We travel as a family yearly and plan to take a large European trip in a couple of years. Can I roll over points and save for that trip? Also does paying your mortgage monthly count towards the 4000?
I have always wanted to go to Colorado. I actually tried once as a christmas gift for me and my lady. Our flight showed "on time" but after driving 2 hours to the airport they had cancelled due to inclimate weather. All of my money was tied up in tickets, rentals, etc....and so we drove home and spent christmas broke and sad.
Just so you know. The Chase sapphire card has an additional 10K points if you sign up in the branch. The rules are if you spend 4K within 3 months you get 60K points and if you spend 2K within the next 3 months you get 10K points equaling 70K
Great presentation and super informative, thank you! One suggestion I have is at the end of the video, show all the cards and the various benefits you had listed so that we can compare them all
I have Amex platinum and chase reserve, I fly million times a year, frequently sleep in hotels, eat outside. Both definitely give me evening I need everywhere!
@@chaichilee in my case, because I fly a lot, I use the benefits. But honestly, looking back I would be ok with just preferred alone and keep the Amex platinum.
That Bilt card has been underated by many! Great transfer partners like Hyatt, American Airlines, United and many more! Doesn't hurt that it has 3x Dinning, 2x Travel, 1x Rent, 1x everything else and Primary collision insurance Cellphone insurance ($800) Trip delay/cancelation insurance ($5,000) No foreign transaction fees $0 annual fee❤️
I just signed on to Gold AMEX offing 90k new in the credit game. My goal is to go on a cruise with my kids for the first time. Most of my travel has been on Amtrax. Love the view in each state I travel through.
Entertaining and informative as always! Im strongly considering getting the Bilt card, but right now I have the VX, Hilton Aspire, Hilton Surpass, CSR, Amex Platinum, Amex Gold, Delta Reserve, Delta Platinum, Marriott Brilliant, AA Platinum Select, and a supporting cast of no annual fee cards. But I’m only paying the annual fee on the VX, the rest are waived for military 😊 But I wouldn’t have a lot of these if I had to pay the fees😅
Gotta rep the Capital One Venture X Card, it's brought me so much value in 2022, for literally no cost. Love the $300 travel credit and the access to capital one's exclusive lounges. Looking forward to what 2023 will bring for the Capital One Venture X Card
Great video! Love your insight on these cards. Such a great pool to choose from this year. I was tempted to get the Amex Gold this year, but I found it to be too similar to the Amex Platinum in that the credits would be much harder for me to utilize than other comparable cards. I’m instead going for the Venture X to pair with my SavorOne card; looks like one hell of a combo!
Hey! Could you explain how the VentureX and the SavorOne card would be a great combo. I currently have Capital One Account, and thinking about getting the credit card as well.
@@nicokaga6722 Sure! The benefit of having these two as a “bifecta” is their reach for rewards. The SavorOne gets you 3% back on dining, entertainment, streaming services and grocery spend with no annual fee. The Venture X would be your workhorse card for all other purchases, getting 2x back on everything. You can also transfer your accumulated SavorOne cashback to Venture miles and use those miles with C1’s travel partners. Pretty solid duo!
I have BILT for almost seven months now and I really like it. It allow you to get points for Hyatt which is very for me and allowing me to pay my rent and get points is great. I have venture X and is pretty good. I like it has primary rental car coverage and buying airline tickets to get money back if the price goes down automatically. I also have Citi Prestige, but it cost me almost nothing due to my bank relationship. But love the cell phone protection coverage.
Over the course of my credit card journey, I have learned one lesson: Stay away from Capital One! Terrible customer service and I generally dislike how they run their business. I have the Amex Gold and Sapphire Reserve, which works for me! Cheers!
This is a really really well done video, I find myself watching it several times. I am leaving January 28th and returning February 6th. Taking united flights with my wife to the Dominican republic, paying with United points. Staying 6 nights at the adults-only all inclusive called secrets, it is a Hyatt property. Pretty pumped!
I have 3 cards I constantly use. I use my target card for purchases at Target, 5% cash back. Then I have a Chase Disney card that turns points into dollars for all Disney purchases. If you go to Disney World its a huge benefit. We stayed at the Grand Floridian for free and had enough left over for almost all of our meals. Lastly I have an AA credit card. This is the one I am looking to replace and upgrade in addition to the Disney card. Your videos are super helpful and since we already have a Chase account we are looking at the Reserve.
A card I hadn't considered before as a travel card is the Bilt Rewards Mastercard, but considering they do have travel partners that I use frequently (Southwest for example), it wouldn't be a bad addition as I could have my rent payments pay for some of my travel every year! Also, the Venture X is a card I'm highly considering for 2023 and I think it'll be one of the most popular cards of the year once again! The Amex Platinum is still hard for me to justify because of the reasons you mentioned here. This is a solid list for sure John. Thanks for sharing man!
