topic Re: CSP vs. TYPremier in Credit Cards

CSP vs. TYPremier

Anonymous — Thu, 09 May 2013 01:03:41 GMT

My girlfriend and I are weighing the pros and cons of these two cards. Thinking ahead, we probably are going to consolidate our cc portfolio: she has a CSP, I have a TYPremier. Which one of these is a better option for the long haul?

CSP: AF $95; 2x restaurants/travel; 1x everything else; 7% annual bonus; 20% UR bonus for travel booked through Chase

TYPremier: AF $125; 1.2x groceries/gas; 1x everything else; 1% annual bonus each year up to 7% (increased by 1 each year); 1 free domestic companion flight; 33% TY bonus for travel booked through Citi

I think most people would say that CSP is the best card out there, but I'm thinking of coupling my TY Premier with a Citi Forward to harvest on TY points from Amazon and restaurants.

Would love to hear everyone's thoughts!

Re: CSP vs. TYPremier

webhopper — Thu, 09 May 2013 01:21:24 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
My girlfriend and I are weighing the pros and cons of these two cards. Thinking ahead, we probably are going to consolidate our cc portfolio: she has a CSP, I have a TYPremier. Which one of these is a better option for the long haul?

CSP: AF $95; 2x restaurants/travel; 1x everything else; 7% annual bonus; 20% UR bonus for travel booked through Chase
TYPremier: AF $125; 1.2x groceries/gas; 1x everything else; 1% annual bonus each year up to 7% (increased by 1 each year); 1 free domestic companion flight; 33% TY bonus for travel booked through Citi

I think most people would say that CSP is the best card out there, but I'm thinking of coupling my TY Premier with a Citi Forward to harvest on TY points from Amazon and restaurants.

Would love to hear everyone's thoughts!

It really depends on which rewards program you value more.

My hubby and I do this, we use PRG, he is an ACM... all of our daily spending goes on this card, plus my work expenses... we are able to amass a large # of MR points in this way

Re: CSP vs. TYPremier

Anonymous — Thu, 09 May 2013 01:24:11 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
My girlfriend and I are weighing the pros and cons of these two cards. Thinking ahead, we probably are going to consolidate our cc portfolio: she has a CSP, I have a TYPremier. Which one of these is a better option for the long haul?

CSP: AF $95; 2x restaurants/travel; 1x everything else; 7% annual bonus; 20% UR bonus for travel booked through Chase
TYPremier: AF $125; 1.2x groceries/gas; 1x everything else; 1% annual bonus each year up to 7% (increased by 1 each year); 1 free domestic companion flight; 33% TY bonus for travel booked through Citi

I think most people would say that CSP is the best card out there, but I'm thinking of coupling my TY Premier with a Citi Forward to harvest on TY points from Amazon and restaurants.

Would love to hear everyone's thoughts!

Shamelessly copying views from Flyertalk: Almost cards for two different purposes. TYP is good if you spend and fly (so that the flight miles can be redeemed to TYP) and most of your travel is in coach. For this, combined with the Forward (and the 5x TY Pref if you had it) allow you to get lots of points, get a better redemption ratio, get flight miles, get 15% off without miles, and the one free companion trip a year.

If your goals are more premium cabin and nice hotels, and you can make those flights on airlines/partners supported by the UR program, then CSP is the way to go of the two (and consider the various Amex programs in this case). Premium cabin flights to international destinations are too expensive to buy even at 1.33 cents a mile, transfer to a partner is much more effective.

There are also reports that the Premier is going to go to 3x on travel after July, and get rid of the anniversary bonus....

Re: CSP vs. TYPremier

Anonymous — Thu, 09 May 2013 01:41:56 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
My girlfriend and I are weighing the pros and cons of these two cards. Thinking ahead, we probably are going to consolidate our cc portfolio: she has a CSP, I have a TYPremier. Which one of these is a better option for the long haul?

CSP: AF $95; 2x restaurants/travel; 1x everything else; 7% annual bonus; 20% UR bonus for travel booked through Chase
TYPremier: AF $125; 1.2x groceries/gas; 1x everything else; 1% annual bonus each year up to 7% (increased by 1 each year); 1 free domestic companion flight; 33% TY bonus for travel booked through Citi

I think most people would say that CSP is the best card out there, but I'm thinking of coupling my TY Premier with a Citi Forward to harvest on TY points from Amazon and restaurants.

Would love to hear everyone's thoughts!

Shamelessly copying views from Flyertalk: Almost cards for two different purposes. TYP is good if you spend and fly (so that the flight miles can be redeemed to TYP) and most of your travel is in coach. For this, combined with the Forward (and the 5x TY Pref if you had it) allow you to get lots of points, get a better redemption ratio, get flight miles, get 15% off without miles, and the one free companion trip a year.

If your goals are more premium cabin and nice hotels, and you can make those flights on airlines/partners supported by the UR program, then CSP is the way to go of the two (and consider the various Amex programs in this case). Premium cabin flights to international destinations are too expensive to buy even at 1.33 cents a mile, transfer to a partner is much more effective.

