topic Re: PRG, SPG or EDP in Credit Cards

PRG, SPG or EDP

redpat — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 19:21:03 GMT

It's like alphabet soup.

I'm looking for another amex card to go with my amex plat that offers better rewards.

I fly United and Delta so I like SPG flexibility, plus 5K in that regard.

Thoughts for the best combo? I don't carry balances so it doesn't matter if it's a charge or credit card option.

No problems w/ score, income or inquiries.

Re: PRG, SPG or EDP

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 21:55:40 GMT

@redpat wrote:
It's like alphabet soup.

I'm looking for another amex card to go with my amex plat that offers better rewards.

I fly United and Delta so I like SPG flexibility, plus 5K in that regard.

Thoughts for the best combo? I don't carry balances so it doesn't matter if it's a charge or credit card option.

No problems w/ score, income or inquiries.

well i would wait few days or weeks until this travel credit debacle blows over. if it ends up that it was just the system slowing down (folks say no credits since august 20th... ok well it says up to 4 weeks on the amex page)... then go for a 2 card 1 inquiry punch, PRG and Delta.

enter delta skymiles number and last name (or check email for targeted offers) and see if you get the 50 or 60k mile offer. Otherwise incognito browser trick will yield 35k miles and $50 credit after first delta purchase and 1k spend in 90 days.

EDP can be lucrative for MR earning if you have the spending...it can easily become a 4.5 MR/$ on groceries, 3 MR/$ on gas, and 1.5 on everything else, which could translate to a 9%, 6%, 3% card if you transfered and redeemed at a good rate.

SPG I may go for one day, as these points have the most flexibility and value. Others with this can chime on on that.

If it were me I would look at your monthly spending, how much do you spend on gas, groceries, restaurants, general spend, dept stores, book stores, etc. You are only earning 1 mr point per dollar spent on the platinum... which is not great....use the platinum for credits/lounge access, and pair it with the EDP if you want to bulk up on points. You wont earn as many delta points on non delta purchases with the delta gold.

Re: PRG, SPG or EDP

TheConductor — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 22:02:41 GMT

If you actually stay in, play in, or dine at SPG properties I'd say the SPG. The Amex Platinum gets you gold status and a higher Starpoint earn rate on spending at SPG, while the SPG gets you a boost toward earning even higher status and earns you additional Starpoints on everything. They're very complementary, and Starpoints are very easy to redeem at high value, plus you get the block-transfer bonuses.

Given that you alreayd have the Platinum, as an alternative I'd look harder at the Blue Cash Preferred than the PRG. Rewards in much the same categories, but at a lower AF and a higher earn rate in the bonus categories unless you are just a monster superstar at MR redemption values per point. With PRG, you'd be double-paying for a lot of benefits that both the Plat and PRG offer.

Everyday Preferred is also a good third option since it rewards gas and groceries at rates that are more equivalent to the BCP cashback rates without requiring major MR-fu.

Re: PRG, SPG or EDP

redpat — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 00:53:25 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@redpat wrote:
It's like alphabet soup.

I'm looking for another amex card to go with my amex plat that offers better rewards.

I fly United and Delta so I like SPG flexibility, plus 5K in that regard.

Thoughts for the best combo? I don't carry balances so it doesn't matter if it's a charge or credit card option.

No problems w/ score, income or inquiries.

well i would wait few days or weeks until this travel credit debacle blows over. if it ends up that it was just the system slowing down (folks say no credits since august 20th... ok well it says up to 4 weeks on the amex page)... then go for a 2 card 1 inquiry punch, PRG and Delta.

enter delta skymiles number and last name (or check email for targeted offers) and see if you get the 50 or 60k mile offer. Otherwise incognito browser trick will yield 35k miles and $50 credit after first delta purchase and 1k spend in 90 days.

EDP can be lucrative for MR earning if you have the spending...it can easily become a 4.5 MR/$ on groceries, 3 MR/$ on gas, and 1.5 on everything else, which could translate to a 9%, 6%, 3% card if you transfered and redeemed at a good rate.

SPG I may go for one day, as these points have the most flexibility and value. Others with this can chime on on that.

