I agree wholeheartedly on the CFF. However, I'm growing fatigued of keeping track of rotators. I'd just rather have a flat % rate nowadays and keep it pushing.
@Absolution16 wrote:
Looking at both of the Freedom brand of cards, it is clear to me that Flex (CFF) is the superior card.
... how do you all feel about CFU?
... How much do you value Chase's flexibility in shifting between cashback or UR, assuming you have CSP/CSR?
Not necessarily, @Absolution16. The superiority of one card to another depends not only on how it is used but also how the points/cash back are redeemed. To begin, you are speaking about all this from a cash back perspective even though you're acknowledging UR value for travel redemptions. So yes, if you're a cash back optimizer, you would probably choose the 5% card since it appears on the surface to be the smarter choice. However, that may or may not be true.
This gets into the debate about the merits of and preferences for rotating category cards in general. There have been a lot of threads discussing this topic. Even without an AF (as you & I discussed in another thread about AMEX Blue Cash Preferred), category cards have their challenges.
- Spending caps often apply by the year, quarter, or even month. Tracking the cap takes some effort, especially if the card holder's normal spend in a category may exceed the threshold. Exceeding the threshold without moving your spend to another card quickly reduces rewards from 5% to 1%. However, you may also find yourself spending less than you expected in a category and not reaping the full potential quarterly reward of $75 (5% of $1500.)
- Categories are not always beneficial, depending on the card holder's normal spend. And many of these cards including CFF don't allow selection of categories. So some cardholders will have quarters with $0 of 5% spending needs.
- MCC (Merchant Category Codes) decide if you get 5% or 1%. Sometimes there are surprises.
- The overall advantage of a 5% category card versus a 1.5% or 2% flat rate card depends on the amount of uncategorized spend a consumer makes that doesn't fit into a neat box. While I'll acknowledge that many category cards cover the highest routine household expenses such as food or gasoline, I also advocate that most of our members greatly underestimate their spending that isn't specifically covered by any enhanced credit card rewards program.
- Part of the cost-benefit analysis for any 5% card needs to weigh the incremental rewards value versus the hassle and time of carrying that extra card, tracking and activating rotating categories, watching for fraud, and remembering to pay the bill. Everyone can make their own decision where to fall on that spectrum but those favoring simplicity might decide the card isn't worth the carry.
I'm personally not a fan of many of these type cards for the above reasons. I have a Discover IT 5% mainly because it's my oldest card. And I opened - but later closed - a Chase Freedom original (before CFF was introduced) as part of setting up a quad-fecta with my CSR. It sounded great but in practice, after I calculated the rewards, the incremental gain wasn't worth the hassle to me.
Now on the other hand, along with my CSR, I highly value my CFU. They make an awesome Chase Two-Card Combo. CSR only earns 1x UR on uncapped - uncategorized spend but CFU earns 1.5 UR for a baseline earn. And as @Anonymous @discussed, those URs can be worth 2.25% to 3% if UR travel redemption is made for 1.5 to 2.0 cpp. In general, I love no-muss no-fuss uncapped and uncategorized cards. They are just easy and always work.
In the case of Chase URs, one reason I prefer them over AMEX MRs is they are always worth at least 1 % in cash value with CSR (or 1.5% if combined with CFU) as compared to 0.6 cpp for MR statement credit, 0.6 to 1.0 cpp for MR gift cards, or 1.1 cpp if coupled with Charles Schwab Platinum. URs are just easy to cash out if I prefer not to use them for travel.
Now if I didn't have CSR, I agree that CFU may be somewhat inferior to a flat-rate 2% card, but even that depends on how much value you get from the 3% dining + drugstores and the higher earning for travel portal purchases. This is why it's important for everyone to crunch their own numbers based on their budget and their needs. It's human nature to assume that everyone spends like we do, but there are many differences between us!
@Anonymous wrote:
@Absolution16 wrote:... so for someone like me who does not use the travel portal, isn't there virtually NO difference at all between CSP and CSR?
Right .. If you transfer, the CSP/CSR distinction goes away,
I cringed reading this but I'm assuming the question was specifically about the benefit of CSR versus CSP in terms of in-portal travel value versus transfer to partners.
But CSR offers a LOT of perks and value that you do not get with CSP as a whole, far beyond that mere extra 25% bonus for in-portal travel redemption. When Chase revamped CSP and the Freedom cards a few years ago, they made CSP much better but it still lags CSR in many aspects.
