Advertiser Disclosure: UponArriving has partnered with affiliate partners and may receive a commission from card issuers. UponArriving does not display all credit card offers and affiliate relationships may impact how offers are presented.
Welcome Bonus
The Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card is offering 75,000 miles after you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening. This is one of the highest offers ever offered for the card.
These are not the same type of miles that you would earn from an airline credit card. But they can be used for up to $750 in value when you book travel through Capital One, or against travel purchases.
Capital One also has 15 partner airline and hotel programs, which can be the best option to maximize the value of your points.
Here are the 1:1 ratio travel partners:
1:1 Transfer Ratio
Aeromexico Club Premier
Aeroplan®
Asia Miles
Avianca LifeMiles
British Airways Executive Club
Choice Privileges®
Emirates Skywards
Etihad Guest
Finnair Plus
Flying Blue
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
TAP Miles&Go
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
Virgin Red
The last option is to redeem miles for gift cards.
You should familiarize yourself with a specific loyalty program before transferring your miles.
Unlimited 5 miles per $1 spent on hotels and car rentals booked through Capital One Travel.
Getting 5X on the travel portal is nice if you’re not paying more for your travel purchases compared to other sites.
The 2X miles on all other purchases make this a good everyday card, especially with no limit on how much your card can earn. It could also be a great way to cover taxes.
That almost sounds like only certain categories related to business purchases will qualify but actually this will earn 2% on all purchases.
You can get credit of $100 for the application fee for Global Entry or TSA Pre-check when you pay with the card.
The card comes with two complimentary visits per year to Capital One Lounge locations or a partnering Plaza Premium Lounge. For the rest or the year, you get a special entry rate of $45 per visit after that.
As a travel focused card, it provides trip protection including rental car coverage, travel accident insurance and round-the-clock travel assistance services if your card is lost or stolen. And if you travel abroad, you don’t pay foreign transaction fees.
Advertiser Disclosure: UponArriving has partnered with affiliate partners and may receive a commission from card issuers. UponArriving does not display all credit card offers and affiliate relationships may impact how offers are presented.
Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
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 Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card is loaded up with some interesting benefits like a travel credit, upgraded boardings, and right now it comes with a very solid limited-time welcome bonus!
Let’s take a look at all of the features of this card to see if it might be worth it for you to jump on this offer while it lasts.
Southwest Priority Credit Card
First, here are some highlights for the Southwest Priority Credit Card.
3X on Southwest purchases
2X on local transit and commuting, including rideshare
2X on internet, cable, phone services, and streaming
25% back on in-flight drinks, WiFi, messaging, and movies
No foreign transaction fees
Earn tier qualifying points towards A-list Status
$149 annual fee
Not your typical premium card
When we think of premium travel rewards credit cards, it’s usually a card with a hefty $400+ annual fee that offers airport lounge access among other valuable travel perks.
But this card is different.
Southwest doesn’t have an airport lounge network so there’s no surprise that lounge access is not a perk here.
Instead, the additional value justifying the “semi-premium” price is going to come from the travel credit, upgrades, discounts, and the anniversary points.
These are benefits that could be very worthwhile to Southwest flyers but may not be as attractive to people who don’t normally fly Southwest.
I’ll discuss all of those in detail below.
Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!
Southwest Priority Credit Card Features
Welcome bonus
75,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months.
Offer no longer available.
The 75,000 Rapid Rewards after spending $3,000 in the first three months is a great offer.
That puts you only 50,000 Rapid Rewards short of the Companion Pass requirements which you could easily meet by also going for a business card like the Southwest® Rapid Rewards® Premier Business Credit Card which is currently offering 60,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months.
Just make sure that you hit your spend requirements after your December statement closes so that you can take advantage of this perk for as close to two years as you can get. (If you don’t want to risk anything, just wait until January of 2023 to meet your bonus.)
Bonus spending
3X on Southwest purchases
2X on local transit and commuting, including rideshare
2X on internet, cable, phone services, and streaming
Earning 3X on Southwest is solid but you might want to consider using a different Chase card for some of these categories.
That way, you can earn more points and have the added benefit of flexibility for transferring your points.
For example, I use the following Chase cards to rack up more rewards:
Chase Sapphire Reserve (3x on dining and travel)
Chase Freedom Unlimited (1.5X on every single purchase)
Chase Freedom Flex (5X on quarterly purchases)
Chase Ink Cash (5X on office supply stores, telecommunications)
$75 Southwest annual travel credit
The $75 Southwest annual travel credit can be used on airfare which essentially gives you a $75 discount every year if you fly Southwest.
Many people have also used this credit on gift cards although you probably always want to check on the latest data points before you do that.
The credit will automatically be applied to your account when your Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Priority Card is used for purchases (excluding Upgraded Boardings and inflight purchases).
Ultimately, this credit helps tooffset the $159 annual fee down to $84, which makes this card much more attractive.
7,500 anniversary points each year
The Southwest Priority Card earns 7,500 anniversary points each year on your account’s anniversary.
All of the Southwest cards offer anniversary points each year and this bonus is 1,500 more Rapid Rewards than what the Premier offers and 4,500 more than what the Plus offers.
If you value Southwest Rapid Rewards at 1.5 cents per point, then 7,500 anniversary points amounts to $112.50 in value received each year.
So with the $75 travel credit and the $112.50 in annual Rapid Rewards, that’s value at $187.50 received each year from the perks which already offsets the annual fee.
Four Upgraded Boardings per year when available
The Priority Card will offer you four upgraded boarding positions which are upgrades to Business Select boarding (A1-A15).
If you’re not aware, Southwest doesn’t offer a traditional business class or first class experience. They offer something called Business Select, which allows you to receive priority boarding.
This means you can grab the seats at the front of the airplane or within the emergency exit rows where the seats have a little more leg room or where you can grab a row with only two seats.
The amount of seats with more legroom/privacy depends on whether you’re flying on a 737-700 or 737-800. You can find out more information about the different types of seats in my Tips for Flying Southwest.
The amount of money it costs to upgrade depends on the length of the journey but you usually pay $30 to $50. So getting four upgraded boardings per year when available could be worth anywhere from $120 to $200. That’s quite a bit of value.
I know a lot of people don’t care for Southwest since there’s no true business class but I’ve always enjoyed upgrading and then grabbing one of the couple seats in the emergency exit row so Brad and I have our own row.
So I wouldn’t sleep on this benefit if you fly Southwest, but if you don’t usually fly with them, this isn’t exactly a very enticing upgrade benefit.
It’s worth noting that when you upgrade you’re usually not given the other Business Select perks like a free drink.
Also, unlike the cheaper Southwest cards you do NOT get the two free Early Bird passes.
25% back on in-flight drinks, WiFi, messaging, and movies
Even though your Southwest $75 credit is not good for in-flight purchases, they do offer you a 25% discount on many of these purchases which is nice.
No foreign transaction fees
Both the Southwest Premier and the Priority Credit Card do not come with foreign transaction fees.
Earn tier qualifying points towards A-list Status
You’ll earn 1,500 tier qualifying points (TQPs) for each $10,000 in purchases annually. There is no longer a limit on this earning potential!
TQPs can be used to count toward qualification for A-List or A-List Preferred status.
You need 35,000 tier qualifying points or 25 qualifying one-way flights per calendar year to qualify for A-List Status. A-List Members enjoy:
Priority boarding
Priority check-in and security lane access
25% more Rapid Rewards points earned on each flight (A-List Preferred receives a 100% bonus)
Free same-day standby
Dedicated A-List Member phone line
$149 annual fee
The Southwest Priority Credit Card comes with a $149 annual fee. Compare that to the Premier which has a $99 annual fee and Southwest Plus which comes with a $69 annual fee.
As you can see, it’s very easy to offset the $149 annual fee with the perks offered by this card.
Photo by Tomás Del Coro.
Not available to all
It’s important to remember the rules for Southwest credit cards that state:
This product is available to you if you do not have a current Southwest Rapid Rewards Credit Card and have not received a new Cardmember bonus within the last 24 months. This does not apply to Business Card and Employee Credit Card products.
