Review of The Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®

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A lot of people focus on Chase, Citi, and Amex cards because they have such great airline and hotel transfer partners. But there are several other travel credit cards which are great to use that don’t utilize transfer partners for their benefits and instead provide cardholders with statement credits. The Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ is one of those cards. Here’s a review of some of the perks of this card and why you might want to make room for it in your wallet.

How do the “miles” work?

Unlike Chase, Citi, and Amex cards, where you earn points that are transferred to frequent flyer or hotel rewards programs, the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ works a lot differently. For this card, you earn miles through spending at a rate of 2 miles/per dollar spent. So if you spend $3,000 you earn 6,000 “miles.”

These miles can then be redeemed at one cent per mile after you make a qualifying travel purchase. They can also be redeemed for a general statement credit but the value drops down (by 50%) to .5 cent per point which is not a very good redemption rate at all. Thus, I’d definitely stick to travel redemptions for this card.

Redeeming your miles for travel credits is pretty straight forward. You charge your travel expense to your card and then you have 120 days to log into your online Barclaycard account and select the transaction which you would like to credit your miles toward. Once you redeem your miles, you get the 5% rebate and can apply that to another purchase.

You can read more about the process here. That article is helpful in seeing how easy it is to redeem miles but you should note that two important changes have gone in effect since the publishing of that article.

One, the mile redemption rebate has changed from 10% to 5%, meaning that you’re only earning 2.11 miles as opposed to 2.22 miles. Second, the redemption minimum for miles has increased from 2,500 to 10,000, meaning that the smallest purchase that you can redeem miles for is a $100 transaction. The latter change is really a bummer as it excludes a lot of expenses travelers constantly incur from taxis, busses, etc.

What constitutes “travel” for the Arrival Plus?

Just like some other cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Citi Thankyou Premier, the travel category for the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ is quite broad.

Here are the terms taken straight from Barclays:

Merchants in the travel category include airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, campgrounds, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, trains, buses, taxis, limousines, and ferries.

The Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ used to also include tourist attractions but it seems that vague category proved to be problematic and Barclays removed it. Even without tourist attractions, there’s still a pretty broad amount of expenses that could fall into the travel category, however.

Sign-up bonus

The current sign-up bonus is for 40,000 miles for spending $3,000 within 3 months. Update: Always check to see if the 50,000 offer is available.

That means that once you hit the minimum spend you’ll have earned 46,000 miles. These miles are redeemed at 1 cent per point for travel so that means you’ll earn the equivalent of $460 worth of statement credit that can be applied against your travel purchases. Not bad. If you’re a traveling couple and the two of you get the card, it’s an easy way to get close to $1,000 worth of travel purchases covered pretty quickly.

Bonus earning potential

The Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ doesn’t earn extra points for certain categories but it does earn 2X miles on every single purchase. That’s not a bad deal, especially if you can end up spending a lot on this card. (And actually, the bonus earning on this card could be argued to be 2.11X since you get an automatic 5% rebate on your redemption.)

Because there are no bonus categories, this is a great card to use for purchases that don’t fall within the bonus categories of your other cards and would otherwise earn 1X.

Also, don’t forget about the Barclaycard RewardsBoost. This is a web portal where you can log-in and make purchases with your Barclaycard and earn additional miles on items from a host of different retailers. There’s also the Barclaycard Travel Community, which allows you to earn miles by sharing notes and photos about your travels. You can learn more about these earning opportunities here.

Barclays usually pulls Transunion

One great thing about Barclays is that they almost always pull Transunion for their credit cards. If you pursue Chase, Citi, and Amex cards, you’ll likely get hit pretty hard with hard pulls on your Experian and Equifax credit reports.

Thus, applying for this card can give some of your credit reports a bit of a break when it comes to applying for Chase, Citi, and Amex cards. Moreover, if you’ve got a lot of hardpulls from the aforementioned banks then the Barclays card can always be a good option to go to while you wait for time to distance you from some of your hard pulls.

Note: Barclays may sometimes pull from additional bureaus, so YMMV.

Benefits

No foreign transaction fees
Travel accident insurance
Baggage delay insurance
Free FICO score
0% APR for 12 months on balance transfers made within 45 days of opening the account. (Transfer fee is either $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.)

Annual Fee

$89, waived the first year

The $89 annual fee is not bad at all since it is waived the first year. However, what really makes it great is that you can downgrade this card to a no annual fee card like the Barclaycard Arrival and help to preserve and improve your average age of accounts and help build up your credit score.

Verdict

The Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ is a good option for a travel credit card if you’re looking for a way to cover those miscellaneous travel expenses like getting to and from an airport in a taxi, rental cars, taking a train between cities, or even trying to cover hotel expenses that can’t be covered by other means. It’s also a great way for couples to quickly accumulate about $1,000 in travel credit. And finally, if you’re worried about hard-pulls adding up from the other big banks like Chase, Citi, and Amex, there’s a good chance you can give your credit report a little break because Barclays will probably pull Transunion.

Daniel Gillaspia

Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and creator of the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned full-time travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in major publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Forbes, CNBC, US News, and Business Insider. Find his full bio here.

The Citi Premier vs The American Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card

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The American Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card and the Citi Thankyou Premier are two of the best travel rewards credit cards available right now. They both offer great earning potential through bonus category spending and pretty good sign-up bonuses as well. Here’s a comparison of the two cards that will give you a better idea of which card is better for you.

Charge card vs Credit Card

Don’t forget that the Citi Thankyou Premier is a credit card and the American Express Premier Rewards Gold Cards is a “charge card.” A charge card must be paid off in full each month or else you face a hefty monthly fee. The benefit to a charge card is that you’re not restricted to a credit limit and so you have a little more flexibility — you just need to be able to keep yourself in check to make sure you’ll pay off your balance in full each month.

Transfer Partners

Citi Thankyou Transfer Partners

Airlines

Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific)
EVA Air
Eithad Guest
Flying Blue (Air France, KLM)
Garuda Indonesia Frequent Flyer
Malaysia Airlines Enrich
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Qatar Airways Privilege Club
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
Virgin America Elevate (1,000 pts = 500 Elevate points)
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Hotels

Hilton HHonors (1,000 pts = 1,500 HHonors Bonus Points )

American Express Membership Rewards Transfer Partners

Airlines

Delta Skymiles
Club Premier AeroMexico
Aeroplan Air Canada
Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
MilleMigilia Club Alitalia
ANA
Asia Miles
Avios British Airways (250 points = 200 Avios)
Emirates Skyrewards
Hawaiin Airlines
Iberia Plus
JetBlue
KrisFlyer Singapore Airlines
Virgin America (200 points = 100 Elevate points)
Virgin Atlantic

Hotels

Best Western Rewards
Choice Privileges
Hilton HHonors (1,000 points = 1,500 HHonors points)
SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) (1,000 points = 333 Starpoints)

I’d probably give a slight edge to American Express for having more hotel partners and for having domestic airline partners like Delta, Virgin America, JetBlue, etc. You can still use some of Citi’s Thankyou partners to book on domestic airlines by booking through alliance partners but it just makes things a little bit more complicated (although a little extra legwork can often save you some miles).

One way that they differ is that Citi allows you to transfer your points to other people – a benefit that makes booking way less of a headache in a lot of scenarios. The only issue with Citi’s transfer policy is that once you transfer the points they expire within 90 days, so make sure you have a plan. Unfortunately, American Express does not offer this benefit.

Just like American Express, Citi sometimes offers temporary specials that offer bonus transfer rates to certain partners. Sometimes these rates will give you great deals like 50% more points when you transfer, so always be on the lookout for them.

It’s important to note that several of these partners are members of both programs like Flying Blue (Air France/KLM), KrisFlyer Singapore Airlines, Virgin, and Hilton HHonors. This makes it really easy to accumulate enough points for business and first class tickets on these airlines.

