What credit card do you use for traveling?

[justme]

Hello YMers!! I thought I had my go-to credit card to use for travel - Costco Citi card. Gives me 3% back on all travel and comes with travel cancellation & interruption insurance up to $3000/trip. Just what I need for my more simplistic trips. Coverage just in case I need it without the extra cost or hassle buying another plan. But I've seen recently that Citi is getting rid of all its credit card travel protection -- and it seems to include the Costco card!   So I'm wondering what the YMers use as I search for a replacement.

My friend uses the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. I had previously decided against it that what I got for the yearly $150 fee (net) wasn't enough to justify as I hadn't had a trip over the $3k Costco covered and that lounge access in the airports is nice, but not something I'd pay for anyways. I know the card covers Global Entry every 4 years but I just renewed mine   and even then it would only bring the net yearly cost down to $125. 

It looks like the Sapphire Preferred at $95 offers similar cancellation/interruption coverage, but has things like a longer delay before paying (12 vs 6) and smaller baggage allowances. It also has no emergency evacuation coverage (though that should go under the individual travel medical plan I will buy) and doesn't have the Global Entry reimbursement or the airport lounge access and only 2x points. 


I'm open to other credit cards too. Which ones do you use?

[swamp]

Just my daily one, AmEx Blue


But for international travel, I use Capital One, no international transaction fee. 

[saveinla]

We use the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

We use either our Costco Citibank, or my USAA card.  Neither of them have the foreign transaction fees, but my USAA tends to have a better exchange rate.  As much as we have traveled, we have never had need for the trip insurance.  We have NEXUS, which includes global entry.  

The only advantage of the Chase Sapphire is the lounge access.  We had it on our trip to Turkey, but did not to Belize.  It depends upon flights we are on.  It would be nice to have lounge access domestically.  We should have it for our next trip too. 

[azucena]

I use a Marriott card thru Chase because Marriott is my company's preferred hotel.  The card has an $85 annual fee which was waived for the first year.  This is the first time I've paid for a credit card, but it comes with one free night which I'd call an offset.  I travel about once a month, sometimes to big cities where the hotel rate can be $250-300/night.  I get extra points for charging Marriott hotels which now encompasses a bunch of different brands.  I earn about 3 free nights from work travel and 2 more from credit card spending so 6-7 nights free to vacation with the family.

[sesfw]

I'm with Swamp using CapOne for international travel.

Otherwise we use our Costco card.

[wvugurl26]

Chase Marriott gets used for everything. I need the points to cover football weekends. Points are nicer than $1000 for 2 nights in a Residence Inn.

[Gardening Grandma]

Another user of CapOne

[tcu2003]

Aug 12, 2019 14:03:24 GMT -5 azucena said:

I use a Marriott card thru Chase because Marriott is my company's preferred hotel.  The card has an $85 annual fee which was waived for the first year.  This is the first time I've paid for a credit card, but it comes with one free night which I'd call an offset.  I travel about once a month, sometimes to big cities where the hotel rate can be $250-300/night.  I get extra points for charging Marriott hotels which now encompasses a bunch of different brands.  I earn about 3 free nights from work travel and 2 more from credit card spending so 6-7 nights free to vacation with the family.

We use this one as well.

[lynnerself]

We were using the Capitol One Internationally because of the no transaction fees. But the new Fidelity Visa Card pays 2% back, so we've been using it also.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

We stopped using Cap One because despite living 20 miles from the Canadian border, every single time we would go into Canada and used the card, it would get shut down.  Granted, we usually did not call and tell them we were leaving the country, but we were never going any further than 50 miles from home!

Ironically, a trip into Canada isn’t an issue for my USAA card.

[Deleted]

I just got the Apple Card, 3% cash back at the Apple store and 2% when buying with Apple Pay.

[Deleted]

I'm about to pull the trigger and get the Costco Visa.  I did a lot of research on FlyerTalk and it appears that the hotels and flights you can purchase through Chase Sapphire Reserve using their points is run on an Expedia platform but the CSR platform does not have the full range of selections you can find on Expedia.  I was afraid of that.  As I noted earlier, I'm also not impressed with the selection of PriorityPass lounges- some (the Club at DFW) get overcrowded.  There are only 2 at O'Hare, where I'm most likely to connect, both in the International terminal.  A couple at DFW (Gameway) appear to be video game booths and there are no PP lounges at my home airport.  So- I'll continue to use the airline's club when I'm flying International Business and buy a day pass somewhere if I have a long layover and am flying Coach. 

So, I'll use the Costco card for travel (3% cash back for travel, no FX fees) and the Fidelity 2% cash back Visa for everything else.

[1Day@aTime]

I'm too lazy to research the absolute best travel card for our situation.  But we do use Chase Southwest for airline points which has worked out well for many a free flights.

We also have an AMEX card hooked to hotel points with no foreign trans fees (and they had a good sign up deal). Mostly have it for getting pet meds cheaper out of country.

