Now now be nice I understand your meaning but lets keep it friendly we're all entitle to a view and they will certainly differ at times 
MJ
Depends what you want out of the card.
On the base travel merits alone I'd agree CSP > Venture; however, I'm sitting on a pre-approval from Chase re: CSP, and also pretty certain the pre-qual I got from Cap 1 is solid, and personally I'm picking the Venture post mortgage closing and my need to finance some furniture.
I'm not immediately chasing the travel benefits nor the rewards in the cards, and the comparison favors Cap 1 for the following:
- 0% financing promotion
- Higher limit (for me, I would like to hit 20K, think that's a feasible target with their current underwriting and my profile... could use that benchmark for an application or two next year to finish off my desired portfolio)
- Pre-qual is sitting at 12.9% which is absurdly low compared to my other rewards cards currently. Not really a balance carrying card but it's better than some others I could mention in my portfolio if rates markedly jump over the next year and I miss the transition to a high balance low APR card. Oh to have started my journey a year earlier.
- If the travel rewards cards vanish overnight at some point and I'm stuck with the Venture, I'll be OK with it.
Anyway what I'm trying to get at is: evaluate what your needs are and then go pick based off of that. All the opinions in the world may not fit what you individually need.
OP, this is the age-old question of whether points or cash back (Venture is basically cash) is better. To get maximum value from points you need to plan way out in advance (6 months to a year), you need to book premium travel to get max value (preferably premium international) and you need to have the time to mess with all the booking rules, points transfers, etc. For me, that just doesn't work very well. The biggest challenge is that I can't book far in advance and by the time I look (maybe a month in advance), decent value points rewards are all gone. I also don't have a lot of time to waste on tracking points & exchange rates, etc., so cash back definitely works better for me. For some people, maximizing points & exchange etc., are a hobby so that's cool too for them.
To those who claim unequivocally that the Fidelity Amex & Double Cash are better, I offer the following. If you're compared 1 vs. 1, neither card offers a sign-on bonus and the Venture offers a $400 sign-on bonus. Taken in conjunction with the $59 AF with first year free, the Venture is better than those cards for the first 8 years or so, Given how much things change in that period of time, I'd say that there's no way those other cards can offset the $400. Now, the optimal strategy would be to get the Venture, collect the bonus, then get another card afterwards, but if you're comparing 1 vs. 1, there's no contest. For those rocking the DC or Fidelity, let us know about 8 years from now if it's been worth it because until that time you'll be behind.
The other factor applies just to the Fidelity Amex and not the DC. Amex simply isn't accepted in as many places as Visa/MC. If you're talking about getting a card as a general spend catch-all card especially for travel, it goes without saying that it has to be accepted everywhere. Also, the Venture has no international transaction fees, not sure if the Fidelity & DC offer that as well, but since the subject here is travel cards, international fees can be a huge factor.
@Anonymous wrote:Which is a better travel card ?
Hands down Amex Platinum peared with Venture or CSP. Travel abroad and domestic for buisiness and the $450 annual fee more than pays for its self with perks. Matched up with venture or CSP if someone doesn't take Amex. Venture 2% on everything .
I
