Convince Me That Chase Ultimate Rewards Is Worth It When I Have Amex.

[xenon3030]

I do not plan to travel anytime soon (covid related), no hotel, no food purchase. Based on covid mutations, I also do not expect major changes in the situation anytime soon (might take years to finally have medicine on the pharmacy counters). If you are in the same boat (or expect only 1-2 travels), slash the cards with effective AF >~50-100$ (the cards that cannot effectively cover their AFs). Note that you pay AF in cash and you may use MR points in future (years ahead?). I am also not a fan of some Amex monthly credits (dining/Uber/Equinox), need lots of homeworks to use them.

You can look into BOA (using platinum/platinum honor status as multiplier), Discover, Chase, US Bank, Citi and you can easily get ~3%-5.3% cashback on your monthly expenses. They cover also Global Entry, travel insurance.

[notmyrealname23]

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@jcooks wrote:

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@notmyrealname23 wrote:

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@jcooks wrote:

Strictly speaking in obtaining points (disregarding what OP is using them for), I believe the MR points to be much easier to get than UR points.  I have the Amex Gold and the BBP, and use it for groceries 4%, dining 4%, everything else 2%.  I haven't travelled much yet, but going for the Plat or Marriot Bonvoy Brilliant.

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How are you cashing out at 1 cpp? Gift cards? Travel portal redemptions? AMEX cashouts outside of the Platinum cobrands are at .6-.7 cpp (statement credits, purchase eraser, Amazon credit, PayPal, etc.)- thus "4x" is only "4%" for certain redemptions (which aren't actually cash, though I guess if you spend a lot at Home Depot or Red Lobster it could be just as good as cash) or holding certain cards.

That's basically my deal with AMEX- as mentioned it's wonderful if you want to redeem premium travel experiences and you fly and stay in hotels a lot (or the credits really, really make sense for you), it's less wonderful if you're looking for a cashback system.

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I'm not looking to get cashback.  I plan to use for only for travel.  I think the confusion was I used "4%" instead of "4x"...That's why I stated basing off of obtaining points with either ecosystem.  I also have the Blue Business Cash, which gets 2% cashback on everything and I don't feel the want to use that card often.  I even transferred 7k limit on that card to the Blue Business Plus.

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OK, cool. x vs. % can be confusing! 

[Anonymous]

Amazing thoughts. For clarification, I travel for leisure internationally when I can, so I do have some good redemption options! Delta is what I use domestically (about 6x a year coast-to-coast). I live on one coast and most of my family and friends are on the other, and I'm lucky to be in a position where I can spend extended time. The reason I don't stay at hotels is because I stay with family.

[Hoben02]

It really depends on what travel partners each card has. In my case I'm heavy into chase becuz swa is a transfer partner. You might as well hang onto the other chase cards becuz those are fee free and you can combine chase ur points. Also, you never know when some flight comes up and you don't have any points to use

[Anonymous]

Your spending and points usage are big factors that help determine whether or not it's worth it, but even if you can't get value out of the annual fee even after the credit, you'd be better off converting to the no annual fee sapphire while still accruing points fee-free that can be converted at a later time by reconverting back to the Sapphire Preferred or adding something like the Ink Business Preferred. The freedom alone (even 5k points/yr being worth $100 instead of $50 for 1 night at a cat 1 Hyatt w some of those going for $200) if you're using the $50 credit), if you get the right gift cards, can make it worth the annual fee when those are converted to Ultimate Rewards, but if you aren't maximizing or using it, it might not be worth it for you.