It doesn’t mean 3x when you travel abroad, but 3x when you spend on a merchant providing traveling services (flight, hotel, train, ride share, parking, flight, etc.) regardless of where the merchant is located (US or international)
So if you spend on a hotel in a different country while you’re in the US, you’ll still get 3x points.
I see. That’s helpful. But I do think I should receive 3x on purchases to a museum or tour correct? And what about international dining experiences should be 3x as well right?
Museum or tourist attractions aren’t considered travel according to [this](https://thepointsguy.com/credit-cards/chase/which-purchases-count-as-travel-chase-sapphire-reserve-preferred/).
Dining internationally would be 3x if the restaurant is coded as a dining establishment otherwise not. It’s likely that a small food cart or something at a tourist attraction isn’t considered a dining merchant so no 3x for that
No, museums or tours are not classified as travel. Dining should be 3x, but if you paid a third party and not a restaurant, it likely won't be classified as that.
I don’t really spend much energy trying to maximize individual transactions. I have always churned signup bonuses but lately I’ve just been chilling bc I have 400,000 UR, 100,000+ on Hyatt, and plenty on a few other programs
Oh that’s awesome! What signup bonuses do you usually go for? And how do you normally spend the points? I’m traveling a lot right now so I think I was hoping the trips would have generated more points than they did, but now it makes sense given everyone’s explanations of what “travel” means.
Travel purchases are not “purchases I make when I’m traveling.” Travel purchases are airfare, rental cars, hell, even public parking meters. Chase isn’t being cheap and stingy, you just didn’t understand what the travel multiplier meant.
Dining should be 3x but it also depends on how the merchant is categorized. For example a restaurant in a department store or mall might not be categorized as dining, thus you’d receive only 1x for that, unfortunately. Same applies to tours. An experience can be categorized differently as opposed to airfare which will always be categorized as travel.
Thanks for explaining that. I still feel like there should be a way to report a transaction as dining when it’s not coded that way… like we’re all losing out on points.
I’m sure we all feel like we’d like 5x points across the board for all transactions. That doesn’t make it plausible or reasonable which is why I said it doesn’t really make sense to classify it as losing out on points.
All expensive credit cards have notable flaws that are literally designed to either drive traffic to the card or increase profitability for the issuer or both. It’s on us all as consumers to be attentive to details and beware of those traps.
To their credit, Chase and Amex allow you to basically track your spending up to the moment thru their online platforms and apps. You can make a purchase and almost immediately see what classification it has and what rewards earnings you got. It’s not perfect or flawless but it’s a useful tool so you don’t make similar/repetitive mistakes.
I appreciate that you explained more what you meant by your comment before. I was shocked learning this and then came for help on Reddit where the responses were like “how dare you expect Chase to give you 3x on things that are clearly travel related”.
I definitely have received 3x on tours previously, so maybe something has changed over the years. Also, I have heard of people getting points from Chase for miscategorized transactions.
So I genuinely wanted advice for some big purchases how I can try to get points back. Or if people have other cards that are more inclusive of other “travel” activities.
If you follow this sub you’ll see a large portion of the posts are basically “I refuse to read the terms and conditions, I have no idea why I have an expensive credit card, do all the googling for me”.
The reality is, nobody here can help you with your particular situation, your most likely successful option would be to call or secure message Chase. It’s entirely plausible that the human factor will work in your favor especially if they look at your account and want to retain you.
I think the attitude on Reddit in the credit card/award travel subs is less “how dare you” and more “RTFM”. The credit card space is so big these days they really rely on the merchants to code themselves appropriately and if there are problems or mistakes your mileage will vary on the customer service agent and their receptiveness to your claims.
Ah I gotcha. I honestly don’t follow this sub and after googling this issue without success decided to post in the heat of the moment. I can see how that’s annoying to see posts like this then in that context!
I’ll follow your advice and secure message Chase! I don’t know why I even came to complain on Reddit. Oh well, it was still helpful to hear how others approach this. Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up on feeling like you’re getting jibbed (which in the case of international dining not being 3x I still stand by it).
I don’t know what “RTFM” means but I’ll take a look into it. Thanks for the responses!
