How HNWIs Choose Their Credit Cards For Travel

High-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) are known for their frequent travels. Their business and self-care demand them to be wherever their work requires them to be. Knowing the unpredictable nature of their travel commitments, they arm themselves with the right kind of credit cards. By making savvy credit card purchases, they save a ton during travel. And you can do so.

However, to make these decisions, you need to understand how to choose your credit cards. This means you’ve to understand the various aspects of travel, expenses, and credit cards. HNWIs know those aspects, and now you can as well.

Let’s explore those points in detail.

1. What is included?

Traveling is about more than just commutation. Several aspects of travel often need to be noticed while selecting credit cards. Credit cards can help you manage discounts or special add-ons, but you must understand where you want those concessions.

Whether you are on a vacation or a business trip, you’ll end up spending on accommodation, intra-city transportation, rental, food, and whatnot. The kind of credit card you choose will decide whether you can access elite hotel memberships, international airport lounges, fuel surcharges, or discounts on foods from certain brands.

2. Annual fees

Different kinds of credit cards for travel are available depending on your preferences. But most of them come with annual fees. While some credit cards ask for a nominal fee, there are a few that can charge a hefty amount, especially in the premium segment.

Note that these fees are annual, so you’ll be automatically shedding that sum every year. So, make sure you don’t end up with a credit card with a spiked fee and few benefits.

3. Take care of Air Miles and Accommodation

Two factors demand high expenditure, which must be dealt with under the card scheme. Being a frequent traveler, you’ll have to check the air miles under the credit card scheme. If you don’t know what air miles are, they are usually concerned with loyalty programs that reward regular flyers. Every time you book a ticket for a particular flight, you gain air miles on credit cards. In the future, you can redeem these miles.

The second most cost-incurring area of travel is accommodation. Whether you choose a hotel or a rental space, consider using special offers that cards offer. Check the scheme you’re interested in and see whether the card offers membership perks such as discounted rates and free meals.

4. A co-branded card or a general travel card

HNWIs travel frequently and may or may not have specific choices to make during travel. Thus, they pay attention to what kind of travel card they are taking along. Similarly, you must decide between a co-branded and a general card. In the former, the credit card is associated with a particular airline or hotel chain.

This means that using a credit card can only redeem the rewards with a particular airline or hotel brand. On the other side, the latter is flexible and broad in nature. The rewards under it can be redeemed for any travel expense. Opting for a co-branded credit card is usually advisable if you travel frequently and prefer specific brands. If you desire flexibility, go for a general travel card.

5. Low minimum spending

Credit cards do not automatically pass on rewards or bonuses until a certain minimum spending threshold has been breached. To reap the benefits as fast as you can, you can prefer a card with a low minimum spending requirement.

There are also credit cards that only require a single-time purchase to activate rewards. Of course, cards with high minimum thresholds offer substantively higher rewards. Still, you should opt for them only if you are sure to make such heavy expenses.

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