The Starwood Preferred Guest credit card from American Express offers one Starpoint for every dollar spent on the card, as well as 4–5 Starpoints for money spent at Starwood Properties. The Starwood credit card can also be used to accrue frequent flyer points, with cardholders receiving 10,000 bonus points after the first purchase, which can be used towards hotel stays or airline travel. Put more simply, this is a credit card that is great for people who want to use American Express to save money on travel.

The Starwood Rewards Program
The Starwood Preferred Guest program really does reward you for staying at the Starwood properties – places like Le Meridien hotels, the Sheraton, W Hotels, and St. Regis.  Every night you stay you earn rewards points, called Starpoints.  The number of points you earn depends on how often you stay with them.

Reward Tiers

Starwood has different tiers in their rewards program – Preferred Guest, Gold Preferred, and Platinum Preferred.  You enter the program as a Preferred Guest and after you’ve stayed 10 times (or 25 nights) you move up to the Gold Preferred tier.  Then, if you stay with Starwood 15 more times (or 50 nights) in that same year you’re moved up to Platinum Preferred.

Each higher tier has increasing benefits, one of those is that you earn more points for each Starwood stay.  At the base level you earn 2 Starpoints for every night stay and at the Gold and Platinum Preferred level you earn 3 points per night.

Extra Points & Hotel Credits

The cool thing about the Starwood card is that on top of the Starpoints you earn from staying at the hotel, you earn an extra 2 points if you put your stay on your card. In addition, if you are a Starwood cardholder you get a credit every year for 5 nights and 2 stays towards your next Preferred Guest level.

Frequent Travelers

Our old neighbor was in sales and covered an 8 state area so somtimes he’d be on the road for 2–3 weeks at a time.  He used to stay at mainly Marriott properties and used their rewards program but switched over to Starwood about 2 years ago.  In addition to the consumer card, there’s also a Starwood business card, which is what he was using.

He’d use all the Starpoints he earned in his travels to take his wife and little girl on trips around the country.  They’re also big shoppers – since you earn one point for each dollar you spend on the card it was a good card for them.

Starwood Hotel Deals

The best Starwood deals going on right now are the free nights you can get when you signup for the Starwood Preferred Guest card. 

You earn 10K Starpoints when you first use the card and 15K more when you use it for at least $5K of purchases in the first 6 months.  Depending on which category of hotel you redeem them with those points can be good for 3–4 free nights.

In addition to the credit card offer, Starwood’s pretty good about running promotions on their website for discounted hotel stays. Usually it requires you staying for at least one night and then getting discounted or free nights depending on how long you stay.

Some of these hotel promotions are more short-term and require a Starwood coupon code to take advantage of it.  There are some that are more long standing that don’t require a promotion code, for example

Better Tomorrow Promo – For every night you stay at a Starwood hotel and pay the full rate, you save 40% off the next night you stay.

3^rd Night Free Promo – If you book two nights in a row, ie Saturday/Sunday, then the third night is free.

No Blackout Dates
Unlike other hotel rewards programs, there are no blackout dates so you can redeem your Starpoints whenever fits into your travel schedule. Obviously, one of the big drawbacks to some hotel rewards programs is that they have blackout during times when you travel most: the summertime or during holidays. The ability to claim your free hotel room whenever you travel definitely helps set this program apart from others.

You do need to be familiar with how Starwood classifies their hotels, by Category levels – the higher the Category the nicer the hotel.  You don’t earn more rewards by staying at nicer hotels but when it comes to redeeming your Starpoints they go farther at the lower category hotels.  For example, you might use the same number of points to stay one night in a Category 6 hotel that you could use to stay for 3 nights in a Category 3 hotel.

So you can choose whether you want to use all your points in one or two nights at a really fancy place or stretch your free stay out for longer at a different hotel.  One thing to keep in mind, the Category 3 and 4 properties are nice hotels, it’s just the 5 and 6 category are far more luxurious.

Redeeming Your Free Room

The free rooms you can reserve with your Starpoints are standard rooms, be aware that a few destinations don’t have regular rooms so you won’t be able to use your StarPoints for free stays at those hotels or resorts.

Something else to keep in mind is that it often takes fewer points to get your free night over the weekend instead of during the week.  As you can see in the chart below, your points can go farther over the weekend.

Starwood Preferred Guest Airline Miles
Starwood has relationships with about 30 airline companies that allow you to transfer StarPoints into airline miles, most of them transfer one mile for each StarPoint.

They also have an airline bonus, if you transfer 20,000 points into airline miles, you’ll get back an extra 5,000 points. So let’s take a look at how many airline miles you could get in the first year of your card.

