This week, we have three new reviews going online: Barclays Luxury Card MasterCards (Titanium, Black, and Gold), Barclays Miles & More MasterCard (Lufthansa etc.), and Barclays JetBlue MasterCards (non-annual fee version, JetBlue Plus, JetBlue Rewards, JetBlue Business).

JetBlue Plus World Elite MasterCard is a new product introduced earlier this year and wasn't included in our original analysis to produce the Top 10 Best Credit Cards by Dr. Credit Card list that was published the first time earlier this month.  After a thorough analysis, we were pretty surprised that JetBlue Plus Card takes home the #3 spot in the rewards category and is rated #4 overall.  That is an amazing feat.  Let's see why.

Unlike legacy airlines, JetBlue has a revenue based frequent flyer program, and its TrueBlue points can be redeemed for JetBlue flights at an almost fixed-value rate of around 1.4 cents per point.  Here you won't get an exciting redemption like an international long haul business/first class award, but you also avoid a lot of hassles trying to find an available seat and maximize points value, as TrueBlue points are very straightforward.  JetBlue Plus Card has a unique feature that returns 10% points each time you redeem for JetBlue flights, essentially increasing the value of TrueBlue points to 1.55 cents a piece.  In addition, JetBlue Plus offers a very competitive 6-2-1 earning structure for JetBlue, dining & groceries, and other purchases (9.3%, 3.1%, and 1.55% respectively) and several valuable perks that easily justify the annual fee, including 5,000 anniversary bonus points, first bags free, and a potential Mosaic status after $50K annual spending.  Our biggest concern is that we are not sure if JetBlue will suddenly devaluate its points, as we have seen in many times in the airline/hotel industry.  That is exactly the reason why we always recommend miles/points cards with transfer partners over those affiliated with a certain airline or hotel chain, as the former is much more devaluation proof than the latter.  For now, however, this card makes a lot of sense for JetBlue flyers, considering its good signup bonus, amazing rewards and travel perks, and decent protection.

© 2016 DrCreditCard.net  All rights reserved.

When I was writing the featured review "All About Credit Card Travel and Consumer Protection", like millions Citicard members, I received emails from Citi informing me of changes of protection benefit provider coming May 15, 2016.  After I went through the documents I was surprisingly pleased to learn that there are HUGE improvement across the board.  First of all, please find links to the new benefit guides effective May 15, 2016:

• Citi ThankYou Preferred, Double Cash, Forward, Dividend or another non-cobranded card without annual fees
• Citi AT&T Card
• Citi non-cobranded card (unconfirmed)
• Citi lower-tier AAdvantage Card
• Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature
• Citi Expedia+ Card
• Citi ThankYou Premier card
• Citi Platinum Select, or Gold AAdvantage Card
• Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Visa Signature
• Citi Expedia+ Voyager Card
• Citi Prestige Card
• Citi Executive / AAdvantage Card
• Citi Chairman Card

Now let's look at the improvements that will kick in as of May 15, 2016.

1. Several travel protection benefits (Trip Cancelation & Interruption, Trip Delay, Lost Baggage, Baggage Delay) and consumer protection benefits (Citi Price Rewind, Purchase Protection, Return Protection, Extended Warranty, Event Ticket Protection) will be available as long as a portion of the purchase is paid by your Citi Card or ThankYou points.  While we don't normally charge a purchase partially to a credit card when buying consumer products, many of us pay a relatively small amount of fees and taxes when booking an awards ticket using frequent flyer miles.  The implication that an award ticket is eligible to receive travel protection is pretty huge.  Currently, like most credit card issuers Citi requires you pay in full to receive this type of protection, and Chase is the only issuer we are aware of to allow award tickets.
2. Currently, Citi covers you (the card holder), your spouse/DP, and underaged children, for all travel protection.  Citi is extending cover persons for most travel protection, except Travel Accident Insurance, to include the card holder, family members, and traveling companion(s).  Family members are defined as your children, spouse, fiancée, Domestic Partner and their children, including adopted children or step-children; legal guardians or wards; siblings or siblings-in-law; son-in-law or daughter-in-law; parents or parents-in-law; grandparents or grandchildren; aunts or uncles; nieces or nephews.  As you can see, just as with Chase Cards, the definition of family members is very wide.  Also like with Chase Cards, your family members will be covered even when you are not traveling with them.  In addition, Citi is providing coverage for traveling companions, which I believe is the first among credit card issuers.
3. For the first time ever, Extended Warranty provided by a credit card will be two years, one year more than the current offering.  In addition, Citi will covers up to a total of 7 years, leading the current industry best by 2 years!  The latter matters when you purchase a long warranty with the original manufacturer.
4. Citi Price Rewind's limit is increased from $300 to $500 per item, and from $1,200 to $2,500 per year.

