Which Travel Rewards Credit Card is Best for *ME* ?

Trying a new idea here with this post - Which Travel Rewards Credit Card is Best for *ME* ?

The Situation

Today's "ME" is a friend of mine based in the Midwest who asked for help in picking a new credit card.

• Frequent traveler (20-30 trips per year) based in a small airport where American Airlines is the dominant player.
• Travel involves flights and hotel stays of 2-3 nights.
• Hotel stays are approximately 50-60% Marriott, 20-30% Hilton, and 10-20% other chains/independent hotels.
• Traveler has the option to pay for his own hotel rooms and other expenses (but not most of their flights) using own credit card.
• This person has very few credit cards and is looking for the best all-around card for maximizing hotel points/airline miles/flexible travel points based on travel-related and other general everyday spending.
• Traveler currently holds top or near-top airline status as well as mid or top status with both Hilton and Marriott
• Willing to accept an annual fee up to $200 on a new credit card
• New card will be used primarily for travel-related spending.  The family plans to use a Costco Visa card for everyday spending -- groceries, gas, etc.  The Costco Visa pays 4% cash rebate on gas (max $7k/yr then 1%), 3% on restaurants and eligible travel (airfare, hotels, rental cars, Costco Travel, cruise lines, travel agencies), 2% at Costco and Costco.com, 1% everywhere else (including restaurants inside warehouse clubs, bakeries, B&Bs, train travel).

Projected Spend

• 25 three-night air travel trips per year
• Approx $20k/yr total spend
• Marriott Hotels 45 nights = $8,000
• Hilton Hotels 15 nights = $3,000
• Other Travel - rental car 75 days = $5,000.  Airport parking = $1,000.  Rental car fuel $500.  
• Restaurants $1,500

Key Considerations

• Is this a long-term card or may be replaced by or supplemented with another card(s) in a year or so?
• How much value or emphasis should be placed on the signup bonus vs. the potential annual earnings from spend in a normal year?
• Miles or nights?  Or flexibility?  What types of points/miles do you value most and what do you want to do with the travel currency earned from card spend?  Are airline miles, or transferable bank travel points that can be used to book flights, more important / valuable than hotel points?  Or are hotel points more important because they can be used more easily without including air travel?  Or are flexible points more valuable because they can be used for a variety of different travel items including rental cars, flights, hotels, etc?

Breaking it Down for "Me"

Cards evaluated include the following:

• Marriott co-branded credit cards
• Hilton co-branded credit cards
• Amex cards that earn Membership Rewards points
• Chase cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points
• Citi cards that earn ThankYou points
• Capital One and other cards such as Barclay Arrival that earn cash back or credits that can be used to offset travel expenses charged to the card

Recommendations

• If you can spend $15k in first 3 months:  Chase Ink Business Preferred.  Best signup bonus of any card in this blog post
• If you are willing to apply for a business card but can't swing $15k spend in 3 mos:  Marriott Bonvoy Business Card
• Best first-year value, personal card:  Chase Sapphire Preferred
• Honorable mention - solid hotel points card with decent earnings rate and very good signup bonus:  Hilton Surpass Amex
• Honorable mention:  good signup bonus of flexible bank points and good long-term earnings rate:  Amex Green Card

Marriott Cards

The best Marriott card for this scenario:  Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Chase Visa.  Temporarily increased signup bonus is the same as the Bonvoy Business Amex, with lower annual fee.  The family will use its Costco card for restaurant and gas purchases, so the higher 4x earning rate on the Bonvoy Business Amex would not be useful for them.

All 4 of these Marriott credit cards provide 15 elite nights per year toward Marriott status.  These are NOT free nights for stays; they are only for meeting elite status requirements.  Each Marriott Bonvoy member can earn maximum 30 elite nights per year via credit card membership:  15 elite nights with one of the three personal cards + 15 elite nights with a business card (the Bonvoy Business Amex card).

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex

• $450 annual fee.  $300 Marriott travel credit reduces this card's effective annual fee to $150.
• Signup bonus:  125,000 bonus points after $5,000 spend in first 3 months
• Many other travel-related benefits such as Priority Pass select membership
• Earn 6 points per dollar on Marriott stays
• Earn 3x on U.S. restaurants and flights booked directly with airlines
• Earn 2x on all other spend (including Hilton hotels, gasoline, groceries, etc)

Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex

• $125 annual fee
• Signup bonus:  100,000 bonus points after $5,000 spend in first 3 months
• Signup bonus is $700-800 worth of Marriott points
• $150 statement credit on qualifying purchases (seems that any spend qualifies toward $150 statement credit)
• 6x at Marriott hotels
• 4x at U.S. restaurants, U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping
• 2x on all other spend

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Chase Visa

• $95 annual fee
• Signup bonus:  75,000 100,000 bonus points (recently increased) after $3,000 spend in first 3 months
• 6x at Marriott hotels
• 2x on all other spend

Marriot Bonvoy Bold Chase Visa

• No annual fee
• Signup bonus:  30,000 points after $1,000 spend in 3 months
• 3x at Marriott hotels
• 2x on other travel purchases (from airfare to taxis and trains)
• 1x on all other spend

Marriott Bonvoy Program

• Points are more valuable than Hilton points - most travel blogs peg a Marriott point at 0.7-0.8 cents value vs. 0.5 cents for a Hilton point
• Points prices for properties in the Marriott family (Fairfield, Marriott, Sheraton, etc) may be tougher to find at good rates than Hilton reward points hotel prices 

Chase Ink Business Preferred

• Best card if can do $15k spend in 3 months to earn the 100k signup bonus
• (we have this card).
• 3x points per $ on travel (and on shipping, advertising, internet/cable/phone) on the first $150k spend then 1x.
• Travel includes basically any travel category imaginable: tolls, parking garages, car rental, hotels, airlines, travel agencies, campgrounds, cruise lines, timeshares, limos, buses, taxis.
• 1x on all other spend.  
• $95 annual fee.  
• Business card.  
• Signup bonus is amazing 100,000 points (usable for $1,250 of paid travel) but requires $15k spend in first 3 months.  
• Chase points can be redeemed for paid travel thru the Chase travel portal, or transferred to one of 10 airline miles programs or transferred to Hyatt, IHG, and Marriott (IHG and Marriott are terrible transfer values though)

