Palladium vs Ritz vs Citi Prestige

[NRB525]

Ok, if you are primarily using United and Ritz/Marriott then the Ritz card should be an easy choice, or the Marriott, just from the higher leverage in the spend points. Same with the United card, which similarly will leverage spend which is directly with United. I doubt any other travel card can beat those brand-specific cards for their own spend benefits.

[Anonymous]

The Ritz was what I was leaning towards. It is a shame I didn't jump on the Palladium sooner before they closed the backdoor apps. The 35,000 points for 100k in spending would be nice!

[Anonymous]

What are you looking for? Prestige? Rewards (e.g. points or cash back)? Perks (e.g. lounge access or upgrades)? If prestige, the Palladium would be the best of the three. Or get an Amex Plat and put all your spending on it plus a little more for a Centurion invite. Both are decent prestige cards with some useful perks, but neither is especially useful for more people beyond just the prestige of having it. 

You already have one of the best points cards. The CSP is awesome at your spending levels and UR points are one of the most valuable points currencies around. Other points cards might make sense if your spending is different, but the other cards you mentioned can't really compete. Take the Ritz for example, the point accumulation is slower (unless you have high Ritz spend) and the points are worth less than UR points because they are not easily transferred. However, the Ritz card can be an awesome perks card if you frequent Marriott or RItz properties. 

Perks can be a very rewarding reason to get a card. Take the Amex Plat. It sucks compared to even the no AF Amex ED, let alone other Amex rewards cards offerings. However, for a frequent traveler, the lounge access could be worth much more than cash back or points. Often you keep these cards for the perks and put little to no spend on them unless you have a specific reason like a Centurion invite. The Ritz card also has nice perks if you visit Marriotts or Ritz properties frequently. Gold elite status is easy to obtain and it is very beneficial for frequent guests at Ritz/Marriott. The card also has lounge access and other benefits (so does the Citi card). However, for others, it is not quite as good as the CSP. The same can be said for most hotel/airline cards. If you have a particular hotel or airline you frequent a lot, one of their cards might make sense due to potential perks. 

Note everything I stated above does not take into consideration sign-on bonuses. For example, the Ritz card has a 140k points sign-up bonus. This makes the card a solid choice for the first year at least based on the bonus. However, if you want a long-term card and don't like applying for multiple cards and closing them after the first year, the card makes a lot less sense (unless you frequent Ritz, etc). 

I would not use any of the above 3 cards as a CSP replacement. Rather, get them if you need their unique perks or rewards and only put qualifying spend on them. For example, put RItz/Marriott stays on the Ritz card and additional general spend to meet the spending requirement for gold elite status. The rest of your spend (the bulk) should go on top notch rewards cards like the CSP, Amex SPG, or whatever card has the best bonuses for your spend type and redemption needs. 

[Anonymous]

Wow, great info. I do not plan on getting rid of my CSP, I just want something to supplement it, especially with them getting rid of the annual 7% dividend. I am not a fan of having a whole bunch of cards, historically I have only carried one or two cards. That is part of the reason I chose the CSP, it was a great card for general spending. Since I frequent Marriott and Ritz often, I thought Ritz would be a good option as a supplement to the CSP. I won't say prestige is at the top of my list, but I definitely would like something that is a caliber above my CSP. That being said, I'm not going to shell out $10,000 for a centurion or move 250k over to Chase for the Palladium.

[NRB525]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

The Ritz was what I was leaning towards. It is a shame I didn't jump on the Palladium sooner before they closed the backdoor apps. The 35,000 points for 100k in spending would be nice!

---

You should get the Ritz card. It has "other lounge" access to complement whatever United lounge access you already earn, if that does not extend for some reason to certain overseas airports.

My understanding of the pricing of Marriott/Ritz points is they are worth less than United points (even worse than Delta if you can believe that) so having even the United Mileage Explorer for United ticket purchases, while it says 2 points on both the Ritz and United cards, the 2 miles on the United card for airline tickets are going to be directly to miles, estimated 1.5 cents each, so should be worth more. 2 points for airline tickets on the Ritz card is 2 hotel points, estimated to be 0.7 cents each.

[jsucool76]

If you stay at the Ritz, get the Ritz card. 3x yearly free upgrades to club level on stays up to 7 nights, and a 100$ hotel credit on any stay of 2+ nights.

Plus an additional 5 points per dollar on Marriott/ritz spend. Adds up quick.

[Kenny]

I think for maximum value you might need more than 1 card, possibly.

The Ritz for any travel spend (in order to utilize the 300 fee reimbursement on any fees related to your travel) and also for the 100 Ritz credit for staying that was mentioned previously also for the maximum points for the Ritz stay. (Also right now you have a 140k Ritz points for 3k in spend which would be quite easily reached for you.

I think maybe Platinum would be a good conjunctive card possibly for you if you value MR. There is also a 200 airline fee credit per year bringing your AF down even more. Concierge is top notch.

Prestige also has some travel credit so might be a good card for you. Just need to look into seeing which out of the 2-3 would you want to apply for. May not be any harm in applying for more than one -- I would do that if I were in your situation.

I'm curious to see what you will land on -- please update us when you decide.

[dilettante]

OP, looks like you've gotten good info and questions to ask yourself regarding these cards.  The only thing I can add is my experience with all these cards - I have Palladium, Ritz, Prestige, as well as Amex Platinum, SPG, etc.  

Palladium - you get full UA lounge membership, Lounge Club, annual "gifts", hidden TL, 3X CL spend limit, higher tier concierge services as well as general CS, annual 35K bonus after 100K spend.  But only bonus category is travel.  I usually just put 100k spend to get the bonus each year,  Customer service is great, concierge service is YMMV.  they can't do the impossible like some people expect them to do.  Unless you already have money at Chase, get the AF reimbursed, need a hidden TL, or really value UA Club membership, this card is not the best for accumulating points.  I use it because it's my only UR transfer card since I closed the CSP.

