Travel Rewards Credit Cards Survey 2009

There are more types of reward credit cards that cater to travelers than other types of credit cards. Choosing the right travel rewards credit card is one of the most confusing undertakings. If you are a frequent flier, you can get an airline credit card. If you are a frequent guest member, you can get a hotel credit card. Many credit card reward programs also have travel rewards and we are going to explore these programs and cards here.

In this survey, we examined the travel reward (particularly airline rewards) of 9 credit card reward programs. But we also looked at 26 reward credit cards and looked at their reward formula. Here are our findings in the following order.

Recommended Travel Credit Credit Cards

Credit cards for travel rewards are really the most difficult recommendations to make because they depend on so many factors. Below are our recommendations for different situations.

For those who do not really travel, but use their credit card often and want to do their own travel bookings to find the best deal

The Miles by Discover® Card is a card for those who do not want to be tied down by the usual credit card reward program restrictions such as having to book 14 or 21 days in advance, or having to stay a saturday night. With this card, you can use your own travel agent (online or offline) to book your airline tickets, hotel, cruise or car rentals. You then simply use the miles you have earned to get a statement credit. This card will suit those who do not really travel a lot but take the occasional family holiday.

If you spend a lot on your card and you want to earn more miles for travel, then the Escape by Discover® Card will fit the bill better than the miles card. You can earn Double Miles on everything that you charge to the card. You can book your own travel items (ie find your best deals) without any restrictions like having to stay a Saturday night, booking 21 days in advance, no stopovers etc. You can also earn unlimited miles. The $60 annual fee is a small price to pay for the convenience and flexibility compared to traditional airline credit cards.

Frequent Flyers who are members of a few different programs - You are also savvy in using your miles and plan your trips way in advance

The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card is one of the most popular credit cards among the really frequent fliers and travelers. This is because it has probably the best hotel reward program, but also allows you to transfer points you earn (at a one for one ratio) into miles of over 30 airline partners. Furthermore, you get a 5,000 airmiles bonus if you transfer 20,000 points into miles. Effectively, you only need 20,000 points or miles to get a free domestic flight (since most require 25,000 miles!). Many American Express Centurion and Platinum cardholders also carry this card. The $45 annual fee makes this card a great bargain even if you do not stay at any Starwood Hotel.

3 Ways To Redeem Points

In our survey of the credit card reward programs, we found that they were three main ways that one can redeem reward points for airline flights.

Exchange Points for Flight with Program - This is the traditional way in which credit card reward programs operated. For example, most programs allow you to use 25,000 points or miles to redeem a round trip domestic flight within the continental USA. You have to book the flights with the credit card company (no shopping around for the cheapest deals). There are also several restrictions like

You have to book 21 days in advance

You must stay a Saturday night

Tickets must be non-refundable

Your stay can only be 30 day max

There is usually a ticket price cap

Book Your Own Travel Arrangements - Use Points or Miles to get credit - The disadvantages of the traditional points for flight arrangement was that you have to book through the credit card program's travel agent and you may not get the exact flight you want. These days, more programs are giving cardholders the flexbiliy to book their own travel arrangements through any means (online or off-line). This gives you the flexibility to search for the best deal and potentially save on your points or miles. Examples including Capital One No Hassle Miles Card, the Miles from Discover® Card.

Transfer Points to Frequent Flyer Miles - Some reward programs allow you to transfer points to air miles. For example, the Membership Program from American Express allows you to transfer points to air miles over over 17 airlines. The Starwood Preferred Guest Program allows members to exchange points for miles at 30 airline partners (most at one for one ratio). They even give you 5,000 bonus miles if you convert 20,000 points!

Understanding how you wish to redeem your points and using a reward program that matches the way you operate is a necessary step to determine which program will work best for you. Below is a credit card reward program comparison table.