[NastyWoman]

Aug 13, 2019 17:19:15 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

I'm about to pull the trigger and get the Costco Visa.  I did a lot of research on FlyerTalk and it appears that the hotels and flights you can purchase through Chase Sapphire Reserve using their points is run on an Expedia platform but the CSR platform does not have the full range of selections you can find on Expedia.  I was afraid of that.  As I noted earlier, I'm also not impressed with the selection of PriorityPass lounges- some (the Club at DFW) get overcrowded.  There are only 2 at O'Hare, where I'm most likely to connect, both in the International terminal.  A couple at DFW (Gameway) appear to be video game booths and there are no PP lounges at my home airport.  So- I'll continue to use the airline's club when I'm flying International Business and buy a day pass somewhere if I have a long layover and am flying Coach. 

So, I'll use the Costco card for travel (3% cash back for travel, no FX fees) and the Fidelity 2% cash back Visa for everything else.

Unless Costco has a different card, I would also use that card for gas → I get 4% back on that with the Costco card (for the first $7k).

[Deleted]

Aug 14, 2019 10:55:29 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Unless Costco has a different card, I would also use that card for gas → I get 4% back on that with the Costco card (for the first $7k).

I know that's a big deal for many people but I drive a gas-sipping Nissan Sentra and spent only $1,300 on gas last year (most of the time NOT at Costco since it's not that convenient and I go there only once week). This year should be about the same. I now that's a feature of the card I'm considering but it's not a major factor for me.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Aug 14, 2019 12:52:52 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Aug 14, 2019 10:55:29 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Unless Costco has a different card, I would also use that card for gas → I get 4% back on that with the Costco card (for the first $7k).

I know that's a big deal for many people but I drive a gas-sipping Nissan Sentra and spent only $1,300 on gas last year (most of the time NOT at Costco since it's not that convenient and I go there only once week). This year should be about the same. I now that's a feature of the card I'm considering but it's not a major factor for me.

Even with your Sentra, that would be $52 for last year's gas use.

The local price discount on gas is about 0.30/gallon.  That would add a couple $$ for each fill up if your's is as great (I realize not everyone's is this large). 

[NastyWoman]

Aug 14, 2019 12:52:52 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Aug 14, 2019 10:55:29 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Unless Costco has a different card, I would also use that card for gas → I get 4% back on that with the Costco card (for the first $7k).

I know that's a big deal for many people but I drive a gas-sipping Nissan Sentra and spent only $1,300 on gas last year (most of the time NOT at Costco since it's not that convenient and I go there only once week). This year should be about the same. I now that's a feature of the card I'm considering but it's not a major factor for me.

It doesn't have to be at Costco gas stations. I don't drive that much either most years but I still use the Costco card for gas. It "helps" that gas is ridiculously expensive around here.

[Deleted]

Well, I applied for the Costco card.  What a PITA.  I'd frozen my credit with all 3 bureaus so had to un-freeze them.  Equifax was the worst- I couldn't log on, one person on the phone claimed to have fixed it, that was a lie, second person said I had to fax them a letter with a lot of info including a copy of my driver's license.  Yeah, just what I wanted to send to a company with a past major data breach.   I found out this AM that I could log on (not that they bothered to tell me).  Experian was a breeze.  Couldn't log onto TransUnion and had to create a new account and it seemed there was no way to do it without giving them my credit card info.  When I did log on they asked me a security question that I'd set up 2 years ago.   They'd signed me up for a year of credit monitoring at $24.95, of course, so I cancelled that.  

In retrospect, I'm guessing that if you don't sign onto your accounts often enough they just block you.  

Good to know that the 4% applies to all gas stations, but that's only another 2% over what I get from the Fidelity Visa. The 3% on travel will be the bigger benefit, though- I spend a heck of a lot more on travel than on gas.  I'm hoping approval will be easy; I have a squeaky-clean record and the AA card I just cancelled was from the same bank (Citi).

[garion2003]

My only "fee" credit card is an American Airlines branded one. I got a bunch of points when enrolling (already used for a free flight) and with free bag check it sometimes pays for itself.

It also has insurance coverage for rental cars (I might rent once a year) AND I believe it has no foreign transaction fees. So for now I'm keeping it.

My Amazon Visa is my normal "go to" for day to day stuff.

[Gardening Grandma]

Aug 12, 2019 17:14:19 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

We stopped using Cap One because despite living 20 miles from the Canadian border, every single time we would go into Canada and used the card, it would get shut down.  Granted, we usually did not call and tell them we were leaving the country, but we were never going any further than 50 miles from home!

Ironically, a trip into Canada isn’t an issue for my USAA card.

That’s odd. We’ve made three trips to Canada this year and have not had an issue using our CapOne card. Lodging, gas, eating & shopping

[justme]

Aug 21, 2019 15:35:35 GMT -5 garion2003 said:

My only "fee" credit card is an American Airlines branded one. I got a bunch of points when enrolling (already used for a free flight) and with free bag check it sometimes pays for itself.

