CSR v. AMEX Gold

[atarvuzdar]

Really helpful comments here, thank you all! I need to think a little more about this, clearly!

[Aim_High]

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@NRB525 wrote:

The Gold or the AMEX Green could be considered. 
Gold yes has dining, also many grocery stores ( not all ) at 4 MR points. 
The Green gets general travel spend. So it would depend whether your spend leans more to travel ( hotels and rental cars ) vs groceries, either Gold or Green. 

And both Gold and Green combine points into your existing MR account with Platinum and ED.

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This is true.  If you commit to MRs instead of URs, @atarvuzdar, you might consider whether the Gold + Green works better for you than the Platinum + Gold, or if perhaps you want to go in all-in and get all three to optimize your overall points accrual. 

And then there are other MR-earning card options like the Blue Business Plus that earns 2x MR (on up to $50K spend) with no AF, the Charles Schwab version of Platinum which would allow you to cash-in MRs for 1.1 ccp, or the Everyday Preferred which would earn 3x MR at grocery stores and 2x MR for gas.  All of these work well to maximize MR-point accrual, depending on how you spend and want to set up your wallet. 

Of course the annual fees are a consideration.  Platinum $695 + Gold $250 + Green $150 + Everyday Preferred $95 = $1,190 per year, so you'd have to be getting a lot of value per MR, a lot of value from credits, or doing a very large volume to spend. 

[Aim_High]

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@OmarGB9 wrote:

You can't really compare the 3x vs 4x on dining since they're completely different cards/ecosystems, as @Aim_High pointed out. 

Also, not sure which card you were referring to when you mentioned downgrading to a no-AF card, but the Platinum can't be downgraded to anything without an AF. The lowest it would go down to is $95 if you change it to a Green card. CSR *can* be downgraded to a no-AF card I believe (Freedom family).

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+1 

True, AMEX charge cards do not have a no-AF downgrade path.  And while the lowest AF (for Green) used to be $95, it changed a couple of years ago to $150.  That's the cheapest option other than just closing an AMEX charge card. 

Chase Sapphire Reserve can be downgraded to Sapphire Preferred ($95 AF) or the no-AF Freedom Flex or Freedom Unlimited.  There is another downgrade path to the "original" no-AF Sapphire card from 2009, but it's so obsolete that it's not very practical as an option for most people versus the Freedom cards.  I did some recent refresher on that card's structure and benefits, and posted it about it on >THIS LINK<  if anyone cares to read more about it. 

[ThomasJNewton]

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@atarvuzdar wrote:

I currently have both the CSR and an AMEX Platinum in my wallet. I used to be a big fan of the CSR until I got the AMEX Platinum and can't really justify the annual fees on both of those any longer.

Without knowing why you like the Platinum, it is really hard to answer effectively. If you fly a lot to cities with Centurion Lounges, use Uber for at least $15 a month, subscribe to Peacock or the digital NYT, etc., the answer will be very different then if your reasons were very different. :-)

So I'm thinking to downgrade it to a no-fee card and applying for an AMEX Gold card since the Gold has 4x points on dining (competing with CSR's 3x points on dining).

By “it”, I am guessing you mean the Chase Sapphire Reserve?

Lots of overlap between CSR and Platinum

That is true.

and I'm thinking the Gold could fill the dining niche that is not available on the Platinum--that would save me a couple hundred in fees every year and I can combine the Gold points with the Platinum (I think?). Or are there better combinations that anyone is aware of? 

What things matter most to you? Lounge Access? Grocery Spending? Gas? Primary Car Insurance? Without knowing your priorities, it is really hard to advise you. :-)

[Citylights18]

My highest AF personal card is currently the AMEX Gold ($250) followed by CSP ($95) and Citi Premier ($95).

I was a lot happier overall with the AMEX Green as i was earning enough AMEX offers to pay for the Green as I was using it for parking garages, typically getting discounts there as part of shop small. It earns 3x transit which is enough better to use it than a CSP and it does have the Loungebuddy credit which I haven't used but could find a once or twice a year usage for it. I'd also while vacationing put some tours on it since its a general 3x card.

AMEX Gold I am not going to use for dining. The Uber Eats credit encourages you to spend more rather than save anything in the long run. I won't use it as a dining card over my Freedom Flex. Freedom Flex has 5% groceries once a year so definitely no reason to use the AMEX Gold then. 

The CSR is a great card if you run a lot of spend on travel. My situation is that I've built up so many points that I don't have to pay for travel so I might not even spend the $300 travel credit which is required to spend out to lower the net cost of the AF. You have to completely commit to the the CSR for it to work and I'd rather have Hyatt and Marriott cards at lower AF that provide direct perks with those chains.

Usually you can get better discounts through their websites than what you can find on the chase travel portal (I could be wrong about this). The price with my CSP is $129 with its discount while the same price through the Hyatt site is $142.13. CSR would be even lower in price for the same hotel. CSP requires 11,666 points and Hyatt requires 12,000 for that same hotel. Obviously again here the CSR would be even less points. The 10x for hotels is better than what you can do (normally) than buying through Hyatts's site. Of course there are double and triple points promotions from time to time with the Hyatt card.

[jcooks]

One big factor you have to weight in is, which point system do you want to focus on.  You are able to get points on both, but I can see issues if you spread your spend too thin across multiple points system.  I find myself in this same predicament.  I find Amex points much easier to get.  In less than a year, I was able to get nearly 400k MR points.  Within that same year, I was able to get less than 160k UR points.  I chose this route because I devote MR points to flights and UR points to Hyatt stays.  I should be applying to the Hyatt card very soon and not really sure where I would stand with Chase at that point.