Skip to content
  • 952.405.9309
  • Agent Resources
  • Booked Guests
  • Vacations
  • Reservations
  • Booked Guests
  • Why Brand g?
  • About Us
  • FAQ’s
  • Blog
  • Podcast
Menu
  • Vacations
  • Reservations
  • Booked Guests
  • Why Brand g?
  • About Us
  • FAQ’s
  • Blog
  • Podcast
Search
Close
Uncategorized

The Crazy Travel Benefits of Premium Credit Cards

27/02/23

Enquire Now
Book now
Call now

NOTE: We have NO financial relationship with any credit card company.

If you don’t hold a premium credit card, you probably think they’re for insecure boobs who desperately want a status symbol to flash – the credit card version of a Hummer limo.

But the credit card companies have been working hard to lure new customers to these cards by providing a raft of travel benefits that are richer and more encompassing than they have ever been; and if you travel with any frequency, the value proposition for these premium cards can be pretty amazing.

Let’s use the Amex Platinum as an example.

Yes, the annual fee is high – $695. But FOR that fee you get:

Airline Lounge access

Amex gives you an unlimited Priority Pass membership. Priority Pass provides entrance to a variety of lounges, one or more of which can be found in most airports around the world.

But even better, Amex operates its own domestic chain of lounges (with a handful of international locations) called the Centurion Lounge, which are some of the best lounges out there – cool décor, full premium bar, and some of the best food you’ll find in a lounge (their spread is a full meal, not snacks and finger foods). With Priority Pass, you can bring yourself and a guest into each lounge. The Centurion Lounges – which have become so popular that they’re often mobbed – just instituted restrictions to resolve this, and you can no longer bring any guests in with you. (If you have a secondary card on the account for your spouse, they can go in on their own card.)

$200 in airline credit

Each year, you select your airline for that year, and $200 of your purchases on that airline (upgrades, baggage fees, seat assignments, onboard food/drinks, etc. – pretty much everything except actual ticket purchases) will be credited back to you automatically.

$200 in Uber credits

Each month, you’ll get $15 to use for Uber rides. ($35 in the month of December.) Just make the Platinum card your primary form of payment in the Uber app and it will be automatically applied to your ride(s). Easy peasy.

$240 Digital Entertainment credit

This one was instituted during the pandemic, since people weren’t traveling, and has stuck around. Each month, you’ll get $20 in credit for things like streaming (we have the Hulu/Disney/ESPN combo package for $19.99, which, with this credit, is completely free), New York Times subscriptions, Audible audiobooks, etc.

$300 Equinox Credit

This one is specific to cities that have Equinox gyms, but if your city has one and you’re a fan, this gets you membership fee credit.

$189 Clear credit

I’m a big fan of CLEAR, the airport VIP experience where you scan your boarding pass at a kiosk and a CLEAR rep personally walks you to the front of the TSA pre-check line (which is handy given that often the pre-check line can be as long as the standard line). This credit means that Clear is free each year. (And you can add a spouse on for $60, which isn’t credited back, but what a deal.) As I always say, since I fly coach domestically, this is my one moment of feeling like a VIP, even if I may end up sitting next to a screaming toddler.

$155 Wal-Mart Plus credit

The monthly $12.95 fee for Wal-Mart + (which is like Amazon prime, and includes free shipping) is credited back, so it’s free. When I’m busy, I will sometimes order some food from Wal-Mart and have it delivered within hours.

$100 TSA Precheck/Global Entry credit

If you don’t already have this or are ready to renew (it has to be renewed every 5 years), use the Platinum card to pay the $100 fee, and it will be credited back to your account.

Hotel Elite Status

You’ll get mid-tier elite status with Hilton and Marriott, which gets you room upgrades and late check-out (when available), bottles of water, etc. It does not get you lounge access, but at least you won’t be in the room next to the boiler. There are individual hotel chain premium credit cards that can get you top tier status, like the Hilton Aspire card, but those come with their own hefty fee (in the case of the Aspire card, it’s currently $450).

$100 Saks Fifth Avenue Shopping Credit

Twice a year (in the first half and second half), you’ll get a $50 credit for anything you buy at Saks Fifth Avenue. Buy a $50 shirt and get it credited back to you. But a $100 faux-fur muff and get $50 of it back.

5x earning on airfare

If you buy airline tickets, this can be a really quick way to earn a lot of points. A $1,000 ticket will earn you 5,000 points.

Welcome Bonus

This usually hovers around 50,000 or 60,000 points, but can be much higher (at this writing, it’s 125,000) which is worth less than it used to be, given the airlines’ propensity for devaluing frequent flyer miles, but it can still get you – at 50 or 60k points – a first-class domestic ticket or a couple of coach tickets.

Redeeming Points

Amex’s points program is called Membership Rewards, and while you can use those points for things like shopping at Amazon (at 1-cent per point – meh), by far the better redemptions are for travel. You can transfer the points to a variety of airlines (the best option) or hotels (not generally recommended – another meh redemption) instantly.

Card Types

There are several iterations of the personal card (the standard one from Amex, plus several co-branded versions with different investment companies), along with a business version.

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/card/platinum/

There are, of course, numerous other great premium cards:

General Use:

Chase Sapphire Reserve

https://creditcards.chase.com/rewards-credit-cards/sapphire/reserve

Capital One Venture X

https://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/venture-x/

These get you points that are transferable to a variety of airline and hotel programs. (Outside of transfers to Hyatt, using the points for airlines is typically a better value proposition than hotels.)