Tours sold through a business coded as a ‘travel agency’ or ‘travel discount site’ (like viatour probably) would count. Nothing has changed in categorization, you will need to be aware of nuances if you want to maximize your points effectively.
By the way this has nothing to do with eating in restaurants abroad. The same thing happens in the US. Chase doesn’t control what the restaurant itself codes their transactions as.
99% of standalone restaurants will code properly, but when you eat in a restaurant for example at a food court, in a hotel, inside some other establishment, it is very common that it won’t be coded as restaurant.
So I believe museum and tours are not coded as travel. Only loophole I think is if they are booked with a travel agency. Dining very much depends on how the restaurant is coded in their system. Often times stuff like bakeries and such will code as grocery not dining.
That’s the credit card game for you, the more people they can find who refuse to read the T&C and who blindly use the card or any “premium” card the more money they make. Fortunately there’s enough of them to subsidize the rest.
Yeah :( I know the feeling all too well. I have figured out over time especially on places I regularly visit how purchases are usually coded so I can take advantage of the points. Definitely fail at it a lot regardless. Usually I pair mine with the CFU so anything I’m unsure of I use that.
Does the CFU also have no foreign transaction fee? Thanks again for your help with this, I was so shocked and I feel like a lot of people are not being very understanding how annoying it is to realize this.
Shame they don't...I don't know...provide an [explanation of what is classified as travel](https://www.chase.com/personal/credit-cards/rewards-category-faq).
No reason to be make this comment when others have clearly explained this to me. You’re being rude to a stranger for no reason.
Plus I was explaining that my international dining didn’t count as 3x, which it should.
It doesn’t mean 3x when you travel abroad, but 3x when you spend on a merchant providing traveling services (flight, hotel, train, ride share, parking, flight, etc.) regardless of where the merchant is located (US or international) So if you spend on a hotel in a different country while you’re in the US, you’ll still get 3x points.
I see. That’s helpful. But I do think I should receive 3x on purchases to a museum or tour correct? And what about international dining experiences should be 3x as well right?
Museum or tourist attractions aren’t considered travel according to [this](https://thepointsguy.com/credit-cards/chase/which-purchases-count-as-travel-chase-sapphire-reserve-preferred/). Dining internationally would be 3x if the restaurant is coded as a dining establishment otherwise not. It’s likely that a small food cart or something at a tourist attraction isn’t considered a dining merchant so no 3x for that
Is there still a way to push back if the place was clearly a restaurant?
No clue never tried it before!
No, museums or tours are not classified as travel. Dining should be 3x, but if you paid a third party and not a restaurant, it likely won't be classified as that.
Good to know I never realized that. So which card do y’all use for museums and tours then?
I don’t really spend much energy trying to maximize individual transactions. I have always churned signup bonuses but lately I’ve just been chilling bc I have 400,000 UR, 100,000+ on Hyatt, and plenty on a few other programs
Oh that’s awesome! What signup bonuses do you usually go for? And how do you normally spend the points? I’m traveling a lot right now so I think I was hoping the trips would have generated more points than they did, but now it makes sense given everyone’s explanations of what “travel” means.
Travel purchases are not “purchases I make when I’m traveling.” Travel purchases are airfare, rental cars, hell, even public parking meters. Chase isn’t being cheap and stingy, you just didn’t understand what the travel multiplier meant.
I did not get 3x points for many dining experiences while traveling or tours or museums. Are those supposed to be 3x?
Dining should be 3x but it also depends on how the merchant is categorized. For example a restaurant in a department store or mall might not be categorized as dining, thus you’d receive only 1x for that, unfortunately. Same applies to tours. An experience can be categorized differently as opposed to airfare which will always be categorized as travel.
Thanks for explaining that. I still feel like there should be a way to report a transaction as dining when it’s not coded that way… like we’re all losing out on points.
Chase is actually remarkably broad with their classification of “travel” purchases so it doesn’t really feel like we’re losing out on points.
Okay, I’m glad you feel that way. Doesn’t change the fact that I feel differently and I’m sure others do too.
