Congrats to DW on the CSR approval.
Before taking action to product change immediately, consider the Sign Up Bonus, and the near-term benefits.
The CSR earns 60,000 bonus UR points if you can focus $4,000 of spend to the card in 90 days. At very least that's $600 and by using Pay Yourself Back it's worth $900. You also can earn 3 points on dining and any travel, and a point on regular spend. So you end up with even more UR points
The CSR also has a $300 travel credit, and through the end of 2021 regular gas and grocery spend is automatically able to use this $300 credit.
So for the first year, the $550 AF gets cut to $250, and the $900 available in Pay Yourself Back means DW is making $650, being paid $650 by Chase, just for trying the card out and redeeming points on simple stuff. That's ignoring the $100 Global Entry / TSA Pre-Check fee reimbursement, Priority Pass lounge access, and more.
The $10,000 CL is the minimum when one gets a VISA Infinite which the CSR is. It's a sign of her good credit. Chase cards are somewhat difficult to get, and in a year, if she decides the $550 AF a second time doesn't make sense, then PC is available to those other cards. But at that time, watch for the SUB on those, such as the enhanced grocery points because she doesn't want to miss those either.
@Anonymous wrote:
@Howaboutthat wrote:Thanks to all, my wife called Chase and explained what happened. They said she could product change in 3 months and this is where it gets iffy (they would pro-rate the fee) her words not mine. I guess I'll need to speak with them. Granted she was busy at work when I spoke with her so I'm sure something was lost in translation.
That is not uncommon, they will return 3/4 of the fee (or fee difference if you switch to another fee card). For those willing to take a risk, this can be very good, as you can get the SUB, get the $300 travel credit, but only pay 1/4 of the fee. The downside is that Chase might not like you doing this, but if you have to wait 3 months, why not.
How is it good?
By taking the $300 Travel Credit the CSR AF becomes $250, which is compared to the CSP $95, both prorated to some point.
Pay Yourself Back is at 1.25c on CSP vs 1.5c on CSR, so unless one also races to complete PYB prior to the three months ( and take the $300 Grocery / Gas credit, AND also spend $4,000 in clean money to ensure the SUB is earned ) the cardholder loses $150 in PYB value. Or the cardholder boloxes the SUB by using credits and PYB to stay below the $4,000 SUB spend while trying to be Quickly Cute.
To cleanly earn the 60,000 CSR SUB in three months, then downgrade, the cardholder needs to spend:
$4,000 on anything
$300 on items credited for Groceries or Gas
$900 on items in the PYB categories to get those credits.
So $5,200 minimum, and the $900 PYB tranch has to be after the 60,000 points post, and in specific categories, to allow time for PYB to be used, meaning the main $4,000 is 2.5 months max.
Unless cardholder wants to give up $150 in PYB value by redeeming that through CSP vs CSR.
Downgrading before the first 12 months is a bad idea. "Chase might not like it" ( downgrading at three months ) should come with Bella Lugosi music.
@Anonymous wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Howaboutthat wrote:Thanks to all, my wife called Chase and explained what happened. They said she could product change in 3 months and this is where it gets iffy (they would pro-rate the fee) her words not mine. I guess I'll need to speak with them. Granted she was busy at work when I spoke with her so I'm sure something was lost in translation.
That is not uncommon, they will return 3/4 of the fee (or fee difference if you switch to another fee card). For those willing to take a risk, this can be very good, as you can get the SUB, get the $300 travel credit, but only pay 1/4 of the fee. The downside is that Chase might not like you doing this, but if you have to wait 3 months, why not.
How is it good?
By taking the $300 Travel Credit the CSR AF becomes $250, which is compared to the CSP $95, both prorated to some point.
Pay Yourself Back is at 1.25c on CSP vs 1.5c on CSR, so unless one also races to complete PYB prior to the three months ( and take the $300 Grocery / Gas credit, AND also spend $4,000 in clean money to ensure the SUB is earned ) the cardholder loses $150 in PYB value. Or the cardholder boloxes the SUB by using credits and PYB to stay below the $4,000 SUB spend while trying to be Quickly Cute.
To cleanly earn the 60,000 CSR SUB in three months, then downgrade, the cardholder needs to spend:$4,000 on anything
$300 on items credited for Groceries or Gas
$900 on items in the PYB categories to get those credits.
So $5,200 minimum, and the $900 PYB tranch has to be after the 60,000 points post, and in specific categories, to allow time for PYB to be used, meaning the main $4,000 is 2.5 months max.
Unless cardholder wants to give up $150 in PYB value by redeeming that through CSP vs CSR.
Downgrading before the first 12 months is a bad idea. "Chase might not like it" ( downgrading at three months ) should come with Bella Lugosi music.
I meant given the situation, if Chase refuses anything but a downgrade after 3 months, it's not all bad. The pro-rated AF would be ~ $140, so if you could use the travel credits alone (which is fairly easy) that's a net positive. And if you have some big spend items, $5000 in a month is hardly impossible, leaving time to use the PYB. But even without, it's not quite a disaster.
And I'm stressing that it's clearly not a disaster for DW to stay under the radar for a year, work the SUB and all the various credits as they were intended, earn the extra UR points throughout the year ...
...And not poke the bear with a blindfold on in the hope that the short term is "not a disaster" just because DW thinks the headline AF seems like a significant number. It's not, if understood in context.
First off I would look closer at the card to see how good the benefits may be for you (who knows there may be a lot more value there than you realize). Second I wouldn't try to downgrade (if I downgraded at all) until I got the SUB. Third, if you do decide to downgrade I would look at downgrading to the CSP. You will have already paid the AF for it so why go for the freedom card when you can have a CSP for free until the next year and then you can switch it to freedom if you want. Maybe Chase gives you the benefit of the doubt. Maybe their system subsequently looks at this and think its just someone trying to get a SUB and paying the lowest AF possible.
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