Should I hop on the Chase Sapphire Reserve bandwagon?

[Essence]

I have a feeling that by merely asking this question - the answer is probably no, but I'd love to hear what the general consensus is on this issue. Currently, I put most of my spend on my PNC Cashbuilder card. I'm no where near maximiming my potential cashback using only that card, but it interfaces nicely with PNC since I bank with them and it's easy. I like it out of convenience. 

Thanks to the hype everywhere else on the internet, I've been thinking about picking up the CSR and Freedom Unlimited because I don't have those cards yet, and the sign up bonuses for the CSR would be attractive, but I know as it stands now, most of my spend is not on travel or restaurants. It's not the long term card for me unless things change.

I would be able to meet the Sign Up bonus requirements naturally, I would be able to take advantage of the $300 travel credit this year and next no problem, but I don't think I would want to keep this card long term..Is it still worth it to go for it?

[longtimelurker]

If you can use the $300 travel credit this year and next, then yes, I think it is well worth getting.   At some stage you could downgrade to a no-AF card.

Getting a card for a sign up, and especially keeping it for a year or two, really isn't a bad thing.  I think some overemphasize the idea of getting cards as "keepers".   The market is very dynamic, and an invidual's spending and goals change as well, so it makes sense to reevaluate your portfolio from time to time.  In other words, don't think in terms "this card I will keep for many years".  It might get nerfed or better ones come along.  

[Anonymous]

I don't think I'd ever apply for a card that I know I will dump in 1-2 years.

If you don't travel and/or eat out alot, it really doesn't make a whole lot of sense to get this card. You'll have to pony up the $450 AF in cash UP FRONT.

My travel card is a Chase United Mileage Plus Explorer card. I travel between 1-3 times a year. The $95 AF will easily be recouped. But I just don't think flying 1-3 times a year makes a $450 AF card worth it.. for me.

[longtimelurker]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I don't think I'd ever apply for a card that I know I will dump in 1-2 years.

If you don't travel and/or eat out alot, it really doesn't make a whole lot of sense to get this card. You'll have to pony up the $450 AF in cash UP FRONT.

My travel card is a Chase United Mileage Plus Explorer card. I travel between 1-3 times a year. The $95 AF will easily be recouped. But I just don't think flying 1-3 times a year makes a $450 AF card worth it.. for me.

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You pay the fee upfront (well, on first statement) but assuming you meet the spending requirements you will get back $1000 in cash (if you don't use it for travel).  And if you have any travel, you get up to $300 back for that.   (or $600 including spend in 2017).   And the OP said that there would be travel this year and next.

So to people into "free money" this makes a whole lot of sense!   The down side is the inq and new account.  If you are getting a mortgage soon, yes, probably better to hold off, but otherwise, what better card would you save those for, strictly in terms of rewards.

But I guess a difference of approach.  My point was that, IMO, there's little to lose by grabbing cards for the short term, and PLANNING to keep for the long term makes little sense in a dynamic market

[Essence]

Correct, the $300 travel credit would be very useful for me this year and next. So effectively, I would only notice spending $150 more than I would have, so it's a much more reasonable $150 AF to me.

What I was also alluding to, was perhaps trying to use this card with the Freedom and Freedom Unlimited and try to optimize UR points, which I haven't really used yet - but I could see them being helpful towards nexts summers vacation. Then I could review my situation and see if this will be useful long term for me.

So I guess, I don't have much to lose if I were to go for it.

[nachoslibres]

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@Essence wrote:

Correct, the $300 travel credit would be very useful for me this year and next. So effectively, I would only notice spending $150 more than I would have, so it's a much more reasonable $150 AF to me.

What I was also alluding to, was perhaps trying to use this card with the Freedom and Freedom Unlimited and try to optimize UR points, which I haven't really used yet - but I could see them being helpful towards nexts summers vacation. Then I could review my situation and see if this will be useful long term for me.

So I guess, I don't have much to lose if I were to go for it.

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If you could use the travel credit this year and next, it's a pretty much no brainer if you are ok with taking the HP and dropping your AAoA.  You can take $600 worth of travel credit, $100 worth of Global Entry credit, and you are already ahead $250 not even counting the 100k UR bonus.  Then, before the next AF hits you could PC this to a Freedom or Freedom Unlimited, apply for the CSP which also has a bonus and a waived first year AF to keep the mileage transfer benefit.

[Essence]

Just an update - I did go for it, and I am using the CSR, CFU, and CF as my arsenal of main cards to maximize the UR points. It seems pretty promising and I think it will work well for me, but I'll definitely re-evaulate next year too. 

Just to make sure I'm understanding this correctly, essentially the AF of the CSR is $150 because I will always be using the travel benefit. So, to break even, I would have to earn 10,000 UR points across those three cards and then everything extra is profit, assuming the bare bones valuation of 1.5 cents through chase travel directly?

[Absolution16]

According to your opening post, it sounds like you just applied for BOTH the Freedom Unlimited and the CSR?

If that's the case, you do get the sign up bonus of $150 for spending $500 in the first 3 months with the Freedom Unlimited card.  That can be the break even point for you, perhaps?

If you are desperate for cash, you can literally transfer the UR points on your Reserve account into either of your Freedom accounts and get cashback instead.  But the most optimal way to spend UR is to use for travel redemption through the Chase Travel Portal, or do the partner transfer at 1:1 with the airlines or hotels.

[Essence]

Yes, I did apply for both. I do plan to use the UR points for travel purposes in the future, but this is my first real attempt at using travel credit cards and points (normally just a pure cashback guy) so I want to see how this works out for me.  Just wanted to make sure I had my conversions correct. $300 Travel Credit + 10,000 earned UR points cover the annual fee in the future, so anything else would be profit. Just want to make sure that valuation is correct so I know at the end of the year if this combo was worth it for me. 

[longtimelurker]

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@Essence wrote:

Yes, I did apply for both. I do plan to use the UR points for travel purposes in the future, but this is my first real attempt at using travel credit cards and points (normally just a pure cashback guy) so I want to see how this works out for me.  Just wanted to make sure I had my conversions correct. $300 Travel Credit + 10,000 earned UR points cover the annual fee in the future, so anything else would be profit. Just want to make sure that valuation is correct so I know at the end of the year if this combo was worth it for me. 

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Well, 10K UR used on travel through the portal will make up the remaining AF.   But "profit" is a litlle harder to judge.   You could for example put that spend on a 2% cashback card.  It takes about $7K spend to earn 10K UR on the FU, which would earn $140 on a 2% card, or $2K spend in 5% categories on the Freedom, which would earn $40 on a 2% card, so somewhere in between is the profit you are giving up

On the other hand, if you transfer you UR and get higher valuations, the "profit" point is a lot less.