topic Re: Chase Freedom Unlimited or Citi DC? in Credit Cards

Chase Freedom Unlimited or Citi DC?

xgac12x — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 23:38:07 GMT

If I were to use my cash back toward travel, (Chase UR), would it be a better value to use my Chase for all my purchases? I read somewhere that you would get 2.1 points using UR for travel or something like that..Could someone explain for me what would be a better option. Thanks

Re: Chase Freedom Unlimited or Citi DC?

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 23:41:16 GMT

From what I understand, you need a CSP for UR points to have value. But I don't know if it is worth it or not to pull the trigger on CSP yet.

Re: Chase Freedom Unlimited or Citi DC?

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 23:56:00 GMT

@xgac12x wrote:
If I were to use my cash back toward travel, (Chase UR), would it be a better value to use my Chase for all my purchases? I read somewhere that you would get 2.1 points using UR for travel or something like that..Could someone explain for me what would be a better option. Thanks

No one can tell you what is a better option for you. Do you travel a lot? If so, the Chase UR points can be a very good value. Keep in mind that the 2.1 cents per point for the UR is a blogger's assessment of the value of the points (thepointsguy). He evaluates all hotel and airline points programs and assesses the value of each of them based on his experiences and his readers input. Depending how an individual uses the points, they can be worth more than 2.1 or even less. You should look at the travel partners ofr the Chase UR program and see if they fit into your travel needs. If not, the the straight 2% cashback might be a better option.

As stated above, you need either the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Chase Ink Plus business card in order to be able to transfer the UR points earned by the current Freedom and the soon to be released Chase Unlimited to travel partners. Without one of the cards, the Unlimited would just be a 1.5% cashback card.

Re: Chase Freedom Unlimited or Citi DC?

deltatee — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 23:44:35 GMT

If you have CSP, then FU would be better than DC in my opinion. I am not flexible when I travel, and I can consistently get 1.6-2+ cents per point without very much effort. I'd look at the transfer partners and see if you can use them. I'm personally a big fan of united, southwest, and Hyatt.

Re: Chase Freedom Unlimited or Citi DC?

deltatee — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 23:47:02 GMT

I also agree with Irish, the value of a UR point greatly depends on whether you use the transfer partners. For example, I've read blogs that value an MR point at 1.7 or so. But I value them at closer to .6 because their partners don't work with my habits.

Re: Chase Freedom Unlimited or Citi DC?

kdm31091 — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 23:48:40 GMT

For everyday consumers, I believe a 2 percent cash back card is the better choice. If you travel heavily and/or are invested in the partner programs, the Freedom unlimited (paired with a CSP may come out ahead. It depends on your travel habits and lifestyle. If you take one or two trips a year only, just take a cash back card. Heavier travelers can justify the AF on a CSP (to pair with the new freedom).

Re: Chase Freedom Unlimited or Citi DC?

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 00:00:23 GMT

@deltatee wrote:
I also agree with Irish, the value of a UR point greatly depends on whether you use the transfer partners. For example, I've read blogs that value an MR point at 1.7 or so. But I value them at closer to .6 because their partners don't work with my habits.

This is a good example of why it's so important to look at travel partners and the points program for the various cards to determine which is best for you. A lot of people value the MR points like you because they have no use for their partners. I, on the other hand was able to transfer quite a few of my points to Virgin America and booked a flight in business class on Virgin Australia at a redemption rate of just over 4 cents per point. Too many people get these cards and then are stuck with points that they have no use for. (not saying this applies to you as you clearly understand the points programs).

Re: Chase Freedom Unlimited or Citi DC?

celluloid17 — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 04:21:13 GMT

I'm actually strongly considering PC'ing my Freedom to the new Freedom Unlimited and using that as my general spend card and SD'ing my Double Cash. I will be sacrificing .5%, but I think I would prefer to deal with Chase moreso than Citi (Chase is my primary bank) and they're touting the fact that there's no redemption threshhold, so access to the cash back whenever is enticing. Also, the Visa-Costco thing (lather, rinse, repeat). This strategy will help me consolidate my cards even more. I only want to manage f ive cards max (and carry just three: Sallie Mae, AARP, Freedom Unlimited) and this route will help me do that, so I'm kind of looking forward to this change.

Re: Chase Freedom Unlimited or Citi DC?

jsucool76 — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 05:55:17 GMT

Irish hit the nail on the head here.