As mentioned above you’ll get 10,000 for signing up and an additional 15,000 bonus points if you spend $5,000 in the first six months. If you transfer those 25,000 points into airline miles to get the additional 5,000 bonus points, that’s 30,000 airline miles.  Of course, this assumes that you can exchange 1 point for 1 mile, but many of the major carriers, like United, Delta, Continental, and American Airlines, do give you 1 for 1.

APR and Annual Fee
Compared to other travel rewards cards of its type, the American Express Starwood Preferred Card has a relatively low fee of $65. The APR is also low with a low introductory APR for the first six months of the card (the period where you can earn an extra 15,000 bonus points). All of this means that you’ll be able to reap rewards as soon as you get card without having to spend a lot of money to get it. See the chart at the bottom for specific details about current rates and offers.

Customer Feedback
I asked readers about their favorite credit cards and one guy named Jason had some good things to say about the Starwood card.  He covers the credit card industry for another website so he really digs through all the rewards and term and conditions when comparing and using credit cards.  I thought the fact that he pointed out this card was a good sign, here’s what he had to say:

Jason’s Comments
For travel rewards, I have found no better card than the Starwood Preferred Guest card from American Express. The benefits at Starwood hotels are fantastic – I can book an award stay at any room within their brand, which includes Westins, Sheratons and others, with no blackouts or capacity controls. Awards start at 3,000 points with some Westins going for as little as 7,000.

Your fifth award night is also free, so you can easily save 20% off of those low rates. By comparison, Hilton and Intercontinental group also offer no blackouts and no capacity restrictions on their awards, but their award rates are much higher.

The benefits of the Starwood card goes well beyond hotels. The StarPoints are transferable to dozens of major airlines. They are the ultimate universal currency when you need to top off an airline account for a major award redemption. In fact, you can use the Starwood card to earn more airline miles than the airline’s cards themselves.

Starwood grants a 5,000 point bonus when you redeem 20,000 Starpoints for airline miles. This gives you 1.25 miles per dollar spent rather than the one to one ratio offered by most airline cards. The annual fee is $65, but this pays for itself when you are able to snag a pricey hotel for free or fly in business class after making a transfer of Starpoints to airline miles.

Conclusion
The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card has a tough to beat rewards program, which can then be used at over 30 different airlines or at most of the Starwood hotels around the world. This review didn’t talk much about international travel but Starwood recently announced it’s adding 50 new hotels across the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.

Starwood Preferred Guest is obviously best for people who travel frequently, such as business travelers, but anyone who is interested in staying at Starwood properties can get quality hotel stays for big discounts or for free. The relatively low annual fee you pay for access to their rewards program makes this one of the best hotel credit cards available today.

Which card you prefer kind of depends on how you view the money you earn with a cash back card.  If your goal is to just reduce your overall expenses a bit with the rebates, then your focus is probably on which card can get you the most money back the fastest.  On the other hand, if you see the rewards as a type of bonus that can get you some good deals on things you might not buy otherwise, then you’re probably more interested in a card that offers options in addition to cash rebates.

The other big question is how much do you generally charge on your card each year.  I’ll explain why these are important things to consider in the following sections.

Cash Back Rewards

Blue Cash® from American Express offers .5% cash back on the first $6,500 spent annually on the card and then increases this rate to 1.25%. Additionally there are some purchases that are eligible for an increased rewards rate of 1% for the first $6,500 spent on the card and 5% after that. If you’re not sure how your spending fits into this structure, American Express has a Blue Cash Calculator on their website where you select what you spend in a year on gas, grocery, drugstore, and all other purchases and they estimate how much cash back you’d earn.

The Discover® More Card gives you .25% cash back on the first $3000 in annual purchases. After that, the card rewards you with 1% cash back on all purchases. Additionally, there are rotating bonus categories on which you can earn 5% cash back. Finally, you can get up to an additional 20% cash back when using this credit card to shop online with select merchants. The Discover® More Card occasionally runs promotional deals. For example, recently it offered a bonus $100 cash back when you spent $500 on purchases in the first month after getting the card.

Annual Spending

Both of these rewards plans take a little bit of assessment to figure out since they aren’t entirely straightforward like some other cards are. Essentially you’ll want to look at whether or not you’re likely to spend $6500 per year or more on the card or if you’re more of a spender in the $3000 annual range.

The Discover More is nice because you can start earning 5% back on certain categories as soon as you start using the card.  You don’t have to wait to cross the spending tier like you do with the Blue Cash card.  However, since there’s a quarterly cap on the amount of bonus rewards you can earn with More card – if you put a lot of purchases on your credit card the Blue Cash could be a better option.  There’s no limit to the amount of cash back you can earn with Blue Cash and if you’re spending a lot annually then you’ll get into the higer earning tiers more quickly.

Spending Categories

Unfortunately, both cards limit your 5% cash back to certain categories of spending.  The upside to the Discover More approach is that you earn those bonus rewards on seasonal purchases, in categories where you might tend to spend more money at a certain time of year.