If it were me I would look at your monthly spending, how much do you spend on gas, groceries, restaurants, general spend, dept stores, book stores, etc. You are only earning 1 mr point per dollar spent on the platinum... which is not great....use the platinum for credits/lounge access, and pair it with the EDP if you want to bulk up on points. You wont earn as many delta points on non delta purchases with the delta gold.

I only use plat for booking business travel, SPG hotels and FHR. Use it for lounges and national rental car excutive upgrade.

My my monthly spend between business reimbursements and other can accumulate some major MR.

Re: PRG, SPG or EDP

redpat — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 01:11:07 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@redpat wrote:
It's like alphabet soup.

I'm looking for another amex card to go with my amex plat that offers better rewards.

I fly United and Delta so I like SPG flexibility, plus 5K in that regard.

Thoughts for the best combo? I don't carry balances so it doesn't matter if it's a charge or credit card option.

No problems w/ score, income or inquiries.

well i would wait few days or weeks until this travel credit debacle blows over. if it ends up that it was just the system slowing down (folks say no credits since august 20th... ok well it says up to 4 weeks on the amex page)... then go for a 2 card 1 inquiry punch, PRG and Delta.

enter delta skymiles number and last name (or check email for targeted offers) and see if you get the 50 or 60k mile offer. Otherwise incognito browser trick will yield 35k miles and $50 credit after first delta purchase and 1k spend in 90 days.

EDP can be lucrative for MR earning if you have the spending...it can easily become a 4.5 MR/$ on groceries, 3 MR/$ on gas, and 1.5 on everything else, which could translate to a 9%, 6%, 3% card if you transfered and redeemed at a good rate.

SPG I may go for one day, as these points have the most flexibility and value. Others with this can chime on on that.

If it were me I would look at your monthly spending, how much do you spend on gas, groceries, restaurants, general spend, dept stores, book stores, etc. You are only earning 1 mr point per dollar spent on the platinum... which is not great....use the platinum for credits/lounge access, and pair it with the EDP if you want to bulk up on points. You wont earn as many delta points on non delta purchases with the delta gold.

Question, by getting SPG and EDP, because EDP MR can be 4.5 on groceries, 3 on gas and then transferred to SPG is that better than using the SPG card? I think you get 2.25 and 1.5 SPG points instead of 1 by using SPG card. PRG would be 1.

So I think the way to go is SPG and EDP. This rate is better than CSP UR rate I think.

Re: PRG, SPG or EDP

Open123 — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 03:03:27 GMT

If you're going to continue your Plat, then I'd go with the SPG. In general, I find SPG points the most valuable and it's a natural compliment to the Plat with Gold status, which allows you to earn 5X at SPG properties and restaurants.

The EDP is nice, especially the 1.5% MR points per spend, but MR points aren't nearly as flexible as a similar amount of SPG ones.

Re: PRG, SPG or EDP

Anonymous — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 03:12:09 GMT

@redpat wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@redpat wrote:
It's like alphabet soup.

I'm looking for another amex card to go with my amex plat that offers better rewards.

I fly United and Delta so I like SPG flexibility, plus 5K in that regard.

Thoughts for the best combo? I don't carry balances so it doesn't matter if it's a charge or credit card option.

No problems w/ score, income or inquiries.

well i would wait few days or weeks until this travel credit debacle blows over. if it ends up that it was just the system slowing down (folks say no credits since august 20th... ok well it says up to 4 weeks on the amex page)... then go for a 2 card 1 inquiry punch, PRG and Delta.

enter delta skymiles number and last name (or check email for targeted offers) and see if you get the 50 or 60k mile offer. Otherwise incognito browser trick will yield 35k miles and $50 credit after first delta purchase and 1k spend in 90 days.

EDP can be lucrative for MR earning if you have the spending...it can easily become a 4.5 MR/$ on groceries, 3 MR/$ on gas, and 1.5 on everything else, which could translate to a 9%, 6%, 3% card if you transfered and redeemed at a good rate.

SPG I may go for one day, as these points have the most flexibility and value. Others with this can chime on on that.

