On today’s podcast episode, if you couldn’t get enough of Basic Economy, don’t worry! Delta has introduced Basic Business. And we’ll talk about Credit card Travel Credits: which are worthwhile and which are worthless.
The best credit card travel credits
Watch here:
Or listen here (or click “Follow” on the player below to select your preferred podcast app instead):
Giant Mailbag
(01:10) – Joaquin says, “One thing I haven’t considered before listening to you was to monitor the price of a hotel or flight after booking to cancel and rebook it if the price drops.”
Bonvoyed
(07:40) – Delta introduces Basic Business (and Premium Select, and First)
Awards, Points, and More
(13:54) – Delta Stays is better than Greg thought
Read more about Delta Stays here
(17:23) – Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card OpenTables
(20:38) – Hilton expands partnership with Explora Journeys (luxury cruises)
The best credit card travel credits
(23:27) – Many premium cards come with travel credits to justify their annual fees.
We rank them…
(24:31) – General travel credits
(26:16) – Airfare & Airline Fee credits
(32:03) – Hotel credits
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
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In response to the Giant Mailbag segment, I thought I’d share a couple of DPs. First, I was able to effectively reprice an FHR reservation for a recent stay in Edinburgh by changing the dates and then changing them back through the Amex portal. The reservation number stayed intact and I received a refund of the difference in price—no credit clawback. So at least in my experience, there is a way to capture a price drop on an existing FHR booking without cancelling and rebooking from scratch. Second, and on a more cautionary note: I’ve found that if you cancel the card used to make an FHR/THC booking—even while holding another active Platinum card with identical FHR benefits—you lose the ability to modify that reservation. Your only option becomes cancelling it for a refund and rebooking, for which you’d lose the credit. This limitation is not published in the FHR/THC credit terms, and Amex acknowledged in writing to me that it isn’t clearly disclosed. That might be worth keeping in mind before cancelling any card with active FHR bookings on it.
While you mentioned Bilt hotel pricing is problematic, you didn’t mention that Chase’s The Edit pricing is also problematic.
As a former Vegas local, Esther’s is really good and they moved to a larger spot a while back but I wonder now if it’ll be tougher to find reservations there now that it’s the only CSR table in town.
Not sure if I will ever have a chance to eat at Esther’s (when we are in town, it’s to visit family, at the other end of the valley).
I see on their menu this item:
”BUY THE KITCHEN A ROUND OF BEERS/ a little love for the hardworking cooks $8.”
I am tempted to call and ask if I can place an order of 18 rounds remotely if I end up not finding a use for my $150 bi-annual credit. I’d rather share some (okay, a lot of) love with the cooks than leaving money on Chase’s table.
I generally agreed withe the Main Event, though I would point out:
VentureX annual fee: $395
$300 annual portal credit+ 10k anniversary points used towards portal bookings = $400
This is another case where the credits exceed the annual fee (and it’s not a quarterly credit like the Hilton cards) if you use it in the portal.
Great episode. I agree with the Delta Stays credit. Really easy to use with good availability and usually competitive prices. I have three Delta Stays credits and they are some of the few credits I have I never have to work hard to use.
The Bonvoying will continue until morale improves… happy weekend, everyone. Time to use your Citi Strata Elite for Citi Nights 6x dining after 6PM EST on Fridays and Saturdays… super convenient, LOL.
Go spend some Bilt cash and you’ll feel better.
For some, using Bilt Cash is not a challenge.
The bonus 1X on spending requires zero effort.
The bonus 25% on a transfer bonus requires zero effort.
The Lyft credit is just like Amex’ Uber credit. The Walgreens GC is easy enough. And, the GrubHub credit is a coupon applied at checkout. That’s $30 per month ($360 per year). Admittedly, some will say they’re a pain in the butt. But, they aren’t for others.
After Uber’s acquisition of Blacklane closes, which is likely what caused the delay in this use of Bilt Cash, this will be easy pickings for some.
As for the semi-annual hotel credit coupled with $100 Bilt Cash, I use it for an off-chain stay I periodically do. And, even though it requires a two-night stay, it covers virtually all of the stay. (The same can be said about the Citi Strata Elite.)
Certainly,, the card won’t be a fit for many. But, it will be a fit for many.
Yeah, I’m an unusually poor fit for Bilt Cash. But I know how much 1990 loves it, thus my comment.
I probably would use Blacklane if/when it shows up. Right now I have credits very much like the Lyft, GrubHub, and hotel credits that are already going to waste. I’m going to downgrade Strata Elite after 1 year for a similar reason.
The points accelerator is the obvious one that is easy to use. I don’t know that it is exactly zero effort because presumably you have to make sure to renew it every $5000. But low effort for sure.
The transfer bonus is a little more complicated because to get good value I will almost certainly have to do speculative transfers. (The chance of a transfer bonus coming along exactly when I need it for a flight is fairly low.) So even though using the Bilt Cash might be effortless, it does add some complexity and risk associated with doing transfers I might not need. But if we continue to see good transfer bonuses I will probably take the plunge. (Of course that is assuming I get approved with no rent or mortgage.)
The GrubHub credit being a coupon applied at checkout means it’s hard to use, as it does not stack with any other promotions.