Point Redemption

You can redeem Citi Thankyou points for gift cards, statement credits, and for travel. Gift cards are redeemed at a value of 1.0 cents per point while statement credits redeem for .7 cents per point. With the Premier you can also redeem points for 1.25 cents per point through the Citi ThankYou Travel Center. The deal gets even sweeter if you have the Citi Prestige because you’re able to redeem points at 1.33 cents per point for any airline and 1.6 cents per point on American Airlines.

Membership Rewards can be redeemed for between .5 and 1.0 cents per point for gift cards and only .6 per point for a statement credit/charge. If you go through Amex Travel you can redeem at 1.0 cent per point on air fare but only up to .7 cent per point on hotels.

I think Citi definitely wins this category with its much better redemption rates for flights and statement credits, although I pretty much always advise against travelers using points for statement credits and usually don’t recommend redeeming points through these portals.

Tip: Sometimes these travel portals offer decent deals but other times you can find much cheaper rates by going through online travel agencies (Expedia, Booking, etc.) or by booking directly through the hotel.

Sign-up Bonus

Citi Thankyou Premier

40K to 50K (currently 40K) when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months

Premier Rewards Gold Card

25K to 75K when you spend $1,000-3,000. The 75K offer is highly targeted and rare and the 50K offer, while also targeted, is far more common to receive.

This comparison is a bit close and really hinges on when you catch the bonus. I think the 50K Membership Rewards for spending $1,000 in 3 months is one of the best sign-up bonuses that I’ve come across, so I would say that’s the winner. However, the standard public offer is 25K and compared to the lowest offer of the Premier (40K) that falls short. Most people value Membership Reward points more than Citi Thankyou Points but even with that in mind, I still say the winner is the Premier since the standard public offer is at least 40K versus 25K.

Tip: Try using Incognito/Private browsing windows on the American Express website to get the 50K offer to appear for you.

Bonus category earning potential

Citi Thankyou Premier

3X on Travel (this covers an extremely broad range of expenses).
3X on Gas
2X on Entertainment (This includes movie theaters, some sport events, museums, tourist attractions, amusement parks, and more)
2X on Dining

Premier Rewards Gold Card

3X on Airline Tickets (4X through the Amex Portal)
2X on Dining, Groceries, and Gas
$100 Airline credit for fees and incidentals

This is a tough comparison because the Premier Rewards Gold Card offers 2X on groceries, a category that many people probably spend a lot on. At the same time, the Premier offers 3X on the following items: airlines, hotels, car rental agencies, travel agencies, gas stations, commuter transportation, taxi/limousines, passenger railways, cruise lines, bridge and road tolls, parking lots/garages, campgrounds and trailer parks, time shares, bus lines, motor home/RV Rental and boat rentals and also offers 2x on entertainment.

That’s a long and valuable list for 3x earning opportunities. Thus, while I like that the the Premier Rewards Gold Card is valuable for those who shop a lot at grocery stores, I think the Premier is the better point earner for the average traveller. (I’d just rely on another card like the Premier Rewards Gold Card or Everyday Preferred so that I’d earn a bonus rate on supermarkets.)

Personally, I use both of these cards so I didn’t have to choose just one and I think it would be a good idea to think about getting both if you are interested in earning both Membership Rewards and Citi Thankyou Points.

Tip: “Amex Offers,” which gives American Express cardholders exclusive discounts and rebates for quality stores, can also add a lot of value to the Premier Rewards Gold Card. On average, I probably save at least a couple of hundred dollars per year by using these offers, so it’s definitely something to factor into your consideration.

No Foreign Transaction Fees

Both cards have no foreign transaction fees.

Annual Fee

Citi Thankyou Premier

$95 waived the first year

Premier Rewards Gold Card

$195, waived the first year

The Premier Rewards Gold Card’s annual fee is essentially reduced to $95 if you can make good use of the $100 annual airline credit. Still, it’s nice to not have to jump through hoops to get the annual fee down to $95. Thus, I’d give Citi a slight edge for the annual fee.

Final Verdict

I think the winner is the Citi Thankyou Premier, although I wouldn’t recommend on holding out on the Premier Rewards Gold Card. Again, I’m a big fan of building up points for the big three (Ultimate Rewards, Citi Thankyou Points, and Membership Rewards). Thus, I think it’s good to get on board with at least one good rewards-earning card from each program. Both the Citi Thankyou Premier and the American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card fit that bill.

Daniel Gillaspia

What Chase Credit Card Is Best For You in 2016?

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With the new 5/24 Rule likely coming into fruition April of 2016, consumers are going to be forced to approach Chase credit card applications a lot differently. And since your options are going to be limited due to the rule, you want to make sure you’re getting the cards that are most valuable and useful to you. This article will run down the best Chase travel, airline, and hotel cards that are available to you in 2016.

The Chase Trifecta

My first recommendation is to look into the “Chase Trifecta.” The Chase Trifecta is the combination of the Chase Sapphire Preferred, the Chase Freedom, and either the Chase Ink+ or Chase Ink Cash. These cards make up a trifecta because you’re able to earn a ton of Ultimate Rewards by making purchases in their respective bonus categories and earn some pretty hefty sign-up bonuses. Since these cards can earn you points that you can transfer to a variety of transfer partners, I personally would make it a priority to get one, two, or all three of them.

Here’s a brief breakdown of the benefits of these cards:

The Sapphire Preferred

Annual Fee: $95, waived the first year
Sign-up Bonus: 40K to 50K (currently 50K) when you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months
2X on all travel purchases (hotels, air fare, taxis, etc.)
2X on dining.

The Chase Ink+

Annual Fee: $95, not waived the first year
Sign-up Bonus: 50K to 60K (currently 60K) after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months
5X on office supplies stores, phone bills, internet, and cable bills
2X on hotels
2x on gas

The Chase Freedom card

Annual Fee: No annual fee!
Sign-up Bonus: 15K after you spend $500 in the first 3 months.
5X on rotating bonus categories that have included: groceries, gas, dining, Amazon, department stores, etc.

Tip: The Freedom is a good intro card if you’ve never held a card with Chase before and you’re maybe slightly questionable about your odds of being approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

One thing that is important to know is that only Chase customers who currently hold a Sapphire Preferred or a Chase Ink+ have the option of transferring their Ultimate Rewards to travel partners like United, Southwest, IHG, etc. Therefore, if you’re interested in utilizing Ultimate Rewards for travel, you need at least one of these cards.

A word on the Chase Trifecta

The Chase Trifecta is great but now with the new 5/24 rule applying to all Chase cards, it may not be the best fit for your needs. For example, if you’ve opened up two cards within the past two years and you obtain the Chase Trifecta, you would not be able to apply for any of the Chase hotel or airline cards below.

Thus, if you really value a few of the Chase airline and hotel cards you might be better off by not going for the Chase Trifecta or at least limiting yourself to only getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred and maybe just one of the Freedom/and or Ink.

Regardless of whether or not you choose to pick up the Trifecta, because of the 5/24 rule it is now imperative that you have some clear plan when pursuing Chase co-branded cards. Now, you need to know which 2 or 3 cards are your top priorities and then go for them before you’re excluded from being approved.

Since you really need to know what airline and hotel cards are most valuable, here’s a look at what I believe are some of the top airline and hotel cards that you might want to look into before being excluded by the 5/24 rule.

Tip: If you’re a newbie with no new credit card accounts within the past 24 months, then do your best to prioritize your credit card applications with Chase. It will take some patience (maybe like 2 apps every 2-3 months) but at least you’ll be able to get the cards you want before you hit the 5/24 threshold.

AIRLINE CARDS

Southwest Airlines Cards

There are four Southwest Cards offered by Chase: the personal Premier and Plus cards and the business Premier and Plus cards. (I’ll focus on the two personal cards as most people will not be looking for business cards but don’t rule them out.)