The downside is that you have to keep track of those categories and enroll in them every quarter to qualify for the bonus cash back.  Compare that to the Blue Cash that pays the 5% on things you buy all year round (gas, supermakets, pharmacies) and doesn’t ever require you to enroll your card – you automatically earn cash back each time you make a purchase.

Redeeming Cash Rebates

It used to be that Discover had the upper hand when it came to redeeming your cash back.  However, with the introduction of Blue Cash Reward Dollars, American Express now makes it possible to cash them in once you’ve accumulated $25 worth.  In the past you were only paid your earnings once a year but the new system AmEx put in place fixed that. 

Discover More does still have an advantage if you want your rewards in cold hard cash.  Once you’ve accumulated $50 Discover will send you the money electronically to your bank account (or if you only have $20 they’ll send a Discover gift card).  Although you can get your money sooner with American Express, it only comes across as a credit to your account, not as cash directly to you.  That’s not a big deal to me because we put most of our expenses on our card and pay it off once a month, so the credit just serves as a savings for us.  However, if you want cash it’s something to think about.

Another difference between the two cards is that Discover will also let you turn in your rewards for gift cards.  I’m not a huge fan of gift cards but Discover’s rewards program lets you buy gift cards at less than face value with your cash back rewards, so you can get anywhere from 2–10% additional savings when you redeem your earnings for gift cards at places you regularly shop.

Interest Rates

The rate and terms you’ll get from the Blue Cash card vary based on your credit history. You’ll need good credit to qualify for the card but excellent credit will get you lower interest rates and sometimes even longer terms on 0% interest intro APR offers.

The Discover More Card also requires that you have good credit and the interest rate you’ll pay on balances does depend on your credit history. However, the More card tends to have a lower APR on purchases and balance transfers than the Blue Cash card.

If you’re looking at a balance transfer you’ll also want to consider the balance transfer fee because the Blue Cash is usually lower by a percentage or two than Discover More. To do an accurate comparison of the rates on the two cards you can scroll down to the side-by-side information chart, which shows up-to-date APR and offers.

Summary

The bonus cash back rewards on the Discover® More Card definitely make it the stronger of the two competitors right now if you don’t spend a lot on your card. The lower APR and the offer of a 0% intro APR for balance transfers also make it an appealing choice if you carry a balance or are planning to transfer a balance.

However, the option to earn a higher cash back rate on purchases after the first $6500 each year make the Blue Cash® from American Express card an appealing option if you put lot on your card. Unlike the More card, the Blue Cash doesn’t have a limit on the amount of cash back you can earn so higher spenders truly benefit more from this card than from Discover More.  

The Premier Rewards Gold is a rewards card with a fairly generous payout for purchases and some extra bonuses added in. The Premier Rewards Gold card does have some attractive features that help it stand out from other rewards cards; such as triple points on airfare, double points on gas and groceries, and a nice $150 bonus.

Premier Rewards Gold Points
First off, you will be eligible to earn 15,000 bonus points when you spend $1000 during the first 3 months of owning the card. To put that in some perspective, you will earn 15,000 points by spending $30,000 per calendar year in subsequent years. So this card is very generous to start, so long as you spend fairly regularly or for a big ticket item when you first sign up for the card.

Additionally, this AmEx gold card gives you the opportunity to earn 3 times the points on airfare, 2 times the points on gas and groceries, and 1 point on everything else. So the card can almost be seen as a combination of a travel rewards card, a gas rewards card, and an everyday-purchase card. Having an all-in-one rewards card like this doesn’t always maximize your rewards per category but it does make earning usable points easier.

Redeeming Rewards
American Express has always been known for having quality rewards programs.  Although not every merchant will accept your card because American Express does charge higher merchant fees, you know that when you do use your AmEx you’re earning pretty decent rewards.

I’m a big fan of their Blue Savings rewards but they’re probably best know for their Membership Rewards program, which is the one that the Premier Rewards Gold card uses.  The nice thing about the program is that it is pretty flexible, you can use your points to get a wide range of rewards.

Travel Rewards
For example, using the Pay with Points feature you can redeem them for points on most airlines and not have to worry about blackout dates or restrictions. The way it works is that you buy your ticket using the AmEx Travel site and apply your membership points towards the price of the ticket.   You don’t have to wait until you have enough to cover the whole ticket, the remaining cost of the flight will be charged to your card.

I remember when I first signed up for the Gold card years ago they were offering a big bonus and I used my points to pay for a ticket to a conference I was attending.  I was actually looking online for flights to Vegas where the conference was held and I saw the ad for the bonus so I signed up for the card.

There is an alternative to booking through American Express – you can also transfer the rewards points you’ve earned to rewards programs at some of the major airlines.  The conversion from rewards points to frequent flier programs doesn’t always give you the best bang for your buck so be sure check what kind of value you’re getting out of the transfer.

