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I searched but didn't find this exact topic. I have the CSR & Freedom cards, as well as BoA Travel Rewards and BoA Cash Rewards. I am currently BoA Platinum Honors status thanks to a 401k in Merrill Lynch.
Basically, I'm trying to figure out what the best path to take is for future spend, excluding airfare and hotels as I have the Citi Prestige which I am taking advantage of the 4th night free at least 3 to 4 times per year. Additionally it earns 3X on travel and hotel and those points convert nicely to JetBlue (I believe I recently did 1000->1200 and made out like a bandit) which I've been raking up for a family vacation to Puerto Rico at some point in the future. So I don't need the CSR/Travel Rewards for hotel spend because the Prestige more than pays for itself + the $250 air credit.
With BoA Platinum Honors I get 75% bonus so the Travel Rewards card earns 2.63% on everything (better than my 2.5% USAA which requires $1k direct deposit). The Cash Rewards earns 5.25% for gas. I shop at Target with the 5% redcard debit card so I don't think any credit card is going to beat that for groceries.
How does the CSR+Freedom card stack up against using the Cash Rewards for gas, Prestige for air and hotel, and Travel rewards for everything else?
Or is there some way that the CSR+Freedom combo could actually replace the Prestige card that I'm currently not aware of (I don't want to be paying $450 AF on two cards)?
I had the AMEX Platinum but with the AF hike and having the Prestige, I cancelled the platinum card because I just didn't feel like I got anything close to the AF back. That, and MR points are useless except to transfer to airline partners (and there's no AA....?).
Not to complicate it further but I have the 5% Amazon Chase card and the Marvel for dining & entertainment (3%).
So, as I understand it, you using your Citi Prestige to for hotel and airfare, and that works best for you with Jet Blue transfers and 4th night free. So, for all of your non-travel spend, you're wanting to know what is best, cash back or UR points.
To me, what would swing the decision is your dining spend. CSR's unlimited 3x points is unbeatable on dining. But the effective $150 AF is only worth it if you're spending a lot on this category.
Also, are going to be able to maximize your UR point redemption?The best redemption's are international business class. Is that of interest to you? It also takes a minimum 120K per round trip, so some significant point accumulation is needed.
For me personally, I have a 3% JCB card in the sock drawer because the CSR/Freedom/FU UR combo is worth more to me. But the Chase trifecta lines up perfectly with my spend (huge amount of travel and dining) and my desired rewards (international business class). So I personally only consider cash back when it's 5%.
Good points, thanks for the responses.
I don't do any first/business class international travel. In fact I am using 450k AeroPlan points next year (already booked) to get from Dallas to Tokyo (NRT) for 6 people in economy, and I'll likey use some combination of Merrill+ / AA / Citi TY points to pay for round trip Tokyo<->Bangkok tickets. So ultimately no I don't have any plans what-so-ever of flying by myself in first or business class internationally.
Dining, we do eat out quite a bit - but as you just mentioned I don't know that the UR points would accumulate to the point of being useful vs. using the Marvel card's straight automatic 3% cash back. It sounds like it's not beneficial for me to go the Freedom / CSR route, so I'll likely downgrade to the regular Sapphire to not lose a really old credit line.