Triangle Trip

In response to Captain G‘s previous post about the best Visa/Mastercard (or alternative to using an American Express card), I would like to tell you that the Chase Priority Club Mastercard is the only card in my wallet. Like the Chase Sapphire Preferred card (see Terminal D‘s post), it does not have foreign transaction fees.

In addition, the Chase Priority Club Mastercard annual fee is 50% less of the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card. The Chase Priority Club Mastercard annual fee is only $49 a year (first year is free). The $49 annual fee is still less than my old American Express Starwood Preferred card which was $65 a year. The Chase Priority Club Mastercard annual fee can be offset with these benefits:

1.  You get an annual free night at any Priority Club property after one year. The real translation is:  at any Intercontinental Hotel in the world which is normally ~$250 a night.

2.  Platinum Priority Club status. This perk is not as good as SPG Platinum but gives you small perks like free bottles water, free Internet, and the occasional room upgrade. Note that the American Express SPG card gives you Gold membership which is equivalent to Priority Club Platinum.

3.  A 10% discount on point redemptions for hotels which is a huge value (36,000 points for Intercontinental instead of 40,000). You should also check out our previous blog post on why hotel points are worth more than airline miles.

You can also check out my previous post regarding the British Airways and Asiana credit cards.

In response to Captain G’s post regarding which is the best Visa/Mastercard available for business travelers, here’s my take on why the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is my Visa/Mastercard credit card of choice for travelers:

1.  I find myself charging at least $1,000 a month on my existing Visa card for places that do not take American Express and only earning 1% on restaurants. With the Chase Sapphire Preferred, I get 2 points per dollar spent on travel and restaurants. They also have special weekly promotions for dining out.

2.  I paid about $150 in foreign transaction fees annually since I travel abroad quite a bit. The Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa does not charge foreign transaction fees which justifies the $95 membership fee after the first year.

3.  Lastly, I like the feel of the card. It’s extra heavy and doesn’t feel cheap like other credit cards.

Here’s more information about the Chase Sapphire Preferred card:

• Earn 40,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months – that’s $500 toward travel rewards
• Additional 5000 bonus points for additional cardholder
• 2 points per dollar spent on travel and dining at restaurants & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases
• Get 20% off airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises when you redeem through Ultimate Rewards
• No foreign transaction fees
• 1:1 point transfer to participating frequent travel programs (Including British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Korean Air, United, Virgin, Southwest, Hyatt, Marriot, IGH, Ritz Carlton)
• Direct access to expert service advisors anytime
• Introductory Annual Fee of $0 the first year, then $95

I know most business travelers are American Express Platinum or Starwood (SPG) credit cardholders. However we all need to carry a Visa or MasterCard in our wallet just in case we are traveling outside of the US where AMEx isn’t accepted.

I have a Nordstrom Visa card which carries a fairly low foreign transaction fees and my perk is a $20 certificate for 2,000 points earned (2 points per $1 for Nordstrom purchases and 1 point per $1 on everything else). I found an expired Nordstrom $20 certificate today and called Nordstorm credit card to see if they can send me a replacement. I spoke to a representative, then a supervisor and neither budged. I even told them that I would cancel my card and they did not seem to care. On principle I am going to stop using this card.

Another lesson learned from this experience is not to age anything – points, certificates, etc. This sentence is actually directed to the Coach who loves to save his points 🙂

Now I have an empty credit card slot in my wallet and want to know the community’s recommendations for which is the best Visa or MasterCard to serve as my backup to my SPG AMEX. I’m leaning towards one of the Chase Visa cards at the moment.