If you plan on flying a lot domestically (or even hitting up the Caribbean) over the next couple of years then getting two of these cards may need to be a priority for you! The reason is that you can quickly accumulate enough miles for the coveted Companion Pass and saves tons on your travels!

Here’s an overview of the two different personal cards:

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card

Annual Fee: $69, not waived
Sign-up Bonus: 25,000 to 50,000 sign-up bonus

Highlights:

3,000 Bonus Points after your Cardmember Anniversary
Earn unlimited points that don’t expire
2 points per $1 spent on Southwest Airlines and Rapid Rewards^®Hotel and Car Rental Partner purchases
1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier card

Annual Fee: $99, not waived
Sign-up Bonus: 25,000 to 50,000 sign-up bonus

Highlights:

Receive 6,000 bonus points after your cardmember anniversary
Earn unlimited points that don’t expire
Potential to earn A-List quicker (mostly for big spenders)
Earn 2 points for every $1 you spend on Southwest Airlines purchases made directly with the airline. Also, earn 2 points per $1 you spend on Southwest Rapid Rewards Hotel and Car Rental Partner purchases.
No foreign transaction fees

These cards have good sign-up bonuses when you can catch the 50K Rapid Rewards offer but what really makes them valuable is that you can use these cards to help you reach the 110K Rapid Rewards needed for the Southwest Companion Pass. The Companion Pass offers you a free additional seat for two calendar years. Thus, the benefit offered by these cards can be extremely valuable if you even do a moderate amount of flying.

Tip: If the Chase website is showing the 25K offers do searches for Southwest Premier 50K offer or Southwest Plus 50K offer. Sometimes you’ll find a direct link to an offer and other times you might have to get a referral link from a user on a website like Flyertalk or Reddit.

United Airlines Mileage Plus Explorer Card

Annual Fee: $95, waived the first year
Sign-up Bonus: 30K (targeted offer for 50K)

Tip: The standard bonus offer for the Mileage Plus Explorer Card is 30K. However, if you sign up for a Mileage Plus account, you’ll almost surely be sent a targeted offer for 50K mies + 5K for adding an authorized user. You can also often find this offer available in-branch.

Highlights:

2 annual United Club lounges passes (a perfect benefit for those who don’t fly frequently)
Free first checked bag for you and a companion on both domestic and international flights when booked with United
Priority Boarding

If you foresee yourself using or booking through United Airlines in the near future then this can be a great way to cover your upcoming travel and enjoy some travel benefits like complimentary lounge access. The two annual lounges passes may not seem like much to some but for a couple who only flies once or twice a year they can utilize those passes.

Moreover, you can always supplement your United miles with the points earned from the Chase Trifecta, making it easy to quickly accumulate enough miles for business or first class tickets.

The British Airways Card

Annual Fee: $95, not waived the first year
Sign-up Bonus: 50,000 bonus Avios after you spend $2,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. Plus earn an additional 25,000 bonus Avios when you spend $10,000 on purchases or 50,000 bonus Avios when you spend a total of $20,000 on purchases within your first year

Highlights:

Potential to earn up to 100,000 Avios within a year
Every calendar year you make $30,000 in purchases on your British Airways Visa Signature card, you will earn a Travel Together Ticket good for two years when you redeem Avios for a flight on British Airways. (This is the companion pass for British Airways but it’s not quite as practical to use as the Southwest Companion Pass is.)
Earn 3 Avios for every $1 spent on British Airways purchases and 1 Avios for every $1 spent on all other purchases.
No foreign transaction fees

The most valuable feature of this card to me is the potential to earn up to 100K Avios (since the companion pass poses some difficulties). Although the domestic short-haul flight are not as cheap as they once were, booking through Avios is still a decent way to fly around the states and I’ve also gotten some great value through Avios by booking flights to get around in South America.

HOTEL CARDS

The IHG Rewards Club Card

Annual Fee: $49, waived the first year
Sign-up Bonus: 60K (targeted offer for 80K)

Highlights:

One free night every anniversary year that can be redeemed at some of the best IHG hotels out there like the Intercontinental (a lot of co-branded hotel cards restrict such redemptions to less valuable hotels).
Platinum Elite status as long as you’re a Select cardmember
Earn 5 points per $1 spent when you stay at their hotels
Earn 2 points per $1 spent on purchases at gas stations, grocery stores & restaurants
Earn 1 point for every $1 spent on all other purchases
Automatic 10% point rebate
No foreign transaction fees

With such a low annual fee this card is a keeper in my opinion. It won’t be hard to get a couple of hundred bucks back in value for your $49 annual fee and the card even has decent earning potential for everyday spend.

The Hyatt Credit Card

Annual Fee: $75, waived the first year
Sign-up Bonus: Earn 2 free nights at Hyatt, worldwide after you make $1,000 in purchases in the first 3 months after account opening

Highlights:

2 free nights at Hyatt, worldwide after you make $1,000 in purchases in the first 3 months (nights must be used within one year of receiving the card)
Platinum Status
Free night at any category 1-4 hotel after your cardmember anniversary
Earn 3 Hyatt Gold Passport points for every $1 spent on purchases at all Hyatt properties with your Hyatt credit card.
Earn 2 Hyatt Gold Passport points for every $1 spent at restaurants, on airline tickets purchased directly from the airline and at car rental agencies.
Earn 1 Hyatt Gold Passport point for every $1 spent on purchases anywhere else
Get 5,000 bonus points when you add an authorized user

This is definitely one of the most valuable deals where you can get two free nights (quickly) without even having to pay the annual fee the first year. On top of that, you get the annual free night that can easily cover your annual fee and bring you plenty of additional value.

The Marriott Rewards Credit Card

Annual Fee: $85, not waived the first year
Sign-up Bonus: 80K (plus 7.5K for adding an authorized user)

Highlights:

1 Free Night Stay at a Category 1-5 hotel every year after your account anniversary
Guaranteed Elite Status (Silver Benefits)
Earn 5 points per $1 spent at over 4,000 Marriott locations worldwide
Earn 2 points per $1 spent on restaurants, car rental agencies, and on airline tickets purchased directly with the airline
Earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
No foreign transaction fees

Sometimes, an offer with a sign-up bonus for 70K rolls around with the annual fee waived the first year but this card is still valuable with the $85 annual fee as the annual free night could more than make-up for it. The Silver Status isn’t quite as good as the Platinum Status offered by the IHG card but it’s still a decent perk. Considering the upcoming merger with Starwood, you’ve got to think that the already widespread availability of Marriott Hotels is just going to continue to grow. One last plus about this card: it’s metal like the Chase Sapphire Preferred!

Final Word

The new 5/24 rule may or may not take effect this coming April. However, you want to make sure that you are ready just in case. If you know you will have more than 5 accounts in the last two years come this spring, then try to sneak in a few apps with Chase before the rule comes into effect. If you don’t have any new accounts, then with a combination of planning and patience, you should be able to snag at least a few of the most valuable Chase cards come 2016.

Daniel Gillaspia

The New Change to the Chase 5/24 Rule

August 23, 2016 Update: Article updated to reflect current state of the rule.

The 5/24 Rule implemented by Chase has just underwent its latest stage in evolution and it’s not looking too good. ~~Per the Doctor of Credit, it looks like there’s a credible source telling us that Chase will soon implement its infamous 5/24 rule for all Chase cards, including co-branded cards.~~ Per the Doctor of Credit, this rule is in effect for all Chase house-branded cards and many Chase co-branded cards.

What is the 5/24 Rule?

The 5/24 rule means that Chase will deny your credit card application if you have had 5 or more credit card accounts opened in the past 24 months.

