FCF’s Play Your Cards Right Cribsheet and Play Your Cards Right Calculator for the Premium Air Traveler

People love choice, and hate making decisions, especially when it comes to credit cards. So many options, so hard to choose. And when you do acquire a little quiver full of plastic, there’s the additional question, Which card to use when?

[aside headline="Who Else This Report Isn’t For" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"] Full-time Coupon Clippers: Those who will spend an hour to save or make $10.

Point Pinchers: The person who has ten cards to cover every spend category bonus (and has time to track the latest, modest changes).

Bank-Currency Bound: Those happily locked-in to bank frequent-flier currencies like Capital One (a big no-no for the premium air traveler), as they are solely focused on coach tickets. Cash-Back

Seekers: Also a big mistake for the premium traveler.

Balance Carriers: If you don’t pay off your charges monthly, the PYCR Upgrade Game is not for you, given the interest fees you’ll pay.

Credit-Card Churners: People who get credit cards for the sign-up bonus only; that’s a different story.

Those Living Outside the U.S.: You have similar opportunities, but the cards and partnerships are different, so use this as a conceptual guide. One good place to start is American Express Membership Rewards.

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This special report addresses both questions by suggesting ways to impose discipline on yourself: Commit to choosing and using your cards for one thing only: upgrading.

Because upgrading the air-travel experience nets a far higher Return-On-Miles than any other redemption option (e.g. typical ROM for economy class travel and TVs is generally 1¢ to 2¢, whereas with premium air travel it’s easily 5¢ to 10¢+).

So Hard to Choose

The so-hard-to-choose dilemma becomes the so-easy-to-choose delight once you know which cards to carry purely for the purpose of using the points earned by card spending for booking premium air travel. Choosing the right credit card (or cards) for everyday spending requires you to know the cards earning and volume of redemption opportunities in light of your travel and spending patterns.

The cards that better suit the economy class traveler are likely not the ones for those seeking free hotel nights, and certainly are NOT the ones for those seeking long-haul Business and First Class upgrade opportunities.

Different horses for different courses.

Chase Too Many Rabbits, Risk Catching None

This report is NOT about getting cards for airport lounge access, car-rental insurance, airline/hotel elite status, free hotel nights, economy class air travel, sign-up bonuses, two-for-one programs, or cash-back incentives. The point of this report is to maximize upgrade opportunities for the serious Business and First Class traveler, meaning those who won’t fly coach and don’t want to pay full-price for premium, and who can amass the necessary points through every day credit-card spending. Any additional perks that result are frosting on the cake.

Upgrading Starts with Having Options: Options Start with Multi-Airline-Currency Cards (MACs)

MACs are what FCF had been recommending long before they became popular, because they offer points that can be transferred to more than one airline—and as many as 44!

While there’s no single best card for everyone, the card that offers the most points with the most options is almost always the best. If you embrace FCF’s Upgrade Mindset, then the credit-card universe shrinks to the cards that offer “Super Currencies” and the biggest earning opportunities.

Top Four Super Currencies

• American Express Membership Rewards points; 18 airline partners.
• Chase Ultimate Rewards points; 6 airline partners.
• Citibank Thank You points; 11 airline partners.
• Starwood Star points; 44 airline partners.

[aside headline="Super Currency Cards Expand Upgrade Horizons: Delta as an Example" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]If you’re a Sky Miles loyalist who travels to Europe, wants to fly Business Class, wants to earn Delta MQM credit, and wants to use Delta miles in order to cut the fare in half or more, you know by now that that this is NOT possible because Delta requires you upgrade from an M or B fare, which generally start at $3,000+. So Delta miles carry very little value for reducing the cost of premium long-haul travel that earns MQMs. But you can use Virgin Atlantic milesearned using a Multi-Airline Credit Card—to upgrade a significantly lower economy fare while still earning Delta MQMs. Virgin Atlantic offers much better availability, too, generally speaking. Other carriers that offer good upgrades and Delta MQMs: Alitalia, Air France, KLM, and Virgin Australia. Download the partner chart.[/aside]

Six Top Multi-Airline Credit Cards

Here’s the Multi-Airline Cards that offer the best every day spend bonuses and work best for the premium air traveler in our estimation.

