Step 2: Ready to Play with Miles and Credit Cards?
Some things you'll want to understand as you begin applying for credit cards.
American Express cards have a "once in a lifetime bonus" rule. What that means is you can only earn the bonus on each of their cards one time in your life (so make sure you apply when a bonus is at it's highest or close to it, since you only get one shot!). Remember though, there are lots and lots of Amex credit cards (especially if you are married and your spouse can also apply for each amex card) so this rule isn't really all that "restrictive". For example, my husband and I can each apply for and earn the bonus on the Delta Gold card, AND the Delta Platinum card. Just because you have already had one Delta amex card doesn't mean you can't earn the bonus on a different Delta amex card. HOWEVER, you must work your way up (not down) in order to earn each cards bonus. For example start with Delta Gold, cancel after a year, then later apply for the Delta Platinum, cancel after a year, then later apply for the Delta Reserve. If you start with the highest level card (Delta Reserve) then you'll be ineligible to earn the bonus on the lower level cards (the Delta Platinum and Delta Gold). This rule applies to the Hilton, Marriott, and Amex personal cards too. Recap: You can earn a bonus on EACH and EVERY Amex card, working in order from lowest level cards up to the higher level ones.
American Express cards have a "once in a lifetime bonus" rule. What that means is you can only earn the bonus on each of their cards one time in your life (so make sure you apply when a bonus is at it's highest or close to it, since you only get one shot!). Remember though, there are lots and lots of Amex credit cards (especially if you are married and your spouse can also apply for each amex card) so this rule isn't really all that "restrictive". For example, my husband and I can each apply for and earn the bonus on the Delta Gold card, AND the Delta Platinum card. Just because you have already had one Delta amex card doesn't mean you can't earn the bonus on a different Delta amex card. HOWEVER, you must work your way up (not down) in order to earn each cards bonus. For example start with Delta Gold, cancel after a year, then later apply for the Delta Platinum, cancel after a year, then later apply for the Delta Reserve. If you start with the highest level card (Delta Reserve) then you'll be ineligible to earn the bonus on the lower level cards (the Delta Platinum and Delta Gold). This rule applies to the Hilton, Marriott, and Amex personal cards too. Recap: You can earn a bonus on EACH and EVERY Amex card, working in order from lowest level cards up to the higher level ones.
If you apply for a delta amex card, you will be earning Delta miles that only work on Delta flights. If you apply for a Hilton amex card, you will be earning Hilton points that only work when booking through Hilton's website. If you have a basic "personal" Amex card (the green, gold, or platinum) these earn "membership rewards" points which can be transferred to LOTS of different airlines or hotels. Each card has unique benefits, so I would still recommend applying and taking advantage of the benefits that each card has to offer. Personally I like the personal cards for "permanent" cards in your wallet and using Hilton or Delta type cards as "temporary" to simply earn the bonus to help pay for an upcoming trip.
Chase bank also offers MANY different credit cards. Some that are tied to hotel chains like Marriott credit cards, or airlines like United Airlines, and some of their cards are "personal cards" that earn "ultimate reward" points that can be transferred to many different airlines or hotels. Chase is different than Amex because they will allow you to earn a bonus on a credit card even if you have already had the card and earned the bonus before! Generally speaking you have to have closed the card and your application for the same card must be at least 4 years apart. So technically speaking you could apply for a chase card, cancel a year later, then 3 years later apply again. Chase bank doesn't love it when people do this, but there are many many people who do. The one rule you do need to know with Chase is the 5/24 rule. This rule is explained here.
This website gives great tips for Maximizing Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
This website explains how you transfer Chase points to airlines or hotels.
Along with being able to transfer Chase points to airlines and hotels, you can also book travel using the Chase Portal which is extremely helpful when an airline isn't offering "award seats" on a flight, or when extremely popular hotels can't be booked very easily on points (Bora Bora is an example where the chase portal is much easier to use than finding dates that hotels will let you book their overwater bungalows on points). Click here to learn more about the Chase Portal.
Great Points/Miles Credit cards to Start with:
Amex Gold or Green card - the Gold is a great permanent card (especially if your biggest spend is on groceries and restaurants!)
