Great video and awesome, easy-to-follow graphics. Do any of the cards accept AirBnb for a hotel stay? if not, would it fall to their "travel" category or the basic 1X or 2X "catch all" category?
Glad you enjoyed it! Airbnb will earn bonus points under the general 'Travel' categories on the: - Chase Sapphire Reserve - Chase Sapphire Preferred - Amex Green Card Possibly some others, too.
Another great video! Yes, please do one on best cards for travel protections. I've been using the Ritz for flights and car rentals because it seems as good as the CSR. The higher multipliers sound nice with portals, but I'm kind of leary of them. Do you use them a lot with no problems?
Ritz card is great! I don't use portals (other than to use a benefit that requires one). I might be a bit more open minded about them for flights and/or non-chain hotels, especially if I don't anticipate any complications (e.g. weather, layovers, etc.).
@@MarkReese Yes. I agree. After spending the last 2 years, comparing Thank You Portal, Chase Portal, Orbitz and Expedia, Chase has never been cheaper. Over the long haul, almost 95% of the time, they're all within pennies of each other. At this point, I honestly feel I am spinning my wheels comparing and sort of wasting time. Maybe that is just my personal travel inquiries. They're all spitting out the same quotes for me. Customer Service between Chase Portal and City Thank You portal; for me, are of the same quality. Not Amex level, but decent enough, Both have generous cancellation options, 24-hour customer service availability, etc. At this point, I do not really make CC choices based on a belief that one has a better travel portal than the other. That factor is a wash for me.
Just as well that the Chase points are worth 125% of face (Preferred card) or 150% of face (Reserve card) when used to book through the portal then isnt it?
Only worth booking hotels through Amex for FHR or HC or using the $200 hotel credit. Hotel prices are inflated with Amex. Plus you might not get elite benefits if you have status with one of the major chains.
I simply find the 2 requirements of (a) requiring a portal and (b) requiring prepayment to be too restrictive to rank it at the top for general hotel bookings. However, it's still a good card for the more specialty bookings via THC and FHR.
Yes, Amex is in a league of its own to me, for better or worse. Never cheapest. It would have been too complicated throwing in the pros and cons of Amex, when at the end of the day, the prices through Amex are higher.
I also think that when traveling you need a 2% cash back or travel card. Not everything is airfare, taxi, and hotel. Still need to buy the purse/clothes/knickknacks/souvenirs/electronics overseas, especially when the foreign currency exchange rate is good.
I travel on flight benefits, so I don't pay for my flights. Though I need a good credit card to help me earn points for car rentals, and primarily Airbnb. Do you have any recommendations?
Cards that are good for Car Rentals + Airbnb include: - Chase Sapphire Preferred - Chase Sapphire Reserve - Capital One Venture Rewards - Capital One Venture X - Amex Green Card
I used my Amex BCP for hotels this year, due to its 10% Expedia Amex Offer for Prepaid hotels. Pretty much takes care of the annual fee, cause my annual grocery spend was only $1500 this year. May have to axe this card in the future if Amex quits sending me the Expedia offer. Also used the Chase Freedom Flex for 5% via PayPal on one of my hotels. I used the Citi Custom Cash for 5% on one flight. The BofA CCR on more rewards day for 5% on one flight. The WF Autograph for 3% on one flight.
Mark why don’t you make a financial credit card of course? I think everyone here is waiting for it. Do you have a good way of explaining topics you’re easy to understand.
I am out of the country most of the year. I use Ink Business Preferred for 3X on Travel. Sapphire preferred for 3X on Dining. Citi Premier for 3X on Grocery and Fuel. Venture X catch all at 2X. None have foreign transaction fees and all code worldwide on categories. All are Visa or Mastercard
Cards without foreign transaction fees are ideal. Some of them include: - Chase Sapphire Preferred - Chase Sapphire Reserve - Capital One Venture Rewards - Capital One Venture X - Capital One Savor Rewards - Citi Strata Premier - U.S. Bank Altitude Connect - Wells Fargo Autograph - Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Consider one that has rewards categories in which you spend frequently.
It's a good card for sure. However, the $150 annual fee is high, esp. now that the $100 LoungeBuddy credit will be discontinued as of 1.13.2025. And considering there are 2 other cards with lower AFs (Citi Strata Premier, $95 and WF Autograph, $0) that have very similar reward structures - as well as access to transfer partners - the Green Card has lost some of its shine (at least as I write this).
Nobody with an IQ in 2 or more digits needs a credit card. Only the banks will disagree with me as they make a fortune on these cards. No prizes for guessing who supplies the money.
