Chase credit cards

[Luca M]

Reney wrote:

except no S75 and car rental usually needs a CC

S75 on holiday spending is a bit overrated in my opinion and will explain my strategy in a moment. What would you really purchase on holiday that will need S75 cover? I bought an iPhone once in US, it came with Apple International warranty, which is good enough already. Would I need to make an s75 claim for my dinner at Del Posto? …

I have presented my Forex Free CC at both Hotels and Car Rentals at check in and car collection (to put the hold onto it) but asked to switch to the Chase DC to settle at check out and car return (both in the US and elsewhere), which meant earning a nice cashback on spending that would not have required S75 protection (after the fact). Similarly, on regularly daily spend (restaurant, f&d shoppings, low value clothing etc).

However, on my most recent trip, as Santander run a special summer 2022 offer matching 1% cashback, I decided to exploit this promotion (mostly hotels/resort/supermarket spend) and used Chase DC just for ATM

[JDB]

@Luca M – you have mentioned this before. s75 is valuable if say you need to pay a hotel deposit or have to pay for your stay in advance or at check in. If there is a problem and you want to check out but the hotel won’t refund you, you have some protection. If you buy domestic airline tickets, the cover is valuable, and was especially so in covid. Also, we quite often buy expensive items, sometimes to be shipped. As with most insurance type products you don’t know its value until you claim.

Anyway, if you are travelling to the US (which as far as we are concerned is too expensive and now offers really poor value) you are paying so much in taxes and tips, everything is expensive anyway and exchange rate terrible. paying FX fees / getting cash back is frankly so negligible that I’m happy just to pay the fee when required and get 2 or 3 MR + bonus on PRG or use Curve for 1.5 Avios.

Your view is valid, but it isn’t the only one!

[Luca M]

@JDB while I accept the “value” of the scenario presented, regarding deposit and pre-paid, as most hotels will take an hold on the card and settle at the end of stay, the strategy I presented earlier is still better for whatever booking is not fully prepaid or on the balance after deposit. I made over £60 in cashback and paying no fees with the Chase card over a Week in LA this year. Using a card to get air miles at 0.8 p nominal value but paying 3% forex fees would have meant spending £180 extra to get £48 with of Avios value, which whilst I agree it is not huge in the great scheme of things, it would have probably covered an extra dinner in a nice place, so I rather get the £60 cashback (which In Turn I can use for a nice pizza for two at my favourite pizza place just off Trafalgar Square once I am back).

However, 95% of my uk spend goes onto my BAPP, use the Platinum for the statement credit offers only (including the recent BP one), and the remaining (when Amex is nit accepted) goes onto my HSBC WE until I downgraded it next year and switch to my Barclaycard Avios.