Please help: Choosing a travel rewards card!

[Anonymous]

Warmest greetings. I am struggling with a bit of paralysis of analysis with regard to travel cards and I was hoping for a second opinion. I'll try to mention as much core information about myself as possible here.

I am currently stuck trying to decide between one (1) the following cards:

• AmEx Gold - Currently targeted for 50,000 points @ just $1000 (!)
• Chase Sapphire Preferred - Pre-qualified at the usual 50,000 points @ $4000
• C1 Venture - Pre-qualified at the usual 40,000mi @ $3000

As far as pure points value for the minimum spend goes, it seems like the AmEx Gold would be stupid to pass up. That is clearly the best points or miles per dollar introductory offer I'm going to see. But its annual fee is higher than the other 2, its redemption terms are more restrictive and the value of its $100 annual credit is debatable. But man they're giving the points away here.

The CSP seems to be a really good card to have and I know getting it sooner rather than later makes more sense due to the 5/24 thing I've been reading about. But I am not 100% confident that I can comfortably hit their $4000 in 3 months introductory offer. Not that I don't have the finances so much as because there really isn't a lot of things I'm looking to buy this holiday season that would account for all of that $4k. I'm also looking to take out a Chase Freedom (which I want regardless and has a $500 introductory spend offer). I really like the addition of things like Primary car insurance here as well as the enhanced points usage flexibility, but am not sure how to value it personally. I haven't had a car accident in 25 years.

The C1 Venture card seems to be the easiest to use card of the group and I like the idea of being able to use any booking system I want (I'm a fan of Orbitz  which I wouldn't be able to use with AmEx Gold, for example) but doesn't offer any frills that I can see and also has a fairly hefty introductory spend requirement to get the bonus miles (everything looks high to my eyes when I look at the AmEx gold's 50,000pts @ $1000 offer).

Hoping for a strong recommendation. Also, would it be bad to get a card and not bother trying to get the signup bonus? Is there a case to be made for having 2 travel cards in my case? Like going CF + CFP now and AmEx Gold later?

Looking for a set (or a few sets) of eyes with experience in these cards to help break my paralysis. Thank you so much in advance.

About me:

• 37 years old
• My current Fico score is 782 (Tu).
• I currently have 2 credit cards. One is an old Wells Fargo secured card that is roughly 4 years old. The other is a BoA Cash Rewards card roughly 2 months old.
• I carry $0 balance 100% of the time (but now doing the AZEO method thanks to this forum)
• I currently do approximately 5 round-trip flights annually between south Florida, northeast Ohio and Seattle, WA primarily. Occasionally I might find myself in NYC, LA or DC. I'm in airports roughly 10 times annually either way. My tickets are usually $100-$225 each way.
• I do car rentals maybe 2-3x/year
• I eat out 3x-5x a week (bad habit)
• Monthly spend on the card would probably be $1k-$1.75k, realistically. Not a big shopper. Most things I buy something relatively expensive and expect it to last.
• I lost interest in the premium cards (AmEx Plat, CSR) because my 2 most commonly used airports do not have the lounge chains offered in the cards. the airport lounge access was the only thing keeping them potentially on the board. Barring a change of address, they are dead to me.
• I don't care about the annual fees. None of them should be deciding factors. 

[coldfusion]

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If you have not tried the Chase/AMEX/Captial One prequal sites I suggest you do so. 

You have a very thin file and your history with unsecured credit is very short, so IMO the odds of you being approved for the CSR or Venture right now are probably poor.  You might have a better shot with the AMEX as it is a charge card, but understand that a charge card is expected to be PIF monthly.  Your better first step would probably be to get a Freedom Unlimited or AMEX EveryDay as those collect points usable against air travel, but you need to compare the Chase UR and AMEX MR programs and see which is the better fit for the airline(s) and hotel chain(s) you prefer.  You can later pair up with either the CSP or PRG for a nice combination in around a year. Or, you can get a cashback Cap1 card and target the Venture for later.  Venture isn't as efficient at redemption for flights as either Chase or AMEX can be but it's more agnostic with the choice of airlines.