Tip: This rule doesn’t apply to installment loans like student loans and car loans — it only applies to credit cards. (For many, even being added as an authorized user on a credit card has counted against them so watch out for that.)

At first, the 5/24 rule only applied to Chase cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred, the Chase Slate, and the Freedom card. However, rumors then came out that Chase stated this rule was going to apply to all business cards, like the Chase Ink+. This news sent some shockwaves to points enthusiasts but the real punch in the gut just happened when another (credible) rumor surfaced that Chase decided to apply this rule to ALL of its cards, even the co-branded cards like the Southwest, British Airways, United, etc. Thankfully some cards are left unaffected but many of the most valuable cards like the Southwest, Marriott, and United cards are subject to 5/24 now.

Why is this so bad?

Chase has some great co-branded cards for both airlines and hotels. Before, a consumer with a bit of patience could round up several of these cards over the course of a year. But now it’s not so easy. So it’s bad because everyone is going to be greatly limited on the beautiful selection of Chase travel cards they can get approved for.

What makes the 5/24 really bad is that it considers all new credit card accounts from all different banks.

So if you just started in the credit card world and maybe picked up just one American Express, Citi card, and Chase card you are already 3/5 of the way the way to being excluded from being accepted for many cards. And if you’ve been in the credit card game for a while, your prospects are even worse.

Thus, my advice is if you are new to the game and don’t have any or have very few new accounts opened within the past two years, then hit the Chase cards subject to 5/24 with your applications first and put off getting involved with Amex and Citi until you’ve gotten some of the good Chase cards that you’ll be able to use.

If you know that the 5/24 rule will exclude you when it goes into effect, then try to plan out a couple of Chase apps over the next couple of months for the Chase cards you find most valuable. Don’t forget about the Chase 30 Day Rule when applying for these cards.

It’s hard to say which cards are the most valuable and I’d need to dedicate an entire post to that but if I were looking for the most valuable cards, I’d personally be looking at getting the Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Preferred, Ink/Freedom, Southwest Premier Cards, United, and Marriott. Those cards tend to be the some of the most valuable Chase cards but your individual needs may call for different cards.

Will this rule be enforced 100% of the time?

Sometimes the 5/24 rule is “semi-enforced” and you can get around it by applying in-branch if you’re given a pre-approval for Chase cards. Note: an in-branch pre-approval is different from being pre-qualified for cards online! Also, if you’re a Chase Private Client, you might be able to get around the 5/24. However, in both of these cases, it’s still possible to be denied for having too many new accounts, so YMMV.

Final Word

Overall, this news is a pretty huge blow to points enthusiasts and really diminished the role Chase is going to play for a lot of people. However, it’s not the end of the world, considering that it still doesn’t apply to all of the cards and there’s always hope of being pre-approved!

Daniel Gillaspia

The Citi Prestige vs The Citi Thankyou Premier

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The Citi Prestige and Citi Thankyou Premier are both two of the best travel credit cards with flexibility in point use. The major difference between the two cards is that the Prestige is more benefit oriented while the Premier is more about earning Thankyou Points with bonus category spend. Still, while the Prestige is more about the benefits, it also offers exceptional point earning opportunities that you don’t find in many other benefit-based credit cards like the American Express Platinum. This article will compare the two cards and see how they stack up to each other.

Transfer Partners

Both cards obviously earn Citi Thankyou Points. Just as a refresher, here are the different Thankyou travel partners.

Airlines

Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific)
EVA Air
Eithad Guest
Flying Blue (Air France, KLM)
Garuda Indonesia Frequent Flyer
Malaysia Airlines Enrich
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Qatar Airways Privilege Club
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
Virgin America Elevate (Get 500 Elevate points for 1,000 pts)
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Hotels

Hilton HHonors (Get 1,500 HHonors Bonus Points for 1,000 pts)

Sign-up Bonus

Citi Thankyou Premier

40K to 50K (currently 40K) when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months

Citi Prestige

50K to 100K (currently 50K) when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months

Personally, I’m holding out on the Prestige until the 100K offer rolls around again but that’s only because I already have the American Express Platinum card, which offers me similar benefits. If I didn’t currently have a card offering me things like Priority Pass, I’d still go for this card even with the 50K offer. The Citi Premier just switched back to 40K from 50K, so I’m not sure when the 50K bonus will be back.

Bonus category earning potential

Citi Thankyou Premier

3X on Travel (this also covers an extremely broad range of expenses like the CSP but is even a little bit broader!).
3X on Gas
2X on Entertainment (This includes movie theaters, some sport events, museums, tourist attractions, amusement parks, and more)
2X on Dining

Citi Prestige

3X on Air fare and hotels (this is more limited than the “travel” category for the Premier)
2X on Entertainment
2X on Dining

I think it’s pretty rare for a benefits-focused card to offer such great bonus earning potential like the Prestige does (the Amex Platinum offers none). The only categories missing from the Prestige are the 3X on gas and broader travel category. This makes the Prestige a pretty decent primary card to use for daily spending.

However, you’d likely want to compliment this card with one or two others that offer rewards in things like groceries, gas, and the broader travel category. Two cards that could fill this role are the Chase Sapphire Preferred (2X on Travel) and the American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card (2X on groceries and gas).

Benefits

Citi Prestige

$250 airline credit (which can be used for broader expenses, such as airline tickets)
Priority Pass Select airport lounge access for you and up to two guests for free (the Platinum requires that you pay $27 per guest for this benefit)
Complimentary access with two guests to American Airlines Admirals Club lounges (when you fly with them)
Complimentary night at any hotel of your choice after a minimum 4-consecutive-night booking (Probably the most valuable benefit)
$100 Global Entry credit
3 free rounds of golf through GolfSwitch
Rental car benefits like express check-in, free upgrades, and discounts with status.
Add authorized users for $50 each.
Concierge service

If you have the Citi Prestige card you can transfer your Premier points to the Prestige and redeem those points toward American Airlines miles at a rate of 1.6 cents and 1.33 cents for any other airline.

I think that these benefits are among the best that are offered by any credit card and I’ll illustrate why.

I’ll use my last year’s travels as an example.

There were three times that I could’ve potentially taken advantage of a fourth night free. With an average cost of $200 per night, that’s $600 worth of value I could’ve got from that benefit alone.
When you add in the airline statement credit that’s another $200
Throw in the Priority Pass lounge access and that’s easily $1,200 worth of value. And if I used my free guest pass for my partner each time, it would have been like getting another $400 in value.

So that’s roughly $1,600 of value and that’s not even counting the value from the sign-up bonus, which could easily add on at least another $500.

As you can see with the statement credit, lounge access, global entry, and the potential for free hotel nights, these benefits can easily total a return value in the thousands — if you play your cards right. You can check out how the Citi Prestige compares versus the American Express Platinum here.

Annual Fees

Citi Thankyou Premier

$95, waived the first year

Citi Prestige

$450, not waived

If you’re a Citigold client and/or a you apply for the Prestige in-branch you can often get the annual fee knocked down to $350.

No Foreign Transaction Fees

Both cards boast no foreign transaction fees.

Overall, both cards are solid choices for earning Citi Thankyou Points. However, if I had to choose one it would likely be the Prestige. The Prestige has the potential to earn you thousands if you travel frequently and play your cards right. On top of that, it still has a decent earning potential with its bonus categories. Since I could get so much out of the Prestige, I value it more.

Daniel Gillaspia

Top 10 Benefits of the Citi Prestige

[Offers contained within this article may no longer be available]

Right now, the Citi Prestige is one of the best benefit-focused travel credit cards out on the market. It comes with a number of different benefits but here is a look at what I believe are the top 10 benefits of the Citi Prestige.

1. Priority Pass Select airport lounge access

This offers you lounge access worth $400/yr. to Priority Pass lounges, which are located in over 800 locations around the world. Most of the lounges provide complimentary alcohol, refreshments and/or meals, free wifi, comfortable and quiet spaces to relax, a selection of magazines, power outlets, and some even have showers, spa, and bed facilities.

