Help Me Pick New Cards! :)

Anonymous · ‎04-07-2019

Been lurking these forums for years. Finally an active community member!

Trying to decide the best route for myself, and any & all input would be appreciated.

Sorry for the length of this post, but trying to provide all important information upfront to get fitting/accurate suggestions.

I am looking to open up 2 new cards.

All 3 fico8 scores are over 750. Income just shy of 6 figures. Own my cars. No mortgage. No student loans. No debt. Pretty much, I should get approved for any card.

Currently, my only 2 cards are some "nothing card" that only exists because it was my first card and helps keep up my average age of accounts (every couple of months I'll buy a drink with it to make it appear active & not be closed), and an AMEX Blue Cash Everyday with a 15k limit (it is eligible for the standard AMEX CLI request, and also old enough to be upgraded to the Preferred).

Most of my spending is at grocery stores (actual grocery stores), gas stations, Amazon, bills, and random online vendors. Occasional dining. Unless a card combo makes it not worthwhile, I'll likely be upgrading the BCE to the BCP, giving me 6% at grocery stores and 3% at gas stations.

My girlfriend travels a few times a year, and I'd like to start going once or twice a year with her, so naturally a good travel card is part of what I'm looking to get. She lacks a travel card/doesn't want another credit card and isn't against using my travel card for racking up the points/miles for when we go on trips together (plus her trips will have the protections from a good travel card). Currently, we're somewhat planning a 10-12 day trip to Thailand for next summer and she has various adventures planned for herself (I envy the amount of vacation time she has and how easily she can use it at whim--already been to Cali, El Salvador, and the Carribeans so far this calendar year--I've really missed out on some miles!).

Since she and I have been together for about 2 years now, I'm trying to talk her into moving out of the city and in with me this Summer, despite it kind of being a logistical nightmare for her to live where I do. I told her I'd even give her $50/week to help offset her commuting in/out of the city (train ride+uber/lyft, so that'd be a new 'spending category' for me).

So, the first two cards that come to mind are the AMEX Platinum and the Chase Shappire Reserve. The Plat only offers points for travel/hotels, but at 5x it's looking like we'll be racking up a lot of points that way. The credits should be easy to use up (the yearly $200 for uber rides, $200 airline credit for bags and such so the annual fee isn't much of a factor).

The CSR offers points in travel and dining, but only 3x. However, the CSR has some VERY broad terms for travel and dining...hotels, flights, uber/lyft, rentals, bars, pretty much any sort of restaurant, and so on). The card also offers a much more flexible $300 travel credit to use up (though I won't have issues using the ones on the Plat). Not sure if the dining and uber/lyft will make up for the 2x loss from the flights/hotels with the Plat.

They both offer the $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre, so both cards really come out to a $50 annual fee (actually...the Plat has 2x $50 Saks Fifth Avenue credits...could easily use those for a Christmas & birthday gift each year--so the card offers $50 more than it would cost (well, first year--the TSA thing for each is only every 4 years)).

Both offer different kinds of travel insurance and protections, but looking at the fine print, the Plat seems to come out on top. If stuck due to a delayed flight or some other reason, the CSR will credit you for very few things...after waiting 6 hours. The Plat says after 4 hours, go get some food on them (the CSR doesn't mention food as an essential!). Overall, I'd say better medical coverage, too. The only thing the CSR in these benefits wins is the car rental insurance. The CSR will cover vehicles up to 75k in value, while the Plat is 50k and excludes a few more vehicles, such as full-size SUVS (though this isn't a big deal...if we were to be traveling with friends and needing to rent an Expedition for the group, we'd likely be with my best friend who does hold a CSR, so we'd just put the rental on his card if I went with the Plat).

The extra fancy hotel bonuses and such aren't the biggest concern to me, so that's a null category.

The priority pass sounds terrible to try using these days, and the Centurion lounges don't sound much better thanks to people brining all their children in, plus the recent rule changes. These aren't really cared about perks. Null category.

