What type of credit card do you use when booking cruises?

[clo]

4 minutes ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

It is also important to distinguish between ignorance and stupidity, as the former is curable and the latter is not.

VERY interesting you mention that. I had a FB friend who clearly didn't understand the difference. 

[Stateroom_Sailor]

29 minutes ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

Actually I couldn't care less.  If someone wants to portray themselves as ignorant that is their business.

 

It is also important to distinguish between ignorance and stupidity, as the former is curable and the latter is not.

 

How would you go about curing the former, as it relates to credit cards?

[ldubs]

3 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

People who think you have to spend 300,000 on their credit card in order to get tickets with a retail value of 30,000 do not have a clue about how any of this works.  And they are actually proud of their ignorance.

 

I was just trying to help explain.  I wouldn't make those kinds of characterizations.  

[Stateroom_Sailor]

14 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

I was just trying to help explain.  I wouldn't make those kinds of characterizations.  

 

One thing we can admire Dave Ramsey for is having the heart of a teacher.  Some people struggle at that.  Then again we never know what people are dealing with in their personal lives, and lashing out is a cry for help.

 

Most likely they are applying for a few American Airlines cards for the signup bonuses, and transferring those miles to Cathay Pacific.  US to Asia costs roughly 110-125K in miles first class, very cheap compared to the cash price.

 

 

[ldubs]

2 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

It is also important to distinguish between ignorance and stupidity, as the former is curable and the latter is not.

 

In the context of this "friendly discussion" why is that distinction important?  

 

To be honest, I have completely lost track of what the dispute is all about here.     

[DarrenM]

6 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

Well you certainly have a reading comprehension problem as I said no such thing.  I said you liked to PORTRAY YOURSELF as incurably ignorant, but that I didn't believe it.  It is just a part of the class clown role you seem to enjoy playing.

Lighten up Francis 

[iancal]

I really could care less what credit cards others use or how they feel about premium cards or cards in general.  

 

I only care about what, if any, benefits we can derive from the various cards. We realize that people have different preferences and requirements.  As long as we are deriving a net benefit by using one card over another we will continue to do so.  Same with airline rewards.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

On 1/24/2020 at 4:08 PM, ldubs said:

 

In the context of this "friendly discussion" why is that distinction important?  

 

To be honest, I have completely lost track of what the dispute is all about here.     

 

At least it is the weekend, and people can calm down.

[ducklite]

On 1/21/2020 at 8:02 AM, Joebucks said:

Chase Sapphire Reserve every time. 4.5% back towards more travel, included insurance, no foreign exchange fees.

This.

[clo]

5 hours ago, ducklite said:

This.

Me three 🙂 Don't you just love seeing all those points/travel add up?!?!/

[iancal]

This week we put about $2,000. in foreign currency transactions on our no FX fee credit  card.   That was a saving of $60 over one of our other cards that does not have this feature.  Leaving  tomorrow for 8 weeks of out of country travel.  My guess is that we will put another 6-7k on this card.  It will help us avoid $180-210. of excess FX fees on these credit card transactions.   More if snag a last minute Caribbean cruise on our way home.

[AlanF65]

@DarrenM I use the CSR and previously the Costco card for virtually everything, water bill, sewer bill, power bill, the % back all adds up. Across 2 cards for me its about $1500 a year in my pocket. I pay my bill in full every month. If I used door dash, I would get $20 a month in statement credits, I can get credits for using lyft. Then there is the glbal entry fee reimbursement, the $300 statement credit and the value of not having to buy trip insurance.

It wouldn't make sense yo just use the card for travel unless you travel a lot.

 

I switched to the CS when Citi dropped travel insurance, I wanted a "higher" deductible travel insurance where I could self insure x and they pay y, not to be found so CSR it is.

 

Edited January 28, 2020 by AlanF65

[clo]

37 minutes ago, AlanF65 said:

I use the CSR

I understand that CCs in other countries have different rules/deals but, boy, that CSR is something, isn't it?