Prestige - has actually worked out better than I initially thought.  The 4th night free at any hotel benefit has been great so far - I've booked quite a few stays at Four Season's, Waldorf Astoria's and will get reimbursed for over $2.5k.  Points add up very fast (3X travel, hotels, 2X dining), $250 airline credit, AA lounge access, Priority Pass Select, excellent customer service so far. All this has made it one of my favorite cards.  It has limited transfer partners but the ones that work for me are Flying Blue (AF/KLM), and Singapore.

Amex Plat - I hardly put any spend on it because it has no bonus categories and I haven't been accumulating MR points with other cards.  I consider this purely a perks card. I use it mainly for FHR (Fine Hotels program), IAP (buy one business/first ticket, get second one for only taxes), Gold SPG status, and some of the Amex deals that come along.

Amex SPG - is great and I use for non bonus spend, stays at SPG properties (Westin, Park Hyatt, Sheraton). The large number of airline transfer partners and the 5k bonus when you transfer 20k is what makes this valuable for me.

Ritz - it's a great card to maximize spend at Marriott's/Ritz.  I don't stay enough at the chain (I like Four Season's better) to make status but since DH's work travels involve Marriot's, I use the card for Gold Status when I do redemption stays for me or family. 

It looks like you have upper tier status with Ritz, so some of the benefits won't be needed by you but at least you'll get more points for your Ritz stays.  The $300 airline credit and sign up bonus is a great reason to get this card.  The Lounge Club program that comes with it is not the greatest but don't know if you're looking for that benefit. I hardly ever use it since I travel only for pleasure and I usually try to minimize times spent at airport or if international, I get business/first class tickets that have better lounges with that airline. Customer service is excellent since it's the within the same group that covers Palladium cardholders.

I have quite a few more "travel" cards.  Since I'm not really brand loyal, I have lots of cards for various needs for certain destinations.  If you're tied to UA and Ritz and want to be, then it might be best to just stick with CSP and Ritz.

[-NewGuy-]

---

@Kenny wrote:
I think for maximum value you might need more than 1 card, possibly.

The Ritz for any travel spend (in order to utilize the 300 fee reimbursement on any fees related to your travel) and also for the 100 Ritz credit for staying that was mentioned previously also for the maximum points for the Ritz stay. (Also right now you have a 140k Ritz points for 3k in spend which would be quite easily reached for you.

I think maybe Platinum would be a good conjunctive card possibly for you if you value MR. There is also a 200 airline fee credit per year bringing your AF down even more. Concierge is top notch.

Prestige also has some travel credit so might be a good card for you. Just need to look into seeing which out of the 2-3 would you want to apply for. May not be any harm in applying for more than one -- I would do that if I were in your situation.

I'm curious to see what you will land on -- please update us when you decide.

---

I would tend to agree. 

For example, the Ritz is a great card with a ton of perks, like Kenny mentioned. Especially so since you frequent Ritz and Marriot properties. However, it might not be the best card for general spend. If you include the 10% annual bonus, you are getting 1.1 points per dollar spent. With those points having a value of .6 - .7 cents apiece, you aren't even getting a full 1% cash back. So perhaps the Ritz for categorized spend (marriott, airline, restaurants, etc) and another card.

However, to be fair, "value" is entirely dependant on you. For example, if you redeem four free nights in a row at Marriott / RC, you get the fifth night free. So the value of those points goes up (no points for the fifth night). Also depending on which property you stay at, you may get better or worse value than stated above. And then there is the question of whether you really want more than a few credit cards.

In any event, with the amount of spending that you are putting on annually, I think that you are right on to do all this research.

[jsucool76]

---

@-NewGuy- wrote:

---

@Kenny wrote:
I think for maximum value you might need more than 1 card, possibly.

The Ritz for any travel spend (in order to utilize the 300 fee reimbursement on any fees related to your travel) and also for the 100 Ritz credit for staying that was mentioned previously also for the maximum points for the Ritz stay. (Also right now you have a 140k Ritz points for 3k in spend which would be quite easily reached for you.

I think maybe Platinum would be a good conjunctive card possibly for you if you value MR. There is also a 200 airline fee credit per year bringing your AF down even more. Concierge is top notch.

Prestige also has some travel credit so might be a good card for you. Just need to look into seeing which out of the 2-3 would you want to apply for. May not be any harm in applying for more than one -- I would do that if I were in your situation.

I'm curious to see what you will land on -- please update us when you decide.

---

I would tend to agree. 

For example, the Ritz is a great card with a ton of perks, like Kenny mentioned. Especially so since you frequent Ritz and Marriot properties. However, it might not be the best card for general spend. If you include the 10% annual bonus, you are getting 1.1 points per dollar spent. With those points having a value of .6 - .7 cents apiece, you aren't even getting a full 1% cash back. So perhaps the Ritz for categorized spend (marriott, airline, restaurants, etc) and another card.

However, to be fair, "value" is entirely dependant on you. For example, if you redeem four free nights in a row at Marriott / RC, you get the fifth night free. So the value of those points goes up (no points for the fifth night). Also depending on which property you stay at, you may get better or worse value than stated above. And then there is the question of whether you really want more than a few credit cards.

In any event, with the amount of spending that you are putting on annually, I think that you are right on to do all this research.

---

Any non-category spend over 10k annually (to renew ritz/marriott gold if you can't do so by nights alone) should go on a different card. The prestige is looking really attractive right now for the plethora of lounges you get access to as well as the 4th night free at any hotel booked through them, and the $250 airline credit that can be applied directly to a ticket purchase.