Making annual fee (Amex etc) worthwhile?

[Bman70]

Under what scenario have you found annual fee cards worth it, in that your rewards easily outweigh the fee? I'm eyeing several Amex lines, but am not a huge travel spender or huge credit user in general. It would be nice to have a bunch of free miles though - the Starwood Preferred looks nice right now. A lot of "prestigious" TLs seem to charge a fee, so some people must be making it work.

[azguy13]

I currently have the SPG and the AF was worth it while I heavily used it. With that being said, I am no longer traveling for work like I was and am not putting as much through it. Now that I use it less, the AF will not be worth it to me. When it becomes eligible for PC, I will PC it to the HHonors. 

[MrCollector]

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@azguy13 wrote:

I currently have the SPG and the AF was worth it while I heavily used it. With that being said, I am no longer traveling for work like I was and am not putting as much through it. Now that I use it less, the AF will not be worth it to me. When it becomes eligible for PC, I will PC it to the HHonors. 

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It should be eligible now — I PC'd my Gold Delta to the HHonors after two weeks.

[-NewGuy-]

I have a few cards with annual fees. To me it depends on two things. Between a) the rewards system and b) the extra benefits are you getting enough of a return that paying the AF is beneficial? For example, I think I calculated earlier that the first 4050 ish spent on the Arrival wipes out the AF. If you can put much more on the card than that, it seems worth it. Don't shortcut the extra perks too. With the Surpass a few weekends ago, our room was upgraded, free internet, free waterbottles, and free breakfast. All that alone added up almost to the AF of the card, not including the points I earn. So that becomes worth it. Airline cards can get you checked bags, priority airport stuff, etc. If you don't fly enough to get that via elite status, it's wonderful to have. And if you DO fly enough for elite status, the extra points you get with an airline card are probably worth it as well.

Just depends on your needs.

[Anonymous]

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@Bman70 wrote:

Under what scenario have you found annual fee cards worth it, in that your rewards easily outweigh the fee? I'm eyeing several Amex lines, but am not a huge travel spender or huge credit user in general. It would be nice to have a bunch of free miles though - the Starwood Preferred looks nice right now. A lot of "prestigious" TLs seem to charge a fee, so some people must be making it work.

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It's a good question, but depends on a lot of factors, including making sure that you can use the enhanced rewards.

Also, a lot of people compare the AF with the benefits, and show that the AF pays for itself.   And while that may be true, you really should need to compare to other cards, which might give better total rewards.   And to combine those two in a silly example:  I can get the CSP for say $95, and if I spend $10K a year on non-bonus spending, and redeem for cash, I get a $5 profit.  See, it more than pays for itself!

Of course, if I had used a free Quicksilver, or free Fidelity Amex, my profit on the same spend would be $150 or $200.

Now if I can redeem those UR at 3c each, the picture is very different.