What really makes this benefit worth it with the Citi Prestige is that you can take up to two guests with you into the lounge for free. Compare this with the Amex Platinum which requires the guests to pay $27 each time for lounge access. If you and your partner do all of your traveling together then this essentially operates as a free membership for them, which means you’re getting about $800 in benefits!

2. Access to American Airlines Admirals Club lounges

Another benefit is that you are offered access to the Admirals Club lounges when you fly American Airlines on that day. Unfortunately, this benefit is not offered to authorized users and can only be utilized by the primary cardholder. July 2016 update: this benefit will no longer be available as of July 23, 2017.

3. Complimentary night at any hotel of your choice after a minimum 4-consecutive-night booking

This is probably the most valuable benefit of the Citi Prestige. If you book your hotel through the Citi Prestige concierge service then you’re given the fourth night free for a consecutive 4 night or longer stay. This benefit can be applied an unlimited amount of times each year. If you do a lot of stays that are at least 4 nights then you can see how quickly you can begin to save a lot of money with this card.

Some people will even break up longer bookings into segments of 4 nights with a small gap in between their stays at a hotel and actually come out with two free nights with a 10 night stay. You might have to work a little persuasion with the concierge service to get that to fly but a little extra effort could pay off with some big savings.

Also, some are lucky enough to combine this rebate with the other hotel discounts that offer 3rd night, 5th night free, etc. (Usually, if you don’t have to enter a specific code for that additional hotel discount you can have a shot at stacking offers.)

4. Global Entry/TSA Pre-check Credit

While not being an exclusive benefit to the Prestige, Global Entry for free for five years is still a great perk. Global Entry allows you to expedite yourself through customs when you arrive back in the U.S. You don’t have to wait in that long line to get through border control and you get to skip the later customs baggage inspection line (which can get backed up at some airports). This benefit had and will continue to save me tons of time and would be worth it to me even if I only flew a handful of times a year.

5. $250 Airline credit

This is one of the best airline credits currently offered by credit cards right now. The Prestige offers $50 more than the Amex Platinum but also covers much broader expenses. First, unlike American Express, you don’t have to limit you reimbursement to a single domestic airline. Second, also unlike American Express, this credit covers any airline related expense, including airfare. Thus, it’s a lot easier to essentially knock down your annual fee by $250 each calendar year.

6. Free Rounds of Golf

Update: This benefit will no longer offered.

As a Citi Prestige cardholder, you’re entitled to three complimentary rounds of golf each calendar year at over 2,000 public and private golf courses all around the world. Courses include tournament level play, as well as spectacular courses throughout the USA, Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. I haven’t used this benefit but is seems to be quite valuable to avid golfers.

7. Rental Car benefits

As a Master Card World Elite card, the Prestige offers the following status benefits for car rentals.

Avis (First)
National (Emerald Club Executive)
Sixt (Platinum status)

These benefits usually include express lines, eligibility for free upgrades, and special discounts on rentals — all benefits that can make your travels a little more affordable and convenient.

8. Authorized users

You can add an unlimited number of authorized users to your Citi Prestige for $50 each. This is preferable over the Platinum, which allows up to three additional users for the total price of $175. Authorized users for the Prestige aren’t given the 4th night free, Admirals Club access, or the Global Entry Credit, but they do get the Priority Pass membership, which means they’re getting a $400 benefit for only $50!

9. Concierge Service

The concierge service of the Citi Prestige is available 24/7 to assist you with travel bookings and other reservations, such as dinner reservations. Again, I don’t have experience with using the concierge service at Citi so I can’t comment too much on them but if you value concierge services then this benefit should catch your attention.

10. Bonus Category Spending

Don’t forget that this card earns 3X on hotels and airfare and 2X on dining and entertainment. Not many benefit-focused credit cards offer good bonus category spending so this is a great benefit to have with the Citi Prestige. And don’t forget, with the Prestige, Thankyou Points can be redeemed at a rate of 1.33 cents per point for airlines and 1.6 on American Airlines.

Overall, there are a lot of benefits to the Citi Prestige but what really makes the Prestige so valuable to me is the Priority Pass access (with two free guests), the $250 airline credit, and the 4th night free benefit which can very, very valuable if worked the right way.

Daniel Gillaspia

The American Express Platinum vs The Citi Prestige

[Offers contained within this article may no longer be available]

The Citi Prestige and the American Express Platinum cards offer some of the best travel benefits in the credit card game. However, with those valuable benefits come high annual fees. With such high fees, a lot of people struggle to decide which card to apply for. So here’s a comparison of the two cards with a final verdict at the end.

July 25, 2016 UPDATE: Big changes have just been announced to the Citi Prestige and this article has been modified to reflect those changes.

Charge card vs Credit Card

First, don’t forget that the Citi Prestige is a credit card the American Express Platinum is a “charge card.” A charge card must be paid off in full each month or else you face a hefty monthly fee. The benefit to a charge card like the Platinum is that you’re not restricted to a credit limit and so you have a little more flexibility — you just need to be able to keep yourself in check to make sure you’ll pay off your balance in full each month.

Transfer Partners

The American Express Platinum earns Membership Rewards, which transfer out to several partners. Here are the transfer partners of Membership Rewards.

Airlines

Delta Skymiles
Club Premier AeroMexico
Aeroplan Air Canada
Flying Blue Air France/KLM
MilleMigilia Club Alitalia
ANA
Asia Miles
Avios British Airways
Emirates Skyrewards
Etihad Guest
Hawaiian Airlines
Iberia Plus
JetBlue
KrisFlyer Singapore Airlines
Virgin America
Virgin Atlantic

Hotels

Best Western Rewards
Choice Privileges
Hilton HHonors
SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest)

Citi Thankyou Points

The Citi Prestige earns Thankyou Points and Citi has fairly recently added a lot of new travel partners. These partners are:

Airlines

Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific)
EVA Air
Eithad Guest
Flying Blue (Air France, KLM)
Garuda Indonesia Frequent Flyer
Malaysia Airlines Enrich
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Qatar Airways Privilege Club
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
Virgin America Elevate (Get 500 Elevate points for 1,000 pts)
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Hotels

Hilton HHonors (Get 1,500 HHonors Bonus Points for 1,000 pts)

Typically, the transfer partners are one of my first considerations when considering a travel rewards card but with two cards like these, which are heavy in the benefits department, more weight should probably go to which benefits will fit better into your travel lifestyle.

Still, although I’d give more consideration to the benefits, I would have to say that Membership Rewards edges out Thankyou Points here since at the very least they boast the better hotel selection and offer better airline transfer options. And for someone like me who lives near a United hub, it’s great having both ANA and Aeroplan (along with Singapore Krisflyer) to transfer to and book Star Alliance flights with.

Redeeming Points for Travel

Membership Rewards can be redeemed in the following ways:

Between .5 and 1.0 cent per point for gift cards
0.6 cent per point for a statement credit/charge
1.0 cent per point on air fare
0.7 cent per point on hotels, cruises, and vacation packages.

Thankyou Points can be redeemed for cash back and gift cards at one cent per point but you can get more for air travel. ~~With the Prestige, Thankyou Points can be redeemed at a rate of 1.33 cents per point for airlines and 1.6 on American Airlines.~~ With the new changes, Thankyou points will be able to be redeemed for 1.25 cents on all airlines.

Sign-up Bonus

AMEX Platinum

40K to 100K (currently 40K) when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months.

