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Need help with a Travel card and i dont travel...

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JediNeo
Frequent Contributor

Re: Need help with a Travel card and i dont travel...

Does fast food count as dining on the CSP?

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Message 21 of 32
driftless
Valued Contributor

Re: Need help with a Travel card and i dont travel...

I closed my CSP but it does with CSR at McDonald's for an under $5.00. Pretty cool.
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Message 22 of 32
iced
Valued Contributor

Re: Need help with a Travel card and i dont travel...

Does for Chipotle, Sweetgreen, and Panera so I imagine it does for all fast food joints. Haven't eaten at any others so can't confirm though.
Message 23 of 32
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Need help with a Travel card and i dont travel...

On mobile phone, didn't understand the McDonalds comment, maybe I'm just dumb lol. Can someone explain the 80,000/$50 that I think someone posted on this thread but maybe I saw it somewhere else
Message 24 of 32
wasCB14
Super Contributor

Re: Need help with a Travel card and i dont travel...


@Anonymous wrote:
On mobile phone, didn't understand the McDonalds comment, maybe I'm just dumb lol. Can someone explain the 80,000/$50 that I think someone posted on this thread but maybe I saw it somewhere else

At times the bonus on the Chase IHG card has been 80k points and a $50 statement credit for $1k spend in three months. I'm not sure if it's currently available. If and when it returns (or if it's available now) it might require $2k spend...which is also pretty easy.

 

The renewal bonus is a free night with no category restrictions...a perk that can be taken to extremes (like a $2k room).

 

There have been customer surveys about the card, though...and customer surveys often mean changes are coming.

 

The stuff about McDonalds was just saying that Chase includes fast food within the dining bonus category.

 

One issuer (I can't think which one) recently excluded bakeries from dining...does that ring a bell to anyone?

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Message 25 of 32
Aahz
Established Contributor

Re: Need help with a Travel card and i dont travel...


@Anonymous wrote:

@iced wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

ok so if i wanted one hotel card one airline what would you recommend taking into account sign up bonuses


Before I can tell you, you'll need to answer my questions three:

 

1. What is your home airport? That is, if you plan on flying somewhere, what airport would you fly out of?

2. Regionally, where do you typically want to go to for vacations? USA? Europe? Oceania? Somewhere else?

3. What does your 10-20k spending look like? Mostly utilities, merchandise, and groceries, or lots of dining and gas thrown in? Ballpark percentages are fine here.


1. Huntsville, AL (not likely) or nashville

2. us mainly (beach, vegas, california, flights to get to cruises maybe)

3. probably 6-7k dining, 2k gas, 4k groceries, 1500 utilities, merchandise?? (please forgive me)


Since you're looking mostly at domestic travel you're not going to get a ton more value out of points redemptions then out of cash back.  So I would avoid any branded travel cards, thus leaving your options wide open to book either chepest or best for you flights & accomodations.

 

That said, if you can handle $4,000 sped in three months and know you'll be paying for (at least) part of a trip in 2017 and (at least) part of a trip in 2018 I'd recommend the Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR).

 

The $450 annual fee will be paid for using just under half of the sign up bonus of 100,000 points.  Leaving you with a minimum of 59,000 points after you meet he minimum spend (55,000 from bonus plus minimum 4,000 points from spending.  All of your dining spend will earn 3x points, plus your eventual travel spend will be 3x points as well.

 

Plus, you'll be able to redeem those points for whatever hotel/flights/cruises you choose through the Chase potal at 1.5 cents per point making it effectively 4.5 cents back for all your dining and travel. And your (post AF) sign-up bonus will be worth $885 in travel booked through the portal.

 

But that's not all!  The first $300 you spend on travel categories in 2017 will be IMMEDIATELY reimbursed (making them essentially free.  And then in 2018 the same thing happens again - first $300 in travel essentially free.

 

So, even if you only ever spend $4000 on the card you'll get $1485 in FREE travel expenses without being limited to any specific brands and with only one additional HP and new card.

 

 

Message 26 of 32
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Need help with a Travel card and i dont travel...


