topic Re: Wife wants CSR but is it worth it? in Credit Cards

Wife wants CSR but is it worth it?

Green456 — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 17:21:06 GMT

Wife wants Chase Sapphire Reserved. Setting aside my personal dislike towards Chase, is the card worth it for us?

We will spend this year $5,000 on travel. Next year probably similar amount.
We can put additional spending of about $1,000 per month.
So total $17,000 per year.

Re: Wife wants CSR but is it worth it?

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 17:24:09 GMT

@Green456 wrote:
Wife wants Chase Sapphire Reserved. Setting aside my personal dislike towards Chase, is the card worth it for us?

We will spend this year $5,000 on travel. Next year probably similar amount.
We can put additional spending of about $1,000 per month.
So total $17,000 per year.

pure value wise, not for 5000 spending on travel alone. unless you

1. assign large value on lounge access/free airport food, and/or

2. have other chase cards whose points can be redeemed for travel at 150% value

Re: Wife wants CSR but is it worth it?

wasCB14 — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 17:48:34 GMT

How much of the additional $1k/month is dining? CSR is nothing special outside of travel and dining.

I like mine, but I spend more on travel and use CFU often.

*For the travel spend, any favored hotel or airline?

Re: Wife wants CSR but is it worth it?

Green456 — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 17:56:36 GMT

Only $200 a month on dining. $800 on food and other non travel.

Re: Wife wants CSR but is it worth it?

Green456 — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 17:58:41 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Green456 wrote:
Wife wants Chase Sapphire Reserved. Setting aside my personal dislike towards Chase, is the card worth it for us?

We will spend this year $5,000 on travel. Next year probably similar amount.
We can put additional spending of about $1,000 per month.
So total $17,000 per year.
pure value wise, not for 5000 spending on travel alone. unless you

1. assign large value on lounge access/free airport food, and/or
2. have other chase cards whose points can be redeemed for travel at 150% value

She is 0/24. So she can potentially get 4 chase cards.

$5000 on travel

$10,000 on non travel

$2000 on dining.

What is point redeem value on Chase portal?

Re: Wife wants CSR but is it worth it?

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 17:58:46 GMT

@Green456 wrote:
Wife wants Chase Sapphire Reserved. Setting aside my personal dislike towards Chase, is the card worth it for us?

We will spend this year $5,000 on travel. Next year probably similar amount.
We can put additional spending of about $1,000 per month.
So total $17,000 per year.

Yes it's worth it. You get a $300 credit, making the annual fee $150.

$4700 x 3% = $141, meaning just the travel component makes the card essentially free.

There's also lounge access, various travel protection including primary rental car coverage, etc. That's not even taking into account that the SUB will pay the annual fee for 3+ years even if you value the points at $0.01 each.

Re: Wife wants CSR but is it worth it?

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 18:35:35 GMT

@Green456 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Green456 wrote:
Wife wants Chase Sapphire Reserved. Setting aside my personal dislike towards Chase, is the card worth it for us?

We will spend this year $5,000 on travel. Next year probably similar amount.
We can put additional spending of about $1,000 per month.
So total $17,000 per year.
pure value wise, not for 5000 spending on travel alone. unless you

1. assign large value on lounge access/free airport food, and/or
2. have other chase cards whose points can be redeemed for travel at 150% value
She is 0/24. So she can potentially get 4 chase cards.

$5000 on travel
$10,000 on non travel
$2000 on dining.

What is point redeem value on Chase portal?

1.5cpp (lowest price not guranteed).

10000x2.25

7000x4.5

-------------------

total $540

return: (540-150)/17000=2.3%, not a great return.

Again, CSR's lounge free food can value 20 per visit for two at least. So 2 to 3 trips can net you 100.

If you get her freedom, and try to get its 5% category (7.5% with CSR), it will increase value as well.

Re: Wife wants CSR but is it worth it?

Shadowfactor — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 18:35:07 GMT

How do you plan on redeeming the points if you get the CSR ? Southwest and Hyatt are really the only decent options left. BA is an decent program but it’s not unique to chase so it shouldn’t be a deciding factor given CSR’s earn rates are behind other travel card.

You should take a look at the transfer partners chase has to offer as that’s how you obtain the most value out of the card. The portal is a safety net at 1.5CPP so 4.5% return on dining and travel. Not outstanding but not terrible either.

Chase has an easy to use travel credit which leaves the AF at $150 net. PP is almost worthless in the US unless at a restaurant “lounge” so if you don’t plan on international travel. I wouldn’t assign much value to that perk.

Chase really shines if you’re the type of person that stays in Hyatt’s and flies southwest. Mainly domestic travel. It has decent insurance for travel.

The biggest thing with picking a travel card is how you will utilize the points. You’re collecting this “currency” and you want to be able to spend it how you want.

Re: Wife wants CSR but is it worth it?

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 18:37:13 GMT

I wouldn't call PP wortheless. They do have presence in many large airport in US.

Re: Wife wants CSR but is it worth it?

Shadowfactor — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 18:47:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I wouldn't call PP wortheless. They do have presence in many large airport in US.

Yes they do have many lounges in the US, but gaining access to them is a crapshoot. Very limited hours that most lounges accept PP guests. They are often closed to PP because of space constraints.

I wouldn’t assign much value to PP unless you can utilize the restaurant options or travel internationally.

As always YMMV but this has been my experience and I see daily posts about this issue in the travel groups I belong too.

Re: Wife wants CSR but is it worth it?