That last sentence is very important since the Business Southwest credit cards are excluded.
That means that if you’re striving for the Companion Pass then one of the best things that you can do is go for the business card and one of the personal cards.
Subject to 5/24
It’s also worth noting that the new Southwest Priority Credit Card is subject to Chase’s 5/24 rule, so if you’ve opened 5 or more credit cards in the past 24 months you won’t be eligible for the card.
Is it worth it?
The Priority Card’s benefits will clearly offset the annual fee for a lot of people, so I think it’s a great travel rewards card for Southwest flyers.
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.
Capital One 75K Early Spend Bonuses
Advertiser Disclosure: UponArriving has partnered with affiliate partners and may receive a commission from card issuers. UponArriving does not display all credit card offers and affiliate relationships may impact how offers are presented.
Capital One is now offering the opportunity for you to earn a valuable welcome bonus with either the Capital One® Venture X Rewards Credit Card or the Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card.
Let’s take a look at these two cards and see what they have to offer right now.
Note: you cannot apply for both of these at the same time.
Early Spend Bonuses
Capital One® Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. Learn how to apply.
Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months. Learn how to apply.
(This is one of the best offers ever for this card.)
You can use Capital One miles to erase any travel purchase at a rate of one cent per mile so 75,000 bonus miles equates to at least $750 in travel.
But now that you can transfer Capital One miles to various travel partners, you can get way more value for these miles meaning that you can get a lot more than $750 in travel!
Here are the 1:1 ratio travel partners:
1:1 Transfer Ratio
Aeromexico Club Premier
Aeroplan®
Asia Miles
Avianca LifeMiles
British Airways Executive Club
Choice Privileges®
Emirates Skywards
Etihad Guest
Finnair Plus
Flying Blue
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
TAP Miles&Go
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
Virgin Red
Not only do you have solid transfer partners but many of these are also transfer partners of other programs like Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi, and others. This can make aspirational redemptions much more realistic.
For example, you could book a Singapore Airlines first class saver award from the US (including East Coast) to Singapore for 132,000 miles (plus fees) or from the US to Europe for 86,000 miles (plus fees). With a bonus from one of these cards you are already halfway there.
But then you could combine your earnings from another awesome bonus like the 80,000 welcome bonus offered by the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.
That would give you more than enough miles to fly first class in something like the photo below! You might even be able to swing a round-trip depending on where you are going.
Why I like the Capital One® Venture X Rewards Credit Card
10x on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
5x On flights booked through Capital One Travel
2x On all other purchases
I’ve never been one to look forward to booking hotels through a travel portal but earning 10X on rental cars through a travel portal is very good and the 5X on flights is also very solid.
Unfortunately, the Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card earns a standard rate of 2X on all purchases.
The Capital One® Venture X Rewards Credit Card is a mid-tier premium card (IMO) with an annual fee of $395. But that fee is not a problem for a lot of people because you can offset it with a $300 statement credit for bookings through Capital One Travel.
So again if you have any type of car rentals or flights planned you can easily offset the vast majority of this annual fee with your normal spending which is always the goal with travel credits.
Final word
These are solid bonuses that can help you build up a large balance of miles especially because so many other bank programs transfer to the same partners. I really like the Capital One® Venture X Rewards Credit Card for the good bonus but also for the ability to earn high bonus rates on both rental cars and flights. Learn how to apply.
Advertiser Disclosure: UponArriving has partnered with affiliate partners and may receive a commission from card issuers. UponArriving does not display all credit card offers and affiliate relationships may impact how offers are presented.
Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
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.
Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® Review [2022]
Advertiser Disclosure: UponArriving has partnered with affiliate partners and may receive a commission from card issuers. UponArriving does not display all credit card offers and affiliate relationships may impact how offers are presented.
The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® is a popular premium airlines credit card that’s perfect if you’re eyeing elite status with American Airlines or you are interested in Admirals Club access.
In this article, I’ll go over the Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard benefits likes its bonus, airport lounge access, free checked baggage, priority boarding, and more!
50,000 miles could cover a round trip in domestic first class, which could net you over $1,200 in value!
We’ve also had some great flights thanks to AA miles, especially on partners like Etihad, Qatar, British Airways, etc. where 50,000 AA miles got us closer to $4,000 and $5,000 in value in first class!
While a higher bonus could return, 50,000 miles is a pretty sweet offer and this card is more about the benefits than anything.
Book partners like Qatar with AA miles.
Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!
Application rules
Citi has somewhat complicated application rules which is something that WalletFlo can help you automate.
In addition to standard Citi application rules, once you pick up a bonus on this card, you can’t get its bonus again for 48 months, as the rules state:
American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles are not available if you have received a new account bonus for a Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive account in the past 48 months.
The good news is this means that you can get other AA cards without violating this rule and really build up a huge balance of AA miles!
The Citi AAdvantage Executive earns the following rates:
2X on purchases on American Airlines
1X on all other purchases
The Citi AAdvantage Executive is not a great card for bonus category spend since it only offers 2X on AA purchases.
But the awesome thing about this card is that for every dollar you spend you earn one Loyalty Point which is the new American Airlines loyalty program currency. This means that you can spend your way into elite status.
Here’s a look at the elite levels and the corresponding threshold for Loyalty Points.
Elite Status
Loyalty Points
AAdvantage Gold®
30,000
AAdvantage Platinum®
75,000
AAdvantage Platinum Pro®
125,000
AAdvantage Executive Platinum®
200,000
There are a few things to note about Loyalty Points:
You can earn Loyalty Points with all AAdvantage cards but you only earn Loyalty Points per base dollar spent — you don’t earn extra Loyalty Points for special bonus multipliers.
There is a special perk on this card that allows you to earn a bonus of 10,000 Loyalty Points if you spend $40,000 in qualifying year (defined as beginning on March 1st and ending on February 28th).
The welcome bonus does NOT count towards Loyalty Points.
You can supplement your earnings with spending through things like: AAdvantage eShopping, SimplyMiles, AAdvantage Dining, etc.
Admirals Club membership
The Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard grants cardholders 18 years of age or older with full membership privileges to Admirals Club lounges, which may also include access to other airline lounges and clubs (e.g., Alaska, Qantas Clubs, oneworld or partner lounges, etc.).
This membership is worth up to $650 so getting it as a perk is a huge deal!
Note: same-day boarding passes on American Airlines or partner airlines will be required for entry.
Admirals Club lounges are pretty standard domestic lounges.
In these you might expect to find comfortable spots to relax in along with modern and fresh decor. As far as drinks go, you’ll find coffee, tea, soft drinks, house wine, beer, and spirits (premium drinks will cost you).
And for complimentary food, it’s usually lighter snacks, fruits, yogurt, breads, oatmeal, although some will serve up something special like avocado toast. You can also order dishes from the menu but you’ll generally have to pay for those.
Authorized users can get into the Admirals Clubs but they don’t get the full membership.
Citi states, “Full Admirals Club® membership privileges do not apply to a credit card authorized user,” so authorized users don’t get access to the partner lounges.
To access an Admirals Club lounge, authorized users must present their credit card (along with other needed things like an ID, boarding pass, etc.).
Primary cardmembers need only show their AAdvantage number and ID/boarding pass.
Flagship Lounges
Neither membership nor the credit card authorized user access benefit provides access privileges to the Arrivals Lounge, International First Class Lounges, or Flagship Lounge facilities, including Flagship First Dining.
Guest policy
This card has a pretty good guest policy for lounges.
You can get your immediate family members in for free (spouse or domestic partner and children under 18) or you can bring along up to two guests traveling with the primary credit cardmember or authorized user.
The fact that authorized users can bring in up to two guests is pretty awesome.
Admirals Club at IAH.
Authorized users
One of the biggest features of this card is that you can add up to 10 authorized users to your account for no additional cost.
That’s some crazy value when you consider how many people could get Admiral’s Club access for essentially nothing.
But note: authorized users do not receive the first checked bag free or boarding benefits.
First checked bag free
Primary credit cardmembers may check one bag and avoid AA baggage fees when traveling on domestic itineraries.
