Select: Credit Cards — صفحه 3 از 3 — ✅ خرید وی پی ان ❇ ip ثایت vPn آی پی اختصاصی ◐

مارس 5, 2022

How to maximize the Capital One Venture X 100,000-mile welcome bonus

Select’s editorial team works independently to review financial products and write articles we think our readers will find useful. We earn a commission from affiliate partners on many offers, but not all offers on Select are from affiliate partners.If you’re in the market for a new premium travel rewards credit card that really packs a punch, look no further than the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, which is currently offering an impressive 100,000-Mile welcome bonus. That’s enough to cover $1,000 worth of travel when booking flights and hotels through one of its 17 transfer partners or through Capital One Travel. Earning Capital One Miles is easier than ever with the Capital One Venture X card. Not only can you pick up 100,000 Capital One Miles after spending $10,000 within the first six months of opening your account, you’ll earn 2X Miles on all purchases, plus 5X Miles on flight and 10X Miles on hotels and cars booked through Capital One Travel. Cardholders also receive an annual up to $300 travel credit, 10,000 bonus Miles on each account anniversary, a $100 statement credit toward Global Entry or TSA PreCheck every four years and the chance to visit more than 1,300 Priority Pass and Capital One Lounges worldwide.While the $395 annual fee may seem intimidating, remember that you’ll get $300 back in travel credits when booking through Capital One Travel and for a limited time, an extra $200 back via statement credits when booking vacation rentals through Airbnb, VRBO, Vacasa, or TurnKey. The annual fee really does pay for itself if you use all your perks properly, making the Capital One Venture X a top-tier premium travel rewards credit card.Below, Select breaks down the best ways to maximize 100,000 Capital One Miles.Subscribe to the Select Newsletter!Our best selections in your inbox. Shopping recommendations that help upgrade your life, delivered weekly. Sign-up here.Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

Rewards10X miles on hotels and rental cars, 5X miles on flights when booked via Capital One Travel; unlimited 2X miles on all other eligible purchases
Welcome bonus100,000 bonus miles after spending $10,000 on purchases within the first six months of account opening
Annual fee
Intro APR
Regular APR16.99-23.99% variable APR
Balance transfer feeEither $10 or 4% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater
Foreign transaction fees
Credit needed

Transfer Capital One Miles to airline partnersCapital One Rewards is connected to 14 airline partner rewards programs, which extends your redemption options across all three airline alliances: Star Alliance, Oneworld, and SkyTeam. Nearly all of them transfer at a 1:1 ratio — EVA Air converts at a 2:1.5 ratio — so you’ll be getting the best value by booking flights through the following carriers and their alliance partners:

Aeromexico (Club Premier)
Air Canada (Aeroplan)
Air France KLM (Flying Blue)
Avianca (LifeMiles)
British Airways (Avios)
Cathay Pacific (Asia Miles)
Emirates (Emirates Skywards)
Etihad (Etihad Guest)
EVA Air (Infinity MileageLands) — transfer ratio is 2:1.5, not 1:1
Finnair (Finnair Plus)
Qantas (Qantas Frequent Flyer)
Singapore Airlines (KrisFlyer)
TAP Air Portugal (TAP Miles & Go)
Turkish Airlines (Miles & Smiles)

While there aren’t any domestic carriers listed as airline partners, that doesn’t mean it’s not impossible to fly them for free. Thanks to airline alliances, you can convert Capital One Miles to British Airways Avios, then use those to book domestic U.S. flights on American Airlines, its Oneworld alliance partner. You could also transfer Capital One Miles to Turkish Airlines or Avianca, then use those to book flights on Star Alliance partner United Airlines.Redeem Capital One Miles for free nights at hotelsCapital One Rewards has three hotel transfer partners — Choice Privileges, Wyndham Rewards, and Accor Live Limitless (AccorHotels) — letting cardholders cash in Capital One Miles for free nights at hotels worldwide.Capital One Miles can be transferred to Choice Privileges points at a 1:1 ratio, allowing you to book free nights at more than 7,000 properties in over 40 countries at brands including Quality, Comfort, Sleep Inn, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn, MainStay Suites, Clarion, Clarion Pointe, and Surburban Extended Stay Hotel, Cambria Hotels and The Ascend Hotel Collection. Thanks to connections with Penn National Gaming, Inc., Preferred Hotels & Resorts, Nordic Choice Hotels, and AMResorts (all-inclusive resorts in Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Caribbean by brands like Dreams and Secrets) you can also redeem for stays at casino hotels and independent boutiques.Here’s an idea of what you can redeem through Choice Privileges for 100,000 Capital One Miles:

Four nights at the Comfort Inn Manhattan – Midtown West in New York City (25,000 points a night)
Five nights at Avenue Hotel, Ascend Hotel Collection, in Los Angeles (20,000 points a night)
Eight nights at Comfort Hotel Nation Pere Lachaise Paris 11 in France (12,000 points a night)

Wyndham Rewards also lets you transfer Capital One Miles at a 1:1 ratio, giving you access to free nights at over 9,000 hotels in more than 80 countries at brands including Wyndham, Wyndham Grand, Wyndham Garden, Registry Collection Hotels, AmericInn, Tryp, Dazzler, Esplendor, Wingate, Trademark Collection, Dolce Hotels and Resorts, La Quinta Inn & Suites, Ramada, Baymont, Microtel, Days Inn, Super 8, Howard Johnson, Travelodge and Hawthorn Suites.With redemptions from 7,500, 15,000 or 30,000 Wyndham Rewards points per night, here’s what transferring 100,000 Capital One Miles could yield:

Three nights at Wyndham Grand Athens in Greece (30,000 points a night)
Six night at Ramada by Wyndham Queenstown Central in New Zealand (15,000 points a night)
13 nights at Ramada by Wyndham Princess Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic (7,500 points a night)

Thanks to a nifty partnership with Vacasa, you can also redeem Capital One Miles for free nights at more than 15,000 hotels, vacation clubs and home rentals, while a separate connection allows for redemptions at Caesars Rewards casino hotels around the U.S. Wyndham Rewards is also linked with Margarita Vacation Club, Club Wyndham, Cottages.com, Shell Vacations Club, Worldmark and Landal Greenparks so you can opt to redeem for vacation rental brands around the world.Another hotel transfer partner of Capital One is ALL Accor Live Limitless, which offers hotel redemption options at a ratio of 2:1 and works a little differently from the last two programs. For starters, you’ll need to have at least 2,000 ALL Rewards in your account, which means you’d need to transfer over 4,000 Capital One Miles, and redeem them in increments of 2,000 ALL Rewards points — 2,000 points gets you 40 euros (about $45) off your stay, while 4,000 translates to 80 euros (about $90) and so forth. While you likely won’t get the best value for your points this way, the ALL Accor Live Limitless program can still be beneficial depending on your travel plans and style, as award options through it include more than 5,100 hotels in over 100 countries at brands like Fairmont, Raffles, Faena, Delano, Sofitel, SLS, Museum Hotel, Mondrian, Pullman, Swissôtel, Mövenpick, Mantra, Novotel and Ibis, among others. While there are just 100 hotels in North America, Accor brands are seemingly omnipresent throughout Europe, Asia and Oceania, so this is still a valuable points-transfer option.Book flights, hotels and car rentals through Capital One TravelIf you enjoy having the flexibility to book flights, hotels, and rental cars without having to worry about award availability or blackout dates, consider making your reservations through Capital One Travel, a new travel portal that offers added benefits like cancel-for-any-reason travel insurance (for a small fee), a freeze-your-price feature that helps you lock in lower rates, price drop protection (if you find a lower price, Capital One will refund you the difference), and a nifty price match guarantee (if you happen to find a better price within 24 hours of booking, you could get a refund). While this also allows you to book travel at a fixed redemption rate of 1 cent per mile, it’s always worth comparing redemption rates — in other words, seeing how many points and miles are needed for an award redemption directly through the carrier or hotel versus booking through the Capital One travel portal.Depending on your points and miles status goals, you may also want to consider booking travel directly to maintain elite status or double-dipping by reserving tickets or rooms through another third-party website, then simply “erasing” the travel purchase (more on that below).Use Capital One Miles to “erase” recent travel purchasesOne of the most valuable perks of the Capital One Venture X card is the ability to “erase” or redeem Capital One Miles to cover travel purchases made within the last 90 days. Simply use the card to book fights, hotels, car rentals or make other travel-related expenses (like Uber rides or Airbnb stays) then click on “Redeem Travel Purchases” to select which ones you’d like to cover or put your Capital One Miles toward — partial credit is fine, too, as long as you redeem more than 2,500 Miles.Capital One Miles are worth 1 cent per mile when choosing this redemption option, meaning 100,000 miles could erase $1,000 in travel purchases.Redeem miles for gift cards and online shoppingIf you know you won’t be traveling for a while, there’s always retail therapy. With the Capital One Venture X card, you’ll be able to redeem Capital One Miles at a rate of 1 cent per point for gift cards to all your favorite restaurants and retail shops like Apple, Bath & Body Works and Starbucks.Note that if you’re redeeming Capital One Miles for Amazon gift cards — or using Capital One Miles to shop online via Amazon or PayPal — the redemption rate drops to 0.8 cents per point (you’d get $0.80 cents in value per 100 Miles) so it won’t be the best value among all your other options.Cash back is a low-value redemptionWhile this is the least valuable redemption option for your newly earned Capital One Miles, you can still opt to exchange them at a rate of 0.5 cents per mile for cash in the form of an account credit or a check.Other cards with large welcome bonusesIf you’re interested in other cards with large welcome bonuses, consider the following. The value and utility of the rewards from each card varies, but you’ll still be able to get plenty of “free” travel with their hefty welcome bonuses.The Platinum Card® from American ExpressOn the American Express secure site