Chase Sapphire Preferred

• Most valuable signup bonus of any card with annual fee < $200.  Not a great long-term travel card @ 2x.  Many other cards earn 3x Chase or Amex points on travel
• 80,000 point signup bonus after $4k spend in first 3 months
• (we have this card)
• $50 grocery store statement credit in 1st year (available only via referral)
• 2x on dining and travel
• 1x on all other spend
• $95 annual fee
• Amex Cards

Amex Blue Business Plus

• (we have this card).
• 2x points per $ on all spend for first $50k spend, then 1x.
• No annual fee.
• Business card.
• This is a great option to use for everyday spend, no annual fee, no muss no fuss.  Earning 2 Amex points per $ on a no annual fee card is incredible.  
• Amex points are similar to Chase points -- can be used for paid travel booked via Amex travel portal or transferred to Amex's airline and hotel partners for using on free flights and nights.

Amex Green Card

• Very good signup bonus and a good long-term card @ 3x on travel
• Signup bonus 45,000 50,000 (via referral link) Membership Rewards points after $2k spend in first 6 months
• 3x on travel and restaurants, 1x on everything else
• Annual fee $150
• Breakeven spend point to recover the $150 annual fee with this card @ 3x vs. Blue Business Plus @ 2x = $7,500.  (Amex Membership Rewards points worth approx 2 cents each x $7,500 = $150)
• Use my referral link 

American Express Gold Card

• Signup bonus 60,000 75,000 (via referral link) after $4,000 spend in 1st 6 months
• Annual fee $250
• $200 statement credit on purchases from approved home furnishings stores (includes Home Depot and Lowe's) in 1st 3 months (exclusive benefit available only via referral)
• 4x at restaurants
• 4x at supermarkets (on max $25k spend per year)
• 3x on flights booked directly with airlines or with amextravel.com
• 1x on all other spend
• Good first-year card if you can leverage the $200 home furnishing statement credit but not a great long-term card for travel spend

Hilton Surpass Amex

• Signup bonus 130,000 150,000 (via referral link) after $3,000 spend in 1st 3 months
• Signup bonus is $750 worth of Hilton points
• $95 annual fee
• 12x on Hilton spend
• 6x on dining and supermarkets
• 3x on all other spend

Citi Premier Card

• Signup bonus 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in 1st 3 months
• $95 annual fee
• 3x at restaurants, supermarkets, hotels, air travel, gas stations
• 1x on all other spend
• Citi transfer partners are not as good as Chase's and Amex's transfer partners.  Citi does not have any hotel transfer partners

http://refer.amex.us/JASONWtFGB?xl=cp19

http://refer.amex.us/JASONWdtDi?XLINK=MYCP

Chase Sapphire Preferred referral link https://www.referyourchasecard.com/6a/392ZM1OI7W

Travel Backpacks - Best-Ever Deals on Two eBags Models

Amazon has some outstanding deals on a couple of highly regarded eBags brand travel backpacks.  These prices are by far the lowest ever for both bags.

Outstanding price on high-quality bags.  Can't beat these bags for the price.

eBags Professional Slim - $35

Amazon has the Professional Slim travel backpack on sale for $35 after $5 electronic coupon.  This is about 50% less than the usual sale price on this backpack and the lowest price ever offered thru Amazon.  Camelcamelcamel.com shows the lowest previous price from Amazon around $56.  

I bought one of these a while back but returned it as it was just a bit too small for the amount of stuff I typically put in a back for a weekend trip.  Looks very sharp and business-y...as the name says, professional.  Well designed bag with thoughtful features and different cargo areas.

https://www.amazon.com/eBags-Professional-Laptop-Backpack-Business/dp/B00OKXYUJ0

Available colors: black, heather gray, brushed indigo, navy, sage green

eBags Pro Weekender - $35

This is my travel backpack for weekend trips soccer refereeing and the like.  The bag holds a surprising amount of gear and is very well organized with different cargo compartments including a very handy top compartment that fits an accessory bag for Bose headphones or a bunch of charging cables etc.

I paid about twice this much and was very happy with the value.  $35 is unbelievable.  According to CamelCamelCamel.com, this bag has never been less than $62 until this week.

Available colors: black, heather gray, navy

 

https://www.amazon.com/eBags-Professional-Flight-Laptop-Backpack/dp/B077N3N8GT

Alternate Buying Option

eBags is selling the bags for $40 on its own website.  15% cash back right now via TopCashBack would make the final net price $34+tax.  See here for various cash back or points back shopping portal offers for eBags:  https://www.cashbackmonitor.com/cashback-store/ebags/

Often, Amex also offers cash back for eBags.  Typically this is $25 cash back on a $125+ purchase.  This type of offer is stackable with cash back from a shopping portal site such as TopCashBack.  However, there do not appear to be any current Amex offers for eBags.com

Check Your Credit Cards for Annual Fee Refunds, Retention Offers and New Category Bonuses

The economy is in a definite downturn due to COVID-19, and many people are doing far less traveling and less travel-related spending than normal.

In response, credit card companies are working hard to entice people to keep their credit cards rather than close their accounts.

Many of the big card issuers have proactively issued statement credits or other bonuses, or added temporarily enhanced benefits for all customers of certain cards.

For other card issuers or other credit cards, customers need to call and ask about offers to see what they may be targeted to receive.

Many cards are offering additional bonuses in categories in which those cards historically have not offered bonuses.  This is to encourage customers to use the card more.  For example, Chase is offering 5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar on grocery store purchases for the new few months.  Similarly, American Express is offering 4 Delta Sky Miles per dollar on grocery store purchases with their Delta co-branded cards.

Another benefit is that the travel credit on certain cards can be triggered for spending that is not travel-related.  For example, the Citi Prestige card $250 travel credit can be used at supermarkets and restaurants.

This post is a heads-up, not a comprehensive roundup of all the changes on the major cards.

In light of recent changes, it behooves all of us to check our credit card portfolio and figure out which cards make the most sense for certain types of spending.

