@Anonymous wrote:
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?
These two things are related. CSP is a points program, and until you know how much you can redeem a point for, nobody can tell you how good the offer is. If you're treating it as cash, CSP has a higher AF and more restrictive terms, so you're probably better off going for the Venture bonus first. However, if you travel enough to be able to use the points, and can transfer them at a decent rate, then CSP might be the better option.
Aside from learning the differences between the two cards, you need to start learning about UR points. They are a really important aspect of CSP. You also need to look at what they can be converted for. They can be transferred to various airlines and hotel partners. You then have to figure out what those stays are worth in cash. It might be that you can get a discounted airfare or hotel stay through Orbitz, Expedia, Kayak, etc., so the points might not be as valuable as they first appear. However, the nature of a points program is that the value is very much based on your own desires. So, for me, CSP might not be worth more than 1cpp, but for someone else, it might be 2.5cpp, which makes it a better value than Venture.
