Of these four premium credit cards listed which two would you choose?

[UpperNwGuy]

My order:

1.  Chase Sapphire Reserve (I have this card)

I will not get these cards:

2.  Amex Platinum (I refuse to book my hotels through the Amex travel portal, and that kills most of the point earnings.  Also, I don't have airline ancillary costs, and I don't ride Uber, so I would lose $400 worth of credits.)

3.  Citi Prestige (Most of the value of this card is in the fourth night free, a benefit that I would rarely use)

4.  Ritz Carlton (I don't stay in US branded hotels in my international travels)

[Anonymous]

I would get the non premium versions of the cards.   They are all better values IMHO.   I would get Chase Saphire preferred them Amex Premriere Rewards Gold and finally Citi thank you premier.  If the premium cards offer 100k points again then they are worth it, I mean if I travel for business I get my meals paid for so don't need lounge access.  If I am traveling with my family I would prefer just ordering what I want from a restaurant.  

[UpperNwGuy]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I would get the non premium versions of the cards.   They are all better values IMHO.   I would get Chase Saphire preferred them Amex Premriere Rewards Gold and finally Citi thank you premier.  If the premium cards offer 100k points again then they are worth it, I mean if I travel for business I get my meals paid for so don't need lounge access.  If I am traveling with my family I would prefer just ordering what I want from a restaurant.  

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Chase Sapphire Preferred only beats the Chase Sapphire Reserve if you spend less than $4000 a year on travel and dining.  Above $4000, the CSR beats the CSP, and the margin of victory increases as the spending level rises.  And this does not include the bonuses.

[MrDisco99]

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@UpperNwGuy wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I would get the non premium versions of the cards.   They are all better values IMHO.   I would get Chase Saphire preferred them Amex Premriere Rewards Gold and finally Citi thank you premier.  If the premium cards offer 100k points again then they are worth it, I mean if I travel for business I get my meals paid for so don't need lounge access.  If I am traveling with my family I would prefer just ordering what I want from a restaurant.  

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Chase Sapphire Preferred only beats the Chase Sapphire Reserve if you spend less than $4000 a year on travel and dining.  Above $4000, the CSR beats the CSP, and the margin of victory increases as the spending level rises.  And this does not include the bonuses.

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Minor correction: CSR beats CSP if you spend more than $4000 on travel and dining AND at least $300 of that is in the travel category.

Those of us who live in smaller cities and drive ourselves wherever we need to go and don't pay for big trips very often (like me) would have a hard time meeting that $300 travel credit every year.

[Anonymous]

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@UpperNwGuy wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I would get the non premium versions of the cards.   They are all better values IMHO.   I would get Chase Saphire preferred them Amex Premriere Rewards Gold and finally Citi thank you premier.  If the premium cards offer 100k points again then they are worth it, I mean if I travel for business I get my meals paid for so don't need lounge access.  If I am traveling with my family I would prefer just ordering what I want from a restaurant.  

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Chase Sapphire Preferred only beats the Chase Sapphire Reserve if you spend less than $4000 a year on travel and dining.  Above $4000, the CSR beats the CSP, and the margin of victory increases as the spending level rises.  And this does not include the bonuses.

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You get more points with CSP.  Extra 5000 with adding authorized user.  You get 300 travel credit with CSR.  I will say that that those extra points are worth minimum of 50 dollars.  As the CSP has no fee first year and CSR for the first year the CSP is 200 a head before spending.  4000 x .03  = 120.   4000  x .02 = 80.   So at 4000 you are still 160 dollars behind on CSR even if all money was spent on travel and restaurants.

[Anonymous]

I'm in the minority cause I know how much everyone loves the CSR in here. For me the Amex Platinum keeps getting better and better once you realize the perks.

I've already taken advantage of the centurion lounge in vegas, san fran, and will be in miami for a 2nd time coming up. It's just straight awesome, the food and drinks are wonderful and it's even better when you bring your guests in so they can enjoy too. this will spoil you at the airport! I know im late, but I started to understand and realize the hotel gold statuses more, as I didn't know you can match your gold status witih ritz carlton! Not even the ritz carlton card allows u to stay gold unless you spend a certain a amount a year, the amex platinum gives you the status instantly across SPG,Marriot, and Ritz hotels.

Uber is great I live in a big city where everyone uses so maybe it's diffrent for me. For those of you who don't use Uber, you can use it for UBER EATS. So to me thats a win win, there's really no excuses for the " well i dont use uber", well you eat right? Since there's so much love for the CSR dining 3x category, you gotta eat lol. You can even translate this to $200 dolars in free uber eats food annually. 

I just made a post about this...but I just noticed the plaitnum "international airline program" gives you discounted pricing for your international travels. I'm talking about some really good discounts ranging from $200-$900 from what I seen. These arent bogus schemes or catches, plenty of people compared prices from direct airlines and googeflights and then called into amex to get a significant amount off discounted. I dont know if it gets any better than that.........

Theres many more benefits but im not going to run them all down, im sure you guys all know of them all. 

