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When you apply for a credit card, do you consider how well it will serve you in the long term? Or do you only consider your current, short term needs? I'm thinking of applying for the AMEX Gold, because I can see it serving my needs for the next year or two, but I don't know if it will continue to be valuable to me beyond that. And since the only PC options are the Green or Platinum, in all likelihood, I'll end up closing it. Would you still bother? Am I overthinking this?
Specifically for Gold... I picked up the 50K in MR's for the bonus to see their value to me. I didn't find much value in them when redeeming them and nixed the card before the AF hit.
If you don't find redemption value w/ MR's then just pick up the points and move onto something different. There are "perks" you prepay for with each tier of card. Pay more, get more.
If it's your first Amex then it's a foot in the door but, I would wait for the promo to change to a first year waived AF instead of wasting $250 of the bonus on the fee.
Well, wait for the AF to be waived and give it a run for the points! A good standby for pooling MR's is the old Blue card w/o a fee or any perks. It holds your MR's w/o being needy.
Ed/EDP aren't your best options either of those categories though. The BCE/BCP are your key grocery cards and for dining the comp for the Gold is the Uber @ 4%.
I look things as... if you have to go out of your normal routine to make a card work then it's not really worth the hassle. Cash back is simple... when you have to run calculations, jump through loopholes, and scheme to get the best bang for points/miles it just gets a bit tedious. If you're not already traveling to take advantage of the perks then it's another hurdle to consider.
Sure, there are plenty of ways to make cards work for travel that's near free but, there's some serious spend behind those tactics. Nothing is ever "free" there's always something you have to do to make it happen.
For me personally, I never apply for a card with the intention of closing it early. (Not to say I have never closed them early though lol) As for the Gold, if you can do the AF, I would say go for it. But don’t close it any earlier than a year or Amex will view you as a churner. Who knows? You may end up wanting to keep it. Good luck with whatever you decide!
@KLEXH25 wrote:When you apply for a credit card, do you consider how well it will serve you in the long term? Or do you only consider your current, short term needs? I'm thinking of applying for the AMEX Gold, because I can see it serving my needs for the next year or two, but I don't know if it will continue to be valuable to me beyond that. And since the only PC options are the Green or Platinum, in all likelihood, I'll end up closing it. Would you still bother? Am I overthinking this?
Well normally for CCs I consider the long term. A recent app & approval ws BBVA Compass Clear Points Visa - only $150 SUB for $1500 spend, but it has a 3% & 2% reward category you chose quarterly and that gets me 3% at Walmart for anything as my store codes as grocery, and the 2% gets me 2% for medical, and I had some recent high spend for medical & dental.
But for Amex often the short term strategy works. I recently took their offer to upgrade my Blue Cash Everyday to Preferred. With $95 annual fee the upgraded 6% rewards on grocery and 3% on gas really don't work for me as grocery isn't a big spend for me, I'm single and over half my grocery spend is at Walmart, and as my car get 37mpg and work is a 10 commute gas isn't a big spend for me either. But the $250 SUB w/$1k spend was too good to pass up with no new inquiry & no new account.
BUT Amex doesn't like you closing any card, and closing an AF card before the first AF hits is a big no-no, that can land you on their "No more SUBS for you! Churner List". So for my BCP upgrade I'll pay the pro-rated AF that hits after this month's statement and then next year's AF and then downgrade to BCE before the 3rd AF hits, and I'll still come out well ahead.
So if the Amex Gold meets your need for the next two years it can be a good short term strategy for you.
Credit card companies change their rewards programs all the time so I go for what makes sense for my needs in the short term rather than planning out the long term.
@KLEXH25 wrote:When you apply for a credit card, do you consider how well it will serve you in the long term? Or do you only consider your current, short term needs? I'm thinking of applying for the AMEX Gold, because I can see it serving my needs for the next year or two, but I don't know if it will continue to be valuable to me beyond that. And since the only PC options are the Green or Platinum, in all likelihood, I'll end up closing it. Would you still bother? Am I overthinking this?
I'm of the view that it's best to get only cards you are planning to keep. It harms your credit scores too much to open and close accounts.