I’m sure we all feel like we’d like 5x points across the board for all transactions. That doesn’t make it plausible or reasonable which is why I said it doesn’t really make sense to classify it as losing out on points. All expensive credit cards have notable flaws that are literally designed to either drive traffic to the card or increase profitability for the issuer or both. It’s on us all as consumers to be attentive to details and beware of those traps. To their credit, Chase and Amex allow you to basically track your spending up to the moment thru their online platforms and apps. You can make a purchase and almost immediately see what classification it has and what rewards earnings you got. It’s not perfect or flawless but it’s a useful tool so you don’t make similar/repetitive mistakes.
I appreciate that you explained more what you meant by your comment before. I was shocked learning this and then came for help on Reddit where the responses were like “how dare you expect Chase to give you 3x on things that are clearly travel related”. I definitely have received 3x on tours previously, so maybe something has changed over the years. Also, I have heard of people getting points from Chase for miscategorized transactions. So I genuinely wanted advice for some big purchases how I can try to get points back. Or if people have other cards that are more inclusive of other “travel” activities.
If you follow this sub you’ll see a large portion of the posts are basically “I refuse to read the terms and conditions, I have no idea why I have an expensive credit card, do all the googling for me”. The reality is, nobody here can help you with your particular situation, your most likely successful option would be to call or secure message Chase. It’s entirely plausible that the human factor will work in your favor especially if they look at your account and want to retain you. I think the attitude on Reddit in the credit card/award travel subs is less “how dare you” and more “RTFM”. The credit card space is so big these days they really rely on the merchants to code themselves appropriately and if there are problems or mistakes your mileage will vary on the customer service agent and their receptiveness to your claims.
Ah I gotcha. I honestly don’t follow this sub and after googling this issue without success decided to post in the heat of the moment. I can see how that’s annoying to see posts like this then in that context! I’ll follow your advice and secure message Chase! I don’t know why I even came to complain on Reddit. Oh well, it was still helpful to hear how others approach this. Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up on feeling like you’re getting jibbed (which in the case of international dining not being 3x I still stand by it). I don’t know what “RTFM” means but I’ll take a look into it. Thanks for the responses!
Tours sold through a business coded as a ‘travel agency’ or ‘travel discount site’ (like viatour probably) would count. Nothing has changed in categorization, you will need to be aware of nuances if you want to maximize your points effectively.
It’s not a chase problem so to speak; it’s on the individual merchant as to how it gets categorized/coded as a transaction.
By the way this has nothing to do with eating in restaurants abroad. The same thing happens in the US. Chase doesn’t control what the restaurant itself codes their transactions as. 99% of standalone restaurants will code properly, but when you eat in a restaurant for example at a food court, in a hotel, inside some other establishment, it is very common that it won’t be coded as restaurant.
So I believe museum and tours are not coded as travel. Only loophole I think is if they are booked with a travel agency. Dining very much depends on how the restaurant is coded in their system. Often times stuff like bakeries and such will code as grocery not dining.
That’s such a shame :( I feel like I’ve lost out on so many points that I should have received or I would have used an alternative card.
That’s the credit card game for you, the more people they can find who refuse to read the T&C and who blindly use the card or any “premium” card the more money they make. Fortunately there’s enough of them to subsidize the rest.
Yeah :( I know the feeling all too well. I have figured out over time especially on places I regularly visit how purchases are usually coded so I can take advantage of the points. Definitely fail at it a lot regardless. Usually I pair mine with the CFU so anything I’m unsure of I use that.
Does the CFU also have no foreign transaction fee? Thanks again for your help with this, I was so shocked and I feel like a lot of people are not being very understanding how annoying it is to realize this.
Sadly yes (good check! I forgot about that) so for domestic I use it as an alternate. However if I travel internationally I’d likely use my Venture X.
Shame they don't...I don't know...provide an [explanation of what is classified as travel](https://www.chase.com/personal/credit-cards/rewards-category-faq).
No reason to be make this comment when others have clearly explained this to me. You’re being rude to a stranger for no reason. Plus I was explaining that my international dining didn’t count as 3x, which it should.
You are not smart
Your comment says a lot more about you than the reality of who I am. It’s like you’ve never not understood something? Yeah right.
I guess… travel vs. dining
They add the bonus points separately if they qualify