Using Points
If you’re not a big traveler you can use your points for discounts on other types of purchases or for gift cards.

One aspect of the Membership Rewards is a site called ShopAmex where you can use your points for purchases.  You can see in the graphic the number of items they have avaialbe in the different point ranges.  Similar to their travel site, if you don’t have enough points accumulated you can put the rest on your Gold card.

If you’re like me then you’re not a big fan of shopping and only buy something when you really need it.  I’m not a fan of browsing to buy something just for the fun of it.  In that case the gift cards might be a better option for you.  You can use your rewards points for dining or entertainment gift cards, AmEx also has retail gift cards available in their program.

Premier Rewards Gold Fees
Like other cards with a high-rebate offer, the American Express(R) Premier Rewards Gold Card does have an annual fee. The fee is $175 which is higher than some of the other rewards cards you’ll find in the market. The good news is this fee is waived for the first year of the card.

You pretty much get the first two years for no fee because the 15,000 points you earn by spending $1000 in the first three months can be redeemed for $150, which is close to the amount of the annual fee. That gives you 24 months to determine whether or not it’s the right rewards credit card for you before you have to start making annual fee payments on it.

No Interest
This card is a charge card, not a credit card, which means the balance must be paid off each month. Since you can’t carry a balance, you won’t build up credit card debt and won’t find yourself paying high interest fees month after month. Although this is a deterrent for people who have to carry a balance, it’s definitely a financially smart option for people who can afford to pay off their balance each month in full. There is no pre-set spending limit on the card so as long as you can afford to pay your balance you can put whatever you want on the card to earn rewards.

Conclusion
This American Express Gold card can definitely earn you a lot of rewards if you put a lot of purchases on your card. The first year of the card is certainly the most attractive thanks to the bonus rewards. However, even without the additional bonus points for a $30,000 annual spend, the 3-2-1 point system is an attractive rebate package for a wide variety of different purchases for the following years.

If you have horrible credit chances are you won’t be approved for this card but if you’ve done a reasonable job keeping up your credit score then you may be able to qualify for the charge card. There’s really only one way to know if you’re eligible for the bonus and the rewards that come with the card; apply for it and see what happens!  

Blue Sky from American Express is one of the top travel rewards credit cards because of the freedom its membership rewards program offers cardholders to choose how you can redeem your points.

Top Travel Rewards Card – One of the problems that can come with using a rewards card with a certain airline or hotel chain is that you might spend years building up rewards and then have them suddenly change the program on you.

For example there were some major changes made to the Southwest Airlines Rapid Reward program not long ago when they overhauled how customers could earn and redeem flight rewards. Many customers and industry experts thought the changes were an improvement but not everyone felt that way.  The customers who had been flying Southwest for years and felt they were being mis-treated had little they could do about it other than leave complaints on the customer blog.

Regardless of whether you thought the Southwest Airlines rewards program improved or got worse, the point is that using a specific airline credit card does expose you to that risk.  That’s one of the reasons that Blue Sky from American Express is one of the best travel rewards credit cards you can apply for today.  With no blackout dates or travel restrictions plus rewards points that can be used for any airline, hotel, cruise, or car rental – the card doesn’t limit you to a specific airline, or even method of travel.

Earn Reward Points Easily – Another nice benefit of American Express Blue Sky over some of the other cards from airlines like Delta, United, and Continental is that the card has no annual fee. The fee for most airlines cards isn’t that high, but no fee is certainly better than even a low fee.  With no charge to use the Blue Sky card, you start earning rewards right away without having to worry about making up the annual fee.

The Blue Sky also has no purchase limitations on where you can earn travel points.  As a card member, you earn one point for every single dollar that you spend and there is no earning limit on your rewards.  Expiring points are not an issue either, the points you earn will be available as long as your account is active and in good standing.

Not to complain about the airlines again but I’ve had so many frequent flyer miles expire over the years, it’s nice to know that the rewards you earn when traveling will be there for you to use them.  If you’re not a frequent traveler and are trying to save up rewards for a big vacation a few years off, then this is a great feature for you.

I don’t know how many offers I saw come in the mail to use my frequent flyer miles to buy magazine subscriptions. It was a prett inefficient way to redeem the miles, I wasn’t getting a very good conversion rate when it came to mone spent on flights vs rewards, but once or twice my miles were expiring so I opted for the magazine. I’m glad I don’t have to mess around with that anymore because of cards like Blue Sky.

Blue Sky Travel Savings – The Blue Savings program is a good way to earn discounts on travel.  You can find deals from 5–20% off hotels (like Marriott), rental cars (like Hertz), and restaurants when you pay with your Blue Sky card.  It’s a nice perk – the Blue savings program was setup for the Amex Blue and Blue Cash cards but since Blue Sky is in the same card family, you can take advantage of the savings as well.