Credit Card Reward Program Comparison Table

Reward Program	Flights Through Program	Points For Own Booking	Points For Frequent Flier Miles
Capital One	12,500 Miles - Up to $150 25,000 Miles - $150.01 to $350.00 50,000 Miles - $350.01 to $600.00 100 X Travel Cost - More than $600.00	12,500 Miles - Up to $150 25,000 Miles - $150.01 to $350.00 50,000 Miles - $350.01 to $600.00 100 X Travel Cost - More than $600.00	n.a.
Membership Rewards	10,000 points = $100 in ticket value if purchased through American Express		Delta Skymiles Iberia Plus JetBlue True Points Frontier Alitalia Mille Miglia Virgin Atlantic AirTran Air Canada Aeroplan SwissAir Hawaiian Airlines Singapore Airlines Krisflyer Mexicana Frecuenta Miles El Tel MidMat Points Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong and Canada Qantas to Australia and New Zealand
Discover Miles		Book Own Flights - Use Miles at 10,000 for $100
ThankYou Rewards	Flights have to be redeemed with ThankYou, who use Expedia.com. 100 points for $1 in travel.
Chase
WorldPoints	25,000 pts - Continental US (roundtrip) - up to $400 35,000 pts - Canada, Mexico, Panama - up to $600 45,000 pts - Alaska, Hawaii, Caribbean, Bermuda, Bahamas - up to $600 60,000 pts - Europe - up to $800 85,000 pts - International - up to $1150 100,000 additional pts for First Class Upgrade	Flex Air - Book own flights - 100 pts for $1 in travel cost.
Wells Fargo Rewards	25,000 pts - Continental US or Alaska - up to $500 40,000 pts - Domestic or International - up to $800 50,000 pts - Domestic or International - up to $1,000
National City Rewards		25,000 Miles for a monetary credit to your Account up to a maximum ticket price of $315.00. You will receive an additional credit of fifty dollars ($50.00) for each additional five thousand (5,000) Miles you redeem, up to the total cost of the airline ticket purchases.

Features of Travel Rewards Credit Cards

Once you have decided on the reward program, you then have to pick the best travel rewards credit card that has that program to help you earn maximum points. These are some of the things you have to look out for.

Points Formula - This is very important in determining how many points you can earn. Many allow you to earn one point for every dollar you spend on the card. Some cards like allow you to spend double miles on every purchase or on certain items. Some cards have gotten very innovative. For example, the Citi® PremierPass(SM) Card allows you to earn points from the spending on your card and also from the miles you fly!

Caps on Points - You also want to be aware of any caps on points that you are allowed to earn. Caps aren't necessarily bad if you do not spend above the limit.

Reward Points Expiry - Some reward programs have points that do not expire while some expire after a few years. Be sure to check this out.

Annual Fee - Many reward cards have no annual fee. However, the ones that allow you to earn more points generally charge an annual fee. Very often, a really frequent flyer will find the annual fee worth paying for because of the extra miles earned and the reward program.

By now, you should have a good idea on which reward program will suit you, it is time to choose a specific card. Below is a list of all the reward cards that we have studied and we have put the key features side by side for easy comparison. Good Luck!