It also rubs me the wrong way when someone says the CSR is for rewards and Plat for Perks. This may be true before, but with the unlimited 5x Airfare and 5x Hotels, how is this not a reward earning card?!??! i find it unbelivable when people say it isnt.  if you fly alot youll rack up some crazy amount of points in these categories. If you already carry a 3%-5% dining cash back card already, the plat definitely diverses your category bonsues with getting points in airfare and hotels that some of your other cards might not get and wont overalp with the CSR dining. 

One thing I do like about the CSR is the broad travel credit at $300, but it doesn't bother me that I get GC from the amex travel credit for flights, a very tiny hassle but not enough to sway me over. 

with that said....it does depend on how you spend and your style. to each their own on the type of card. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm in the minority cause I know how much everyone loves the CSR in here. For me the Amex Platinum keeps getting better and better once you realize the perks.

I've already taken advantage of the centurion lounge in vegas, san fran, and will be in miami for a 2nd time coming up. It's just straight awesome, the food and drinks are wonderful and it's even better when you bring your guests in so they can enjoy too. this will spoil you at the airport! I know im late, but I started to understand and realize the hotel gold statuses more, as I didn't know you can match your gold status witih ritz carlton! Not even the ritz carlton card allows u to stay gold unless you spend a certain a amount a year, the amex platinum gives you the status instantly across SPG,Marriot, and Ritz hotels.

Uber is great I live in a big city where everyone uses so maybe it's diffrent for me. For those of you who don't use Uber, you can use it for UBER EATS. So to me thats a win win, there's really no excuses for the " well i dont use uber", well you eat right? Since there's so much love for the CSR dining 3x category, you gotta eat lol. You can even translate this to $200 dolars in free uber eats food annually. 

I just made a post about this...but I just noticed the plaitnum "international airline program" gives you discounted pricing for your international travels. I'm talking about some really good discounts ranging from $200-$900 from what I seen. These arent bogus schemes or catches, plenty of people compared prices from direct airlines and googeflights and then called into amex to get a significant amount off discounted. I dont know if it gets any better than that.........

Theres many more benefits but im not going to run them all down, im sure you guys all know of them all. 

It also rubs me the wrong way when someone says the CSR is for rewards and Plat for Perks. This may be true before, but with the unlimited 5x Airfare and 5x Hotels, how is this not a reward earning card?!??! i find it unbelivable when people say it isnt.  if you fly alot youll rack up some crazy amount of points in these categories. If you already carry a 3%-5% dining cash back card already, the plat definitely diverses your category bonsues with getting points in airfare and hotels that some of your other cards might not get and wont overalp with the CSR dining. 

One thing I do like about the CSR is the broad travel credit at $300, but it doesn't bother me that I get GC from the amex travel credit for flights, a very tiny hassle but not enough to sway me over. 

with that said....it does depend on how you spend and your style. to each their own on the type of card. 

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To get the 5x on hotels and airfare with Amex you have to book with Amex travel.   

[wasCB14]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I would get the non premium versions of the cards.   They are all better values IMHO.   I would get Chase Saphire preferred them Amex Premriere Rewards Gold and finally Citi thank you premier.  If the premium cards offer 100k points again then they are worth it, I mean if I travel for business I get my meals paid for so don't need lounge access.  If I am traveling with my family I would prefer just ordering what I want from a restaurant.  

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You can compare the relative values of CSR and CSP pretty objectively using spend, perk value, redemption method, and for how long a person wants to keep the card. You're right that in some cases (churning, minimal spend, not using perks), CSP can come out ahead. That said, the CSR seems a popular choice for dining and travel spend even after minimum spend has been satisfied. The difference between 3x and 2x can be significant when, as I suspect, more spend is involved for most customers.

You can do a somewhat similar comparison for Prestige and Premier. The difference in bonus category definitions are limited. Prestige gives up some rewards but gets some perks.

I had PRG for 24 months and I've had Platinum for 16. I find the similarities are limited, preventing an apples-to-apples valuation. To PRG users, Platinum can look like a giant AF with hardly any rewards. To Platinum users, PRG's 2x MR categories are really nothing so amazing compared to non-Amex cards, and the card's AF is about as high as Platinum's (after a bunch of credits) with hardly any perks.

[Anonymous]

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frogman1 wrote:

To get the 5x on hotels and airfare with Amex you have to book with Amex travel.   

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For hotels this is correct, flights are booked directly with the airline. 

[ChargedUp]

As I'm working a loong ways from home for the time being, I'm using my travel cards quite a bit. Most of my stay is using Airbnb and my PRG gave me $450 off using MR's that I mostly got as a bonus. Then I swapped to using CSP to pay Airbnb because UR's are much more lucrative for how I plan to vacation (eventually! )

I've never needed Uber, and I drive to where I'm working, so Platinum's rewards wouldn't pan out for me. Citi Prestige bennnies seem kind of ho-hum compared to UR's to me, but that may vary with where you personally plan to use your rewards.  Ritz isn't even on my radar at the moment, but if it fits your lifestyle I can see the advantages (I believe a yearly free night is part of the deal.)

If I have to keep working out of town, I may upgrade to CSR as my travel charges are at least $1K/month for now. That would be my choice.