CSP vs Venture?

[Anonymous]

So I apped a bunch of cards mostly to increase my available credit. I don't carry a balance and have been preferring cash back cards. However I decided to pick up a Venture for some travel since we are hoping to plan for a vacation this summer. After the Venture, I read here on the CSP and picked that up too before the Venture reported as my 5th card.

My Venture just arrived (ooh shiny) and I'm still waiting for my Sapphire card.

My question is this: which card has the better rewards (I'm mostly thinking of hotels and not so much for flying) if I can only focus on getting one signup bonus?

I plan to contact Chase and ask them to give me the new 50k miles bonus since I was approved on the 13th.

What do you think?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
So I apped a bunch of cards mostly to increase my available credit. I don't carry a balance and have been preferring cash back cards. However I decided to pick up a Venture for some travel since we are hoping to plan for a vacation this summer. After the Venture, I read here on the CSP and picked that up too before the Venture reported as my 5th card.

My Venture just arrived (ooh shiny) and I'm still waiting for my Sapphire card.

My question is this: which card has the better rewards (I'm mostly thinking of hotels and not so much for flying) if I can only focus on getting one signup bonus?

I plan to contact Chase and ask them to give me the new 50k miles bonus since I was approved on the 13th.

What do you think?

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If you stay at Hyatts occasionally, CSP can blow Venture out of the water.

[Anonymous]

We've had some pleasurable Hyatt stays.

So I'll earn the CSP bonus then pick up the Chase Hyatt?

[Anonymous]

You don't need the Hyatt credit card to transfer your ur point. Hyatt cc is only good for free night stay. Your freedom and csp should be the main ur earner.

[Anonymous]

Actually, the main earner is chase ink plus.

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:
My question is this: which card has the better rewards 

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It's a bit late for that now.  You need to do the research before applying.  For rewards programs like this you need to look at you own spend, run the numbers and consider redemptions as the methods you can leverage will impact reward value.

There isn't a one-size-fits-all answer and you can't just poll others to determine which suits you best.  You need to do your due dligence.  We can certainly help out with specific questions about how to compare though.  For my spend, redemption, etc the CSP is clearly better and the Venture is a nonstarter but YMMV.

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@Anonymous wrote:

Actually, the main earner is chase ink plus.

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Again, depends on one's spend.  Ink Plus doesn't suit me.  Ink Cash does but it doesn't generate anywhere near as much as the CSP for me.  Again, YMMV.

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@Anonymous wrote:
What do you think?

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If you're churning then just considering sign on bonuses is fine but if you're looking for rewards on spend then you need to do your due dligence before applying.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
So I apped a bunch of cards mostly to increase my available credit. I don't carry a balance and have been preferring cash back cards. However I decided to pick up a Venture for some travel since we are hoping to plan for a vacation this summer. After the Venture, I read here on the CSP and picked that up too before the Venture reported as my 5th card.

My Venture just arrived (ooh shiny) and I'm still waiting for my Sapphire card.

My question is this: which card has the better rewards (I'm mostly thinking of hotels and not so much for flying) if I can only focus on getting one signup bonus?

I plan to contact Chase and ask them to give me the new 50k miles bonus since I was approved on the 13th.

What do you think?

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Venture is basically a 2% cash back card with an annual fee.

CSP is a points card with an annual fee. Points can be redeemed for a variety of uses, from 1c per point for cash to more than 2c per point when transferring to hotels or airline partners. You really have to look at the exchange rates and see what you can get for the points. In general, I would probably go with CSP over Venture, but that's only because you travel. 

[kdm31091]

The time to ask this question and figure out the answer was before applying but whats done is done. Venture is a restricted cash back card with a fee (and equivalent options are available for free without restrictions), and CSP can be used for cash but theres not much point - the value lies in transferring your points to frequent flyer and/or hotel programs. If you wont be doing that, it isnt really worth the fee IMO (but neither is venture, outside of the sign up bonus).

Math doesnt lie so my suggestion for next time is to simply run the numbers for your spend and look at redemption values before applying. You may find that some cards wont benefit you, even if they benefit others.

[Anonymous]

I absolutely understand that it varies for everyone which is why I was hoping to hear some thoughts - most of which I presume would have been based on personal experience/opinion.

As I said in my initial post, I app'd several cards to increase my available credit lines. I app'd the Venture because I am already a Cap1 customer, I read that card had generous limits (again going back to wanting to jncrease my overall available credit), and after already picking up several cash back cards, I thought a travel card could fill a future need. The Venture has my highest CL. If the rewards tier doesnt suit me down the road I am considering consolidating with an existing Cap1 card.

I app'd the CSP mostly because I had read good things about it, I didn't have a Chase card in my wallet, and I knew that once my apps began reporting I would be unable to pick it up in the future (thanks 5/24 rule!). Again, having several cash back cards already, I figured an additional travel card wouldn't hurt.

I am not overly familiar with travel cards and was hoping for some insight from those of you that use them successully. I am hoping to be able to pull off the bonuses for both but it will be a tight esp. with my cash back cards offering some lovely incentives right now. Which is why my post said if I can't hit both bonuses, which do you think would be most advantageous?

I don't have a problem with both cards in my wallet as they suited their initial purpose. So all the, "You should have thought about this before apping" seems a little unnecessarily condescending, no?

[Anonymous]

it's not condescending nor unnecessary. your latest comment of "i'm not overly familiar with travel cards and was hoping for some insight" signifies you apped without knowing what you were getting yourself into. it's fine, lots of people do it, but that's the meat of the situation. essentially they can each be better for different things and if your spend can justify two AF cards that are in the same "general category" then that's good.