Points mean nothing if you don't have a plan to redeem them. UR points are super flexible since they can be redeemed for cash at a value of 1CPP or for travel at a HUGE range of value. Some people get 14cpp, some people get 0.5cpp. It all boils down to the redemption. I think the flexibility is a huge perk, however, you need to be willing to invest the time and effort into FF programs and hotel programs to find the best value.

A straight cash back card at 2% is a better value for someone who just wants the cash to buy a plane ticket or pay for a hotel stay. It's a great option.

Other options are dedicated loyalty cards (AA cards, Delta, Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, etc.) but they're favored by people loyal to programs and willing to maybe miss out on a better price in order to take advantage of other things (like elite benefits, points earning, bonus opportunities.)

Which card you pick entirely depends on your willingness to look for the best deal, and your patience with loyalty programs, as well as your travel habits, where you're travelling from, and where you want to go.

ETA:

From a pure cashback standpoint, you're looking at 1.5% vs 2%. Seems like a no brainer, however, it depends on your spending habits. DoubleCash has a min redemption amount, freedom unlimited wont.

Re: Chase Freedom Unlimited or Citi DC?

EdMan63 — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 14:59:10 GMT

I was asking myself this same question this morning. Seeing as I don't actually have the DC but was considering it when I got the QS, I was still kicking the idea around (after earning the QS $100 bonus) of getting the DC. Now that Chase has annouced this change with Freedom I think I will just PC my Freedom and use it for general spend vs the QS and avoid another app. QS still gives me a another card for travel abroad but Unlimited will help me accumulate more UR's as I've found my spend doesn't really work with the rotating categories.

Re: Chase Freedom Unlimited or Citi DC?

takeshi74 — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 15:21:12 GMT

@xgac12x wrote:
If I were to use my cash back toward travel, (Chase UR), would it be a better value to use my Chase for all my purchases? I read somewhere that you would get 2.1 points using UR for travel or something like that..Could someone explain for me what would be a better option.

You need to determine that. It's part of your due diligence when considering rewards cards. For any rewards program like UR, MR, TY, etc you need to look into redemptions for the given program to determine the point value you are able to attain. Do not rely on point valuations from others. Another person's point value doesn't matter if you can't leverage a suitable redemption method. Consider the MR value posted earlier in this thread of 1.7 cents. I can't get that with the redemption options I'd use which would typically be 0.6 cents to 0.8 cents per MR. I can, however, do much better with UR and that's why I focus on UR and don't bother with MR.

You have an MR and TY card in your signature and these things should have been considered before applying. You also need to consider if you have sufficent spend to leverage one of the programs, let alone 2 or 3 of them. Be careful spreading your spend too thinly.

As pointed out, you need a UR card that can transfer as the Freedom and Freedom Unlimited cannot transfer.

If you don't want to mess with all that or if you don't have sufficient spend for a given program then a cashback card may be a better option though either of those cards could be used as cash back cards. 2% is certainly greater than 1.5% but how much of a difference is 0.5% for your spend?

Re: Chase Freedom Unlimited or Citi DC?

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 15:18:01 GMT

I'm for the FU because UR points are well worth >1.34 cpp (threshold for equivalence with DC) if you can make use of them. I don't have a CSP (and won't until I graduate and land a steady job), but I'm still stockpiling my UR points on my Freedom (in lieu of redeeming them for cash back) because I know they'll be more valuable that way.

Re: Chase Freedom Unlimited or Citi DC?

kdm31091 — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 15:24:19 GMT

@takeshi74 wrote:
@xgac12x wrote:
If I were to use my cash back toward travel, (Chase UR), would it be a better value to use my Chase for all my purchases? I read somewhere that you would get 2.1 points using UR for travel or something like that..Could someone explain for me what would be a better option.
You need to determine that. It's part of your due diligence when considering rewards cards. For any rewards program like UR, MR, TY, etc you need to look into redemptions for the given program to determine the point value you are able to attain. Do not rely on point valuations from others. Another person's point value doesn't matter if you can't leverage a suitable redemption method. Consider the MR value posted earlier in this thread of 1.7 cents. I can't get that with the redemption options I'd use which would typically be 0.6 cents to 0.8 cents per MR. I can, however, do much better with UR and that's why I focus on UR and don't bother with MR.

You have an MR and TY card in your signature and these things should have been considered before applying. You also need to consider if you have sufficent spend to leverage one of the programs, let alone 2 or 3 of them. Be careful spreading your spend too thinly.