American Express Everyday Preferred Card

Spend Bonuses: 3x for supermarket spending (up to $6,000 annually); 2x for gas; 1x for everything else. Use the card 30+ times in a billing period, however, and get a 50% bonus. Also, keep in mind that Membership Rewards (MR) offers periodic transfer bonuses—30% to 50%—with airlines such as British Airways, Delta, and Virgin.

American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card

Spend Bonuses: 3x for flights booked directly with airlines; 2x for gas and supermarkets; 1x for all other purchases. See note on Amex MR periodic transfer bonuses.

(June 1 changes: no foreign transaction fees and 2x for dining.)

American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Card

Spend Bonuses: up to 5x points at Starwood Hotels (2x from Amex, 2x from Starwood; and 1x bonus for Gold or Platinum members); 1x points for other purchases. PLUS: a 25% bonus when transferring in 20,000-point increments.

Chase Ink Plus Business

Spend Bonuses: 5x for office-supply-store purchases, and phone, the Internet, and cable TV expenses (up to $50,000 annually); 2x for gas and hotels ($50,000 annual limit); 1x on other purchases. PLUS: a 7% annual bonus (that ends this year). Yes, it is a Business Card, but almost anyone can get it.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

Spend Bonuses: 2x on travel (including airfare, hotels, cruises, rental cars, train tickets, taxis, and tolls) and restaurants (even fast food); 1x on other purchases. PLUS: a 7% annual bonus (that ends this year).

Citi Thank You Premier Card

Spend Bonuses: 3x on airfare, gas, hotels, cruises, car rental, bookings via travel agencies, parking, taxis, railways, and tolls; 2x for restaurants and entertainment (includes Netflix, iTunes, sporting event tickets, movies, and concerts); 1x on everything else. This updated program starts April 19.

N.B. Another Reason to Like Citi Thank You Points: It’s rapidly expanding its airline partner portfolio. Quantas came on board on Feb. 22. That makes 11 airlines in seven months— the card is a comer. If it’s a choice between Chase and Citi, I will go with Citi as Chase has only come up with six partners in more than six years.

FCF’s Play Your Cards Right Cribsheet

Spend Categories & Bonuses:

Keep in Mind the Various Upgrade Dimensions That Super Currencies Support

Dimension #1: Free Award Option

Transfer Partner Breadth and Quality

Starwood gives you 734% more transfer options than Chase Ultimate Rewards; 440% more than Citibank ThankYou; and 240% more than Amex Membership Rewards. See more on airline-partnerships-by-program in FCF reports here and here. Super Currencies also protect you against Loyalty Program Devaluations—which seem to be occurring frequently at the moment. (i.e. Chase’s top two partners—British Airways and United—lost much value recently.)

Dimension #2: Upgrade Award Options

Best Cards for Upgrade Option Anomalies

Say you want to upgrade a transcon flight, or any flight, to or from anywhere—yes, to or from anywhere; think you’ll have the same number of options available to you (in terms of upgradeable fares and availability) across the board if you only have 11 airlines to transfer to as opposed to 18?

See our special reports on domestic upgrade discrepancies; upgrading to First Class between North America and Europe on Oneworld carriers; upgrading to Business and First Class between North America and Asia with One world; upgrading to Business Class between North America and Asia with U.S. carriers; upgrading between U.S. and Canada on U.S. carriers; upgrading to Business Class between U.S. and Europe; and between the Continental U.S. and Hawaii.

[aside headline="How Anyone Can Get a Business Credit Card" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]FCF’s survey results show that almost half of its members are business owners—so there’s nothing extra for you to do to get one of these cards. For non-business owners in California, registering a sole proprietorship is as little as $65 and can be done in less than an hour online (and avoids misleading the card issuer with other workaround tactics). It’s my understanding that most states are similar to California—so depending on your spend levels, for the Business Cards in our top six, specifically Chase Ink—this can take relatively no effort to qualify.[/aside]

Dimension #3: Huge Award-Chart Anomaly Discount

Best Cards for Award Chart Anomalies

No one has done more to uncover amazing premium air travel cost reductions over the last 18 years than FCF, and a big part of that is explaining how to not only leverage MACs, but do so through airline partners with big discrepancies in mileage-ticket costs. (Which is why Starwood has been at the top of our list for so long.)