Rewards5X points on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel (starting January 1, 2021, this applies on up to $500,000 per calendar year), 5X points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel, 1X points on all other purchases
Welcome bonus100,000 Membership Rewards® points after spending $6,000 within 6 months of account opening. Apply and select your preferred metal Card design: classic Platinum Card®, Platinum x Kehinde Wiley, or Platinum x Julie Mehretu.
Annual fee
Intro APR
Regular APR
Balance transfer fee
Foreign transaction fee
Credit Needed

British Airways Visa Signature® Card

Rewards5 Avios for every $1 spent on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia and LEVEL within your first 18 months from account opening, thereafter 3 Avios; 3 Avios for every $1 spent on hotel accommodations when booked directly with the hotel within your first 18 months, thereafter 2 Avios; 1 Avios for every $1 spent on all other purchases
Welcome bonusEarn 100,000 bonus Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. Plus, earn a Travel Together Ticket after you spend $30,000 on purchases every calendar year, and 10% off British Airways flights starting in the U.S. when you book through the website provided in your welcome materials.
Annual fee
Intro APR
Regular APR15.99% to 22.99% variable
Balance transfer fee
Foreign transaction fees
Credit needed

Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® CardInformation about the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.

Rewards12X points per dollar for eligible purchases on your card made directly with a participating hotel or resort within the Hilton portfolio; 6X points for eligible purchases at U.S. restaurants, U.S. supermarkets and U.S. gas stations; 3X points for other eligible purchases
Welcome bonusEarn 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points plus a Free Night Reward after you spend $2,000 in purchases on the card in the first 3 months of card membership.
Annual fee
Intro APR
Regular APR15.74% to 24.74% variable
Balance transfer fee
Foreign transaction fee
Credit needed

For rates and fees of the Platinum Card from American Express, click here.For rates and fees of the Hilton Honors Surpass card, click here.Information about the Capital One Venture X card has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party. .

فوریه 23, 2022

Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card Review

RewardsEarn 3X points on Southwest® purchases, 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare; 2X points on internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming; 1X points on all other purchases
Welcome bonusEarn Companion Pass® through 2/28/23 plus 30,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months
Annual fee
Intro APR
Regular APR15.99% to 22.99% variable
Balance transfer fee
Foreign transaction fees
Credit needed

Pros

Southwest upgraded boarding on up to 4 tickets per year
7,500 bonus points on each account anniversary
$75 Southwest annual travel credit
4 upgraded boardings per year when available

Cons

$149 annual fee
No special financing offers

Estimated points earned after 1 year: 52,672
Estimated points earned after 5 years: 196,030

Rewards totals incorporate the miles earned from the welcome bonusWelcome bonusThe welcome bonus for the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card is a bit different than a simple chunk of airline miles. After signing up for the card you can earn the Southwest Companion Pass® through Feb. 28, 2023, plus 30,000 Rapid Rewards points by spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.This welcome bonus is great: not only will you have the highly-regarded Companion Pass but you’ll also earn a minimum of 35,000 Southwest points to use on a flight of your choosing. The Companion Pass allows you to bring along anyone of your choosing onto a Southwest flight for free, all you have to do is pay taxes and fees for your companion’s ticket (usually just $5.60 for a one-way domestic flight within the U.S.). Plus, as long as it’s active, there’s no limit on how many times you can use the Southwest Companion Pass.Keep in mind that this bonus isn’t available to everyone. You can’t currently have a personal Southwest credit card and also must not have received a welcome bonus for a personal Southwest credit card in the last 24 months.Benefits and perksThe Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card offers cardholders access to the following benefits:

7,500 bonus points for each account anniversary
$75 Southwest travel credit per year
Four upgraded boardings per year
25% back on inflight purchases
You can earn 1,500 tier qualifying points towards Southwest A-List elite status for every $10,000 spent, with no limit on the amount of elite points you can earn.
DoorDash benefits
No foreign transaction fees when you use the card abroad

All points earned with the card count toward the highly-coveted Southwest Companion Pass®, which allows one person to fly with you for free (except for taxes and fees) when you buy or redeem points for flights after reaching the threshold of 125,000 qualifying points or 100 qualifying one-way Southwest flights in a calendar yearEarning miles for spendingWhen you spend on the card, you’ll earn:

3X Rapid Rewards points per dollar spent on purchases with Southwest Airlines
2X Rapid Rewards points per dollar spent on Rapid Rewards hotel and car rental partners
2X Rapid Rewards points per dollar spent on local transit and commuting, including rideshare services
2X Rapid Rewards points per dollar spent on internet, cable, phone and select streaming services
1X Rapid Rewards point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases

Other benefitsSouthwest Airlines is a favorite airline for many as you get to enjoy two free checked bags per person and no change fees on tickets. And all of the points you earn through flying or spending on a Southwest credit card will never expire.And when you hold the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card, you’ll also receive these benefits at no charge:

Complimentary travel accident insurance and emergency assistance, reimbursement for lost luggage, auto rental collision damage waivers for car rentals, roadside dispatch service, purchase and extended warranty protection and baggage delay insurance
DoorDash benefits, including $0 delivery fees on restaurant orders above $12 (or groceries over $25), reduced service fees and $10 off your next order when you use the Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card after you activate your complimentary year of membership by Dec. 31, 2024.

Select calculated how many points the average American can earn in a year when using their Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card. We worked with the location intelligence firm Esri, who provided us with a sample annual spending budget of $22,126.The budget includes six main categories: groceries ($5,174), gas ($2,218), dining out ($3,675), travel ($2,244), utilities ($4,862) and general purchases ($3,953). Here’s what the average consumer would earn using this card:

Groceries: 5,174 Southwest Rapid Rewards points
Gas: 2,218 Southwest Rapid Rewards points
Dining out: 3,675 Southwest Rapid Rewards points
Travel: 6,732 Southwest Rapid Rewards points (Assuming all travel dollars are spent with Southwest Airlines).
Utilities: 4,862 Southwest Rapid Rewards points
General purchases: 3,953 Southwest Rapid Rewards points

With all spending considered, this would give a cardholder 26,614 Southwest Rapid Rewards points in the first year, and if you include the 30,000-point welcome bonus, this would yield 56,614 Rapid Rewards points. Over a five year period, cardholders could potentially earn 133,070 Southwest Rapid Rewards points — although the total amount will depend on an individual’s annual spending habits.How to earn and redeem Southwest Rapid Rewards milesEarning Southwest Rapid Rewards pointsEarning Southwest points is simple: either spend on one of the Southwest credit cards or fly with the airline.However, it’s difficult to earn heaps of points since you can only earn one welcome bonus every two years with a personal co-branded Southwest credit card. And unless you fly multiple times per month with Southwest, earning hundreds of thousands of points may not be realistic through these avenues.If you want to earn large amounts of points, consider earning rewards through credit cards with transferable rewards. Cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® earn Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, which can be transferred directly to Southwest Rapid Rewards at a 1:1 ratio. These cards are some of the best travel credit cards because you have the flexibility to redeem your rewards in a variety of ways, including transferring them to Southwest.If you’re thinking of adding a Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card to your wallet but aren’t sure if the Southwest Priority card is right for you, consider another one of the airline’s co-branded personal or business credit cards:PersonalBusinessRedeeming Southwest Rapid Rewards pointsOnce you earn enough points for a free flight, then comes the fun part of booking award travel.And while some airlines make it difficult to use their rewards programs, Southwest has a straightforward redemption process. To use your miles, simply log into your Southwest Rapid Rewards account and when you search for a flight, click “points” rather than “dollars”. Southwest points have a fixed value of around 1.3 to 1.4 cents apiece and prices for award flights are dependent on the current cash price of the ticket. So if a flight costs $100 you can expect to pay 6,000 to 7,000 points for that flight.As you search for flights, you’ll notice that you fill have to pay taxes and fees, depending on where you fly. If you’re flying within the United States, you will pay $5.60 for each one-way flight. International fees will vary.And you don’t need to pay your taxes and fees with a Southwest credit card credit card, so feel free to use another card that you prefer.Rates and feesCard comparisonWhile the Southwest Priority credit card is a solid pick for Southwest flyers, how does it fare other value-packed rewards credit cards?Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card vs. Capital One Venture Rewards Credit CardThe Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is a great travel credit card as it earns a consistent 2X miles per dollar spent on all eligible purchases. And it has benefits including a valuable 60,000 bonus miles welcome offer once you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.You’ll also receive up to $100 statement credit for your application fee for either TSA PreCheck or Global Entry every four years.So if you’re deciding between the two cards, it comes down to a few factors:

