Questions and Answers

Have a travel related question? Post it here, and I’ll do my best to answer it as quickly as possible.

While anyone can comment on regular blog post, registration is required in order to post a question in this space. Creating your account is free, and you'll be able to see when your question is answered, as well as like comments from other users. And of course, you'll earn status points for offering helpful answers!

This space is intended to be more of a community as well, so please jump in and share tips!

Filter by:

QR Lite Fare – Lounge Access

Can you help?
0

Trans Atlantic

Can you help?
0

Arkia in Beirut?!

Can you help?
0

Ticket Expiration Policy

Can you help?
0

Air France

Can you help?
0

Global Entry Application Question

Can you help?
0

Emirates miles

Can you help?
0

Canceled flight recompensation

1

EK DXB – JED

Can you help?
0

BA status

1

Ask a Question

Everyone can read and comment, but you must login to post a new comment.

Answers (3)

Best credit card for an upcoming trip

Best credit card for an upcoming trip

  1. Anonymous Guest

    Hello!

    Would appreciate any help I can get. I have an upcoming family trip (family of 14!) and will be paying first for everyone’s flights, hotels and car rentals. I hope to take full advantage of this and gets some miles/points 🙂 We will be flying Hawaiian Air and most likely staying in Marriott. If I am trying to plan another trip to Central America or the Caribbean in early August (not sure of exact destination yet), which card will be the best for rewards? I already have Chase Sapphire & Unlimited as well as United Mileage Plus Explorer Card. I am debating between Barclay Arrival Plus, Marriott Premier Rewards, or Ritz Carlton card (as latter two both get better rewards for staying at Marriott hotel?) Also heard great things about the SPG cards but would that make sense if we’re not staying at SPG hotels?

    Thanks so much!

  2. MidSouthSkier Community Ambassador

    The great thing about the SPG card is the number of transfer partners and the fact that with most of its airline partners if you transfer 20K points at one time, you’ll end up with 25K airline miles. The bad thing about the SPG card is that there are no bonus categories except for SPG hotels.

    One of the critical questions to answer before a big expense like this is “how do I want to use the miles/points I am going to earn?”. If you can iron out some details about your Central America/Caribbean trip, that will help drive the answer as to which card to use.

    “In general” AA is very strong in those regions. But if you live near a DL or UA hub then AA might not be the best way to get you there.

    So if you can flesh out those future vacation plans a little more, that will help clear up the picture, I think. Once you do that, if you still have questions, please let us know.

  3. PhatMiles Member

    Do you have an estimate of the entire charges you are going to make on your card(s)?
    If the amount is substantial like 5K+ or so (I assume it will be, since it is a gang of 14) I would certainly look in to multiple cards since meeting the minimum spend is a breeze.
    If you steer that direction, start with Chase [URL=’http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2016/03/18/getting-approved-for-chase-cards/’]if you are eligible under the 5/24 rule[/URL].

    I would look at the following:
    Chase Marriott 80K bonus card
    Chase Ink (In branch 70K offers available). If you go the extra mile, buy Marriott GCs at 5X stores and pay to score an even bigger bonus.
    As [USER=184]@MidSouth Skier[/USER] said, SPG is a winner.

    There are rumors about a potential Amex Plat 100K return. If that surfaces, it is awesome too. Pair that with 3 additional cards ($175 for the 1st 3) and you are looking at lounge access for almost all 14.

    You don’t have a ton of cards making your option array really wide. I would not say Citi cards because your future trip details are not clear at this moment.

    Any way, this looks like an excellent opportunity to score some sign up bonus.
    Good luck!

Sign in to help answer questions.