When the phrase “credit card” is said, a lot of people get wide-eyed, and not a good way. That may be because they associated credit card with debt, interest and other principles hinder the finances of everyday people. Yet all of that has little to do with how I utilize credit cards within my everyday existence.
However, when I think of credit cards, I think of positive things, largely because I have never had credit card-related debt. I not only pay off all of my credit card bills on-time, but I often strive to pay off my credit card bills long before they are due. In turn, I may be one of the consumers which credit card companies do not love to issue cards to.
Not only does using credit cards making it easier for me in terms of making my payments and other accounts more easy to manage, but the majority of the credit cards I have an account with — full disclosure: I have dozens of cards open at any given time — have some sort of rewards system and/or account-opening bonus in place. In turn, I have been making money and/or earning some sort of incentive in exchange for diverting my funds to a third-party financial institution for over a decade.
As someone who is regularly looking for the “latest and greatest” within credit card developments, below are 3 credit cards which I believe can help you make 2020 an ever better year for you. Or at least one full of great travel experiences:
While this card carries an annual fee of $195 — that amount is slated to increase to $250 after January 30, 2020 — there are a lot of benefits to this AMEX offering. After spending $3,000 within the first 3 months, you will earn 75,000 Delta miles beyond an additional 5,000 Delta miles and a $100 statement credit. If that annual fee isn’t a problem, the Delta Reserve Credit Card from American Express offers far more perks for its $450 annual fee, while the Gold Delta SkyMiles card has no annual fee for the first year beyond an offer for 60,000 bonus miles and a $50 statement credit after spending $2,000 within the first 3 months of opening your card account. Hilton Hiltons from American Express
Looking to help you “unwind while you earn points,” the Hilton Honors Card from AMEX currently has no annual fee attached to it. After you spend $1,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of your card membership, you will earn 75,000 Hilton HHonors points beyond the points related to that initial $1,000 in purchases. If seeking something with a little higher stakes, the Hilton Honors Surpass Card has an annual fee of $95 but will give you complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status and a Free Weekend Night Reward from Hilton Honors when you spend $15,000. I personally recently partook in a bonus offering from the Surpass card which gave me a 100,000-point HHonors bonus after spending $2,000 within the first few months of opening the account.
This card does not carry an annual fee. Beyond getting $100 — which you can redeem in a variety of ways — after spending $500 in purchases within the first 90 days of opening the card, you will get 4% back on restaurants and bars and 3% back on airfare, hotels and some other travel-related merchants. Beyond other cashback perks, the card gives you up to $600 in mobile phone protection, no foreign transction fees, and $0 fraud liability protection. I personally have also earned credits for simply charging streaming-based subscription services (e.g. Spotify, SiriusXM) to the card. Plus, it looks great.