Sample articles with more details:

The Points Guy - temporary perks on Amex cards

Marketwatch - annual fee partial rebates on certain cards

Frequent Miler - COVID-related Credit Card Benefit Enhancements - Ultimate Guide 

The Best Cash Back Business Credit Cards

There are lots of credit cards that earn generous amounts of travel rewards.  Likewise, there are lots of cash back-earning credit cards.  And there are lots of business credit cards aimed at small business owners.

What there is NOT a lot of, is cash back business cards.  In the past few days, I researched cash back business credit cards and came up with what I believe are the three best such cards available to American customers.

Reminder:  One need NOT have a business tax ID (aka EIN) to get approved for a business card.  Generally speaking, a history of at least a few years' worth of revenue and expenses of a few thousand dollars annually at minimum, along with a solid (740+ certainly should do the trick) credit score should result in approval of a business credit card application to most of the major U.S. credit card issuers - Amex, Chase, Citi, Capital One, and others.


Reminder:  personal credit cards can be used for 'business spend' just as easily as business cards can.  There are not a lot of practical differences between personal and business credit cards.  One of the big ones is that business credit cards often lack some of the consumer protections that are required by law to be provided on personal credit cards.  Authorized user cards can be ordered for personal cards, just as with business cards.  And hundreds of thousands of dollars of spend can be put on personal cards, just as with business cards -- assuming proper credit line and management of it.

The Best Three Cash Back Business Credit Cards

Of these three options, the Amex one I can refer; the other two I cannot.  All three cards will allow pretty solid accumulation of cash back via spending.  And all three have at least a $500 signup bonus after hitting the minimum spend in first three months.

• Capital One Spark Cash
• Amex Blue Business Cash
• Chase Ink Cash

Capital One Spark Cash

Pros

• 2% cash back on everything, no limit - to my knowledge, the only business card on the market like this
• $500 signup bonus after $5k spend.
• Additional $1,500 signup bonus after $50k total spend in first year.

Cons

• $95 annual fee after first year.
• No category bonuses, just straight 2% on everything.

More Information

• https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/C1SCbiz/#Goto

Amex Blue Business Cash

Pros

• No annual fee
• 2% cash back on first $50k purchases per year
• $500 cash back signup bonus ($250 after $5k spend fairst 3 months, another $250 after another $10k spend in first year)

Cons

• Only 1% cash back on purchases beyond $50k in a year

Referral
My referral link (click 'all business cards to find the Blue Business Cash.  I recently got the Blue Business Plus.  http://refer.amex.us/JASONWuBSY?XLINK=MYCP.  

More Information

• https://www.doctorofcredit.com/american-express-blue-business-cash-card-500-sign-up-bonus-available-via-incognito/
• https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/AmxBBC/#Goto

Chase Ink Cash

Pros

• No annual fee
• $500 signup bonus (usually only $300) after $3k spend
• Great bonus categories:  5X office supplies ⚬ 5X cellular/landline/cable (on up to $25,000 in total purchases in 5x categories annually)
• 2X gas and restaurants (up to $25k annually)
• Besides being able to use as cash back, technically the card earns Ultimate Reward points which can be super handy (e.g. if you have a Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve personal card, and could combine the points and use toward paid travel thru Chase travel portal

Cons

• Only 1% cash back on non-category bonused stuff

More Information

• https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/CIC/#Goto
• https://www.doctorofcredit.com/chase-ink-cash-500-public-online-offer/

Analysis

• Which is best for you?  That depends on your own personal circumstances.  How much will you spend, and how much in various categories.  You will have to decide which is best for your usage.
• Will you spend enough to offset the $95 annual fee on the Spark Cash?
• The category bonuses on the Chase Ink Cash are potentially very lucrative, if you'll have spend in those categories.  Otherwise, it probably isn't the best choice.
• If you are going to spend well beyond $50k a year, Spark could be the best bet - although you won't recover the $95 annual fee until you hit $60k spend, vs. the Amex no annual fee card.
• Blue Business Cash may be the safe bet for starters - unless the category bonuses on Chase Ink Cash can be leveraged.

Heads-up: Delta gift cards 10% off at Costco.com

Costco.com is selling $500 and $1,000 Delta electronic gift cards for 10% off.  $450 for the $500 GC and $900 for the $1,000 GC.

I was not aware that Costco sold Delta gift cards.  This may be a limited time item.

Terms:

• Member only item

• Works on Delta Air Lines Marketed Flights or Delta Vacations Packages that Include Air Transportation

• Limit 3 per Member

• Delivery via email

https://www.costco.com/delta-air-lines-$500-egift-card.product.100523609.html
https://www.costco.com/delta-air-lines-$1,000-egift-card.product.100531773.html

Delta Amex Card - Sign up By 1/29/2020 to Avoid Annual Fee Increases

This week, American Express announced changes to their Delta Amex credit cards.  Among the changes is annual fee increases for all of the Delta-branded Amex cards.  Some benefits have been improved or added, though this post does not delve into all the changes.  This post is a heads-up that signing up now makes sense, to get the card before the annual fee increases take effect.

The changes take effect on Jan 30, 2020.  

Also, this week, Amex announced higher-than-normal sign-up bonuses for its personal Delta Amex credit cards.  (The business versions of the Gold, Platinum, and Reserve Delta Amex cards currently have mediocre sign-up bonuses; only the personal versions are worth signing up for right now.)

These good sign-up bonuses are typically offered twice a year. These offers were previously offered 1st quarter 2019.

The increased bonuses for the Platinum and Reserve card are currently available only via referral from existing cardholders.  The Gold card signup bonus is the same via referral as the public offer.  

Please click my link if you are interested in any of the offers below.

http://refer.amex.us/JASONWc8CN?XLINK=MYCP

After clicking the referral link, click the 'View all Cards with a Referral Offer' link, then click the 'Looking for a Personal Card?' link to see the personal Delta Amex cards.

Background Reading

Frequent Miler and Rene's Points both have decent recaps and analysis of the changes.  Many of the changes are positive and many are negative.

For current cardholders it is really a personal decision as to how the card changes affect your own decision whether to cancel, keep, downgrade, or replace one card with another.  For me, the loss of 15k bonus SkyMiles at $30k and another 15k miles at $60k is a major blow.  That, along with the annual fee increase, has me feeling that the Reserve card is no longer worth it.

