There are scenarios where an airline card makes sense. I have the AA Citi card and when I travel with my 4 kids we check at least 4 bags each way. This makes navigating the airport and security so much easier. We travel together 3-4 times a year (6-8 flights) and at $30 a bag each way that adds up to $720 - $960 in checked bag fees, well above the annual fee of $99. You can argue that those are fees that are easily avoided by using carry-on luggage, but when traveling with kids the ease of the experience is easily worth $99 a year to me.
For Alaska: they don’t have any 1:1 transfer partners. So the only way to get Alaska miles (which are considered some of the most valuable) other than flying (and maybe using Lyft) is to use their card.
This conversation sways even rather away from airline and toward hotel cards once you have a family. Airline perks and status almost always applies to an individual while the whole family can be if it from the hotel perks, awards, and upgrades.
I think the delta platinum is a keeper card for the companion flight. It easily covers the 250 annual fee. Even the reserve is good if you fly first class.
@@jameshorton3692 yeah I love my reserve card. I don’t out spend on it but I get 2 free guest passes to sky club each year plus the companion pass for first class in the contiguous us plus it is the tie breaker for free upgrades.
airline cards do have some benefits like I have United Explorer, I have 2 lounge accesses which otherwise charge you about 60 dollars each. As well as guaranteed G2 boarding. I don't see the value of having a more expensive card though.
Hey guys, thanks for the video, you guys have had some really good topics of discussion! Keep it up however, my one point of contention is I notice a lot of people in this hobby focus solely on how much value they’re getting from their redemption’s and kind of use that as a sacred metric so if you’re not getting at least X amount you’re somehow losing this game. Now where I am as much for getting the most amount of value as possible as the next person under the right circumstances of course I I try not to use it as my gold standard so to speak. The rubric I use is if I get to go experience some thing that I find value in whether I got 22 cents per point or whether I got a half a cent per point I really don’t care. I own a business and have a family so there’s not much international travel on the horizon for me. Most of my trips are domestic and the fact that I get to go to say to Florida in the winter for basically nothing out of pocket I consider that a huge win. Anyway, I still love the videos. Just wanted to share my perspective. Thanks a lot guys.
I find the Southwest Visa’s $149/yr fee well worth having. I’m tall, so boarding early gives me higher odds of getting an emergency seat exit. The card offers four Upgraded Boardings in the A1-A15 position each year (worth up to $50 each), plus 7,500 RR Points for each anniversary (~$95 worth) and a $75 annual Travel Credit.
Love the channel! I like you love playing the credit card game. Would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the Citi Ecosystem. Just got the Citi Premier and so far I’m impressed.
Re: fixed rate redemptions from airlines. There is a scenario where fixed rate dynamic airline pricing works. It is when you have very high credit card spend and are just looking for reliable redemption options to guarantee your return on spend. It's why I so loved the Chase Pay Yourself Back feature when it supported dining. For the 2 plus years it was in effect, I used it for over $2000 per month in dining for the 2 plus years it was in effect. I was sad when they stopped that feature. I have since replaced it with Hyatt redemptions which is much better, but I would trade that back for dining support in pay yourself back. If I can get 1.5 times value on redemption reliably, which you can get with dynamic pricing, then I will take it. I do the outsized redemptions for business class tickets, too. But, I can only take so many international trips per year. With reliable redemption options with saver fares in United, I can still get 2 times value of points. That is good enough to enable me to get about 4.5% return on spend on a big portfolio of credit card spend.
The Alaska card used to be an automatic keeper until this year. Used to not have to spend anything to get companion pass. It still works for me as my yearly family flight to Boston costs $500+ RT that saves me $388 minimum so that comes out to 6%+ back on that $6000 spend. Also saving up those Alslaska miles JAL business or 1st to Japan. 🎉😊
I have the United Explorer Card as I use United to fly to Europe each year. The only spend I do on it is for United purchases. I do get value though because the free checked bags and I also get 2 free lounge visits. I do plan, however in downgrading it to the free version and then getting the United Business Explorer Card. With it you get 5000 anniversary miles each year cutting the effective annual fee in half. I also have the Allegiant CC as I travel to Florida every year and get a BOGO flight when I get a rental car or accommodations with it. That outweighs the $59 annual fee. As with any CC, you just have to see what benefits you will use regularly. Most cobranded cards have horrible multipliers except for with them. We all agree Hyatt is a keeper card but with them also Hyatt stays are the only reason to use the card.
