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, Mon, 19 Jan 2015 12:39:25
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I fly a good bit, but not as much many of my biz colleagues. I do about 50K a year and about 60 nites in hotels. The card you use CAN matter, but not as much as the issuers of the card want you to think it does.
I have used an Amex Gold biz card for years. I just let the points stack up and then burn them for a flight or free nights. Also, I fly almost exclusively on one airline (US Airways and partners) and stay in either Marriott or Hilton properties (when I have a choice) so have a lot of points saved up for travel and rooms. Those are useful if my wife joins me on a trip or one of the kids needs a plane ride. And Amex can go to bat for you if you paid for the flights with the card. Some people I know book through Amex, but that doesn't always work in their favor. I book directly through the airline or the hotel and seem to hacve better luck. Although it's all in the lap of the travel gods anyway!
As for cards, I think the Chase Sapphire is a good one because of the flexibility it offers. I'd get one, but I became an employee a year ago and the gig came with a company Visa card that is of no benefit to me. I still use the Amex for my private client travel, so it now gets used a lot less.
IMHO, the cards that get you some points can be a good deal, but airlines are getting pretty stingy about free travel. The hotel chains are better as they still just count nights stayed.
For you, Bender, probably get the Chase card, but more importantly, use just one airline and only one or two hotel chains. The advantage to using only one airline or hotel is that when things go sideways you have a little more clout. Airlines basically hate their customers, but when you are in a jam and they see that you fly them often you get a bit better treatment. You still have to be in the mid- to upper levels of the freq flyer program to get really good results, but status does help. As I tell my daughter who is now flying a lot, the upgrades are nice, but it's the help when things go south that really counts.
Also for air travel, be sure the airline has your cell phone number so you get flight updates. Late one night I was sitting on a plane at CLT, still at the gate, and some people's phones start going off. It was the last flight out and was being cancelled, but the announcement hadn't been made to passengers. The people in the know bolted and got hotel rooms and rebooked for the morning without waiting a line of 200 people at the service desk, or having to fend for themselves. I was out of the airport on my way to a hotel in 15 minutes.
Travel well. And safe.
, Mon, 19 Jan 2015 12:39:25, Tue, 20 Jan 2015 20:06:45
, Wed, 21 Jan 2015 19:06:39
, Mon, 19 Jan 2015 17:38:51, Mon, 19 Jan 2015 15:23:33
, Mon, 19 Jan 2015 14:04:01
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