Ease and Simplicity

Caught750 · ‎03-31-2020

So with everything going on it's occurred to me that the less I need to think about things the happier I am. While I've been treated well, thus far, by Chase and Citi, and Amex to a lesser extent, part of me is very torn. Chase doesn't have any pre approvals for a Freedom for me (I'm 100% aware that this is my own doing) which would leave them getting much of my spend.

Butttt...I'm thinking, I plan to app for Flaghip after we close and I already have Altitude Reserve. Minus Altitude having slightly less travel protection I'm feeling that all digital wallet spend going on Altitude and all physical swipes going on Flagship may not be a bad way to go.

Thoughts? What am I missing? We prefer Hyatt and if we can't find one where we are going Hilton is next up. Airlines would be Delta or United. We have the 95AF Hyatt and Hilton Aspire which i plan to PC to Surpass.

simplynoir · ‎03-31-2020

What I think is you need to decide on a plan of action and stick to it as long as it doesn't get bad to stay with it. No need to blow with the wind when things in credit can and will change. Your hopping from one thing to another is one day going to make it where you won't be able to have options at all

Caught750 · ‎03-31-2020

@simplynoir wrote:
What I think is you need to decide on a plan of action and stick to it as long as it doesn't get bad to stay with it. No need to blow with the wind when things in credit can and will change. Your hopping from one thing to another is one day going to make it where you won't be able to have options at all

While I understand your thought process even if I do move back and forth between ecosystems I'm in pretty good shape with any of them. I have enough MR/UR that they can be moved to Hilton (450k points covers a week at a pre chosen destination), or United (75k points plenty for DW and I to make a domestic flight), or Hyatt (60k points, which would get us away for as long as we'd go at this point) and so on and so forth. I have very few TYPs and Citi is not a huge contender with me.

With the above in mind, no travel credits considered in any of that, I could literally switch between MR/UR, Hilton/Hyatt, or Altitude/Flagship monthly and not have to worry about not having enough points in any given scenario.

While I'd like to simply pick something and stay with it I'm here looking at what might be the best way to go about that. Many people here are far more knowledgeable than I'll ever be at these things. Hence, I'm asking for advice.

I don't like Amex's rigidity and credit structure. I've been very pleased with Chase but only have CSP and Hyatt. Of course this is my fault as I said above. Freedom alone would make my mind for me. US bank has been great to me as has NFCU. Truly it's between UR, Flagship, and AR for me.

Brian_Earl_Spilner · ‎03-31-2020

If freedom would make up your mind, it's obvious what you want to do, you're just being impatient. While there's nothing wrong with being flexible, how flexible you want to be is a personal choice. In my case, the only way we're not staying at a Marriott property is if we're going to Vegas, or there isn't one nearby, which is never. Because of that, I need something that will work with bonvoy regardless of system.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

dogmeat · ‎03-31-2020

Brian makes a good point. You could try visiting a Chase branch (if that's even allowed these days) and see if they have any in-branch pre-approvals, which can bypass 5/24.

However, it also occurs to me that there may be a problem with your multiple reward-program philosophy. If I'm understanding you correctly, you have a lot of points, right now, in a lot of programs (Hilton, Hyatt, UR, one or more airlines). What happens after you use those points? Do you have enough annual spend to replenish those point balances to levels that will allow you to travel at whatever frequency you expect to, on points (or partially on points)?

To earn 450K Hilton points, for example, is about $65k spend if you're averaging 7x on Aspire categories - more, obviously, on Surpass. Maybe you only expect to spend a week at Hilton every other year? Then you could do $32.5k/yr or so, and that'd work out fine. But then you'll still need to be doing UR spend and Hyatt spend, to keep those balances up. If you're spending $100k/yr on cards, this is probably achieveable.

This is where it gets harder for me to understand though - if you're spending $100k/yr on cards, how could the lynchpin of your rewards strategy a card that has a $6k/yr cap, based on $1500/quarter categories that only the most disciplined and dedicated are able to max out?

So, my advice: do the math. How frequently you travel, how many points that travel costs, how much you spend, how many points you can earn. Make sure the strategy you choose is sustainable even after the big SUB points get used up (my assumption here).

Edit: I misread your second post. I see you hav MR/UR that you can transfer. That's the great value of MR/UR points, really. Sounds like you want to drop out of the MR ecosystem, then, and stick with just UR? That may make sense. Still gotta do the math.

Caught750 · ‎03-31-2020

Dogmeat,

Quoting would just make it too long. While I have dabbled, as someone new to this who didn't know much, in lots of different programs I don't SPEND on all of them.

Our preferences align with URs (Hyatt and United or even SW) except for Hilton. Hyatt and Hilton card are easily keepers, though Aspire will be PCed as we are gonna be slow on travel for a year or two.

I don't spend on Hilton or Hyatt (Hyatt free night) though $15k on Hyatt gets you a second free night (Hilton Aspire pays you to have the card if you use ALL of the credits). I also don't spend on United (though I do use the portal if it beats the UR portal).

Yes, I can burn through what I have before travel really picks up again. While I burn through them I plan to build in whatever system I choose.

Also, I'm going to behave until I get under 5/24 in about a year. I have some apps planned out but they will be primarily Biz apps and don't extend 4/24 more than 2 months or so.

Ideally I'd like to use Freedom for 5x, upgrade to CSR for 3x, and use AR for everything else. I'd also like to add CIU as the 1.5x card. Even if that only gets used for child care (35k points a year).

ETA; Yes, I'm moving away from MR. It's a difficult choice for several reasons but I prefer how Chase handles things and I can certainly use their travel portal.

Anonymous · ‎03-31-2020

To me, it partly depends on what "moving away" means. If it just means putting spend elsewhere while retaining most of the cards, that's one thing (although AF may make that unattractive). If it really means moving to a new system and closing the other ones (mainly) down, the risk is a lot greater.

I would be nervous about using the AR as one half of my system. To my mind the 3x (4.5 travel) on mobile is too generous and thus could be nerfed at some point, which would change the whole value proposition. Keeping other cards would allow you to adjust again if that happens, but of course it might not happen!

Caught750 · ‎03-31-2020

I don't plan to close anything, just not spend much on MR cards.

The other option I'd considered was CSP(or upgrade to R and see if they feel better about our relationship once I take it to the next level) for 2/3x, Flagship, and AR. I'll need to spend on Flagship for SUB so I'm sure I can find a rotation for it. Once I build more in the UR ecosystem card wise that's where I'll be, especially if AR nerfs.