Hi. First post to this thread. Our budget is tight, so I'm interested in taking advantage of some of these cc offers so that I can take a trip this summer. I saw an offer for the Chase Marriott Boundless --5 free night awards.
Cards I've opened in the past 24 months:
05/23 Bank of Amer Platinum (interest free with a balance of 12k until feb '25)
08/23 Barclay's Banana Republic (zero balance)
I have a Chase Sapphire with zero balance. I've had that card for years but rarely use it.
I mostly use a Marriott Bonvoy Amex card to get the points. I use to have the one with the $450 fee, but downgraded to the $95 fee when they changed some of the terms re the Marriott statement credit.
I charge around 3k to 5k per month to the card...groceries, gas, rent for college student, utilities, subscriptions. Last year I averaged 6-7k per month if you include the occasional big purchases like tuition, and a vacay. I do not carry a balance on it.
My goal is to travel at minimal cost. We do not fly--we like road trips. I would be open to flying if I could do it cheaply. Right now I'd just like to be able to drive a few hours and spend a week at the beach this summer. I don't have any big aspirations of world travel.
We mainly stay at Marriott properties because we usually have points. I have recently started branching out a bit. Last summer on a road trip to CO, we stayed at a Choice prop twice to break up the drive. We like Drury, too, but locations are limited. I know the Marriott brand well--the value of the points, etc. The recent change they made of getting rid of the categories has actually worked in my favor because we often travel during off peak periods. Of course my desire to go to the beach in June will be a stretch on a 50k fna. But I don't have to be beachfront.
I am open to other ideas. I have read that Hyatt has a good rewards program, but I have no experience with that brand. I am completely new to this churning thing. It's intimidating. Thanks for the help.
eta: I just saw my username. To clarify. My youngest is 18--graduating hs in May. I have one in college, oldest two are completely launched. When we travel these days, it's usually just me and the 2 younger dds. Sometimes its just dh and I. We live in Alabama.