Credit Cards

[jefftca925]

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FrugalRican wrote:

You're telling me, CSP would be my third card with them.

I feel so cheap.

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If you have other Chase "travel-related" co-branded cards (i.e. United, Southwest, Hyatt, etc.) you could cancel those and just have the CSP.  You can transfer UR points to any one of their travel partner programs 1:1.

[FrugalRican]

The Hyatt gives me free nights just for having it

I'll be keeping that one lol

But that's one of the reasons why I'm not eyeballing the United Mileage card anymore.

I'm better off just having the CSP.

[bribro]

FYI: The exact breakeven point when someone should use CSP over Freedom for restaurant/travel (assuming those aren't 5% categories) is $9.62 and up. So if you go into McDonald's and your total is $10, use CSP, if it's $9.50 use Freedom. Not that it makes much of a difference.

[FrugalRican]

It still is a good thing to keep in mind.

Still wondering about the break even for dining and the annual fee.

9500 points transfers to the $95 fee. Technically, that'd mean spending $9,500 in dining to do that, but seeing as it's 2X, it'd be halved to $4,750 in dining, but with the bonuses, it'd be less. Without the bonuses, it comes down to spending about $92 a week in dining just to cover the annual fee. I don't spend that much or my math is terrible...

But technically I could spend a bunch on the Freedom and just transfer points to the CSP to cover for the annual fee anyway.

Things to think about.

[Open123]

The beauty of this combo is using the Freedom for non-bonus category spending, especially the small coffee, mints, and candy bar purchases.  10 points for a cup of coffee, another 10 for a candybar/mint, and another 10 for paying a $2 parking toll adds up.

I can see where this get tiresome, but one could maximize rewards by partitioning all small purchases and non-bonus category expenditures to the Freedom.

PS - I think Amex has responded to this concept by offering a new business no fee Blue card that offers 10% MR bonus the first year, then 20% the second year, and 30% MR bonus on the third year onwards; however, there is a no minimum "10pt" bonus concept as there is with the Freedom.

[FrugalRican]

Open, do you know if the 40,000 bonus is going to be as good as it gets from here until December?

[Open123]

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FrugalRican wrote:

Open, do you know if the 40,000 bonus is going to be as good as it gets from here until December?

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On the CSP?  Or, do you mean the UA?

For the CSP, I think it's 40k for a while.  We may see another 50k in Sep/Oct, but I'd bet the spending requirement goes up to at least $5k for 3 months.  The UA currently is 50K for the first swipe, and $50 statement credit, if you have some miles in your UA Mileage account.

[FrugalRican]

The CSP. I'm going to go for the CSP rather than the UMP.

I've nixed the airline card idea. I won't be travelling exclusively through United, so I'm better off with the CSP.

[Open123]

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FrugalRican wrote:

The CSP. I'm going to go for the CSP rather than the UMP.

I've nixed the airline card idea. I won't be travelling exclusively through United, so I'm better off with the CSP.

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My guess is the spending requirements will increase.  We're starting to see that now.  

For example, the Chase Ink Bold increased the 50k bonus to $10k in 3 months.  Amex has been offering short term bonus offers but requiring a spending of $5k in 4 months.  While bonuses will still be offered, I think it'll be more difficult to meet the spending requirements.

[Lilybuggy]

Sorry if I missed this but how does the checking account play into this combo.  I get the CSP and CF combo/rewards, etc. but what about banking?