That Bilt card has been underated by many! Great transfer partners like Hyatt, American Airlines, United and many more! Doesn't hurt that it has 3x Dinning, 2x Travel, 1x Rent, 1x everything else and Primary collision insurance Cellphone insurance ($800) Trip delay/cancelation insurance ($5,000) No foreign transaction fees $0 annual fee❤️
Big ups for Bilt, I have nothing but love for them so far. Also, I realllly realllly wanna get the Venture X as well but I think I’ll hold off for as long as the Chase inks have their elevated bonus offers (which I hope stays till Atleast March next year lol)
@@CesarJoel Yeah that's all so nice to be honest. I'm not necessarily in the hunt for a personal card right now since I'm gardening my 5/24 status, but this would be one of the first I look to add. I just wish it came with a good welcome bonus haha. I don't think it comes with any does it?
@@siddaneja That's great to hear! And yeah I feel you on the Venture X. It sounds like we're rocking really similar strategies right now. The next 2 cards for me will be the Chase Ink Cash and Unlimited, and then I'll be looking to add a couple more personal cards at that point. Could be the Bilt or Venture X, who knows??
I would get the Bilt card hands down, if it wasn’t for the fact I’m temporarily living in Canada and my rent is based in CAD. If there’s ever a Canadian equivalent, or they’ll start allowing you to charge rent in other currencies (which is never gonna happen, but one can dream), I’d definitely get it
Dear John. Your free vacation doesn’t come from other people’s interests rates. Credit cards charge merchants a 2-3% fee. This fee is where the rewards come from. In other words, when you spend $100 at Costco, Costco has to pay the card company 2-3 dollars.
Thank you so much! I’m not young, I’m not a student; I’m a legal immigrant 44 years old woman living in this country for two years. Initially, only a few banks allowed me to have a checking account. Then my first saving account and a secure credit card with $500 arrived, which I hated cos have to pay every week! For that short credit. Six months later, I have an American Express gold Delta skymiles with 70000 miles! Of course, I have to spend $2000 easy task. I got an e-mail to apply for the platinum but don’t want to pay 250 membership yet. So thank you so much. I know where to go next!
@@henson2kThey provide a routing number as an ACH option. If you pay via that, that will earn you points assuming you make 5 qualifying transactions during the billing period
Thank you for explaining the Amex Gold dining credit, people talk about it as if it has a $240 dining credit and you would basically be spending $10 on the card a year. Then I read that it was a $120 dining credit and a $120 uber credit. Now knowing that this card has a $0 dining credit, I know I'll never need to get this card.
Some of these comments look like an online class where everyone has to post about the topic of the video/class lol :) love the vid, thanks for all your hard work!
Hey John, I just discovered your channel and watched your video. As someone who's never had a travel credit card before, your video was incredibly informative and helpful. I work remotely and I've been considering getting the Platinum Card from American Express for the high sign-on bonus, but the annual fee has always made me hesitant. However, after watching your video, I feel much more confident in making an informed decision about which card is right for me. I'm curious, you mentioned in the video that you've had over 50 different travel credit cards. That's impressive! How do you manage to keep track of all the different cards and their benefits? Also, with so many cards, wouldn't the annual fees add up and become quite expensive? How do you justify paying the fees and do you have any tips on how to manage them? Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise with us travelers. I'm excited to see more content from you in the future!
Needed these knowledges for my trip in january. still shopping around for a travel-oriented card. I've only been with Navy Federal Credit Union and I'm trying to find a card that's better than their Flagship with a little more benefits, but also something I can afford for the annual fee. I'm only an average traveler, I don't need the finest stuff 😉
Venture x is prolly where it’s at. As long as you travel once a year, you essentially make that entire annual fee up. I do use it every year when I fly home to see my family. Definitely worth it esp if you can get the card bonus. Lmk if you want my link 😂😂
I thank you for this and making the disclaimer that being good with your credit is still job number 1. But also thank Dave for getting me to a place of being smart with credit. I was not lucky enough to make $60K right after college. LOL
Well the last 3 times I’ve been in Mexico and I said I’ll use the insurance from my cc AND my personal insurance as well they ALWAYS hit me with the crappy excuses “that’s not valid in MX and we don’t accept them, company policy“ we end paying MORE ON AUTO INS than the rental fee it self 😡 it SUCKS!!! BTW I’ve used rental companies as Hertz, Avis, Thrifty which are well known rentals, go *f* figure 😤is either “their option or we can not rent the car. I’m always under the impression it’s a big fat lie 🤥
My girlfriend and I like to go on weekend trips throughout the year but we do not spend nearly enough to qualify for the $4k within the first 6 months. Which of these credit cards would be best for getting discounts on hotels or earn points for hotels without having to spend thousands in such a short timeframe? Or is there a different one you would recommend for this?
The only thing that he forgot to mention about the Bilt card is that you have to make 5 transactions other than rent to get the points. So if you wanted to just use this card to get points for your rent, you can't.
The delta AMEX gold gave me a 300 statement credit after first Delta flight and 70k points for delta. It is specific but that is the airline I typically fly
But to use BILT credit card to pay rent, most of the accepting rental management does charge a fee though, at a minimum 3.5% of the actual rent money. What's your thought on this John?
