Another travel card question

[fortnightlily]

Feb 14, 2023 12:39:02 GMT -5 lishie said:

Feb 7, 2023 7:48:01 GMT -5 fortnightlily said:

Ok, I think you all have convinced me to upgrade my Chase Freedom to the Chase Sapphire. Seems like that one has more domestic airline partners and more points categories aligned with my spending.

DH does have the Costco Citi Visa already, though and we sometimes book through Costco Travel, sometimes not, depending on deals.

I don't think I can handle churning. For those who don't churn, between you and your DH how many cards do you use and which ones are they?

If you haven't upgraded yet, I'd keep the freedom and also get a sapphire, as you can combine the points together in the portal, and with the Freedom's 5x categories you'd earn additional points to transfer and use in the portal as compared to using the sapphire alone. 

Thanks! I did keep the Freedom, though I don't always find their 5% categories relevant to my spending.

[lishie]

Feb 14, 2023 13:45:01 GMT -5 fortnightlily said:

Feb 14, 2023 12:39:02 GMT -5 lishie said:

If you haven't upgraded yet, I'd keep the freedom and also get a sapphire, as you can combine the points together in the portal, and with the Freedom's 5x categories you'd earn additional points to transfer and use in the portal as compared to using the sapphire alone. 

Thanks! I did keep the Freedom, though I don't always find their 5% categories relevant to my spending.

Very true. I like it when they do things like grocery or gas, more than the random paypal from the fall, but still 5x on something you buy instead of 1x or 2x definitely adds up over time. 

[sunshineandpinot]

Feb 6, 2023 8:48:58 GMT -5 mlkgls said:

For those of you who travel regularly using points, how hard is it to redeem them and is much more difficult to resolve travel hiccups if you have to go through a third party like Chase or CapitalOne?

Super great question. I do NOT book travel through the portal, especially air travel. I have read that it is really difficult to resolve travel issues if (let's be real here; WHEN!) they arise. I transfer directly to the airline parters and book though them. 
I would possibly use the portal to book a rental car or hotel but never air. So that "perk" is worthless to me. 

I third the rec of the Chase Saph Preferred. I find it very easy to use and transfer my points to Hyatt, United, and Southwest all the time. Plus it has great travel insurance. Even when using points, we put all the taxes on this card so we get their great travel insurance. (though if booking an Alaskan cruise, I would book primary insurance as well.) 

[Deleted]

Feb 14, 2023 21:17:23 GMT -5 sunshineandpinot said:

Feb 6, 2023 8:48:58 GMT -5 mlkgls said:

For those of you who travel regularly using points, how hard is it to redeem them and is much more difficult to resolve travel hiccups if you have to go through a third party like Chase or CapitalOne?

Super great question. I do NOT book travel through the portal, especially air travel. I have read that it is really difficult to resolve travel issues if (let's be real here; WHEN!) they arise. I transfer directly to the airline parters and book though them. 
I would possibly use the portal to book a rental car or hotel but never air. So that "perk" is worthless to me. 

I third the rec of the Chase Saph Preferred. I find it very easy to use and transfer my points to Hyatt, United, and Southwest all the time. Plus it has great travel insurance. Even when using points, we put all the taxes on this card so we get their great travel insurance. (though if booking an Alaskan cruise, I would book primary insurance as well.) 

Yeah - I'm the same. I use them to transfer instead. 

Although I will say I used my Amex Biz Platinum to book some tickets because you get 35% of the points back for your primary airline, and Alaska changed our itinerary significantly. I called Amex and had it changed to an itinerary that worked better within about 15 minutes while I am 100% positive that it would have taken forever and a day to do it through Alaska's customer service given wait times.

And yes - for cruises, book independent insurance. I use Squaremouth.com to compare and purchase a policy. 

[fortnightlily]

Just curious - what makes the Chase Sapphire insurance sufficient for other trips but not for cruises?

[sunshineandpinot]

Feb 15, 2023 11:03:58 GMT -5 fortnightlily said:

Just curious - what makes the Chase Sapphire insurance sufficient for other trips but not for cruises?

I honestly haven't looked into all the ins and outs, but it's not full coverage insurance. It's good for trip delay, (weather delays where the airline doesn't cover you) car rental, but it's not FULL insurance if that makes sense. I'm 100% positive there is a blog that would it explain it much better than I am doing right now! lol (sorry, i'm a hurry and I'll try and pop back.) 

[Deleted]

Feb 15, 2023 14:23:34 GMT -5 sunshineandpinot said:

Feb 15, 2023 11:03:58 GMT -5 fortnightlily said:

Just curious - what makes the Chase Sapphire insurance sufficient for other trips but not for cruises?

I honestly haven't looked into all the ins and outs, but it's not full coverage insurance. It's good for trip delay, (weather delays where the airline doesn't cover you) car rental, but it's not FULL insurance if that makes sense. I'm 100% positive there is a blog that would it explain it much better than I am doing right now! lol (sorry, i'm a hurry and I'll try and pop back.) 

I *think* it's because if you were delayed and missed your cruise entirely, their limits wouldn't necessarily make you whole. I think their coverage for delays is like $500 per person. You'd want coverage that specifically has a cruise clause because it recognizes that you have to make your outbound flights to make the cruise or the whole trip is shot. 

[sunshineandpinot]

Feb 15, 2023 14:26:41 GMT -5 @rebeccawelton said:

Feb 15, 2023 14:23:34 GMT -5 sunshineandpinot said:

I honestly haven't looked into all the ins and outs, but it's not full coverage insurance. It's good for trip delay, (weather delays where the airline doesn't cover you) car rental, but it's not FULL insurance if that makes sense. I'm 100% positive there is a blog that would it explain it much better than I am doing right now! lol (sorry, i'm a hurry and I'll try and pop back.) 

I *think* it's because if you were delayed and missed your cruise entirely, their limits wouldn't necessarily make you whole. I think their coverage for delays is like $500 per person. You'd want coverage that specifically has a cruise clause because it recognizes that you have to make your outbound flights to make the cruise or the whole trip is shot. 

Ahhh I bet you're right! Trip delay is $500 pp (just made a claim through CSP... hoping to recoup.) So yea, $500 pp would be the tip of the iceberg on an Alaskan cruise.

[Deleted]

Feb 15, 2023 14:31:17 GMT -5 sunshineandpinot said:

Feb 15, 2023 14:26:41 GMT -5 @rebeccawelton said:

I *think* it's because if you were delayed and missed your cruise entirely, their limits wouldn't necessarily make you whole. I think their coverage for delays is like $500 per person. You'd want coverage that specifically has a cruise clause because it recognizes that you have to make your outbound flights to make the cruise or the whole trip is shot. 

Ahhh I bet you're right! Trip delay is $500 pp (just made a claim through CSP... hoping to recoup.) So yea, $500 pp would be the tip of the iceberg on an Alaskan cruise.

Yup. Alaska moved our mid-afternoon non stop flights the day before to flights getting in at 10 pm. We were so nervous that if something happened we couldn't get there in time the next day that now we're going out on Thursday for a Saturday cruise (alternative was spending 8 hours flying instead of 2).