Travelers Maxing Credit-Card Travel Rewards

“Thanks u/austincito ! Which card would you recommend that I go with next given my situation? [re: 22 Year Old Miles & Points Power User Seeking Recommendations for 11th credit card!]”

“There ya go. I prefer more flexible currencies and usually stick with the bank cards. If I have a specific redemption in mind I might then consider co-branded [re: 22 Year Old Miles & Points Power User Seeking Recommendations for 11th credit card!]”

“I mainly redeem SUB points for long haul premium travel! Thus leaning UA explorer or Aeroplan [re: 22 Year Old Miles & Points Power User Seeking Recommendations for 11th credit card!]”

“Thank you! My only concern with WF is the low welcome bonus, not super sure if it's worth a 5/24 slot, I don't mind small annual fees. Yes, using all the points to fly myself and my parents in long haul business! Minimum 2ccp for redemptions and aiming for 3-4 usually. [re: 22 Year Old Miles & Points Power User Seeking Recommendations for 11th credit card!]”

“Current cards: (list cards, limits, opening date) Alaska Atmos Summit, Jun 2026 United Quest, Jun 2025 Citi Strata Premier, Jan 2025 Venture X, Oct 2024 Amex Personal Plat, Jun 2024 Chase Sapphire Preferred, Sep 2023 Amex Personal Gold, Jun 2023 Amex Personal Gold, Feb 2023 Citi Strata, Oct 2022 Bank of America® Travel Rewards Credit Card for Students, Aug 2022 FICO Score: FICO 762, Vantage 793, Transunion 798, Equifax 793 Oldest account age: e.g. 3 years 2 months Chase 5/24 status: e.g 3/24 Inc”

“I love the Hilton ecosystem and their credit cards. The Surpass and Aspire are both top-tier cards IMO. [re: What do you think about Hilton Honors program]”

“You’ve got United (and Southwest) covered by your Chase UR cards. Adding cards from Citi to boost your American Airlines miles could be a good next step. [re: Credit Card Recommendations]”

“Flights, international? [re: Best Ways to Manufacture $6K in Spending by December?]”

“Hi all, I'm sure this has been asked a ton, but curious on everyone's thoughts + any recommendations. I only tend to take direct flights since I hate flying and layovers + have a bad back (had 2 spine surgeries). Me and my wife (m28 f29) travel internationally 4-6 times a year, and have a good amount of family (on her side) in korea. Current cards: Me: Amex gold Amex plat Venture X (wife is an authorized user) Sapphire Preferred (one of my oldest cards) Chase Freedom BILT card Apple Card”

“When does it show up on my account? I’ve received the authorized user’s card but no trace of the 10k miles being added to my account. Im still well within my first 3 months submitted by /u/xxlibrarisingxx [link] [comments]”

“depends. are you past the possible redemption window for your flights? No point in getting an AA SUB for 2027 if you can't redeem them for what you want. Not to mention the minimum spend, no point in a resort booking being part of the min spend if you aren't going to be able to use the points for the flight to the place. [re: Is it dumb to get an airline card (Citi AAdvantage) for one honeymoon trip vs. Strata Premier?]”

“The new Rapid Rewards rules are a bit disappointing, but I would say not surprising. My wife and I had planned on a year of travel next year prior to starting our family. We were waiting on the elevated one-card Companion Pass promo that typically drops in late winter or early spring, but with the new rule changes, that looks much less likely now. We have approximately 10 flights planned for next year: 8 domestic and 2 international (both with domestic connections). We fly out of MCI, where Sout”

“My property taxes would get me halfway to silver status, I would use the card on dining to get the rest of the way there or hopefully through flights. From my understanding the subsequent years would reach status from the yearly 10k points towards status and after paying property taxes it would get me to silver. I don’t believe I spend enough or travel enough to get to gold. That’s a good idea, I didn’t know that you could use the c1vx to pay for property tax. I may consider doing that instead.”

“My fiance and I are going to Sandals Dunn’s River next year, and we want to put the trip on a credit card to earn travel points for the flight. The main airline that seems to fly there is American Airlines. What are some suggestions for a credit card the will hopefully pay for most of the flight for us. Thank you! submitted by /u/futurewoman13 [link] [comments]”

“Sorry, I feel like the atmos had good travel partners. My home base is sfo, and I frequent Hawaii and east Asia (Taiwan,Japan,Korea). The 25k companion pass would be helpful, but I’m unlikely to get the 100k one . [re: Is atmos summit worth if only paying property tax?]”