The 40K offer is the standard offer available to the public, and the 100K offer comes around in three forms but there’s no guarantee that you will ever get it. The three forms it comes in are:

1) Targeted mailings (if you’re already an Amex cardholder your chances of getting this offer in the mail are slim to none).
2) Pre-approval links: Some sites (including the Amex site) that allow you to view your pre-approved credit card offers will show this offer.
3) Incognito/Private browser windows sometimes show this offer (rare)

Tip: When applying for bonuses with Amex cards always remember that bonuses for personal cards are only given once a lifetime (although not 100% enforced).

Citi Prestige

40K to 100K (currently 40K) when you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months.

Most value Membership Rewards more than Thankyou Points so with an even bonus of 40,000, the Platinum likely is offering you more value when you consider the value of cents per point.

There’s really no telling when the higher 100K offers will (if ever) return. Amex sometimes sends out targeted 100K offers and a couple of times those offers have leaked to the public. However, your odds of receiving (or taking advantage of a leaked offer) are probably not very high. Also, Citi’s recent trend towards eliminating or reducing sign-up offers makes it feel like the Prestige 100K offer isn’t coming back any time soon.

So, unless you get a little lucky, you’ll probably be stuck with 40K offers for the time being in which case, I’d give the Platinum the edge.

Bonus Categories

AMEX Platinum

1X on all purchases
5X on airfare purchased directly with the airline

Citi Prestige

3X on air travel and hotels
2X on dining and entertainment
1X on all other purchases

One of the biggest knocks against the Platinum is that it doesn’t have any bonus categories for spending. While the Amex PRG and the Everyday Preferred cards can assist with earning MR points, the Citi Prestige has earning capability built in and won’t require you to pay an annual fee for an additional Citi card just to be able to earn more points.

Benefits

AMEX Platinum

Here’s a breakdown of my favorite benefits of the Platinum, but in a nutshell this card confers a host of benefits to you making it worth it including:

Priority Pass airport lounge access (worth $400 per year)
Centurion Lounge Access/Delta Lounge Access (when you fly with them)
$200 annual airline credit (essentially reducing the annual fee to $250)
$100 statement credit for Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check (a Godsend that’s good for 5 years!)
Add up to 3 authorized users for only $175 per year (for all 3)
Gold status with Hilton and Starwood
Free Boingo Wifi subscription (worth $120 per year)
Rental car benefits like express check-in, free upgrades, and discounts with status.
Concierge service

Also, while not exclusive to the Platinum, Amex Offers (which are special discounts and rebates given to Amex cardholders) can add up quickly if used efficiently and can certainly act as a considerable benefit to having the Platinum.

Citi Prestige

$250 airline credit (which can be used for broader expenses, such as airline tickets)
Priority Pass Select airport lounge access for you and up to two guests for free (the Platinum requires that you pay $27 per guest for this benefit)
~~Complimentary access with two guests to American Airlines Admirals Club^® lounges (when you fly with them)~~
Complimentary night at any hotel of your choice after a minimum 4-consecutive-night booking (now calculated on an average nightly rate basis and taxes are not included)
$100 Global Entry credit
~~3 free rounds of golf through GolfSwitch~~
Rental car benefits like express check-in, free upgrades, and discounts with status.
Add authorized users for $50 each.
Concierge service

With the recent changes to the Citi Prestige, the contest between these two cards is a lot closer. The Prestige does offer more valuable Priority Pass lounge access but it doesn’t offer anything above that now. With the Platinum, you get Centurion lounge access, which are some of the best airline lounges in the U.S. (and you can bring up to two guests for free). You also get Delta SkyClub lounge access when you fly with them. Thus, if you regularly fly Delta or fly in and out of airports with Centurion lounges, the lounge benefits offered by the Platinum begin to surpass those offered by the Prestige.

However, the Prestige still has the better airline credit, bonus earning potential, and the fourth night free benefit, so there’s still an edge that can be had with the Prestige.

Protections

Protections for purchases and travel aren’t usually a priority for many but these protections can be extremely valuable when things go wrong. The Amex Platinum has a number of quality protections but not as many as the Citi Prestige. Specifically, the Citi Prestige offers protections on baggage delay, trip delay/cancellation, and price protection.

No Foreign Transaction Fees

Both cards have no foreign transaction fees.

Annual Fee

Citi Prestige

$450, not waived* (more like $200/year with airline credit)

*If you are a Citigold member, the annual fee should be reduced to $350. In addition, some have had success with getting the $350 annual fee when they apply in-branch.

AMEX Platinum

$450, not waived (more like $250/year with airline credit)

Highlighting the Differences

So overall, here are some of the key differences between the cards that I would consider when making a decision between the two cards.

The Citi Prestige

Offers a $250 airline credit that can be used even for airfare tickets
Earns a very respectable 3X on airfare and hotels, and 2X on dining and entertainment
Offers a fourth night free when booking hotels
Allows two guests to visit Priority Pass lounges for free
~~Citi Prestige offers Admirals Club access to the primary cardholder when flying on American Airlines.~~
Allows you to add each authorized user for $50.

The American Express Platinum

Offers a $200 airline credit that is meant to be utilized for fees and incidentals (although there are ways around this)
Earns no bonus category points
Offers gold HHonors and SPG status
Allows no free guests with your Priority Pass and you must pay $27 per guest
Offers access to Centurion Lounges with free access for up to two guests
Offers access to Delta SkyClub lounges when you fly with them
Allows you to add up to three authorized users for $175 total
Gives you access to Amex Offers

The Verdict

The most widely used benefit conferred by these type of cards is lounge access. Now, with the recent changes, the Platinum Card offers better lounge access to a lot of travelers. Some may still be able to get more value out of the Prestige with its airline credit, 4th night free benefit, and more expansive Priority Pass membership but it all depends on your travel habits and goals. Before, I stated that the Prestige was the clear-cut winner in this comparison but now I have to say it’s much more a of a toss-up and that it really depends on how you’ll be taking advantage of the benefits.

Daniel Gillaspia

Guide to Getting a Tourist Visa for Brazil at The Houston Consulate

Getting a tourist visa for Brazil from the Houston Consulate was one of the easiest things I’ve ever done in my life. We probably got a little bit lucky, but we were able to get our tourists visas for Brazil in less than 24 hours without doing any kind of expedited effort. Here’s a review of how we got our visas and some tips to help you along the way.

Disclaimer: This article does not constitute legal and/or immigration advice of any kind. If you have any questions please contact a professional immigration attorney or other other professional. Also, if you are applying for a tourist visa in another city many of these steps may not be applicable to you as different jurisdictions have different requirements.

Filling out the application

First, if you are looking for information on getting a visa from Brazil then check this out. That link will tell you almost everything you need to know and is a great starting point for wrapping your head around the requirements you’ll need to fulfill.

The application must be filled out online at this link. For English click on the Union Jack (UK flag) and then select “VISA SELECT.”

From that point, you’re in the application and just need to fill everything out. Remember, leave a space blank if it doesn’t apply (e.g., “previous name”). There’s not a whole lot to fill out for the application and the hardest part will probably be the contact information in Brazil. For most tourists, you’ll just put your hotel but you’ll need to go dig-up the address, phone number, and email. (The state is RJ if you’re staying in Rio De Janeiro, in case you couldn’t guess that.)

After you fill out your application hit submit and it should give you your application ID. If you don’t get that application ID you may have to just re-apply (that’s what Brad had to do).

Uploading documents

After you hit submit, you’ll be prompted to upload documents. (If you hit cancel, you can always upload the documents later or just not upload any documents and bring them into your appointment.)

Screenshot found on the Consulate website

The documents you’ll probably be uploading are itinerary, signature, passport, and photo. There are some special requirements for uploading the documents so pay close attention to those requirement. To upload a photo I would have had to cut my passport photo and since I only had one photo on me I decided not to upload any documents. Remember, even if you upload your documents you still must bring all of them in with you to the appointment.

