Make the leap to AmEx Platinum? Should I?

[red259]

I have both the CSR and Amex plat. Given the changes to the marriott program today the value of the amex plat has diminished a lot. I'm almost inclined to call up and complain to amex about how the value of the card has been reduced. Marriott gold won't even get me lounge access after august. A big part of why I got the plat card was to make sure my gold status did not lapse and now two months later this. It would be one thing if they said the changes won't take effect until 2019 but no they are doing it frickin 8/1 which is going to mess up my travel in august. Guess some other hotel chain is going to get my buisiness now since I see no reason to go out of my way to stay at marriott properties. 

[UpperNwGuy]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@credit_guy wrote:

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@UpperNwGuy wrote:

I have a fixed amount of spending that I am able to pump through my portfolio of credit cards in a year.  That means if I add a new credit card, the spending I will put on that new card will reduce the amount of spending I can apply to the cards already in my portfolio.  This is not a problem when there is no annual fee.  However, when the new card has an annual fee, it requires a minimum amount of spending to reach and exceed the break-even point.  If I were to get the Amex Platinum, I would have to take spending away from my CSR, because the CSR is what I use for my airfares and hotels, and those are the only two 5% spending categories on the Platinum.  The bottom line is that to make the Platinum break even, my CSR would no longer break even.  That means I can have one card or the other, but not both.

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Certainly makes sense! This is also how I look at it as well, however I think my amount and categories of spending will hit the break even points for both cards.

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I take a different approach. I don't focus on the dollar amount of spending a card will get. I focus more on the annual fee itself and compare it to the perks and benefits the card offers that I reasonably anticipate using. Rewards tend to be a secondary consideration.

From that perspective, CSR and Platinum are fairly different products. I see little overlap.

CSR: Travel protections, rewards

Platinum: Merchandise protections, travel perks

Platinum works for me because I get a lot of credits and use the perks. I rarely spend on it. I don't really think of it as a tool to buy stuff, but more of a travel comfort membership.

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The credits are simply offsets to the excessive annual fees.  Chase has better credits.

I don't think you can quantify the perks, and I don't use most of them, so here's how I see it:

CSR: Travel protections, rewards

Platinum: Merchandise protections, travel perks

Final score:  CSR 2, Platinum 0

[wasCB14]

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@UpperNwGuy wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

I take a different approach. I don't focus on the dollar amount of spending a card will get. I focus more on the annual fee itself and compare it to the perks and benefits the card offers that I reasonably anticipate using. Rewards tend to be a secondary consideration.

From that perspective, CSR and Platinum are fairly different products. I see little overlap.

CSR: Travel protections, rewards

Platinum: Merchandise protections, travel perks

Platinum works for me because I get a lot of credits and use the perks. I rarely spend on it. I don't really think of it as a tool to buy stuff, but more of a travel comfort membership.

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The credits are simply offsets to the excessive annual fees.  Chase has better credits.

I don't think you can quantify the perks, and I don't use most of them, so here's how I see it:

CSR: Travel protections, rewards

Platinum: Merchandise protections, travel perks

Final score:  CSR 2, Platinum 0

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"Platinum works for me because I get a lot of credits and use the perks." That includes a credit for having a healthy Schwab account. I was describing my general approach of weighing benefits vs. AFs and de-emphasizing spend volume. I didn't want to confuse OP by mentioning a little-known partner variant.

If you compare a proprietary Platinum to a CSR, then I would agree with you that ($450 less a straightforward $300) is much better than ($550 less a complicated $200, less another complicated $200) when it comes to getting a net $150 AF. Of course, the value of what each $150 gets is very ymmv.

Some perks are a bit tricky to quantify: The concierge service, the dining program

Some are easier: Good food and a comfortable place to sit while waiting for a flight (and, for Delta, shorter lines to get a seat on the next flight after a cancellation)

Some are in between: Hotel status/upgrades, car rental upgrades