What credit card(s) do you recommend for paid advertising?

[Sutra]

Hey all,

Would like to get your opinions on the best credit card(s) to use for running paid ads. We're doing about $40k a month in ad spend and it's increasing each month. Currently we're just using a CC that gets points to redeem for cash.

I'd like something that allows a high limit, or at least allows to expand the limits pretty quickly. As we'll be ramping things up as we scale. I like the idea of cash back, obviously, hah. But perhaps there are some other things I'm not considering/aware of that are preferable to cash back.

I know @eliquid and others are doing far more than us in ad spend, and have tons of experience, so would love to hear your thoughts.

 

[Steve Brownlie]

Hey all,

Would like to get your opinions on the best credit card(s) to use for running paid ads. We're doing about $40k a month in ad spend and it's increasing each month. Currently we're just using a CC that gets points to redeem for cash.

I'd like something that allows a high limit, or at least allows to expand the limits pretty quickly. As we'll be ramping things up as we scale. I like the idea of cash back, obviously, hah. But perhaps there are some other things I'm not considering/aware of that are preferable to cash back.

I know @eliquid and others are doing far more than us in ad spend, and have tons of experience, so would love to hear your thoughts.

If you'll use the points AMEX is great. The points are worth a lot more than cashback if you like nice flights and nice hotels...

The main value on points though for flying is the last minute flexibility. You don't have to plan when you're coming back etc. Like when I visit my old man I usually just book a flight out in business class one way then when we decide on a date/where we're even going to be book the flight back. One way or flexible business class tickets are obv ridic as they're priced for enterprise/last minute executive travel - so getting a good deal normally involves planning 6+ months out and even then... not always the best way to spend your money. Points eradicate that issue completely.

 

[eliquid]

I think the problem you are going to run into is multiples of:

1. You can do points with high limit on a bunch of cards, but you're stuck with points.
   1. This is fine for me personally, but some people and business don't want to be stuck with points. You can redeem points for cash, but it's generally at a lesser value redemption overall.
   2. You need to find which points program you prefer. In general the top 2 are Chase and Amex. Each has their benefits.
   3. If you are looking to get max value from points, there is a whole education that comes with it, might be bothersome for some people to learn if they want the most benefit.
   4. My person favs for this are the Business Gold Amex where you get 4x on advertising and also the Chase Ink Business Preferred where you get 3x on advertising up to $150k in spend. - the trick here is to have multiple Ink Business Preferred cards when you hit the limit. If you have a spouse, they can get the card too and now you have 2 to change out.
      1. One reason I switch between Amex and Chase is dependent on which program I need points with for certain travel, and also if I start to hit limits on either.
2. For cashback, on normal CC you run into limits for a lot of them. Like X% cash back up to $25k in spend. This is how a lot of offers are structured. Im not saying all, but like 98% of them.
   1. You end up playing switch CC games every month of you do this.
   2. Even if you have a high limit, like $150k, your cash back is still at $25k for the highest cash back value.
   3. The cash back stuff changes a lot, and the limits to get the most cash back are always changing too. Since there are so many issuers in this space, I just don't keep up with it since it would mean me switching cards all the time, so I don't have a great recommendation here for normal CC on cashback, but I would stick to Chase/Citi/Amex for this if I was you and you wanted to hit cashback for some reason more.
3. The real trick is getting set up with corporate financing.
   1. When you start getting up into the $500k+ plus spend monthly, you are going to want to look into processing changes anyway most likely.
   2. A lot of these setup can offer custom Mastercard processing with custom rates. Basically you agree to a set $X level of spend for a year in a contract, they agree to certain rates for the processing AND the financing.
   3. This setup tends to work the best, but if you dont hit the agreement on your spend, you can end up blowing up the whole setup and wasting money.

They don't have rewards on debit cards anymore ( on any bank I know of ), but back in the day when they did.. talking 2008-2010-ish...

Chase was the best at it. I had 5 debit cards with 1M points EACH on them ( the most points you could get per car was 1M ) and I ended up turning those into HomeDepot and Lowes gift cards ( $100 each ) and outfitted my whole house with new appliances, wood, and tools, etc. They got rid of rewards for debit cards shortly after that.

^^ by $100 each gift cards, I mean I had like hundreds and hundreds of these gift cards and I would take them to HD and Lowes and would have like 32 of them in 1 trip, 51 in another trip, etc.

They always thought I stole them and would have to call their main office to verify when I used them

 

[secretagentdad]

I love chase rewards. Especially the stupid perks.

You can get non rip off road side assistance and lounge access fringe perks if you go into your settings page and activate them. These end up being weirdly valuable if you travel. Free breakfast and coffee at airports is awesome especially on busy travel days. If you don't go activate it you don't get it.

 

[eliquid]

I do like Chase. But I like Amex too.

If you travel... the points setup, if you learn it, is pretty nice. I don't go through a lot of points hoop jumping to get the most value, but I do get into it midways.

My airport sucks, so I fly a lot of domestic one-way flights on budget airlines like Southwest, etc. We have Delta and AA, and others.. but 1st class domestic is a joke so I opt for budget airlines with one-way to the destination I am going on a small jet so it's only 2 seats instead of 3 on the sides so it ends up being me and just the wife sitting together. I'll upgrade for a small fee to sit in the area with more legroom.. but I don't use points for flights just because of my home airport.

So my travel game with points is largely hotel based.

Hyatt ( Chase ) will get you the most value for your points generally, but I prefer Hilton ( Amex ) and Marriot and staying in the top hotels in those chains. If you like IHG, stay with Chase.

Marriot ( I believe ) is in both Chase and Amex, so I know I can always get a Marriot stay for free no matter what card I use with Marriot.

So my plan is largely spending on both Chase and Amex in general for points and then transferring those to Marriot and staying at St Regis, W, Ritz, etc. I also hold a Marriot branded card for the status perk and free night. The points get more value than cashback and I get a stay, and the branded card gets me an upgrade most times too for the room/suite.

If I have to go Hilton, I'll transfer the Amex points to Hilton Honors and stay at a Waldorf or Conrad ( like in Ft Lauderdale ). I have a Hilton branded card too, so I know I'll get an upgrade and another free night thrown in too.

Things get really crazy when you realize these programs have transfer bonuses.. so like if you transfer 300,000 points from Chase to Marriot, Marriot might be having a 50% bonus so you end up having 450,000 points at Marriot ( same at other chains ). Then you throw in they might be having a 4th or 5th night free, and then also you might have free night certs, and top status for upgrades.... and it becomes a complete free for all almost what you can get out of it.

And all of this just because you spend on ads.

BTW, even though I hate my airport.. I can get Southwest companion pass where my wife can fly almost for 2 years free. Yes, no cap. I'll be working on that point deal coming up q4 this year.

So 50% off flights, and free hotel stays for weeks on end... all because you choose the right cards to spend on.