But, here comes the tricky part...I'd like to open a second card, too. Is there anything to pair with the CSR that'll be worthwhile for points? I honestly don't like what I see from the Freedom cards. Not a fan of rotating categories at all. And since I can have the BCP for the groceries & gas...I don't see much point in them (granted they are travel points...but a hassle to get; I think I like the BCP for those two categories). I almost feel like if I went CSR, the Citi Double Card would be best off for rounding out my "categories." But...that's just cash back--not travel points. And most sites consider 1 CSR & AMEX point to usually be worth around 1.5-2 cents anyway, so anything at 1x point is nearly the same value as 2% cash back.

For the Plat...there really isn't much to pair it with. Except...dare I go with the Gold card and just have a wallet of AMEX cards?! (the Chase cards are visa, which could ocassionally be handy out of country). There is the Everyday Preferred card, and I would always hit the 50% monthly bonus, but...I think I like the BCP more...not to mention the Gold card kind of outshines the EDP. Not to mention, the Gold card is offering 50k points, plus 75k from the Platinum...that's hard to passby.

The Gold givies 4% dining & groceries (the other categories are not worth mentioning, if being paired with the Plat). BIG QUESTION: does anyone know what AMEX considers dining with the gold card? I can't seem to find a list. Will it include bars? Take-out places (Chinese food is our go-to for a quick stop when out; and during small get togethers/holidays, I often get trays of wings and such from pizzerias)? I'm aware that some places get coded wrong by the Gold still for the restaurant category due to 3rd party payment processing, but checking my statements & calling in to fix anything isn't a big deal (reports online seem to be easy & hassle free corretions).

Granted the CSR's dining covers dining outside of the US, I don't think it'll be that much of a big deal. We aren't going to be eating at ultra lux restaurants when we travel; I'll live with 1% for when I'm outside the country 0-2 times/year (since not all trips will even be out of US territories). Having the Gold's 4% dining would really make the CSR be a bit lackluster compared to the Plat. I might end up rotating between the gold and the BCP at grocery stores, since I can hit the 6k/year mark, especially since if I upgrade to the BCP, I intend to start buying some $500 Amazon gift cards at Whole Foods (giving me a better cash back rate on Amazon then even the Amazon credit cards!), so I'll need to use the gold card's 4% (25k limit--I won't hit that!) when I hit the 6k mark. The $250 annual fee isn't bad. There is the $100 airline credit, so that is easy to use. The monthly $10 food credit...that is usable. Little annoying since it has limited options. But ordering through Grubhub for pick up isn't too much of a hassle; plus, a new Shake Shack opened up near me, and the girlfriend likes The Cheesecake Factory (one of the most overrated establishments, in my opinion), so those credits will go to use as well. So the card drops to $30/year. That should be easy to recoup in points!

Question: can I combine points from the Plat and Gold/transfer them to one another? I'm not too familiar with the 'portal' used by AMEX, since I've never had one of their points cards. My understanding is that the Chase cards can transfer to the CSR for its bonus points when redeeming through their portal. I would hope your AMEX points can pool together, too. Also, I see you have to select your airline each year before using your airline credits. Would I be able to select different ones for each card? Or would all $300 in credits have to be used for one selected airline?

So...you all know my lifestory now. lol

What do you suggest? I think I've so far talked myself into going the route of the Plat & Gold.

Am I overlooking anything? What other good combos are out there? I can't really seem to find any good cards to compete against the Plat & CSR, or anything else to pair with them. I was sorely disappointed to see that the AMEX Wells Fargo Propel card earns Wells Fargo points and not AMEX points. The Savor cards with 3% and 4% dining/entertainment seemed interesting, but I didn't see anything to pair with them. Any exciting new cards expected to come out soon that may be worth holding off for?

And one last thing...reading through things, I've seen a lot of people say the Customer Service from Chase has gone downhill in the past 3 months or so, especially when someting comes up with booked flights through their portal (read that people suggest it's due to them switching to using Expedia for their portal). Anyone have any recent customer service ratings for both AMEX and Chase, while we're comparing things so much?

Anonymous · ‎04-07-2019

Holy batman... Wooo.. I will get back to you when I finish reading by tomorrow. What a way to introduce yourself to the board. Welcome.

