Why Unique Currency Cards Should Be In Your Wallet – Part 1

We talked last week about hotel loyalty programs and how to pick the one that’s right for you.  Once you’ve made that decision, you have another choice: which is the best Unique Currency (UC) card for you?  A UC is one whose issuer has basically set up a unique points ecosystem that is easy to earn points with, easy to redeem for travel expenses, and transferable to other points and miles programs.

Why are you doing this to us, you might ask!  Even though this can add a level of complexity, it can also reduce the number of cards in your wallet because the UC can be used to pay for airfare, lodging costs and more at a variety of providers.  It’s more flexible, and you can boost your earning potential significantly.  We’ll show you some of examples of this in Part 2 of this post.

Currently, there are three major UC programs that provide the most flexibility:  Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards and Citi Thank You Points.  There are others, but we feel these are the best.  Each program has multiple cards that can be used to earn points.  These are the best cards in each program:

• Chase Ultimate Rewards-
  • Chase Sapphire Reserve
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred
  • Ink Business Preferred Credit Card
  • Chase Freedom Flex
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited
  • There are other Chase personal and business cards available that can convert cash back to Ultimate Rewards points
• American Express Membership Rewards-
  • The Platinum Card from American Express
  • The American Express Gold Card
  • The Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card
  • The Amex EveryDay Credit Card
  • The Blue Business Plus Credit Card from American Express
  • Amex has multiple personal and business versions of the Platinum card, and a business version of the Gold Card
• Citi Thank You Points
  • Citi Prestige® Card
  • Citi Premier® Card
  • Citi Rewards+® Card

Each of these UC programs provides a dedicated “travel agency”, accessible online and by phone, with which you can book airline and hotel reservations and use your points to pay, just like cash.  If you go this route, Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth 1 to 1.5 cents each, Amex Membership Rewards and Citi Thank you points are worth one cent each.  Citi adds a significant sweetener by giving you a fourth night free for hotel reservations made through their travel agency, whether you’re paying with points or cash.  This benefit can be utilized twice a year and can be worth as much as $2,000 per year.

Photo by Troy Mortier on Unsplash

Additional flexibility comes from the ability to directly transfer points from each program’s UC to its airline and hotel partners.  This is an important factor in determining which UC to commit to. . .you should pick the one whose transfer partners are ones that you fly or stay with.  Here are the current partners for each of the “Big Three”:

• Chase Ultimate Rewards-
  • Airlines
    • British Airways
    • Flying Blue
    • Jet Blue
    • Emirates
    • Singapore Airlines
    • Southwest
    • United
    • Virgin Atlantic
    • Aer Lingus
    • Iberia
  • Hotels
    • Hyatt
    • IHG
    • Marriott
  • American Express Membership Rewards-
    • Airlines
      • Aer Lingus Aer Club
      • Aeromexico Club Premier
      • Air Canada Aeroplan
      • Air France KLM Flying Blue
      • Alitalia MilleMiglia
      • All Nippon Airways Mileage Club
      • Avianca LifeMiles
      • British Airways Executive Club
      • Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
      • Delta SkyMiles
      • Emirates Skywards
      • Etihad Guest
      • Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
      • Iberia Plus
      • Jet Blue TrueBlue
      • Qantas Frequent Flyer
      • Singapore KrisFlyer
      • Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
    • Hotels
      • Choice Privileges
      • Hilton Honors
      • Marriott Bonvoy
    • Citi Thank You Points-
      • Airlines
        • Aeromexico Club Premier
        • Air France-KLM Flying Blue
        • Avianca LifeMiles
        • Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
        • Emirates Skywards
        • Etihad Guest
        • EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
        • Jet Airways JetPrivilege (now InterMiles; note that the airline currently isn’t flying)
        • JetBlue TrueBlue
        • Malaysia Airlines Enrich
        • Qantas Frequent Flyer
        • Qatar Airways Privilege Club
        • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
        • Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
        • Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
        • Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
      • Hotels- None (but, remember, the Citi Prestige card gives you a fourth night free at any hotel you book through their travel agency)

Lots of partners, some overlap (Jet Blue and Flying Blue appear on all three airline partner lists), not as many hotel partners.  Chase has more domestic airline partners, the others have more international partners.  Both Chase and Amex have Marriott as a hotel transfer partner.

Here’s a very important point:  the points you can earn with certain cards in these three UC programs can be far greater than what you would earn with a hotel, airline or any other card.  For example, the Citi Prestige card earns 5X points on dining expenses; the American Express Gold card earns 4X.  The best hotel or airline card we can find only earns 3X on dining expenses; most are 1X or 2X.  That means that if you have $250 in dining expenses in a particular month (yes, carryout counts), you’ll get 1,250 Thank You points from Citi or 1,000 Membership Rewards points from Amex.  Those could be transferred to Marriott for an equal number of Bonvoy points.  Had you charged that same $250 to a Chase Marriott Boundless card, you would have been credited for 500 points (2X).  Same spend, double or more points when charged to a UC card.

That’s just one example. . .there are many more categories that have enhanced earning credit with the UC cards than you will find with a hotel or airline card.  And you have the flexibility of transferring those same points to one of the dozens of airline partners (usually a higher value redemption) instead.  The one major exception to this approach is when you spend at a hotel or with an airline. . .use that provider’s card, because they all have earning rates of 5-10X or more.

Tomorrow, in Part 2 of our series on UC cards, one of your fellow Exceptional Travelers will share his experience with the Chase ecosystem.  And we’ll summarize the guidelines to follow as you put together your own credit card strategy.  If you have a question or comment, please share it in the comments section below.

Photo by Alexander Mils on Unsplash