[Stateroom_Sailor]

8 hours ago, clo said:

I understand that CCs in other countries have different rules/deals but, boy, that CSR is something, isn't it?

 

In 2016, the CSR shocked and changed the credit card industry.  Even without it, many benefit from the competition of new and revamped options.  I know of many who get 2 cents per point from Hyatt transfers alone.

[ducklite]

14 hours ago, AlanF65 said:

@DarrenM I use the CSR and previously the Costco card for virtually everything, water bill, sewer bill, power bill, the % back all adds up. Across 2 cards for me its about $1500 a year in my pocket. I pay my bill in full every month. If I used door dash, I would get $20 a month in statement credits, I can get credits for using lyft. Then there is the glbal entry fee reimbursement, the $300 statement credit and the value of not having to buy trip insurance.

It wouldn't make sense yo just use the card for travel unless you travel a lot.

 

I switched to the CS when Citi dropped travel insurance, I wanted a "higher" deductible travel insurance where I could self insure x and they pay y, not to be found so CSR it is.

 

You forgot the access to lounges in airports around the world.  What we've saved in breakfast and lunch costs alone has half paid for the annual fee each year.

[clo]

5 hours ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

 

In 2016, the CSR shocked and changed the credit card industry.  Even without it, many benefit from the competition of new and revamped options.  I know of many who get 2 cents per point from Hyatt transfers alone.

Yeah. I read that they ran out of the metal to make the cards 🙂

[pacruise804]

To educate myself I looked up the benefits of the CSR.  I'm still not sure it would benefit us enough right now (very rare we use air travel, rental cars, or lift - and only average 2 hotel stays per year), but it is impressive what they offer.  Maybe in retirement it would be a benefit, but I would need to research the fine print more to see if it would be enough value compared to the annual fee.

[clo]

8 hours ago, pacruise804 said:

To educate myself I looked up the benefits of the CSR.  I'm still not sure it would benefit us enough right now (very rare we use air travel, rental cars, or lift - and only average 2 hotel stays per year), but it is impressive what they offer.  Maybe in retirement it would be a benefit, but I would need to research the fine print more to see if it would be enough value compared to the annual fee.

From what you wrote I'm guessing you're right. We were already using a card that gave us 1.5 points for every dollar that we paid a comparable amount for. And, yes, we're retired and travel a fair amount - not just cruises - and dine out. And because of this change we just switched from Uber to Lyft. We don't use them a lot but 10X sounds mighty fine 🙂

[AlanF65]

9 hours ago, pacruise804 said:

To educate myself I looked up the benefits of the CSR.  I'm still not sure it would benefit us enough right now (very rare we use air travel, rental cars, or lift - and only average 2 hotel stays per year), but it is impressive what they offer.  Maybe in retirement it would be a benefit, but I would need to research the fine print more to see if it would be enough value compared to the annual fee.

The sign up bonus is either 50 or 60 thousand points ( spend 4 or 5 thousand in 4 months) . If you chagre some excursions and travel on the card you get the $300 statement credit, if you renew or sign up for TSA pre check or Global entry you get $100 or $85 as a statement credit if you charge it to the card. The insurance is worth 2-400 dollars depending on if you buy insurance or not. The insurance is good anywhere when you are more than 150 miles from home.

This site has step by step analysis of all card and offers https://thepointsguy.com/

Nerd wallet also does a good comparison of cards https://www.nerdwallet.com/credit-cards#

If you spend the 4000 in the first 4 months ( on anything) the 50000 points can be converted to $500 cash if you want.

 

I signed up in early December and did most my Christmas shopping and donations that I put on credit cards on the card, along with paying for the business Christmas lunch and getting reimbursed. 

 

 

[2wheelin]

11 hours ago, AlanF65 said:

The sign up bonus is either 50 or 60 thousand points ( spend 4 or 5 thousand in 4 months) . If you chagre some excursions and travel on the card you get the $300 statement credit, if you renew or sign up for TSA pre check or Global entry you get $100 or $85 as a statement credit if you charge it to the card. The insurance is worth 2-400 dollars depending on if you buy insurance or not. The insurance is good anywhere when you are more than 150 miles from home.

