What is Travel Hacking?

Travel hacking is a term for strategies that allow you to travel more comfortably - and save money in the process. You use bonus programs from airlines and hotels to your advantage. They reward loyalty by giving you points for your travels. These points can then be redeemed for flights and hotel stays at no cost. Unless you travel frequently for business and fly business class, you are unlikely to accumulate a significant number of points. So how can you, as someone who only travels occasionally, benefit from these advantages? This is where travel credit cards come in.

What are Travel Credit Cards?

The term travel credit cards may be somewhat misleading. These are not credit cards that are best suited for expenses while traveling. There are other cards for that. Read my post on the best credit cards for foreign use for more information. Travel credit cards allow you to collect miles and points without having to earn them through travel. You can earn points for every franc spent. Additionally, there is often a sign-up bonus. In addition to points, travel credit cards have other benefits. These may include free access to airport lounges, insurance packages, or status with a hotel chain. The downside is that all these benefits are not free. An American Express Platinum, the most glamorous Swiss travel credit card, has an annual fee of a whopping CHF 900.

Hilton Honors Card - Best Credit Card for Hotel Stays

The Hilton Honors credit card is issued by DKB, a German bank. However, it can also be applied for by Swiss residents. However, a Euro account is required for this. If you don’t have one yet, it can easily be opened, for example, at N26 or directly at DKB. Here’s an overview of the Hilton Honors card:

• 48 euro annual fee
• Immediate Hilton Honors Gold status
• 5000 Honors points welcome bonus
• 1 Honors point per 1 euro spent

The main advantage of this credit card is clearly the immediate Gold status in the Hilton loyalty program. With this, you get free breakfast and, subject to availability, free room upgrades at all Hilton hotels. Just one stay per year already justifies the 48 euro annual fee. With an annual spend of 20,000 euros, you get the Diamond status. This increases the chances of upgrades, and you also have access to the hotels’ executive lounges, where there is often free food.

The points collected can be redeemed for free overnight stays. You can get a free night for as few as 5000 points. In more expensive hotels, stays naturally cost more points. Also interesting: If you link the card to a DKB account, you can withdraw cash worldwide free of charge. However, the card is not worthwhile for spending outside the Eurozone. The foreign currency fee is just under 2%. This is also the biggest disadvantage for Swiss people. It simply doesn’t make sense to use the card for expenses in Switzerland. So if you don’t spend much money annually in the Eurozone, you are unlikely to benefit from collecting points. In my opinion, however, the 48 euro fee is justified for the Gold status and the worldwide free cash withdrawal alone.

Credit Card for Collecting Miles and More Miles

Swisscard Miles and More Credit Cards

Miles and More is the frequent flyer program of the Lufthansa Group. Swiss is also part of it. It is the most popular program in the German-speaking world, thanks to the countless direct flights from Zurich and Frankfurt. Swisscard offers credit cards for collecting miles. In three editions: Silver, Gold, and Platinum. The Silver and Gold editions are the most interesting.

The Swiss Miles and More Silver credit card offer:

• Annual fee of CHF 120
• 1.5 miles per CHF 2 (when paying with American Express)
• Good insurance package, including travel insurance
• 2000 welcome miles
• Stops miles from expiring

The Swiss Miles and More Gold credit card offer:

• Annual fee of CHF 220
• 2 miles per CHF 2 (when paying with American Express)
• Good insurance package, including travel insurance
• 5000 welcome miles
• Stops miles from expiring

There are often promotions where you receive more welcome miles and the first annual fee is reduced. It’s worth keeping an eye out for these. For a CHF 100 higher annual fee, you get a better collection rate. For 15,000 miles, you can book an economy flight within Europe. In addition to this, you pay fees, which vary depending on the flight, between CHF 10 and over 100÷. In high season and with low fees, booking with miles can definitely be worthwhile.

The Swisscard Miles and More credit cards are not worthwhile for spending abroad. The foreign currency fee is 2.5%, and cash withdrawals cost at least CHF 10.

Cornercard Miles and More Classic Combo

The Cornercard credit card combo is very similar to the Swisscard Miles and More credit cards. Both collect miles from Miles and More of the Lufthansa Group.

