Chase Sapphire preferred or premier gold rewards from american express

[Anonymous]

I opened a gold amex delta card at the first of this year and love the rewards. Premier seems like it has great rewards also. I also just opened the chase freedom about 2 weeks ago, and have had the chase marriott rewards since last september. Which card is really worth it? The annual fees are different in price(195 for amex and 95 for chase) Which one would be worth it though? I travel quite a bit. But i only have a 690ish credit score. Which one would be better?

[Anonymous]

For some people, they say that the 80 for Marriott is worth it. They give you one night free so the annual fee covers that. I cancelled my Marriot. It didn't work for me because their hotel cost a bit and always required me to pay a little more. I get a better deal booking it through husband's work. 

The Premier gives you 100.00 airline which is great. AmEx is slow when it comes to giving their members the points. I had to wait months for my points ot appear. It's annoying.  I am going to keep it for 11 months and then see if it's worth it. 

I just got the Sapphire. Added an authorized user and got some more points. I racked up some points already and they are adding up fast. I am using it in addition to the Freedom card. In about 3 months I will redeem all points for hotel and they will be worth 25% more! I'm going to compare the pricing with work discount and see which one is better. I like that the Sapphire fee is only 95.00 and not 195. 

By the way, I would go for the Sapphire first since Chase has the 5/24 rule. Five new accounts within 24 months. Anything more, they won't approve you unless you get an offer/preapproval. 

Hope that helps! 

[Anonymous]

CSP

[Anonymous]

Ahh yes - the age old question:  Do I want to make MR (Amex) or UR (Chase) my reward currency of choice?

There are advantages to both.

With Chase you can acquire what some call the 'golden trifecta' - that is a Freedom card for 5% categories, Freedom Unlimited for 1.5% uncategorized, and CSP/CSR to redeem points for travel with a 25% or 50% bonus.

Amex lets you do something similar pairing one of their Everyday cards with a premium charge card.  I'm not familiar enough with Amex to tell you much more, but some people swear by them.

Good luck whichever you choose!

[Anonymous]

Personally I don't see the FU as being very tempting 1.5% is Ok, but most cards these days surpass that by far. Like Citibank's 2% card and so on. Maybe if they up'd it to 2% unlimited that would be a bit more tempting you know?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Personally I don't see the FU as being very tempting 1.5% is Ok, but most cards these days surpass that by far. Like Citibank's 2% card and so on. Maybe if they up'd it to 2% unlimited that would be a bit more tempting you know?

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the FU *only* has a place IMHO as part of the aforementioned trifecta (you can earn 1.5% on it, then turn around and redeem, on the CSR for 50% more value)

[Anonymous]

You mean CSP?

Also how is it worth 50% more? It says only 25% more on their website?

And let's assume you spent $33,333 (the spend needed to earn $500 in rewards via FU) even if you can turn that $500 into $625 via the CSP that's still really low in spend vs. rewards.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
You mean CSP?

Also how is it worth 50% more? It says only 25% more on their website?

And let's assume you spent $33,333 (the spend needed to earn $500 in rewards via FU) even if you can turn that $500 into $625 via the CSP that's still really low in spend vs. rewards.

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it's 25% for the CSP, and 50% for the CSR

so yeah, really would need the CSR rather than the CSP to make the FU even close to worthwhile...and even then only if you're obsessive about stacking UR

[Anonymous]

Yeah but $450 AF is pretty steep especially since the first year isn't waived like it is for CSP.

It may work for some but I probably wouldn't even consider it just because of how high the AF is...

[Anonymous]

True - but you get $300 of that back in travel spend credits

It's true that the CSR is really only for the SERIOUS traveller. All others need not apply