@zeusta20 wrote:
@enharu wrote:why not BCP?
@zeusta20 wrote:At first I wanted my "trophy" card to be an amex. Now that I have that, I wanted the CSP. Now that I have that....I'm gonna shoot for the Amex BCE...Not for a while though
I was thinking about the BCP, but I'm already going to be paying an annual fee for my CSP and my Green (which I plan on upgrading to PRG). So that'll be $175.00 per year in addition to the $95 for the CSP. I didn't wanna have too many cards that required annual fees. Do you think it would be worth it for the BCP?
It's not all that hard to at least estimate if the BCP is worth it. It just depends on where you spend and what the alternatives are. So if you have a Penfed card, you discount the gas benefit (or discount it for half the year if you have 5% revolvers that you expect cover it etc) Since the big benefit is supermarkets, if you use it for nothing else, a yearly spend of $2500 breaks even over the BCE or another 3% card.
But this (sadly!) for many is no longer a huge reward card. On supermarket spending, the maximum you get back is $360 a year, and the AF reduces the net to $285.
But if you had the BCE for free instead, you would have got $180, so this card is really a net gain of $105 a year (on supermarkets) which probably won't change your life.
Now if you do a LOT of shopping at the listed department stores, you do indeed get an uncapped 3% off, and this beats the 2% off the BCE if you spend $7,500 on those stores. And similarly if you don't have a better gas card, $7,500 on gas per year means the BCP beats the BCE.
Of course, many people will purchase some combination of these things, and that's where you need to run figures for your own estimated spending. Also take into account the differences in bonus sign ups.
Your calculation will show that either it's not worth it, or it is worth $X over the BCE or similar card. You then decide how much effort that $X is worth to you (maybe taking a HP on one hand, getting a backdate opportunity on the other etc) compared to spending the $75 on something else.
@bs6054 wrote:
@zeusta20 wrote:
@enharu wrote:why not BCP?
@zeusta20 wrote:At first I wanted my "trophy" card to be an amex. Now that I have that, I wanted the CSP. Now that I have that....I'm gonna shoot for the Amex BCE...Not for a while though
I was thinking about the BCP, but I'm already going to be paying an annual fee for my CSP and my Green (which I plan on upgrading to PRG). So that'll be $175.00 per year in addition to the $95 for the CSP. I didn't wanna have too many cards that required annual fees. Do you think it would be worth it for the BCP?
It's not all that hard to at least estimate if the BCP is worth it. It just depends on where you spend and what the alternatives are. So if you have a Penfed card, you discount the gas benefit (or discount it for half the year if you have 5% revolvers that you expect cover it etc) Since the big benefit is supermarkets, if you use it for nothing else, a yearly spend of $2500 breaks even over the BCE or another 3% card.
But this (sadly!) for many is no longer a huge reward card. On supermarket spending, the maximum you get back is $360 a year, and the AF reduces the net to $285.
But if you had the BCE for free instead, you would have got $180, so this card is really a net gain of $105 a year (on supermarkets) which probably won't change your life.
This is a great point and it's something I wish more people would take heed of. I was chatting with another poster yesterday about why people keep 8-10 cards, and I explained that some people do it to maximize their rewards in every sub-category imaginable.
One should question at what point does the extra hassle of keeping, using, tracking and paying all of those cards override the amount of money saved? I know everyone's situation is different, but I personally couldn't be bothered adding another card into my rotation for $100/year. Now if it was $1000 or more, that becomes more discussable.
I have a mind that works well for this kind of stuff (rewards, and memory in general). That's why I studied engineering before I became a seminarian (but never actually practiced engineering, and became a retail day trader instead). Maybe I should have studied history instead, since, like credit card rewards, it's the study of memorization of large chains of names, dates, and numbers. (History probably pays better than the priesthood, too, but history is even more infected with postmodern relativism.)
Now, for certain individuals - maybe most individuals that I know, maybe all - it's not worth it. If they have five credit cards, they can be counted lucky if they can tell you when the statement cuts on one of them, let alone the rewards categories. I can slap mine down on the table, "payment due on, statement cuts on, reports to the credit bureau on, rewards categories are, limit is, an signup bonus was $X after $Y spend in Z months", for all of mine - without it being a hassle. And then add, "and as of Xx/Yy/ZZZZ, I have Aa amount of miles in programs BB, CC, DD, EE, FF, and GG".
Now, for someone who actually has to work to keep track of rewards, the best CC is probably a Priceline Visa, a Fidelity Amex, a Cap One Venture, etc. or some other straight 2% card, as, for many individuals, the very act of maximizing rewards, doth take more time than the rewards are worth, in terms of incidentals such as managing 10+ credit cards, missing payments, having to go online banking at least twice or three times a week, etc., even if the actual act of maximizing rewards can be all but done by a computer program such as Wallaby.
That's why 5% rotators such as Discover, Freedom, Cash+, and the one from Citi (I think Citi has one at least) can make money for the bank. The interchange fees aren't nearly 5%, but they count on the average person using categories mostly at random, maybe with a little bit of intent, and then putting lots of unbonused spend on the card as well. Us nuts who wrap our entire personal banking lives around stuff like Bluebird so we can get 5 UR points for everything are rare, and lose the banks money - see, with USBank's Cash+, this was virtually the sole market for the card. It attracted all of the churners and rewards-maximizers because it was head and shoulders better than every other similar card. Thus, USBank nerfed the Cash+. Even after the nerf, it's still better than any other rotator, but is annoying because you can't sign up for it online. Look at the BCE and BCP: nerfed, badly, likely for the same reasons (but it lasted longer than eight months). If people use cards solely for bonused spend, the banks lose money, even counting the interchange fees.
I can almost see how someone could think that way, but I really can't understand why someone wouldn't want a free transatlantic first-class RT every year, just for spending a bit of time on credit cards. I suppose the memorization and balancing required could be a source of stress to some.
Goal: 760 by End of Year