If the annual fee was waived for the Chase reserve card, would you recommend it over the Capital One card? And if the fee was waiver for both which one would you say is better?
I'm not sure how you are doing your math on the Capital One Venture X when you say they pay you $5 a year. This is my breakdown.. You spend $395 on the annual fee, you also have to spend $300 towards travel to get the $300 credit. That is $695 spent. The reward: They reward you $300 in travel credits (if you spend the $300), they also reward you $100 (10,000 points) every year for free. That is $400 in rewards. $695 spent for $400 rewards. So you are actually paying them $295 a year.
Ok ... let's say you pay $395 for the annual fee, get your 10000 anniversary points, then book a flight that cost $400 (using those points, so you actually spend $300). They give you back $300 credit. Now you've spent $695, they gave you back $300, but you also have plane tickets worth $400 ... that's a net of $5 in your favor.
The annual fee is just pre paying for miles at a 1-1 ratio but you come out 5$ ahead. You pay 395 for the card. 300 you'll get back if you travel and spent at least 300$. (Assume you spend 300$ on a round trip ticket, you get 300$ back making it a wash) Then they credit your account 100$ every year. They give you 400$ from your 395$ annual fee. Just think about it like this, you are prepaying for the features and coming out 5$ ahead. Then you get all the perks the card offers for free giving you a better travel experience.
Can you please do more videos solely dedicated to getting max value for points on business/1st class/luxury flights (round trip) everyone only does one way Videos. And I would love to see different aspects of how to get max value. Thank you 🙏🏼
Thanks for the suggestion Martin! I think most talk 1 way because it harder finding availability leaving the US vs. coming back. But happy to add that to the list!
I have the 1, 2 punch with Venture X and Amex Rose Gold..super happy with my choice and love the benefits. thinking to add a 3rd but not sure which one i should get. any suggestions?
Hey John, I applied yesterday for the Chase Shapire preferred and got approved,As a 20 year old I was thinking about getting the citi bank card but decided to go with the saphire card because they were offering 80k points instead of the usual 60k. Hope tpo travel by the end of the year.
As a current active military member I’ve heard that military personnel get the Amex annual fees waived but I don’t believe the capital one card waives the fees unless u had the card prior to joining. I am trying to choose between the platinum and the venture card does the waived annual fees change your opinion at all to the venture being the #1 card for the year?
The business platinum is super niceh man, how could you actually say its better than the personal plat. The credits you get on the personal plat are just way superior frankly I mean would you rather have Personal plat: $200 - uber eats/uber $100 - Sacks (good for socks, underwear or cologne) $240 - entertainment credit (hulu, Disney+, Audible, etc) $155 - Walmart+ (free deliveries from walmart, really nice if ur super busy $200 - Hotel credit (could be useful but is somewhat hard to use) OR Business palt: $400 - Dell credit $150 - Adobe creative solutions (Specific adobe apps) $360 - Indeed credit (not useful unless you have a large business that actively hires people) $120 - Wireless credit (easy to use, basically phone bill payments) I specifically didn't include benefits that both cards have since you get them either way. From the lists above I would say the plat credits are substantially easier to use as whereas the business credits are extremely niche. Neither of these cards are for everyone but the business plat doesn't serve as much people as useful compared to the personal plat.
Thanks for the feedback Nathan! Love that you broke down both so concisely. So in my view, the business platinum for a business user is way more valuable than a personal platinum for a non-business user. A business user is more likely to use the business credits, even taking out the Indeed credit its net neutral card. On the personal side the $200 FHR credit is hard to remember to use and the $155 Walmart+ is pretty meh for most. Of course power users are going to make it work but talking casual users that want a card, I'm more confident that business users get more benefit with less work. Thanks again for the comment!!
Thank you for this information. Just some extra information to share, some people may live outside of the Bilt reward alliance aka your address may not apply for the card.
I have the Amex Business Platinum and I've almost covered the annual fee in credits. There are just some I don't get value out of (yet) such as indeed and Adobe.
Also I’m guessing the reason behind how Bilt was able to get such good partners is because Brian Kelly (The Points Guy) is a part investor and on their board, so wouldn’t be surprised if he pulled some strings there
do you recommend opening a travel credit card when your are planning to travel within the year or could i possibly open one and just build up on it until i am able to travel?
Earlier the better! I usually book my flights 10 -12 months in advance! So I would open cards 12+ months in advance to first get the sign up bonus ready. Thanks for the question and hope that helps!
Am new to the travel cards I recently got the Amex gold card with a welcome bonus of 90k. Have a lot to learn about redemption points and transferring them to other partners.
I have a Amex Gold card and I also have a Flying Blue. Is it smarter to book my flight on KLM and pay with my Amex card and collect points from both ? Or would you suggest doing it directly with Amex for whatever reason I do not know.
great analysis . I got personal platinum but it hasn't been too great for me. what is your suggestion in downgrading to? Gold or Capital 1, or Chase sapphire? I already have chase freedom but no benefit for me.