My bottom line analysis is that post-changes, the Platinum card makes more sense than the Reserve card for most folks.  More details available in the articles below:

https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/delta-credit-cards-huge-changes-coming/https://renespoints.boardingarea.com/2019/09/30/major-changes-and-higher-fees-coming-to-delta-american-express-cards/https://renespoints.boardingarea.com/2019/09/30/my-thoughts-on-the-new-delta-american-express-benefits-fees-and-more/

Travel Accessory Hot Deal - Universal Power Adapter $10

Universal Power Adapter for International Travel - $10

Amazon has a great price on a travel adapter that works in several different countries.  $10 each after applying the coupon code.

Coupon discount works for quantities greater than 1, which is often NOT the case.  Great stocking stuffer idea.

Please support my local soccer club by doing your Amazon shopping through the Amazon Smile link for Lowell Area Select Soccer Organization!  Go to https://smile.amazon.com/ch/38-3359604 and AmazonSmile donates to Lowell Area Select Soccer Organization whenever you purchase stuff from Amazon.

This is a typical model with a wall plug and also 4 USB ports - two x 2.4 amps + two x 2.1 amps.  Charge multiple USB devices at the same time.

https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Travel-Adapter-EPICKA-Including-Charging/dp/B074QMDBXF

Discount code:  enter code ZEATOQ8O on the Checkout screen to reduce the price from $17 to $10

$15-20 is a typical, decent price for an international power adapter.  10 bucks is about as cheap as these models go

Last Day for Increased Delta Amex Credit Card Signup Bonuses

Weds April 3rd - today - is the last day to get higher-than-normal signup bonuses for several Delta-branded American Express credit cards.

The increased bonuses for new customers are available only via referral from existing cardholders.  Please click my link if you are interested in any of the offers below.

http://refer.amex.us/JASONW2rUF?XLINK=MYCP 

After clicking the link, click the View all Cards with a Referral Offer to see the other Delta Amex personal credit cards.  To see the Delta Amex business credit cards, click the Looking for a Business Card? link

Recap of Current Signup Bonuses - Delta Amex Personal Credit Cards

• Gold Delta SkyMiles card:  60,000 SkyMiles + $50 statement credit after $2,000 spend in first 3 months.  Annual fee waived first year, then $95/yr
• Platinum Delta SkyMiles card:  75,000 SkyMiles + 5,000 MQMs (toward elite status earning) + $100 statement credit after $3,000 spend in first 3 mos.  $195 annual fee (NOT waived first year)
• Delta Reserve card:  75,000 SkyMiles + 5,000 MQMs after $5,000 spend in 3 mos.  $450 annual fee (NOT waived first year)
• Blue Delta SkyMiles card - this is NOT a good card.  Signup bonus is only 10,000 miles after $500 spend in first 3 mos.  No annual fee.  Earning rate is only 1/2 SkyMile per $1 on most purchases except Delta purchases - terrible

Recap of Current Signup Bonuses - Delta Amex Business Credit Cards

The business cards have signup bonuses that are in some cases better than the personal cards, although not everyone may be comfortable applying for a business credit card.  For some reason, the increased signup bonuses are not working via referral link, but they are still publicly available.  Click the Frequent Miler article below for links to the application pages

• Gold Delta SkyMiles Business card:  70,000 SkyMiles + $50 statement credit after $4,000 spend in 3 mos.  Annual fee $95/yr waived first year
• Platinum Delta SkyMiles Business card:  80,000 SkyMiles + 5,000 MQMs + $100 statement credit after $6,000 spend in 3 mos.  $195 annual fee (NOT waived first year)

Background reading

https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/increased-referral-offers-on-delta-personal-cards/
https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/inceased-delta-biz-offers-now-too/

[DEAL GONE] Detroit to Hawaii $355+ Round Trip Apr 2019 - Feb 2020 on United Airlines

UPDATE: This sale is expired :(

$355+ Detroit to Hawaii Apr 2019 - Feb 2020

Book now and decide later!  PLEASE follow this advice if you are interested in this deal.  This sale could end at any moment.  Flights have a 24-hour free cancellation period after booking.

Too many people wait and try to contact friends and get things arranged and figure out logistics before booking the flights, then come back to book once everything is 'set' and they discover the cheap flights are gone.

Detroit (DTW) to Hawaii:

• From $355 round trip in basic economy
• From $445 round trip in regular economy

To These Hawaiian Airports

• Honolulu (HNL)
• Kona (KOA)
• Lihue (LIH)
• Kahului (OGG)

Context

Christmas timeframe is excluded from this fare sale.  Otherwise, dates are widely available from today through Feb 2020.

This is a great price to Hawaii and includes summer travel.  One- or two-stop flights from DTW.  United does not fly nonstop from DTW to Hawaii.

This is as good or better than Hawaii flights from Toronto, which is usually a much cheaper origin than Chicago or Detroit.

Secret Flying reported this deal on March 28 (though their post is dated March 29).

Search on Google Flights and click through on desired flight to book directly with United.

Google Flights Search - Regular Economy

Selecting one carry-on bag from the search filter eliminates basic economy itineraries from the results

Sat 3/30 - Mon 4/8 $450 (regular economy) - last-minute Hawaii spring break trip for cheap!

Fri 8/23 - Sat 8/31 $445 (regular economy) - summer travel before school starts

Tues 11/19 - Thur 11/28 $445 (regular economy) - Thanksgiving timeframe

Google Flights Search - Basic Economy

Mon 12/30 - Sat 1/11 $393 (basic economy) - New Years week

Fri 1/31 - Sat 2/15 $359 (basic economy)

Background

Secret Flying - Detroit to Hawaii from $355 round trip 

Toronto & Other Canadian Cities to Hawaii $300 or less RT Jan-June 2019

Great Airfares Canada to Hawaii Jan - June 2019

From

• Toronto (YYZ) from $388 CAD ($293 USD)
• Vancouver (YVR) from $293 CAD
• Ottawa (YOW) from $402 CAD
• Montreal (YUL) from $415 CAD

To These Hawaiian Airports

• Honolulu (HNL)
• Kona (KOA)
• Lihue (LIH)
• Kahului (OGG)

Context

Flights to Hawaii are generally cheaper from Toronto (YYZ) than from Detroit or Chicago.  Typical YYZ to Hawaii prices are $400s-$500s round trip, which is quite cheap. 

