion of 1000 miles for $10 so on a $250 route, you don't need 40K miles that you'd need to redeem straight miles, you can just "pay with miles" and have it for 25K miles. You can also redeem partially. So if you have a $1000 first class round trip, you can pay any or all of it in miles (up to 100K miles for the whole thing) and the rest in cash.


To me in regards to airlines, miles aren't important but the FF status is because I travel a lot for leisure. So getting to board ahead of everyone else, getting frequent upgrades to first class, getting free checked luggage, and getting into the lounge for free are all very nice.
 
aneftp said:
A lot of small business do not accept Amex. If you can't use your Amex at places you frequent the most, you can't accrue enough points.
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I used to think that and never had an AmEx specifically for that reason. Honestly, though, I use my Visa less than once a month these days. Nearly 100% of gas stations and grocery stores and major businesses accept AmEx. The only time I ever need the Visa is at small mom and pop restaurants that are either cash or visa/MC.
 
Mman said:
I used to think that and never had an AmEx specifically for that reason. Honestly, though, I use my Visa less than once a month these days. Nearly 100% of gas stations and grocery stores and major businesses accept AmEx. The only time I ever need the Visa is at small mom and pop restaurants that are either cash or visa/MC.
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The echo boards and perhaps (not sure) the ABA don't take it.
 
BLADEMDA said:
What do you think of the AMEX Platinum Card with 100,000 points as a bonus for signing up?


There are many reasons I like the Platinum American Express card and the Business Platinum American Express card. The benefits are great but a 100,000 bonus point signup offer is the best benefit.

I’ve taken advantage of the 100,000 signup bonus offers in the past, but for some reason I continue to get more of these little treasure offers in the mail. This weekend I received not one, but two targeted offers for 100,000 bonus membership rewards points when I apply and meet spending requirements with the Business Platinum Card from American Express Open. Only one problem, I’ve already applied for these cards with the 100,000 bonus so I’m prevented from applying again. But hopefully some of you will see this new targeted campaign appear in your mailbox soon.
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AMEX platinum also gives you $200 credit for airline fees per year. You must select one airline yearly but then they reimburse you for bag fees and other non-ticket charges such as seat upgrades. AMEX is also way ahead of Visa for standing up for you in any credit card dispute. I have gotten no help with a few disputes from Visa while AMEX just credits me promptly and then deals with the merchant.
 
pastafan said:
AMEX platinum also gives you $200 credit for airline fees per year. You must select one airline yearly but then they reimburse you for bag fees and other non-ticket charges such as seat upgrades. AMEX is also way ahead of Visa for standing up for you in any credit card dispute. I have gotten no help with a few disputes from Visa while AMEX just credits me promptly and then deals with the merchant.
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I find that bolded part interesting. The reason I use credit cards as opposed to debit cards is it is easy to immediately reverse a charge without losing money. My understanding is that with debit cards your money is gone immediately and you don't get it back until the dispute is resolved.

I don't have any experience with needing Amex to handle disputes. Maybe I've been lucky. Two businesses charged me for services I already paid for as part of a package. I didn't realize until I looked at the credit card spending online when I got back from vacation. They were hard to reach by phone so I called the people at Chase Visa and they handled everything.

I also like that credit card companies have systems for detecting possible fraud. When I once bought my parents (who live in a different state) a computer and charged it to my card, Chase Visa called me to make sure it was a valid transaction.
 
rsgillmd said:
I find that bolded part interesting. The reason I use credit cards as opposed to debit cards is it is easy to immediately reverse a charge without losing money. My understanding is that with debit cards your money is gone immediately and you don't get it back until the dispute is resolved.

I don't have any experience with needing Amex to handle disputes. Maybe I've been lucky. Two businesses charged me for services I already paid for as part of a package. I didn't realize until I looked at the credit card spending online when I got back from vacation. They were hard to reach by phone so I called the people at Chase Visa and they handled everything.

I also like that credit card companies have systems for detecting possible fraud. When I once bought my parents (who live in a different state) a computer and charged it to my card, Chase Visa called me to make sure it was a valid transaction.
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A lot depends on the bank issuing the card. I have been incredibly aggravated by their fraud detection. It protects the bank, not you. Your liability is only $50. I travel visiting family and I have had my Visa declined several times. On the next trip I called the credit card customer service before I left and told them of my travel plans. I still had my card declined. Called them and they had no good excuse for screwing up again. Quite embarrassing and aggravating. I have never experienced this with AMEX.
 
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