“I currently use Bilt palladium to pay mortgage Costco citi to pay gas CSP to pay for dining occasionally C1VX currently not using much, maybe for rental cars I think I would only reach silver status each year , for the SUB it seems worth it but each subsequent year it doesn’t . Trying to make sense of adding another premium travel card. submitted by /u/agrainofmaine [link] [comments]”

“Is it dumb to get an airline card (Citi AAdvantage) for one honeymoon trip vs. Strata Premier? CREDIT PROFILE Current credit cards you are the primary account holder of: Discover it Student Chrome – 11/2022 Capital One SavorOne – 6/2023 Chase Freedom Flex – 11/2023 Wells Fargo Autograph (PC'd from Bilt) – 4/2024 Chase Freedom (PC'd from Sapphire Preferred) – 8/2024 Chase Freedom Unlimited – 12/2024 Citi Custom Cash – 4/2025 Chase Amazon Prime Visa – 1/2026 Chase Sapphire Reserve – 4/2026”

“Does anyone have experience with this card and bank? It's issued by Elan Financial services? I see it has priority pass access(doesn't specify how many, not sure if unlimited) and first year annual fee waived. Thinking of applying for this. Looks similar to US Bank Altitude Connect. Is it restricted to only some region? submitted by /u/crackthehack [link] [comments]”

“I wouldn't recommend spending anything on a card as an infrequent traveler, Costco card has no ftf, travel multiplier, and some basic protections. I don't see what else you would need. [re: Is the CostCo card a good travel card?]”

“With only two or three Marriott stays a year, IMO the test is whether the annual fee is offset by benefits you would actually use. Check whether those conference rates earn points and elite nights before opening another card [re: Does a Marriot card make sense for me]”

“I'd look at Rakuten for the UCR and TR if you want to stick with BoA; they have a lot of elevated offers for the line of BoA cards. You can search for historical payouts, and Black Friday would be a good time to expect a higher Rakuten SUB. [re: In the "$200 SUB for $500–$3k spend" tier, is there any reason to stack BofA Affinity Customized Cash Rewards cards (without Platinum Honors) before exhausting 5% w/ $200 bonus cards?]”

“Agree with the other poster. I would design a strategy around what kind of travel you want to do in the next year or two, and plan around that but leave a lot of room for point devaluations, elevated subs, bank anti-churn rules, and which credit bureaus you hit. If you're going for optimized setup, you'll have some room for churn. If you want to churn, fully commit to churning. [re: Mapping out the next ~2 years of cash bonuses, what am I missing?]”

“Trying to spend $100k in one transaction abroad? There's no one *other* than Chase or Amex. You need to start letting them know about each one of your monster transactions ahead of time because no bank in their right mind is going to swallow a six figure fraud charge because you want more convenience than security. [re: Best Card - if money is no object, anywhere]”

“CSP seems to be the best fit. As you mentioned, it will pair well with the CFU, has low annual fee, and good travel partners, although not Delta or Frontier. You might be better redeeming hotel partners. If you are interested in the Amex cards, you would want to get the gold. Unless lounge access or the companion pass are valuable to you, the platinum and reserve are not worth it to you. Skymiles are not as valuable and the earning multipliers are low for the gold, but you do get the Take off 15”

“22F in Atlanta (Delta hub, but decent amout of Frontier too). No international travel planned for the next 2–3 years—I mostly stick to domestic flights and anticipate 3-5 trips per year (for leisure). Usually I’m only paying for myself. I care abt money the most so am fine with frontier. But ofc if it’s just a small difference I would take delta lol. I may not need checked bag allowance all the time but it is a good add on. Same goes for lounge access and others (pls remind me what are there…) H”

“Very easy credit to use. The Citi Travel Portal is competitively priced in my experience. [re: Citi Strata Elite $300 Travel credit]”

“I currently have the CFU and CFF. Im looking for a travel card. I was thinking CSP to complete the Chase trifeca (currently at 3/24) but I am moving and my home airport will be an American hub instead of my current United hub airport. I would probably be flying American mainly, but they do not have a direct flight to IAD and United does. submitted by /u/throwaway-21-27 [link] [comments]”