For you it's too early in the game to have a good success rate at acquiring premium cards. Not saying it can't happen but odds are not yet in your favor. Not being sure if you can meet the minimum spend is also an important consideration as the points go a long way to make getting the cards worthwhile.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Warmest greetings. I am struggling with a bit of paralysis of analysis with regard to travel cards and I was hoping for a second opinion. I'll try to mention as much core information about myself as possible here.

I am currently stuck trying to decide between one (1) the following cards:

• AmEx Gold@ - Currently targeted for 50,000 points @ just $1000 (!)
• Chase Sapphire Preferred@ - Pre-qualified at the usual 50,000 points @ $4000
• C1 Venture@ - Pre-qualified at the usual 40,000mi @ $3000

As far as pure points value for the minimum spend goes, it seems like the AmEx Gold would be stupid to pass up. That is clearly the best points or miles per dollar introductory offer I'm going to see. But its annual fee is higher than the other 2, its redemption terms are more restrictive and the value of its $100 annual credit is debatable. But man they're giving the points away here.

The CSP seems to be a really good card to have and I know getting it sooner rather than later makes more sense due to the 5/24 thing I've been reading about. But I am not 100% confident that I can comfortably hit their $4000 in 3 months introductory offer. Not that I don't have the finances so much as because there really isn't a lot of things I'm looking to buy this holiday season that would account for all of that $4k. I'm also looking to take out a Chase Freedom (which I want regardless and has a $500 introductory spend offer). I really like the addition of things like Primary car insurance here as well as the enhanced points usage flexibility, but am not sure how to value it personally. I haven't had a car accident in 25 years.

The C1 Venture@ card seems to be the easiest to use card of the group and I like the idea of being able to use any booking system I want (I'm a fan of Orbitz  which I wouldn't be able to use with AmEx Gold, for example) but doesn't offer any frills that I can see and also has a fairly hefty introductory spend requirement to get the bonus miles (everything looks high to my eyes when I look at the AmEx gold's 50,000pts @ $1000 offer).

Hoping for a strong recommendation. Also, would it be bad to get a card and not bother trying to get the signup bonus? Is there a case to be made for having 2 travel cards in my case? Like going CF + CFP now and AmEx Gold later?

Looking for a set (or a few sets) of eyes with experience in these cards to help break my paralysis. Thank you so much in advance.

About me:

• 37 years old
• My current Fico score is 782 (Tu).
• I currently have 2 credit cards. One is an old Wells Fargo secured card that is roughly 4 years old. The other is a BoA Cash Rewards card roughly 2 months old.
• I carry $0 balance 100% of the time (but now doing the AZEO method thanks to this forum)
• I currently do approximately 5 round-trip flights annually between south Florida, northeast Ohio and Seattle, WA primarily. Occasionally I might find myself in NYC, LA or DC. I'm in airports roughly 10 times annually either way. My tickets are usually $100-$225 each way.
• I do car rentals maybe 2-3x/year
• I eat out 3x-5x a week (bad habit)
• Monthly spend on the card would probably be $1k-$1.75k, realistically. Not a big shopper. Most things I buy something relatively expensive and expect it to last.
• I lost interest in the premium cards (AmEx Plat, CSR) because my 2 most commonly used airports do not have the lounge chains offered in the cards. the airport lounge access was the only thing keeping them potentially on the board. Barring a change of address, they are dead to me.
• I don't care about the annual fees. None of them should be deciding factors. 

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I don't know what airlines fly direct on your regular trips but I would focus on a card that earns points for that airline.  I would think Chase points would be worth a lot more for you if you fly Southwest or United.  Amex points are overrated.  I had a hard time finding a use for my 50k Amex points. Ended up being a 40 percent bonus to transfer to British Airways and getting 550 dollars worth of hotel out of the points.  To me Southwest points are the most valuable as they have a constant value while the other point values sites listed are theoretical value.  So if you don't care where or when you fly and you can book a year in advance you can get the value some claim.  Or you buy business tickets that you would never pay for if you had to pay for yourself.  

For or example I am looking for flights to Ireland in May of next year and I have a hard time seeing flights even worth a penny an American Airline mile.  

