Which Travel Credit Cards for Family Award Travel to Europe?

 

 

 

TravelSort reader Jeff recently got approved for a Hilton HHonors AMEX and Hyatt Visa and writes:

 

“Your site has lit a fire under me to get moving on doing award travel…I have a good credit score (792), and I would like to go all in with churning. 

It's great that Jeff and his family are willing to travel to Atlanta, since there are definitely more flight choices, including nonstop options to Europe. While Atlanta is a Delta hub, I actually don't recommend focusing on Delta miles, due both to the often expensive awards as well as the difficulty of earning tons of Delta miles unless one actually flies Delta.

 

Here are the travel rewards credit cards I recommend Jeff and his wife focus on instead:

 

 

The 100K Citi Executive AAdvantage offer is unprecedented, and a great way to earn a lot of AAdvantage miles if you can meet the high $10K minimum spend in 3 months, required to earn the bonus. Amazon Payments and Vanilla Reloads can help with meeting the minimum spend. Also see Meet Minimum Spend on Credit Cards: Top 20 Tips.

 

Flying to Europe, American AAdvantage miles can be used on AA (try for the new 777-300ER in business class), Air Berlin, Finnair, Iberia and British Airways–although avoid British Airways given high fuel surcharges. As always, aim to book as far in advance as possible, especially for summer or holiday award travel.

 

 

 

I recommend applying for the Barclays Arrival Card early on, before churning too many credit cards, because Barclays is one of the pickiest issuers and will often decline applicants who have recently applied for many credit cards (even if they have stellar credit scores). The Barclays Arrival is essentially a 2.2% cash back card that earns 2X “miles” on all purchases and that you then use to rebate travel expenses. The 40,000 bonus translates to $400 cash back when redeemed for travel, and you earn another $40 in travel rebates thanks to the 10% points rebate when redeeming for travel. My favorite uses for this $440 in free travel is to rebate fuel surcharges, foreign low cost carrier flights and positioning flights.

 

If each parent gets approved for the Barclays Arrival card, that's $880 back on travel expenses, such as award taxes and fees.

 

 

 

It's very useful to have at least one Ink Bold or Ink Plus card in the family, thanks to the lucrative category bonuses: 5X points on Internet, cable, mobile and landline phone bills, and office supply stores. That means you can earn 5X on all Amazon spend, 5X on all Whole Foods spend, etc. See Best Credit Cards by Spend Category.

 

While Ultimate Rewards points and United miles are worth much less for first class and business class partner travel, after the United Award Chart Devaluation, if Jeff and his family are willing to fly coach, there's a nonstop Lufthansa ATL to FRA flight for 30K each way. If Jeff and his wife both get these cards, or one of these cards and one Sapphire Preferred or 55K United MileagePlus Explorer, that's 3 free one ways to Europe. 

 

 

 

AAdvantage miles have become relatively more valuable after the United devaluation, and while this 50K Citi Platinum Select offer has been around for awhile, there's no guarantee how long it will last. This is a separate product from the Citi Executive AAdvantage card, but note that you won't be able to earn the bonus for any other Citi AAdvantage personal card, even if it's a Visa or AMEX. 

 

In addition the options described above for using AAdvantage miles to Europe, it's possible to connect to an Air Berlin economy flight to Israel. See Using Frequent Flyer Miles for an Award Ticket to Israel.

 

The targeted 55K United MileagePlus Explorer (technically 65K, but the last 10,000 is often not worth spending the additional $25K to earn) and/or the 50K United MileagePlus Business card offers can be a good way of earning additional United miles to fly all four family members to Europe, at least in Economy Class. See United MileagePlus Explorer 65,000 Bonus Miles Offer Tips and United MileagePlus Business Card 50,000 Bonus Offer.

 

Note that the 50K United MIleagePlus Business card offer, if you don't get instantly approved, may require you to submit documentation with the business name and address. Don't forget that you need not have incorporated your business or even have an LLP to apply; you can use your own name and your SSN if you don't have an EIN.

 

While I view the Ink Bold as a stronger card thanks to the ability to buy gift cards at 5X, the Chase Sapphire is a good all around travel card. You'll earn 2.14X on travel spend, thanks to the 2X category bonus + 7% annual points dividend. There is also a 50K Chase Sapphire Preferred offer for Chase Private Clients.

 

 

 

The British Airways Visa is used by some families to get business class award tickets to Europe, since each parent can earn a companion ticket to use for a child companion. Keep in mind the companion ticket is only valid for British Airways flights, and because of the high fuel surcharges it really only makes sense to redeem for business class or first class. 

 

Alternatively, British Airways Avios (but not the companion ticket) can be used for award flights on Iberia, Air Berlin, and Aer Lingus with much lower fees.

 

What are your favorite travel credit cards to earn flight awards to Europe for a family of four?

 

 

 

 

 

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