[Edited 9/10/2024: Card products and offerings have changed since this post was written.]

 

There’s no denying that the bulk of points you get from an introductory bonus offer on a credit card can help cover a good portion of your vacation – flights, hotel stay, and/or experiences.  But what do you do with a card once you have used those 50k/60k/80k points?  Now strategy varies from person to person, depending upon your travel goals and lifestyle.  Let me walk you through some cards we currently hold, and show you how we continue to earn points and miles through them.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card- I’ve been using this card for my everyday spend.  Why?  I’m in the midst of planning a cousins’ summer 2023 trip, along with finalizing parts of our spring break and summer 2023 Europe trips.  (Planning multiple award travel trips got me like…….)  We’ll be staying at Hyatts, and fly Southwest for any connecting flight and/or direct flights for domestic trips.  That being said, we want to continue to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards as Southwest and Hyatt are travel partners of the bank.  Those are my two favorite travel partners of Chase, as we use them so frequently for family travel!

The World of Hyatt Credit Card – We tend to do a mix of Airbnbs, and Hyatt hotel stays.  We do not have globalist status, so costs such as parking and dining are out of pocket for us.  For example, in Seattle we had to pay for parking/night for our rental car.  In the Bahamas, we had to pay for dining.  While Hyatt generally doesn’t charge taxes/fees on award stays, there are some resorts that may apply some.  For any expense that arises while staying at a Hyatt property, I make sure it’s charged to my World of Hyatt card.  Between brand explorer and the annual free night that comes with this card, it’s definitely a keeper!

Citi Strata Premier℠ Card – This card offers you 3x points at restaurants, supermarkets and a big one for us – gas stations!  I try to use it regularly for gas expenses – with one car that’s an SUV, we fill up quite often! 

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card – I got this card back in the summer when the offer was different, and frankly speaking, better.  Certificates earned from this card are covering our Morocco stay coming up this December.  While it’s not one I’m using often right now, when my husband had a recent work trip where he had to stay at the nearby Marriott property – I booked his stay using my card.  This in turn will help us earn additional bonus points on our December stay – what perfect timing!  I also booked my hotel in cash back in April when I attended TravelCon in Memphis, Tennessee and earned points for that stay as well.

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card – My husband holds this card, and recently finished his Global Entry application by doing Enrollment on Arrival – yay for getting through airport security faster!  The lounge access has been such a lifesaver (and moneysaver, because airport food is meh) for us!  While not all lounges are created equal, a place to eat/grab some free food and relax before flights has been essential with three kids in tow.  On one of his recent work trips, my husband was able to get a free upgrade on his rental car (he got a mustang convertible) thanks to complimentary Hertz status that comes with this card.  When he got this card a while back, it came with a one-time $200 vacation rental credit (no longer available).  We applied that towards our spring break Costa Rica trip this past March.  We also have a trip coming up next month where we had to book a short flight in cash – I booked it in the Capital One Travel Portal and got 5x points back – yay for more points!

Some cards may only be useful to you for a particular redemption, and that’s fine.  Always hold a card for the first year, and it’s definitely not a good idea to cancel it completely once you have used the points from the introductory bonus offer.  It’s generally best to assess after the first year if a card is providing you benefit – if it’s not, always look for a no-fee option to downgrade it to.  This will, generally speaking, continue to keep your credit score elevated, assuming that you are paying off all credit card balances in full, each and every month – NO EXCEPTIONS!  Elevated credit scores will also increase your chances of getting approved for the best travel credit cards in the future 😉

*I am NOT a financial advisor by any means.  Any and all advice given is from my learned experiences, research, and personal expertise.*