Ok, you left out something important. You stated all your scores are around 750 but didn't state how old your credit file is unless I missed it. State that and we can go from there.

Anonymous · ‎04-07-2019

Have you looked at the Altitude Reserve from US Bank (3x on travel + mobile pay)? If you use mobile pay (VERY easy with a Samsung phone) you can effectively get 4.5% with the RTR portal, on ALL SPEND that you pay with mobile. They may nerf it in the future, but right now it's a pretty awesome deal for mobile pay users. You will need a relationship with US Bank, so maybe app for the Cash+ or open an account with them.

As for the Amex questions, I can't really help ya. I have neither of those cards. I will say that the Gold is an attractive card, I want to get it sometime in the future if it stays the same. I remember some of saying the Plat 5x on hotels/flights are only good through the Amex portal, so you may want to look at that to ensure you are getting the best deal. It may be better to use the CSR and find a booking site for a better deal.

Anonymous · ‎04-07-2019

To attack one of your questions, I believe the Gold card covers anything that Amex codes as restaurants, fast food, and diners. It shouldn't cover bakeries, cateries, some cafes, and some bars. Someone should be able to help you more with this (who actually has the card)

Anonymous · ‎04-10-2019

(Started on laptop...switched to mobile...qoutes got very messed up *sigh*)

<BLOCKQUOTE><HR /></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><HR /><LI-USER login="Yes-Its-Me" uid="849331"></LI-USER> wrote: 
Holy batman... Wooo..

I will get back to you when I finish reading by tomorrow

. What a way to introduce yourself to the board.  Welcome.
 
Ok, you left out something important.  You stated all your scores are around 750 but didn't state how old your credit file is unless I missed it.  State that and we can go from there

.
<HR /></BLOCKQUOTE>
Thanks.
Ah, good question. Since car loans no longer count, it isn't too high--41 months total among the two cards (AAoA: 1 year 8 month).
Been getting pre-qualified platinum letters for quite some time now (so even with a much lower credit age). All the different envelopes are so fancy.
Thinking perhaps just get 1 of the cards now and then wait 5 months to get the second (+5months x3 cards = +15 months of age; 41+15=56, bringing AAoA back to ~1 year 7 month)? Would likely do the Gold first, as I'd have more opportunity to rack up points. If the girlfriend has a random travel, getting 3x points in the meantime isn't too bad. The only annoying thing is I'm tempted to make a purchase possibly next month that would pretty much cover the platinum's sign-up bonus quota. :/
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><LI-USER login="StrykingSquirrel" uid="1060206"></LI-USER> wrote: Have you looked at the Altitude Reserve from US Bank (3x on travel + mobile pay)? If you use mobile pay (VERY easy with a Samsung phone) you can effectively get 4.5% with the RTR portal, on ALL SPEND that you pay with mobile. They may nerf it in the future, but right now it's a pretty awesome deal for mobile pay users. You will need a relationship with US Bank, so maybe app for the Cash+ or open an account with them. As for the Amex questions, I can't really help ya. I have neither of those cards. I will say that the Gold is an attractive card, I want to get it sometime in the future if it stays the same. I remember some of saying the Plat 5x on hotels/flights are only good through the Amex portal, so you may want to look at that to ensure you are getting the best deal. It may be better to use the CSR and find a booking site for a better deal.<HR /></BLOCKQUOTE>
As for the platinum card points, you earn 5x on any flight/hotel that you book directly with the airline/hotel itself. You can transfer your reward points to a carrier, if you wish. You can earn additional points occasionally from certain bookings from my understanding.

That US Bank card is neat with the 3% from mobile pay, but with higher returns on most things already, I think I'll avoid the hassle. That huge travel credit & the global/tsa credit makes that card's annual fee pretty negligible. If I had a family and went to places like Costco, I could see that card being very worthwhile. 

I found this to mini guide for what different cards generally consider dining & travel:

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/how-credit-card-issuers-classify-travel-and-dining-purchases/

That revamped Citi Prestige is very nice looking. But the Platinum+Gold combo beats the Prestige for me, long term & upfront (sign up bonus). New Prestige is looking like a nicer CSR.