Travelocity Amex is underrated - get 10% back on travel spend at Travelocity.com

The current version of this card offers 5 points for each $1 spent on travelocity.com, 2 points on one chosen category (say, restaurants), and 1 point on everything else. If you redeem in batches of 20,000 points, you get $400 of credit on travelocity.com. Redeemed this way, 1 point = $0.02, so you effectively get 10% back on travelocity.com spend, 4% back on your preferred category, and 2% on everything else.

There is a $39 annual fee and you get 7500 points for signing up.

The most frequent objection I hear to this card is, "I don't use Travelocity.com." I didn't either before I got this card but it is a decent site with prices that are equivalent to other channels. It isn't hard to work into your travel booking routine. Before you book your next hotel or flight, check to see if that hotel/flight is available on travelocity.com at the same price. If it is, book it there and effectively get 10% back. Likewise, when it's time to redeem your travelocity points, simply apply your $400 credits like cash towards your next flight or hotel stay. This is redeemed through the site and there are no minimums or limits. Importantly, you still earn your airline's frequent flier miles on flights booked through travelocity.com (in addition to your travelocity points).

There was a previous version of this card (no longer currently offered) that offered only 4 points for each $1 spent on travelocity.com, no chosen category bonus, but 2 points on all other spend. This works out to 8% back on travelocity.com spend and 4% on everything else. Out of my 13 credit cards, that is my default card for nearly all spending.

 

It should be noted that you can only redeem your rewards for more travel at travelocity.com

There are also other websites that you can go through to get 10% cash back for purchases at Travelocity for a week every month, combine the two and you can effectively get 20% cash+future travel back for Travelocity purchases.

 

What other sites? I did not realize those were stackable. This is good news.

 

Any cash back website will stack with your travelocity credit card because you get your 4% on your Travelocity card for making the purchase, the cash back websites earn you money for clicking through them to make the purchase.

There are dozens that will earn you a few percentage for Travelocity, one that has a special offer one week a month for Travelocity at 10% and another week with Expedia for 10%.

Maybe we should team up sometime, you have the magic 10% credit card and I have the magic 10% cash back website.

 

Would you be willing to mention the site that provides the 10% Travelocity rebate during that one week?

 

Yes, inquiring minds wanna know!

 

Sure, let's team up. I have already provided the link to the magic 10% credit card. Your turn to link the website.

 

I have the old version of 2x everything and 4x travelocity. Pretty banging card.

 

I was recently able to get my annual fee waived for my 2nd year. I have since confirmed that they left my original 2x everyday spend and 4x travelocity spend reward structure in place. No annual fee plus 4% back makes this a terrific option.

 

How did you manage to get your 2nd year free?

I just paid for my annual fee...

 

Thx for the link Bluto. I've never considered this card, but if my employment situation changes and I have to begin paying my own expenses, this may be a good option for me.

 

I called and said my annual fee is coming up and I would like to know if there is any way to avoid paying it besides canceling my card. I also mentioned that my other credit card options that would replace this are non-fee-bearing.

The Travelocity Amex is my main card so it was a bit of a bluff. It could have gotten a little awkward if they had replied, "Ok, your card has been cancelled. May I help you with anything else."

Be extra careful to confirm that your rewards structure will stay the same if you do accept an annual fee waiver. I have read in the past that some reps will offer the no annual fee version of the card that has 1 pt per dollar.

 

Does the card earn 10% cashback for airfare purchased on travelocity? Usually airfare is billed direcly by the airline, even if purchased at an online travel agency.

 

Yes it does. I bought a plane ticket last week and got the proper number of travelocity points a few days later.

