Best credit card to use

[Turtle1948]

Hi Cruisers,

I booked a world cruise through a travel agent.  I now have to pay off the large balance and am wondering if there is a great credit card to use that would give me lots of points.  I won't be booking it through the credit card's travel agency, just paying off the balance.  Anyone have any recommendations?

 

Thanks.

[dawntrdr]

If you qualify, Chase Sapphire Reserve will give you travel insurance for your trip so long as you pay any part of it with their card (you don't need to book through it).  They also give you lost luggage insurance and travel delay insurance and a lot of other features more than just cash back. As to cash back, I believe it gives you one point earned per dollar spent, and the annual fee is about $600, which they give you back $300 credit toward travel a year.  

 

Otherwise, I would use Fidelity Visa, which pays 2 points per dollar spent into your Fidelity account.

 

The thing about the world cruise is of course that the balance is so enormous, you have to pay it over time because your monthly credit limit won't cover it unless you spread it out.

[Ladys Mom]

On 3/5/2023 at 9:18 AM, dawntrdr said:

If you qualify, Chase Sapphire Reserve will give you travel insurance for your trip so long as you pay any part of it with their card (you don't need to book through it).  They also give you lost luggage insurance and travel delay insurance and a lot of other features more than just cash back. As to cash back, I believe it gives you one point earned per dollar spent, and the annual fee is about $600, which they give you back $300 credit toward travel a year.  

 

Otherwise, I would use Fidelity Visa, which pays 2 points per dollar spent into your Fidelity account.

 

The thing about the world cruise is of course that the balance is so enormous, you have to pay it over time because your monthly credit limit won't cover it unless you spread it out.

We use the Chase Sapphire Reserve.  If you qualify the big benefit on a world cruise is that you get 3 points for every dollar spent.  In order to cover the final payment on our Regent world cruise, my husband starts paying it about a month before it is due.  He has our TA charge 25% of the total, which he then pays off as soon as it clears.  Then he emails our TA to do it again.  Repeat.  We end up with more than 600K points to use on United for our Tokyo-Sydney grand voyage in 2025.  It works, plus you have the additional 20K in trip insurance if you need it.

[Heidi13]

On 3/3/2023 at 9:36 AM, Turtle1948 said:

Hi Cruisers,

I booked a world cruise through a travel agent.  I now have to pay off the large balance and am wondering if there is a great credit card to use that would give me lots of points.  I won't be booking it through the credit card's travel agency, just paying off the balance.  Anyone have any recommendations?

 

Thanks.

 

It will assist receiving suggestions if we know which country you reside.

[Haleca33]

I use the Costco Visa card. It is a cash back card and pays 3% on travel. I have gone away from miles cards because I can’t figure out the true return rate and getting qualifying good routes has become a real pain. I use the same payment system as above. Pay a percentage of the balance, immediately pay off the card, rinse and repeat until paid.

[Host Jazzbeau]

On 3/10/2023 at 12:49 PM, Haleca33 said:

I use the Costco Visa card. It is a cash back card and pays 3% on travel. I have gone away from miles cards because I can’t figure out the true return rate and getting qualifying good routes has become a real pain. I use the same payment system as above. Pay a percentage of the balance, immediately pay off the card, rinse and repeat until paid.

The Citi Costco Visa card is a great card, as long as you are a Costco member.  Even though we don't buy much from the Costco stores, we are able to pay off the membership fee just on gas savings alone, so it's a no-brainer!  And since it's a Visa card, it's accepted everywhere on our travels.  [If you combine land extensions with your cruises, we also use the USBank Altitude GO Visa card which is free and pays 4% back on restaurants.  Cash back rules!]

[SargassoPirate]

I love the Costco Citi card for all sorts of travel.  That cash bonus voucher that arrives every February is a real plus too.

 

The only way to "beat" the credit card companies at their own game is to pay the balance every month and avoid interest charges.

 

If you are interested in such things, Netflix has a nice little series called 'Money Explained'.  The episode on credit cards is the one to watch.

[KKB]

On 3/8/2023 at 3:36 PM, Ladys Mom said:

We use the Chase Sapphire Reserve.  If you qualify the big benefit on a world cruise is that you get 3 points for every dollar spent.  In order to cover the final payment on our Regent world cruise, my husband starts paying it about a month before it is due.  He has our TA charge 25% of the total, which he then pays off as soon as it clears.  Then he emails our TA to do it again.  Repeat.  We end up with more than 600K points to use on United for our Tokyo-Sydney grand voyage in 2025.  It works, plus you have the additional 20K in trip insurance if you need it.

For every $50K charged, at 3x you are getting over $2K value in points.