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AMEX PRG or Green??

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awall41
Established Member

AMEX PRG or Green??

Hi Everyone,

 

I just got an AMEX Zync (June 1st) and have been using it a lot more than I expected.  It has pretty much taken the place of my debit card and I even used it to make the down payment on my new car (got to love free points).  I would, however, like to get a PRG or Green in about 6 months to take advantage of MR points.  My question is do you think the $175 AF is worth the extra points?  Right now I average about 2k a month through my Zync (4k in July with the down payment).  My other 2 cards are a Barclays Apple Financing card which is strictly used for 0% Apple offers and a Cap1 platinum rewards which has been sock drawered since they won't give me a CLI.  My EX FICO is 706 XQ 698 and TU 725.  My UTL is currently at 9% and my only baddie is a CO that should not be on there from a Utility company.  It is unpayed as I am trying to PFD with them. 

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

Message 1 of 11
10 REPLIES 10
Ron1
Super Contributor

Re: AMEX PRG or Green??

I think PRG is worth it if you travel a lot.

 

 

Ron.

Message 2 of 11
awall41
Established Member

Re: AMEX PRG or Green??

I take many small trips for LA to Vegas and Laughlin throughout the year, but I don't fly.  I also take one trip for a week every year and that one I always fly.  Do you think that is enough travel to justify the PRG?  Also, should I wait until Jan to apply or does it not matter?

Message 3 of 11
Ron1
Super Contributor

Re: AMEX PRG or Green??


@awall41 wrote:

I take many small trips for LA to Vegas and Laughlin throughout the year, but I don't fly.  I also take one trip for a week every year and that one I always fly.  Do you think that is enough travel to justify the PRG?  Also, should I wait until Jan to apply or does it not matter?


I only fly to LA twice a year.  I don't fly too many times either. I use the card for car rental and hotel.  The card saved me a couple of times during emergency.  I don't think Amex Zync will give you the spending power.  I left my Amex Zync at how when I travelled to LA. I think you should wait at least six months to apply for another card.

 

Ron.

Message 4 of 11
Cdnewmanpac
Established Contributor

Re: AMEX PRG or Green??

I disagree about zync spending power. I put a 10k charge on mine last month without issue. If he is running 100k plus a year through the card, he might get a call suggesting he upgrade, but I haven't seen any evidence of a hard ceiling on spending with zync. OP: with 2k/month in spending, you will cover the prg annual fee. The question is whether you will gain sufficient points from the bonus categories after you cover the AF to gain some real advantage over zync. Flying once a year, I doubt the ability to convert your points to miles (which you cannot do with zync) is going to be a big issue for you. So log in to your checking account and look up how much you spent last year by category (most online banking services can do this easily). Then figure out how many points you would have gotten had you used zync or prg for everything. If, after accounting for differences in annual fees, the prg would have yielded significantly more points, then get the prg. If not, why take the hits from AAoA and Inq standpoint? Remember, applying next January and backdating to 1/12 will still decrease AAoA unless it is less than a year to begin with.
In wallet: Ink Plus 10k, AMEX TE 25k. In bag: CSP 16k, USAA WMC 15k, Hyatt 13k, United MPE 12k, AMEX HHonors 3k. In SD: Cap 1 QS 5k, Discover IT 7k. FICO 08 says my EQ is now 844, was 510 in 2010.
Message 5 of 11
Crashem
Valued Contributor

Re: AMEX PRG or Green??

Op, look for first year af waived plus bonus points offer for prg. I would be doing that and pc to green or zync if you don't think it worth it before new annual fee comes due. Green/prg real power over zync is the fact that your get mr points instead of mr express points. Mr points can be changed into miles. No difference in npsl sync than any other Amex charge card that I know of. I don't consider prg card a travel card. More about if you will get enough bonus mr points from categories to justify the extra af over gold or green.
               LIMITS IN CARD DESCRIPTIONS
Message 6 of 11
espnjunkie
Established Contributor

Re: AMEX PRG or Green??

Unless you are spending TONS per month on airline tickets then the green is probably better for you. You get the full MR points, NPSL and only a 95.00 AF instead of a 175.00 AF. Actually for what it is the PRG is not that great of a card to be honest. The AF is sky high for the benefits you get. If you book your airline travel through the Amex website you end up getting 2X points anyway.

“The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money.” ~Unknown
Citi Prestige World Elite Mastercard ($35,000.00), Merrill+ Visa Signature ($25,000.00), Amex BCP ($29,700.00), Amex Green (NPSL), Capital One Quicksilver World Mastercard ($10,000.00), Chase Ink Business Bold (NPSL)
TU-778 (12/03/2014))
EX (Plus) - 777 (10/21/2013)
EQ - 735 (April 2013)
Message 7 of 11
Open123
Super Contributor

Re: AMEX PRG or Green??


@espnjunkie wrote:

Unless you are spending TONS per month on airline tickets then the green is probably better for you. You get the full MR points, NPSL and only a 95.00 AF instead of a 175.00 AF. Actually for what it is the PRG is not that great of a card to be honest. The AF is sky high for the benefits you get. If you book your airline travel through the Amex website you end up getting 2X points anyway.


+1

 

In my view, the PR Gold is worth only if you spend mostly on airfare and at least $30k to qualify for the 15k bonus.  Otherwise, the Green would the better option here.

Message 8 of 11
awall41
Established Member

Re: AMEX PRG or Green??

Thanks everyone.

 

Also, I just got my Zync and I heard some people say to pay before the statement cut date (like on a regular CC) and some say just to pay by the due date becuase it doesn't post your balance to the CRA.  Can someone clarify this for me Smiley Happy

Message 9 of 11
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: AMEX PRG or Green??


@awall41 wrote:

Thanks everyone.

 

Also, I just got my Zync and I heard some people say to pay before the statement cut date (like on a regular CC) and some say just to pay by the due date becuase it doesn't post your balance to the CRA.  Can someone clarify this for me Smiley Happy


It does post your balance; it does not get factored in the revolving utilization metric under either FICO '04 or FICO '08 models.

 

Ergo, if you think your lender is using a '98 FICO (reportedly NFCU and possibly a few other lenders, or pulling your TU report from here), pay before the statement date just like every other card.  Beyond that though, it doesn't really matter.

 

 

 




        
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