All flights on the itinerary must be domestic flights marketed by American Airlines and operated by American Airlines or American Eagle.
(This benefit will not be available for travel on codeshare flights booked with an American Airlines flight number but operated by another airline — see the terms and conditions for more on eligible airlines.)
The cool thing about this perk is that it offers the free first checked bag to up to eight companions traveling with the eligible primary credit cardmember (as long as they are listed in the same reservation). That’s a ton of value if you can utilize this perk for a large group of people.
Up to eight companions traveling with the eligible primary credit cardmember will also get these perks if they are listed in the same reservation.
For benefits to apply, your account must be open seven days prior to air travel and the reservation must include the primary credit cardmember’s AAdvantage number seven days prior to travel.
These benefits apply when traveling on flights marketed and operated by American Airlines, or on flights marketed by American Airlines and operated as other eligible airlines.
Priority check-in (where available)
Priority check-in offers you a special counter area for you to check in at many airports. These check-in areas (seen below) can have much smaller crowds than the standard check-in areas so you can save a lot of time.
American Airlines priority check-in at DFW.
Priority airport screening (where available)
Priority airport screening will allow you to bypass the main security line. This can save you a lot of time in some cases but I’d generally just go with the TSA Pre-Check line or even CLEAR if you have it.
Priority boarding privileges
The priority boarding benefit will display on your American Airlines boarding pass as “Group 4.”
This is the final group in the priority boarding group, so you’ll be boarding before all the economy passengers but you’ll still have some first class and elites in boarding in front of you. To find out more about the American Airline boarding groups click here.
American Airlines boarding area at IAH.
25% Discount
The Citi AAdvantage Executive offers a 25% savings on inflight purchases of food and beverages on flights operated by American Airlines when you use your Citi AAdvantage Executive card.
Keep in mind that the discount does not apply to any other inflight purchases like in-flight wifi.
Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check credit
The Executive will grant you a Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check application fee, every five years up to $100.
TSA Pre-Check is a program that costs $85 to join and allows approved passengers to go through a separate security screening process that is less demanding than the security screening open to the public.
Meanwhile, Global Entry provides you with TSA Pre-Check in addition to expedited entry back into the US. You can read about how to get approved here.
No foreign transaction fees
This card has no foreign transaction fees which is pretty standard for a major airline cobranded credit card.
Annual fee
$450
This is a very reasonable annual fee considering how much lounge membership is worth and the fact that you could add up to ten authorized users for free.
Benefits and protections
Citibank dropped pretty much every major travel benefits and protection from their cards as of September 22, 2019. Some of the benefits and protections that were dropped consisted of:
Worldwide Car Rental Insurance
Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection
Worldwide Travel Accident Insurance
Citi Price Rewind
Trip Delay Protection
Baggage Delay Protection
Lost Baggage Protection
Roadside Assistance Dispatch Service
For this reason, you don’t want to use this card for purchases that you really need or want built-in travel insurance/protections for.
So when it comes to purchasing flights and prepaid hotels, you would be much better off with a card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® or Chase Sapphire Preferred which provides you with much better protections.
Final word
The Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard is the card to get if you’re interested in AAdvantage elite status, Admirals Club access, and/or have a family or group of people who want in on the travel savings.
If you have people you trust as authorized users, the ceiling for your value with the Citi AAdvantage Executive can be very high.
It’s also great for groups because you can get all of those travel perks for up to eight companions, which again means a lot of value.
Advertiser Disclosure: UponArriving has partnered with affiliate partners and may receive a commission from card issuers. UponArriving does not display all credit card offers and affiliate relationships may impact how offers are presented.
Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
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.
Citi Premier® Card 80,000 Point Bonus: Worth It?
Advertiser Disclosure: UponArriving has partnered with affiliate partners and may receive a commission from card issuers. UponArriving does not display all credit card offers and affiliate relationships may impact how offers are presented.
Offer no longer available
The Citi Premier® Card has an outstanding bonus of 80,000 points and it’s ending very soon!
But what can you really do with this bonus and what type of value can it mean for your travels?
Let’s take a look at some of the best redemptions for using these 80,000 points so you can see what might be possible.
The Welcome Bonus
Earn 80,000 bonus ThankYou Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months
Before getting in too deep in the details of how to use the bonus, it’s a good idea to take a look at the overall package of the Citi Premier® Card.
3X on air travel and hotels
3X on dining
3X on gas stations
3X on supermarkets
1x on other purchases
$100 Annual Hotel Savings Benefit
$95 annual fee
No Foreign transaction fees
While you can do better on some of these individual categories, the Citi Premier® Card is certainly a strong all-around spender. If you want strong rewards but don’t want to mess around with multiple cards, this card can make it easy to earn a lot of points with your spend.
Interested in the 80,000 point bonus? Learn how to apply here.
Transfer partners
Here’s a look at all of the potential transfer partners:
Aeromexico Club Premier
Air France-KLM Flying Blue
Avianca LifeMiles
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
Emirates Skywards
Etihad Guest
EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
JetBlue TrueBlue
Malaysia Airlines Enrich
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Qatar Airways Privilege Club
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
If you’re thinking that hardly any of those airlines look familiar — don’t worry.
A lot of these are somewhat niche programs but they allow you to book sweet redemptions including awards on airlines you are more familiar with like United Airlines, Delta, etc.
Below I’m going to highlight some of the most tempting redemptions. By no means is this list exhaustive. But if you’re looking for some type of reference point for what you can do with 80,000 Citi points this should help.
Turkish Airlines
Transferring your points to Turkish Airlines is a great way to fly domestically. You can get a one-way on United for 7,500 miles in economy and 12,500 in business class, even when flying to Hawaii. They even allow you to take advantage of 48 hour holds so you can transfer your points with confidence.
Avianca LifeMiles
Avianca LifeMiles is great for low fees and now it’s easier to book online. You can book a first class one-way to Europe for 87,000 miles on Lufthansa, considered by many to be one of the best first class cabins. You could also fly across the US in business class on United for 25,000 points.
Virgin Atlantic
Use 50,000 Virgin Atlantic miles to fly Delta in business class from the U.S. to Europe. Or, if you want to take advantage of one of the best first class redemptions consider flying between the U.S. and Japan on ANA-operated flights for 90,000 to 120,000 miles round trip!
Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines are not the cheapest but because you can transfer points from various programs to Singapore Airlines, even rewards that cost a lot are very obtainable. You could fly Singapore Suites for ~147,000 miles from Singapore to the US.
Or for something more obtainable, you could fly from the East Coast of the US to Europe for 81,000 miles in business class.
Interested in the 80,000 point bonus? Learn how to apply here.
Emirates
Emirates awards can get expensive for premium cabins like their amazing first class. But they have reduced fuel surcharges so they are not nearly as expensive as they used to be. For 72,500 miles you can fly first class from New York JFK to Milan, Italy and you only have to pay $84 in fees.That flight is currently going for over $10,000!
JetBlue TrueBlue
JetBlue TrueBlue Award prices are tied to revenue prices so the more expensive the cash price, the more expensive the award ticket.
JetBlue can be a great way to get around the US and they have an amazing business class product (Mint) although sometimes the award redemption value on that is not terrific. For that reason, you might want to sometimes look elsewhere like booking inter-island Hawaiian flights on Hawaiian Airlines for 6,000 points in economy.
Qatar Airways
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend Qatar Airways for partner bookings but if you’ve never flown on the famous Q-Suites, you can find some redemptions decently priced. This is especially true since you can use Avios to makes your bookings. Use the Q calculator to get estimates on the award price and you’ll see Qatar business class seats go for 43,000 from Doha to Paris.
Final word
The Citi Premier® Card bonus of 80,000 points can be used in a lot of ways for travel. These redemptions above are only the tip of the iceberg but should give you a good indication of just how much value you can obtain from this bonus.
Interested in the 80,000 point bonus? Learn how to apply here.
Advertiser Disclosure: UponArriving has partnered with affiliate partners and may receive a commission from card issuers. UponArriving does not display all credit card offers and affiliate relationships may impact how offers are presented.
Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
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 Zales credit card is very popular for anyone thinking about making a large purchase at Zales.
That’s because it offers 0% APR for different lengths of time depending on the payment option that you go with. But is this card a good credit card option?
This article will dive in deep to review the Zales credit card’s benefits and show you why you need to be careful going with this card and its various payment options.
I’ll also show you how to save money when shopping at Zales and give you some info to ponder about Zales diamonds.
Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!
Zales (brief history & locations)
Zales is one of the most well-known jewelry stores in the US.
The company started back in 1924 in Wichita Falls, Texas, when Morris (M. B.) Zale, William Zale, and Ben Lipshy opened the first Zales Jewelers store.
As part of their marketing strategy, the Zale brothers launched a credit plan where customers paid “a penny down and a dollar a week,” which helped make jewelry and other merchandise like cameras affordable for the average working American.
The success of this credit strategy led to the company expanding to12 stores in Oklahoma and Texas by 1941. Zales Jewelers eventually moved its headquarters from Wichita Falls to Dallas in 1946 and in 1998, it opened up online shopping at www.zales.com.
Over the past 90+ years, Zales grew from a single store selling jewelry, appliances and cameras to a major international jewelry corporation.
Zales has expanded to over 700 stores and become one of the largest fine jewelers in retail shopping malls across North America and Puerto Rico.
Comenity is the parent company of Comenity Bank and Comenity Capital Bank and Comenity Capital Bank issues the Zales Credit Card.
Some report that if Comenity Bank approves you then you might have to put down money at the time of purchase. If Comenity Capital Bank approves you then you should get a standard credit line.
Being able to walk out of a jewelry store with no down payment is pretty special but you’ll only be able to do that if you sign-up for a special promotional plan.
There are two promotional plans available to cardholders.
No Interest if paid in full within 6, 12 or 18 months.
9.99% APR if paid in full in 36 months
So if you can pay off your balance within 6 to 18 months you can get an interest free plan but if you extend it out to 36 months you you’ll have to pay 9.99% for your APR.
Interest will be charged to your account from the purchase date if the purchase balance is not paid in full within the promotional period or if you make a late payment.
I’ll talk more about the deferred interest below, but one major factor to consider here is that you’ll be charged interest even if you make a late payment. Some report that they’re not able to set up auto-pay which could mean they are at a bigger risk to miss a payment.
So if you struggle to pay your bills on time, this could be a very bad thing because failing to pay your bill on time could amount to hundreds or even thousands of dollars worth of interest fees.
Receive exclusive cardholder coupons, jewelry inspection reminders and cleaning notifications via email throughout the year
Jewelry inspection and cleaning notifications can be important because under some care plans, you can lose the perks if you don’t regularly get your piece inspected or cleaned.
For example, Zales states:
You may have your Zales diamond cleaned and inspected as many times as you want, free of charge, for as long as you own it. To maintain your Lifetime Diamond Commitment limited warranty, you need only bring your diamond to Zales every six months for cleaning and inspection, along with your record-keeping card.
So if you miss an appointment, you can miss out on that valuable perk.
And while it’s very easy to mark your own calendar to remind yourself about making an appointment, it is nice to receive an automatic reminder just in case you forget to mark it down or mark it down incorrectly.
But still, I wouldn’t put that much value in this benefit.
I’m also not sure about the frequency that coupons are sent out to cardmembers. I didn’t find a lot of raving reviews about them so it makes me feel like they’re not that special.
Also, Zales regularly puts on many sales and promotions so it’s not like there’s a shortage of those to go around.
$50 Off a purchase of $149 or more on your birthday
This is a decent benefit since it is essentially a $50 sign-up bonus which for a store card is okay. But this perk is often offered when signing up for the Zales email list so it’s not very exclusive (although some require you to spend $300).
Accounts opened in your birthday month or in the 2 months prior to your birthday will receive the birthday benefit during your birthday month the following calendar year.
It honestly feels a little cheap that you don’t get your discount if your birthday is in the two months following when you open up your card and that you have to wait 14 months for that coupon to come around.
Tip:If you want to save money on your Zales purchase then be sure you go through a shopping portal to earn cash back. It’s often possible to get over 5% back through many portals.
You’ll get free standard shipping (3-5 business days) valid for the U.S. and U.S. territories when you use your Zales credit card.
It would be nice if they offered expedited shipping since some promos found on the Zales website offer free shipping on other purchases. So you’re really not coming out that far ahead.
10% Off any repair service when you use your Zales credit card
I know quite a few people who have purchased or received nice jewelry over the past few years but not many of them have needed repairs. And if they did, the repairs weren’t that expensive.
So getting 10% off something you will rarely need that’s likely not that expensive in the first place, isn’t the strongest benefit.
Overall
Overall, this is not a very strong credit card when it comes to the benefits department.
They don’t offer a lot of unique value propositions and so the card doesn’t stand out. The strongest point of the card is the 0% APR that you’re eligible for but that perk comes with a lot of warning as shown below.
But the 0% APR with no down payment is very competitive.
As a point of comparison, the Jared credit card requires a down payment for its lowest special financing plans.
Specifically, the Jared credit card requires:
12 Month Special Financing: $1,000 minimum purchase and 20% down payment require
18 Month Special Financing: $5,000 minimum purchase and 20% down payment required.
Also, the Kay Jewelers credit card also requires a down payment for its lowest special financing plans ($500 minimum purchase and 20% down payment required).
So if you’re not wanting to make a down payment for an engagement/wedding ring, the Zales credit card can be one of the best jewelry store cards.
The biggest perk of this card is the ability to pay 0% interest on your purchases.
But you need to proceed with tons of caution on this.
As already stated, missing one payment can kick in interest. But if you fail to pay off your balance in time that can also kick in interest as shown below.
Deferred interest
Deferred interest can be a beautiful thing when you pay off your balance in the required time.
How it works is that you’re allowed to receive special financing for a large purchase like an engagement ring.
If you pay off your entire balance within the promotional period (e.g., 6 months, 12 months, etc.) then you don’t pay any interest. But if you fail to pay off that balance, you’ll get hit with all of the interest from those prior months.
About 1 in 5 people do not pay off their balances in time when dealing with deferred interest.
And the data is even more revealing when you break it down by credit scores.
People with “deep subprime credit scores” only pay off their deferred interest balance 46 percent of the time. So if you’ve got a poor credit score, the statistics say that you are more likely to fall victim to deferred interest — this should be a major red flag.
People with “super-prime credit scores” payed off their balance by the deadline 86 percent of the time. So if you’ve got a perfect credit score or at least a great credit score, you probably will be able to avoid the interest based on the stats.
In the end, it all comes down to how responsible you are and how prepared you are to deal with potential surprises down the road that could interfere with your ability to pay off your cards. If you’re financially stable, deferred interest isn’t so bad.
How much can you owe in deferred interest?
The amount owed will obviously vary based on the purchase price of the jewelry but because were’ dealing with diamonds, gold, and other expensive materials, the potential for paying a lot in interest is huge.
Men spend an average of $5,978 on engagement rings. If you assume that much on a purchase and interest at 29.99% for 18 months, the total spent on interest would be $2689.20!
And that’s with the average cost.
So in many cases, this can result in owing thousands of dollars.
If the balance is not paid in full in 36 months or if you fail to make any payment when due, regular credit terms will apply and interest will be imposed from the end of the promotional period at the standard, variable Purchase APR of 29.99%, based on the Prime Rate.
So not only will you owe interest, but you’ll owe interest at a very high rate.
Why this is all such an issue
A lot of people don’t understand how deferred interest works, so they end up signing up for these programs without even knowing what they are getting themselves into.
Then they miss a payment or don’t pay off their balance 100% and the next thing they know, they feel like they’ve been blind-sighted with a $2,000 surprise bill.
And then there’s a lot of people also don’t have experience in dealing with deferred interest or even credit cards in general for that matter.
All it takes is you getting a little sloppy with your record keeping or organization for you to make a simple mistake that could cost you thousands of dollars.
So unless you’re a very organized and disciplined person, you may not be the best fit for a deferred interest payment plant.