[trant3]

If you're looking to keep the card after the first year then you'll have to look past the intro offer. IMO, based on your travel and spend, CSP may be the best fit. Intro spend is much higher but point value is better than the other two, travel benefits is better (primary car rental insurance, etc)

[UpperNwGuy]

What frogman1 said.  If you live near a United hub or a city served regularly by Southwest, get the CSP.  If you live near a Delta hub or a city served regularly by Jet Blue (and can live with Jet Blue's limited list of destinations), get the PRG.  If you live near an American hub, get the Venture (or, better yet, the Citi AAdvantage or Barclay Aviator).  It's not enough to have a good plan to earn points.  You also have to have a good plan to redeem them.

[Anonymous]

I'd say CSP, it's 2.5% when you redeem instead of 2%, and if you travel outside the US it'll give you no trouble getting accepted (and no foreign fee either), as Amex will (i.e. in Europe).

To meet the min spending you can use plastiq (plastiq.com) to pay mortgage/rent for a couple of months, or buy gift cards to spend later.

Moderator edit.  While there is no prohibition against using the word ‘Manufactured Spending’ or even telling people what that means, you can not advocate for or discuss how to do it. Your last sentence is fine as is but please don’t go further than that. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Irish80
MyFICO Moderator

[NRB525]

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@coldfusion wrote:

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If you have not tried the Chase/AMEX/Captial One prequal sites I suggest you do so. 

You have a very thin file and your history with unsecured credit is very short, so IMO the odds of you being approved for the CSR or Venture right now are probably poor.  You might have a better shot with the AMEX as it is a charge card, but understand that a charge card is expected to be PIF monthly.  Your better first step would probably be to get a Freedom Unlimited or AMEX EveryDay as those collect points usable against air travel, but you need to compare the Chase UR and AMEX MR programs and see which is the better fit for the airline(s) and hotel chain(s) you prefer.  You can later pair up with either the CSP or PRG for a nice combination in around a year. Or, you can get a cashback Cap1 card and target the Venture for later.  Venture isn't as efficient at redemption for flights as either Chase or AMEX can be but it's more agnostic with the choice of airlines.

For you it's too early in the game to have a good success rate at acquiring premium cards. Not saying it can't happen but odds are not yet in your favor. Not being sure if you can meet the minimum spend is also an important consideration as the points go a long way to make getting the cards worthwhile.

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Sorry, just have to say a lot of this advice is not correct. 

OP has a 782 score

OP has a 4 year old card. Secured has no bearing on this, does not reduce the value of the card toward generating credit history. 

There will be no problem for OP getting any of these three cards. 

[NRB525]

OP, you have a rent payment or a mortgage payment, correct? For the CapOne, and the Chase, paying rent or mortgage one or two months with the card will help significantly to get through the spend requirement. AMEX is not possible for this, but the $1k spend is fairly easy. 

Is is there an airline you fly regularly? Can you focus your flying onto one airline, for about the same price? Doing that earns you miles for butt in the seat time, and may influence which card works best for your travel and rewards earning. 

You ARE in the airline frequent flyer programs, right?

[red259]

With the chase 5/24 rule I would get the CSP before getting those other cards which you can pick up later. The question is will you have a use for Chase UR points? You should not sign up for the CSP if you can't make the signup spend. To make the spend you can use a third party service like plastiq to pay bills you could not otherwise pay with a credit card (there is a fee for this service so its not the best option but works in a pinch). If there are some bills you can prepay a month in advance I'd do that and sometimes what I do is I let my bills build up right before I get a new card so I have double payments I need to make (I do it with bills that don't hit me with late fees). 

[yfan]

OP is right - for the 50K/1K offer on the Gold (assuming it's the PRG) - it would be stupid to pass up. Point value, while it is highly dependent on the individual using them and what one considers 'value', is roughly the same between UR and MR points according to most people who write about credit, with a very slight edge (around 10%) to UR points.

It is also true that although American Express has been getting into it with point earnings, Amex's real value is in benefits and services. It is not an accident that Amex has consistently held the top or near-top spots in the JD Power Credit Card Satisfaction survey for years. This year, Amex got back the crown (after losing it to Discover last year) while Chase ranks right below industry average.

However, the same JD Power survey also shows that customer satisfaction is highest with cashback cards, and lowest with miles cards, so make of that what you will.