Blue Sky Protection – Another thing people like about the Blue Sky card is that it offers travelers protection against unexpected problems while on a trip.  Card holders can call the American Express Global Assist Hotline for help with coordination of emergency assistance for medical, financial, and legal matters.  They also offer a lost wallet service, which does cost extra, that will rush you a new card and will help expedite getting a new passport or ID if you’re overseas and lose your wallet.

Blue Sky from American Express also provides the Purchase Protection Plan, which can cover items you buy while traveling.  It protects eligible purchases made with the Card against accidental damage and theft for up to 90 days from the date of purchase. The Blue Sky card also offers auto insurance for rental cars but make sure you understand the rules of the credit card rental insurance and what it does and doesn’t cover before you start driving.

You can review the features and benefits of the card listed below and see if the Blue Sky travel rewards credit card will save you money on your next trip.

Card Fees and Bonuses

The main purpose of both cards is to earn cash back on your purchases.  Neither the Freedom or the Blue Cash Everyday has an annual fee, which is good since you get to keep more of the cash back that you earn.  There is a Blue Cash Preferred card that charges a fee but in return you earn higher cash back rates at supermarkets and gas.

Both the Blue Cash and Chase Freedom have offered signup bonuses in the past – with the Freedom card historically having higher bonuses.  For example, the Blue cash sometimes offers $25 to new customers, which is paid as a statement credit.  The Freedom card has offered $50 and even $100 as a bonus to new members, their come in the form of rewards points.  You can use the points as part of the Ultimate Rewards program or redeem them for cash.

Most rewards cards won’t pay you the rewards you earn during a period in which you don’t pay your bill.  This is the case with both of these cards, if you’re in default on your payment then you aren’t credited your cash back for any money spent during that billing cycle.

Earning Cash Back

Both the Blue Cash and Chase Freedom can earn you cash back on your purchases but they go about it in diffrent ways. 

Chase Freedom

The Freedom card pays 1% cash back on all purchases, then has certain bonus categories that can earn you an additional 4%.  The categories rotate each quarter, here’s the cash back calendar for this year:

• January – March : grocery stores and drug stores
• April – June : home improvement, home furnishings, lawn and garden
• July – September : gas, airlines, hotels
• October – December : dining, department stores, movies, charities

So the nice thing about the Freedom card is that you can start earning 5% right away if your purchases fall into one of the bonus categories. The categories are typically based around the areas that people tend to spend the most in during those months.

One other thing to note is that the Freedom card does have a cap each quarter on the amount of spending that’s eligible for the 4% bonus.  You may not reach that cap, but if you do then the remainder of purchases go back to earning 1%.

Blue Cash

The Blue Cash also has a form of bonus categories that they call “Everyday Purchases” – grocery stores, department stores, and gas stations.  Unlike the Freedom card, these categories are the same all year round.

You earn 3% back at supermarkets and 2% on gas and in department stores – 1% back on everything else.  If you go with the Blue Cash Preferred, you earn 6% back at supermarkets and 3% on gas and in department stores.

Redeeming Cash Back

As I mentioned earlier, the Chase Freedom card earns you rewards points for your purchases.  You can either use them in the Ultimate Rewards program or you can convert the points to cash.  The conversion rate is 1 point equals $0.01 cash – so 10,000 points could be turned in for a $100 check.

With the Blue Cash card, your cash back is paid in the form of a statement credit.  It used to be that you could only redeem your cash back once a year but American Express has changed the rewards program so you can request the credit anytime you’ve accumulated $25 or more in cash back.

Card Programs

The Freedom card is eligible to participate in a program called Chase Blueprint that’s designed to help you pay off your balances and reduce the amount of interest you pay.  Of course, if you’re paying interest on your charges those will wipeout any cash back you earn so in that case the Freedom card may not be the best for you.  There is a card called Slate from Chase that’s designed to work inside the Blueprint program and focus on paying down your balance.

If you use the Blue Cash card, you’re eligible for the Blue Savings program.  It’s actually available for any of the cards in the “Blue” family, like Amex Blue, Blue Sky, and Blue Sky Preferred card.  The program gives you discounts on hotels, car rental, dining – anywhere from 5–20% off your purchases.

There are a few other perks you get with the Blue Cash, like a free credit score and report from Experian once a year.  They also feature occassional deals – for example they offered free iTunes songs for a while and 35% off of tax software through TurboTax.

Hopefully, this look at the two cards has helped compare the features and give you an idea which might work best for you.

The American Express Platinum Card is a rewards card with a larger than normal annual fee but also many opportunities to earn bonus points and redeem them for exclusive rewards not typically offered to customers of other American Express rewards cards. This card also has numerous other perks in addition to its rewards points that we’ll cover below.