I would like to know this also. I have the platinum, but I really just don't get much value out of it and it doesn't earn points very fast at all. Been considering downgrading to the gold!
Why do you not mention the gold Hilton and Marriott status with the platinum card? Do you not find this perk as valuable as advertised (i.e. are the room upgrades rare)?
Booking through credit card's travel portals is the racket. Those portals charge way above the popular travel sites. You use your points thinking you are getting a great deal, but in reality they are hosing you. It's a scam like Las Vegas. House never loses.
Hey @john wanted to understand. You said you had more than 50 credit cards on you. What is the strategy you follow? Do you close all those credits cards after you use the sign up bonuses? Will closing the cards won't hit your credit history? Or there is something else, which me as a newby is not able to understand. Can you explain this?
Hi John! Love your videos. I was trying to find a resource that you shared in one of your videos where you can compare which travel partners gives the best redemption value or uses the least amount of miles. Can you share that link again? Much appreciated.
Hmmm darn i goofed with the reserved. Thanks for the tips though! Will definitely share with friends looking for credit cards or if I eventually maybe just downgrade the reserve and get a second ill get the capital one venture X. That $300 credit annually and $100 anniversary jesus, free authorized users hmm 🤔we can all use and enter priority pass together at the same time? $395? Wowwww oof ugh chase reserved at $550 is so mehhh
Thanks so much for your videos! I've gotten several travel cards because of your advice. I love the background on your videos. Where did you get it? Are you using a green screen? Any tips would be appreciated :)
Share with me your dream vacation? And how much do you plan or want to spend? It's ok to say $0!!
We travel as a family yearly and plan to take a large European trip in a couple of years. Can I roll over points and save for that trip? Also does paying your mortgage monthly count towards the 4000?
Japan and Korea!!!
I have always wanted to go to Colorado. I actually tried once as a christmas gift for me and my lady. Our flight showed "on time" but after driving 2 hours to the airport they had cancelled due to inclimate weather. All of my money was tied up in tickets, rentals, etc....and so we drove home and spent christmas broke and sad.
Can you use the BILT card to pay a house mortgage :o or is it strictly just rent for landlords?
Can i get those credit cards as a non-US citizen?
Bro you’re legit a blessing. You drop credit knowledge like crazy. Thank you from myself and many others who don’t physically state it!
Not at all, happy to help and thanks for the comment!
All this stuff has been on the internet for years lol
Just so you know. The Chase sapphire card has an additional 10K points if you sign up in the branch. The rules are if you spend 4K within 3 months you get 60K points and if you spend 2K within the next 3 months you get 10K points equaling 70K
Great presentation and super informative, thank you! One suggestion I have is at the end of the video, show all the cards and the various benefits you had listed so that we can compare them all
I have Amex platinum and chase reserve, I fly million times a year, frequently sleep in hotels, eat outside. Both definitely give me evening I need everywhere!
Would you say reserve over preferred ?
@@chaichilee in my case, because I fly a lot, I use the benefits. But honestly, looking back I would be ok with just preferred alone and keep the Amex platinum.
@@raphaelcaiton9671which one is better for the flight points amex?
I have the sapphire preferred and want the platinum just for the Centurion lounge which are in most major airports.
That Bilt card has been underated by many! Great transfer partners like Hyatt, American Airlines, United and many more! Doesn't hurt that it has 3x Dinning, 2x Travel, 1x Rent, 1x everything else and
Primary collision insurance
Cellphone insurance ($800)
Trip delay/cancelation insurance ($5,000)
No foreign transaction fees
$0 annual fee❤️
Also the purchase protection! Really amazing card
@@Lakiman52 I think It's the best $0 annual fee travel card. It can also compete with some famous $95 annual fee travel cards.
Wow! Would you prefer this over the sapphire preferred ?
@@chaichilee it’s a better card and easier to justify. The only reason I would pick the CSP over the Bilt card is the welcome bonus.
@@CesarJoel I'm literally trying to decide which one I'll sign this second. What was your APR for the BILT?
I have a venture X and I’ll be using my rewards to take a week trip to go to Tokyo next summer
Got my AMEX gold last week w a 90,000 bonus!
Congrats!! That's amazing and enjoy that card!!
I just signed on to Gold AMEX offing 90k new in the credit game. My goal is to go on a cruise with my kids for the first time. Most of my travel has been on Amtrax. Love the view in each state I travel through.
Entertaining and informative as always!
Im strongly considering getting the Bilt card, but right now I have the VX, Hilton Aspire, Hilton Surpass, CSR, Amex Platinum, Amex Gold, Delta Reserve, Delta Platinum, Marriott Brilliant, AA Platinum Select, and a supporting cast of no annual fee cards. But I’m only paying the annual fee on the VX, the rest are waived for military 😊 But I wouldn’t have a lot of these if I had to pay the fees😅
Def get the BILT I love mine
This is such a crazy benefit. I would’ve never known if you didn’t comment thank you man!!
