What's the best credit card deal today?

[jm2e]

I have used Allianz travel insurance for a rental car damage claim in Mexico. Worked seamlessly.

I was kinda wondering more about when people turn down car rental insurance because they think they'll be covered by the simple act of using a credit card that advertises as having rental car coverage. Also kind of figured if I bought a separate travel insurance plan it would give me some kind of coverage when ........ traveling.

Yep.

And did it go smoothly? Honestly just curious. It's one of those things everyone counts on never using.

[phatty]

I have used Allianz travel insurance for a rental car damage claim in Mexico. Worked seamlessly.

Interested in hearing more about this as our rental place in MX tried to rape us with insurance on the car.

[El Chupacabra]

Interested in hearing more about this as our rental place in MX tried to rape us with insurance on the car.

IIRC I rented using a card that included insurance, and the rental agency agreed in advance that was acceptable to them. During the rental, somebody scraped the car bumper while it was parked - I didn't notice until returning it, and it was definitely a fresh scrape, not old damage. Rental car company (a small one) guy eyeballed it some, suggested a charge of $100 to cover it, and I agreed. Submitted the paperwork to Allianz after the trip, and they paid it promptly.

Mrs C and I get an annual Allianz travel policy to help fill gaps in the marketplace health insurance plan we have, as well as for the travel insurance benefits.

[406]

For rental car damage, the AMEX I had at the time covered the deductible from my normal auto insurance policy I had. Seems to depend on card, fine print will have details.

[El Chupacabra]

If possible, you'll want primary coverage for rental cars from the credit card. Secondary coverage means they pay after your personal car insurance, which means a claim on your history.

[lowsparkco]

AMEX is supposedly great for rental car insurance.

Good friend of mine put a little SUV on his AMEX while traveling outside the country. A couple cervezas too many and he parks it a little too close to this ravine off one side of the driveway.

It rains all night, he wakes up in the morning and the Mitsi has tumbled down the hill 30 or 40 feet. Ouch.

Called the rental car company, called AMEX, and they brought him a new one.

He does have a pretty swanky AMEX though, blue or black or something.

[Mustonen]

Credit (or debit) card based rental insurance (or Collision Damage Waiver) is purchased by the issuer (your financial institution), through the signature network (visa or Mastercard). It’s a fee per card in that BIN (card category scoped as common first 6 or 8 digits in card number) - say.. $0.35 per card per month, so it varies by issuer and even within their card portfolios.

If you have it, read the fine print. With Mastercard, it will cover vehicle rentals where the cardholder contracted and paid for it with that card. You have to decline the rental company insurance. If you have primary coverage through your insurer it’ll always be secondary, but it’ll pay deductibles up to $500. Doesn’t cover flat tires or big vans or trucks or truck based SUVs (Escalade, etc). There’s a max rental period, like 15 or 31 days, depending on how much your FI wanted to spend, Etc etc etc. Visa is similar but not the same.

I haven’t heard anything negative about claims processed through them. There’s a number to call for VISA or Mastercard re: what coverages you have on your card, as issuers (financial institutions) are often clueless.

There’s all kinds of crazy coverages issuers can purchase like this through the network for their cardholders, like device (phone) protection, AD&D, Wi-Fi hotspots, etc. Some more expensive than others. I believe the only ones baked in are some of the purchase assurance protections that do things like extend your warranty (not to be confused with consumer protections that provide a limited liability profile for cardholders in the US).

[PeachesNCream]

Going to Japan this January and thinking it might be nice to pick up a credit card with a nice miles/travel bonus to offset the cost. My current cards are some generic cash back cards and an Alaska airlines card. Flights look to be around $1000. More focused on picking up this card for the bonus for this trip, not necessarily the long term but cards with annual fees over $200 kinda freak me out. More interested in getting costs down vs “luxury benefits” but it is a long flight so I’m open ears.

Im checking out the points guy website and will spend some more time on there


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[El Chupacabra]

Take a look at doctorofcredit website for the best current credit card sign up bonuses.

A lot of this card points game depends on how you travel (fly or not), what airports, what hotels, etc - some of the offers will be more or less valuable based on what you do and like.

[Danno]

Take a look at doctorofcredit website for the best current credit card sign up bonuses.

A lot of this card points game depends on how you travel (fly or not), what airports, what hotels, etc - some of the offers will be more or less valuable based on what you do and like.

Chup is the expert and I am just an intermediate card guy. But IME (piggybacking on what Chup said), outside of sign up bonus deals, specific "travel" cards only make sense if you travel an awful lot or travel frequently with a specific airline/airport. You will do better with a 2% cash back card (if those still exist, I have a couple) and on your own just dedicate that reward to your travel expenses.