As pointed out, you need a UR card that can transfer as the Freedom and Freedom Unlimited cannot transfer.

Takeshi is spot on. Ultimately it doesn't matter if so-and-so feels the points are valuable. It depends on your spend level/habits and with TY/UR/MR, where you travel, what airlines, etc. Someone who constantly flies on a partner of UR points may do great with them, but if you don't, the points are worthless. Assigning a "value" to these points for travel redemptions is more of an art than an exact science because it depends on the person and their travel habits.

Definitely research before applying next time. MR points may be useless, or TY points may be. Who knows? It depends on you.

Also the part about spreading thin is very valid. I don't know how an average spender can really gain enough points for anything useful if they are spending in many programs but that's up to the individual to determine if it's worthwhile.

If we are talking about cash redemption, 1.5% vs 2% may not be a great enough difference to warrant seperate apps. It depends how much you spend, but generally speaking it won't be an earth shattering difference.

Re: Chase Freedom Unlimited or Citi DC?

mikelo22 — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 20:43:27 GMT

As others stated, the enhanced UR value is contingent upon having the CSP or Ink+ which both allow you to transfer the UR to travel partners. Even then, you need to find out how much each UR is worth to you personally. Without the ability to transfer, UR is worth 1 cent a piece.

But even if you have the ability to transfer UR and thus get maximum value, think about how many points you'd need in order to capture that value. If you're OK with the idea of having to wait until you have saved up 20k, 30k+ UR in order to really make use of them for travel, then the Freedom Unlimited may be the best option for you.

However, if you don't like the idea of having to wait so long to actually get full redemption value, then the Citi DC is the way to go. You can redeem in increments as little as $25.

I personally prefer the idea of being able to redeem when I want. I don't use UR as much as I do MR, but even though I value MR at 2+ cents per point, I still prefer the DC over everyday purchases so that I get quicker redemptions. The small amount of extra value from the MR isn't worth the extra wait, IMO. But as with almost everything, YMMV.

Re: Chase Freedom Unlimited or Citi DC?

Chris679 — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 23:54:21 GMT

2% DC is better unless you have a specific plan for how to maximize UR points and it sounds like you do not.

Re: Chase Freedom Unlimited or Citi DC?

ficobgtx — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 03:01:37 GMT

One thing that has to be considered is points devaluation. I wouldn't necessarily stockpile URs over years hoping to use them without some sort of plan. Someone's valuation of 2.1 cpp is at the time of the valuation. This could be drastically different in 6 months and United, my main UR xfer partner, sure knows how to devalue (they all do btw). Cash back is much more liquid.

Cash back is obviously devalued by inflation, but this is a bit more of a known factor, and has slightly different dynamics (as inflation rises, you spend more and get more). Works both ways too (UR vs cash back), but no need to get too involved in that.

So as other have said, if you have a plan, or can make a plan, with UR - it can be the better option. If not, cash is king.

My personal opinion - take a look at overseas business class redemption from UR partners and see how long it would take to redeem. If it is much more than a year or so, I'd go with cash. If you don't care about business class, go with cash as well.

Re: Chase Freedom Unlimited or Citi DC?

red259 — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 03:06:36 GMT

@ficobgtx wrote:
One thing that has to be considered is points devaluation. I wouldn't necessarily stockpile URs over years hoping to use them without some sort of plan. Someone's valuation of 2.1 cpp is at the time of the valuation. This could be drastically different in 6 months and United, my main UR xfer partner, sure knows how to devalue (they all do btw). Cash back is much more liquid.

Cash back is obviously devalued by inflation, but this is a bit more of a known factor, and has slightly different dynamics (as inflation rises, you spend more and get more). Works both ways too (UR vs cash back), but no need to get too involved in that.

So as other have said, if you have a plan, or can make a plan, with UR - it can be the better option. If not, cash is king.

My personal opinion - take a look at overseas business class redemption from UR partners and see how long it would take to redeem. If it is much more than a year or so, I'd go with cash. If you don't care about business class, go with cash as well.

It really doesn't make sense to stockpile points for years. If it takes years to save up for a redemption then travel cards probably aren't a good fit for that person. Programs change too often and deval. I try to redeem my points within a year of earning them. That doesn't mean I take a trip within a year of earning them, but I do the redemption within a year even though I am redeeming for a trip that may be the following year. Right now I am sitting on a large stockpile and I have to suck it up and figure out my redemptions.