topic Re: Thoughts on AMEX vs Chase in Credit Cards

Thoughts on AMEX vs Chase

Anonymous — Fri, 19 May 2017 20:20:34 GMT

I've been thinking lately and have been heavily debating between going the AMEX Platinum+EDP route (for the simplicty of only two cards) or continue on with the Chase trio (CSR+FU+Freedom) and citi prestige for hotels. I take at least 2 large trips a year ($4k+ each). Baiscally I'm debating on weather the time juggling multiple cards is worth it vs the simplicity of a charge card, a credit card, and 1 visa or mastercard just incase AMEX isn't taken.

What card do most wealthy people use? (I heard that most wealthy people only have and use 1-2 cards)

What company do most wealthy people use? (If it's AMEX right now, will that change now that they have been slacking a bit with making their platinum on par with the others?)

Re: Thoughts on AMEX vs Chase

Anonymous — Fri, 19 May 2017 20:28:49 GMT

why does it matter what card wealthy people use? who are you impressing when you pay for an item...

Re: Thoughts on AMEX vs Chase

SecretAzure — Fri, 19 May 2017 20:36:37 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
why does it matter what card wealthy people use? who are you impressing when you pay for an item...

Not just this but if one has 10K to spend on two vacations in a year, consider yourself "the wealthy people."

Re: Thoughts on AMEX vs Chase

Anonymous — Fri, 19 May 2017 20:36:59 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
why does it matter what card wealthy people use? who are you impressing when you pay for an item...

It isn't about impressing at all. It's more of the fact that after I thought about it, I wondered if the time and effort it takes to have a full wallet and juggle cards is worth the extra few $$$ that you can get from maximizing rewards. Time is more valueable than 1cent per dollar in my opinion. A better company, customer service, and perks are more valuable than one thinks. I am curious as to which company is better, which one treats its customers better, which company has the best customer service and conceirge service? I'm curious as to everyone elses opinions on this.

I could care less about impressing or looks. I would never get the black card, and currently happily use my sapphire reserve which honestly doesn't look very flashy and nobody besides credit card communities or people who have it know how nice it is either. I would happily use a piece of pita bread with a chip in it as my card if someone told me I had to if it was the best card for me.

Re: Thoughts on AMEX vs Chase

Anonymous — Fri, 19 May 2017 20:38:09 GMT

We do, but I'm not wealthy...I'm a good saver.

Re: Thoughts on AMEX vs Chase

Anonymous — Fri, 19 May 2017 20:42:02 GMT

@SecretAzure wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
why does it matter what card wealthy people use? who are you impressing when you pay for an item...
Not just this but if one has 10K to spend on two vacations in a year, consider yourself "the wealthy people."

I never said that I considered myself a wealthy person . I'm only trying to ask if juggling cards for rewards is worth the time and effort, or are other things more valuable in the long run? My question is directed to people who I hope are finacially better off than me. I'm asking for advice, not bragging. And vacation wise in the past few years I have traveled more personally and for work but I'm starting grad school soon so it will probably limit me to 2-3 decent trips for the next 3-4 years (again not bragging or saying I travel every week on a private jet, or more than anyone else here)

Re: Thoughts on AMEX vs Chase

Anonymous — Fri, 19 May 2017 20:42:37 GMT

Wealthy people would probably have a JP Morgan Palladium or a American Express Centaurion card. There also the gold luxury card with the $995 annual fee. In general I doubht most wealthy people care about the appearing to be wealthy. They probably just use what works for them. Some of the wealthiest people are also some of the most frual. There's a reason why they have money.

Re: Thoughts on AMEX vs Chase

Anonymous — Fri, 19 May 2017 20:43:04 GMT

personally i think it is.