Do you only fly Southwest? If so, the Southwest card may be the better option.
Do you prefer having spending categories or earning a flat-rate on all purchases? The Venture card has a flat-rate on all purchases, while the Southwest Card has different earnings for various category purchases.
Do you value transferable rewards more, or the Companion Pass?

Based on these questions, you should quickly know which one of the two is a better fit for you. But at a high level, if you travel with a companion regularly and mainly travel domestically, the Southwest card will likely be the better fit. If you travel on various airlines and prefer to go outside the U.S., the Capital One Venture card would probably be the better choice of the two.Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card vs. Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®The Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® is a great choice for someone who enjoys flying internationally, and possibly lives near an American Airlines hub airport like Miami, Phoenix or Los Angeles.With this card, you’ll earn 2X miles for every $1 spent at restaurants, gas stations and on eligible American Airlines purchases. All other eligible purchases will earn 1X mile per dollar spent.The welcome offer packs a punch as you can earn 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage^® bonus miles after spending $2,500 in purchases within the first three months of account opening. In addition, there are no foreign transaction fees and a waived annual fee the first year ($99 after that).When you’re comparing the two cards, it simply comes down to which airline loyalty program will serve your needs and if you value Southwest’s Companion Pass benefit. The American Airlines loyalty program is part of the Oneworld airline alliance, which has 14 total airlines that partner to serve one another’s customers. This means you can use American miles to fly around the world on over a dozen different airlines.While Southwest isn’t part of an airline alliance, the card comes with an extremely valuable automatic benefit in the Companion Pass, giving you the ability to travel with someone for free, less taxes and fees.Who the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card is best forThe Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card is a solid airline credit card and designed for consumers who fly regularly with Southwest. And with the new welcome offer the card is targeted towards those flying with a companion.But if you aren’t flying regularly with a companion to make the welcome offer ‘worth’ it, you may be better off selecting another card or waiting for a welcome bonus that is solely Southwest points.The card has a hefty $149 annual fee but does offer ample benefits to Southwest flyers that can help offset the cost. For instance, just the annual $75 Southwest credit and anniversary 7,500 Southwest points alone can be worth more than $150. Plus, you’ll get four Upgraded Boardings every year and 25% back on Southwest inflight purchases. These perks are geared toward Southwest flyers but if you can use them, which shouldn’t be too hard if you fly Southwest a handful of times per year, then you’ll likely enjoy having the Southwest Priority card in your wallet.Bottom lineThe Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card is a great choice for someone who flies Southwest often.The recently refreshed welcome bonus which includes the Companion Pass, as well as the benefits of earning Southwest Rapid Rewards points on all eligible purchases, a $75 Southwest annual credit and multiple Upgraded Boardings each year make the card worth considering. And now that the Companion Pass is obtainable by spending $5,000 in the first three months of card membership, it’s a great fit for someone who travels with a partner or friend often.However, even though welcome offer is extremely appealing for avid travelers, it can be tempting to hastily spend the $5,000 needed to earn it. But as always, its never advised to apply for a credit card when you’re not in a solid financial situation. But as long as you follow your budget carefully and continue to invest for the future, the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card is worth considering for any avid Southwest flyer.Catch up on Select’s in-depth coverage of personal finance, tech and tools, wellness and more, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date.Information about the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party. .

