i understand that one card is cashback and the other two are point based travel cards and one of the three has an additional $55 AF ($450 AF - $300 travel credit - $95 AF = $55)
what i'm trying to ask is how does the 6% at Supermarkets (which btw can also be used to get giftcards for gas, food, clothing, travel, etc..) and the 10% CB from amazon compare to the travel perks and the travel points from the CSR/CSP?
i would like to know because i have the BCP and i love it for amazon and supermarkets (already put $335 on it in the first month) but i would like to eventually get the CSP/CSR and also earn some travel rewards aswell (especially since i already have the Freedom Unlimited). i'm probably dreaming trying to run both the CB and the Travel Rewards but it doesnt hurt to ask or at the least see which route is better.
i do most of my spending on gas, tolls, and food for work (buying giftcards for these from amazon and supermarkets) which is why i got the BCP in the first place. whatever doesn't fit into these categories i put them on my Freedom Unlimited (such as the cell phone bill, health and car insurance). i also put my mom as an AU on both cards to help with the reward spending (though she hasn't used them that much yet).
as you can see the reason i would be considering the BCP/BCR is not only for the 50k/100k points but because i also accumulate UR points from the Freedom Unlimited so being able to transfer them over to the CSR one day would be great.
i might also be doing some light traveling here and there which is another reason why i'm looking at a travel card. plus the 100k points to go first class to Europe is also nice. 
sure my monthly spending isn't anywhere near the $4k in 3 months (i spend about $700-$1000+ per month). but i can easily hit that $4k in 3 months with the help of my mom's spending and i can also buy gift cards for food and gas on the 3rd month to make up the rest of the $4k since i'll have to spend gas and food soon anyway.
@wilmer007 wrote:i do most of my spending on gas, tolls, and food for work (buying giftcards for these from amazon and supermarkets) which is why i got the BCP in the first place. whatever doesn't fit into these categories i put them on my Freedom Unlimited (such as the cell phone bill, health and car insurance). i also put my mom as an AU on both cards to help with the reward spending (though she hasn't used them that much yet).
as you can see the reason i would be considering the BCP/BCR is not only for the 50k/100k points but because i also accumulate UR points from the Freedom Unlimited so being able to transfer them over to the CSR one day would be great.
i might also be doing some light traveling here and there which is another reason why i'm looking at a travel card. plus the 100k points to go first class to Europe is also nice.
sure my monthly spending isn't anywhere near the $4k in 3 months (i spend about $700-$1000+ per month). but i can easily hit that $4k in 3 months with the help of my mom's spending and i can also buy gift cards for food and gas on the 3rd month to make up the rest of the $4k since i'll have to spend gas and food soon anyway.
If you are planning on doing any traveling before the end of the year, I would seriously consider applying for CSR now. The reason for it is that the $300 annual credit is distributed each calendar year. This means that if you get the card soon, you can get the credit before 2017 hits, and then another one for 2017 shortly thereafter.
If you do go for this, make sure that you don't put yourself into debt trying to meet the spending requirement. If you are able to do this, then applying for CSR is better than CSP, at least for the first year of your membership. After that though, you may want to think about downgrading from CSR to CSP. I may be wrong on this, so others will correct me I am sure, but I believe that it can be done. $95 AF is much easier to swallow, and even though your point value when you redeem through Chase Travel Portal decreases from 1.5 to 1.25, you still can transfer your UR points you earn from FU, and also be able to transfer the UR points to airlines and hotels, as well as the VISA Signature benefits and primary rental insurance.
Your spending, in my opinion, isn't high enough to justify keeping CSR for the long term. You get it for the sign up bonus, keep it for the first year (since you have to pay the $450 AF anyway, but that can be easily erased with the double travel credit plus the 100k points), and then downgrade it to CSP.
Make sure that you are not over the 5/24 rule, or forget about applying because you will very likely be denied.
If you spend ~$330 a month at the grocery stoes, then BCP is definitely worth the $95 AF on its own. That card is really in a league of its own.
@Absolution16 wrote:
@wilmer007 wrote:i do most of my spending on gas, tolls, and food for work (buying giftcards for these from amazon and supermarkets) which is why i got the BCP in the first place. whatever doesn't fit into these categories i put them on my Freedom Unlimited (such as the cell phone bill, health and car insurance). i also put my mom as an AU on both cards to help with the reward spending (though she hasn't used them that much yet).
as you can see the reason i would be considering the BCP/BCR is not only for the 50k/100k points but because i also accumulate UR points from the Freedom Unlimited so being able to transfer them over to the CSR one day would be great.
i might also be doing some light traveling here and there which is another reason why i'm looking at a travel card. plus the 100k points to go first class to Europe is also nice.
sure my monthly spending isn't anywhere near the $4k in 3 months (i spend about $700-$1000+ per month). but i can easily hit that $4k in 3 months with the help of my mom's spending and i can also buy gift cards for food and gas on the 3rd month to make up the rest of the $4k since i'll have to spend gas and food soon anyway.
If you are planning on doing any traveling before the end of the year, I would seriously consider applying for CSR now. The reason for it is that the $300 annual credit is distributed each calendar year. This means that if you get the card soon, you can get the credit before 2017 hits, and then another one for 2017 shortly thereafter.
If you do go for this, make sure that you don't put yourself into debt trying to meet the spending requirement. If you are able to do this, then applying for CSR is better than CSP, at least for the first year of your membership. After that though, you may want to think about downgrading from CSR to CSP. I may be wrong on this, so others will correct me I am sure, but I believe that it can be done. $95 AF is much easier to swallow, and even though your point value when you redeem through Chase Travel Portal decreases from 1.5 to 1.25, you still can transfer your UR points you earn from FU, and also be able to transfer the UR points to airlines and hotels, as well as the VISA Signature benefits and primary rental insurance.
Your spending, in my opinion, isn't high enough to justify keeping CSR for the long term. You get it for the sign up bonus, keep it for the first year (since you have to pay the $450 AF anyway, but that can be easily erased with the double travel credit plus the 100k points), and then downgrade it to CSP.
Make sure that you are not over the 5/24 rule, or forget about applying because you will very likely be denied.
If you spend ~$330 a month at the grocery stoes, then BCP is definitely worth the $95 AF on its own. That card is really in a league of its own.
I am looking to travel to Niagra Falls next month but it's not a for sure thing yet (still looking at it as a possibility).
I honestly don't know how much traveling i plan to do but if i had to take a guess i would say travel would be under $1,000 per year. i havent traveled in the last year so it's time to put some of my money to traveling and getting to know the country and world.
And i was actually planning on downgrading the CSR to the Freedom or Slate.
i'm at 4/24 so if i do apply for the CSR it would be my 5/24. My concern though is that my experian FICO Score is currently at 665 so i don't know my approval odds with a score like that (though i was able to get the BCP).
@longtimelurker wrote:@Absolution16 wrote:
If you spend ~$330 a month at the grocery stoes, then BCP is definitely worth the $95 AF on its own. That card is really in a league of its own.
It's still a little marginal at that spend. BCE would give $118.50 a year, BCP $237 - $95 = $142 so not a whole lot of difference
you guys forget that my mom is an AU so she will also spend. And i also haven't worked much in the last week which lowers my spending. I also have to pump gas at least 3 times a week which alone counts for $75+ per week.