Re: Thoughts on AMEX vs Chase

Berk — Fri, 19 May 2017 20:52:57 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I've been thinking lately and have been heavily debating between going the AMEX Platinum+EDP route (for the simplicty of only two cards) or continue on with the Chase trio (CSR+FU+Freedom) and citi prestige for hotels. I take at least 2 large trips a year ($4k+ each). Baiscally I'm debating on weather the time juggling multiple cards is worth it vs the simplicity of a charge card, a credit card, and 1 visa or mastercard just incase AMEX isn't taken.

What card do most wealthy people use? (I heard that most wealthy people only have and use 1-2 cards)
What company do most wealthy people use? (If it's AMEX right now, will that change now that they have been slacking a bit with making their platinum on par with the others?)

What do you mean by wealthy? The vast majority of us living in the U.S. are very wealthy compared to the majority of the world's population.

Also, if you have to ask, then you don't qualify for a "wealthy" card since they are exclusive and by invitation only - at least based on my definition of "wealthy."

Consider the South African grocery store mogul who was caught by customs with $1,000,000.00 in his carry on luggage. It was confiscated. He sued to get it back. His grounds? $1,000,000.00 to him was "pocket money and no different than the average person carrying cash when they travel. He won his case. Due to his wealth, the court accepted his explanation and ordered that all his money be returned. Is he wealthy? Maybe. He's only worth 3.1 billion dollars.

Wealth is relative, my friend.

Re: Thoughts on AMEX vs Chase

Anonymous — Fri, 19 May 2017 20:52:02 GMT

The reference to wealthy people has obviously sidetracked the discussion from OPs question. So to continue this trend:

Lots of different types of wealthy people. As others have said, some are very frugal, but I think most aren't. Thus they are probably not the best group to look to for a guide. Many will do what is most convenient, or what they have always done, without any cost-benefit analysis, which might not meet your needs at all. Maybe "busy people' is a better, but equally ill-defined group.

But it comes down to the individual circumstances of how much effort it is to use several cards vs the improved rewards (which depends on spending pattern and the cards involved). We have a lot of people here who put considerable effort into tracking their multiple cards. My thought always is that I hope they enjoy it (and I'm sure some do) as, from a pure rewards view, the effort involved usually far outweight that gains over using say a 2% card. (And those doing for other purposes, such as score maximization, well, any effort is too much for that IMO!)

Re: Thoughts on AMEX vs Chase

Anonymous — Fri, 19 May 2017 21:05:11 GMT

The few actually wealthy people I knew had one credit card (and in most cases it was an Amex Green or Gold) and an accountant got the bill. They didn't care about rewards or perks -- they just saw it as a way to pay for things. Most wealthy people are wealthy for a reason, and in my experience, that reason was because they were working their butts off -- managing perks/rewards/etc. was something that just didn't occur to them because they had too much going on. But these were all touring musicians... and $200/yr for travel credit wouldn't even put a dent in.

Re: Thoughts on AMEX vs Chase

Anonymous — Fri, 19 May 2017 22:01:08 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
The few actually wealthy people I knew had one credit card (and in most cases it was an Amex Green or Gold) and an accountant got the bill. They didn't care about rewards or perks -- they just saw it as a way to pay for things. Most wealthy people are wealthy for a reason, and in my experience, that reason was because they were working their butts off -- managing perks/rewards/etc. was something that just didn't occur to them because they had too much going on. But these were all touring musicians... and $200/yr for travel credit wouldn't even put a dent in.

Thank you for the serious answers from the last few posters. I really appreciate the insight and your thoughts/opinions.

Re: Thoughts on AMEX vs Chase

Berk — Fri, 19 May 2017 22:24:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
The few actually wealthy people I knew had one credit card (and in most cases it was an Amex Green or Gold) and an accountant got the bill. They didn't care about rewards or perks -- they just saw it as a way to pay for things. Most wealthy people are wealthy for a reason, and in my experience, that reason was because they were working their butts off -- managing perks/rewards/etc. was something that just didn't occur to them because they had too much going on. But these were all touring musicians... and $200/yr for travel credit wouldn't even put a dent in.

