Question
Since Hyatt keeps running these promotions that require you to use MasterCard, is there a MasterCard that is tied in with hotel/airline--like the UAL or Marriott visa? I usually put all my other charges on DN, AX, or the above Visas, but thought I could get some extra loyalty program points by using a co-branded MC, if there is one.
Answer
Of course there are. For starters:
AA/Citi
CO/Chase
Answer
Originally posted by SteveDCA:
Since Hyatt keeps running these promotions that require you to use MasterCard, is there a MasterCard that is tied in with hotel/airline--like the UAL or Marriott visa? I usually put all my other charges on DN, AX, or the above Visas, but thought I could get some extra loyalty program points by using a co-branded MC, if there is one.
Well, the question is, will you put enough charges on this MasterCard (if you're only going to use it for stays where the promotion requires it) to pay an annual fee?
AFAIK, all Visa/MCs tied in with airlines have annual fees, but the ones tied in with hotels don't.
One hotel that just introduced a MasterCard is Best Western (go to http://www.bestwestern.com and there's a link right there at the bottom right of the main page). You get a free night certificate for signing up, and then you earn 1 point for every $5 you charge. Your points are earned in their Gold Crown Club, which you're enrolled in when you get the card if you weren't already. You can exchange 500 points for 1000 miles with airlines such as Alaska, American, Delta, Northwest, and United. This works out to 1 mile for every $2.50 spent.
Another option that's neither hotel nor miles but is simply nice cashback (through credits) is with the Chase PerfectCard (formerly known as Chase Freedom), which you can get as a MC. It gives you a 1% rebate on everything you buy, a 3% rebate on gas purchases, and for the first 90 days a 6% rebate on gas purchases. Thus you jmight want to make it your card for gas purchases plus hotel promotions. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif No annual fee first year, and the $19 annual fee is waived any year where you had at least 9 purchases the previous year. For more info:
http://creditcardsatchase.com/portal/site/marketing/index.jsp?pgTitle=pg_perfect
Finally, there's Amtrak GuestRewards (go to http://www.amtrakguestrewards.com/ and click on the credit card link under special offers on the left), which is also no annual fee and CURRENTLY lets you transfer to HHonors, Marriott, SPG, Continental, or United. But the danger here is that the funding of Amtrak is at the whim of congress with some major battles coming up soon, and thus the fate of Amtrak (at least in its present form with its present programs) could be much less certain than any of the troubled airlines! So I would not recommend "banking" points longterm at this card, it would seem practical only if you can transfer reasonably often.