Love it Stan, it's really cool how you can build different setups to roughly achieve the same goals. You're spot on with your recommendations to tweak this specific setup ... who doesn't love lowering annual fees right!
Thanks so much Monty! Credit cards are so cool because there's so many types of setups to build and they can all be tailored to your own individual situations. Annual fees should be minimized for all setups though - just like you said, haha!
Unfortunately missed this one, but great break-down here of Julia's setup! It sounds like there are a lot of different moving parts and a pretty hefty & sizable overall setup, but you really broke down all the components really nicely. Great video Stan!
No worries Matt! Thanks for tuning into this clip - I definitely thought it was the highlight of the live stream! There was definitely a lot of nuance to his question, and it was awesome to explore the setup and see what tweaks could have been helpful. I appreciate you, bro!
Thanks! I hope Julias was able to hone in on his endgame setup from this breakdown! Would love to continue to do this for future livestreams as it’s great to help others figure out their best credit card setup!
Thanks man! That's for sure! The world of credit and credit cards can be really confusing, but it's nice to break it down and make it much easier to understand. That's why we gotta do what we do!
Nice! That's great to hear from someone who was a frequent Delta flyer and knows the program pretty well! It just makes life so much simpler with all the new credits on the Delta Platinum/Reserve. Business Gold was the right move!
I currently have delta reserve, Disney premier, and a Dillard's credit card. I'm going to add a Hilton card soon. Maybe when I have my second surgery so ill hit the spend easy. Oh and I'm contemplating on getting the Sam's club MasterCard for the gas cash back.
That seems like a setup with a lot of random credit cards! I’m guessing you fly Delta often since you have the Reserve card, and starting up the Hilton ladder is always a good play - especially right now with the limited welcome bonus on the Honors and Surpass card to earn a free night reward!
A tip I would give to Julias is to take advantage of the curbside baggage check in at MCO. They are a tip service but saves a lot of time waiting in line to check bags.
Nice! That's a great tip - yeah, I'm sure there's a lot of inside tips and tricks for those who frequent the MCO airport like Disney enthusiasts such as yourself!
A few points that weren’t mentioned regarding the Delta Amex cards. The Reserve card gets you Delta SkyClub Access and you get four guest passes per year. You also accumulate $1 MQD for every $10 with the Reserve card vs $1 MQD for every $20 with the Platinum card. Effectively, you are paying for a faster path to higher Medallion status with the Reserve IF you already have the Amex Platinum, which, for now, gets you into the Delta SkyClubs. If Medallion status and all that goes with that aren’t of value to the user, then maybe the Gold card is the right choice.
Yeah the MQD boost for spend could be helpful to reach the higher Medallion tiers so if that’s the goal, the Reserve is the best option for that! Outside of gunning for higher status though, the Delta Gold is a nice lower-fee alternative. Thanks for bringing those extra points up!
Thanks for all the great vids. 1) Since I value Hotel and Airport lounges when available. 2) I've had very bad experience with Hilton as a Diamond (Aspire). 3) Concerned about AAA Daily is that is a Comenity Bank card. Therefore, I'm moving toward Marriott Brilliant (for Marriott), Amazon (for Amazon/WF), and Chase Sapphire Preferred (all else). I know its an atypical mosaic but it seems to meet my needs?
Sure thing Todd! Yeah, I think it's great to use co-branded cards with the merchants you spend the most money with! I would say that the CSP is nice, but maybe worthwhile considering something like the C1VX since it acts as a catch all card plus gives you lounge access, which would be helpful because your current setup doesn't have any cards with lounge access there!
Quick question, I am just getting into traveling and flying. You mentioned you don't fly Delta, What do you fly? My last flight was American Airlines. What airline is your favorite? Thanks
I personally fly Southwest, but that's because I fly a lot of short hauls for business. If I were to choose a personal favorite US carrier, that would probably be United. Have had great experiences with them and would like to fly them more if I could! I've also flown on Singapore Airlines a while back, and that was also a great experience!
Hi Stan. We got the delta platinum two years ago when we bought our dvc contract figuring we could use the companion pass annually to go to Disney. Two years, every single time we tried to use the credit it was only one the worst flight. Either had a stop or was late at night. Completely useless (especially with kids). Downgraded to the blue after a year and opened the delta gold for the sub and free bags.
Hi Jay. Thanks for your data point concerning the Delta Companion Pass! Yeah, I've heard it's super hard to use, and availability is hard to get. It's kind of a missed opportunity by Delta, but looking at their trajectory, they only seem to care about money at the expense of their rewards program, so not too surprising there! The Delta Gold is nice for those essential airline benefits!
Awesome! Thank you for this. I have been looking to improve my strategy with my setup. I currently use the Southwest Priority, which I have had Companion for 4 years now. And I Have the Chase Sapphire Preferred which I have noticed I could get a lot more by having the Hilton Aspire and the Southwest Priority instead. I do prefer and book Hilton way more then other brands. I will say my wife also has a Southwest Priority which we rarely use now. 👀
Of course! Companion Pass is one of the best benefits in the game so that's awesome you're able to take advantage of that. If you stay at a lot of Hilton hotels (particularly Hilton Resorts too) - there's no better card for that than the Hilton Aspire! And as for the 2nd SW Priority - it's always important to make sure to make that keep or cancel decision!
@@TheCreditFrog thanks for the response and the recommendations! We are looking to cancel the second SW Priority, downgrade the CSP, and use those annual fees towards the Aspire card. If all works well for us, might even consider a second Aspire in the future. New sub here. 🙏🏼
stan, tyvm. always appreciate your work. i live in dfw, and own a business, with pretty big monthly spend, across amex, chase, citi, CapOne.. i am EP status with AA. as someone who flies 1-3 times a month on business and pleasure, do you think it would be valuable to have DElta Platinum or diamond status or British Airways gold status? i could do a pretty good amount of earning with cc to status, but i always wonder about just earning with the cards i referenced above to have more flexible points.
Of course Mike! I think your strategy of using flexible point currencies are always going to trump having status with a specific airline. The only exception I would say is if you wanted to try a new airline to see what it was like. As someone already one of the top tiers of AA in DFW, I think that's already very good, and adding other airline statuses really won't move the needle in terms of experience. But you could use the points you earn on those flexible point cards to transfer to other areas to elevate those experiences like international travel or hotel redemptions!