Holy moly - veteran here. Never knew cards waived the AF for veterans. Thanks, man!
@@graceanne6780 The Military Lending Act (MLA) only applies to active duty and their spouses.
A good one to pair your venture x with is the savor. You get points on dining, entertainment and groceries with no annual fee.
Great call out!!
Gotta rep the Capital One Venture X Card, it's brought me so much value in 2022, for literally no cost. Love the $300 travel credit and the access to capital one's exclusive lounges. Looking forward to what 2023 will bring for the Capital One Venture X Card
All 3 lounges lol
@@gregt8646 Gotta start somewhere!
Their lounges are awesome!! Really hope they continue opening more and get their network going!
Great video! Love your insight on these cards. Such a great pool to choose from this year.
I was tempted to get the Amex Gold this year, but I found it to be too similar to the Amex Platinum in that the credits would be much harder for me to utilize than other comparable cards. I’m instead going for the Venture X to pair with my SavorOne card; looks like one hell of a combo!
Hey! Could you explain how the VentureX and the SavorOne card would be a great combo. I currently have Capital One Account, and thinking about getting the credit card as well.
@@nicokaga6722 Sure! The benefit of having these two as a “bifecta” is their reach for rewards. The SavorOne gets you 3% back on dining, entertainment, streaming services and grocery spend with no annual fee. The Venture X would be your workhorse card for all other purchases, getting 2x back on everything. You can also transfer your accumulated SavorOne cashback to Venture miles and use those miles with C1’s travel partners.
Pretty solid duo!
I have BILT for almost seven months now and I really like it. It allow you to get points for Hyatt which is very for me and allowing me to pay my rent and get points is great.
I have venture X and is pretty good. I like it has primary rental car coverage and buying airline tickets to get money back if the price goes down automatically.
I also have Citi Prestige, but it cost me almost nothing due to my bank relationship. But love the cell phone protection coverage.
Can you pay your mortgage with it though?
Over the course of my credit card journey, I have learned one lesson: Stay away from Capital One! Terrible customer service and I generally dislike how they run their business. I have the Amex Gold and Sapphire Reserve, which works for me! Cheers!
This is a really really well done video, I find myself watching it several times.
I am leaving January 28th and returning February 6th. Taking united flights with my wife to the Dominican republic, paying with United points. Staying 6 nights at the adults-only all inclusive called secrets, it is a Hyatt property. Pretty pumped!
Lol maybe returning on the 4th? That math didn't exactly check out lol
@@theplatinumog3283 it could be on the 3rd but you don’t know if they got other stuff planned out 😊
@@KuyaRGB nah, these are my plans. I do know it's 6 nights. Just got back from 9 in Mexico. Hard to keep track
I have 3 cards I constantly use. I use my target card for purchases at Target, 5% cash back. Then I have a Chase Disney card that turns points into dollars for all Disney purchases. If you go to Disney World its a huge benefit. We stayed at the Grand Floridian for free and had enough left over for almost all of our meals. Lastly I have an AA credit card. This is the one I am looking to replace and upgrade in addition to the Disney card. Your videos are super helpful and since we already have a Chase account we are looking at the Reserve.
One thing to note for BILT is you dont get points for the month if you don’t have at least 5 transactions
I appreciated this because for the first time someone said what I’ve been thinking; that the biz plat was superior to the vanilla. Thank you!
100%!
A card I hadn't considered before as a travel card is the Bilt Rewards Mastercard, but considering they do have travel partners that I use frequently (Southwest for example), it wouldn't be a bad addition as I could have my rent payments pay for some of my travel every year! Also, the Venture X is a card I'm highly considering for 2023 and I think it'll be one of the most popular cards of the year once again! The Amex Platinum is still hard for me to justify because of the reasons you mentioned here. This is a solid list for sure John. Thanks for sharing man!
That Bilt card has been underated by many! Great transfer partners like Hyatt, American Airlines, United and many more! Doesn't hurt that it has 3x Dinning, 2x Travel, 1x Rent, 1x everything else and
Primary collision insurance
Cellphone insurance ($800)
Trip delay/cancelation insurance ($5,000)
No foreign transaction fees
$0 annual fee❤️
Big ups for Bilt, I have nothing but love for them so far. Also, I realllly realllly wanna get the Venture X as well but I think I’ll hold off for as long as the Chase inks have their elevated bonus offers (which I hope stays till Atleast March next year lol)
You want my Bilt referral code?
@@CesarJoel Yeah that's all so nice to be honest. I'm not necessarily in the hunt for a personal card right now since I'm gardening my 5/24 status, but this would be one of the first I look to add. I just wish it came with a good welcome bonus haha. I don't think it comes with any does it?
@@siddaneja That's great to hear! And yeah I feel you on the Venture X. It sounds like we're rocking really similar strategies right now. The next 2 cards for me will be the Chase Ink Cash and Unlimited, and then I'll be looking to add a couple more personal cards at that point. Could be the Bilt or Venture X, who knows??
