Travel Hacking Part 3 – Cards I Wish I Had Sooner

I truly wish I was one of those people who lived life with no regrets, but truth be told I have a lot. I worry too much and overthink things and always wish I was more spontaneous. Credit cards are no exception, over the last year that I’ve been researching credit cards and earning points, I’ve grown confident in my understanding of credit cards and their various perks, including the annual fees that come along. Most of my regrets come from just dipping my toes in the water instead of diving in full force. I think all the time about how many points I could have had if I had been accumulating points since my first credit card in 2014, or jumping right in and applying for the Chase Sapphire when it was 100,000 bonus points (still kicking myself over that one). In the end, I’m a person who learns from their mistakes. So I needed to go through them in order to learn on my own. But, if you’re one of those people who can learn from other’s mistakes, here is list of credit cards I wish I had gotten sooner and why:

Disneyland in 2016 with points earned from Hyatt and American Airlines. 

Sedona in 2017 with points earned with the sign up bonus from Hyatt. 

Jamaica in 2018 using points from Hyatt and American Airlines Citi cards. 

Chase Sapphire Reserve 

This one still keeps me up some nights, and I’m not sure if I’ll ever forgive myself. When I started researching different credit card programs, Chase seemed like the obvious choice. The Ultimate Rewards Program is extremely comprehensive and includes destinations from all over the world, and the points are valued high (by The Points Guy). At the time the Sapphire Preferred bonus had dropped from 100K to 50K (so I was already kicking myself for being late to the game) but it seemed like the best travel card for me and the bonus points were worth a whopping $625 so I still saw it to be a good deal.

I contemplated the Reserve card for a split second before chickening out with the high annual fee, it clouded my judgement and I wasn’t able to see the true value of the card. The Reserve card comes with an annual fee of $450, which is standard for the premium travel credit cards. The more I looked into the perks the more I realized that the card really does pay for itself. Off-the-bat you’ll receive $300 worth of travel credit, which is actually a really broad category and includes toll roads and rental cars, on top of traditional travel expenses like hotel and airfare. Since I know I’m going to be taking a trip (or at least tolls) every year, I knew this would be easy to spend. Which drops the price down to $150 a year, considering most rewards credit cards are $99, this is an easier pill to swallow.

The next game-changer for me was the redemption value. Typically, Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be redeemed 25% more when you redeem them for travel through the Chase website. So if you have 1,000 points, you can redeem 1,250 points (your points are worth 25% more). This is true if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred, INK Business, and Freedom. However, if you have the Reserve you’re points are worth 50% more! Which can really add up, it even makes the bonus higher. Currently, the bonus points earned with the Reserve card is 50,000, the same as the Preferred card. However, when you transfer each to dollars (when redeeming for travel), you can get $125 more.

Now that I’ve rationally (and mathematically) identified that I should get the Reserve card, I can just apply for it and get my new bonus and point valuation right? Wrong! The next big kicker is that I can’t get the Chase Sapphire Reserve card for another two years! The new rule with Chase is that you can’t receive two Sapphire bonuses in a two year period. Meaning that since I received a 50,000 bonus for my Sapphire card back in May of 2017, I have to wait another year before I can get the Reserve card…. so yeah a real regret that I’ll be kicking myself over for another year.

Barclay AAdvantage Advantage Red World Elite Mastercard

Currently, there are two providers who offer American Airlines rewards credit cards, Citi and Barclay, to be honest both cards are the exact same (same perks) except for the sign up bonus and the miles redemption.

The Citi AAdvantage card offers 30,000 bonus points (this bonus changes throughout the year but I’ve seen it as high as 60,000), one free checked bag, and a $95 annual fee. The bonus points for this card can be earned after you spend $3,000 in the first three months.

The Barclay AADvantage card offers 50,000 bonus points after your first purchase (it doesn’t matter how much you spend), one free checked bag, and a $95 annual fee. Where this card stands out from it’s Citi counterpart is the redemption. When you redeem AAdvantage miles you earn 10% of your miles back (or 10% off all miles purchases). For example, if a purchase a flight for 12,500 miles, I instantly receive 1,250 miles.

With the redemption and the additional bonus points, the Barclay card easily beats out the Citi AAdvantage.

Fidelity Rewards Visa Signature 

In a perfect world, I’d always be working towards a credit card bonus. But that’s not always the case. With the 5/24 rule inflicted by Chase and the high annual fees, it’s impossible to not have any lag time between cards (also, sometimes you just need time to breath). That being said, one thing I learned later on is that the first credit card you get should be a card with no annual fee that you can keep oven for forever (in theory). Because, you still want to keep your credit score in tact when you’re opening and canceling cards. One of the best ways to do that is to build up your credit history, which can be hard when your opening and canceling credit cards every year. So I wish that I had gotten this card early on so I could use it to build my credit history.

Another huge perk of the card is the 2 points on EVERYTHING, which is great, especially if you’re not working towards a bonus. Typically credit cards offer 2 points per $1 spent on restaurants and travel (or another special category) which only covers a fraction of your purchases. So it’s comforting to know that even if you’re not working towards a bonus, your everyday purchases are still going towards earning you a lot of points.

Happy Hacking, and don’t make the same mistakes that I did!

Checkout more posts on my Travel Hacking Series here.