Should I get the CSP/CSR?

Anonymous · ‎12-13-2018

So I am in the garden now until 2020 when I get under 5/24 (or I get an in-branch preapproval for Chase lol). In the meantime, I want to get your opinion on if I should get the CSP/CSR?

I don't think I'll actually put any or much spend on any of those two cards. I have the Amex Gold for dining and the US Bank Altitude Reserve for travel purchases and insurance stuff (I know, I know, too much diversification haha). The reason I would like to get CSR is the Chase Freedom (possibly Freedom Unlimited) points, which can be redeemed for 1.5 cents on their portal. Also it'll open up the opportunity to transfer points to United and Southwest, both of which have hubs in the Bay Area. What would the math look like for me to justify adding either of those two cards? Would the AR be redundant if I was to add the Chase trifecta? As a starting point, if I had the Freedom for the whole of 2018, I would have earned around 20-25k points.

Anonymous · ‎12-13-2018

how much you spend on travel per year?

Anonymous · ‎12-13-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
how much you spend on travel per year?

Between me, SO and family around 5k a year.

Anonymous · ‎12-13-2018

Im gonna assume you said you get 25k points from freedom at a 2.5% rate. That means you will spend maybe 10k on freedom to get those points.

If you transfer them to CSR/airline partner, thet worth 25000x1.5/100=$375. Minus 150 effective AF, you get 225 out of 10000 spending. That an effective cash back of 2.25%.

All these assume you don't spend anything on CSR, beside the airfare credit spending.

Its not a bad deal. However, it is also not that much better than a Citi DC. It is also worse than just sticking to freedom.

IMHO, you have too many high AF cards that overlap, so its hard to justify another one.

mkhan1093 · ‎12-13-2018

Well for starters I don't see the Freedom/FU in your signature so if you don't already have the card(s) then you might want to hold off adding one of the Sapphires if their primary purpose is just going to be for multipliers on what you earn with the other UR cards. On that same note, you'll want to see how many points you think you're going to earn with one or both of those Freedom cards and whether that would be enough to offset your fee on the Sapphire.

If/when you do have the other cards, then the Sapphires almost always make sense in the first year because of the value of the signup bonus. If they're not going to serve any purpose other than allowing you to transfer UR points to airline partners then go with the CSP because you're not taking advantage of any multipliers so you might as well go with the lower AF. If you do want to entertain the possibility of using the 1.25x/1.5x you get from buying travel through Chase's portal then you'll have to see whether paying an additional $55 (I'm assuming you can use all of your $300 CSR travel credit) will be worth it for the extra 0.25x boost on points.

Anonymous · ‎12-13-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
Im gonna assume you said you get 25k points from freedom at a 2.5% rate. That means you will spend maybe 10k on freedom to get those points.

If you transfer them to CSR/airline partner, thet worth 25000x1.5/100=$375. Minus 150 effective AF, you get 225 out of 10000 spending. That an effective cash back of 2.25%.

All these assume you don't spend anything on CSR, beside the airfare credit spending.

Its not a bad deal. However, it is also not that much better than a Citi DC. It is also worse than just sticking to freedom.

IMHO, you have too many high AF cards that overlaps, so its hard to justify another one.

I do have the BBP for 2x MR on everything, so in your opinion I don't need the CSR at all then?

Anonymous · ‎12-13-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Im gonna assume you said you get 25k points from freedom at a 2.5% rate. That means you will spend maybe 10k on freedom to get those points.

If you transfer them to CSR/airline partner, thet worth 25000x1.5/100=$375. Minus 150 effective AF, you get 225 out of 10000 spending. That an effective cash back of 2.25%.

All these assume you don't spend anything on CSR, beside the airfare credit spending.

Its not a bad deal. However, it is also not that much better than a Citi DC. It is also worse than just sticking to freedom.

IMHO, you have too many high AF cards that overlaps, so its hard to justify another one.
I do have the BBP for 2x MR on everything, so in your opinion I don't need the CSR at all then?

For the spending you do, no, I don't think you need CSR. TBH, unles you are willing to let go Altitude Reserve and transfer your travel spending over, CSR/CSP would not make economic sense.

It would be a different consideration if you just want to collect more cards. In that case, it doesn't hurt to get CSR/CSP. CSP or CSR doesn't make a lot of difference for you, so you can get whichever one you prefer.

Anonymous · ‎12-13-2018

@mkhan1093 wrote:
Well for starters I don't see the Freedom/FU in your signature so if you don't already have the card(s) then you might want to hold off adding one of the Sapphires if their primary purpose is just going to be for multipliers on what you earn with the other UR cards. On that same note, you'll want to see how many points you think you're going to earn with one or both of those Freedom cards and whether that would be enough to offset your fee on the Sapphire.

If/when you do have the other cards, then the Sapphires almost always make sense in the first year because of the value of the signup bonus. If they're not going to serve any purpose other than allowing you to transfer UR points to airline partners then go with the CSP because you're not taking advantage of any multipliers so you might as well go with the lower AF. If you do want to entertain the possibility of using the 1.25x/1.5x you get from buying travel through Chase's portal then you'll have to see whether paying an additional $55 (I'm assuming you can use all of your $300 CSR travel credit) will be worth it for the extra 0.25x boost on points.

That is exactly my thinking. So if I go by what you are saying here, I should get the two Freedom cards and see how many points I can earn on them first, and then decide if adding another premium travel card is worth it or not?

To be quite honest, the only advantage for the AR over CSR for me is the mobile wallet rewards points, which I can really pump through; and the lower effective AF. I know Chase had 3 quarters of Chase Pay 5% back this year, but I am sure it won't last (not to say the AR would last too lol). If I can get the same amount of mobile wallet spending rewards from Chase I'd probably drop the AR in a hot minute.

Anonymous · ‎12-13-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Im gonna assume you said you get 25k points from freedom at a 2.5% rate. That means you will spend maybe 10k on freedom to get those points.

If you transfer them to CSR/airline partner, thet worth 25000x1.5/100=$375. Minus 150 effective AF, you get 225 out of 10000 spending. That an effective cash back of 2.25%.

All these assume you don't spend anything on CSR, beside the airfare credit spending.

Its not a bad deal. However, it is also not that much better than a Citi DC. It is also worse than just sticking to freedom.

IMHO, you have too many high AF cards that overlaps, so its hard to justify another one.
I do have the BBP for 2x MR on everything, so in your opinion I don't need the CSR at all then?
For the spending you do, no, I don't think you need CSR. TBH, unles you are willing to let go Altitude Reserve and transfer your travel spending over, CSR/CSP would not make economic sense.

It would be a different consideration if you just want to collect more cards. In that case, it doesn't hurt to get CSR/CSP. CSP or CSR doesn't make a lot of difference for you, so you can get whichever one you prefer.

Yeah I realize that having both AR and CSR makes no economic sense. As I detail in another reply, the mobile wallet spending is the killer feature for me on AR. I am starting to think that to get in with Chase and fully maximize everything I might have to drop the AR and sacrifice that.

Anonymous · ‎12-13-2018

Well, truth is even though CSR doesn't enhance your reward, it doesn't hurt you that much neither (we are talking about a loss of maybe 20 dollars per year of reward).

So you don't need it, but you can have it if you want, lol.