Credit cards that help drive my luxury trip

Every time I talk about the journey I take, it may look like I have unlimited eyes. Spoiler alerts: I am not. Instead, I make sure to use the right strategy to get as many points and stones as I get each year.

No secret or hack. I just carefully use the right credit card in my wallet and follow my golden rules to help me maintain my premium travel lifestyle.

Whether it’s redeeming for flights and hotels or getting access to the lounge, this is what I do to help make my trip more comfortable.

Put a premium credit card for use well for flight

Viewed as one of the ultimate travel credit cards, The Platinum Card® from American Express It is synonymous with luxury travel because of its benefits (such as lounge access) and the attractiveness it provides from a metal credit card.

Flight

Among the list of Amex Platinum benefits, the card’s ability to earn 5 points per dollar spent on flight tickets purchased directly with airlines or through the American Express Travel® (up to $ 500,000 in a calendar year’s purchase, then 1 points every dollar) was the most helpful for me when planning a trip. The income rate for flights is the highest from any credit card, in addition to booking travel through the publisher’s travel site, such as Chase Travel℠ or The journey of capital one.

If my flight costs $ 1,500 or more, I will always charge it to AMEX Platinum. This way, I get at least 7,500 Membership Rewards The eyes of each transaction and build my eye balance throughout the year.

I decided $ 1,500 because I tried to get 100,000 points of Amex a year. As a family of three, when our flight tickets were at least $ 1,500 each, I scored about 22,500 points when using my Amex Platinum. Travel at least four times a year, the figure works at least 90,000 points a year just from flight tickets.

Amex 5 points per dollar helped me build my eye balance quickly to make at least one redemption each year. This newly, that means moving 70,000 Amex points to Air Canada Aeroplan To book a non -stop business class ticket at Swiss from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Zurich Airport (ZRH). For reference, the cash fare for the lowest ticket is $ 5,700, so my redemption is about 12.3 cents per point. This is much larger than 2 cents per point for AMEX or 1.4 cents per point for aeroplan, according to TPG May 2025 appraisal.

Related: Is Amex Platinum worth one eye and Newbie miles? I booked a trip to find out

Lounge access

But the premium travel experience with AMEX Platinum is not limited to flying; It starts in the ground with Amex Global Lounge Collection The network, which includes the amazing collection of Centurion lounge.

Display 26 lounges around the worldLounge Centurion Amex offers all of the highs of food and drinks to shower and private rooms. Some also have children’s play rooms.

Day -day day can be busy, so I like to have the ability to relax in the lounge, enjoy free food and drinks and let my child get energy in the play room. This is a great way to get the premium travel experience, especially when you don’t fly in the premium cabin.

What else to consider

Keep in mind that this card is not for everyone. To make it worth it, you need to maximize its benefits or use it regularly for flight tickets. Otherwise, the annual fee of $ 695 (see rates and fees) is difficult to ignore, even if you use a variety of coupon -style credit.

Related: How to choose a credit card for airport lounge access

Maximize my secondary card for travel and meal purchases

The next card in my wallet helping me maintain my premium travel lifestyle is Chase Sapphire Reserve® (See rates and fees). This card has been in my wallet for almost a decade, and all thanks to The bonus category is widely prescribed travel and eat. Chase also has its own set Lounge SapphireGive me access to additional lounges around the world.

All other trips

While Amex platinum Is my main card for a pricier flight ticket, when I bought a flight for less than $ 1,500, I always charged it to my Nilam reserve. This helps me accrue Chase Ultimate Rewards At 3 points per dollar, each of 2.05 cents, according to TPG May 2025 appraisal.

I charge all other travel purchases – such as car rental, parking fees, airport transfer and taxi – to my Sapphire reserve as well. Of course, the purchase is smaller, but they definitely add.

Hotel and eat

I have survived for having a cobrandation Hotel credit card Over the years, as a hotel loyalty program has been able to undergo drastic changes in their award charts that have often led to an increase in the number of points needed for free nights. It was a safer bet for me to use my Sapphire Reserve for all hotel charges and earn 3 points per dollar. That way, I can get more values ​​in the long run by using those points towards the premium cabin ticket I transfer to a flight partner.

Chase also widely defines the purchase of food as made in restaurants, food cars, coffee shops and more. Therefore, instead of worrying about which purchases are eligible and if there is an annual expense cap to track – as happened with American Express® gold cardThat earns 4 points per dollar at restaurants around the world to hit the annual purchase stamp of $ 50,000 (then 1 point per dollar for the whole year) and have some exceptions to what is considered a restaurant purchase – I can use my Sapphire Reserve to get 3 points per dollar without thinking twice.

What can I do differently

If I want to maximize my eye -earning capabilities I should open Chase Freedom Unlimited® (See rates and fees). Sapphire Reserve is a day card -my day too, but with Freedom Unlimited, I can get bonus cash back in other categories and, most importantly, 1.5% cash back to all other nonbonus category purchases.

Because I have a Sapphire card, Freedom Unlimited can get cash back in the form of Chase Ultimate Rewards Points that can be transferred to my Sapphire Reserve. I estimate this can give me 20,000 to 30,000 points a year.

Depending on different cards for gas and retail purchases

Driving in California is a fact of life and can be expensive. Gas prices float around $ 4.50 gallons, so fill two cars several times a month.

To get rewarded and reduce that sting, I use me Citi Strata Premier℠ Card (See rates and fees). With that, I got 3 Citi Thankyou Rewards The eyes of each dollar are spent on gas, and there are no hats on how many points I can earn.

Another easy way I get the reward for travel is to put all my retail purchases at Citi Strata Premier, as they also earn 3 points per dollar.

Go to 2-player mode

In my personal experience, have my partner who also has its own set travel credit card is a game converter. She earns her transferable points with Chase and Amex, as well as American Airlines Aadvantage Miles with him CITI® / AADVANTAGE® Platinum Select® World Elite MasterCard® (See rates and fees). This gives us extra points and stones to play, and I can also combine the eyes of chasing it with me, as Chase allows sharing with your household members.

Related: Should my partner get their own card or be added as a authorized user?

Bottom Line

Premium trip redemption for tickets or hotel flights is expensive, but thanks to some careful strategies where the cards used for purchases, I have collected half a million points and stones a year with these special cards, plus what my wife holds, this way for almost a decade. Without these expense rules, I could not maintain my premium travel habits.

Everyone’s travel expenses and goals are different, so it’s important that you do what is best suited to your lifestyle and travel aspirations.

For me, paying more than $ 1,000 for the third – three of these cards make sense, as I can easily receive costs by ensuring that the majority of my points and stones go to the premium cabin redemption on the flight ticket – something that will instead bear me over $ 40,000 a year.

Related: Best Premium Credit Card: Comparison of adjacent

For Amex Platinum Rates and fees please click here.