For purchases made under the 12 and 18 months promotional Credit Plans, they will add a transaction fee of $9.95 per transaction.
However, when you make a purchase under the 6 months promotional Credit Plan, they will waive the transaction fee of $9.95. It also seems that you can get the fee waived for 36 month plans.
This seems like a very pesky fee but it’s something to be aware of so that you can consolidate your transactions the best way that you can.
Can you get the Zales Credit Card with bad credit?
One of the great things about the Zales Credit Card is that you don’t need superior credit to qualify for the card.
People have gotten approved for this card with credit scores in the 500s though you might want to try to get your score up into the 600s so that you have better approval odds and can get a credit line you’ll actually be able to use (remember, this is a jewelry store).
The Zales card isn’t a horrible card if you’re responsible and you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into. In that case, getting 0% APR on your large purchases can be a great benefit that saves you tons of money.
The only issue is that there is the potential for this to backfire for many and there aren’t a lot of other solid perks that make this card attractive. I’d probably just go with another 0% APR card if that was the benefit I needed since those other options can present you with more value.
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.
Amtrak Guest Rewards World MasterCard Review [2021]
The Amtrak Guest Rewards World MasterCard is such a solid travel credit card. With strong bonus earning categories and additional perks, it’s hard to not love this card.
In this review article, I’ll show you why this card might be arguably one of the most valuable travel rewards credit cards on the market.
As you will be able to see below, there are a lot of rules to keep in mind when going for this card.
Tip: To make things easy on yourself, I suggest you use the free app WalletFlo so that you can automate your eligibility for credit cards and boost your approval odds!
If you want to figure out eligibility manually here are the main rules:
You can’t get approved for more than:
Two new BOA cards in a 30 day period
Three new BOA cards in a 12 month period
Four new BOA cards in a 24 month period
Applicants with a BOA deposit account will not be approved if they have opened seven or more credit cards in the past 12 months.
Applicants without a BOA deposit account will not be approved if they have opened three or more credit cards in the past 12 months
Welcome bonus
The bonus you get on this card will just depend on when you apply.
The standard offer is for 20,000 points after you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days after account opening.
However, we have seen offers for 30,000 points and even 40,000 points although the spending requirement did jump up for the 40,000 point offer.
You can also sometimes find an offer with a $100 statement credit. If you can find a 40,000 point offer with a $100 statement credit, that is a beast of an offer!
20,000 points will be worth around $600 which is a pretty good amount of value for a travel rewards credit card.
There are quite a few different ways you can utilize your points and I recommend you checking out the ultimate guide to Amtrak points which breaks all of those down.
But here are some examples.
First, as you would expect, you can use your points on train rides. To give you an example of the pricing here are some sample routes:
Route
Class
Price (in points)
Los Angeles to Tucson
Coach
1,691
Chicago to St. Louis
Coach
1,070
Houston to New Orleans
Roomette
5,520
New York to Boston
Business
4,000
New York to Washington DC
Business
6,314
Sample Amtrak bookings with points.
You can also use your points for lounge access or shell out 10,000 points for upgrades.
You can also use your points in different forms such as booking hotels, gift cards, etc.
You should be aware, I did some test bookings on various hotels and cruises and gift cards and I was not very impressed with the results.
In some cases if you use your Amtrak points for hotels or cruise gift cards you would lose as much as 73% in value.
Therefore, unless you have absolutely no use for your points on Amtrak, I would highly advise to avoid those redemption avenues because you’ll be missing out on a ton of value.
The best value for your points will be on a train rides.
Bonus earning potential
3X on Amtrak purchases
2X on travel
1X on everything else
3X on Amtrak purchases
Given the high valuation of Amtrak points of 2.9 cents per point, this makes this card one of the most valuable travel credit cards out there.
You’re getting close to 9% back on Amtrak travel when using your card which is pretty insane compared to the percent you get back with other travel cards.
Based on a return on spend perspective, you could argue that the Amtrak credit card is the most valuable co-branded travel credit card.
2X on travel
Earning 2X on travel with this card is also super impressive because of the high value of the points. You are basically getting close to 6% back on travel which again is super competitive.
The travel category is also very broad and includes merchants like: airlines, car rental agencies, hotels, motels, inns, and resorts, steamship/cruise lines, commuter rail, passenger rail (where Amtrak is not the merchant of record), and travel agencies.
1X on everything else
1X on everything else is very solid since that is close to 3% back on all purchases.
So as you can see, the Amtrak credit card might be the most valuable travel rewards credit card in terms of value put back in your wallet for travel purchases.
The only drawback is that your points are really only valuable on train travel which limits the redemption prospects for a lot of people.
For that reason, travelers wanting more options likely will be more interested in cards like the Amex Green Card that earn flexible points that can be used on different types of travel.
But if you are a train person or live near a dense network of Amtrak routes such as in the Northeast, this card could be extremely valuable.
Tip: Check out the free app WalletFlo so that you can optimize your credit card spend by seeing the best card to use! You can also track credits, annual fees, and get notifications when you’re eligible for the best cards!
Earn Amtrak points on all types of travel such as hotel stays.
Amtrak Benefits
The Amtrak Guest Rewards World Mastercard will hook you up with a lot of great benefits.
Companion Coupon
Upon opening your account and each anniversary of your card membership, you will receive a complimentary companion coupon.
This benefit will consist of two one-way coupons each valid for one free companion rail fare with the purchase of one regular (full) adult rail fare.
The free companion and paying passenger must reserve at the same time and travel together at all times and each coupon is valid for travel as one one-way reservation.
For roundtrip usage, both directions of travel must be reserved at the same time. Travel blackout dates apply.
This could be the most valuable perk of the card since you’re basically getting a buy one get one free ticket, twice. It looks like you may be restricted to coach fares or to business class on Acela to use this perk based on reports.
But even if that is the case, you could still knock down the annual fee with one good use of the companion fare.
You can easily apply your companion pass discounts by signing into your account and utilizing the”Discounts” field or “Coupon/Promo code” drop-down menu.
Simply choose your companion discount that you’d like to apply and it should be applied instantly to your booking on the next screen.
One-Class Upgrade
You will receive a One-Class Upgrade upon account opening and each year when you renew your card membership.
The One-Class Upgrade Coupon is valid for one space-available, one-way, one-class upgrade.
You can use these to upgrade from Coach to Business class or from Acela Business class to Acela First class, on a single travel segment or leg. But you can’t use them to upgrade to sleeping car accommodations.
Travel blackout dates may apply so be sure to look into those.
Tip: On Acela Express trains, an upgrade from Acela business class to first class could cost more than $100. So if you optimize this benefit each year, this perk alone could justify the annual fee.
Upgrade coupons can be applied to existing reservations within the window of time referenced on your coupon.
You can apply your upgrades by logging into your account and locating the reservation and then simply selecting upgrade and choosing the upgrade coupon you would like to use.
Once you have confirmed the upgrade, your new ticket should be available instantly. This can be done on the website Amtrak.com or on the app.
Lounge Pass
After opening up an account, you will receive a complimentary Single-Visit Station Lounge Pass upon account opening. You should note that this is not an anniversary benefit.
A Station lounge pass grants single entry at any ClubAcela, Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge or Amtrak First Class Lounge and is valid for bearer and one guest, or bearer’s spouse/domestic partner and children under the age of 21.
No same-day ticket required for use.
A lounge pass would typically cost you $35, so this is a nice little added bit of value. The issue is that there are only a small number of lounges. So unless you have travel plans in one of those cities, this lounge pass may not do you much good.
Your Single-Visit Station Lounge Pass will be mailed to you within 2 weeks of account opening.
Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs)
Amtrak will allow you to earn 1,000 Tier Qualifying Points (TQPs) toward earning tier status each time your eligible spending reaches $5,000 in a calendar year.
You’re limited to 4,000 TQP’s so that means that you can use a total of $20,000 in spend to boost your elite qualifying points.
To reach the first level of elite status known as the “Select” level you will need 5,000 TQPs so you will not able to achieve that level via spend but you can get pretty close.
