Too many CCs with AF?

[Moleman_H]

It's not just groceries though. With very few exclusions (things that count as cash advances), everything you can buy in a grocery store counts. There is hardly anything you cannot buy from amazon with a gift card from your grocery store... Stores like Safeway run gift card promotions several times a year, too.

[bs6054]

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@youngandcreditwrthy wrote:

I guess we just have differing ways of looking at it.

fact is though: you don't need to spend $210 a month just to break even.

again, I have the BCE lol :-)

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Mmm, yes you do!

Amex is presenting a false dichotomy.  You can have this card or nothing.   In that scenario, the $125 spend per month on groceries covers the annual fee, so any more is gain.    But, even restricting to Amex, you could just as easily get the BCE.  Then with the $125 per month on groceries, that card gives you a net $35 or so, so you would be ahead with the BCE over the BCP.  The $210 figure is when BCP outdoes BCE, and that really is the thing you should consider: not "What are the gains on this card" but "What are the gains on this card compared to reasonable alternatives"

And of course reasonable depends on your credit record etc (e.g. if you can, the Penfed Plat Rewards is far superior to the BCE, but Penfed can be much more conservative than Amex).

[Moleman_H]

I put it in a graph to make it easier to understand. This only considers spending in the groceries category.

Up to 1250 spending, BCP is a net loss due to the AF. BCE is never a loss.

Between 1250 and 2500 BCP isn't a loss, but BCE is better.

Beyond 2500, BCP is always better. The difference is largest at 6000$ spendings or more. At that point, the BCP returns 105$ more than the BCE.

Edit: And here's BCP - BCE (that is, how much more does BCP give back compared to BCE; below 0 means it gives back less):

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%28-75%2Bmin%28X%2C6000%29*0.06%2Bmax%28X-6000%2C0%29*0.01%29+-...

[bs6054]

Nice graph.  And just for comparison, the Penfed Plat Rewards follows the BCE slope up to 6,000, but as it is uncapped it continues unchanged, eventually doing better than BCP around $11K (if my back of the envelope math is right!)

[RhubarbPie]

What are you goals with your cards in terms of rewards? Do you want cashback, flights, hotels, etc? Based on the fact that you have CSP, I would probably suggest getting the Freedom to supplement your UR balance, or for cash back. The categories are rotating, but first and third quarter this year include gas. You wont get bonuses on groceries but it sounds like you don't buy much at the supermarket anyways. And then, you'd have the flexibility of transferring your points to airlines, hotels, etc via CSP or getting the cashback (transferring points to airlines its going to be the best use of your points, but the point is, you have flexibility).

If you want an Amex, you could apply for the PRG via the 50,000 MR points after $1000 spent offer on creditcards.com. The annual fee is waived for the first year (you could cancel before your year was up) and there is 2x points on gas and groceries. But there isn't a cashback option, so you'd need to use the points or transfer them to travel partners.

[FutureBillionaire]

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@navigatethis12 wrote:

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@youngandcreditwrthy wrote:
Pretty sure the Amex website says you only need to spend $25 a week on groceries to take care of the $75 AF on the BCP.
@$100 per month x.06 = $6 per month @Anonymous mos= $72 annually..about right ;-)

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If you only spend that much what is the benefit? What I'm saying is that if you spend enough to just make the annual fee, the card is not worth it. As SnackTrader pointed out, getting $150 in rewards is till pointless because the $75 annual fee gives you the same you would have gotten if you had the Blue Cash Everyday. They put that there so people who do spend that little bit will think it's a great deal.

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You're correct. If you have to alter your spending to take advantage fo rewards, then you don't need the card.

[FutureBillionaire]

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@bs6054 wrote:

Nice graph.  And just for comparison, the Penfed Plat Rewards follows the BCE slope up to 6,000, but as it is uncapped it continues unchanged, eventually doing better than BCP around $11K (if my back of the envelope math is right!)

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Not to mention the gas benefit.  The Penfed Plat is better than BCE in every way except for the backdating, imho.

[pastnow123]

i'm wondering you can do BCP in the first year and downgrage to BCE to save AF in 2nd year

[Cdnewmanpac]

I understand that 6000 pts annually cancels out the fee on the SW card, but how does the card help you? You would get 2 points/dollar on sw tickets using your csp (and the UR points you get are more flexible than RR points), the sw card doesn't give you any perks and if you closed it, chase would move all but $500 if your limit over to the CSP. I'd close the SW card and move your limit to the CSP.

[FutureBillionaire]

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@Cdnewmanpac wrote:

I understand that 6000 pts annually cancels out the fee on the SW card, but how does the card help you? You would get 2 points/dollar on sw tickets using your csp (and the UR points you get are more flexible than RR points), the sw card doesn't give you any perks and if you closed it, chase would move all but $500 if your limit over to the CSP. I'd close the SW card and move your limit to the CSP.

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I've also wondered why folks have the Southwest card when they can get the CSP and enjoy more flexibility and earn more points.