[east or bust]

A friend recently talked me into signing up for a Chase Sapphire Reserve, 60k points if you spend 4k in the first 3 or 4 months (forget) which was easy considering I had to get some car work done, buy my fkn season pass in May, and bought a murphy bed for the apt.

Just paid completely in points for the GF and I’s flights back to the EC for the 4th of July, with some to spare. So yea, so far I’d say it’s worth it.

Was very hesitant picking up a card with an annual fee, and this one’s high… $550. But when I really dug into the benefits, offsetting that fee and netting out in the black is easy.


ETA: that’s a good point about researching the perks of each card and whether you think you’ll use/benefit from them.

[PeachesNCream]

Chip - I checked out that doctorofcredit list, nice list, I’ll be looking at some of those

Danno - that’s what I usually do (minus the Alaska card for free bags) but I’m looking for a nice sign up bonus to offset this big trip. Felt like playing the game this time and see how it goes.

All - so if an offer says spend $4,000 in 3 months and get 100,000 points. Does the 100,000 points kick in as soon as you hit $4,000 or do you have to wait for the 3 months to be done as well?


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[ColMan]

Going to Japan this January and thinking it might be nice to pick up a credit card with a nice miles/travel bonus to offset the cost. My current cards are some generic cash back cards and an Alaska airlines card. Flights look to be around $1000. More focused on picking up this card for the bonus for this trip, not necessarily the long term but cards with annual fees over $200 kinda freak me out. More interested in getting costs down vs “luxury benefits” but it is a long flight so I’m open ears.

Im checking out the points guy website and will spend some more time on there

I say go luxury while keeping the costs down. Amex plat is doing targeted offers for 150k points (some current plat holders can also refer for 150k). While the initial fee is high ($700) you can offset most of it with all the credits and then cancel right before renewal. Then use 110k points (west coast to NRT or HND) for a roundtrip first class class ticket on ANA (and go nuts on the unlimited pours of Krug).

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/sweet...rship-rewards/

[El Chupacabra]

All - so if an offer says spend $4,000 in 3 months and get 100,000 points. Does the 100,000 points kick in as soon as you hit $4,000 or do you have to wait for the 3 months to be done as well?


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Once you spend the minimum required to hit the sign up bonus, your points usually post shortly after that statement closes. So not immediately upon spend.

The only high annual fee card I currently have is the Capital One Venture X, which I got when they had a really lucrative sign up bonus. I may keep it though - for $395/year, after the SUB, I still get an annual $300 credit through their travel portal, and 10K points - all of which offsets that fee. And the card provides Priority Pass lounge access and the Capital One lounges, of which there is only one - at DFW - but one coming this year in DEN. If I flew through one of those airports regularly, then that makes this card very attractive. The DFW lounge is superb - nicer than most AmEx Centurion lounges, and those are nice.

What airport do you usually fly out of?

[El Chupacabra]

Couple other quick thoughts before I get on a plane...

For Japan trip, may as well get a card that provides travel insurance (when trip is fully paid on that card), provides Global Entry reimbursement (if you don't have it already - and if you can't get the interview before departure, you can do the GE interview on arrival back into the US - Google this), and does not have a foreign transaction fee - pay for stuff overseas in local currency, using the card, and you get the bank exchange rate, which is as good as it gets.

[alpinevibes]

Chip - I checked out that doctorofcredit list, nice list, I’ll be looking at some of those

Danno - that’s what I usually do (minus the Alaska card for free bags) but I’m looking for a nice sign up bonus to offset this big trip. Felt like playing the game this time and see how it goes.

All - so if an offer says spend $4,000 in 3 months and get 100,000 points. Does the 100,000 points kick in as soon as you hit $4,000 or do you have to wait for the 3 months to be done as well?


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Yes, as Chup said you'll get those points after the statement closes. If you have the cash flow to pay the $4000 as soon as it's on your card, that could help getting the points deposited once the statement processes. Sometimes they'll hit in a matter of days from the statement closing, other times weeks. A $200 in annual fee is worth about 15-20,000 miles by most valuations, so getting 50,000-100,000+ for $95-$500 is always a deal.

For what you're aiming for - a free flight, the highest-end cards (Amex platinum, Sapphire Reserve, Venture X) aren't worth it. Ideally you are looking to get a bonus of 75,000pts to book an economy ticket and most of the medium level cards can get you there. I think the Capital One Venture or Citi Premier cards are your best bet with 75,000pt bonuses currently. You'd be getting you effectively 80,000+ pts between the required spend and bonus for $95. You can transfer Capital One or Citi points to Virgin Atlantic program and book a roundtrip on Virgin partner ANA to Japan for 60,000-75,000pts in economy. You'll have to call Virigin Atlantic to book the award ticket on ANA.