“You have a pretty solid setup. USB AC TSA credit is 100$ every 4 years btw and you get 4 pp visits every year. You have the main 3 categories covered, being grocery, gas, dining. You could probably get the USB Cash+/Elan MCP to get coverage on utilities. Also, make sure you are doing the downgrade/upgrade strat on the BCP to try to waive the AF to maximize its value. You could also pick up a card like the PayPal Debit or Langley Cashback Visa to get Warehouse Club coverage if you shop there. [re”

“easy, have found bookings that are both higher and lower than booking direct [re: Citi Strata Elite $300 Travel credit]”

“Does Citi price match? Cap1(VX) and Chase (atleast for Reserve card holders) both price match so I would probably rate them as better if Citi doesn’t. [re: Citi Strata Elite $300 Travel credit]”

“I recently booked with the portal and it was pretty good. They have a 50$ off IHG hotels now and it takes it off the price before you pay. [re: Citi Strata Elite $300 Travel credit]”

it adds up overtime [re: Citi Strata Elite $300 Travel credit]

“Hey all, I'm restarting my business and trying to figure out the best way to rack up Chase ultimate reward points. I have the Sapphire Reserve now. Back in the day I paired it with a Freedom card, which worked great: 1.5x on everything, and the 50% bonus when redeeming for travel through the Reserve. It looks like a lot has changed since then. I'm planning to add a Chase business card. What's the best combo today? Mostly I'm trying to figure out: Which business card makes the mos”

“Easy to use. The hotels I chose in Japan were market value for both me and the +1. [re: Citi Strata Elite $300 Travel credit]”

“I was going to recommend Autograph too. Even as travel points, both Choice and Wyndham have options for the more budget hotels and WF has a 1:2 transfer ratio for both brands. If paired with the Active Cash, OP would have the option for points or cashback from both cards. [re: No Hotel/Airline Loyalty for travel]”

“Venture x is a great card all around [re: Venture X Worth it for my situation?]”

“The Platinum is so good for those of us that love shopping. I’ve used all the credits you listed minus the airline incidental, been to the lounge like 30x this year, and also have used the merchant offers tailored to Platinum card holders. Never paid a dime of interest. [re: $2,100+ in Amex Platinum Credits Used in 2026]”

“Congratulations on your marriage! For starters, the Venture X is already very good. C1 practically pays you $5 to keep it every year. You mention yourself that at least one is international, so use that $300 travel credit and save on some flights or maybe a hotel stay. Your wife getting it as well and you getting the referral bonus is not a bad idea, but I don’t get why you would open a card in your wife’s name, transfer the points, and then close your card. Keeping two makes no sense, but they’”

For me yes. [re: Is the CostCo card a good travel card?]

“That’s useless to me. All I want are travel points I can spend on business class flights that otherwise couldn’t afford. [re: How come no one raves about the Amazon 5% card?]”

“I travel perhaps 2x year. Ideally looking for no AF cards but realized my Costco card had great benefits already? Was going to open a bank altitude connect but I feel like this CostCo card is good enough? Thoughts? submitted by /u/Too_Cool_4_U [link] [comments]”

“Priority is ultra valuable. You can buy a basic fare and get the premium seats for free plus free bags. For a family of four round trip that’s at least $500 saved (being conservative, my last trip was a lot more actually). So even one trip per year it’s worth having the card. [re: Southwest Credit Card SUBs no longer count towards earning Companion Pass (amidst other Southwest Rapid Rewards changes today)]”

“If you spend on SW flights it’s much less, I think around $15k? I imagine most people would hit that before 100 flights or with some combo of flights plus spend. Anyway it’s not easy to get top status on any airline without flying or very high spend; I think SW remains the easiest. [re: Southwest Credit Card SUBs no longer count towards earning Companion Pass (amidst other Southwest Rapid Rewards changes today)]”

“Dad has a very old United Gateway card. It was the old MileagePlus OG card that was like 1mile/dollar, no category multipliers. Chase PC’d it to the Gateway when that card came out. It’s issued on MasterCard but he’d like to see if it can be changed to a Visa to use at Costco. Does Chase allow this? And before anyone says just apply for a new card, he’s not one of us. He has his United Gateway and Discover IT. Zero interest in maximizing or opening a new card. submitted by /u/texas09”

“Both me and my gf are very new to credit cards (like many; we were taught to fear them), but we need to start building credit and would like to start traveling more with the help of a good card. The goal is to go to London by the end of next summer to visit a friend. My friend suggested the Chase Sapphire Preferred, but I'm unsure if either of us would be approved for that. I work retail; she has a good office job. Does she have a better chance of being approved because of her higher income?”