19:21 travel partal? 😂
Great video! The venture x is a beast of a card
I would get the Bilt card hands down, if it wasn’t for the fact I’m temporarily living in Canada and my rent is based in CAD. If there’s ever a Canadian equivalent, or they’ll start allowing you to charge rent in other currencies (which is never gonna happen, but one can dream), I’d definitely get it
Good information at first you had me scared 😱 lol I just signed up for gold Amex card for 90000 reward points for spending x amount in six months
This is THE video. We all knew the Venture X was going to be your #1 and you’re not wrong! #VentureXGang
Dear John. Your free vacation doesn’t come from other people’s interests rates. Credit cards charge merchants a 2-3% fee. This fee is where the rewards come from. In other words, when you spend $100 at Costco, Costco has to pay the card company 2-3 dollars.
I just booked a trip for me and my wife to the Kentucky Derby. A bucket list trip. It's going to be a blast.
Love the video. Just got my C1 Quicksliver I am for sure getting the American Express gold and the C1 Venture x
Thank you so much! I’m not young, I’m not a student; I’m a legal immigrant 44 years old woman living in this country for two years. Initially, only a few banks allowed me to have a checking account. Then my first saving account and a secure credit card with $500 arrived, which I hated cos have to pay every week! For that short credit. Six months later, I have an American Express gold Delta skymiles with 70000 miles! Of course, I have to spend $2000 easy task. I got an e-mail to apply for the platinum but don’t want to pay 250 membership yet. So thank you so much. I know where to go next!
Awesome video. Never even heard of BILT till now. Thanks!!
Dude said ONLY 60,000 a year
Thank you so much for going into so much detail…. I’ve watched other videos and yours is the best so far.
Bilt card is the best no-AF card. Full stop.
It gets you positive value every year with no effort.
I can watch you all day! Very informative. Thank you for sharing.
Wow. That BILT card sounds amazing. I'm a big fan of Hyatt hotels. Them having the brand as a transfer partner makes me want to sign up!
Huge fan of Bilt since it's launch! If anyone pays rent this is the card for sure!
@@johnsfinancetips how to avoid fee on credit card payments from landlord?
What about paying a mortgage with it??
@@henson2kThey provide a routing number as an ACH option. If you pay via that, that will earn you points assuming you make 5 qualifying transactions during the billing period
I’m currently making the Italian hand signs representing perfection with a satisfied expression. Thanks man
Thank you for explaining the Amex Gold dining credit, people talk about it as if it has a $240 dining credit and you would basically be spending $10 on the card a year. Then I read that it was a $120 dining credit and a $120 uber credit. Now knowing that this card has a $0 dining credit, I know I'll never need to get this card.
Some of these comments look like an online class where everyone has to post about the topic of the video/class lol :) love the vid, thanks for all your hard work!
Hey John,
I just discovered your channel and watched your video. As someone who's never had a travel credit card before, your video was incredibly informative and helpful.
I work remotely and I've been considering getting the Platinum Card from American Express for the high sign-on bonus, but the annual fee has always made me hesitant. However, after watching your video, I feel much more confident in making an informed decision about which card is right for me.
I'm curious, you mentioned in the video that you've had over 50 different travel credit cards. That's impressive! How do you manage to keep track of all the different cards and their benefits? Also, with so many cards, wouldn't the annual fees add up and become quite expensive? How do you justify paying the fees and do you have any tips on how to manage them?
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise with us travelers. I'm excited to see more content from you in the future!
My rent is about 5k/month. Definitely getting my points worth with BILT
Max 2500
You are so knowledgeable about all of this! Thank you for the help! I am going to try your tips :)
Needed these knowledges for my trip in january. still shopping around for a travel-oriented card. I've only been with Navy Federal Credit Union and I'm trying to find a card that's better than their Flagship with a little more benefits, but also something I can afford for the annual fee. I'm only an average traveler, I don't need the finest stuff 😉
Venture x is prolly where it’s at. As long as you travel once a year, you essentially make that entire annual fee up. I do use it every year when I fly home to see my family. Definitely worth it esp if you can get the card bonus. Lmk if you want my link 😂😂
I thank you for this and making the disclaimer that being good with your credit is still job number 1. But also thank Dave for getting me to a place of being smart with credit. I was not lucky enough to make $60K right after college. LOL
Well the last 3 times I’ve been in Mexico and I said I’ll use the insurance from my cc AND my personal insurance as well they ALWAYS hit me with the crappy excuses “that’s not valid in MX and we don’t accept them, company policy“ we end paying MORE ON AUTO INS than the rental fee it self 😡 it SUCKS!!! BTW I’ve used rental companies as Hertz, Avis, Thrifty which are well known rentals, go *f* figure 😤is either “their option or we can not rent the car. I’m always under the impression it’s a big fat lie 🤥
The Cap One Venture X is such an amazing card
You like this vs the Sapphire preferred ?
@@chaichilee If people don’t want to use transfer partners then I’d recommend the Venture X or if they’re looking for a more premium travel card!
