Anyone Rethinking Travel Points Cards?

[Revelate]

I suspect there will just be a wave of signup bonuses.

There is some price point that Amex will buy Delta points for even today and since one of those two entities has cash and the other needs cash, it'll happen.

Yup mine is July first for my CSR AF.  I have a month and a lot can change in that time, I'll hang out a bit.

Of course if I were more mentally focused instead of spending time on this forum today I could have been legit billing time on researching a fancy new network technology for one of my clients (which out of the trifecta of Cisco SD platforms I don't know well) and probably paid for a non-trivial portion of the damned AF in the first place.

I need to get my poop in a group apparently more than worrying about the CSR fee coming in six weeks.

[CreditUnionFan]

Right, if the CSR was still $450 AF, we might keep it, but with the fee going up last year, and travel virtually shut down, it's harder to justify the new CSR fee.

[Batsamandrobin]

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@Revelate wrote:

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@VanderSnoot wrote:

I know this thread is a little old, but I'm reviving it because I've been surprised so many people here are still applying for travel cards. Even when the economy opens up, it's going to be a while before traveling (particularly air and hotel) is safe. All of my trips are canceled for the next 15 months, so there's no way to recoup the annual fees. I'll downgrade or cancel when the anniversaries hit.

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Actually I was just wondering what people thought now.  I'm waiting to see what happens with this latest round of Congressional give and take (not picking sides, just I know one of them wants corporate liability shield) and if that happens my CSR use case is intact.

If that doesn't happent though, I don't know.  I actually have my AF coming up soonish, I think July, I'm seriously considering downgrading during this and saving $400ish as other than some amount of restaurant spend which is going back to very limited once I get a workable refrigerator, if I'm not travelling for work I have near zero use for the card.  

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I haven't signed up for any new travel cards, but have decided to keep the CSR when it comes up for renewal in July. While I think it will take a lot of time for travel to recover, the $300 credit is flexible enough that I'm confident we can make use of it.

And while business travel is not necessarily an indicator of personal travel, my work is already tentatively discussing a trip that would require me to go to Asia for a few weeks in the late Fall/early Winter. I'm not sure it'll actually end up happening, but if it does, we'll probably use up the credit to help cover part of the cost of DW joining me for a vacation post-business trip. 

[Revelate]

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@CreditUnionFan wrote:

Right, if the CSR was still $450 AF, we might keep it, but with the fee going up last year, and travel virtually shut down, it's harder to justify the new CSR fee.

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I thought they threw the old fee at everyone coming up in the near future?

I'm struggling justifying even $150 fee (sans credit) honestly at this point, no travel and few restaurants = bad card for me.

We'll see I guess, I know I can get the $300 credit eventually but when is an open question TBH if work travel is still roadkill for any extended period of time.

[UpperNwGuy]

Even before the coronavirus, I had decided not to renew the CSR next August.  The $550 annual fee was just a step too far, and the merchant-specific credits reminded me to much of Amex gimmicks.

Now that the virus has killed all travel for 2020, and probably most dining as well, even the offer of the old $450 fee doesn't entice me to renew.  I just need to figure out how to get my $300 travel credit before I downgrade the card to a Freedom Unlimited.

[iced]

Definitely keeping the CSR. I've already maxed out the 5x DoorDash promotion and moved pick-up DD orders to FU for 5x UR there now (delivery still on CSR since it's got the DashPass). I'm also taking full advantage of the 5x grocery on CSR. Takeout has basically supplanted my old dining, so I'm still comfortably generating around 5,000-6,000 UR/month with it.

The only bone I've had so far on the American Express Platinum was the 6x on Amazon, which I haven't capped but have till July to do so. That said, I also have sufficient airfare spend to warrant keeping it, even with 3 months downtime this year.

I'm chomping at the bit to get back to the airport, so as soon as I can start flying again without fear of visiting hostile people, I'm doing it. I'd say flying right now is already safer than going to the grocery store. What I have to fear are other people - many are verbally abusive and some are downright violent toward any outsiders whom they perceive as not being fearful enough of what's going to stay home, bake bread, and cower in the fetal position while binge watching Netflix.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have the Propel card, and even though its technically a points card, I get cash redemptions immediately, so it's not a worry for me and its not the point of this thread.