@Aahz wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

@iced wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

ok so if i wanted one hotel card one airline what would you recommend taking into account sign up bonuses


Before I can tell you, you'll need to answer my questions three:

 

1. What is your home airport? That is, if you plan on flying somewhere, what airport would you fly out of?

2. Regionally, where do you typically want to go to for vacations? USA? Europe? Oceania? Somewhere else?

3. What does your 10-20k spending look like? Mostly utilities, merchandise, and groceries, or lots of dining and gas thrown in? Ballpark percentages are fine here.


1. Huntsville, AL (not likely) or nashville

2. us mainly (beach, vegas, california, flights to get to cruises maybe)

3. probably 6-7k dining, 2k gas, 4k groceries, 1500 utilities, merchandise?? (please forgive me)


Since you're looking mostly at domestic travel you're not going to get a ton more value out of points redemptions then out of cash back.  So I would avoid any branded travel cards, thus leaving your options wide open to book either chepest or best for you flights & accomodations.

 

That said, if you can handle $4,000 sped in three months and know you'll be paying for (at least) part of a trip in 2017 and (at least) part of a trip in 2018 I'd recommend the Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR).

 

The $450 annual fee will be paid for using just under half of the sign up bonus of 100,000 points.  Leaving you with a minimum of 59,000 points after you meet he minimum spend (55,000 from bonus plus minimum 4,000 points from spending.  All of your dining spend will earn 3x points, plus your eventual travel spend will be 3x points as well.

 

Plus, you'll be able to redeem those points for whatever hotel/flights/cruises you choose through the Chase potal at 1.5 cents per point making it effectively 4.5 cents back for all your dining and travel. And your (post AF) sign-up bonus will be worth $885 in travel booked through the portal.

 

But that's not all!  The first $300 you spend on travel categories in 2017 will be IMMEDIATELY reimbursed (making them essentially free.  And then in 2018 the same thing happens again - first $300 in travel essentially free.

 

So, even if you only ever spend $4000 on the card you'll get $1485 in FREE travel expenses without being limited to any specific brands and with only one additional HP and new card.

 

 


That sounds great! Do those points with CSR expire? Also, are the underwriting requirements with CSR different than CSP?

Message 27 of 32
Aahz
Established Contributor

Re: Need help with a Travel card and i dont travel...

Chase UR points do not expire as long a you have a UR generating card to "hold" them.  However, they are only woth 1.5cents each while you hold the CSR crd, so they are most valuable within the first 24 months of getting the CSR.  This is because you're (likely) going to want to downgrade the CSR to a $0 annual fee UR-earning card before paying the second year's $450 annual fee.

 

I honestly didn't look at your scores before making my suggestion.  It may well be out of reach at the moment for you.  Maybe the wife has better scores?  Either way you're going to want to wait a little longer so that you have time to maximize both years of the $300 travel credit.  I'd suggest February or March at least, which also gives some time for score improvement.  

Message 28 of 32
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Need help with a Travel card and i dont travel...

To answer the question about the "bakeries" being nerfed, that was Chase. I order meal deliveries (ex. Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, Home Chef, etc) and those used to count in the dining category (it coded as a Caterer to be specific) along with the bakeries but that went buh-bye earlier this year.

Sorry, I don't know how to quote and reply!
Message 29 of 32
wasCB14
Super Contributor

Re: Need help with a Travel card and i dont travel...


@Anonymous wrote:
To answer the question about the "bakeries" being nerfed, that was Chase. I order meal deliveries (ex. Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, Home Chef, etc) and those used to count in the dining category (it coded as a Caterer to be specific) along with the bakeries but that went buh-bye earlier this year.

Sorry, I don't know how to quote and reply!

Thanks!

 

Click "Reply" at the bottom right of the post you want to quote. Then, on the next screen, click "Quote" on the right just above the text box. Write what you want to add under the last solid line after the quoted text that appears.

Personal spend: Amex Gold, Amex Schwab Plat., BofA PR+CCR(x2), Costco
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Message 30 of 32
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