Southwest Priority pays for itself with a 7500 Points and a $75 credit. Also... Delta Reserve issues a companion ticket for domestic travel which can be used for first class making the return much more than the $550 fee. You also get lounge access with 2 free guest passes. Delta is also an Amex partner so you can always use the trifecta and then transfer points out to Delta. No offense, yet I think you are being short sighted seeing no value in these cards.
I live in Seattle area. And there are hardly any nonstop flights on united or southwest to anywhere. For me, delta skymiles work great, consistently getting 1.3cpp. If it's a more expensive flight, you can buy a delta companion cert from someone.
Why not Alaska if you live in Seattle area? Unless you’re doing international flights mostly, Alaska makes more sense. ESPECIALLY if you’re in the northern Seattle area, you’re better off going for Alaska, as they’re the only ones who fly at PAE (Seattle/Everett).
@@jwil4286 Alaska points are much harder to earn that Delta miles. But I agree that Alaska is a great option for cash flights specially with their distance based mileage earning.
Have every of you ever booked a domestic ticket with Turkish and/or dealt with an IROP? It can be a great deal, especially to Hawaii. But I don't know anyone who uses it regularly.
3:48, total fake news. Airline cards can and do provide keeper perks. I have United status (so I down graded my United explorer to the feee one). However, if I lost status with United, I’d happily upgrade back as free checked bag, priority boarding, and upgrade on awards points are worth 95 dollars to me easy. ock you in to an Airline? Then says they fly southwest because they don’t have a card? Huh?
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There are scenarios where an airline card makes sense. I have the AA Citi card and when I travel with my 4 kids we check at least 4 bags each way. This makes navigating the airport and security so much easier. We travel together 3-4 times a year (6-8 flights) and at $30 a bag each way that adds up to $720 - $960 in checked bag fees, well above the annual fee of $99. You can argue that those are fees that are easily avoided by using carry-on luggage, but when traveling with kids the ease of the experience is easily worth $99 a year to me.
For Alaska: they don’t have any 1:1 transfer partners. So the only way to get Alaska miles (which are considered some of the most valuable) other than flying (and maybe using Lyft) is to use their card.
This conversation sways even rather away from airline and toward hotel cards once you have a family. Airline perks and status almost always applies to an individual while the whole family can be if it from the hotel perks, awards, and upgrades.
I think the delta platinum is a keeper card for the companion flight. It easily covers the 250 annual fee. Even the reserve is good if you fly first class.
They don’t know what they are talking about. Saying all
Airline cards aren’t keeper cards shows how little they know.
@@jameshorton3692 yeah I love my reserve card. I don’t out spend on it but I get 2 free guest passes to sky club each year plus the companion pass for first class in the contiguous us plus it is the tie breaker for free upgrades.
I have the Companion Pass with SW and 100% the “special boarding” gets abused. The amount of “service dogs” I saw on my last flight was ridiculous
airline cards do have some benefits like I have United Explorer, I have 2 lounge accesses which otherwise charge you about 60 dollars each. As well as guaranteed G2 boarding. I don't see the value of having a more expensive card though.
Hey guys, thanks for the video, you guys have had some really good topics of discussion! Keep it up however, my one point of contention is I notice a lot of people in this hobby focus solely on how much value they’re getting from their redemption’s and kind of use that as a sacred metric so if you’re not getting at least X amount you’re somehow losing this game. Now where I am as much for getting the most amount of value as possible as the next person under the right circumstances of course I I try not to use it as my gold standard so to speak. The rubric I use is if I get to go experience some thing that I find value in whether I got 22 cents per point or whether I got a half a cent per point I really don’t care. I own a business and have a family so there’s not much international travel on the horizon for me. Most of my trips are domestic and the fact that I get to go to say to Florida in the winter for basically nothing out of pocket I consider that a huge win. Anyway, I still love the videos. Just wanted to share my perspective. Thanks a lot guys.