This site has step by step analysis of all card and offers https://thepointsguy.com/

Nerd wallet also does a good comparison of cards https://www.nerdwallet.com/credit-cards#

If you spend the 4000 in the first 4 months ( on anything) the 50000 points can be converted to $500 cash if you want.

 

I signed up in early December and did most my Christmas shopping and donations that I put on credit cards on the card, along with paying for the business Christmas lunch and getting reimbursed. 

 

 

Thanks for those links which I will use to start my research. Just got an airline AmEx for the free bags but I don’t necessarily use that airline every year so something more general might be the way to go. Will have to weigh the fee against the benefits—for us.

 

One quick question for folk who have CSR, or another card with trip insurance, does that cover only the card holder or travel companions as well? We sometimes buy trip insurance and sometimes not as I have excellent out of country medical coverage including evacuation.

[Joebucks]

21 hours ago, pacruise804 said:

To educate myself I looked up the benefits of the CSR.  I'm still not sure it would benefit us enough right now (very rare we use air travel, rental cars, or lift - and only average 2 hotel stays per year), but it is impressive what they offer.  Maybe in retirement it would be a benefit, but I would need to research the fine print more to see if it would be enough value compared to the annual fee.

 

When I first read about the card, I thought the same thing. I was like holy hell, no way I would spend $450 on a card. Then once I better understood the card, it's offers, and stuff I was already buying or missing out on, I could kick myself for not having that card sooner. I missed out on the extra 50k points when the sign up bonus was larger.

 

It's not for everyone. That is for sure. The $100 AF increase probably just priced more people out of it. However, with an effective fee of $250 per year, if you do travel often, it has quite the value in there. Many people in here will spend that much a year in travel insurance alone.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

On 1/29/2020 at 6:37 AM, 2wheelin said:

Thanks for those links which I will use to start my research. Just got an airline AmEx for the free bags but I don’t necessarily use that airline every year so something more general might be the way to go. Will have to weigh the fee against the benefits—for us.

 

I'm guessing you got the Delta Gold?  Major updates and design revamp today, January 30th.  We ended up downgrading from the Delta Business Reserve to the Delta Business Platinum.  I'm not going to pay $100 more per year and loose bonus miles, but at least the Delta Platinum has a 1.5X option (and looks pretty slick now too!).

 

 

[AlanF65]

On 1/29/2020 at 5:40 AM, Joebucks said:

 

When I first read about the card, I thought the same thing. I was like holy hell, no way I would spend $450 on a card. Then once I better understood the card, it's offers, and stuff I was already buying or missing out on, I could kick myself for not having that card sooner. I missed out on the extra 50k points when the sign up bonus was larger.

 

It's not for everyone. That is for sure. The $100 AF increase probably just priced more people out of it. However, with an effective fee of $250 per year, if you do travel often, it has quite the value in there. Many people in here will spend that much a year in travel insurance alone.

An annual travel policy from Nationwide with a max 7500 out of pocket is about $539 a year, a 5k max is 359 per year.

https://travel.nationwide.com/plans/annual

 

CSR is 10k, per person, per individual trip, 20k max or for more than 1 its 20k,40k. None of these are cancel for any reason, that is an expensive policy that I had to buy last year for work reasons.

 

[clo]

8 hours ago, fyree39 said:

I've been using an airline mileage card for quite some time now. I've gotten quite a few free flights, but I'm not as pleased with the airline as I once was, and I like the idea of booking the best available flight on any line rather than just one. I might switch to a travel card.

Did you intend to mention the airline? Not quite tracking.

[DarrenM]

Did you all do Economics and Maths at University?

 

Just caught up on this thread and it reads like a comlicated maths puzzle.

 

Just glad here in the UK we still pay for things with turnips.