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 19:00:24 GMT

lol, good to know. I will be frequening DFW and ATL clubs from now on, I may have more to say about it later.

For more accurate assessment for OP, i guess next we need to have an idea about where and how he travels.

Re: Wife wants CSR but is it worth it?

Green456 — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 19:01:55 GMT

@Shadowfactor wrote:
How do you plan on redeeming the points if you get the CSR ? Southwest and Hyatt are really the only decent options left. BA is an decent program but it’s not unique to chase so it shouldn’t be a deciding factor given CSR’s earn rates are behind other travel card.

You should take a look at the transfer partners chase has to offer as that’s how you obtain the most value out of the card. The portal is a safety net at 1.5CPP so 4.5% return on dining and travel. Not outstanding but not terrible either.

Chase has an easy to use travel credit which leaves the AF at $150 net. PP is almost worthless in the US unless at a restaurant “lounge” so if you don’t plan on international travel. I wouldn’t assign much value to that perk.

Chase really shines if you’re the type of person that stays in Hyatt’s and flies southwest. Mainly domestic travel. It has decent insurance for travel.

The biggest thing with picking a travel card is how you will utilize the points. You’re collecting this “currency” and you want to be able to spend it how you want.

We like to stay at hotels, mostly Homewood Sweats. We also going to fly ocassionally between NYC and Kentucky.

Re: Wife wants CSR but is it worth it?

SouthJamaica — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 19:37:44 GMT

@Green456 wrote:
@Shadowfactor wrote:
How do you plan on redeeming the points if you get the CSR ? Southwest and Hyatt are really the only decent options left. BA is an decent program but it’s not unique to chase so it shouldn’t be a deciding factor given CSR’s earn rates are behind other travel card.

You should take a look at the transfer partners chase has to offer as that’s how you obtain the most value out of the card. The portal is a safety net at 1.5CPP so 4.5% return on dining and travel. Not outstanding but not terrible either.

Chase has an easy to use travel credit which leaves the AF at $150 net. PP is almost worthless in the US unless at a restaurant “lounge” so if you don’t plan on international travel. I wouldn’t assign much value to that perk.

Chase really shines if you’re the type of person that stays in Hyatt’s and flies southwest. Mainly domestic travel. It has decent insurance for travel.

The biggest thing with picking a travel card is how you will utilize the points. You’re collecting this “currency” and you want to be able to spend it how you want.

We like to stay at hotels, mostly Homewood Sweats. We also going to fly ocassionally between NYC and Kentucky.

If you stay at Homewood Suites a lot you could get value out of the Amex Hilton Ascend card.

Re: Wife wants CSR but is it worth it?

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 20:00:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

Yes it's worth it. You get a $300 credit, making the annual fee $150.

$4700 x 3% = $141, meaning just the travel component makes the card essentially free.

Well, you should also take into account you could earn $94 on this spend with a plain free 2% card, so you are still $100 down just on that. But as you say, there are many other things to take into consideration.

Re: Wife wants CSR but is it worth it?

iced — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 20:31:23 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I wouldn't call PP wortheless. They do have presence in many large airport in US.

Not worthless, but not far from it. PP (and Centurion) lounges are frequently at/near capacity around the clock, and you can wait in line for a toilet or a seat in a lounge just as often as you do in the terminal. Unless you binge on the snacks and drinks, there's not a lot of difference most of the time.

Re: Wife wants CSR but is it worth it?

iced — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 20:34:53 GMT

@Shadowfactor wrote:
How do you plan on redeeming the points if you get the CSR ? Southwest and Hyatt are really the only decent options left. BA is an decent program but it’s not unique to chase so it shouldn’t be a deciding factor given CSR’s earn rates are behind other travel card.

I'm ok with word going around that UA (and more importantly the entire *A available through them) isn't a decent option. More available award seats for me.

Re: Wife wants CSR but is it worth it?

Green456 — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 21:55:30 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
1. assign large value on lounge access/free airport food, and/or
2. have other chase cards whose points can be redeemed for travel at 150% value

So does this mean that Chase Freedom gives 2.25% back instead of 1.5?

Re: Wife wants CSR but is it worth it?

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 21:59:33 GMT

@Green456 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
1. assign large value on lounge access/free airport food, and/or
2. have other chase cards whose points can be redeemed for travel at 150% value
So does this mean that Chase Freedom gives 2.25% back instead of 1.5?

yes, freedom unlimited will earn 2.25% when you transfer the points to CSR and book travel through chase portal.

Re: Wife wants CSR but is it worth it?

kdm31091 — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 23:35:41 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:

Yes it's worth it. You get a $300 credit, making the annual fee $150.

$4700 x 3% = $141, meaning just the travel component makes the card essentially free.

Well, you should also take into account you could earn $94 on this spend with a plain free 2% card, so you are still $100 down just on that. But as you say, there are many other things to take into consideration.

This. Don't forget this point OP.

If you're on the fence with the premium cards like CSR (which are great for the right person and spend), you should always consider free or lower cost alternatives.

Re: Wife wants CSR but is it worth it?

redpat — Wed, 03 Jul 2019 10:40:40 GMT

Well if it’s lounge access and perks get Amex Plat and citi Exec AA.

Exec AA you can add up to 10 AUs so share the cost w/ others plus priority access for checking bags and security at most airports. Plat gets you delta, centurion and escape lounges plus Marriott and Hilton Gold status. You can net the

cost to be lower than CSR $150.