Deals of the Day
1. Last Minute Gifts: Order American Express Gift Cards online in time for the holidays.
2. Discover More Card: 5% to 20% Cashback bonus, 12 month 0 APR balance transfer, and no annual fee (review | apply)
3. WTDirect Savings Account: Up to 3.06% and FDIC Insured to $250,000.
Travel Rewards Credit Cards
A travel reward credit card can literally pay for or greatly reduce the cost of your next vacation. Travel rewards Last year allowed my family to fly to Guatemala on points earned on our American Express card. This summer, my wife is taking a trip to meet friends from college, and the airline ticket was paid for with an airline reward credit card. In 2005 we paid for tickets to London with a travel rewards credit card. We’ve literally saved thousands of dollars on vacations from reward programs, so I thought I’d share with you some of the best travel reward credit cards available.
UPDATE: I’ve recently added Citibank credit cards, and they offer some great travel rewards credit cards. The Citi PremierPass is one of the great options offered by Citibank. Here are the details:
For my money, the Starwood Preferred Guest card is one of the absolute best travel rewards credit cards. Currently you earn 10,000 Starpoints on your first purchase. That alone is enough for up to 3 free nights at a category 1 or 2 Starwood hotels such as the Sheraton, W Hotel or the Westin. If you spend $15,000 on the card in the first six months, you’ll earn another 15,000 Starpont bonus. And you can transfer the points (usually on a 1:1 basis) to over 30 airline miles programs. And to top it off, there is no annual fee for the first year.
At first glance the Miles Discover credit card is just your ordinary travel card. Earn one point for every $1 in purchases and double miles for up to $3,000 in travel and restaurant purchases ever year. But this card has some interesting advantages. You can book travel with no blackout dates or restrictions. You can earn unlimited miles that never expire. You can redeem points to travel rewards or cash beginning with just 1,000 points. And best of all, there is no annual fee.
If you’re looking for an airline miles card, the Platinum Delta SkyMiles credit card is one of the best. After your first purchase, you’ll earn 20,000 bonus SkyMiles, including 5,000 Medallion Qualification Miles). You’ll earn double miles on purchases at most grocery stores, home improvement stores and gas stations. The miles never expire. And you can start redeeming SkyMiles when you’ve accumulated just 10,000.
The Chase TravelPlus Visa Card offers two great features in one card. First, you earn 2 miles for every $1 spent on travel purchases and 1 point on everything else. You can redeem the points for airline tickets, cash or gift cards. You can earn an unlimited number of points and there are no blackout dates or seat restrictions applied. Second, you get a 0% APR for 12 months on purchases and balance transfers. You can also check out my page on other great 0% balance transfer cards.
Bonus Card
As a bonus, I thought I’d mention the Blue Sky card by American Express. With Blue Sky you earn points on everything you buy, and can redeem the points with airlines, hotels, car rentals and even cruises. You’ll receive up to $100 off for every 7,500 points. There are no blackout dates or restrictions, no annual fees, and you even get 0% APR for the first six months on purchases.
So there you have it. Five of the best travel reward credit cards plus one bonus card. I’ve used some of these and others to travel for free, and you can’t beat free when it comes to smarter money management.
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This just shows that if you’re intentional with your finances you can make the most of what you get for free. I love Guatemala. I was there last summer as well. Great people….
At this point, we probably would take years to get enough points to redeem. But depending on how we manage our finances in the future, I’ve thought about it. We’ll see.
Interesting post! I wrote recently how badly I managed my United miles credit card. Perhaps in the future, once I’m permanently out of debt, I’ll think about taking advantage of these types of offers.
Prime Time Money hosted the 156th Carnival of Personal Finance, and included this post. You can read all of the great articles included in the carnival at http://ptmoney.com/2008/06/09/the-156th-carnival-of-personal-finance-songs-of-summer/