Great Big Globe World Travel
First off, when dealing with credit cards you need to be smart and not put yourself in a bad situation. We do not recommend running up a ton of debt on high interest cards. Do Not Do It, period. These cards work great for us based on ALWAYS paying off balances each month.
Taking advantage of credit card sign-up offers can net big value if you find the right deal and pounce on it. We won’t get into the nitty-gritty of these offers (check out ThePointsGuy and MillionMileSecrets) as they change frequently, but if you plan to travel it is worth looking into credit cards geared toward travelers.
We began our credit card search with some key criteria in mind to benefit us immediately as well as long-term: Attractive sign-up offer, no foreign transaction fees and a solid rewards program. We ended up opening a few different cards that would boost our reward accounts and help get us free flights and hotel stays along the way. We won’t be taking all the cards with us, as some were opened purely for the sign-up points.
People may warn of your credit score taking a hit by opening and closing accounts frequently, which is not what we are doing. We are not concerned with this issue since we both have solid credit scores and will not abuse the credit lines being extended to us. Being prudent up front and taking advantage of what is offered simply gives a traveler more options to save money while on the road.
A key consideration when applying is that sign-up offers are often contingent on hitting certain spend amounts. Is it really gaining you much if you have to spend a bunch of money to get bonus points? We say no, unless you know of some necessary spending coming up. We strategically staggered signing up for card offers based on spending we knew was in our future. For example; buying a bunch of gear for our trip, a new camera lens and paying our taxes. We would hit our necessary spend amounts and then move on to the next card and so on. We use plastic for virtually everything!
Below are the cards and offers we jumped on, including which we use on a regular basis on the road.
Citi Hilton Visa
No Annual Fee
50,000 Hilton points sign-up bonus after spending $1000 in first 3 months
Foreign Transaction Fees Included: Won’t be coming along for the ride.
Hilton Honors Amex
No Annual Fee
50,000 Hilton points sign-up bonus after spending $750 in first 3 months
Foreign Transaction Fees Included: Won’t be coming along for the ride.
Barclay Arrival MC
$89 Annual Fee waived first year
40,000 Barclay points sign-up bonus after spending $3,000 in first 3 months
No Foreign Transaction Fees: We will be bringing this card along, but only as a secondary option.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa
$95 Annual Fee waived first year
50,000 Chase points sign-up bonus after spending $3,000 in first 3 months
No Foreign Transaction Fees: We will be using this as our go-to card on the road.
Great rewards program and bonus points earned on travel specific purchases.
Do you have any recommendations on card sign-up offers to take advantage of today?
If your cards are chipped you will also want to make sure you have a wallet that is RFid blocked. Just to be on the safe side.
We do have a PacSafe backpack for RF protection, we’re hoping that will be enough.