Secret Flying reported this deal on January 7.  Prices from YYZ as low as $399 CAD, approx $299 USD.  Their post says availability only April 2019, but these cheap prices are showing up now thru much of June 2019.

Google Flights is showing flights as low as $300, but searches on www.skyscanner.ca then booking thru online travel agencies are even cheaper in some cases.

Toronto - Hawaii Google Flights Sample Search $300+ Round Trip

Google Flights June 4 - 17 $331+ USD RT

Google Flights March 28 - April 7 (Spring Break) $337+ USD RT

Google Flights April 2 - April 15 $300+ USD RT

Toronto - Hawaii SkyScanner Flights Sample Search $255+ Round Trip

SkyScanner Flights April 8 - 16 $293+ USD RT

Background

Secret Flying - Toronto to Hawaii from $399 CAD

Secret Flying - Vancouver to Hawaii from $299 CAD

Secret Flying - Ottawa to Hawaii from $402 CAD

Secret Flying - Montreal to Hawaii from $415 CAD

Chicago to Scandinavia $303+ Round Trip Departures Thru Early May 2019

This is cheaper than flying to *Florida* for spring break!

• March/April 2019 flights are wide open from Chicago to Oslo Norway (OSL) and Copenhagen Denmark (CPH).  Other European cities also available for slightly more $
• Prices on Google Flights, with links to book directly with the airlines, are as low as $327.
• Searching on Momondo and booking with smaller online travel agencies, the prices can be as low as $303 to CPH and $310 to OSL.
• Cheapest flights are on Star Alliance carriers - Swiss International Air Lines (Swiss) and Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS).  Some of the fares are even nonstop.
• SkyTeam alliance airlines (e.g. Delta, Air France, KLM) and OneWorld alliance airlines (e.g. American, British Airways) also have fares under $400 as well, with 1 or 2 stops each way.
• At these low prices, many of the flights are basic economy (typically:  checked bags not included, no advance seat assignment, elite status flyers not eligible for complimentary upgrades, etc).
• Regular economy unfortunately costs a LOT more on many of these flights - approx $180 more on SkyTeam.  One of the flights on American Airlines was $260 more in regular economy than basic economy!

How to Get the Deal

Search on Google Flights to find cheap flights based on preferred dates, trip duration, etc.

If you are feeling adventurous, search on Momondo.com and book thru an OTA to save $30-70 vs. booking directly with an airline.

Book now, think later!  You have 24 hours to cancel with no penalty.

Secret Flying reported these deals yesterday, and prices seem to have dropped after they posted, so the cheap seats will be selling out very fast.

Background Information

• Chicago to Oslo Norway from $310 roundtrip
• Chicago to Copenhagen Denmark from $303 roundtrip
• Prices increase to mid $400s after May 8 departures, but the cheap flights are widely available in March and April.  January and February are much more scattered availability at the cheapest prices.

Sample Searches

Google Flights - ORD to OSL/CPH Mon April 1 - Mon April 8

Google Flights - ORD to OSL/CPH Mon Mar 25 - Thurs April 4

Google Flights Price Calendar - 7 day trip

Best Cash Back Credit Cards - late Dec 2018

Cash back credit cards are a dime a dozen.  With so many out there, which one is best?  In response to a friend asking about the best cash back credit card for a small business, today I did some research and came up with what I think are the best cash back credit cards worth signing up for right now.

Referral Links

The Chase Ink Business Preferred is the only card in this post for which I have a referral link.  If you decide to apply for this card, please use my link, as I'll earn 20,000 Chase points when you are approved!  The signup bonus via referral is 80,000 points - same as the public offer on the Chase website.

Chase Ink Business Preferred - referral link

General Comments

• Personal credit cards can be used for business expenses, and vice versa
• Business cards usually have larger signup bonuses than personal cards
• Signup bonuses on cash back credit cards are generally smaller than the signup bonuses on travel points credit cards
• Some cards allow their 'travel points' to be redeemed for cash back (usually at 1 cent per point)...these can be very flexible cards, but not ideal if you plan / want cash back as your rewards currency.  Chase Freedom Unlimited and Chase Ink Business Preferred are two great examples of this rare type of card that's flexible enough to provide the best of both worlds.
• Category bonuses can make a significant difference in the amount of rewards earned via card spend.  Many cards offer 5% cash back in certain categories. If you have expenses that may fall in dining, travel, gasoline, office supply, utilities, grocery...these categories often have category bonuses from various cards.  Some category bonuses are capped on a fairly low amount of quarterly or annual spend.
• How much annual spend do you anticipate?  Some cards have huge signup bonuses based on high initial spend requirements - e.g. Capital One Spark Cash.
• 2% cash back is the best flat rate out there for all spend (regardless of category).  1.5% cash back cards are much more common.
• More than 2% cash back overall is possible, by leveraging category bonuses (which rotate quarterly for some cards, vs. cardholder can choose desired categories for other cards) -- but the spend you'll have may not fit any of these categories.
• Will you need numerous authorized user cards for employees, or just one main card or maybe a second one?  Many business cards offer free employee cards, but some charge for that.

Bottom-Line Advice

• My personal strategy for anyone is to get a new card every year or two.
• The signup bonus from a new cash back card can be as much or nearly as much as the cash back earnings from a year's worth of spend on a card.  E.g. spend $30k a year, earn $450-600 at 1.5%-2% cash back.  A few cash back cards have $400-600 signup bonuses.
• Why not sign up for a new card every year or two, if this strategy could mean earning twice as much cash back as using the same card for several years?

Resources

• CardRatings.com best cash back cards - very good roundup of cash back cards, focused mostly on the good ones
• CompareCards.com Cash Back Cards List - good roundup of cash back cards, though many listed are not great choices
• Doctor of Credit best credit cards for various situations - great page with lists of good cards for people with spending focused in certain categories and other situations
• Frequent Miler best credit card signup offers - one of my favorite travel and credit card blogs.  This page requires some drill-down to find the cash back cards, though.
• CardMatch tool - see if you are targeted for potentially better offers than publicly available offers.    No credit pull.