Platinum Card Rewards
The Membership Rewards First Program is pretty flexible with how you can earn points and also the ways to use the points you earn.  If you’re looking for a strictly cash back card then the Platinum Card really gives you more than you need. It’s definitely a card for people who are most interested in earning points on their purchases and using them for a variety of different rewards.

Earning Points

The base earnings are one point for every dollar that you spend on this credit card. You can earn double points by booking your trips through American Express Travel and quadruple points when shopping at BonusPointsMall.com.  You can also earn 10 points for each dollar spent on certain merchants that are part of the Membership Rewards program.

Redeeming Points

The Membership Rewards First program has a cool perk where they feature sales on items in their rewards catalog, where you pay 20% less points during the sale. 

If you use the Pay With Points option to redeem your rewards for travel then you automatically get an additional 20% travel bonus credited to your account.  Since you go through the AmEx site and aren’t limited by airline, you don’t have to worry about blackout dates or other restrictions .

There are no limits on the number of points that you can earn and the points do not expire. Finally, you can earn 50,000 bonus points if you spend $1000 on the card in the first three months after you receive it.

Platinum Card Perks
The Platinum card is all about the perks and is great for people who travel frequently.   I don’t know if the card is worth the fee based on just the rewards alone but when you take a look at the perks that come with the card they can add a lot of value for people that travel regularly.

Here are some of the additional perks of the American Express Platinum Card:

Airline Perks

• Access to airport lounges around the world – great for travelers who want to relax in and comfort while waiting for their flights
• Up to $200 in credit each year to cover various airline fees – especially nice now that airlines seem to charge for every little thing
• One annual companion ticket when the card is used to purchase certain airline tickets – your friends will adore you because you’ll be able to take them on trips.

Travel Perks

• Up to $400 in annual benefits when booking a cruise vacation – could be an excuse to take that cruise you’ve always wanted.
• Upgrades, amenities and perks at 700+ hotels around the world

Other Perks

• Concierge assistance to help with various tasks including gift purchases and travel planning – just like having your own personal assistant for travel
• Exclusive access to various event tickets
• Ticket reimbursement for events that must be canceled
• Enhanced fraud protection and extended warranty protection on products purchased using the card

APR and Fees
In order to obtain all of the perks of the Platinum Card from American Express, you do have to invest some money. This card has a $450 annual fee. However, because you pay the balance off in full each month, there are no interest charges when using this credit card.

Conclusion
The Platinum Card from American Express has the potential to allow you to earn a significant amount of rewards points as well as to take advantage of a variety of other perks. Since most of these perks are related to travel, the card is ideal as a rewards card for someone who travels frequently.

Because of the high annual fee, this card is best for someone who is going to use it regularly to really reap those rewards throughout the year. The bonus points available after the first $1000 in purchases definitely help to make it worth it to at least try the card for a year in order to decide if it is the right rewards credit card for you.

The SimplyCash may be one of the best business credit cards out there because of the fact that it combines a lot of rewards opportunities with reasonable rates and no annual fee. The card offers the highest cash back percentage on wireless phone services and office supplies, 5% back, and earns you 3% cash back on gas purchases.

Other business credit cards offer a flat 1% cash back on all purchases but the SimplyCash card combines a cash rebate card with a gas rebate card for business owners.  It kind of borrows from the model of the TruEarnings card, where you earn a fixed percent back on all your purchases, in the case of SimplyCash that’s 1%, and are paid a considerably higher rate for things like gas and office products. Having both of these available on one card is what makes it stand out the most for me.

Although there’s no annual limit on the total cash back you can earn with the card you only earn 5% back on the first $12,000 worth of purchases of wireless and office supplies you make in a year.  The same applies for gas purchases, after your first $12K annual gas spending, the remaining sales earn you 1% cash back.

Simply Cash Discounts
In addition to the cash rebates, the SimplyCash® Business Card from American Express OPEN offers discounts at all OPEN Savings merchant partners. This means that not only will you receive cash back on purchases, but you can also save additional money on a variety of office-related products and services.

The OPEN Savings program has a good selection of companies that businesses tend to work with for things like travel, technology, shipping, etc.  Here you can see some examples of the merchants in the program such as HP, Hyatt Hotels, FedEx, AirTran, Hertz, and Symantec.

The Open Savings program is pretty simple, if you use your Simply Cash card at one of the merchants, the discount is automatically applied when you pay.  For example, Symantec makes the popular Norton Anti-virus software, if you buy Norton for your business with your SimplyCash card you get a 10% discount.  You do have to read the terms of each merchant and product to make sure you get the discount.  In the case of Norton, the Symantec products are only eligible for the discount if you buy through their online store.  So be sure you know the terms of the merchant before you buy.

