Over the last few years, many clients, who are parents of young adults, have often asked my advice on the best card for their 20 something, newly working, living in the city, son or daughter. When I eventually speak with these kids, I learn that they all spend most of their money on food and entertainment. And, smartly, they all foresee some travel in their future.
I usually recommend one bank to start but sometimes the plan will require a second card from that bank to make the plan perfect. I usually have these kids apply for this subsequent card about 6-12 months after applying for their initial card. Once they are set up in the plan, they earn LOTS of rewards that they ultimately use to travel FOR FREE. My go-to plans are designed with cards from Citibank, Chase and Capital One. I detail them below in no particular order.
Citibank Plan
To make life simple for these kids, I sometimes receommend the Citi Double Cash. After all, earning 2% cash back on EVERY PURCHASE (1% when you charge and 1% when you pay), is hard to top, especially when you consider the card has no annual fee. There is no thinking about categories either with this card, it doesn’t matter what you are purchasing, as long as you pay your bill, you earn 2% cash back on your spending. And this card seems easy to get as most of the kids that I advised were approved, albeit with a small credit line.
Ideally, the kids should use the card a lot and make timely payments. Then in about 6-12 months, especially if travel is in their future, they should apply fo a Citi ThankYou Premier Card.
With a Citi ThankYou Premier card, these kids will begin to earn Citi ThankYou points, a very flexible and lucrative rewards currency. And they will earn a lot of points as the card offers 3x points per $1 on categories that these kids are spending their money on anyway: supermarkets, restaurants, air, hotel and gas. The card offers 1x per $1 for all other purchases.
And here’s the best part. Once you have the Citi Premier, all of the cash back earned with the Double Cash card can be converted into ThankYou points, immediately, with just a few clicks. Citi ThankYou points can be used to pay for travel or they can be transferred to one of the Citi’s many transfer partners.
Although the Premier card has a $95 annual fee, there is currently an increased 80,000 point bonus for spending $4k in 3 months (spend it!). The bonus itself is worth a minimum of $800. That covers 8 years of annual fees and think about how many points these kids will earn every time they dine out, order in or stock up on groceries. And for all that free travel outside the US, this is a great card to take as there are no foreign transaction fees.
In summary, if these kids go with the “Citi Plan”, they should use their Citi Premier card on supermarkets, restaurants, air, hotel and gas and their Citi Double Cash for anything else, as they will effectively earn 2x per $1 on all of their other purchases when they convert their cash to ThankYou points.
However, many of these kids wanted what their friends had
For those
We stayed on Main Street for 5 FREE nights at the Marriott’s Summit Watch in a very large two-bedroom suite complete with a living room and kitchen on Marriott Bonvoy points with the 5th night free. And, we actually took a vacation from our vacation, just like we did in Maui at the Grand Wailea, when we spent one luxurious night at the Waldorf Astoria Park City using a free Standard Room Reward that I get as a Hilton Honors American Express Aspire cardmember. But here, we were upgraded from our standard room to a spectacular two-bedroom suite for the night. It was a luxurious stay and would have cost $1045 for the one night (I looked it up that day). Lucky me!!
We spent our five days checking out the wonderful town and shops and restaurants of Park City. And we took a few excursions out of Park City and had our own car (the one paid for expense on our trip). Speaking of the car, I had a reservation at Avis in Salt Lake City. When we got to the rental car place, the line to even get to the counter was about 3 hours, and there was a shortage of cars! What?!?!!. A call to Amex Platinum (who I had booked the SLC car thru) got me a similar rental at the nice and empty Park City Avis office which I picked up the next day. We instead grabbed an Uber from the SLC Airport and were on our way…..
We were tired and starving our first night in town as we had traveled all day, and there was the 2 hour time difference. We stayed very local (right outside our hotel) and had our first of many delicious meals at Buona Vita. After the solid pizzas, pasta and salads, we fell right into our beds. After all, it was going to be a very busy week…
We spent the first day of our stay checking out all of the ski resorts and hesitantly (at first) riding the lifts. For my mom and sister, who are not skiers, the chairlift was a scary proposition. But after a few of the very high and long chairlifts at the Canyons, they both started to see the appeal. We rode two lifts and the gondola at the Canyons, which entailed a very long uphill walk to get from one to the other. Kudos to Myra for making the trek (although really slowly). And ultimately tackled the steep and dated Town Lift later that day in Park City. Our first day’s terrific meals were lunch at Sammy’s Bistro with dinner later at the Blind Dog. Two of my favorite places in Park City that I was sharing with my fam!