I still love the Alaska Airlines card with the companion fair and their customer service.
Redeemed 140k from my Alaska card this year for 2 round trip tickets to Tokyo. $150 in taxes total. This shit is a game changer.
My girlfriend and I like to go on weekend trips throughout the year but we do not spend nearly enough to qualify for the $4k within the first 6 months. Which of these credit cards would be best for getting discounts on hotels or earn points for hotels without having to spend thousands in such a short timeframe? Or is there a different one you would recommend for this?
Thanks for explaining so thoroughly.
I have the Chase reserve and find it best to use the points in the “pay yourself back” which gives you 1.5 cents for points on previous purchases.
Love that Zac, sadly I'm seeing reports of the CSR pay yourself back getting cut to 1.25x...hope it's not true
BILT also provides Primary coverage when using it for car rentals.
I didn’t know about the bilt card. That’s a game changer.
Thank you very much for the Information good job BZ
The only thing that he forgot to mention about the Bilt card is that you have to make 5 transactions other than rent to get the points. So if you wanted to just use this card to get points for your rent, you can't.
The delta AMEX gold gave me a 300 statement credit after first Delta flight and 70k points for delta. It is specific but that is the airline I typically fly
One note: the quicksilver is not a visa signature. It's a Mastercard world elite
I think it depends. My card is a Visa Signature, but good to know there's a variety!
Thanks for sharing these helpful infos. I enjoyed watching till the end, it’s entertaining.
But to use BILT credit card to pay rent, most of the accepting rental management does charge a fee though, at a minimum 3.5% of the actual rent money. What's your thought on this John?
If the annual fee was waived for the Chase reserve card, would you recommend it over the Capital One card? And if the fee was waiver for both which one would you say is better?
I'm not sure how you are doing your math on the Capital One Venture X when you say they pay you $5 a year. This is my breakdown.. You spend $395 on the annual fee, you also have to spend $300 towards travel to get the $300 credit. That is $695 spent. The reward: They reward you $300 in travel credits (if you spend the $300), they also reward you $100 (10,000 points) every year for free. That is $400 in rewards. $695 spent for $400 rewards. So you are actually paying them $295 a year.
Ok ... let's say you pay $395 for the annual fee, get your 10000 anniversary points, then book a flight that cost $400 (using those points, so you actually spend $300).
They give you back $300 credit.
Now you've spent $695, they gave you back $300, but you also have plane tickets worth $400 ... that's a net of $5 in your favor.
The annual fee is just pre paying for miles at a 1-1 ratio but you come out 5$ ahead. You pay 395 for the card. 300 you'll get back if you travel and spent at least 300$. (Assume you spend 300$ on a round trip ticket, you get 300$ back making it a wash) Then they credit your account 100$ every year. They give you 400$ from your 395$ annual fee.
Just think about it like this, you are prepaying for the features and coming out 5$ ahead. Then you get all the perks the card offers for free giving you a better travel experience.
I love how all the Credit card dudes on UA-cam just regularly roast Dave Ramsey.
This is exactly what I needed! Thanks so much for sharing
Can you please do more videos solely dedicated to getting max value for points on business/1st class/luxury flights (round trip) everyone only does one way Videos. And I would love to see different aspects of how to get max value. Thank you 🙏🏼
Thanks for the suggestion Martin! I think most talk 1 way because it harder finding availability leaving the US vs. coming back. But happy to add that to the list!
@@johnsfinancetips thank you very much 🙏🏼
I have the 1, 2 punch with Venture X and Amex Rose Gold..super happy with my choice and love the benefits. thinking to add a 3rd but not sure which one i should get. any suggestions?
That amx gold card was speaking to my soul
Hey John, I applied yesterday for the Chase Shapire preferred and got approved,As a 20 year old I was thinking about getting the citi bank card but decided to go with the saphire card because they were offering 80k points instead of the usual 60k. Hope tpo travel by the end of the year.
Awesome move, congrats on the card!
As a current active military member I’ve heard that military personnel get the Amex annual fees waived but I don’t believe the capital one card waives the fees unless u had the card prior to joining. I am trying to choose between the platinum and the venture card does the waived annual fees change your opinion at all to the venture being the #1 card for the year?
Do you know if the hotel and air purchase points will still apply if NOT bought through their travel website and just as any hotel or air transaction?
Another great video. Thanks so much!!!
The business platinum is super niceh man, how could you actually say its better than the personal plat. The credits you get on the personal plat are just way superior frankly
I mean would you rather have
Personal plat:
$200 - uber eats/uber
$100 - Sacks (good for socks, underwear or cologne)
$240 - entertainment credit (hulu, Disney+, Audible, etc)
$155 - Walmart+ (free deliveries from walmart, really nice if ur super busy
$200 - Hotel credit (could be useful but is somewhat hard to use)
OR
Business palt:
$400 - Dell credit
$150 - Adobe creative solutions (Specific adobe apps)
$360 - Indeed credit (not useful unless you have a large business that actively hires people)
$120 - Wireless credit (easy to use, basically phone bill payments)
I specifically didn't include benefits that both cards have since you get them either way.
