@UncleB wrote:
@M_Smart007 wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
@TheRedHat wrote:It varies by restaurant. For some it could be an additional $2 while for others it is only $0.50 (just checked this for a Peruvian restaurant nearby). Still significantly cheaper than delivery. I do this with my AMEX Platinum Uber Eats monthly credit.
This is what I do as well.
Once per month I'll order KFC via Grubhub using my Amex Gold ("Amex Chicken") and usually towards the end of the month I'll order a steak dinner from Outback Steakhouse using the credits from my Gold and Platinum ("Amex Steak"). I pickup both orders myself.
I'd go to KFC anyway but I admit Outback is a 'splurge', although I'm not mad about it, LOL.
But @UncleB , How do the "Amex cookies" fit into that bigger picture?
I did monthly "Amex Cookies" before my local KFC got onboard with Grubhub.
I definitely wasn't mad about "Amex Cookies" but that was certainly a splurge, while KFC is something I'd be doing anyway.
(For those wondering, before my KFC was with Grubhub I'd place an order for cookies from "The Great American Cookie Company" at the mall via Grubhub, thus "Amex Cookies.")
Good to know that Amex is encouraging healthy eating for its customers. KFC, cookies and steak! Now chase had some exercise nonsense but....
@wasCB14 wrote:What sort of offers have people been getting on Green-Gold-Platinum PC upgrades? I only see 25k/$2k for Gold to Platinum.
I got a 100k + 5x dining/groceries for 6 months offer about a year ago.
I'm considering trading out some 4x/5x earnings and monthly/annual credits on AMEX Gold/CS Platinum for a daily driver 4 card setup that looks like this:
Cap1 VentureX: 2x catchall, lounge access
AMEX Green: 3x travel/dining, CLEAR discount, occasional lounge access
Cap1 SavorOne: 3x dining/grocery/streaming/entertainment/tickets
Bilt: 3x dining, 1x rent, 6x dining and 4x travel on "Rent Day"
So I feel OP, though I am not as down on AMEX. Just wondering if the juice is worth the squeeze now that all the low hanging fruit in AMEX is gone. 
This would run me less than a Sapphire Reserve and have a lot more earning potential, the credits are useful for me.
Then I can just SUB hunt over on Chase for a bit in 2023...
@andymoor wrote:I have had Amex Gold for 4 years. I managed to get Close to 125,000 points through spend, initial offer and referring 2 friends. I have used the points solely for travel.
I recently got approved for the #ChaseSapphireReserve and I had to cancel the #Amex
Here's my take on having both.
- I travel frequently and I like to have lounge access, Ideally I would like to have the Amex Platinum but recently they bumped it to $695. Amex tries to justify this high fee with the credits they offer but here's the catch: They're Monthly credits. You have to take Uber, eat at Shake Shack .... every month
- Amex doesn't have a no fee downgrade path, i.e. you can't downgrade the Gold to a no fee card and keep your points.
- At $250 AF I'm not seeing any value
So long Amex.
Thought about dropping the Platinum a few times, but they always get me with a good retention offer when the AF roles around. For the amount I spend at restaurants, someone would have to pry my gold card out of my cold dead hands. But agree, that $695 AF is getting a little tougher to swallow for sure.
@notmyrealname23 wrote:I got a 100k + 5x dining/groceries for 6 months offer about a year ago.
I'm considering trading out some 4x/5x earnings and monthly/annual credits on AMEX Gold/CS Platinum for a daily driver 4 card setup that looks like this:
Cap1 VentureX: 2x catchall, lounge access
AMEX Green: 3x travel/dining, CLEAR discount, occasional lounge access
Cap1 SavorOne: 3x dining/grocery/streaming/entertainment/tickets
Bilt: 3x dining, 1x rent, 6x dining and 4x travel on "Rent Day"
So I feel OP, though I am not as down on AMEX. Just wondering if the juice is worth the squeeze now that all the low hanging fruit in AMEX is gone.
