Best Credit Card for Travel Rewards

Guest: tsdunbar
Post subject: Best Credit Card for Travel Rewards
Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:21 pm

I am wondering what thoughts there are on the best way to gain travel rewards, since there are a variety of air mile and reward cards. It's too confusing to me! All we really want to do is to get free travel. What do you think?

Guest: Board Monitor
Post subject: Best Credit Card for Travel Rewards
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 9:45 am

Thanks for your post & welcome to the board! It really depends a lot on your personal preferences. Have you looked here:

http://www.cardratings.com/cardrepfr.html

Also, out of curiosity, how did you learn about our site?
_________________
Best Regards,
Curtis Arnold
Board Monitor
http://www.cardratings.com
(501) 663-0314

Guest: tsdunbar
Post subject: Best Credit Card for Travel Rewards
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 1:48 pm

I found the site through an internet search. It looks very helpful, but I need a more in-depth response from people who have opinions on how to pick the best credit card related to my goals. Thanks for writing.

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CardRatings.com is the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers.  Please visit CardRatings.com to view the best rated credit cards!

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Guest: Polonius
Credit Expert (100+ Posts)
Post subject: Best Credit Card for Travel Rewards
Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 3:22 pm

Here's a bit of surprising, possibly controversial advice: don't concentrate on travel rewards cards. Quite frankly, they're not a good deal for most people for a variety of reasons. Concentrate on the cash rebate cards instead if you pay off your balance monthly. Read the discussion here:

http://www.techuncovered.com/credit-cards-air-miles.html

Guest: Eugene
SENIOR MEMBER (Member for 2 yrs.+)
Post subject: Best Credit Card for Travel Rewards
Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2005 4:14 am

Quote:
[air miles cards] are not a good deal for most people for a variety of reasons

Agree totally. When I did my own math with one of the best air miles cards available, it did not win the comparison against a simple 1% card under my circumstances (very moderate and inexpensive travel). Because better cash back cards are available than just plain 1% cards, air miles cards REALLY lose for me. The author of the page you mention also does not mention annual fees that air miles cards normally come with. They are a BIG hurdle to overcome compared to alternatives.

Great link, by the way, Polonius. The guy nails it right on the head. I read a few other sections of his site – very interesting and educational. Thanks!

Guest: Board Monitor
Post subject: Best Credit Card for Travel Rewards
Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2005 9:13 am

I have always favored cash back cards over airline mile cards for similar reasons. I wrote an article last year about this subject:

http://www.cardratings.com/airlinecardscomparedtocashbackcards.html

tsdunbar- what exactly are you goals?

By the way, you can read consumer reviews of travel reward cards here:

http://www.cardratings.com/cardreviewfr.html
_________________
Best Regards,
Curtis Arnold
Board Monitor
http://www.cardratings.com
(501) 663-0314

Polonius
Credit Expert (100+ Posts)
Post subject: Best Credit Card for Travel Rewards
Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2005 9:33 am

EXCELLENT article, Curtis!

I came to this forum months ago via a Google search, and I have it bookmarked to go to the forums directly. I had no idea of the wealth of information and articles on the rest of the site! I urge everyone to go directly to
www.cardratings.com
and enjoy what's there.

For example, there's a calculator that lets you compare a travel card to a cash rebate card here:

http://www.cardratings.com/calairdisplay.html

Guest: tsdunbar
Post subject: Best Credit Card for Travel Rewards
Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 8:50 pm

You asked about my goals with this credit card choice. . . . Mainly, I would like to accumulate points, dollars, or dividends to use in exchange for airline tickets. That's pretty much it, pure and simple. The various info links are very helpful, and I learned enough to help with my dilemma. Now that I have "sort of" selected a couple of possible cards from the same company (5% payback), I am now wondering what the difference is between "cash back" and "dividends." They look the same, as far as meeting my purpose, but are they really??? (I'm talking about the Citi Dividend Platinum Select vs.Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards.)

Guest: Board Monitor
Post subject: Best Credit Card for Travel Rewards
Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2005 10:38 am

tsdunbar,

The terms are used somewhat interchangeably. You can get cash back using the Diamond Card, but at a significantly reduced rate. Check here for more details (requires Adobe reader):

https://www.thankyouredemptions.com/pdfs/catalog.pdf

If you want cash back, then go with the Dividend Platinum Select card. Let us know how things turn out!
_________________
Best Regards,
Curtis Arnold
Board Monitor
http://www.cardratings.com
(501) 663-0314