Credit Cards, Hotel Cost, Travel Cost

The view from our upgraded suite at the InterContinental Miami
(The view from our upgraded suite at the InterContinental Miami)

One of our favorite credit cards is the IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card from Chase, which is affiliated with the InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) family of hotels including Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Candlewood Suites, and other hotel brands.  If you do a lot of paid travel with stays at IHG properties, you can really enhance your paid and free stays with this card.  The card is currently issued as a MasterCard, with a $49 annual fee (which is currently waived for the first year). read more

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Credit Cards, Hotel Cost, Travel Cost

One of the best ways to earn Hilton HHonors points (which can give you free rooms at the Hilton Hotels and Resorts family of hotels) is to to sign up for one of the four types of Hilton-sponsored credit cards. American Express Hilton Surpass card One Hilton-sponsored card is the American Express Hilton Surpass card.  It has a $75 annual fee.  There is usually a signup bonus offered with the card; the bonus varies from 60,000-85,000 HHonors points, which are credited to your account after you spend a certain amount within the first 3 months of card membership. The American Express Hilton Surpass card has great earning potential: – Earn 12 HHonors points per dollar spent at participating Hilton properties – Earn 6 HHonors points per dollar spent at U.S. restaurants, supermarkets (unfortunately, warehouse stores are not considered supermarkets in this regard), and standalone gas stations – Earn 3 HHonors points per dollar spent everywhere else You will also receive HHonors Gold status for as long as you have the card.  If you spend $40,000 per year on the card, you will also receive Diamond status.  The loyalty rewards benefits for HHonors are described on the HHonors website. American Express HHonors card The American Express HHonors card has no annual fee.  There is usually a signup bonus that ranges from 40,000-60,000 HHonors points when you spend $750 on the card within the first 3 months of card membership. This card has the same categories as the Surpass card, just with lower category bonuses: – Earn 7 HHonors points per dollar spent at participating Hilton properties – Earn 5 HHonors points per dollar spent at US restaurants, supermarkets (excluding warehouse stores), and standalone gas stations – Earn 3 HHonors points per dollar spent everywhere else You will also receive HHonors Silver status for as long as you have the card.  If you spend $20,000 per year on the card, you will receive Gold status.

Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve read more

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Credit Cards, Grocery Store

Every once in a while, you will find discounts or cash back for purchasing prepaid credit cards.  These cards will have the Visa or Master Card logo on them.  These prepaid cards generally come in denominations of $25, $50, $100, $200, and sometimes more.  They also come with heavy fees that total 3% of the card’s value or more. read more

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Credit Cards, Shopping

There are two Disney branded credit cards offered by Chase.  The first is the Disney Premier Visa Card that has a $49 annual fee.  It earns 2% at gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants and most Disney locations and 1% everywhere else.  The other is the Disney Rewards Visa Card that earns 1% on all purchases, but has no annual fee. read more

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