• CHF 140 annual fee
• 2 miles per CHF 2 turnover (when paying with Diners Club)
• 5000 welcome miles
• Insurance package, excluding travel insurance
• 5 free lounge entries with an annual turnover of at least CHF 7500

The advantage of the Cornercard offer compared to the Swisscard is the lower annual fee of CHF 140 instead of 220 with the same collection rate. Additionally, with an annual turnover of CHF 7500, you receive five free lounge entries. The biggest disadvantage is the lower acceptance of Diners Club compared to American Express. However, even a Diners Club credit card can be used at many places in Switzerland. For those for whom this is not a problem, the Cornercard is the better choice.

American Express Cards - The All-rounders

This globally popular card is issued in Switzerland by Swisscard. With it, you can collect American Express Membership Rewards points. The main advantage of this is that, unlike the Miles and More cards, you are not limited to one loyalty program. Instead, you can transfer Membership Rewards points to various partners. Here is an overview of the transfer partners:

• Air France/KLM Flying Blue - 2 MR points = 1 mile
• British Airways Executive Club - 3 MR points = 2 miles
• Delta SkyMiles - 2 MR points = 1 mile
• Etihad Guest - 2 MR points = 1 mile
• Miles & More - 2 MR points = 1 mile
• Marriott Bonvoy - 3 MR points = 2 points
• Hilton Honors - 5 MR points = 4 points
• Swisscard offers three cards: Green, Gold, and Platinum.

American Express Green

• CHF 140 annual fee, free in the first year
• 1 point per CHF 2 turnover
• No insurance package

This card is good for those who want to enter the Membership Rewards program as cheaply as possible. Although the collection rate is only half as good as the big brothers, with enough spending, a good number of points can be accumulated here too.

American Express Gold

• CHF 350 annual fee, 175 in the first year
• 1 point per CHF 1 turnover
• 2 free lounge accesses per year
• Comprehensive insurance package, including travel insurance

Those who want a better exchange rate, lounge access, and an insurance package are well served with the Gold card. However, the annual fee is significantly higher.

American Express Platinum

• Annual fee of CHF 900, 450 in the first year
• 1 point per CHF 1 turnover
• Unlimited free lounge access
• Gold status at various hotel chains and car rental companies included
• Comprehensive insurance package
• 100 CHF SWISS voucher per year

This is the luxury card in the American Express segment. The point collection rate is identical to that of the American Express Gold. So you pay a whopping CHF 550 more. In my opinion, this is hardly justified.

Are Travel Credit Cards Worth It in Switzerland?

All travel credit cards have an annual fee. Their competition is free credit cards, as we looked at in this article. So are Swiss travel credit cards worth their price? This depends on your consumption and travel behavior. And whether you can benefit from the insurance packages.

Let’s do a practical example: Let’s say you spend CHF 30,000 annually on your credit cards; with most of the credit cards mentioned here, you will collect 30,000 points. These have approximately the following value:

• Hilton Honors: CHF 100-150
• Miles and More: CHF 500-1500
• Membership Rewards: CHF 250-750

If you instead use the free American Express Cashback Card from Swisscard with 1% cashback, you will receive CHF 300 back. With the Hilton Honors credit card, you even lose money by collecting points compared to the potential cashback. Especially for Swiss people, this Euro card is hardly worthwhile for expenses. Nevertheless, I believe that the 48 euro fee is justified for the Hilton Gold status alone.

The Miles and More cards can be worthwhile. Especially the offer from Cornercard. Even if you take into account the annual fee of CHF 140, the value of the miles is higher than the CHF 300 cashback with the free credit card. However, it is only worthwhile if you can achieve a significant turnover per year. At least CHF 15,000 annually. CHF 140 annual fee for CHF 5000 turnover (resulting in 5000 miles) is hardly worthwhile.

The American Express cards are worthwhile if you value good insurance packages. The Membership Rewards points are only worth about half as much as Miles and More miles - which can also be seen in the exchange rate from MR to Miles and More miles. One advantage is the high flexibility. You can exchange the points for various partner programs. So you are not limited to the offers of the Lufthansa Group. However, due to the high annual fee, the American Express cards are hardly worthwhile for most people.

Conclusion

Whether travel credit cards are worth it in Switzerland varies for each individual. This depends entirely on your consumption and travel behavior. Those who spend no more than CHF 15,000 annually and go on a package holiday in the summer will not benefit from such credit cards. Those who spend a lot of money annually on credit cards can definitely benefit from the points. Especially from CHF 30,000 upwards, it becomes interesting. Such a number of points enables award tickets or upgrades for flights in business class. When bought regularly, these quickly have a value of thousands of Swiss francs. This way, you get a value that is significantly higher than the 1% cashback on free credit cards.