Rewards are Automatic
Another nice thing about this business rewards credit card is that redeeming your rewards requires absolutely zero effort on your part. Each month when you receive your credit card statement you will see that your cash back rewards have been automatically added to that statement. Many business owners have good rewards credit cards but are so busy that they forget to redeem those rewards. That will never be a problem with a card that offers automatic rewards!

Simply Cash APR and Fees
As is the case with many business credit cards, the Simply Cash from American Express card has a relatively low APR with an introductory 0% APR. The card also has a longer-than-average 25-day grace period, as well as no annual fee and no fee for additional cards, all of which enhance the appeal of this card. To get up-to-date information about the APR for this card scroll down to the chart at the bottom of this page.

American Express Benefits
American Express does make a serious effort to make their business credit cards more than just a credit card. Their OPEN network not only has the Savings program I discussed earlier, it also features the OPEN Forum and Connectodex.  These online business communities feature business resources to help fill the gaps in a business owner’s expertise, as well as networking tools for trading advice and collaboration.

The online account management and reporting you get with an American Express card like SimplyCash are pretty flexible when it comes to tracking and reporting on how you’re spending your money.

Conclusion
Of all the benefits of the Simply Cash from American Express, the 5% rebate on office purchases is the greatest selling point. For any business owner who logs a lot of miles in a car or other vehicle for deliveries or other purpose, the cash back on gas expenditures is also highly attractive especially as gas prices continue to climb. All in all, this card has no annual fee, low APR, and high rebates: all things you should look for in a business credit card.

The Click Here card is an airline rewards card similar to the Blue Sky from American Express but with a few important differences. Both of these cards were designed for people with good credit who plan on taking advantage of the rewards program with frequent travel. The main difference between the Blue Sky and the Blue Sky Preferred card is that the Preferred card allows you to earn more points faster. This makes it a great choice for people who do a lot of spending on their cards and want to cash in on that.

Blue Sky Preferred Rewards

The rewards that you can earn on the two cards are similar, earning a basic one point per dollar on most purchases. These travel rewards can be cashed in for flights, hotels, cruises and car rental. Some of the key things that you should know about these rewards include:

• No limit on how many rewards points you can earn
• No seat restrictions or blackout dates
• No expiration date for rewards
• Ability to redeem rewards on any airline

Blue Sky vs Blue Sky Preferred Rewards

Although you pay an annual fee for the Preferred card, it does allow you to earn rewards more quickly than the basic Blue Sky card.  Accumulating points more rapidly than the base card is the main difference between the two, most other features are the same.

Since you earn double the points on dining, hotel and car rental purchases, if you travel frequently you may find that these extra rewards make up for the cost of the card. Additionally you get to enjoy a $100 annual airline allowance with this card. This is money that you can spend on any incidental airline charges such as in-flight meals or checked baggage fees.

Additional Travel Perks

Blue Sky Preferred credit card holders have access to numerous travel perks and protections. These include:

• Travel accident insurance up to $100,000
• Car rental loss and damage insurance
• Access to the helpful information at the Global Assist Hotline
• Guarantee that your hotel room will be held even if you arrive late
• Complimentary breakfast at some hotels

In addition to these travel perks, this credit card comes with purchase protection including extended product warranties, refund protection and assistance with replacing or repairing items bought on the card that get broken. This card also comes with fraud protection.

Annual Fee and APR

Because of it’s Preferred status, the card does come with a $75 annual fee. This credit card does sometimes come with a 0% introductory APR based on creditworthiness; see details in the chart below.

Blue Sky Preferred Bonus Points

One nice thing about the Blue Sky Preferred credit card is that you earn 7500 bonus points after spending the first $500 on the card. This is equivalent to $100 that you can put towards flights or hotel charges. This may make the annual fee worth it at least for the first year to test out whether or not this card is the right card for you. After all, you still get $25 just for getting the card and spending that first $500 on it.

Blue Savings Discounts

Both the Blue Sky and the Blue Sky Preferred credit cards provide you with access to special savings called the “blue savings program”. This program offers special discounts to cardholders at various hotels, restaurants and retail stores. For example you can save up to 20% at Hertz rental car through this program. This is in addition to the points that are earned when doing the shopping at these merchants.

Blue Sky Preferred May Be Right For You

This card may be right for you if you’re willing to pay an annual fee in order to have the opportunity to rapidly earn travel rewards. Because you get double points for hotel and car rental purchases and get additional travel perks on this card, it is best for you if you travel frequently.

The Gold Delta SkyMiles card wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see in your wallet if you’re a frequent Delta flyer and an American Express card member. But what if you’re not a Delta customer; is the Gold Delta SkyMiles useful enough to switch to a different airline? The answer for many people is probably yes, which is why the airline credit card has become so popular.  If you use this card correctly and choose to fly with Delta then you can accrue free flights fairly quickly.