There are also reports that the Premier is going to go to 3x on travel after July, and get rid of the anniversary bonus....

Flyertalk coming to the rescue as always. As a current Forward holder, I am tempted not to drink the Freedom/CSP/Ink Kool Aid and get the Premier instead. Most of my travel is domestic and I like that flights purchases with points still count towards status. Part of me is a little scared that the Forward will go the way of the 5x Preferred and Forward for non-students though and I'll be left with the $125 AF and limited TY points earning opportunities...

Re: CSP vs. TYPremier

Anonymous — Thu, 09 May 2013 01:57:30 GMT

Should have added that if you can handle the spend (and the HP) you can get both, since they are free the first year, and the CSP has a huge bonus ($400 cash, TYP $250). Then, as time comes for the annual fee, drop whichever one you don't want.

Re: CSP vs. TYPremier

Anonymous — Thu, 09 May 2013 02:12:47 GMT

Thanks for all of the opinions so far! All very helpful. I didn't know about the potential change to the TY rewards structure this summer. Is there a post somewhere that discuss these in more detail? We actually both already have the cards, but she was discussing dropping her CSP since it has the annual fee and I said I wanted to keep my TY Premier. I could just as easily PC my Premier to a preferred to avoid the fee. This turned into more of a conversation of which card was better and figured we'd get the answers from the forum!

Re: CSP vs. TYPremier

Anonymous — Thu, 09 May 2013 02:43:55 GMT

From post 9 in:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Citi-Thank-You-Preferred-upgraded-to-World-Elite-MC/td-p/2117199

Starting July 28th the TY Preferred cards get 2X points on dining and entertainment as well.

The Premier gets a even bigger bonus. 3X dining and Entertainment and 2X travel on top of its current bonuses, if I am not wrong.

Enharu was told this by a Citi Rep.

Re: CSP vs. TYPremier

Anonymous — Thu, 09 May 2013 03:15:25 GMT

Both the CSP and TYPref/Premier truly shine when used with the Freedom and Forward, respectively. That being said, the Freedom/CSP combination provides me with the greatest return on my points. If the proposed changes to the TY cards come to fruition, they will make the TY program much more competitive. I enjoy the best of both worlds with the Freedom/CSP and Forward/TYPref, which requires only an annual fee for the CSP.

Re: CSP vs. TYPremier

mxp114 — Thu, 09 May 2013 03:25:16 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
From post 9 in:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Citi-Thank-You-Preferred-upgraded-to-World-Elite-MC/td-p/2117199

Starting July 28th the TY Preferred cards get 2X points on dining and entertainment as well.
The Premier gets a even bigger bonus. 3X dining and Entertainment and 2X travel on top of its current bonuses, if I am not wrong.

Enharu was told this by a Citi Rep.

A rep told me that about Premier but take it with a grain of salt. The rep seemed unsure if it was 100% happening and also mentioned the $50 AF for AU would be removed. Tentative until we get notice, that's why I hesitated to post to avoid confusion lol

Re: CSP vs. TYPremier

Anonymous — Thu, 09 May 2013 03:29:09 GMT

A change in that direction would definitely make Citi more competitive. I liked the Premier just for the companion flight and points for fly miles. I don't even travel all that much. I don't have the Citi Forward (currently in the midst of a recon) so if I can't get approved for one, I may bag the Premier, scale back to the preferred and we can go with the CSP in the future.

Re: CSP vs. TYPremier

Anonymous — Thu, 09 May 2013 07:13:19 GMT

I think there's one thing that everyone is missing.

You get 1 point as well for EACH mile you fly. Your spending has to match your flying.

So effectively, if you fly enough, it's at least a 2% everything card at the minimum, 3% for travel, 4% for dining and entertainment.

And free companion air ticket (domestic).

The Thank You Premier is a really good card if you can spend a lot, and fly a lot.

If not, go with the CSP.

Re: CSP vs. TYPremier

Anonymous — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:29:58 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I think there's one thing that everyone is missing.
You get 1 point as well for EACH mile you fly. Your spending has to match your flying.
So effectively, if you fly enough, it's at least a 2% everything card at the minimum, 3% for travel, 4% for dining and entertainment.
And free companion air ticket (domestic).

The Thank You Premier is a really good card if you can spend a lot, and fly a lot.
If not, go with the CSP.

My reference to "flight miles" which is what Premier calls them was the reference to that!

I think "Your spending has to match your flying" is perhaps the wrong way around. More "Your flying has to be matched by your spending" for the flight points to become TYP, and the problem is that the spend has to be on the Premier, which currently doesn't have great rewards.

Is your 2,3,4% based on the possible new reward structure? With the current rewards, this is often cited as 2.66% (because you can redeem 1 point = 1.33c)

Re: CSP vs. TYPremier

Anonymous — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:40:47 GMT

my calculations was based on the new reward structure. i did not factor in the 33% bonus when you redeem for travel, so that's an additional bonus. i forgot about that

for people who fly international routes often, these flight miles add up really quickly too