Then I'm guessing one of those people was Joe Walsh. As I recall, he did have accountants pay for it all.

Re: Thoughts on AMEX vs Chase

pipeguy — Sat, 20 May 2017 00:24:45 GMT

As to the OP's question, one has to consider if a $550 AF up front is worth 2 trips a year (ie $275 each) - to me it's not as I'd rather a card pays me such as BlisPay 2% back, 6 months no payments no interest (probably limited to the airfare, but you'd have to check) or the GM Card 5% back on the first $5k in spending (if this benefits you, it's not a popular card on this forum) or in fact opening a card with a spending bonus such as AARP Chase (I think it's still $200 for spend) or the Cashwise WF ($200 for spend). I can see getting paid $400 plus whatever cash back vrs paying $550 - that's a pretty big swing for two trips.

Re: Thoughts on AMEX vs Chase

MrDisco99 — Sat, 20 May 2017 02:46:52 GMT

Wealthy people are just people. They're all as different as regular people are and do what works for them.

As for your idea of doing Amex Plat + EDP, yeah I get you want to maximize points earning, but that just seems a bit wasteful to me on fees. That's a combined whopping $645 annual free. I realize that's partly offset by travel credits and perks, but still, do you spend enough (and on the right things) on those cards to make it worth that? Maybe you do.

It seems to me you'd get more for less with a Chase trio. $450 AF - $300 travel credit and similar perks, plus fairly quick points earning potential with Freedom cards, which would make up for the lower travel points earning rate of the CSR (even though 3x is still nothing to sneeze at).

Plat does come with some exclusive perks that might be worth it, though. Like I said, different combos are a better fit to different people.

Me personally, I'd probably never get the platinum because I just don't travel that often. The 5x earning on flights would only be occasional, the $200 Uber credit isn't much use where I live, and the $200 travel credit isn't enough of a discount off the AF for me, and might not even get completely used some years. I've thought about the PRG, especially with the nice targeted 50,000 MR signup offer I got in the mail, but not yet. That one seems a better fit for me since it offers double rewards on everyday categories like gas and groceries. So I'd use it to save points to use on a nice big trip we might take every few years or so. That's a $195 AF and no second card needed. But that's just what seems a better fit for my situation.

As for the Chase cards, again, the CSR is hard for me to justify considering my current spending habits, but I might have use for a CSP in my future since it doesn't require as much of a commitment to spend on travel as the CSR or Plat do. I'm probably stuck in 5/24 for a pretty long time, though, so this is just a thought experiment for me.

Do what works for you.

Re: Thoughts on AMEX vs Chase

Anonymous — Sat, 20 May 2017 03:50:13 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I've been thinking lately and have been heavily debating between going the AMEX Platinum+EDP route (for the simplicty of only two cards) or continue on with the Chase trio (CSR+FU+Freedom) and citi prestige for hotels. I take at least 2 large trips a year ($4k+ each). Baiscally I'm debating on weather the time juggling multiple cards is worth it vs the simplicity of a charge card, a credit card, and 1 visa or mastercard just incase AMEX isn't taken.

What card do most wealthy people use? (I heard that most wealthy people only have and use 1-2 cards)
What company do most wealthy people use? (If it's AMEX right now, will that change now that they have been slacking a bit with making their platinum on par with the others?)

Why not just get the Amex combo and see if they work out better in a year or two? point hit would have recovered by 2 year mark and extra AF less credit seems like a small fee for the most accurate answer.

I'm afraid that many wealthy people are not that into a non-compounding 'discount' of a few percentage points on everyday CC purchases (as I've noticed, some of them are not even that interested in knowing the price itself, let alone the "4% discount if you use a 'rewards' card") but since CCs are convinient to use here in the US they do use them. Due to the same, I can't see many of them changing cards due to reasons stated in the OP. But anyways, copying this trait from them is probably of little benefit for most and can be quite harmful to normal people like me if trying to copy the 'never ask the price' part