Elite level
TQP requirement
Member
up to 4,999 TQPs
Select
5,000 TQPs
Select Plus
10,000 TQPs
Select Executive
20,000 TQPs
Amtrak elite levels
5% point rebate
As a cardholder, you will receive 5% Amtrak Guest Rewards point rebate
Each time that you choose to use your points for an Amtrak ticket you receive the 5% rebate on the points that you redeemed.
Keep in mind that this is a rebate so you will have to have the total amount of points required to complete the redemption — the rebate cannot be applied to achieve the total points required for the redemption.
So let’s say that you redeemed 1,000 points for a ticket, you would receive 50 points back.
But let’s say you only had 950 points for a ticket and needed 1,000, you would not be able to redeem for the ticket.
20% rebate
You can also receive a 20% rebate in the form of a statement credit on your food and beverage purchases.
Amtrak Guest Rewards World MasterCard FAQ
Do you get elite status with the Amtrak Guest Rewards World MasterCard?
No, you do not get elite status. However, for every $5,000 you spend you can earn 1,000 TQPs up to a total of 4,000 TQPs.
Do you get lounge access with the Amtrak Guest Rewards World MasterCard?
You do not get a lounge membership but upon account opening, you will get a complimentary Single-Visit Station Lounge Pass.
Can you get upgrades with the Amtrak Guest Rewards World MasterCard?
Yes, every year you will receive one complementary one class upgrade. In addition, you could use the points earned from the welcome bonus for upgrades starting at 10,000 points.
What is the Amtrak Guest Rewards World MasterCard annual fee?
The annual fee is $79 and it is not waived.
Does the Amtrak Guest Rewards World MasterCard have foreign transaction fees?
No, there are no foreign transaction fees.
Is Amtrak a transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards?
No, Amtrak is no longer a transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Can you downgrade the Amtrak Guest Rewards World MasterCard?
There is a no annual fee version of this card known as the Amtrak Guest Rewards Platinum MasterCard. This card may be a downgrade option but some people have had issues downgrading to this card so it may not always be possible.
Final word
If you plan to use Amtrak this credit card can be a pretty valuable asset, allowing you to travel for free and take advantage of some perks along the way.
But if you are an avid train traveler, this card could easily be the most valuable travel credit card due to its high point valuations, bonus earning potential, and all of the other perks mentioned above.
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.
Barclays Aviator Red Review [2021]
There are some co-branded airline credit cards that I believe everybody should seriously consider. The AAdvantage Aviator Red from Barclays is definitely one of these credit cards. The reason I am so big on this card is that it offers a lot of bang for buck and also it is perfect for people who may struggle to meet minimum spend requirements when stretching themselves thin.
In this review article, I will break down everything you need to know about the AAdvantage Aviator Red.
AAdvantage Aviator Red Overview
Lucrative welcome bonus usually offered
2X on AA purchases
First checked bag free
Anniversary Companion Certificate
Flight Cents
Preferred boarding
Reduced mileage awards
$25 back on wifi
25% discount on in-flight purchases
$99 annual fee
Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!
Welcome bonus
For several years, the Aviator Red has been a favorite travel credit card for people who don’t want to put a lot of spend on a credit card to achieve a bonus. Typically, you can earn the bonus for this card by simply making a single purchase on your card within 90 days of opening.
That’s pretty amazing considering that this card can come with some very lucrative bonuses such as 60,000 miles. 60K is the best standard public offer we’ve seen but I’d argue this card is worth it even at 50K, just because how easy it is to earn.
It’s almost like paying $99 (the annual fee) for 50,000 or 60,000 miles.
If you were to time up the bonuses well, you could potentially score 120,000+ miles in one swoop. And because the welcome bonus is so easy to obtain for the Aviator Red, this is one of the easiest ways to net over 100,000 miles in quick fashion.
Stacking bonuses is a pretty strategic move because American Airlines is not currently a transfer partner of any of the major transfer programs associated with large banks such as American Express, Chase, or Citibank.
Qatar A350 business class booked with AA miles.
Bonus categories
2X on AA purchases
1X on all other purchases
The bonus categories on the Aviator Red are extremely vanilla.
Earning double the points on American Airlines is expected and nothing too special. If you value American Airlines miles at 1.37 cents per mile then 2X comes out to 2.74% back. I think they could definitely improve this card by adding some interesting new bonus categories.
2X on AA purchases is nice but that’s about as good as the bonus categories get.
Airline benefits
First checked bag free
You can get a free checked bag for you and up to four companions on domestic itineraries operated by American Airlines.
For this benefit to apply, the card must be open 7 days prior to air travel, and the reservation must include the primary cardmember’s AAdvantage Account number 7 days prior to air travel.
Something worth noting is that you do not have to use your card on your airfare in order to receive this benefit. So if you have a credit card with better trip insurance, you can still use that to cover your flight.
This perk alone will justify the annual fee for a lot of people who frequently fly American Airlines, as is often the case with co-branded airline credit cards.
The only drawback to this perk is that it does NOT cover international trips. Some international routes will actually give you a free checked bag so that is not a dealbreaker but it is something that is distinguished from competitor cards like the United Explorer Card.
Anniversary Companion Certificate
Every anniversary year you can earn a $99 domestic economy fare companion certificate if you spend $20,000 and keep your account open for at least 45 days after the anniversary date.
For many card members, it’s not very difficult to get a couple of hundred dollars in value from this perk by purchasing a ticket between $300 and $500. So that’s decent value but $20,000 in spend for a $99 companion certificate is a high amount of spend in my opinion.
I like to compare the spend bonuses to other cards to get a sense of the relative value you might be missing out on. You could spend $15,000 on a Hilton Surpass and earn a free night that could cover a property going for hundreds or even $1,000 a night. So that is less spend and likely more value potential. Just something to think about.
Flight Cents
Flight Cents is a way to earn additional American Airlines miles by rounding up your Aviator credit card purchases to the nearest whole dollar. For each cent that is rounded up, you’ll automatically purchase half an AAdvantage mile up to a certain threshold. So basically you are purchasing miles for two cents per mile.
I think Flight Cents is an interesting benefit. It’s not the most lucrative way to earn AA miles but it can be significantly cheaper than purchasing them outright. The way the perk works is a little bit confusing so I would recommend reading my guide on Flight Cents here.
Preferred boarding
You can also get preferred boarding for you and up to four companions when flying on American Airlines operated flights.
I think the biggest thing to note here is that “preferred boarding” is not the same as “priority boarding.” Priority boarding includes groups one through four. Meanwhile, preferred boarding is in group 5.
Despite that, you will still be among the first to enter the aircraft in main cabin so it can be helpful when trying to secure your overhead storage bin space. You can find out more about the American Airlines boarding process here.
Get preferred boarding with the Aviator Red.
Reduced mileage awards
Reduced mileage awards are special discounts on American Airlines MileSAAver awards to select destinations that are available to some American Airlines co-branded credit card holders.
These discounts allow you to save thousands of miles on redemptions, which can knock down the price of a flight from 12,500 miles to 8,750 miles. This can be a great way to save on miles but just be aware that sometimes “Web Specials” can be cheaper than the MileSAAver awards with the reduced mileage award discount.
$25 back on wifi
Every anniversary year you can get $25 back as statement credits on inflight Wi-Fi purchases. This is a great way to offset 25% of the annual fee.
25% Statement Credit
You can get a 25% savings as a statement credit on eligible inflight food and beverage purchases when purchased using your card. These savings do not apply to any other inflight purchases, such as wireless internet access or inflight entertainment.
Aviator Red FAQ
What is the annual fee for the Aviator Red?
The annual fee is $99.
Is the annual fee waived for the Aviator Red?
No, the annual fee is not waived the first year.
Do you get free checked bags with the Aviator Red?
Yes, you can get a free checked bag for you and up to four companions on domestic itineraries.
Do you get Admiral’s Club access with the Aviator Red?
No, you do not get lounge access with the Aviator Red.
Final word
I’ve been a big fan of the Aviator Red card ever since it was introduced. I love how easy the bonus is to earn and that the bonus is also usually very lucrative.