Day 2 had us driving about 30 minutes out of Park City, where we had an amazing lunch at Midway Mercantile. We then headed to what turned out to be a very disappointing train ride through the Heber Valley Railroad. We did the 90 minute Deer Creek Express ride, and the views of the Deer Creek Reservoir were great, and it was fun watching all the windsurfers. But other than that, the ride was boring and hot with mediocre entertainment, although the fiddler was quite good! Unless you have small kids who like trains, I would file this excursion under pass. Dinner that night was our most expensive one at Grub Steak, another Park City staple that I have been to often. During my first summer visit, I learned they need better AC with their solid steaks and sides.
Day 3 was one of my favorite days. We drove to the Great Salt Lake in SLC for a boat tour with many swims, aka floats in the lake. There is so much salt that you can totally float in the water, just like you can at the Dead Sea. Who knew that there was this high of salt content in the Salt Lake and that this was an activity that people do! My sister and I spent a lot of time in the water as it was hot! And it was fun! Another positive to being in the water is that we could avoid all of the brine flies that joined us for our ride. As you can see, my mother did not like the flies! They are harmless but annoying.
When we got back to Park City, we gussied up for our night of fancy hotels. Our first stop was a check-in at the Waldorf Astoria for a luxurious night’s stay. Just like we did in Maui when we took a vacation from our vacation and spent a night at the Grand Wailea, we did the same thing here in Park City. 
You see, I have Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, and each one normally comes with a free weekend night reward every year after renewal. Due to covid, Hilton Honors made these easier to use by extending the expiration dates. So with the extended expiration, I had a nice stash of easy-to-use free nights. Why not use one here!
Upon check-in to the Waldorf, as a Diamond Member (also a benefit of my card), I was upgraded (based on availability) to a one-bedroom suite that would have cost $1100 for the night (I checked!). Wow, what a spectacular use of my Hilton Free Night Award!
We reluctantly left our new abode and headed out to the St. Regis Deer Valley where we had a FREE drink at the St. Regis Bar, although we were too late to get a table on the terrace. These drinks were free because I have an annual $300 Bonvoy credit with my Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card.
We then headed to the Montage Deer Valley (um, wow) for dinner at Burgers and Bourbon where we feasted on juicy yummy burgers and fries. 
We explored the spectacular hotel a bit and took some really nice photos. I want to stay here! Since I have a late checkout because I am a Hilton Diamond member (because of my American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card), we spent a leisurely day at the Waldorf pool the next day, having drinks and lunch in our chairs as we relaxed. In the afternoon, we headed to the Waldorf spa for some reflexology treatments that were also subsidized with my $250 statement credit I receive at Hilton properties, once again because of my lucrative Hilton Aspire card. Thank you, Amex, again!
What followed after our amazing day was my favorite night. We traveled about an hour to the Sundance Resort to see Footloose at the resort’s outdoor theater. The setting was just about perfect as it was a still, warm night under the stars. 
And we thoroughly enjoyed what seemed like an almost a professional performance by the cast while lopping up our suckers (unwrapped lollipops sold at the show-not very covid safe :-)). Before the show, we enjoyed the resort’s bbq at picnic tables in the woods. It was really a great night despite the very long drive to and from and a lot of organized chaos to finally get to the theater (ie-u need to take shuttles from the parking lot to the resort, etc.). I highly recommend making this trip if you are in Park City during the summer theater season!
Our last full day started with me finally making it to The Eating Establishment for brunch, a feat I had been unable to accomplish on all of my many other trips to Park City because of the wait! There was a wait this time too, but only about 30 minutes which seemed like nothing while sitting outside on Main Street and people watching. It was here that I got my favorite lunch salad of the entire trip, the Thai Marinated Steak Salad. Um, yum!
From our delicious brunch, we headed down Main Street taking in the Park Silly Sunday Market. This street festival takes place each Sunday in the summer on Main Street, and it seems like it is enjoyed by locals and tourists alike. We didn’t buy that much but enjoyed the unique jewelry, art, and craft stands. And had we not had lunch, it would have been fun to get something from one of the many food trucks at the bottom of Main Street where the festival ended. Next time!
To say adios to our wonderful trip, we indulged in Mexican for our final meal at the Crystal Park Cantina in the heart of Main Street. We then finally went for one of my favorite Main Street places, Java Cow. Um, yum again!
Overall, it was a great birthday trip for my mom and sister, and I look forward to some more adventures with them! Hopefully for FREE!!!