Note: The website states that it will “agilize” your application by uploading the documents. I didn’t know what that meant, but it’s apparently Portuguese for “streamline.” Still, I got my visa within 45 minutes of my scheduled appointment so I doubt it could have been streamlined that much, anyway.

Anyway, if you just hit cancel then your next step is to print out your visa form delivery receipt. This is one of the documents that you have to bring with you to your appointment, so don’t forget about it!

Schedule an appointment

Your next step is to schedule an appointment. This is easy to do and just requires you to follow basic directions and go to the appointment booking website. We found morning availability for the next day when we searched and there were plenty of open slots for the coming week so you should have a pretty easy time booking an appointment if you’re even just a little bit flexible.

You can schedule up to two appointments for one slot and the other applicant doesn’t need to be there (just bring a copy of their ID). You can schedule appointments for more than one additional person but those additional appointments will have to be booked separately and in groups of two. If you need to book appointments for seven or more people then you have to meet special group application requirements.

The appointment

Consulate General of Brazil in Houston Building

The building for the consulate is located directly off of 610 if you’re going north on the westside of Houston. It’s pretty hard to miss and you can actually pull into their little driveway and go right into the visiting center parking (it’s free, thankfully).

Parking garage at the consulate building.

Once you park, go inside and sign in with the front desk. You then need to go up to the 11th floor and you’ll head directly to your right where the visa signs to go. There’s like fifteen chairs and you just take a seat. You don’t sign in up there and the workers will just call your name when they are ready.

Tip: They only called names one time and didn’t shout the names too loudly when I was there and a few people seemed to miss their name being called. Thus, I’d sit as close to the front as possible.

For a tourist visa you will likely need at least the following documents.

Passport
Print out of delivery receipt form
Print out Itinerary (plane tickets)
Copy of ID for additional applicants
USPS (United States Postal Service) Money Order (Make sure this is a money order from the USPS, as this is one requirement they seemed very strict about!)

They called my name about 20 minutes after my scheduled appointment. This appointment lasted just a few seconds and the only issue for me was that I didn’t have a print out of my itinerary or a copy of Brad’s ID. Luckily, she accepted the itinerary that showed up on my Aadvantage App on my iPhone and let me get by with a photo Brad sent of his ID from his phone. It was kind of funny how easy it was satisfy the requirements but I was very thankful that it didn’t become too difficult.

There’s a cafe on floor 7 of the building and the workers encourage you to go down there for about 30 minutes while you wait for your visa to be processed. I didn’t check out the cafe so I’m not sure what all was down there but a lot of people seemed to be interested in it.

Anyway, about 45 minutes after my appointment, they called me to the front to verify the details on the visas and just like that I had two tourist visas for Brazil in under 24 hours! It’s awesome how quickly you can get them and I even met a guy on the elevator who was leaving for Brazil the next day and just getting his visa!

I’ve applied for a few visas but so far the tourist visa for Brazil has been of the easiest for me to apply for. Just follow the directions online and you should have no problems getting approved for your visa, potentially in as quickly as 24 hours as we did!

Daniel Gillaspia

The American Express Platinum vs The Premier Rewards Gold Card

[Offers contained within this article may no longer be available]

A lot of people seem to ask which AMEX card is best for them: The American Express Platinum or the Premier Rewards Gold Card (PRG). Both are great cards that I enjoy using but for very different purposes. This article will show you the important differences between the cards that will make your decision easier when applying for these cards. Ultimately, you will see that the Platinum is all about the travel benefits while the PRG is all about earning Membership Rewards (and a little about the benefits).

Both are charge cards

First, don’t forget that both of these two cards are “charge cards.”

A charge card must be paid off in full each month or else you face a hefty monthly fee. Sometimes, after you’ve used a charge card for about a year, Amex will then offer you the option of carrying a balance (this usually comes with a MR bonus as well). However, you cannot initially carry a balance on a charge card like you can on a credit card.

Transfer Partners

Both cards earn Membership Rewards that transfer to travel partners. There’s no difference here but just for a refresher, here are the transfer partners of Membership Rewards.

Airlines

Delta Skymiles
Club Premier AeroMexico
Aeroplan Air Canada
Flying Blue Air France/KLM
MilleMigilia Club Alitalia
ANA
Asia Miles
Avios British Airways
Emirates Skyrewards
Hawaiin Airlines
Iberia Plus
JetBlue
KrisFlyer Singapore Airlines
Virgin America
Virgin Atlantic

Hotels

Best Western Rewards
Choice Privileges
Hilton HHonors
SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest)

Sign-up Bonus

AMEX PRG

25K to 75K when you spend $1,000-$3,000 in the first 3 months

In my opinion you should hold out on the PRG until you can get the 50K offer. It’s different for everyone but pretty much every other time I check credit cards on the Amex website, I am invited to apply for the “special offer” of 50,000 points. Some people hold out for the 75K offer but that is known to be an extremely rare offer that could leave you waiting months and months and possibly even years to see (if ever).

AMEX Platinum

40K to 100K when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months.

The 40K offer is the standard offer available to the public. The 100K offer comes around in three forms and there’s no guarantee that you will ever get it. The three forms it comes in are:

1) Targeted mailings (if you’re already an Amex cardholder your chances of getting this offer in the mail are slim to none).
2) Pre-approval links: Some sites (including the Amex site) that allow you to view your pre-approved credit card offers will show this offer.
3) Incongnito/Private browser windows sometimes show this offer (rare)

Tip: When applying for bonuses with Amex cards always remember that bonuses for personal cards are only given once a lifetime (although not 100% enforced). The main exception I see with this are reports of others being approved for the same card a second time and receiving the difference between their first bonus and the later bonus. For example, if you applied for the Platinum for the 40K offer your first go around and the 100K offer for your second, Amex would grant you a total of 60K additional points for your second bonus.

Bonus Points Potential

The PRG puts the Platinum to shame in terms of bonus earning potential.

AMEX PRG

3X on Airline Tickets (4X through the Amex Portal)
2X on Dining
2X Groceries
2X Gas
1X on all other purchases

AMEX Platinum

1X on all purchases (*crickets*, I know)

This is the first key difference between the cards: the Premier Rewards Card is primarily for earning points to transfer to travel partners. In my opinion, it is one of the best earning travel cards along with the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Citi Thankyou Premier.

A quick aside: If you are highly concerned with earning a lot of MRs through bonus category spending I would definitely consider the Amex Everyday Preferred. Under the average consumer’s spending habits, more points can be earned with this card than the PRG.

Benefits

AMEX PRG

Outside of the $100 airline statement credit and no foreign transaction fees, there aren’t really any more benefits that come with the PRG.

AMEX Platinum

Benefits is where the Platinum really proves its worth.

Here’s a breakdown of my favorite benefits of the Platinum, but in a nutshell this card confers a host of benefits to you making it worth it including:

Priority Pass airport lounge access (worth $400 per year)
Centurion Lounge Access
$200 annual airline credit (essentially reducing the annual fee to $250)
$100 statement credit for Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check (a Godsend that’s good for 5 years!)
Add up to 3 authorized users for only $175 per year (for all 3)
Gold status with Hilton and Starwood
Free Boingo Wifi subscription (worth $120 per year)
Rental car benefits like express check-in, free upgrades, and discounts

These benefits easily pay for the value of the card and much, much more when considered in conjunction with the sign-up bonus.

However, the key question is whether the benefits are useful to you. Answering this question is the simplest way to decide if you even wan’t anything to do with the Platinum.

If you only travel about 2 times a year domestically and don’t really care for lounge access or other perks like hotel status, the Platinum is really only useful to you for the sign-up bonus (and in that case maybe you want to wait around for the 100K offer). On the other hand, if you travel frequently (especially internationally) and/or highly value comfort and convenience when you travel then the Platinum is definitely worth to consider.