Recommendations

These are in order, from best to least-best

1. Capital One Spark Cash - 2% cash back on everything.  Huge signup bonus if you can do huge spend.  $500 cash back bonus after $5k in first 3 months.  Additional $1,500 bonus after additional $45k ($50k total) in first 6 months.  Total cash back will be $3k ($2k bonus plus 2% from normal cash back earnings on the $50k spend).  Note, the similar Capital One Spark Miles has similar signup bonus.  $59 annual fee, waived first year.  Capital One Spark Cash - Doctor of Credit    Capital One Spark Cash - Frequent Miler
2. Chase Ink Business Preferred - huge $800 (80,000 Chase UR points, worth 1 cent each if cashed out) cash back sign-up bonus.  Flexibility to use rewards as Chase UR points.  $95 annual fee. Chase Ink Business Preferred - CardRatings.com
3. Discover it cash back - 1% cash back plus 5% rotating quarterly cash back categories.  Cash back in first year is doubled, so 2+% depending whether one earns any cash back from 5% categories.  Only 1% cash back after first year, though.  No annual fee. Discover it cash back - Frequent Miler (Possible to get $50 signup bonus via referral - check this Doctor of Credit page here.)
4. Citi Double Cash.  2% cash back on everything, no annual fee.  No signup bonus.  Good long term card due to flat 2% cash back and no annual fee, but compared with a card that has a $500+ signup bonus, it will take a while to 'break even' with this card instead. Citi Double Cash - Doctor of Credit
5. Capital One Savor Cash Rewards - $500 signup bonus.  Only 1% cash back on most stuff, but 4% on dining and entertainment, 2% grocery.  $95 annual fee waived first year.  Decent card for the signup bonus, but not a great long term card unless spending quite a bit on dining & entertainment.  Savor Cash Rewards - Frequent Miler
6. Chase Freedom Unlimited - 1.5% cash back.  No annual fee.  $200 signup bonus after $500 spend.  Best thing about this card is, if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred, Ink Plus, or Reserve, you can use the earnings from Freedom Unlimited to convert into 1.5 Chase Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spend.  Chase UR points are great, flexible travel points generally considered to be worth about 2 cents each. Chase Freedom Unlimited - Frequent Miler
7. Capital One Spark Cash Select - no annual fee.  1.5% cash back on everything.  $200 cash back bonus after $3k spend in first 3 months.  Capital One Spark Cash Select - Frequent Miler
8. U.S. Bank Cash+ card - interesting twist - cardholder can select the desired bonus categories.  No annual fee.  $150 signup bonus.  5% back on $2,000 worth of combined purchases in two categories that you select quarterly; 2% back in one "everyday" category you select quarterly, such as gas or groceries; 1% back on everything else.  U.S. Bank Cash+ card - Value Penguin
9. U.S. Bank Cash 365 American Express card - $150 cash back after $500 spend in first 90 days.  1.5% unlimited cash back on everything.  No annual fee.  Good first-year card, especially for lower spenders.  E.g. spend $10k in first year.  Total cash back $300, i.e. 3%. U.S. Bank Cash 365 Amex card

100,000 Point Signup Bonus for No Annual Fee Hilton Amex Card

The Deal

Earn 100,000 Hilton points after you spend $1,000 on the Hilton Honors American Express card within the first 3 months.  No annual fee.  (Apply via referral link:  http://refer.amex.us/JASONWjy0r?xl=cp15 )

Bottom Line

• This is one of the better sign-up bonuses you will see for a card with no annual fee.  100,000 Hilton points can yield 2-4 nights at nicer Hilton properties, depending on when and where.  It is possible to find lower tier Hilton properties (Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn, DoubleTree, etc) for 20,000 points per night in certain U.S. areas and thereby get as many as 5 free nights from the signup bonus.  Hilton properties in some overseas countries are as cheap as 7k-10k points per night.  Award Mapper is a useful site to view hotel locations by brand, and the points price per night, for properties all over the world.

To get the 100,000 point offer:

The 100,000 point offer is no longer available as a public offer; it is available only via referral link.  Click my Amex referral link to open in a web browser:  
http://refer.amex.us/JASONWjy0r?xl=cp15

then find the offer for the no annual fee Hilton Amex card:

1. Click the View All Cards with a Referral Offer link near the top of the page
2. Click the Looking for a Personal Card? link
3. Click the Continue to Card Details blue button for the Hilton Honors Card (or the Aspire or Ascend care if interested in those other cards)
4. Click Apply Now
5. Complete the application page

(My referral link will show you a Delta Amex credit card first, but you can apply for any Amex card that has a referral offer.  I will get a referral bonus, and you will get the signup bonus listed.)

This post is focused on the no annual fee Hilton Honors credit card as a great 'starter card' for people who are newer to the points and miles hobby.

If you are interested in the other Hilton American Express cards, feel free to apply for one of those instead.  All four Hilton co-branded Amex cards are offering their best-ever signup bonuses (only via referral, as the public offers have been reduced) at this time:

• Hilton Honors American Express Ascend - 150,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after $3,000 spend in first 3 months.  $95 annual fee
• Hilton Honors American Express Aspire - 150,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after $3,000 spend in first 3 months.  $450 annual fee
• Hilton Honors Business card - 125,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after $3,000 spend in first 3 months.  $95 annual fee
• Hilton Honors card - 100,000 Hilton Honors bonus points after $1,000 spend in first 3 months.  No annual fee

Card Benefits

Many of these benefits are fairly common for credit cards, but this is a pretty solid benefit suite for a no annual fee card.