When my son reaches his 18th birthday I will have him get these six beautiful premium travel cards: 1. Chase Sapphire Reserve 2. Amex Delta Reserve 3. Amex Marriott Brilliant 4. Chase United Club 5. Citi AAdvantage Executive 6. Amex Hilton Aspire Happy New Year 🥳
An 18-year-old doesn't need 6 travel credit cards. Hell, I'm a 30-year-old making a 6-figure salary and travelling frequently and I can barely justify 2. He's better off starting out with a basic cash-back card to build good credit history and habits, then let him choose his own travel cards AFTER he gets established in a career that will pay enough to support them.
@@TheRestrictedgamer leo has a decent credit card set up so im sure his son’s credit is set up properly but with that being said a 18 year old still doesnt need all that. Maybe an aspire and platinum card but all that is a little crazy. Especially if he has to pay for all of it on his own
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Don't forget the Wells Fargo Autograph 3% on Travel, Gas, Restaurants and transit and has transfer partners at no annual fee.
Not touching anything from Wells Fargo.
@@jscofourwells fargo is amazing
Wells Fargo is untrustworthy and they barely have travel partners
Another great card for sure! I should've included that one.
I’d probably add the united explorer since the perks are very impressive for its annual fee. Not to mention like csp and csr it has primary cdw
I’m glad you mention the united Explore card
I prefer the explore over the CPS to more value
In still get lounge access . Congrats.
A good card for sure 👍
Thanks for the info + video!
Great video and awesome, easy-to-follow graphics. Do any of the cards accept AirBnb for a hotel stay? if not, would it fall to their "travel" category or the basic 1X or 2X "catch all" category?
Glad you enjoyed it! Airbnb will earn bonus points under the general 'Travel' categories on the:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase Sapphire Preferred
- Amex Green Card
Possibly some others, too.
Another great video! Yes, please do one on best cards for travel protections. I've been using the Ritz for flights and car rentals because it seems as good as the CSR. The higher multipliers sound nice with portals, but I'm kind of leary of them. Do you use them a lot with no problems?
Ritz card is great! I don't use portals (other than to use a benefit that requires one). I might be a bit more open minded about them for flights and/or non-chain hotels, especially if I don't anticipate any complications (e.g. weather, layovers, etc.).
AWESOME INFORMATION.
THANK YOU!
You're welcome!
What about the one key wells fargo card ?
A decent card for some people 👍 I'm just not much of a fan that OneKeyCash can only be redeemed at Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo.
Is there a reason you didn’t mention Amex Green card???
Tons of travel value if you don’t value lounges! The Amex Gold is a solid option too if you don’t plan to go to the lounges while traveling.
@shawn.credit Got ya....
I was thinking the same thing
Isn’t the green card only 3x for travel?
Goal for travel is always at least 5x
@DCGEMINI202 3x but not everyone wants lounge access for $695, 5x is the goal for travel especially if you travel tons.
Cool deals. 💯
The problem with the chase portal is everything is 3-20% higher than direct
Depends what you're looking for. Many flights can be the same. Always smart to compare though.
@@MarkReese Yes. I agree. After spending the last 2 years, comparing Thank You Portal, Chase Portal, Orbitz and Expedia, Chase has never been cheaper. Over the long haul, almost 95% of the time, they're all within pennies of each other. At this point, I honestly feel I am spinning my wheels comparing and sort of wasting time. Maybe that is just my personal travel inquiries. They're all spitting out the same quotes for me. Customer Service between Chase Portal and City Thank You portal; for me, are of the same quality. Not Amex level, but decent enough, Both have generous cancellation options, 24-hour customer service availability, etc. At this point, I do not really make CC choices based on a belief that one has a better travel portal than the other. That factor is a wash for me.
80% this is true.
Just as well that the Chase points are worth 125% of face (Preferred card) or 150% of face (Reserve card) when used to book through the portal then isnt it?
I think you should have given some time to compare the travel insurances for each card.
For sure. This one was focused only on reward multipliers. I'm considering a separate video for that topic.
Did you forget the Amex Plat for hotels? 5x when booked thru their portal
Only worth booking hotels through Amex for FHR or HC or using the $200 hotel credit. Hotel prices are inflated with Amex. Plus you might not get elite benefits if you have status with one of the major chains.
Not necessarily true, I've seen better deals with fhr in some cases, and got double benefits with amex and the hotel (hilton)
I simply find the 2 requirements of (a) requiring a portal and (b) requiring prepayment to be too restrictive to rank it at the top for general hotel bookings. However, it's still a good card for the more specialty bookings via THC and FHR.
Yes, Amex is in a league of its own to me, for better or worse. Never cheapest. It would have been too complicated throwing in the pros and cons of Amex, when at the end of the day, the prices through Amex are higher.