From the lists above I would say the plat credits are substantially easier to use as whereas the business credits are extremely niche. Neither of these cards are for everyone but the business plat doesn't serve as much people as useful compared to the personal plat.
Thanks for the feedback Nathan! Love that you broke down both so concisely. So in my view, the business platinum for a business user is way more valuable than a personal platinum for a non-business user. A business user is more likely to use the business credits, even taking out the Indeed credit its net neutral card. On the personal side the $200 FHR credit is hard to remember to use and the $155 Walmart+ is pretty meh for most. Of course power users are going to make it work but talking casual users that want a card, I'm more confident that business users get more benefit with less work. Thanks again for the comment!!
What about the venture one vs the venture x? Still worth going for?
Thank you for this information. Just some extra information to share, some people may live outside of the Bilt reward alliance aka your address may not apply for the card.
Just signed up for the Quicksilver, so seeing it on the list makes me feel better. 😂
this is exactly what I needed! thank
you John!
I have the Amex Business Platinum and I've almost covered the annual fee in credits. There are just some I don't get value out of (yet) such as indeed and Adobe.
I have very new credit, and I dont usually use them. But plan on going on a cruise soon, which also will involve flights. Which card is best for me?
Also I’m guessing the reason behind how Bilt was able to get such good partners is because Brian Kelly (The Points Guy) is a part investor and on their board, so wouldn’t be surprised if he pulled some strings there
do you recommend opening a travel credit card when your are planning to travel within the year or could i possibly open one and just build up on it until i am able to travel?
Earlier the better! I usually book my flights 10 -12 months in advance! So I would open cards 12+ months in advance to first get the sign up bonus ready. Thanks for the question and hope that helps!
What do you recommend for travelers who use southwest?
would you consider the BILT card to be worth it if I have a mortgage instead of rent?
If you have a use for American Airlines miles and you put dining at 3X here it would be worth it!
If I can’t get the venture X card right now should I go for the venture card and hopefully upgrade down the line or go for another card?
Am new to the travel cards I recently got the Amex gold card with a welcome bonus of 90k. Have a lot to learn about redemption points and transferring them to other partners.
I have a Amex Gold card and I also have a Flying Blue. Is it smarter to book my flight on KLM and pay with my Amex card and collect points from both ? Or would you suggest doing it directly with Amex for whatever reason I do not know.
great analysis . I got personal platinum but it hasn't been too great for me. what is your suggestion in downgrading to? Gold or Capital 1, or Chase sapphire? I already have chase freedom but no benefit for me.
I would like to know this also. I have the platinum, but I really just don't get much value out of it and it doesn't earn points very fast at all. Been considering downgrading to the gold!
Question: What about the American Airlines or United Credit Card. Would any of the airlines credit cards be a good travel card?
Why do you not mention the gold Hilton and Marriott status with the platinum card? Do you not find this perk as valuable as advertised (i.e. are the room upgrades rare)?
is it bad to get two cards starting off? like Bilt and Chase Shappire ?
is this only for US? or for Canada?
you should try specifuying
Booking through credit card's travel portals is the racket. Those portals charge way above the popular travel sites. You use your points thinking you are getting a great deal, but in reality they are hosing you. It's a scam like Las Vegas. House never loses.
Would you be able to use the Bilt card to pay mortgage?
Hey, had a quick question. Does Amex gold also offer auto rental insurance benefits?
amazing video, thanks!
Thank you the comment!
Hey @john wanted to understand. You said you had more than 50 credit cards on you. What is the strategy you follow? Do you close all those credits cards after you use the sign up bonuses? Will closing the cards won't hit your credit history?
Or there is something else, which me as a newby is not able to understand. Can you explain this?
Is it okay if you don't have a balance, but you only pay the minimum payment every month? Looking for advice in this .
To clarify the Capital Quicksilver can't transfer points to airlines? How would you use card to pay for air travel?
Great video! Very informative
What do you mean when you say "UR portal redemption"? I am new to this. What does "UR" stand for?
What do you think about the Citi Advantage card?? Aaa
Hi John! Love your videos. I was trying to find a resource that you shared in one of your videos where you can compare which travel partners gives the best redemption value or uses the least amount of miles. Can you share that link again? Much appreciated.
Hmmm darn i goofed with the reserved. Thanks for the tips though! Will definitely share with friends looking for credit cards or if I eventually maybe just downgrade the reserve and get a second ill get the capital one venture X. That $300 credit annually and $100 anniversary jesus, free authorized users hmm 🤔we can all use and enter priority pass together at the same time? $395? Wowwww oof ugh chase reserved at $550 is so mehhh
Thanks so much for your videos! I've gotten several travel cards because of your advice. I love the background on your videos. Where did you get it? Are you using a green screen? Any tips would be appreciated :)
Thanks for the support Debbie! And the background is just my office!