Off Topic - Airline and Credit Card Recommendations?

[DiveRD]

Sorry for this weird thread but looking to get the best experience for my money. I get suckered in too good to be true deals and want my first LOB trip to go smoothly

1) Which airline do you guys recommend for Asia trips and why?

2) What credit card do you recommend to maximize on rewards with the lowest/reasonable annual membership cost? To get access to Lounges

 

[Johnoly]

Not Citi,,,$95, no free bag, no lounge, no priority. They're nuts but you aren't getting those either.

 

[DiveRD]

that bad @Johnoly ?! Thanks though! That was one I was looking at.

 

[Manatee Diver]

If you are a prime member the Prime Signature Credit Card has no fees (other than prime), no foreign transaction fees, decent cash back, and some travel protections like rental car.

But no airline bonuses, but it doesn't cost you a dime.

 

[Lorenzoid]

If you're flying to a specific destination in Asia for your LOB, how many airline choices do you have? Even from LAX, there are only so many ways to arrive in, say, Jakarta, on a specific date.

As for credit cards, if I recall, frequent LOB traveler @outofofficebrb has touted the Chase Sapphire Reserve for its travel insurance and other benefits. If you frequently travel on a particular airline, you may want a co-branded card. I use a Delta co-branded Amex card.

 

[drk5036]

For credit card, definitely chase sapphire reserve. It comes with priority pass for lounge usage, which is not so useful in the states but is AWESOME in Asia and Europe. It gets 3% points on travel and dining, which either transfers 1:1 to a few airlines or can be used to book on an Expedia-like portal with a 50% bonus (effectively 4.5% back on purchases). After the 300 dollar travel credit it costs about 100 dollars a year. Super easy to break even. Has many other perks I didn’t list here as well.

Re: flying to Asia, I’m biased towards JAL but they’re not cheap. I generally go with is cheapest on google flights. Within Asia, look at the LCCs like airasia. You have to pay for baggage and other things, but usually ends up coming out cheapest anyway.

 

[runsongas]

star alliance partners like eva, so you can bank miles for united. united is a bad airline, but the miles are super useful to get to palau/yap/truk.

 

[martincohn]

2) What credit card do you recommend to maximize on rewards with the lowest/reasonable annual membership cost? To get access to Lounges

If you want to maximize rewards you will probably be looking at a card with a fee. The other side of that is when you get a good card sometimes you need to work at it a little to maximize your benefits.

Me I go AMEX Platinum and am slowly getting rid of the others. Make sure you take advantage of the benefits it offers and you can make your $$$ back for the fee every year.

Playing the points game can turn into a full time hobby. The folks that play the system and work at it can get some pretty amazing rewards. But the time commitment took care of that for me. Would rather blow bubbles.

 

[flyboy08]

AA has one out now,..60,000 buy any item...a pack of gum, and they waived the annual fee on the last flight I was on.

that’s 60;000 miles for a pack of gum...then I cancelled the card!

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

AmEx Delta Platinum has worked well for me. Received several free flights, including one to Hawaii. And, I still have 100k points, enough for a several hops. It’s costs $195/yr, but I get a free companion flight every year too. That alone pays the annual fee. However, Delta doesn’t seem to be a great option for Intl travel.