Airlines:

These cards grant you and up to two guests free access to that airline’s club lounges, plus a free checked bag and higher-priority boarding, among other things. These cards are best if you travel frequently on one airline. My husband and I have the Citi World Executive card for American, and he is added on (at no cost) as a secondary card member, so we can access the lounges whenever we travel, whether we’re together or solo.

Citi World Executive (for American flyers)

https://creditcards.aa.com/citi-executive-card-american-airlines-direct/

Delta Reserve (for Delta flyers)

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/card/delta-skymiles-reserve-american-express-card/

United Club Infinite (for United flyers)

https://creditcards.chase.com/travel-credit-cards/united/club-infinite

Hotels:

These cards get you top or elevated status with that hotel chain. The issue is that hotel elite status as a whole has been watered down by people being able to “buy” status in this way. My husband (who earns his Hilton status the old-fashioned way, by staying there on business) and I used to get upgraded to junior suites and full-on suites with Hilton years ago. But because there are tons of people with Diamond status now, we’re lucky if we get anything more than a high floor or better view (plus a daily breakfast credit or access to the club lounge which, admittedly, is nice).

Hilton Aspire (gets you Diamond – top – status)

https://bit.ly/3Zo7crE

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/card/marriott-bonvoy-brilliant/

Hyatt – does not currently have a premium card, which is why their elite status benefits have not been watered down

(Link to everyday World of Hyatt card)

https://world.hyatt.com/content/gp/en/rewards/hyatt-credit-card.html

Obviously, you need to make use of the perks for these cards to justify their annual fee. But if you do, it’s pretty much a no-brainer to get and keep one!

Blog Categories
  • Booked Guests (5)
  • Brand g Signature Entertainment (7)
  • Brand g Vacations (44)
  • Cruise (33)
  • Gay Travel (83)
  • Lesbian Travel (1)
  • Lesbian Travel (6)
  • LGBT (43)
  • Myanmar (2)
  • Philanthropy (12)
  • Travel (75)
  • Uncategorized (54)

Awards & Partners

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Testimonials
  • Privacy Policy
  • Join Our Mailing List
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Testimonials
  • Privacy Policy
  • Join Our Mailing List
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Testimonials
  • Privacy Policy
  • Join Our Mailing List
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Testimonials
  • Privacy Policy
  • Join Our Mailing List
  • Phone 952.405.9309
  • International +1.952.405.9309

© 2023 Brand g Vacations. All Rights Reserved.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. ACCEPT REJECT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
CookieDurationDescription
__cf_bm30 minutesThis cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
CookieDurationDescription
_ga2 yearsThe _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
_ga_SW78PTWPE32 yearsThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics.
_gat_UA-186920831-11 minuteA variation of the _gat cookie set by Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager to allow website owners to track visitor behaviour and measure site performance. The pattern element in the name contains the unique identity number of the account or website it relates to.
_gcl_au3 monthsProvided by Google Tag Manager to experiment advertisement efficiency of websites using their services.
_gid1 dayInstalled by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
CONSENT2 yearsYouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
CookieDurationDescription
_fbp3 monthsThis cookie is set by Facebook to display advertisements when either on Facebook or on a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising, after visiting the website.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE5 months 27 daysA cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSCsessionYSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devicesneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt-remote-device-idneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt.innertube::nextIdneverThis cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requestsneverThis cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
CookieDurationDescription
calltrk_landing1 yearThis is a functionality cookie set by the CallRail. This cookie is used to store the landing page URL. It helps to accurately attribute the visitor source when displaying a tracking phone number.
calltrk_nearest_tld9 years 10 months 8 daysNo description
calltrk_referrer1 yearThis is a functionality cookie set by the CallRail. This cookie is used to store the referring URL. It helps to accurately attribute the visitor source when displaying a tracking phone number.
DEVICE_INFO5 months 27 daysNo description
gaclientid1 monthNo description
handl_ip1 monthNo description available.
handl_landing_page1 monthNo description available.
handl_original_ref1 monthNo description available.
handl_ref1 monthNo description available.
handl_ref_domain1 monthNo description
handl_url1 monthNo description available.
handl_url_base1 monthNo description
handlID1 monthNo description
HandLtestDomainNamesessionNo description
HandLtestDomainNameServer1 dayNo description
organic_source1 monthNo description
organic_source_str1 monthNo description
traffic_source1 monthNo description available.
user_agent1 monthNo description available.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo
  • Testimonials
  • Travel Insurance
  • Contact Us
  • Join Our Mailing List
  • Book With Confidence
  • Brand g VIP Club
  • Testimonials
  • Travel Insurance
  • Contact Us
  • Join Our Mailing List
  • Book With Confidence
  • Brand g VIP Club
  • Travel Insurance
  • Agent Resources
  • Booked Guests
  • Contact Us
    • Join Our Mailing List
  • 952.405.9309
  • Brand g VIP Club
  • Travel Insurance
  • Agent Resources
  • Booked Guests
  • Contact Us
    • Join Our Mailing List
  • 952.405.9309
  • Brand g VIP Club
facebook_w
twitter_w
instagram_w
youtube_w

Stay in Touch

Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed of deals and promotions