List of Travel Rewards Credit Card

Card	Reward Formula	Intro Bonus	Caps on Rewards	Rewards Expiration	Annual Fee
Capital One® No Hassle Points(SM) Rewards	# 5 points per dollar spent at gas stations, major grocery and drug stores # 1 point for every dollar spent on other purchases	0% APR on purchases for 6 months	Earn Unlimited Rewards	No Caps	No Annual Fee
Capital One® No Hassle Points(SM) Rewards - Excellent Credit	# Earn 2 points per dollar spent at gas stations, major grocery and drug stores # 1 point for every dollar spent on other purchases	0% APR on purchases for 12 months	Earn Unlimited Rewards	No Caps	No Annual Fee
Capital One® No Hassle Miles(SM) Rewards	# Earn 2 miles for each dollar of monthly spending above $1,000 # 1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases	0% APR on purchases for 12 months	Earn Unlimited Rewards	No Caps	No Annual Fee
Capital One® No Hassle Miles(SM) Ultra—For Professionals	Earn double miles - 2 miles per dollar spent on all purchases	0% APR on purchases for 12 months	Earn Unlimited Rewards	No Caps	$39
Capital One® No Hassle Miles(SM) Rewards - Good Credit	Earn 25% more than regular mileage cards with 1.25 miles for each dollar spent on purchases	0% APR on purchases for 12 months	Earn Unlimited Rewards	No Caps	$0
Capital One® No Hassle Points(SM) Rewards - Excellent Credit	# Earn 2 points per dollar spent at gas stations, major grocery and drug stores # 1 point for every dollar spent on other purchases	0% APR on purchases for 12 months	Earn Unlimited Rewards	No Caps	$0
Capital One® Orbitz® Visa® Platinum - Average	# 3 points per $1 spent on eligible Orbitz.com bookings plus bonus points on eligible bookings # 1 point per $1 spent on regular purchases	0% APR on purchases for 6 months	Earn Unlimited Rewards	No Caps	$0
Capital One® Orbitz® Visa® Platinum - Good	# 3 points per $1 spent on eligible Orbitz.com bookings plus bonus points on eligible bookings # 1 point per $1 spent on regular purchases	n.a.	Earn Unlimited Rewards	No Caps	$0
Capital One® Orbitz® Visa® Signature	# 3 points per $1 spent on eligible Orbitz.com bookings plus bonus points on eligible bookings # 1 point per $1 spent on regular purchases	n.a.	Earn Unlimited Rewards	No Caps	$0
Blue Sky from American Express®	# Earn 1 point for every dollar you spend # Points good on any airline, hotel, car rental and more.	# 0% Intro APR for up to 12 months on purchases # Low Balance Transfer APR - 2.99% for 12 months	Earn Unlimited Rewards	No Caps	$0
American Express® Preferred Rewards Gold Card	Earn 1 Membership Rewards® point for virtually every dollar you spend	Earn 10,000 Membership Rewards® bonus points when you spend $500 in 3 months	Earn Unlimited Rewards	No Caps	No annual fee for the first year - $125 Thereafter
Platinum Credit Card	Earn 1 Membership Rewards® point for virtually every dollar you spend	Earn 25,000 Membership Rewards® bonus points when you spend $1,000 in 3 months	Earn Unlimited Rewards	No Caps	$450
Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card	Transfer Starpoints® — almost always on a 1:1 basis — to the frequent flyer	Earn up to 25,000 Starpoints®	Earn Unlimited Rewards	No Caps	No annual fee for the first year - $45 Thereafter
Miles by Discover® Card	# Double Miles on food and travel, up to $3,000 each year # 1 Mile for every $1 you spend	n.a.	Earn Unlimited Rewards	No Caps	$0
Citi PremierPass® Card - Elite Level	# arn 2 points for every dollar spent on everyday purchases and 1 point for all other purchases* # Earn 1 point for every mile you fly on any airline* # Earn 1 point for every mile friends and family fly on tickets purchased with your card*	20,000 bonus points after $600 in purchases made within 3 months of account opening	Earn Unlimited Rewards	No Caps	$75
Elite Rewards World Mastercard	Earn 1 point for every dollar spent	Earn 500 bonus points with your first qualifying purchase	7,500 points a month	4 Years	$0
Bank of America® Accelerated Rewards American Express® Card	Earn 1.25 points for every dollar spent	0% APR for 12 months	Earn unlimited rewards	5 Years	$0
Bank of America Visa Signature® WorldPoints™ Rewards	Earn 1 point for every dollar spent	0% APR for 12 months	Earn unlimited rewards	5 Years	$0
Bank of America World MasterCard® with WorldPoints™	Earn 1 point for every dollar spent	0% APR for 12 months	Earn unlimited rewards	5 Years	$0
Bank of America WorldPoints Platinum Plus Mastercard	Earn 1 point for every dollar spent	0% APR for 12 months	Earn unlimited rewards	5 Years	$0
Chase Travel Plus Platinum Visa®	Earn 2 points for every dollar spent	0% APR for 12 months	Earn up to 5,000 points per month or 60,000 per year	5 Years	$0
Wells Fargo Visa® Platinum Card	Earn 1 point for every dollar spent	0% APR for 9 months	Earn up to 60,000 points per year	n.a.	$19
National City Bank Travel Rewards Visa	Earn 1 point for every dollar spent	0% APR for 6 months	Earn up to 60,000 points per year	4 years	$0
PNC Select Rewards Visa® Platinum	Earn 1 point for every dollar spent	n.a.	Earn unlimited Points	n.a.	$0
PNC Visa® Signature Rewards Card	Earn 1 point for every dollar spent	n.a.	Earn unlimited Points	n.a.	$75, waived upon $20,000 in purchases