Mastercard or Visa with no foreign transaction fees and a card that offers travel value!
I also think that when traveling you need a 2% cash back or travel card. Not everything is airfare, taxi, and hotel. Still need to buy the purse/clothes/knickknacks/souvenirs/electronics overseas, especially when the foreign currency exchange rate is good.
That was mentioned at 14:57.
@@MarkReese Oh, sorry. Must have missed that!
BOA offers 5.25% cash back up to $2500 spent for each quarter for selected category.
Correct, but not with the card alone. That requires a separate program ('Preferred Rewards') at the Platinum Honors Tier or higher.
I travel on flight benefits, so I don't pay for my flights. Though I need a good credit card to help me earn points for car rentals, and primarily Airbnb. Do you have any recommendations?
Cards that are good for Car Rentals + Airbnb include:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Capital One Venture Rewards
- Capital One Venture X
- Amex Green Card
@ Thank You. I appreciate your help
I used my Amex BCP for hotels this year, due to its 10% Expedia Amex Offer for Prepaid hotels. Pretty much takes care of the annual fee, cause my annual grocery spend was only $1500 this year. May have to axe this card in the future if Amex quits sending me the Expedia offer.
Also used the Chase Freedom Flex for 5% via PayPal on one of my hotels.
I used the Citi Custom Cash for 5% on one flight.
The BofA CCR on more rewards day for 5% on one flight.
The WF Autograph for 3% on one flight.
Mark why don’t you make a financial credit card of course? I think everyone here is waiting for it. Do you have a good way of explaining topics you’re easy to understand.
Perhaps at some point! Gotta get through another project I'm working on first 👍
What's a good card for international travel and international purchases? Does one exist?
For international purchases avoid cards with foreign transaction fees
@@naveenthemachine thanks. I noticed that on my Amex and Ink business cards. Hence, I stopped using those cards. Still have them for now.
I am out of the country most of the year. I use Ink Business Preferred for 3X on Travel. Sapphire preferred for 3X on Dining. Citi Premier for 3X on Grocery and Fuel. Venture X catch all at 2X. None have foreign transaction fees and all code worldwide on categories. All are Visa or Mastercard
Cards without foreign transaction fees are ideal. Some of them include:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Capital One Venture Rewards
- Capital One Venture X
- Capital One Savor Rewards
- Citi Strata Premier
- U.S. Bank Altitude Connect
- Wells Fargo Autograph
- Wells Fargo Autograph Journey
Consider one that has rewards categories in which you spend frequently.
@ another one I just found of
The Fidelity rewards visa signature card
I got the USBAR just before it got discontinued, so glad I did
🏆🏆🏆
Solid video Mark! cant wait to see what new cards get released in 2025.
I'm eagerly waiting to see what new releases we'll see as well!
I use the CIP as a CSR Light for among other benefits, it's 3x for direct travel purchases minus lounge access, which is covered by my VX.
Great choice!
No love for the green card! 3X dining and travel
It's a good card for sure. However, the $150 annual fee is high, esp. now that the $100 LoungeBuddy credit will be discontinued as of 1.13.2025. And considering there are 2 other cards with lower AFs (Citi Strata Premier, $95 and WF Autograph, $0) that have very similar reward structures - as well as access to transfer partners - the Green Card has lost some of its shine (at least as I write this).
Thumbs up 👍, Amex Platinum and Venture Card are my top 2 travel cards
2 strong cards!
👍🏻
👍
Nobody with an IQ in 2 or more digits needs a credit card. Only the banks will disagree with me as they make a fortune on these cards. No prizes for guessing who supplies the money.
👍
When my son reaches his 18th birthday I will have him get these six beautiful premium travel cards:
1. Chase Sapphire Reserve
2. Amex Delta Reserve
3. Amex Marriott Brilliant
4. Chase United Club
5. Citi AAdvantage Executive
6. Amex Hilton Aspire
Happy New Year 🥳
That’s alot of fees for a 18 year old…
Or are you going to pay for that for the rest of his life?
No Cap1 cards?
An 18-year-old doesn't need 6 travel credit cards. Hell, I'm a 30-year-old making a 6-figure salary and travelling frequently and I can barely justify 2. He's better off starting out with a basic cash-back card to build good credit history and habits, then let him choose his own travel cards AFTER he gets established in a career that will pay enough to support them.
@@TheRestrictedgamer leo has a decent credit card set up so im sure his son’s credit is set up properly but with that being said a 18 year old still doesnt need all that. Maybe an aspire and platinum card but all that is a little crazy. Especially if he has to pay for all of it on his own
@@DCGEMINI202 I’ll pay the AFs till he finishes College and starts working $.