lol AMEX Platinum just upped theirs to $695 and the "added benefits" are COMPLETE dog shit. There is no doubt I'm cancelling my Platinum at renewal unless they give me like... an 80% discount.
lol AMEX Platinum just upped theirs to $695 and the "added benefits" are COMPLETE dog shit. There is no doubt I'm cancelling my Platinum at renewal unless they give me like... an 80% discount.Got mail notice that annual fee for the CSR card will be $550 this next cycle. It’s getting tough to justify keeping the card being an occasional traveler. Is switching to Amex worth it?
Yeah, I'm on the fence now as well. I come up for renewal in September and I don't think I'm getting the extra $250 of benefits to make up the difference. The only reason I've really been maintaining it is the extra 50% redemption which improves my chase Freedom and my Ink business card.Got mail notice that annual fee for the CSR card will be $550 this next cycle. It’s getting tough to justify keeping the card being an occasional traveler. Is switching to Amex worth it?
Got the same mail yesterday. I'm probably going to keep mine because wife and I plan on doing lot of international travel. The CSR primary rental car coverage and airport lounge access for 3 are pretty useful perks. I feel like I get more than $250 use out of the card.Got mail notice that annual fee for the CSR card will be $550 this next cycle. It’s getting tough to justify keeping the card being an occasional traveler. Is switching to Amex worth it?
The Clear membership isn't bad and, for us, the $200 towards FHR and hotel collection properties will make up for the cost. The streaming credit options aren't great thoughlol AMEX Platinum just upped theirs to $695 and the "added benefits" are COMPLETE dog shit. There is no doubt I'm cancelling my Platinum at renewal unless they give me like... an 80% discount.
The Clear membership isn't bad and, for us, the $200 towards FHR and hotel collection properties will make up for the cost. The streaming credit options aren't great though
So you feel like you get good enough return on Amex Platinum and CSR to keep both? I'm kind of tempted to get Amex Platinum just because we're going to be traveling so much and 100k signup bonus is nice incentive. But having both Amex Plat and CSR just seems like overkill after the first year signup bonus is gone. Good 2% straight cash back card and one Amex Plat combo or CSR and Freedom & Freedom Unlimited combo would seem like plenty and possibly better option than keeping both CSR and Amex Plat.The Clear membership isn't bad and, for us, the $200 towards FHR and hotel collection properties will make up for the cost. The streaming credit options aren't great though
Just do a "product change" to Chase Freedom or CSP and keep your CUR points.Got mail notice that annual fee for the CSR card will be $550 this next cycle. It’s getting tough to justify keeping the card being an occasional traveler. Is switching to Amex worth it?
Just do a "product change" to Chase Freedom or CSP and keep your CUR points.
Amex bumped their signup offer for me to 150k points. I was strongly considering at 125k but I couldn't say no to 150k. Applied and was instantly approved. Now have both Amex Platinum and CSR. I'll switch my Four Seasons hotel reservation in Seoul for Sept from CSR card to Amex Platinum to take advantage of Amex FHR perks.
You're right for anyone actually spending 5 figures on dining and travel (the incremental benefit for other charges is modest). TXHokie said they are an "occasional traveler" so CSP or Chase Freedom is probably a better fit, unless they are balling it up with high-end dining expenditures.It doesn't take that much annual spend to justify the delta in effective annual fee between CSP and CSR. Earning 50% more points on travel/dining and redeeming them for 20% more is a substantial difference. For anyone spending low to mid 5 figures annually through Chase cards I'd be shocked if the Reserve were not the better choice.
Viper GTS
You're right for anyone actually spending 5 figures on dining and travel (the incremental benefit for other charges is modest). TXHokie said they are an "occasional traveler" so CSP or Chase Freedom is probably a better fit, unless they are balling it up with high-end dining expenditures.
So you feel like you get good enough return on Amex Platinum and CSR to keep both? I'm kind of tempted to get Amex Platinum just because we're going to be traveling so much and 100k signup bonus is nice incentive. But having both Amex Plat and CSR just seems like overkill after the first year signup bonus is gone. Good 2% straight cash back card and one Amex Plat combo or CSR and Freedom & Freedom Unlimited combo would seem like plenty and possibly better option than keeping both CSR and Amex Plat.
