Crazy Way to take advantage of Credit Card offers?

[drbrock]

I am heading to Europe in June with a few friends. Is there a way to use credit cards offers to get a significant deal when buying airline tickets and other expenses? Airfare alone will be around 3500-4k and then all the hotels/car rentals.

Don't really deal with credit cards that much outside of my Costco amex and amazon card.

 

[Vdubchaos]

You are spending 3.5-4k on airline alone and are expecting some kind of miracle savings?

Sounds like you can't even afford the trip to begin with.....

 

[manimal]

use rewards card for big purchases and pay off every month. Free rewards..

 

[xanis]

1) Chase Sapphire Preffered
2) Get 2x points on everything travel-related
3) Charge $3K and get 40K bonus points
4) Cash in points for statement credit
5) Profit

There is a fee, FYI, but it's waived for the first year IIRC.

 

[Capt Caveman]

You are spending 3.5-4k on airline alone and are expecting some kind of miracle savings?

Sounds like you can't even afford the trip to begin with.....

/facepalm

 

[drbrock]

Vdubchaos, I can def afford the trip. Just because I am trying to save money does not mean I am poor. The reason I have money is because I am always trying to save.

Xanis, Thanks for the tip on Chase Sapphire. Will look into and probably use them. Kind of wish I waited for Global Entry. Could have used Amex Platinum to pay for it along with getting a lot of miles for my future purchases...

 

[Uppsala9496]

3,500-4,000 for airfare? Ouch.
https://www.chase.com/online/Credit-Cards/united_explorer-rewards-new.htm
For united. Search for whatever airline you are thinking of using.

 

[Vdubchaos]

Vdubchaos, I can def afford the trip. Just because I am trying to save money does not mean I am poor. The reason I have money is because I am always trying to save.

Xanis, Thanks for the tip on Chase Sapphire. Will look into and probably use them. Kind of wish I waited for Global Entry. Could have used Amex Platinum to pay for it along with getting a lot of miles for my future purchases...

There is no miracles or "crazy" ways.

You get your usual 1-3% back if you pay your balance at the end of the month.......there is no magic

 

[xanis]

There is no miracles or "crazy" ways.

You get your usual 1-3% back if you pay your balance at the end of the month.......there is no magic

There are no miracles, but there are good deals to be had and ways to make the CCs work for you if you're willing to put in a little effort and play the game.

 

[purbeast0]

i don't know if airtran flies there, but i believe you can use southwest points on airtran now, and they have that 50k point card you can get now.

 

[Soapy Bones]

best bang for your buck is probably something like the Chase Sapphire card, but instead of redeeming those points directly towards fares, transfer them out to airlines and book a points flight. Our flights were going to be $2k and my original plan was to use the Chase Sapphire 20% redemption bonus to drop the cost. I was about to do this and checked united's site for a points redemption... 90,000 miles total round trip for 2 people. That is the same as 90,000 Chase ultimate rewards points which is $900. Saved over $1100 just in managing redemptions correctly.

 

[chowderhead]

make sure you use a card overseas that doesn't charge a foreign transaction fee.
CapOne and Discover and some airline/hotel linked CCs don't charge the fee.

 

[nickbits]

Vdubchaos, I can def afford the trip. Just because I am trying to save money does not mean I am poor. The reason I have money is because I am always trying to save.

Yeah, my wife and I clip and use coupons and use cc reward programs like crazy. We are definitely not poor.

 

[dlock13]

Yeah, my wife and I clip and use coupons and use cc reward programs like crazy. We are definitely not poor.

That's what I want my wife and I to start doing. We do coupons, but we haven't done anything CC related. I have a BOA cash back card, but it is mediocre.

Do you, or anyone here, have suggestions for what is the best card for general use?

 

[LucJoe]

1) Chase Sapphire Preffered
2) Get 2x points on everything travel-related
3) Charge $3K and get 40K bonus points
4) Cash in points for statement credit
5) Profit

There is a fee, FYI, but it's waived for the first year IIRC.

Statement credit is about the worst way to cash out points. You can get 2.5x-4x more value with the transfer program, which is the main reason to have Sapphire Preferred

 

[ElFenix]

Hilton citi visa, 50000 points for spending 1000 in first 4 months. Thread on slickdeals

 

[alkemyst]

You are spending 3.5-4k on airline alone and are expecting some kind of miracle savings?

Sounds like you can't even afford the trip to begin with.....

It's ok to be poor bro, not all of us are.

Some cards do have airline deals, you'd have to call your card companies.

 

[virtuamike]

Vanilla reloads

http://boardingarea.com/dealswelike/2013/05/31/purchasing-vanilla-reloads-which-card-to-use/

 

[Exterous]

I am heading to Europe in June with a few friends. Is there a way to use credit cards offers to get a significant deal when buying airline tickets and other expenses? Airfare alone will be around 3500-4k and then all the hotels/car rentals.

Don't really deal with credit cards that much outside of my Costco amex and amazon card.

The June time frame is going to be a bit tough as its a bit close. Which card often depends on where you can fly out of and into. The nice thing about the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is that (In addition to no ForEx fees) you can transfer the points to a number of programs - two which might be useful for you: British Airways and United. BA charges a lot of fees but you can instead transfer those points again to Aer Lingus or Iberia which could more easily get you to Ireland, Spain or parts of Italy. If thats your final destination Great! Otherwise hop on a cheap intra-Europe flight. United might be a good option as well depending on availability leaving form cities near you. There are also cards out there specifically fore BA and United.

AA is another option with 50k, 75k and 100k mile offers out there (but the 100k mile requirement is $10k in 3 months). Again which card depends on what options they have in your area.

I would avoid the Hilton card as their award redemption prices in European cities (or really any city of decent size) are high. 50,000 might not even be enough for a single night depending on where you're staying.

A better option (IMO) for hotel stays in Europe would be the Club Carlson card. You get 85,000 points and assuming there are properties in the area you get the second night free when redeeming points. A number of European cities have options for 44,000 a night so that would give you 4 free nights.

IHG might be another option. 60,000 points for the card and most of their redemption hover in the 20,000-25,000 range. The also have a points + cash option you might be able to use if you end up a bit short for a stay

$3500-4000 sounds pretty high unless this is for 2 people. A flight from San Francisco to Berlin is 'only' $1700 RT in June. Check out this site as you might be able to find a cheaper flight and don't dismiss carriers like Turkish air, Norwegian air and Icelandic air as they often have specials making them pretty cheap. Also consider doing a separate ticket for positioning if you are flying from an out of the way airport.

If you care to share where you're flying from and to I could give more specific advice

i don't know if airtran flies there, but i believe you can use southwest points on airtran now, and they have that 50k point card you can get now.

You can only use Southwest points on Air Tran flights you can book through SW's website which is, unfortunately, not all of AT flights. I think the only international options are the Caribbean and Mexico currently