Gold Delta Rewards Plan

What makes this card effective is that it stacks with Delta’s own reward policy. With the Gold Delta SkyMiles card, you’ll earn a point for every dollar spent, plus you can extra miles if you purchase a Delta-affiliated product – not only airline tickets, but Skymiles catalog items that also qualify for frequent flyer bonuses.

Bonus Rewards Points

It is easy to rapidly begin earning free flights on this credit card. You earn bonus miles after you’ve spent a minimum amount in the first 3 months, sometimes these bonus miles are enough for a free flight on Delta. Additionally, you can get another and 5000 bonus miles if you add two members to an account. Plus of course the spending that those people do on the account will mean that you accrue standard points more quickly.

Rewards Points Limitations

The main drawback of this airline rewards card is that you can only accrue 100,000 miles in a year. For someone who travels frequently and spends a lot of money on their card, this can be limitation. These miles, however, do not expire. If you’re a big spender then you can take advantage of this fact to combine this card with another travel rewards card to get all of the rewards you want each year.

Gold Delta SkyMiles Perks

What also makes this card especially useful for travelers, aside from the bonus miles, is that the cardholders can have access to AmEx’s Global Assist hotline – a 24-hour service which provides assistance regarding medical, legal, passport, money and luggage issues. If you lose the card while traveling, American Express can make emergency payments. Finally, with the card you can check your first bag free.

APR

The APR on the Gold Delta SkyMiles card is good but not great. The good news is that most cardholders can expect a decent APR, not the lowest of frequent flyer cards, but still competitive. The APR for balance transfers is better than average but the APR can be pretty high for delinquencies – though this is standard, depending on the severity of the delinquency. Check out the chart at the bottom of this article for up-to-date information about the current APR on this card.

Fees

Like other rewards cards of its kind, the Gold Delta SkyMiles credit card does have an annual fee. It is $95, which is slightly higher than average for airline rewards cards. However, new cardholders will have the fee waived for the first year. It may be worth it, then, to try the card for a year to see if the rewards are worth it to you before that annual fee kicks in. Be sure to watch out for the over the limit fees on this card because they can hit $40. You do need to be a responsible card holder for this credit card to work out well for you.

Conclusion

Given that Delta has millions of flights domestically and internationally, you won’t be stuck with a frequent flyer card that you use only occasionally. As with other frequent flyer cards, it’s the best fit for someone in search of a good travel credit card. You’ll need to be responsible with payments and will benefit most if your earnings aren’t likely to exceed 100,000 miles annually. If this describes you, the Gold Delta SkyMiles card has many features that are attractive and useful for the frequent traveler.

The True Earnings American Express card can be a good credit card if you’re a Costco member.   How much can the True Earnings Costco card save you on every shopping trip? 

Chances are if you’re a Costco shopper then you’re likely a natural born bargain shopper. On top of the bulk discounts you get at Costco, the TrueEarnings card earns you cash back on purchases at the store.  Since the credit card also serves as your Costco membership card you’re sure to have it with you every time to earn rewards.

TrueEarnings Rewards: The best rewards points for this card are for everyday purchases such as gas which nets 3% back on the first $3000 annually and 1% after that. You’ll get 2% back for travel purchases & and restaurants and 1% back for everything else, including shopping trips to Costco.

When you buy gas, you’ll get the full 3% back, which is why it’s one of the best gas credit cards. Unlike other gas rewards cards which require minimum spending levels or seasonal purchases for the highest cash back, the True Earnings card earns you 3% cash back on the very first dollar you spend on gas, regardless of the season.

TrueEarnings Promotions:   Costco has run specials on the card where they gave you cash back simply for opening a card.  The last True Earnings promotion gave you a $25 statement credit with your first purchase.

TrueEarnings Fees: There is no annual fee for the True Earnings card but you do have to be a Costco member to shop there and that requires a membership fee.  The upside is that if you don’t make back the membership fee in savings over the course of a year, Costco will refund your fee.

You can also become an Executive member for a higher fee but then you actually earn an additional 2% cash back on purchases, making it easy to cover the fee with your savings.

The APR: The APR is an important factor if you carry a balance because it could negate whatever bonus you might be earning on purchases. The good news is that the American Express TrueEarnings credit card offers an introductory 0% APR upfront, and then a decent variable APR depending on your credit.

Conclusion: You know you can earn 3% cashback at restaurants but one thing we haven’t mentioned is that True Earnings rewards card can also be used at other stores outside of Costco.  You won’t get the same benefits, you only earn 1% cash back on purchases at stores other than Costco.

The best benefits of the TrueEarnings card are when it’s earning maximum cash back, which is on restaurants and gas. So if you are a Costco member or thinking about becoming one then this card is for you. 

You can see more information about the True Earnings card in the table below, and can open the card with the following link – Open Card