topic Re: Picking a Premium Card! in Credit Cards

Picking a Premium Card!

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 04:16:40 GMT

Howdy folks!

Lately I've been thinking about finally getting a "premium" credit card because of the perks (specially lounge access) that they come with but I'm having a hard time picking one so I hope you guys can help me narrow it down! This year I plan on travelling quite a lot (when comparing to my usual 1-2 trips per year) and I'm pretty sure I can get value of the rewards with a premium credit card.

Here's some background info that may help:

- I live in California and I normally fly out of San Jose (SJC) or San Francisco (SFO)

- Mostly fly abroad but some domestic flights here and there

- I'm not loyal to any airline nor hotel

- Would consider a co-branded hotel credit card but normally, when I travel, I don't stay in fancy hotels and stuff like that. That could change tho if it makes sense.

- I am aware that the Amex Platinum offers way more (and better) lounges than other cards but in this case I believe that Priority Pass would do it (or Admirals Club, maybe?!) and I'd also have a hard time trying to use the Uber credit (which is, by itself, $200).

- Would consider a co-branded airline/hotel card as long as it makes sense such as, for instance, an awesome SUB that would come with the card.

About my credit score (as of today):

Experian: 745

Equifax: 737

Transunion: 712

Payments on time: 100%

AAoA: 2 years (due to me opening 4 new accounts last year)

Inquiries: 5

Total accounts: 11

Utilization: 6%

PS: I got the Chase Sapphire Preferred back in August 2018 (I believe) and I have to wait 1 year to upgrade to the Chase Sapphire Reserve so, as I plan on travelling abroad before that, I'm not considering the CSR for now.

I also already considered the Hilton Ascend but it only comes with 10x lounge visits (Priority Pass) and I feel like I'd need more than that as I normally fly with my wife or a group of friends.

Thank you guys for any input, I really appreciate it! Keep this forum awesome

Re: Picking a Premium Card!

RicHowe — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 04:21:41 GMT

Platinum.

Re: Picking a Premium Card!

FinStar — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 04:51:55 GMT

Other than what's been suggested above, and considering your hub location(s), there's the Citi AAdvantage Executive, United Club (provided you're under 5/24), and HSBC Premier (provided you meet their eligibility requirements).

You'd have to weigh the overall benefits, perks and overall value to determine which CC would fare best for your situation.

Re: Picking a Premium Card!

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 05:08:29 GMT

How about the Magnises Card?

19ZBLACKCARD1_SPAN-articleLarge.jpg

Just kidding. This was never a real "black" card, and its creator is in prison. Oops!

All jokes aside, you'll have to determine what you want out of the card. Will you have positive expected value? Will you be able to offset the annual fee?

AMEX Platinum

Chase Sapphire Reserve

Chase Sapphire Prefered (is this considered a "premium" card?)

Citi Prestige

US Bank Altitude

Etc...

Re: Picking a Premium Card!

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 05:09:35 GMT

Citi AA Exec, Amex Plat or Hilton Aspire

Re: Picking a Premium Card!

budugu — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 05:13:10 GMT

Till citi relaunches prestige, i guess your only option other than CSR is Plat. If you ruled out CSR, i would go with the Prestige (when it relaunches). Especially if you just book the cheapest flight (no airline loyality). There is US bank Altitude reserve (but with limited priority pass). People (at least) i over estimated my PP use. Out side of ME/India between having an airport with PP and making it that early to go the lounge i have not set foot in a US based one in an year (i travel about every 3 weeks). I think altitude reserve might work the best but you need a checking account and wait for that.

Re: Picking a Premium Card!

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 05:15:55 GMT

Thank you all for helping me with this! I guess its also worth to mention that I've been thinking about the AAdvantage Excutive card but I think that I'd have a hard time getting points with that card as it only earns 2x per $1 when booking AA flights and 1x per $1 on everything else.

Re: Picking a Premium Card!

wasCB14 — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 05:35:06 GMT

As you're not loyal to AA or United, Citi AA Exec and Chase United Club sound like inferior options. While great for loyalists, you'd be paying up for benefits you're not likely make much use of.

I'd say Platinum for the broader lounge access or CSR. While it's not generally cheap and the delivery fee might be significant, you might be able to get a little benefit from the trickle of Uber credits from Uber Eats.

Re: Picking a Premium Card!

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 09:27:58 GMT

@wasCB14 wrote:
As you're not loyal to AA or United, Citi AA Exec and Chase United Club sound like inferior options. While great for loyalists, you'd be paying up for benefits you're not likely make much use of.

I'd say Platinum for the broader lounge access or CSR. While it's not generally cheap and the delivery fee might be significant, you might be able to get a little benefit from the trickle of Uber credits from Uber Eats.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

You're right, I'm not loyal to any airline but I do tend to like American Airlines a little more because my first international flight was with them and I also used to work for one of American Airlines companies. I find it hard to use the dinning credit on the American Express Gold card, and having to duplicate that action with an Amex Platinum doesn't sound too good for me, haha! But again, that's me! I bet there are a bunch of people out there who can manage these credits pretty easily.