Refer to FCF’s special reports on award chart anomalies that get two and three-for-ones between North America and the Caribbean and Mexico; Business Class for LESS THAN the price of coach between the U.S. and Europe; between the U.S. and London in First Class for Less than Business Class; Business Class for only 12,000 miles more than coach to Japan and South America; and getting near-free upgrades between the U.S. and Europe with Star Alliance.

For me, these go a long way in making up for Star wood’s lack of bigger spend- category-bonuses.

[aside headline="You’re Married, But Not on Your Card" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]Many cards have bonus limits. While the Chase Ink card gives you 5x points per dollar on office supplies, for example, that’s capped at $50,000 annually. If you and your spouse have separate cards, however, you have, in effect, doubled the bonus opportunity. Same goes with sign-up bonuses; never “add” someone to your account without good reason—have the person get his own card to reap accordingly.[/aside]

Dimension #4A: Availability

What Matters Most

The MAC advantage can’t be overstated because airlines can be generous or stingy, as it suits them. Recently, American, which usually offers okay availability, has become extremely stingy, but is now going back to its old self. I say, fly when Premium Seats are there for the taking.

Dimension #4B: Availability of First Class With Partners

Avoid Lock-In to Blocked-Out First Class

This is huge. Why value United miles (Mileage Plus cards are widely used and are a key Chase Ultimate Rewards partner) if you can’t even book First Class on many of United’s key partners, such as Lufthansa (only within 14 days of departure) and Singapore. But First Class on these carriers is easily attained through Starwood Star points.

Dimension #5: Transfer Time

What Matters Most to Single-Trip Travelers

For specific times—with all four Super-Point Currencies— refer to FCF’s Miles Accumulation Ratings for Sky Team airlines and for One world airlines, (Star Alliance airlines coming soon). This is the downside to Starwood Star points, and must be considered in light of how you fly and where and how you store miles.

Dimension #6: Reservation Hold Time

Can Offset Transfer-Time Risk

Hold times range from none to 14 days.

[aside headline="No Single-Card-Lock-In Think, Either" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]

If you spend $50k a year on office supplies and/or Internet and phone service, for example, how can you pass up Chase Ink card’s 5-points-per dollar bonus? (If you don’t spend close to that, the card is not for you.) In the same way, the person who spends heavy on air travel will likely want an Amex Premier Gold card or a Citi Premier card. Similarly, if you’re not netting a very high Return-On-Miles, and spend much time out of the U.S., you’ll want a card that doesn’t incur foreign transaction fees.

One good rule of thumb: The more you spend, the more cards you should have to match with the spend. If you spend modestly, the bonus opportunities will not outweigh the effort of getting a lot of cards.

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Dimension #7: Minimizing Award Taxes

The More Options with Lower Taxes, the Better, Right?

Award taxes vary greatly from one airline to another, say from $50 to $1,200. Navigate your way through this maze by knowing the low-tax options.

Crib Sheet Calculator

Let’s look at one simple scenario, in the chart below, for “Mr. X” who will spend $120,000 a year on credit card(s)—enough to net nearly two long-haul premium tickets annually if he plays his cards right (almost double that for domestic). Download the Play Your Cards Right Calculator to see how the numbers look for your personal spend patterns.

Here’s another way I like to think about the question: how many cards to carry?

Decide how many dollars of increased value you need from each extra card you are considering getting. Say to yourself, “I need $[fill in your number here] of incremental value from having the extra card to make it worth the trouble.” $500 or $5,000—you decide.

FCF’s Play Your Cards Right Calculator Example

Mr. X’s Annual Category-Spend Guestimates

Spend Categories & Bonuses:

Multi-Airline Credit Cards (MACs) Cheat Sheet