Other cards that offer good value (especially the Ink Business Preferred [you can fake a business name] if you can meet the spend) and transfer to Virgin Atlantic are:

Chase Sapphire Preferred 60,000 points, spending $4,000 in 3 Mo. Annual fee of $95
Chase Ink Business Preferred 100,000 points spending $15,000 in 3 Mo. Annual fee of $95

For United, getting a United Business Card is the best deal. 75,000 miles, spending $5,000 in 3 Mo. First year free then $95 annual fee

American cards, not as ideal for Japan but decent bonuses:
Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite 50,000 miles (sometimes 75k offers are around), spending $2,500 in 3 Mo. First year free then $95 annual fee
CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select 65,000 miles spending $4,000 in 4 Mo First year free then $99 annual fee

This is a pretty good overview of the milage programs, their base mileage costs for flights and ways to accumulate/transfer miles to those plans for redemption: https://upgradedpoints.com/travel/be...n-with-points/

[PeachesNCream]

Good stuff here. Learning a lots. So I’ve always been a cash back guy. Are points easy to spend across the board, like is a citi point any better or worse than an Amex point? If so, how do you decide which to do? Seems like quite the hassle to look at flights, find an airline that works, get a card that works for that airline, spend the amount required to get the bonus, finally buy the flight.


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[Danno]

Seems like quite the hassle to look at flights, find an airline that works, get a card that works for that airline, spend the amount required to get the bonus, finally buy the flight.

That does seem like a hassle. But I don't think most people do it that way, deciding on a particular flight and airline first, then get a card to get points/miles, earn those points, then buy the flight. Most people either have a "regular" travel card they use or just get cards with good sign up deals and have miles or points that they find a way to use later.

[alpinevibes]

Good stuff here. Learning a lots. So I’ve always been a cash back guy. Are points easy to spend across the board, like is a citi point any better or worse than an Amex point? If so, how do you decide which to do? Seems like quite the hassle to look at flights, find an airline that works, get a card that works for that airline, spend the amount required to get the bonus, finally buy the flight.

We've been churning credit cards for 15+ years and are essentially rotating bonuses every two years (typical waiting period for another bonus) on various cards. With two personal cards and two business cards available to rotate in our household, that's a fair amount of bonuses to chase if we want to put in the effort. We're mostly focused on Chase UR points and United miles, with some Amex and American cards mixed in as good bonuses come up. In that sense, I'm not opening a card for a specific flight/trip, but proactively accumulating a few hundred thousand miles/points per year through cards to then bank for future international travel.

Points are easy and are the most valuable to transfer to airline partners of that points program for use on mileage tickets. You can also buy flights with points through the program's portal, but that's at a points-per-dollar basis that's typically lower-value compared to mileage redemptions. Points usually transfer immediately/day-off from Chase/AMEX/Citi to airline partners and you can book from there.

If you want to get into the nitty-gritty of points/miles valuations, TPG does a monthly update on what each are valued at: https://thepointsguy.com/guide/monthly-valuations/ Ultimately that is also dependent on where you live and what airlines/partners service your nearby airport and also where you're trying to fly. In our case in Aspen, United is the dominant carrier, with a little bit of American., so we bias our bonuses to those two. This is a added nuance for you to consider for what card/program to go with, depending on what carriers service your airport.

[up an down]

We've been churning credit cards for 15+ years and are essentially rotating bonuses every two years (typical waiting period for another bonus) on various cards. With two personal cards and two business cards available to rotate in our household, that's a fair amount of bonuses to chase if we want to put in the effort. We're mostly focused on Chase UR points and United miles, with some Amex and American cards mixed in as good bonuses come up. In that sense, I'm not opening a card for a specific flight/trip, but proactively accumulating a few hundred thousand miles/points per year through cards to then bank for future international travel.

Points are easy and are the most valuable to transfer to airline partners of that points program for use on mileage tickets. You can also buy flights with points through the program's portal, but that's at a points-per-dollar basis that's typically lower-value compared to mileage redemptions. Points usually transfer immediately/day-off from Chase/AMEX/Citi to airline partners and you can book from there.

If you want to get into the nitty-gritty of points/miles valuations, TPG does a monthly update on what each are valued at: https://thepointsguy.com/guide/monthly-valuations/ Ultimately that is also dependent on where you live and what airlines/partners service your nearby airport and also where you're trying to fly. In our case in Aspen, United is the dominant carrier, with a little bit of American., so we bias our bonuses to those two. This is a added nuance for you to consider for what card/program to go with, depending on what carriers service your airport.