But those of you who have elaborate travel point structures like the Chase trifecta, would you think it's a good time to build such a structure? I've been told once before here that it wouldn't be a bad way to go. I'm leery of holding large point balances when the economy or lending environments change. 

I'm not considering it, but I wonder for those who have it now, are you a little nervous of losing what you built, either in point balance risk or changes in point terms? Is it a good time to start the Chase trifecta?

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I use the Chase UR system and have the conventional personal trifecta. Even with the current travel restrictions, I'm not planning to change. I will caveat my answer with the fact that most of my travel is for work (state employee), and I accrue points for lodging & dining and my cost is reimbursed per state rate for travel. It often benefits my employer (thus also a taxpayer benefit) because I get better rates due to loyalty level than I otherwise might, and the state only compensated actual cost. The travel for work will return, and the points will still be there for my use. 

Personally, I would not be looking at travel cards/systems now if it weren't for my job, but the thought of applying while demand is lower certainly could have merit.

[Anonymous]

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@iced wrote:

Definitely keeping the CSR. I've already maxed out the 5x DoorDash promotion and moved pick-up DD orders to FU for 5x UR there now (delivery still on CSR since it's got the DashPass). I'm also taking full advantage of the 5x grocery on CSR. Takeout has basically supplanted my old dining, so I'm still comfortably generating around 5,000-6,000 UR/month with it.

The only bone I've had so far on the American Express Platinum was the 6x on Amazon, which I haven't capped but have till July to do so. That said, I also have sufficient airfare spend to warrant keeping it, even with 3 months downtime this year.

I'm chomping at the bit to get back to the airport, so as soon as I can start flying again without fear of visiting hostile people, I'm doing it. I'd say flying right now is already safer than going to the grocery store. What I have to fear are other people - many are verbally abusive and some are downright violent toward any outsiders whom they perceive as not being fearful enough of what's going to stay home, bake bread, and cower in the fetal position while binge watching Netflix.

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Well, I have 2 trips that involve flying in the next 2 months, one in just a few weeks. Would people who are flying themselves be verbally abusive to other fliers? I'll buy a set of brass knuckles. 

Since my travel card(s) don't involve AFs, I'm keeping everything as is, and when travel comes back, great. Until then, it costs me nothing, and I understand even 1 year of very limited travel makes it not very worthwhile to eat an AF for those who have AF cards. 

[iced]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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Well, I have 2 trips that involve flying in the next 2 months, one in just a few weeks. Would people who are flying themselves be verbally abusive to other fliers? I'll buy a set of brass knuckles. 

Since my travel card(s) don't involve AFs, I'm keeping everything as is, and when travel comes back, great. Until then, it costs me nothing, and I understand even 1 year of very limited travel makes it not very worthwhile to eat an AF for those who have AF cards. 

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If you're doing "non-essential" flying, I wouldn't expect violence from other flyers but you probably will get some judginess lobbed your way. It's when you get to your destination. For a brief idea of just how far some will go:

https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2020/03/28/vinalhaven-maine-quarantine-incident

[Anonymous]

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@iced wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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Well, I have 2 trips that involve flying in the next 2 months, one in just a few weeks. Would people who are flying themselves be verbally abusive to other fliers? I'll buy a set of brass knuckles. 

Since my travel card(s) don't involve AFs, I'm keeping everything as is, and when travel comes back, great. Until then, it costs me nothing, and I understand even 1 year of very limited travel makes it not very worthwhile to eat an AF for those who have AF cards. 

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If you're doing "non-essential" flying, I wouldn't expect violence from other flyers but you probably will get some judginess lobbed your way. It's when you get to your destination. For a brief idea of just how far some will go:

https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2020/03/28/vinalhaven-maine-quarantine-incident

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I'll be renting a van but I will cross state lines. Hopefully I won't run into any of it, but will deal with it at the time should it happen.