If it were me I would look at your monthly spending, how much do you spend on gas, groceries, restaurants, general spend, dept stores, book stores, etc. You are only earning 1 mr point per dollar spent on the platinum... which is not great....use the platinum for credits/lounge access, and pair it with the EDP if you want to bulk up on points. You wont earn as many delta points on non delta purchases with the delta gold.
Question, by getting SPG and EDP, because EDP MR can be 4.5 on groceries, 3 on gas and then transferred to SPG is that better than using the SPG card? I think you get 2.25 and 1.5 SPG points instead of 1 by using SPG card. PRG would be 1.

So I think the way to go is SPG and EDP. This rate is better than CSP UR rate I think.

AFAIK you cannot transfer MR to SPG.

Re: PRG, SPG or EDP

redpat — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 06:02:07 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@redpat wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@redpat wrote:
It's like alphabet soup.

I'm looking for another amex card to go with my amex plat that offers better rewards.

I fly United and Delta so I like SPG flexibility, plus 5K in that regard.

Thoughts for the best combo? I don't carry balances so it doesn't matter if it's a charge or credit card option.

No problems w/ score, income or inquiries.

well i would wait few days or weeks until this travel credit debacle blows over. if it ends up that it was just the system slowing down (folks say no credits since august 20th... ok well it says up to 4 weeks on the amex page)... then go for a 2 card 1 inquiry punch, PRG and Delta.

enter delta skymiles number and last name (or check email for targeted offers) and see if you get the 50 or 60k mile offer. Otherwise incognito browser trick will yield 35k miles and $50 credit after first delta purchase and 1k spend in 90 days.

EDP can be lucrative for MR earning if you have the spending...it can easily become a 4.5 MR/$ on groceries, 3 MR/$ on gas, and 1.5 on everything else, which could translate to a 9%, 6%, 3% card if you transfered and redeemed at a good rate.

SPG I may go for one day, as these points have the most flexibility and value. Others with this can chime on on that.

If it were me I would look at your monthly spending, how much do you spend on gas, groceries, restaurants, general spend, dept stores, book stores, etc. You are only earning 1 mr point per dollar spent on the platinum... which is not great....use the platinum for credits/lounge access, and pair it with the EDP if you want to bulk up on points. You wont earn as many delta points on non delta purchases with the delta gold.
Question, by getting SPG and EDP, because EDP MR can be 4.5 on groceries, 3 on gas and then transferred to SPG is that better than using the SPG card? I think you get 2.25 and 1.5 SPG points instead of 1 by using SPG card. PRG would be 1.

So I think the way to go is SPG and EDP. This rate is better than CSP UR rate I think.
AFAIK you cannot transfer MR to SPG.

SPG is a transfer partner so I can transfer MR at 50% of each MR point to my SPG Hotel account can't I? Not my SPG CC. Isn't the same point value for stays if I use those points vs cc points?

Re: PRG, SPG or EDP

Anonymous — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 06:15:52 GMT

I think the conversion is 1000 MRs to 333 SPG points. Maybe there is some bonus multiplier I'm unaware of.

I'd get EDP, so you can earn a lot of MRs and convert them to Delta miles. Use your URs for United.

Re: PRG, SPG or EDP

redpat — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 06:23:37 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I think the conversion is 1000 MRs to 333 SPG points. Maybe there is some bonus multiplier I'm unaware of.

I'd get EDP, so you can earn a lot of MRs and convert them to Delta miles. Use your URs for United.

Just went on Amex transfer partners 1000 MR is 500 SPG points.

Re: PRG, SPG or EDP

Anonymous — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 06:42:41 GMT

Maybe the better conversion rate is an Amex Platinum thing. I don't have a Starwood loyalty account, but my Amex point transfer page says 1000 to 333.

Re: PRG, SPG or EDP

redpat — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 07:17:08 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Maybe the better conversion rate is an Amex Platinum thing. I don't have a Starwood loyalty account, but my Amex point transfer page says 1000 to 333.

You are correct, my mistake.

Re: PRG, SPG or EDP

Open123 — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 16:57:44 GMT

In general, for MR points, unless one needed a few points to round up a larger redemption (1000 pts for 20K FF transfer), it's never advisable to transfer to Hotel partners. The only possible exception is if there's a bonus on the transfer.