This would run me less than a Sapphire Reserve and have a lot more earning potential, the credits are useful for me.
Then I can just SUB hunt over on Chase for a bit in 2023...
I reviewed the daily driver 4 card setup you are considering above, and I need help understanding how AE Green helps the setup. I guess it depends on how much you are getting for your MR points - how much are you getting for your MR points? I also took advantage of a similar AE Platinum SUB, but once the SUB benefits ended, didn't find enough value in MR points. So even at 3x, it seems like you would have to be getting MORE than $0.01 / point to make green competitive against VentureX and SavorOne.
How has LoungeBuddy been working out for you? I haven't personally tried it, but was recently reviewing available lounges, and most didn't have agreements with LoungeBuddy, at least for the airports I looked at, so it seems like a useless feature of Green when you have VentureX's Priority Pass.
It just seems to me that it would be better to concentrate your point accumulation with CapOne than spread it out into MR points - assuming this daily driver 4 card setup. Just curious about the value you see in making Green part of this daily driver setup. Cheers
13Oct22 Exp F8: 812
@calisig wrote:
@notmyrealname23 wrote:I got a 100k + 5x dining/groceries for 6 months offer about a year ago.
I'm considering trading out some 4x/5x earnings and monthly/annual credits on AMEX Gold/CS Platinum for a daily driver 4 card setup that looks like this:
Cap1 VentureX: 2x catchall, lounge access
AMEX Green: 3x travel/dining, CLEAR discount, occasional lounge access
Cap1 SavorOne: 3x dining/grocery/streaming/entertainment/tickets
Bilt: 3x dining, 1x rent, 6x dining and 4x travel on "Rent Day"
So I feel OP, though I am not as down on AMEX. Just wondering if the juice is worth the squeeze now that all the low hanging fruit in AMEX is gone.
This would run me less than a Sapphire Reserve and have a lot more earning potential, the credits are useful for me.
Then I can just SUB hunt over on Chase for a bit in 2023...
I reviewed the daily driver 4 card setup you are considering above, and I need help understanding how AE Green helps the setup. I guess it depends on how much you are getting for your MR points - how much are you getting for your MR points? I also took advantage of a similar AE Platinum SUB, but once the SUB benefits ended, didn't find enough value in MR points. So even at 3x, it seems like you would have to be getting MORE than $0.01 / point to make green competitive against VentureX and SavorOne.
How has LoungeBuddy been working out for you? I haven't personally tried it, but was recently reviewing available lounges, and most didn't have agreements with LoungeBuddy, at least for the airports I looked at, so it seems like a useless feature of Green when you have VentureX's Priority Pass.
It just seems to me that it would be better to concentrate your point accumulation with CapOne than spread it out into MR points - assuming this daily driver 4 card setup. Just curious about the value you see in making Green part of this daily driver setup. Cheers
Brain dead easy for me to beat 1 cpp for AMEX or C1, I do a fair number of transfers to partner programs for what would otherwise be expensive hotel rooms, business class or first class flights, or even some domestic coach flights at easily over a cent a point. There's enough overlap between C1 and AMEX than I can make it work- transferred lumps to both Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific to get business class.
But I just burned 24k Delta points +$5.60 on a $338 flight one way to Vegas, so... again, over a penny a point (just under 1.4). AMEX goes to Delta pretty easily if I want.
I actually don't love Capital One transfer partners as much as AMEX's...
Loungebuddy is pretty useless if you have Priority Pass except for some niche cases, I don't assign a lot of value to it. I really like skipping 30+ minute lines at my airport for TSA Precheck with CLEAR though. That I would pay for.
I rent a ton of cars and stay at enough non-chain hotels + have some Uber/Lyft/car share/train/ferry/parking/etc that getting 3x over 2x is nice- and actually worth some AF. Your mileage may vary, and if I was strictly Team Cashback I would probably switch to a WF Autograph and a 2% card and ditch all annual fees.