 

Thank you for mentioning a card that I am not aware of. It's interesting enough an option to consider as a backup to earn and spend on domestic flights. As of international flights, my preference is to go for award redemptions in premium cabins. In terms of other travel needs in the hotel and rental car departments, I usually book on the providers' websites directly to make sure I get the points and proper recognition, although it might be an ignorance on my part being lazy. And for that purpose and other everyday spendings, AMEX SPG is my main card together with other AMEX cards offering generous bonuses.

a little bit OT but I'd like to mention currently I use Penfed AMEX for purchasing domestic flight tickets. It earns 5 points per $ on airfare spend. On the redemption side it follows an old style laddered structure for which I can't find a clear explanation how the structure exactly relate to the going fare. But that's where the opportunity comes in: I've found occasions where I can redeem 25K points for a ticket that would cost $600, a return higher than 10% by my calculation (spend $5000 on airfare to earn 25,000 points)

Now that I know about this Travelocity card (the T card), I am seeing the following pluses and minuses between it and the Penfed (the P card).

Where the T card wins:
1. A stable 10% rebate for buying airfare on Travelocity.com (not considering other cashback deals that are out there)
2. Provides the same earning capability for other purchases on Travelocity.com

Where the T card is not as good:
1. You have to deal with Travelocity.com. The online booking world is changing fast and there is a level of uncertainty on the horizon. Granted this is more of a longer term thing.
2. The return is capped: less chance for arbitrage (hard to beat 10% though)
3. An annual fee (waivable for some people)

Where the P card wins
1. Potential for high redemption value (YMMV)
2. In theory you can earn 5 points per $ spent with any airline
3. No annual fee

Where the P card is not so good
1. Only 1 point per $ for hotel and rental card spent

 

What are Travelocity's cancellation rules and are they strictly enforced?

 

Their policy lets customers cancel within 24 hours without penalty.

 

Interesting post. Bluto (or others), four questions: (1) how does one redeem points (website, phone call, what? How automated is that process?), (2) (related) How does the 20k for $400 appear -- as a statement credit, or as a voucher for Travelocity, or what? {reading above, it seems statement credit, but I wanted to make sure} (3) Can you combine multiple 20k awards -- e.g., redeem 40k for $800, applied to a $900 ticket {Will they give you grief about using only one 20k redemption per ticket?}. (4) If you buy a $250 ticket, can you still use the 20k redemption -- will they give you a $400 credit, or cap it at the actual ticket price?

Thanks!

 

1. Website redemption. It's automated. Just login first and there's an option to apply credits apply at checkout.
2. Statement credit. No vouchers. The credit usually posts before the purchase even does.
3. You can do multiple $400 credits although I have not done it personally. There should be no grief with this as others have reported it.
4. You can't redeem more than your checkout price. So if you buy 2 tickets totaling $300 you won't be able to redeem $400 of credits in that transaction. If you buy 3 nights of hotels totaling $450 then no problem.

 

where do I go to redeem the points.

I have a login for:

https://www.mytravelocityrewards.com/

but when I go to travelocity.com

to book travel, the login doesn't work for that.

So my question is, given that I have 20,000 points and ant to use the $400 credit in there for an upcoming trip on AA, what link/site do I go to so I can book this trip?

 

Go to travelocity.com and create a login. That is a different site and company than mytravelocityrewards.com. After you create a login to travelocity.com, go to My Account and then link to your Travelocity Amex. Then you'll be able to book travelocity.com and pay for your trips with your points.

 

There is no link -- I have an account with travelocity.com and also one with mytravelocityrewards.com and yet I can't find a link and I just can't find out how to redeem my 30,000 points for $500 credit on my next flight on AA to paris.

 

Go to travelocity.com.
Click My Account
Login
Click the My Account tab next to My Trips
Enter your Billing Information using your Travelocity Amex

Your accounts should be linked after that. On that page it should show your points balance. Also, when you book a trip now, at the checkout screen, it should give you the option to pay with your points.

 

thank you

 

I'm going to bump this to ask if anyone knows if a CRUISE booked using this card qualifies? By the language of the generic text on the landing page (https://www.barclaycardus.com/apply/Landing.action?campaignId=1371&cellNumber=13) I would guess so until I read T&C 2, which doesn't list cruises. Anyone have any experience?