If you fall somewhere in between then it’s a little less clear-cut for you. If you find yourself in this group don’t knock the benefits without trying them. For example, if you’ve never spent time in an airport lounge you could always pay for a day pass to a lounge like the Centurion or similar and see if that’s something you’d value having access to each time you visit the airport. I think a lot of people will realize if the “lounge life” is worth it to them after just a visit or two and will be able to more accurately gauge how much they really value lounge access.

No Foreign Transaction Fees

Both cards have no foreign transaction fees.

Annual Fee

AMEX PRG

$195, waived the first year (more like $95/year with airline credit)

AMEX Platinum

$450, not waived (more like $250/year with airline credit)

A lot of people have an instant “yikes” reaction to annual fees like this and almost immediately discount the card. But don’t do that because the Platinum can be worth so much more than $450 (and as you’ll see the annual fee is more like $250 per year).

You can read about getting the Priority Pass with the Amex Platinum here, where I talk about why I think the benefits of the Platinum more than pay for themselves. The Platinum is not for everybody but for many people, the $450 is more than worth it for this card.

Downgrading

Because these are both charge cards you can only “downgrade” or “product change” them to other Amex charge cards without incurring a hardpull. Unfortunately, there’s really no charge cards that are worth to downgrade to. You can read some about the Green Card and the standard Gold Card in my article, Which American Express Card is best for you?, but you’ll see that’s it’s not worth it to product change to those cards if you’re still interested in earning significant rewards.

If you ever decide to cancel the Platinum or the PRG then I recommend applying for the Amex Everyday if you are still carrying a balance of MRs. It has no annual fee and earns a decent amount of points via bonus spending, but most importantly, it will preserve your MRs while you decide how to best use them.

Tip: Don’t let the customer service reps from Amex confuse you by using the term “product change” — if you change from a charge card to a credit card there will almost always be a hard pull on your credit regardless of how the rep “phrases” it.

The Verdict

As is often the case the answer to this is “it depends.” Again, it’s all about whether your goals are to earn the most MRs or to obtain all of the travel benefits and/or a hefty sign-up bonus.

Don’t rule out applying for both of these cards, either. As already mentioned, it’s absolutely possible to be approved for both the Platinum and the PRG at the same time. That means that if you caught it at the right time you could earn 150-175K of MRs for spending about $4,000 in 3 months. An outstanding gain.

Tip: Keep it nice and slow when applying for Amex cards. If you quickly obtain 4 or more approvals within the span of a couple of months there’s a good possibility you might be financial reviewed. It’s not a death sentence by any means but it’s something that can often result in reduced credit limits (rarely closure) for those who misrepresented their income so it’s best avoided. So just pace yourself with these applications.

Daniel Gillaspia

The Citigold Promotion For 50K AA/40K Thankyou Points: Dealing With Customer Service

[Offers contained within this article are no longer be available]

The Citigold account offer to earn 50,000 AAdvantage miles and 40,000 Thankyou points is one of the best bank bonuses that repeatedly rolls around in some form. It’s a great bonus not only because you cashout with 50K/40K miles/points but it offers you great opportunities to easily meet your minimum spend through funding checking and savings accounts and allows you to rack up miles or points with those credit cards. Finally, the requirements for obtaining the bonuses are pretty easy to meet: a couple of bill payments and debits totaling $1,000.

You can find some great step-by-step information on opening up these accounts here, but what I wanted to talk about is dealing with the Citi customer service when trying to get a bonus. While I love Citi, some of the representatives can be, to put it lightly, quite misinformed so here are some tips for dealing with them based largely on my own experience.

Screenshot everything

From the beginning screen shot everything. After you open up your account verify via chat and/or secure message that you are enrolled for your specific bonus. Then, after you meet the requirements, message and/or chat with them once again to verify that you have met the requirements for your specific bonus. Capturing these communications helped me through the process of getting my Citigold bonus, as representatives seemed to take me a bit more seriously when I referenced my screen shots.

Get your progress notated in your file

Try to convince a representative to make notation on your file when you meet the requirements for the bonus (and when you’re enrolled, too). I found this made things much easier for me to navigate through Citi’s customer service. I spoke to a supervisor and requested him to notate on my file that I have met X and Y requirements and that I should receive the bonus by a certain date. Later on, these notes allowed me to get Citi representatives on board for my cause much quicker.

HUCA (Hang up Call Again)

Some people go through this process smoothly and others have to find their way through an obstacle course to get to the end. I don’t know why, but it’s very common to receive completely contradicting responses from Citi reps for this bonus. If you don’t hear what you think you should be hearing then hang up and call again and speak to a different representative.

I’ll give you an example of how this worked for me.

Last year, I initially enrolled in my promotion before I even had the AAdvantage Platinum card. At the time, I didn’t realize this was a targeted offer only available to Platinum Select cardholders. In fact, I didn’t even realize that until I called to check on the status of my bonus.

When I called up Citi one time I actually got chewed out by a really rude representative who was going off on how I would never get the bonus because I wasn’t targeted. (She was by far the worst employee I’ve ever encountered on the phone and just miserable to talk to.) So I replied and told her that I understood that was her position but if I was going to be rejected for this promotion I wanted it to come from someone who “acted professionally” on the job.

She then gave me a snarky “Okay, but they’re just going to tell you the same thing I’m telling you” and then supposedly attempted to transfer me out to a supervisor but the call actually just ended. I was pretty annoyed but I decided to give it another shot. So I called back.

I got a hold of a much nicer rep who was a supervisor and then I explained the situation. I told her that I had messed up and didn’t realize this was a targeted promotion but that I had screenshots of chats and messages with reps who had verified me that I would be receiving the bonus. I’d thus invested time into meeting the minimum debit requirements and bill pays. The supervisor was great and understanding. She stated that she would notate on my account that I was due for the bonus and apologized for the confusion.

So within an hour Citi did a complete reversal (in both service and results) and it seemed to be largely because of my screen shots. Now, to be honest I thought the first rep I spoke to was correct and that I would be denied the bonus. It’s completely understandable that they wouldn’t honor a non-targeted offer. However, because I called back and spoke with someone else, I was able to finally sort it all out. It was a great gesture by Citi to honor the bonus and one reason that I think it’s worth it to just stick it out when dealing with customer service.

Getting the bonus points and miles put into your account

Now, remember that the bonus does not come into effect until 90 days after the closing date of the month in which you met the requirements. So if you did your second-month bill pay and minimum debit purchases on March 15 and your statement closed at the end of the month, then you wouldn’t be eligible to get it until July 1. Some reps told me the wrong info on this so make sure that whoever you are speaking with really knows what they are talking about.

After that 90 day period you then need to call into Citi. I don’t know of any people who actually had the promo just appear in their AA account without contacting Citi.

When I called Citi I had to kind of go through the entire purchase over again.

First, the rep told me I hadn’t met the minimum debit purchase required. I knew I had so I asked to be sent to a supervisor. Then, to my surprise, the supervisor told me the same thing! That’s when I had to take the reigns and refer the supervisor to the transaction and then to the notes in my file. It took a long time of “please hold while I check on something” but then finally she got on the line and said yes I’d get the points in my account. I said great and then hung up.

But that didn’t actually work and the miles never showed up. That was because the rep never initiated a proper transfer for the miles….

Be sure you’re getting your miles

For you to be sure that you will receive your miles, what needs to happen is this: the rep should tell you that they have initiated the transfer of miles and then the rep should give you a password that you will use to open up a document in a message from Citi that tells you that you have been approved for the miles. Then they will show up in your account very soon (took a day or two for me). If you’re waiting for your miles to show up and have not been given a password then call and inquire about it!

This whole process took about 5 months to earn and receive my miles. In some instances it was an absolute headache dealing with Citi to get things done but in the end, these are free (or nearly free) miles that can you earn with this promotion and it is really worth it to jump on these promotions.

Daniel Gillaspia

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