You guys are like the tag team champions of credit card gaming points💳💳👏👏
I find the Southwest Visa’s $149/yr fee well worth having. I’m tall, so boarding early gives me higher odds of getting an emergency seat exit. The card offers four Upgraded Boardings in the A1-A15 position each year (worth up to $50 each), plus 7,500 RR Points for each anniversary (~$95 worth) and a $75 annual Travel Credit.
Love the channel! I like you love playing the credit card game. Would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the Citi Ecosystem. Just got the Citi Premier and so far I’m impressed.
Never heard of you guys in the Credit game
Re: fixed rate redemptions from airlines. There is a scenario where fixed rate dynamic airline pricing works. It is when you have very high credit card spend and are just looking for reliable redemption options to guarantee your return on spend. It's why I so loved the Chase Pay Yourself Back feature when it supported dining. For the 2 plus years it was in effect, I used it for over $2000 per month in dining for the 2 plus years it was in effect. I was sad when they stopped that feature. I have since replaced it with Hyatt redemptions which is much better, but I would trade that back for dining support in pay yourself back. If I can get 1.5 times value on redemption reliably, which you can get with dynamic pricing, then I will take it. I do the outsized redemptions for business class tickets, too. But, I can only take so many international trips per year. With reliable redemption options with saver fares in United, I can still get 2 times value of points. That is good enough to enable me to get about 4.5% return on spend on a big portfolio of credit card spend.
The Alaska card used to be an automatic keeper until this year. Used to not have to spend anything to get companion pass. It still works for me as my yearly family flight to Boston costs $500+ RT that saves me $388 minimum so that comes out to 6%+ back on that $6000 spend. Also saving up those Alslaska miles JAL business or 1st to Japan. 🎉😊
Yeah. For me, I use my Alaska card to pay my rent, so I get it anyway.
I have the United Explorer Card as I use United to fly to Europe each year. The only spend I do on it is for United purchases. I do get value though because the free checked bags and I also get 2 free lounge visits. I do plan, however in downgrading it to the free version and then getting the United Business Explorer Card. With it you get 5000 anniversary miles each year cutting the effective annual fee in half.
I also have the Allegiant CC as I travel to Florida every year and get a BOGO flight when I get a rental car or accommodations with it. That outweighs the $59 annual fee.
As with any CC, you just have to see what benefits you will use regularly. Most cobranded cards have horrible multipliers except for with them. We all agree Hyatt is a keeper card but with them also Hyatt stays are the only reason to use the card.
Southwest Priority pays for itself with a 7500 Points and a $75 credit. Also... Delta Reserve issues a companion ticket for domestic travel which can be used for first class making the return much more than the $550 fee. You also get lounge access with 2 free guest passes. Delta is also an Amex partner so you can always use the trifecta and then transfer points out to Delta. No offense, yet I think you are being short sighted seeing no value in these cards.
I live in Seattle area. And there are hardly any nonstop flights on united or southwest to anywhere. For me, delta skymiles work great, consistently getting 1.3cpp. If it's a more expensive flight, you can buy a delta companion cert from someone.
Why not Alaska if you live in Seattle area? Unless you’re doing international flights mostly, Alaska makes more sense.
ESPECIALLY if you’re in the northern Seattle area, you’re better off going for Alaska, as they’re the only ones who fly at PAE (Seattle/Everett).
@@jwil4286 Alaska points are much harder to earn that Delta miles. But I agree that Alaska is a great option for cash flights specially with their distance based mileage earning.
Have every of you ever booked a domestic ticket with Turkish and/or dealt with an IROP? It can be a great deal, especially to Hawaii. But I don't know anyone who uses it regularly.
Thank you!
Hey, the one-purchase red aviator cc didn’t get a shout out. Isn’t it without a doubt god tier? 🕊️
3:48, total fake news. Airline cards can and do provide keeper perks. I have United status (so I down graded my United explorer to the feee one). However, if I lost status with United, I’d happily upgrade back as free checked bag, priority boarding, and upgrade on awards points are worth 95 dollars to me easy. ock you in to an Airline? Then says they fly southwest because they don’t have a card? Huh?
Still, saying you fly Southwest after what happened last December?