• No Annual Fee and No Annual Fee for Additional Cards
• Earn 7 Hilton Honors bonus points for each dollar of eligible purchases charged on your Card directly with a hotel or resort within the Hilton Portfolio.‡
• Earn 5 Hilton Honors bonus points per dollar spent at restaurants, supermarkets, and gas stations in the USA
• Earn 3 Hilton Honors bonus points per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases
• No Foreign Transaction Fee - Enjoy international travel without additional fees on purchases made abroad
• Complimentary Silver Status - Enjoy complimentary Hilton Honors Silver status with your Card.  Earn Gold status thru the end of the next calendar year after $20,000 spend on the card in a calendar year.  Silver status isn't worth much, but it's better than nothing.  Gold status is fairly useful (e.g. free continental breakfast for 2 people per room.)
• Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance - Use the card to reserve and pay for the entire eligible vehicle rental and decline the collision damage waiver at the rental car counter to be covered if the car is damaged or stolen. (Coverage not available for vehicles rented in Australia, Italy, and New Zealand. Coverage is secondary, not primary, and does not include liability coverage.)
• Extended Manufacturer Warranty Coverage - Items purchased with the card may get up to two extra years added to original manufacturer's warranty.  (Applies to warranties of 5 years or less. Coverage varies depending on cardholder's location.)
• Phone Damage and Theft Coverage - On eligible purchases, theft and accidental damage to cell phone can be covered by Purchase Protection up to 120 days and $1,000 per occurrence, $50,000 per calendar year.
• 90-day Return Protection - Return Protection coverage may provide a refund within 90 days of eligible item purchase, even if the merchant will not accept the item for return. (Limited to $300 per item and $1,000 per calendar year. Purchases must be made in the U.S. and its territories.)
• Shoprunner - Free 2-day shipping on eligible items at 140+ online stores with free ShopRunner enrollment. (Minimum purchase may be required.)
• Travel Accident Insurance - This can provide coverage for accidental death and dismemberment while traveling on a Common Carrier (e.g. plane, train, ship, or bus) when entire fare was charged to the card
• Global Assist Hotline - 24/7 access to medical, legal, financial or other select emergency coordination and assistance services, including medical and legal referrals, assistance with cash wires, passport replacement, missing luggage and more. Card Members are responsible for the costs charged by third-party service providers
• Entertainment Access - Get exclusive access to ticket presales and Card Member-only events in nearby cities.  Broadway shows and concert tours, family and sporting events, and more
• Pay It Plan It - Two different options to pay down balance. Pay It option - pay small purchase amounts or Plan It - split up large purchases with a fixed fee
• Additional Cards - additional cards are free for anyone age 13+.  Points earnings at same rate and accrue to the primary cardmember's Hilton Honors account.  Adding a child as an authorized user can be a great way to start building positive credit history for a child.
• Fraud Protection - No liability for fraudulent charges made with your American Express Card.  No deductible
• Year-End Summary - Year-End Summary of charges for reviewing annual spending

Public Offer is Not as Good

The current public offer for the Hilton Honors American Express card is 75,000 point signup bonus after $1,000 spend in first 3 months.  LINK.  Use my referral link at top of this post to get the better 100k offer.

How Can I Travel For Free?

In response to a recent question on a blog post about a credit card offer, I decided to take a stab at writing up a very high-level introduction of how airline miles, hotel points, and bank points work as a way to fly, stay, or otherwise travel for free or almost free.

This post is essentially a stream-of-consciousness output, which I will try to refine and improve periodically.

About Credit Cards and Signup Bonuses

• The fastest way to earn large quantities of airline miles, hotel points, or points in other points programs administered by various banks (Citi, Chase, Amex, etc) is by signing up for a credit card and spending the minimum amount required by the bank to earn a signup bonus for that particular card.
• Hundreds of credit cards are available to U.S.-based customers, from several different issuers such as Amex, Citi, and Chase.
• Many credit cards offer signup bonuses in the form of points or miles that are very lucrative -- often $500-600 and sometimes even $1,000 or more.  However, many cards offer mediocre (hello, $20 gift card or free turkey!) or even no signup bonus at all; buyer beware!
• Some credit cards are marketed as personal credit cards and some are marketed as business credit cards.  Regular individuals qualify to apply for and use business credit cards; a business tax ID number is NOT required.  Personal cards are not better or worse than business cards; the existence of both types of cards simply provides more choices for people who are looking to earn more miles and points.  One characteristic of most business credit cards is that most do NOT show up on the person's personal credit report.  This means credit score is not impacted temporarily, as it would be for a personal credit card application.  It also means that other banks do not see the card account on the customer's personal credit report, which may allow the customer to sign up for more cards -- because certain banks restrict card approval based on how many cards a customer has opened recently from ANY card issuer.
• Most credit card signup bonuses require somewhere from $1,000 to $5,000 in purchases during the first 3 or 4 months owning the card.  Some cards require just one purchase.  This varies by card and by offer (example:  one offer for the same card may require $5k spend, while another offer for the same card may require only $3k spend).
• Different signup bonus offers may be available for the same credit card at any one time.  Also, signup bonuses vary over time for the same card.  For example, the Delta Reserve for Business Amex card has a 70,000 mile signup bonus as of a couple weeks ago.  For a few months prior, the signup bonus was 40,000 miles.  Earlier this year, the signup bonus was only 10,000 miles.  When signing up for a new credit card, make sure you are getting a historically good signup bonus!  If you aren't sure, please ask me and I can help!

About Frequent Flyer Miles and Other Travel Points Programs

• Each airline runs its own frequent flyer program.  Instead of paying for a flight with dollars (by booking direct with the airline, or booking thru Expedia or other travel websites), people can 'pay for' flights using airline miles.
• In the same manner, people can pay for hotel room stays using hotel points rather than dollars.  Each hotel chain (Hyatt, Marriott/Starwood, etc) runs its own points program
• Bank points - such as Membership Rewards points from American Express, Ultimate Rewards from Chase, and ThankYou Points from Citi - also can be used to book travel using points instead of using dollars.
• Bank points can be used by logging into the customer's account with the travel portal website that the bank operates.  There, the customer can search for flights, hotels, rental cars, etc - and can book a flight using the points instead of paying with dollars.  Bank points are generally worth 1.25 to 1.5 cents per point - so a $300 flight could be booked by using 20,000 to 24,000 points instead of $300.
• Each airline's frequent flyer program (Delta SkyMiles, American AAdvantage, United Mileage Plus, etc) - and therefore its particular miles 'currency' - is separate.
• Customers cannot transfer miles from one airline program to another.
• Nor can they use miles from one program to book flights on another airline - unless the two airlines have a business arrangement to allow this.  These partnerships and/or alliances are common, but the domestic U.S. airlines do NOT have partnerships with one another.  So you cannot book a flight on an American Airlines plane and pay for it with Delta SkyMiles, for example.
• All points and miles are NOT created equal.  One Delta mile is not worth the same as one Southwest mile.  Likewise, one Hilton point is not worth the same as one Marriott point.  Each company sets up its own pricing structure for how many points or miles it costs to book free flights or free hotel stays.  And there's also an element of personal preference as well; one person may value Delta miles much more highly than another person, if the person has elite status with Delta and lives near an airport where Delta is the most prominent carrier.