“Does anyone know of holding it qualify you for the 2027 starter PQP? It is unclear to me. [re: United Airlines MileagePlus Gateway/Explorer card - good for us?]”

“I’d keep it simple and start with the Chase Sapphire Preferred, which has both United and Southwest as transfer partners and usually has a pretty good sign up bonus that can get you a couple of flights as well as some functional bonus categories. SFO is a United hub and Southwest appears to run a non-stop between SFO and Nashville. Then when you’ve gotten the sign up bonus and given Chase a few months to learn you’re a responsible cardholder who pays in full and on time, pick up a Chase Freedom”

“My closest airport is SFO and Im still starting my credit card journey which ecosystems work best for domestic. I want to go to New york and boston at some point maybe new orleans or nashville. Ecosystem wise its either chase or bilt but I prefer hilton hotels and International travel is also something Im considering Japan, Hong Kong submitted by /u/VisceralRage556 [link] [comments]”

“You started out with all hotel credits available right? If you only made booking 2, what would've happened is that the IHG credit would be deducted and then the Edit credit would've had $5.21 applied. (Either that or the other order I don't actually know) They stack but not concurrently; you're supposed to leave $500. So the fact that you made two bookings isn't relevant. I'm not sure what your chances are but I think it's worth calling back asking to reduce the amoun”

“If you're done chasing status and just want raw flexible value then the whole ecosystem matters more than any one card. The points you earn on most travel setups can be pooled across cards from the same issuer and that's where the real multipliers kick in. Feels like a lot of people sleep on this and just look at the welcome bonus then call it a day [re: Credit Card - Which has the Best Value]”

“I have a million credit cards. No reason to get NFCU for me. I get TSA Pre or Global Entry refund on at just 4 of my cards. [re: How come no one raves about the Amazon 5% card?]”

“I currently have an Citi AAdvantage Executive card. I basically used the card to ensure status on the airline. However, with the benefits of Executive Platinum getting watered down, I was thinking that I was not getting the best value out of the card. If I change, what would be the best card for travel benefits? Not really all that concerned whether the points go toward flights, cruises, hotels, etc. Just looking for a card that gives the most. submitted by /u/OpenAd2273 [link]”

“My wife and I are going on a trip mid December. If I get a card now and spend the $10,000 in the next few weeks. Would I have any points quick enough to book a hotel for this trip? Also - what card would you go with if my primary need is hotel stays this December? submitted by /u/No_Sprinkles298 [link] [comments]”

“Do you always fly with Delta, or are you airline agnostic? Is there a particular airport or route you frequent? Do you care about airport lounge access at all? Do you want a cashback setup, or would you prefer a cohesive points structure to maximize value? Budget info by category will help with the latter. Also, do you have any hotel allegiances? [re: Help me optimize my credit card usage!]”

“Current cards: (list cards, limits, opening date) ⁠• ⁠Capital One Venture (started with Venture One in 2022, then upgraded to Venture in 2024) with 6k limit FICO Score: 798 Oldest account age: 5+years Income: $105k Average monthly spend highest in dining and grocery categories. Open to Business cards? No I use my venture for EVERYTHING and just haven’t been super impressed with the points and redemptions. Recently took a job where I’ll be traveling at least 3 times a year for business, but usual”

“Hi all, i posted a similar post before but i am still a bit of a noob so please bare with me here once again. Current card setup: CFU (have had this for at least 3-4+ years now) CSP (have had this for maybe over a year now, and what I consider my "travel card") This question sparked up again as i have been travelling more nowadays. i was disappointed to not be able to go into the lounge and thus got really hungry so it got my thinking again of potentially opening the new travel card. M”

“Huh, I booked a flight three weeks ago using the travel portal and everything went smoothly. Although I did have to add it to my United account to make sure that I got FFM. The hotel was a bit of a pain – the price was the same as if I booked at the hotel directly, but the confirmation number customer service gave me never pulled up on the hotel website when I tried to link my account. [re: Got the Robinhood platinum credit card]”

“I probably would break even... but that’s because I travel abroad for three months a year. Except losing the ability to have a gold card at 3% for a one percent card would probably make me lose out in the end. [re: Robinhood Revamps $695 Platinum Card After Customers Take Issue With Perks]”

“The highest annual fee possible. (sorry i dont travel much, im sure someone else will have a less funny answer) [re: What should frequent travellers actually look for in a travel Credit Card?]”