It also has insurance coverage for rental cars (I might rent once a year) AND I believe it has no foreign transaction fees. So for now I'm keeping it.

My Amazon Visa is my normal "go to" for day to day stuff.

You need to double check the rental coverage. Citi is removing car rental coverage and travel protection from almost all if not all of their cards starting in Sept or Oct. Definitely don't want to think it's there and only find out after your next rental!

It's these cuts that made me start this thread.

[garion2003]

Aug 21, 2019 17:23:10 GMT -5 justme said:

Aug 21, 2019 15:35:35 GMT -5 garion2003 said:

My only "fee" credit card is an American Airlines branded one. I got a bunch of points when enrolling (already used for a free flight) and with free bag check it sometimes pays for itself.

It also has insurance coverage for rental cars (I might rent once a year) AND I believe it has no foreign transaction fees. So for now I'm keeping it.

My Amazon Visa is my normal "go to" for day to day stuff.

You need to double check the rental coverage. Citi is removing car rental coverage and travel protection from almost all if not all of their cards starting in Sept or Oct. Definitely don't want to think it's there and only find out after your next rental!

It's these cuts that made me start this thread.

Yes,  good point. It's a Barclay's card - since I only use it for travel related things I try to read all the disclosures they sent.  I ignore the ones from Chase since I just use my Chase cards for daily expenses

[Rukh O'Rorke]

wow - my CapOne was closed due to inactivity a while ago, didn't know it was a goto for travel. I could likely open another one, I'll look into it. 

I've been using my prime card, I got it for the whole food 5% rewards, then used it for work travel, and recently saw I have $280 in rewards, so pretty good I think?

I didn't know some cards give lounge access, any of those without annual fees? I'm ambivalent on getting a card with annual fees.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Aug 24, 2019 6:21:51 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

wow - my CapOne was closed due to inactivity a while ago, didn't know it was a goto for travel. I could likely open another one, I'll look into it. 

I've been using my prime card, I got it for the whole food 5% rewards, then used it for work travel, and recently saw I have $280 in rewards, so pretty good I think?

I didn't know some cards give lounge access, any of those without annual fees? I'm ambivalent on getting a card with annual fees.

Not that we can find.  

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Aug 25, 2019 10:58:07 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Aug 24, 2019 6:21:51 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

wow - my CapOne was closed due to inactivity a while ago, didn't know it was a goto for travel. I could likely open another one, I'll look into it. 

I've been using my prime card, I got it for the whole food 5% rewards, then used it for work travel, and recently saw I have $280 in rewards, so pretty good I think?

I didn't know some cards give lounge access, any of those without annual fees? I'm ambivalent on getting a card with annual fees.

Not that we can find.  

Thanks, that is what I thought, although I haven't been really paying attention lately and have been avoiding opening new credit lines.

Although - when I figure out my other refinancing plans, I was thinking of getting a miles card when they have the 50000 bonus miles thing going on - either american or united. Not sure.

I currently have about 40k of available credit on various cards. I don't really see a need to expand that, and so far my rewards are pretty nice and I am happy with them. 

[NoNamePerson]

Aug 25, 2019 11:08:12 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Aug 25, 2019 10:58:07 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Not that we can find.  

Thanks, that is what I thought, although I haven't been really paying attention lately and have been avoiding opening new credit lines.

Although - when I figure out my other refinancing plans, I was thinking of getting a miles card when they have the 50000 bonus miles thing going on - either american or united. Not sure.

I currently have about 40k of available credit on various cards. I don't really see a need to expand that, and so far my rewards are pretty nice and I am happy with them. 

Make sure you check out the due date on any new cards. 

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Aug 25, 2019 12:04:52 GMT -5 NoNamePerson said:

Aug 25, 2019 11:08:12 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Thanks, that is what I thought, although I haven't been really paying attention lately and have been avoiding opening new credit lines.

Although - when I figure out my other refinancing plans, I was thinking of getting a miles card when they have the 50000 bonus miles thing going on - either american or united. Not sure.

I currently have about 40k of available credit on various cards. I don't really see a need to expand that, and so far my rewards are pretty nice and I am happy with them. 

Make sure you check out the due date on any new cards. 

[Deleted]

FINALLY approved for the Costco Visa.  Nearly 2 weeks after  applied they sent me a letter asking to call because they needed more info.  I think it was the fake phone number I gave them (my area code + 867-5309 ).  I really don't want my # in marketing databases although I know it's a losing battle. 

Un-freezing and freezing my credit has been a real PITA.  I had to fax stuff to Equifax, set up a new login and now I can't log in gain and they want MORE information.  Accidentally signed up for some service with TransUnion, cancelled it and they still haven't reversed the $25 charge.  Now I can't log into TransUnion, either.  I THINK everything is frozen with all 3 bureaus.  It will be a long time before I apply for another credit card.

[TheOtherMe]

I was able to unfreeze Transunion yesterday in about 30 seconds.  Didn't sign up for anything and gave them the date to refreeze it.  

It was that easy the only other time I've unfrozen my credit.