The bonus categories are definitely nothing special on this card but there are some pretty decent perks that allow you to offset the annual fee. If you fly American Airlines on even a semi-regular basis this card could be worth holding on to for the long run.
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.
United Quest Card Review [2021]
Chase just released a new United Airlines credit card called the United Quest Card. It is sort of a mid-level premium card which makes it a little different and very interesting. Below, I will break down the card and give you some insight into the value you might receive if you choose to go with United Quest Card.
United Quest Card intro
Earn 80,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
Plus, earn an additional 20,000 bonus miles after you spend $10,000 total on purchases in the first 6 months your account is open.
3X on United
2X on travel, restaurants, and streaming
$125 United credit
Anniversary Award Flight Credit
Two Free checked bags
No foreign transaction fees
Decent travel and purchase protections
$250 annual fee
Welcome bonus
Earn 80,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
Plus, earn an additional 20,000 bonus miles after you spend $10,000 total on purchases in the first 6 months your account is open.
80,000 United miles for only spending $5,000 is a terrific bonus. An additional 20,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 more is not bad either — especially since you get six months to do so.
The good thing about this bonus is that you are still eligible even if you have opened up other United cards like the Explorer Card. As always, I would recommend checking your eligibility using WalletFlo before you apply for your credit cards.
Earning 3X on United is pretty good but you could optimize your United miles better with another card. For example, the United Club Infinite Card earns 4X on United purchases.
Earning 2X on travel, restaurants, and streaming is also not super impressive. You could earn 3X on dining with a no annual fee Freedom card and if you have a card like the Sapphire Reserve you could also earn 3X on travel. You could then transfer those points to United for better earnings for United.
Earning extra on streaming is nice but because spending on streaming is usually pretty limited I don’t think this card has the best bonus category earning potential.
$125 annual United credit
You will receive up to $125 in statement credits each account anniversary year. The statement credit is automatically applied and includes airline tickets purchased from United along with the following:
Seat upgrades
Economy Plus
Inflight food, beverages and Wi-Fi
Baggage service charges or other United fees.
United Card Events from Chase purchases will also qualify.
The fact that you can use this on airline tickets makes this credit extremely easy to use and lucrative for anyone who flies United each year. By utilizing the credit you can quickly knock down your $250 annual fees to $125.
Anniversary Award Flight Credit
Each anniversary year, you will get 5,000 miles back up to two times after you take a United or United Express operated award flight booked with your miles.
The rebate is valid for award tickets booked that include at least one United- or United Express-operated flight. Just note that it does not appear you get the rebate if you use United miles solely on partners.
You could value each of these rebates at around $70 which means that you could potentially get up to $140 back in value. Putting 10,000 miles back into your account each year is a pretty nice benefit.
Free checked baggage
Another one of the major perks of this card is that you and one traveling companion can get their first and second standard checked bag for free. It’s pretty common to get your first checked bag free on a co-branded credit card but this card takes it up a notch with your second bag also being free.
There is a lot of value to be had with this benefit. One round-trip with two people could offer savings over $300. This means that even for people who only fly United once per year, they could completely offset the annual fee with waived baggage fees alone. Pretty impressive.
The primary Cardmember will earn 500 Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) for every $12,000 in net purchases purchases (including purchases made by authorized users) up to a maximum of 3,000 PQP in a calendar year.
25% back on food, beverage and Wi-Fi purchases onboard United- and United Express-operated flights
As long as tickets are still available for sale for the applicable cabin on any United-operated flight, the primary Cardmember can use miles to book award travel on such flight
Purchase and travel protections
The Quest Card has some okay travel protections although you can do much better.
For example, the trip cancellation is only up to $1,500 per person and $6,000 per trip. But if you have a card like the Sapphire Preferred, you can get reimbursed up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip. That is a pretty huge disparity.
Other benefits like baggage delay insurance are also a little bit toned down. For example you will get coverage up to $100 a day for three days but with a Sapphire Preferred you can get coverage up to five days. So if you want optimal travel protections, I would not use this card for your travel purchases.
With that said, the purchase protection on this card is very strong at up to $10,000 per claim. You also get primary rental car coverage which is pretty great.
Final word
This new United Airlines Quest credit card is coming out of the gates very strong with a 100K offer. I’m not very impressed with the bonus earning potential especially because cards that earn Ultimate Rewards can do much better.
But this card has some very solid perks that can help you easily offset the annual fee if you fly United even a couple of times a year.
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.
Chase Sapphire Reserve Review [2021]
The Chase Sapphire Reserve exploded in popularity in 2016 and ever since then it has been known as one of the most valuable travel rewards credit cards available. Its highlights include things like the welcome and spend bonuses, special benefits, and all of the amazing travel and purchase protections.
In this review article, I’ll cover everything you need to know about the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
Chase Sapphire Reserve intro
50,000 Ultimate Rewards after spending $4,000 in the first three months
3X on dining and travel
10X on Lyft
$300 travel credit
$60 DoorDash credit
Priority Pass Select
Complimentary year of Lyft Pink
One-year DashPass membership
Luxury hotel benefits
No foreign transaction fees
Great travel and purchase protections
$550 annual fee
Welcome bonus
Once upon a time the Chase Sapphire Reserve had a 100,000 point welcome bonus but that is just a thing of the past at this point.
Now-a-days, the standard Chase Sapphire Reserve welcome bonus is 50,000 Ultimate Rewardsafter spending $4,000 in the first three months after account opening. This is a very strong bonus (although it is worth mentioning that the Chase Sapphirre Preferred has a higher bonus of 60,000 points after meeting its minimum spend).
Just how much these Ultimate Rewards are worth depends on how you choose to use them.
If you simply use them for cashback, you would get one cent per point which means that 60,000 points would be worth $600. That’s not a horrible redemption but as I will show below, if you utilize your points for travel you will be able to net much more value.
Chase Travel Portal 50% bonus
As a Sapphire Reserve member, you will receive a 50% bonus on your redemptions through the Chase Travel Portal. This means that if you redeemed your Ultimate Rewards in the Chase Travel Portal, you’ll be able to book things like airfare, hotels, car rentals, and cruises at a rate of 1.5 cents per point which would put the value of 50,000 points at $750, which is very competitive.
This is also much better than the rates you get redeeming your points through Amex Travel.
Therefore, this 50% bonus is one of the key perks of the card.
Chase travel partners
To get maximum value for your points, you would want to transfer your points out to travel partners. Here are all of the current Chase transfer partners:
Aer Lingus
British Airways Executive Club
Emirates
JetBlue
Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
Iberia Airways
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
United MileagePlus
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Hyatt
Marriott
IHG
You can transfer your points to all of these partners at a 1:1 ratio.
For example, I booked Lufthansa first class with 110,000 United miles and the fees for the flight were only $112.13. This flight would have cost $8,945 so with all fees factored in, I got 8 cents in value per mile on this redemption! That means 50,000 Ultimate Rewards would be worth around $4,000!
Get outsized value when flying first class.
Eligibility
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is subject to the Chase credit card application rules including the Chase 5/24 rule and the dreaded Sapphire 48-month rule, not to mention the 2/30 rule.
Instead of trying to keep up with calculating all of these rules yourself, I highly recommend that you sign up for the free app WalletFlo which will automate your eligibility for all of these credit card rules.
You can also set up notifications so that you are reminded when you are finally eligible along with keeping tabs on your annual fees, upgrade history, etc.
The Sapphire Reserve earns 3X on dining and travel. At a WalletFlo valuation of 1.73 cents, that’s an unlimited 5.2% return on travel which is amazing.
The travel category is extremely broad so it’s very easy to rack up a lot of points on your travel expenses. And as you will see below, the Reserve has some solid travel protections so it just makes even more sense to use it on your travel purchases.
10X total points on Lyft
You will earn 10X points on Lyft rides through March 2022. This amounts to roughly 17% cashback which is a super competitive rate. If you are already a Lyft user, this could amount to substantial savings. Also keep reading below to find out more about the Lyft Pink benefits.