Delta Cards (Gold and Platinum) -do not keep these as permanent cards
Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve (could keep one as a permanent card)
Capital One Venture Card or Venture X (could keep as a permanent card). Here's more info on these.
Once you have taken advantage of these ones, move on to marriott cards, hilton, american airlines cards, etc. etc.
Annual Fees
I generally recommend going for the cards that have either a very low annual fee or even no annual fee (sometimes cards offer no annual fee for just the first year, then they'll charge a fee once you've hit the one year mark). Once you have taken advantage of the low annual fee cards, you can move onto higher annual fee cards if you really "need" the points. For example, before getting a Delta Reserve card (which costs $550) but can give 75K miles, go for the Delta Gold or Delta Platinum because their fee's are much lower and they give you 75K miles as well. In SOME cases, a high annual fee isn't really that high because of the benefits the card gives you. For example my favorite credit card (the Amex Gold) has an annual fee of $250 which sounds high, but you are able to earn $240 back in credits, so it's really just a $10 annual fee card for me. You can read more about that card and it's credits here. Another example is the Hilton Aspire card which has a high fee ($450), but you get back $250 in credit if you spend that much on the card at a Hilton, and another $250 back in airline credits. So look closely at high annual fees, some of them aren't really as high as they seem and might be worth your consideration!
Ready for STEP 3???
Here are all my credit card referrals - it's your way of thanking me for putting all this information together for you! :)
Chase bank also offers MANY different credit cards. Some that are tied to hotel chains like Marriott credit cards, or airlines like United Airlines, and some of their cards are "personal cards" that earn "ultimate reward" points that can be transferred to many different airlines or hotels. Chase is different than Amex because they will allow you to earn a bonus on a credit card even if you have already had the card and earned the bonus before! Generally speaking you have to have closed the card and your application for the same card must be at least 4 years apart. So technically speaking you could apply for a chase card, cancel a year later, then 3 years later apply again. Chase bank doesn't love it when people do this, but there are many many people who do. The one rule you do need to know with Chase is the 5/24 rule. This rule is explained here.
This website gives great tips for Maximizing Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
This website explains how you transfer Chase points to airlines or hotels.
Along with being able to transfer Chase points to airlines and hotels, you can also book travel using the Chase Portal which is extremely helpful when an airline isn't offering "award seats" on a flight, or when extremely popular hotels can't be booked very easily on points (Bora Bora is an example where the chase portal is much easier to use than finding dates that hotels will let you book their overwater bungalows on points). Click here to learn more about the Chase Portal.
Amex Gold or Green card - the Gold is a great permanent card (especially if your biggest spend is on groceries and restaurants!)
Delta Cards (Gold and Platinum) -do not keep these as permanent cards
Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve (could keep one as a permanent card)
Capital One Venture Card or Venture X (could keep as a permanent card). Here's more info on these.
Once you have taken advantage of these ones, move on to marriott cards, hilton, american airlines cards, etc. etc.
Annual Fees
I generally recommend going for the cards that have either a very low annual fee or even no annual fee (sometimes cards offer no annual fee for just the first year, then they'll charge a fee once you've hit the one year mark). Once you have taken advantage of the low annual fee cards, you can move onto higher annual fee cards if you really "need" the points. For example, before getting a Delta Reserve card (which costs $550) but can give 75K miles, go for the Delta Gold or Delta Platinum because their fee's are much lower and they give you 75K miles as well. In SOME cases, a high annual fee isn't really that high because of the benefits the card gives you. For example my favorite credit card (the Amex Gold) has an annual fee of $250 which sounds high, but you are able to earn $240 back in credits, so it's really just a $10 annual fee card for me. You can read more about that card and it's credits here. Another example is the Hilton Aspire card which has a high fee ($450), but you get back $250 in credit if you spend that much on the card at a Hilton, and another $250 back in airline credits. So look closely at high annual fees, some of them aren't really as high as they seem and might be worth your consideration!
Ready for STEP 3???
Here are all my credit card referrals - it's your way of thanking me for putting all this information together for you! :)
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