فوریه 20, 2022

Find Airfare Bargains Around the World

Select’s editorial team works independently to review financial products and write articles we think our readers will find useful. We may receive a commission when you click on links for products from our affiliate partners.Scott’s Cheap Flights just celebrated its 6th birthday. In those 6 years, plenty of other email-based flight deal subscription services have popped up to try to replicate Scott’s success. But, for many travelers, Scott’s Cheap Flights is still king of the flight deals.Let’s dig into the three subscription tiers and review what we like about Scott’s Cheap Flights — and what can be improved.What is Scott’s Cheap Flights?Scott’s Cheap Flights is an email subscription service that sends out flight deals for international and domestic (U.S.) destinations. It has free and paid options, and the service claims that most of the deals it sends out are 40% to 90% off average prices.Scott’s Cheap Flights free serviceScott’s Cheap Flights operates on a “freemium” model. That means you can sign up to receive flight deal emails for completely free as a “Limited” member. If you like what you’re seeing, you can upgrade to the Premium version to get more deals and faster notifications.Free subscribers get limited international economy deals from up to 5 origin airports. For infrequent travelers, this may be all you need. You’ll get a heads up about great deals, such as a recent alert of $462 round-trip flights from airports across the U.S. to Athens, Greece:Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsHowever, flight deals are delayed by about 30 minutes from when Premium subscribers receive the deal. Also, you won’t get emails about domestic deals, error fares or premium cabin deals. But, it’s a free service, so it’s hard to complain about these limitations.The emails include instructions on how to book the flight deals, including what travel dates and airlines are available and what platform to book the flight through (either directly with the airline or through an online travel agency like Expedia).Scott’s Cheap Flights “Bestie Test”With the proliferation of low-cost carriers like Spirit Airlines and Ryanair, it isn’t hard to find cheap flights. However, not all airlines and itineraries are created equal. One of my favorite aspects of Scott’s Cheap Flights is “The Bestie Test,” where the service will only send out a deal it would recommend to its best friend.That means a cheap airfare isn’t enough. The itinerary needs to have a good routing that minimizes your travel time, so either a nonstop flight or one with a reasonable connection time. Plus, the deal needs to be on an airline that’s not considered a low-cost carrier and not for last-minute travel.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsHow to sign up for Scott’s Cheap FlightsHere’s how to sign-up for Scott’s Cheap Flights:

Go to Scott’s Cheap Flights
Sign up either by entering your email address, first name and a password, or by connecting your Google account
After an intro to Scott’s Cheap Flights, you’ll be prompted to set your home airport
Next, enter up to 6 destinations that you’d like to visit
Finally, you’ll get the chance to enter up to 4 additional airports from which you also want to get flight deals. These can be nearby airports or airports you don’t mind flying to for a great deal.

Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsThe last prompt is about what types of deals you want to see. If you’re just hoping to test out the free version, select “economy class deals” and click next.However, if you want better deals — like premium cabin deals, mistake fares or weekend getaways — you’ll need to upgrade to either a Premium or Elite membership. If you want to see if these paid subscriptions are worth the cost, you have the option to test drive either service for free for 14 days:Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsIs it worth it to upgrade to Scott’s Cheap Flights Premium?If you’re a semi-frequent flyer, it’s probably worth upgrading to Scott’s Cheap Flights Premium. For $49 per year, the subscription unlocks:

All economy deals (international and domestic) for up to 10 origin airports
Mistake fares from your chosen airports
Weekend Getaway ideas
Bucket-list deals, such as deals to the Galapagos Islands, Cuzco (for Machu Picchu), Buffalo (for Niagara Falls) and Munich (during Oktoberfest)

Plus, becoming a paid subscriber helps support the Scott’s Cheap Flights team to search for and find flight deals. I’ve been a Scott’s Cheap Flights Premium subscriber since May 2016 — back when Scott’s emails were a bit more simple:Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsEach time my subscription comes up for renewal, it’s been an easy decision to continue to pay for another year of Premium deals. Scott’s error fares have helped me book absolutely incredible deals, including:

Atlanta to Santiago, Chile for $62 round-trip nonstop on Delta
Miami to Barcelona, Spain, in business class, for $264 round-trip (this mistake fare was cancelled by the airline before I could fly)
Miami to Tokyo for $312 round-trip, one-stop on American Airlines
New York to Singapore, then to New Delhi, then back to New York for $364 round-trip
Los Angeles to Nani, Fiji for $395 round-trip nonstop on Fiji Airways

These are just the best deals I’ve booked over the years. Depending on how many origin airports you select, you can expect to receive multiple flight deals each day — from domestic destinations to trips around the world.The only question is if getting premium deals like these is worth $49 of your travel budget. And that’s going to be a personal decision.For many, the amount of money they save on flights from just one deal could easily pay for the subscription itself.New Scott’s Cheap Flights Elite serviceIn June 2021, Scott’s Cheap Flights unveiled an even more premium membership level called Elite that costs $199 per year. In addition to all of the Premium perks, Elite members get mistake fares from all airports and premium cabin deals (premium economy, business class and first class).Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsTo see if it’s worth the cost, I have taken the Elite service for a test drive for the past few weeks (I received a complimentary preview of the Elite membership from Scott’s Cheap Flights). In just a few weeks, I’ve been alerted to premium cabin deals such as:

Premium economy to Istanbul for $983 round-trip
Premium economy to Kenya for $1,248 round-trip
Business class to Patagonia for $1,535 round-trip
Business class to Seychelles for $2,595 round-trip
First class to Geneva for $3,167 round-trip

While I find the Premium subscription price easily worth its cost, I’m not convinced quite yet if Elite is worth $199 per year to me. With that said, I primarily book economy tickets. For those looking for a really special getaway — or looking for the increased elite earnings of premium cabins — the $199/year price may be a worthwhile investment for curated premium deals.Potential improvements to Scott’s Cheap FlightsScott’s Cheap Flights generally does a pretty good job of filtering down to just the information you need to know in the deal alert emails. However, some deal alerts may have misleading information. Take for instance this recent deal alert to Austin (AUS):Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsAs Atlanta is my home airport, Scott’s Cheap Flights only shows this one route and even indicates that the deal is available nonstop. But, of the airlines listed, only Southwest has a nonstop option.Also, Delta isn’t listed but also had flights pricing out at $117 roundtrip nonstop — although these Delta fares may have been added after Scott’s Cheap Flights sent out this deal alert.Best credit card for Scott’s Cheap FlightsWhich credit card to use for Scott’s Cheap Flights subscriptionsAlthough it’s a travel-related service, unfortunately, Scott’s Cheap Flights subscriptions don’t code as travel purchases. So, you won’t get bonuses for using travel-focused credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve.So, if you’re working toward a sign-up bonus on a new credit card, it’s best to use that card to pay for your subscription. Otherwise, you’ll want to use an everyday spending credit card:Best cards to take advantage of Scott’s Cheap Flights dealsHowever, when it comes to booking a flight deal, you have plenty of ways to earn bonus points. Chase offers an industry-leading 5X points per dollar on airfare booked through its Ultimate Rewards® portal on four of its cards — including two no-annual-fee cards:Plus, by booking through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® travel portal, you can apply Ultimate Rewards® points to your booking. That can turn a cheap flight into a completely free flight. For example, Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders can apply 20,000 Ultimate Rewards® points to book a $300 round-trip flight for nothing out-of-pocket.The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is currently offering a welcome bonus where you’ll earn 60,000 Ultimate Rewards® points after spending $4,000 in the first three months of account opening. Those 60,000 points are worth $750 towards travel booked through the Chase Travel portal. Meaning, you could book two $300 round-trip flights with the welcome bonus alone.Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Rewards$50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit, 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3X points on dining, 2X points on all other travel purchases, 5X points on Lyft rides through March 2022, and 1X points on all other purchases
Welcome bonusEarn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Annual fee
Intro APR
Regular APR15.99% to 22.99% variable on purchases and balance transfers
Balance transfer feeEither $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater
Foreign transaction fee
Credit needed

However, sometimes flight deals aren’t available through the travel portal. So, if you’re booking directly with the airline, your best options are:Bottom lineScott’s Cheap Flights has alerted me to many airfare deals that have saved me thousands of dollars over the years. If you’re looking to be alerted about cheap airfares, it’s strongly worth considering. Fortunately, you can sign-up for the free service to test it out and then upgrade to the paid version if you want the extra benefits.Information about the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the cards prior to publication.Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party. .