I just started at a new company that is going to have me traveling to both the east and west cost a few times a month from Houston. I have never been much of a traveler and have some general questions for those more experienced:

- What is the best carry on suitcase for 3-5 day trips? I dont care about the money on this. I want the best suitcase because I am going to be living out of it and carrying it around for a quarter of the month moving forward. Based on some preliminary research, I was leaning towards the Travelpro Platinum Elite Carry-On Spinner. Any other suggestions here? Or is that the gold standard?

- What credit card is the best for me to use to acquire airline miles and hotel points for personal use? From what I have heard from coworkers, we typically fly United or Southwest and stay at Marriott hotels.

- Is there anything else that you guys recommend for me to look into? I am brand new into all of this travel mumbo jumbo, but know enough to have already booked my Clear Pre-Check appointment.

Most of my travel is to the East coast. When comparing United and Southwest, I found that United offers more flight options to the places I go the most, including more direct flights, so I decided to stick with United even though I can get to Hobby much quicker than I can get to Bush.

I have the United Club card but also have the AMEX Platinum. Both have lounge access, which is nice to have when you travel a lot. Having the United card and almost exclusively flying United helps to quickly get status which has some perks (free checked bags, earlier boarding groups, upgrades, etc). I don't have a specific card for hotels, but I've found Marriotts tend to be nicer. My suggestion is to pick a hotel chain and stick with it.

My family does a lot of international travel, so we opted to go with Global Entry, which comes with TSA Precheck. I don't have Clear, so I'm not sure if it's any faster than TSA Precheck. It doesn't appear to be much faster, if any.

The Marriott credit card that I have is like $95 bucks a year and I get a free room, so it pays for itself. I probably won't have it much longer because I've reached platinum for life, and so I don't have a need for it. But I'm probably had it for 12 to 14 years or so.

I also have the United one that's about $100 bucks a year, but if I was gonna be flying a lot I would probably get the one that's $500 or whatever it is now that included lounge access.

I travel ~50% for work. A TravelPro spinner will serve you well, and I can do a full week out of one even overseas. YouTube how to pack a suit jacket in a carry on i.e. turn it inside out.

As for the credit card, a Chase Sapphire Preferred is a good card as it has the ability to transfer points to United, Marriot, etc. I still have the Sapphire Reserve card, but the value proposition continues to lower for me and likely will turn it into a Preferred card.

I have used Marriott and Hilton chains over the years and alternated between the two as I get bored with the same lot of hotels especially if going to the same cities over and over. In the last 18 months though, I went back to Marriott as they've been nicer overall, and I'm super close to lifetime platinum. If you're traveling with others though, it's good to know what brand they like so you're not the outlier in the group at the hotel 5 blocks from everyone.

If you're parking in the garage at IAH, make a reservation. Saves money, and is super easy with the license plate scanner. In my early travel years, I did the parking shuttle places, and they just take longer.

For rental cars, I've had the best luck with National and Avis over the years although rarely rent anymore, but get set up with their reward programs.

Uber let's you have a business profile so you don't need two accounts. And if you ever charge a ride to the wrong profile, you can change it after the fact. Also, some cities skew to Uber and some Lyft. Make sure to set up both on your phone. If wait times are super long on one, fire up the other.

I'm not sure if it's only available to small business owners, but I have the Bonvoy Amex Business card. So far this year I've earned 800,000 Marriott points with it and multiple free night certificates. There are definitely people who are more knowledgeable than me about leveraging credit card rewards, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but I've been very satisfied with this card.

I've only stayed at Marriott hotels since I first started traveling for work in 2007. I'm ambassador elite/lifetime platinum now, so the loyalty has paid off. The key is to pick a brand and stick with it. I personally think Marriott has better properties than Hilton in general, but it might just be what I'm used to.

The comment about alcohol needs to be mentioned again. I feel the temptation to have a beer or glass of wine on a random Tuesday every time I'm getting dinner on the road.

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My family does a lot of international travel, so we opted to go with Global Entry, which comes with TSA Precheck. I don't have Clear, so I'm not sure if it's any faster than TSA Precheck. It doesn't appear to be much faster, if any.

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Just fyi, the MPC app is free. When I use it in Denver, it literally tells me to go in the global entry line after landing.

When I was traveling every week I got the Briggs and Riley 2 wheel garment carry on. It has a garment section so I could take my work shirts, slacks, and blazers straight from the closet (w/ the hangers) into the bag, then straight into the closet at the hotel.

It's still going strong and my normal go to suitcase 9 years later. Granted not flying nearly as much these days.