As you can see, these improvements are very exciting, and we hope that other issuers follow suit.  We will be re-evaluating our ranking of credit cards for protection in May once the new benefits kick in.

© 2016 DrCreditCard.net  All rights reserved.

Our website 2.0 is finally online - we have been busy working on revamping our website in the last several weeks.  As you may have noticed, the site's home page now shows a Top 10 Best Credit Cards list.  The ranking was based on a comprehensive analysis considering four "P" factors - Promotions (signup bonus), Points (rewards earned through spending minus effective annual fee), Perks (travel benefits), and Protection (travel and consumer protection).  If you are interested in a particular factor, our top recommendations for each "P" could also be found on each of the four pages.

How did we come up with the list?  Each card is rated an individual score (0-100 points) for each of the four "P" factors, and then a final comprehensive score (also 0-100 points) is calculated by adding up all scores with the following weights for each factor: Promotion (15%), Points (55%), Perks (20%), and Protection (10%).  Now we are copying the Top 10 list below and will also discuss our findings.

Top 10 Best Credit Cards by Dr. Credit Card (2016)

1. Citi Prestige World Elite MasterCard
2. Citi ThankYou Premier Card
3. American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Card
4. American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card
5. Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
6. American Express EveryDay Preferred Card
7. Chase United Airlines MileagePlus Club Visa Signature
8. Chase United Airlines MileagePlus Explorer Visa Signature
9. Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard
10. Barclaycard Wyndham Rewards Visa Signature with $69 Annual Fee

​
Honorable Mentions

• Citi Double Cash Card (#1 cashback card)
• Elan Fidelity Rewards Visa Signature (#2 cashback card)
• J.P. Morgan Ritz-Carlton Visa Signature (#1 in perks and protection)
• American Express Platinum Card (exceptional perks and protection)
  

Citi Prestige takes the #1 spot without too much of surprise, since it is not only highly rated in "Points" (#7 card for rewards) but also very strong in "Promotions", "Perks" (#3), and "Protection" (tied at #2).  All other cards on the final Top 10 list all offer pretty strong rewards for spending.  Amex EveryDay Preferred, the #1 card for rewards, comes down to #7 on the final list, due to relatively weak signup bonus, perks, and protection.  Two excellent cash back cards - Citi Double Cash and Fidelity Visa, fall off the final Top 10 due to similar reasons.  On the other hand, Chase Sapphire Preferred, United MP Club Visa, and United MP Explorer Visa, which did not make to the Top 10 Cards for Rewards, all make a strong come back to the #5, #7, and #8 spots on the final list, due to very strong performance in at least two of the three following categories: signup bonus, perks, and protection.  JPM Ritz-Carlton Visa, the #1 card both in perks and protection, is way down the final list, as the rewards are poor.  Amex Platinum, another strong performer in perks and protection, fails to make to Final Top 10 due to a similar reason.

© 2016 DrCreditCard.net  All rights reserved.

Here we had an exciting week at DrCreditCard.net, as we are in the process of revamping our website.  Now this page "All about Credit Card Rewards" will soon replace our Top List.  The new page contains a Top 10 List of Credit Card for Rewards, and our recommendations for best rewards earning cashback/fixed-value cards, miles/points cards, credit card combos, and business cards.  Please check it out and let us know how you like it!

​In addition, we also updated several signup bonus links on our Deals page.  There are also three new reviews: Citi Costco Visa, Chase Freedom Unlimited, and PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa Signature.  Several other reviews were updated as well.

© 2016 DrCreditCard.net  All rights reserved.

We are changing how we document the current credit card offers that are worth recommending.  We used to write posts when there was a new or updated offer and link them on our Deals page.  Now we are updating the best current offers right on the product pages to make sure everything is up to date!  When you click the links on the Deals page, you will be taken to the applicable product page and under "Signup Bonus" section you will find the current offer.  We also added "Historical best bonus" to help you understand how the current offer compares to the best in history.  Hope you like the change!

© 2016 DrCreditCard.net  All rights reserved.