I don't spend much. Most years I spend less than $100k. I think I caught a break in Amex algorithm and they were overly generous tonight with their offer. But I'm probably the type of customer they want. I have 800+ FICO, high income/high net worth, own several competitor bank credit cards all with high credit line limits, and was previous Amex gold card member with no record of prior Platinum card membership. Their computer probably saw I have Chase Sapphire Reserve, Apple, and Southwest Airlines cards so I'm a traveler and all my accounts are old. I don't churn, and I rarely open new cards.Jeebus, how much money do you spend in life? I dont even think I've seen 150k offers. Most credit card churning sites are reporting 125k bonus
I ESPECIALLY haven't seen 150k for only spending 6k.
All that is baked into how travel rewards credit cards work, and we both know that. An average household doesn't generate 60k points a year, so will probably be hard-pressed to get value from CSR. I know because I had the card for 3 years, but am currently parking the CUR points in a Freedom Unlimited account.You don't need to spend it all on travel and dining though to make it worthwhile. Nor do you (for now, at least) need to redeem on travel to receive the 1.5x redemption value (via Pay Yourself Back - Maximizing cash back with Chase's Pay Yourself Back feature - The Points Guy ). The real value is point consolidation from other cards. Quarterly categories on Freedom/Flex, the Unlimited's 1.5% on everything, etc. Multiplying all of those by 1.5 instead of 1.25 means you come out ahead if you're generating more than about 60,000 points annually. I haven't put a great deal of effort into the exact $ or point breakeven but unless I've horribly miscalculated I think it's about 60,000 points total. Would be worth $750 on Preferred, $900 on Reserve vs $155 effective delta between the two cards annual fees. Freedom and Flex bonus categories alone could account for a big portion of this with each maxed quarter worth 7,500 points to consolidate to Reserve.
To be clear here I am talking about running a very large portion of my total annual spending through Chase cards. Even simple things like the fact that my power company offers no penalty for paying with credit card, and no incentive for paying cash. So that's ~3600 points annually towards that 60,000 number and it's money I had to spend anyway.
Viper GTS
How do you get a credit score in excess of 800? I heard that is pretty rare.I don't spend much. Most years I spend less than $100k. I think I caught a break in Amex algorithm and they were overly generous tonight with their offer. But I'm probably the type of customer they want. I have 800+ FICO, high income/high net worth, own several competitor bank credit cards all with high credit line limits, and was previous Amex gold card member with no record of prior Platinum card membership. Their computer probably saw I have Chase Sapphire Reserve, Apple, and Southwest Airlines cards so I'm a traveler and all my accounts are old. I don't churn, and I rarely open new cards.
How do you get a credit score in excess of 800? I heard that is pretty rare.
It's not that rare. There are lot of people with excellent credit score. It's not hard to get high credit score. Just have several credit cards, pay all your bills on time, and utilize only small percentage of your total available credit. That's it.How do you get a credit score in excess of 800? I heard that is pretty rare.
Exactly this. My credit score generally sits just above 800 but I've done a lot to it over the last 6 months to make it drop down into the high 700s lately. I have several cards all offering >$30k (one being CSR) but I'd be very surprised getting a $50k card.It's not that rare. There are lot of people with excellent credit score. It's not hard to get high credit score. Just have several credit cards, pay all your bills on time, and utilize only small percentage of your total available credit. That's it.
What's rare are high credit lines. It's lot harder to get $50k+ credit line on a single card. Credit score will help you open the card but banks won't give you really high credit lines until you can demonstrate to them you're reliable and have the income to pay them back. They will often request supporting financial documents before granting you really high credit lines.
How do you get a credit score in excess of 800? I heard that is pretty rare.
Over 800 FICO is not that hard or rare.
i would wager that in much the same way that 100$k is ATOT minimum wage, 800 is ATOT minimum credit score
See my link above, about 21% of Americans have 800 FICO or better. I don't see anywhere that 21% of Americans are making $100K per year.