+1....

[PeachesNCream]

We've been churning credit cards for 15+ years and are essentially rotating bonuses every two years (typical waiting period for another bonus) on various cards. With two personal cards and two business cards available to rotate in our household, that's a fair amount of bonuses to chase if we want to put in the effort. We're mostly focused on Chase UR points and United miles, with some Amex and American cards mixed in as good bonuses come up. In that sense, I'm not opening a card for a specific flight/trip, but proactively accumulating a few hundred thousand miles/points per year through cards to then bank for future international travel.

Points are easy and are the most valuable to transfer to airline partners of that points program for use on mileage tickets. You can also buy flights with points through the program's portal, but that's at a points-per-dollar basis that's typically lower-value compared to mileage redemptions. Points usually transfer immediately/day-off from Chase/AMEX/Citi to airline partners and you can book from there.

If you want to get into the nitty-gritty of points/miles valuations, TPG does a monthly update on what each are valued at: https://thepointsguy.com/guide/monthly-valuations/ Ultimately that is also dependent on where you live and what airlines/partners service your nearby airport and also where you're trying to fly. In our case in Aspen, United is the dominant carrier, with a little bit of American., so we bias our bonuses to those two. This is a added nuance for you to consider for what card/program to go with, depending on what carriers service your airport.

I’m assuming you’ve done the math, but does it work out to be worth it to have 4 cards? I assume they all have fees (maybe an incorrect assumption) but that adds up

I was in Washington so mainly flew Alaska or delta. Now I’m in San Diego so that may change but I haven’t been here long enough to know

Edit: looks like it’s southwest as the major airline in San Diego and then a 4 way tie between United, delta, American, and Alaska

Edit 2: So since I fly to the northwest a lot (mainly Alaska and delta) and I already have an Alaska card, it would make sense to get an Amex because they partner with delta. Am I on the right track?

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[PeachesNCream]

Delete

[Lvovsky]

Couple more things to keep on mind:
- only apply if you are sure you can meet the spend requirements to get the bonus
- don’t apply for new cards if you have major new loans in the near future. New accounts ding your credit score a little bit.
- look up airlines you are likely to fly and their award ticket prices. This shouldn’t point you in the right direction about what card will fit your plans
- pay off your card balance in full. Always. Interest and fees will kill the value of your points. Better yet pay them off before statement closes. It’s good for credit score.
- consider getting both personal and business cards. If you sell something on ebay, it’s a “business”. But remember about meeting min spend
- consider two player mode with you SO. But remember about min spend
- Staples has promos when they sell Visa gift cards with no activation fees. That can help with meeting min spend. Check dr of credit for those.


Probably forgetting something and will add later.

[Mustonen]

- don’t apply for new cards if you have major new loans in the near future. New accounts ding your credit score a little bit.

- pay off your card balance in full. Always. Interest and fees will kill the value of your points. Better yet pay them off before statement closes. It’s good for credit score.

Impact of new loans on credit score is frequently overstated, but if you’re sub 750 it’s a good thing to consider.

Excellent point re: not paying interest or fees and taking full advantage of grace periods. BUT paying off before statement cycle date doesn’t do anything. It hinges on when they report which may or may not have anything to do with your billing cycle, and it has nothing to do with when you pay but rather how it impacts your OVERALL utilization rate when they report. Keep utilization as low as possible if you’re applying for credit.

Also, any impact around utilization (what percentage of available credit you’re using) is right now and right now only. Utilization has no memory. Running high utilization this month? Your score might get dinged this month. Pay it off next month? It’s like it never happened.

[El Chupacabra]

Am now in a lounge in the airport in Vienna (free, courtesy of Cap One). And tired, because it's 4 am Pacific time for me...

One item that wasn't mentioned recently: card points (AmEx, Citi, Cap One, probably others I'm not thinking of) vanish if you close the account holding the points - so keep that in mind if you go that route, and decide you don't want to renew a high annual fee card after the first year and SUB. AmEx has a no annual fee Everyday card that is a good one to hold just for parking MR points. So you could, for example, earn a big SUB on an AmEx Platinum card, and also open an Everyday card, then later close the Platinum - and all your points will be maintained, since the Everyday card is a MR point card.

Airline and hotel points cards transfer the points into your personal account once a statement closes, so you will not lose those points if you close the associated card later. They may have other triggers to keep points alive, such as earn or redeem within X months. That's usually pretty easy to do, just keep track of it.