Travel and dining credits
It’s easy to be turned off by a $550 annual fee but when you have easy to use credits, you can quickly knock down that effective annual fee to under $200.
$300 travel credit
The Chase Sapphire Reserve’s $300 travel credit offsets the hefty $550 annual fee down to $250, which makes the card much more attractive and easier to justify.
The travel credit is special because unlike the travel credits offered by many other credit card issuers, this travel credit is remarkably broad. Chase defines what would be considered “travel” in its terms and conditions and it includes:
Merchants in the travel category include airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, campgrounds and operators of passenger trains, buses, taxis, limousines, ferries, toll bridges and highways, and parking lots and garages.
$60 DoorDash credit
The Chase Sapphire Reserve offers a $60 annual statement credit for 2020 and 2021 ($60 for each calendar year) that can be used on DoorDash purchases (DoorDash is a food delivery service similar to UberEats).
The unique feature about this credit is that it can be used all at once so you don’t have to keep up with recurring monthly credits.
Tip: Check out the free app WalletFlo so that you can optimize your credit card spend by seeing the best card to use! You can also track credits, annual fees, and get notifications when you’re eligible for the best cards!
Lounge access (Priority Pass Select)
With the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you will get a Priority Pass Select membership which will get you access to a network of over 1,300 airport lounges all around the world.
With these airport lounges you can get free wifi, drinks, food, showers, nap rooms, and comfy and quiet areas to relax in when waiting for your flights.
You’ll get free access for yourself and up to two guests. In addition, you will also be able to receive the credits for the Priority Pass restaurants which are located in select airports.
The restaurant access is a competitive edge when compared to the Priority Pass membership offered by American Express cards but if you want the ultimate lounge access, I still think the Amex Platinum Card has the best overall lounge benefits.
Cabo Priority Pass Lounge.
Complimentary year of Lyft Pink
Cardmembers receive one complimentary year of Lyft Pink, a $199 minimum value. Lyft Pink membership comes with the following perks:
15% off unlimited car rides
Priority airport pickups
Relaxed cancellations
Surprise offers
Waived lost and found fees
Bikes and scooters
If you regularly use Lyft that 15% off could really save you a lot of money over the course of one year. And remember, in addition to that you’ll be earning 10X on Lyft rides!
As a cardmember you will get a complimentary one-year DashPass membership, which is DoorDash’s subscription service that provides unlimited restaurant deliveries with a $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees on orders over $12.
When you order a delivery, you will typically have to pay a delivery fee which can range but is generally a few bucks (~$2 to $5). So with 24 annual orders (2 per month), you could be saving ~$50-$120 with the waived delivery fees alone!
Normally, this membership would cost you $9.99 per month, so that’s a high potential for savings over the span of one year.
Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check Credit
With the Sapphire Reserve, you’ll receive a statement credit of up to $100 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to your card for Global Entry and TSA-Pre Check.
With TSA-Pre Check you get to enjoy the following benefits:
And with Global Entry, you can get expedited access back into the country through both immigrations and customs.
Authorized users
With the Sapphire Reserve, you can add authorized users for $75 each. You can read more about the Sapphire Reserve authorized user benefits here.
Events and experiences
You can get exclusive access to some pretty cool events in different industries like music, sports, and entertainment. These include some high profile events like the Sundance Film Festival. There’s also Chase Experiences where you can get preferred seating, VIP access, and other perks at special events in several major cities like New York, LA, and Chicago.
Luxury hotel benefits
The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection will allow you enjoy special benefits at a variety of top hotels and resorts worldwide, such as:
Complimentary room upgrades
Complimentary meals for you and a guest
Early check-in and late check-out
Special discounts and credits
Extra amenities, gifts and more
The Visa Infinite Luxury Hotel Collection offers you elite-like benefits at different luxury hotels all around the world. These include the following:
Best available rate guarantee
Automatic room upgrade upon arrival, when available
Complimentary in-room Wi-Fi, when available
Complimentary continental breakfast daily
$25 USD food or beverage credit per stay
VIP Guest status
Late check-out upon request, when available
Special amenity unique to each property, such as an additional dining credit or spa credit
You also can get some benefits at Relais & Châteaux, which is a “prestigious collection of independently owned and operated luxury hotels and restaurants, representing approximately 500 establishments globally.”
As a Visa Infinite card member, you can receive a VIP welcome which includes things like a bottle of champagne in room on arrival and also free breakfast (at some properties).
Rental car benefits
As a Sapphire Reserve member, you can enroll in car rental rewards programs from National Car Rental, Avis, and Silvercar and get enhanced benefits, such as upgrades and car rental discounts, savings on luxury and premium rental car rates, plus promotions and other offers.
Travel and purchase protections
You could easily argue that the Sapphire Reserve has the best comprehensive set of travel protections. Just take a look at the list below to get a sense of how many different types of travel protections you can get with this card.
Trip Interruption & Cancellation
Trip Delay Reimbursement
Baggage Delay Reimbursement
Lost or damaged Luggage
Primary rental car coverage
Roadside assistance
Emergency Medical and Dental Benefit
Travel and Emergency Assistance
Emergency Evacuation & Transportation
Travel accident insurance
I’ve written in detail about all of these protections but some of the protections that stand out include the following.
Primary rental car coverage — Not many credit cards offer primary rental car coverage and so this makes the Sapphire Reserve one of the best cards to use for rental cars. With primary rental car coverage you can avoid paying the rental car company for coverage and also avoid having to file a claim with your rental car insurance company. It’s a double win.
Trip cancellation — Getting coverage for trip cancellation or interruption for up to $10,000 is very competitive. If your trip has to be canceled for a covered reason such as you getting sick, you can get reimbursed for all of your qualified prepaid expenses.
Baggage delay reimbursement — If your baggage is delayed by a common carrier for more than six hours, you can get covered for essential expenses for up to $100 for a maximum of five days. Many cards don’t offer baggage delay reimbursement or they have more stringent requirements in order to get coverage.
Purchase protections
Purchase protection
Extended Warranty Protection
Return Protection
What’s cool about the Chase Sapphire Reserve is that it also has amazing purchase protection offering you protection on purchases up to $10,000 in value and up to 120 days after the time of purchase. This is one of the most competitive purchase protections offered.
Chase Sapphire Reserve FAQ
Does the Chase Sapphire Reserve come with lounge access?
Yes, you will get airport lounge access with the Chase Sapphire Reserve via Priority Pass Select.
How much are Chase Sapphire Reserve points worth in the Chase Travel Portal?
You will receive a 50% bonus on your redemptions which means that your point value will come out to 1.5 cents per point when using the Chase Travel Portal.
Does the Chase Sapphire Reserve offer hotel elite status?
No, you do not get hotel elite status with the Chase Sapphire Reserve. However, there are quite a few different hotel programs that offer you elite-like benefits such as free breakfast and upgrades.
What are the Chase Sapphire Reserve Lyft benefits?
You can earn 10X on Lyft purchases and you will also be given one complimentary year of Lyft Pink, a $199 minimum value.
What travel protections does the Chase Sapphire Reserve come with?
The Chase Sapphire Reserve comes with the following travel protections:
Trip Interruption & Cancellation Trip Delay Reimbursement Baggage Delay Reimbursement Lost or damaged Luggage Primary rental car coverage Roadside assistance Emergency Medical and Dental Benefit Travel and Emergency Assistance Emergency Evacuation & Transportation Travel accident insurance
What type of credits do you get with the Chase Sapphire Reserve?
Each year, you will get a $300 travel credit in addition to a $60 DoorDash credit. The $300 travel credit can be used on a wide variety of travel purchases making it one of the easiest credits to maximize.
What is the Chase Sapphire Reserve annual fee?
The annual fee is $550 and it is not waived the first year.
Does the Chase Sapphire Reserve have foreign transaction fees?
As you can tell, the Chase Sapphire Reserve is a well rounded travel rewards credit card. It is arguably the best credit card to put all of your travel expenses on because it earns great rewards and has super solid protections to go along with those. It also has some nice credits and perks that make offsetting the high annual fee very easy for a lot of people.
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.
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