If you are in the miles and points game, you travel whenever you can. While that isn’t right now, it will hopefully be soon.
That means you should have a card with a good general Travel category bonus.
Cards with specific travel sub-categories are great, and we love those, too – but most of us want a foundational credit card that bonuses all travel spend.
For many of us, the Citi ThankYou Premier card was that card. Or at least, one of those cards. But that will be going away.
So, which card or cards should take its place in your wallet?
Well, there is no exact replacement out there, so we will have to make compromises.
In this article
What Credit Cards Offer an “All Travel” Bonus Category?
There are three cards that still offer 3x transferable points on general travel to choose from:
Annual Fees and True Cost For Each Travel Credit Card
The Citi Premier charges $95 per year in annual fees. The Chase Ink Business Preferred matches that, also costing $95. Amex Green comes in a close second at $150 per year. However, the Chase Sapphire Reserve costs $550.
Both the Amex Green and the Chase Sapphire Reserve offer you credits to help offset your annual fee. The Chase Ink Preferred does not.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve offers you $300 in the form of statement credits rebating the first $300 worth of travel spend, with the caveat that you do not get points for that first $300 in spend, either. This is simple and easy to use. You will almost certainly use this credit without even trying, just by using this card for travel purchases as it was intended. (The downside is the loss of points on $300 worth of spend every year.) This means the effective annual fee is $250 plus 900 points.
The Sapphire Reserve also offers you $100 once every four years for Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check, and a free membership to Priority Pass. The Priority Pass could definitely save you money at the airport, but quantifying exactly how much depends on how you use it.
The Amex Green, in true Amex fashion, has more difficult perks to use. You get up to $100 in LoungeBuddy credits, which are rebated up to the maximum amount when and if you buy entry into a LoungeBuddy lounge using your card. You also get a $100 CLEAR credit, which rebates the CLEAR fee when and if you purchase CLEAR each year. If you actually use the full amount of these two credits, then the effective fee is actually -$50, meaning that they pay you to keep the card. Realistically, though, it seems unlikely that most people will max out these credits every year.
What “Travel” Means as a Bonus Category
That said, what each card will do for you in terms of travel bonuses is the most important thing. All three cards give you 3x on Travel, but what counts as Travel for the purpose of earning a bonus, is not the same.
Here, I will break down exactly what each card says is travel, according to the written terms and conditions. (Note that from time to time, something may not exactly line up with what the card says.)
First, these are the travel categories that ALL THREE cards agree are travel – meaning that you will get your 3x travel points regardless of which card you use:
- Airfare (airlines)
- Hotels (includes Motels)
- Cruises
- Car Rentals
- Campgrounds
- Trains
- Taxis
- Buses
- Ferries
- Tolls
- Parking
In the similar but different category, where these things are mentioned differently enough that there could be effective differences in implementation (but probably aren’t):
- Rideshare Services
- Amex specifically mentions all rideshare services
- Chase offers 10x on Lyft for the Sapphire Reserve and 5x on Lyft for the Ink Preferred
- Chase’s terms absolutely do not mention any other ridesharing services as being considered travel; however, in practice, people have received the 3x for ridesharing services in the past
- Travel Agencies and 3rd Party Travel Websites
- Amex includes travel purchases on third party travel websites, and travel purchases on amextravel.com
- Chase includes travel agencies and discount travel sites
- In theory, these two categories are essentially the same thing in different wording; in practice, there may be cases where some agency codes as travel for one card and not the other
Things that only Amex Green considers travel:
- Subways
- Tours
Things that only Chase cards (both the Sapphire Reserve and the Ink Preferred) considers travel:
- Limousines
- Timeshares
Things that the Citi Premier used to offer which are not included on any of the other three cards:
- Trailer Parks
- Motor Home / Recreational Vehicle Rentals
- Boat Rentals
- Boat Leases
Additionally, the Citi Premier used to cover Commuter Transportation, which is not explicitly covered by any of the other three cards, although all cards cover Buses and Amex Green covers Subways, which covers the most common forms of Commuter Transportation by default.
Other Bonus Categories on These Travel Cards
Both the Amex Green and the Chase Sapphire Reserve also earn 3x on Restaurants. The Ink Business Preferred also earns 3x on Shipping, Advertising with Social Media and Search Engines, and Internet, Cable, and Phone Services. (Note that none of these offerings are the best possible; other cards do better in each category.)
Summary
Basically, if you do a lot of boat or RV rentals, or if you lived in or made regular use of a trailer park, then you will lose out completely when the Citi Premier changes (on April 10, 2021 for existing cardmembers).
Use Amex Green for Tours and Subways, and use either Chase credit card for Timeshares and Limousines. You can use any of the three cards for most travel.
So, which card should you get? Or do you need two cards? Well, that simply depends on your pattern of travel spend.
Thoughts or Questions?
Let me know here, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group.
You can find credit cards that best match your spending habits and bonus categories at Your Best Credit Cards.
New to all of this? The MilesTalk “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available on Amazon and at major booksellers.