Slightly Advanced Topics

• Bank points have another use, which can be confusing to newbies:  they can be converted into miles or hotel points in specific programs.  For example, Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be converted into United Airlines miles.  Chase UR points also can be converted into Hyatt hotel points.  By doing this, the customer then can book free flights with United Airlines, or free rooms with Hyatt hotels, directly with those companies.  This is different than customers using the same bank points to book travel through the bank's travel website.  Having two entirely different ways of using these types of bank points makes these points some of the most flexible and valuable forms of travel currency in the market.
• Reimbursable travel credit cards - Some credit cards that are 'travel rewards cards' work differently.  Examples of these cards are Capital One Venture card and Barclay Arrival Plus card.  The "points" that are earned by spending on these cards are NOT used to book free flights or stays up front; the points are used for reimbursement after the fact for travel that was booked using the credit card.  These cards provide reimbursable travel against travel-related charges (rental cars, flights, hotels, etc) made with the card.  Most cards like this earn "points" or "miles" that provide 2% value on charges.  Signup bonuses are frequently in the range of $500-750 worth of free, reimbursable travel.
• Regarding airline alliances and booking flights with one airline using miles from a different airline's frequent flyer program:  Customers can book a flight operated by one airline using miles in another airline's program.  For example: book a flight on a Lufthansa plane and pay for it with United Airlines miles - because United, Lufthansa, and other airlines such as Air Canada and Singapore Air are part of an alliance - in this case, Star Alliance - that allows customers of one airline to use miles to book flights on flights flown by the other airlines' planes.  These types of alliances exist because it extends the reach of each airline in the alliance and makes the frequent flyer miles of each customer more useful and flexible, regardless of which airline the customer's miles are with.
• Each airline sets its own price - expressed as the number of miles - for an award flight from point A to B.  Most airlines publish an award chart, so customers can get an idea of how many miles it will cost - depending on time of year, availability, and other factors - to fly from A to B, and whether the price they see is a good deal.  So the Lufthansa flight from New York to Munich might be bookable using Lufthansa miles for 30,000 miles each way, but United (a partner of Lufthansa's by virtue of both airlines' membership in Star Alliance) may be charging 40,000 miles each way for booking the same seat on the same Lufthansa flight.
• Customers are free to accumulate and use airline miles in programs that are operated by non-U.S. based airlines.  For example, a customer who flies regularly on United planes in the U.S. may want to accumulate Singapore Air miles.  Singapore Air is a Star Alliance member, along with United, Lufthansa, and others.  Singapore Air miles can be used to book flights on United, Lufthansa, and other planes operated by airlines that are members of the Star Alliance.  And Singapore Air charges fewer miles on many routes than United charges for the same flights - whether on United planes or Lufthansa planes or others.
• A great way to accumulate airline miles in non-U.S. based airline programs is by transferring bank points to the specific airline program.  For example, the Singapore Air  frequent flyer program accepts transfers of points from Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou, and American Express Membership Rewards at a 1:1 ratio (sometimes, transfer bonuses are offered too!).  This means that it is very easy for someone who never flies on Singapore Air to earn many miles in that program by transferring bank points.

Category Bonuses

Category bonuses refers to the concept that different credit cards award more than the standard amount of cash back, miles, or points for a variety of reasons including:

• Shopping in certain categories
• Shopping at certain types of merchants
• Shopping at specific merchants
• Shopping during certain times of the year at certain merchants or merchant categories - aka rotating category bonuses.

Many credit cards earn just 1 mile or point per dollar on spending at grocery stores, while another card offers up to 4.5 points per dollar on the same grocery store spending.  It doesn't take a genius to realize one can accumulate points WAY faster by earning 4.5 points per dollar instead of 1 point per dollar.

Build a Credit Card Portfolio

There is no single credit card that is best for ALL types of spending.  See the Category Bonuses section above for more information.

The best way to get the most earnings from one's total credit card spend is by having a credit card portfolio to earn the most value out of each and every transaction.

An effective credit card portfolio can be as few as 2 cards.  For some folks, it might be 5-6 cards.

Here is an article from the Award Wallet Blog that does a good job of explaining this topic.  LINK.  NOTE:  The article uses the example of a specific points program - Chase Ultimate Rewards - and having people gear all of their credit card spend earnings toward a single program.  It makes a lot of sense to consolidate reward earnings in one or a small number of programs, as it can be easier to redeem the points.  However, this is NOT required and is not necessary.  Many miles and points aficionados earn in dozens of different programs; in fact, it makes sense to have accounts in all major programs so that one can earn rewards in those programs whenever a stay, flight, or other activity pops up for that program.

Other Ways to Earn More Miles and Points

There are many, many ways to earn miles and points.  This section warrants a separate future post, but for now here's some basic information.

If one is willing to put in a little effort, it is possible to earn several thousand additional points or miles per year by leveraging things such as:

• Dining rewards - earn additional miles by enrolling a credit card with an airline's dining rewards program
• Shopping portals - earn miles or points, or substantial cash back, by starting your shopping session at a portal rather than going directly to the merchant's own website.
• Promotions - hotel chains, rental car companies, airlines and other organizations run all sorts of promotions - either separately or in conjunction with other travel partner companies - to incentivize people to use their company's service.  Keeping tabs on, and registering for, these programs on a regular basis is an easy way to earn far more than the average Joe on flights, hotels, and rental car activities.