The Aadvantage Executie doesn't offer a travel credit which is not good when comparing to the CSR or even Amex Platinum. Even the Mastercard Black Luxury offers a $100 travel credit, haha! Although, they offer free checked bags which is kinda cool.

Anyways, thanks again for sharing your thoughts! I've been also considering the SPG Luxury card maybe or the Hilton one which offers a $250 travel credit.

Re: Picking a Premium Card!

coldfusion — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 10:48:28 GMT

Since lounge access is important to you and you have no particular airline loyalty Iwould agree with the others that have commented that the AMEX Platinum is probably your best choice.

- You're already blocked from the CSR until August. Due to the CARD act you can't PC your CSP until then, and Chase won't let you hold more than 1 Sapphire card.

- Since much of your travel is international I suspect you fly out of SFO more than SJC. SFO has an AMEX Centurion Lounge post-security in Terminal 3 along the path connecting it with Terminal G - no TSA headaches due to the limited post-security connectivity between terminals.

- Priority Pass

- If flying Delta, you have access to Delta Sky Lounges.

The latest ongoing trend has been for the airlines to start restricting access to their own clubs only to those members who also have a same-day boarding pass on their airline. AA started this policy last year, Delta just started enforcing it last week, and United has announced they will start doing so later this year. Given that you have no particular loyalty to any given airline, a co-branded card with lounge access (e.g. United Club, Delta Reserve, AAdvantage Executive) wouldn't be a good fit.

One other perk you may find sometimes useful is that the Platinum card also gets you mid-tier status with with the loyalty programs of several of the large hotel chains with international presence.

Re: Picking a Premium Card!

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 12:26:34 GMT

where are you flying to? depending on your destination, some airlines will be out of picture, and some airlines will be more important to consider.

there is really no other option at the moment, because prestige is not available, CSR is not available to you, and AA has poor destinations to asia (if you fly there).

Re: Picking a Premium Card!

UpperNwGuy — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 12:32:20 GMT

Just swallow your AA pride and get the United Club card. SFO is a United hub, so they have many more international flights from the Bay Area than does American. The United Club card earns 1.5x miles per $1 spent compared to 1 mile per $1 on the AA Executive card. You'll not only be able to use the United Club lounges at SFO, but you'll also be able to use the Star Alliance partner lounges in your destination cities. If the United Club card doesn't work out for you, you can always downgrade it to the United Explorer card.

Re: Picking a Premium Card!

Priory_Man — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 12:51:27 GMT

I fly delta mostly, hence the Reserve card.
I do also have the Citi Prestige, but the Priority pass lounges never really did it for me. Nearly always overcrowded.
If I had to re-think my whole strategy I would just go with an Amex Platinum card and be content.

Re: Picking a Premium Card!

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 14:01:08 GMT

Not to be biased, but I also agree that the Platinum Cars sounds like the better choice for your circumstances.

1.) Centurion Lounge, Delta SkyClub and Priority Pass.
2.) Marriott/SPG Gold Status, Hilton Gold Status, and AMEX Fine Hotels & Resorts benefits if your business lets you book your own arrangements.
3.) Uber Eats can be used if you don't plan on using the credit for rides.
4.) Membership Rewards points are much more versatile than virtually all other programs, including co-branded programs.
5.) If you have more than one MR card (I think I saw you have the Gold Cars?, the points from all MR products pool into one account for easy redemption.
6.) American Express is usually, if not always, much easier to work with in the event of a dispute, or needing to use another benefit like Global Assist, Purchase Protection or Extended Warranty.
7.) You'll make me happy.

Re: Picking a Premium Card!

digitek — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 14:24:01 GMT

I'd go with the US Bank Altitude Reserve from what you describe. It is not loyal to any airline, the SUB is good, it has trip interruption insurance, it gives you PP lounge access which is sure to underwhelm you, it has no FTF, and I really like how it does redemption. It is 4.5x when used for travel and you get to book it however/whenever you want and they credit you back, no need to transfer MR's for miles redemption (although that can offer some chances for great redemption deals) or portals to go through.

Also, the overall AF is cheaper than any of ther others with $400 total and $325 travel credit making net $75. I also like how you can accumulate rewards on travel and mobile wallet at x3 and redeem for x1.5 making it a 4.5% card for all kinds of transactions. I just tried mobile wallet recently and am really digging it, it is really convenient and I've noticied how most of the payment terminals I deal with in person are NFC compatible now. I also like that it DOESN'T have dining as a cash back category, I'm purposefully trying to avoid that category since I eat out way too **bleep** much already =D

I'm about to drop my CSR and Freedom and convert my Cash+, but I recently opened a card and want to give it some time. My CSR Annual Fee just came up and it is time to switch programs.