Dear Clever Credit,
I’m a single man in my 30s who’s traveled to all but two continents in the past several years. I currently have the Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card to earn miles for my gallivanting, but it doesn’t earn a lot on everyday spending. What else would be a good fit to help fund my travels? My credit is great, and I’m not afraid to drop some cash on an annual fee if I can get enough “bang for my buck,” so to speak. Any suggestions?
Sincerely,
Living Life to the Fullest
Dear Living Life,
So I had to do a little legwork on this one to try to hit all the items on your list. And I think I may have come up with a couple of good options. The first is the Citi Strata Premier? Card.
The Citi Strata Premier Card has an annual fee of $95 and is great for international travelers. (See Rates & Fees) Almost all of Citi’s transfer partners are international carriers, so you should have some luck when transferring points. Specifically keeping Delta in mind, though, here are Citi’s transfer partners that are also part of the SkyTeam alliance:
— Aeromexico
— AirFrance
— KLM
— Virgin Atlantic
Citi’s other airline partners include:
— Avianca
— Emirates
— Etihad
— Eva Air
— Cathay Pacific
— JetBlue
— Qantas
— Qatar Airways
— Singapore Airlines
— Thai Airways
— Turkish Airlines
Now, the Strata card isn’t the best travel card when it’s on its own. But paired with another travel card — preferably a luxury travel card — the Strata can help you bridge the gap when it comes to earning rewards on everyday purchases.
The Citi Strata Premier card earns:
— Ten points per dollar spent on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked on CitiTravel.com
— Three points per dollar spent on air travel and other hotel purchases
— Three points per dollar spent at restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations and EV charging stations
— One point per dollar spent on all other purchases
New cardholders can also earn 70,000 bonus ThankYou Points after spending $4,000 in the first three months of account opening. There is no expiration or limit to the amount of points you can earn with this card, and there are no foreign transaction fees.
Another option is the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. This card also has an annual fee of $95 and comes with no foreign transaction fees. There is a sign-up bonus of 75,000 miles after you spend $4,000 on purchases within three months from account opening. (See Rates & Fees)
This card has a high rewards rate on non-travel-related purchases. You can earn an unlimited 2 miles per dollar spent on every purchase. You also earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. What’s great about this earning rate is you don’t really have to think about it. Your Capital One Venture can just become your “everything else” card.
Capital One also has 15+ airline program transfer partners you can transfer your miles to, including Aeromexico and Air France-KLM. Plus, since your Delta credit card doesn’t come with a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck statement credit, you can use the one offered by the Capital One Venture card.
Both cards offer great perks and help fill that gap you’re talking about. If you’re unsure which is better for your situation, check out our compare tool for a side-by-side comparison. Either one will definitely boost your rewards-earning, though. Happy travels!
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Clever Credit: I Don’t Earn Enough Rewards When I Travel. What Should I Do? originally appeared on usnews.com
