@mikka1 wrote:HiLine, no doubt Fidelity with 2% is better than BofA Travel Rewards with 1.5% (or even 1.65), but I was sure that Fidelity card is offered only to those who have certain relationship with Fidelity Investments, right? If so, that would probably not be a fair comparison as CSP and BofA Travel are offered to whoever wants them (condition he/she is creditworthy enough). Frankly saying, I used BofA Travel mostly because I have this card, I like it and this card is #1 benchmark for me comparing it to the other cards...
"Value" of points is also something one can argue for a long time about. Back to my life abroad, I've always been a huge fan of cards with pure air miles (usually, 1 or 2 miles per $). In this case the actual value when you redeem you bonus might well exceed any reasonable value you can get from cash-back. If you happen to book a ticket for Christmas time for 25000 miles paying only ~$100 in fuel charges/taxes, and this ticket costs $1000 or so in the market, then you have an increadibly good deal. If you happened to redeem 25000 miles + $100 in taxes for a ticket that costs $200 in the market, you've probably made not very wise decision.
So, Chase UR / Amex MR points might be great, but YMMV significantly redeeming them...
By no means I don't want to say that they are bad, but you sometimes need to go an extra mile looking for the best options to redeem them. To this extend cashback is much more "consumer-friendly" :-)
By theway, BofA Travel Rewards is a fantastic card - it is currently my go-to card and my companion on international trips. But I'd be willing to replace this card with the Fidelity when I have to time and will to open the latter. Unless credit cards somehow fall out of favor, I'll be using credit cards for another 50 years, and will continually be increasing my annual spending. As such, it is totally worth it to open a Fidelity account just to get the cash back advantage. The average American household spending is what? 50k a year? The .5% difference becomes a lot more valuable now doesn't it? If you'd be willing to open a BofA account to earn an extra .15 point on top of the 1.5 point, then you can totally open a Fidelity account instead to make yet an extra 0.35.
Frequent flier miles' redemption value is not straightforward. I really like the way the miles get valued on milevalue.com; so I use their chart for an approximation.
@Open123 wrote:
@HiLine wrote:2, I personally find carrying multiple cards in my wallet an inconvenience. I'd rather drop $100 in cash back per year than carry 5 cards all the time. Remembering which card to use in each type of purchase, and making sure each card is paid on time, takes away my free will which I would rather use for any other purpose.
Fun thread.
Here's how I see it. For an everyday card (assuming at least $15K spend), I'd choose the following and give my rationale.
1. SPG - Best if predominantly domestic spending and stay at SPG hotels using "cash + points" redemptions in categories 3 and 4 properties.
2. Fidelity Amex (or, any 2% no fee) if predominantly domestic spending with no interest in airfare, hotels, or any travel related value.
3. CSP - Best if no forex and travel is important, especially with UA and Hyatt.
Is there a 4th that I'm missing?
At 15k annual spending, having two cards with annual fees is hard to justify. SPG and CSP are quite interchangeable - you only need one.
For a travel-oriented budget, you should just stick with the CSP, as the SPG doesn't give you a bonus for travel and dining purchases, and the CSP has a higher cash back reward rate than the Fidelity as aforementioned.
If you plan to carry multiple cards, the combination is: Cash +, Forward, Freedom, It, and possibly BCE/BCP.
I was getting hungry and distracted, sorry. 
But yeah, those 3 are some of the best cards for the given level of spending. If I could only have one card, I'd pick from your list. 
Regarding the SPG, sure, if you consistently get higher value out of SPG points having factored in the lower point accumulation rate, by all means, go for it!
