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What’s your current daily driver?

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longtimelurker
Epic Contributor

Re: What’s your current daily driver?


@Anonymous wrote:

^ Great choices!

 

But was that the "wrong" definition of daily driver?   Smiley LOL   Hope no thread police gets offended!  Smiley LOL


We will get offended if and when we choose to. (Which is always as it happens)  Your "hope" and emoticons cut no ice with us, buddy.    

 

[Adds onceuponadime to the list for "checking"]

Message 121 of 173
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: What’s your current daily driver?


@longtimelurker wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

^ Great choices!

 

But was that the "wrong" definition of daily driver?   Smiley LOL   Hope no thread police gets offended!  Smiley LOL


We will get offended if and when we choose to. (Which is always as it happens)  Your "hope" and emoticons cut no ice with us, buddy.    

 

[Adds onceuponadime to the list for "checking"]


Someone is offended!! Oh my! I am scared!!!  Smiley LOL

Message 122 of 173
K-in-Boston
Credit Mentor

Re: What’s your current daily driver?


@staticvoidmain wrote:

@longtimelurker wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

OP was quite clear about their intent though. 

"When not chasing a signup bonus what is your daily driver for non-category spend?"

It's kind of hard to interpret that incorrectly. 


You would think so, but the number of responses with a wrong, oh I mean different, interpretation suggests otherwise!     Or, more likely, people post what they want to post.


FWIW, I am pretty sure the original post was updated. I believe it did not have the part about chasing SUB, because I was about to respond to that, but I figured my response would be boring.


The original post has never been edited.

 

Back to the actual subject, I still haven't decided what my 2020 daily driver will be, or even if there will be one.  With Amex and Delta "revamping" the Delta Reserve starting in January, it's more difficult to justify putting all of my non-category spend on Delta Reserve for the 15k MQMs and 15k SkyMiles since the 15k SkyMiles part of it will be going away.  Comparing it to Freedom Unlimited paired with my CSR, I'd really have to get more like 2.7 cents per SkyMile (not impossible, but difficult) to come out better.  Compare that with the mileage boost which only makes me need to get about 1.8 cents per SkyMile (the last 9 award tickets I redeemed were over 2 cents) for each $30,000 of spend on the card.  (For comparison purposes, I am using the Chase travel portal value of 2.25% from CFU plus my SkyMiles earnings as a Platinum Medallion for revenue flights purchased through the portal.)  But certainly if it means the difference between Platinum Medallion again (I'm almost there for 2020) for 2021 or reverting back to Gold Medallion, that does have a monetary value to me as I tend to do a lot of flights between Delta hubs that are Medallion-heavy.

Message 123 of 173
Remedios
Credit Mentor

Re: What’s your current daily driver?

Answers police will not be happy 😐
Message 124 of 173
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: What’s your current daily driver?

Recently, Uber Visa and Citi DC have been my daily drivers.  Cards with the highest usage.

 

Going forward, Chase World of Hyatt replaces both, at least for the first $15K of dining/miscellaneous spend per year, as it effectively earns 5.1% on dining and 3.4% on miscellaneous once $15K spend is met.

 

 

Message 125 of 173
aesl1982
Regular Contributor

Re: What’s your current daily driver?

Using my Discover It Miles card like its going out of style, ran 10k through it in the first 30 days having it for 15,000 miles. and i have the 100 percent match after a year so really its 30k i earned that first month. 

Discover it miles 9/19 Sl 5000 | Care Credit 9/19 SL 3500 | Cap 1 QS 4/14 AU 500 | Cap 1 QS1 4/14 AU 600 | NFCU Secured 8/19 200 | NFCU CLOC 9/19 500 | NFCU auto 10/19 6.29 66k | NFCU Auto 4.9% 37k
Experian- 702
Equifax- 676
Transunion- 611
Util- 9%
Message 126 of 173
Aim_High
Super Contributor

Re: What’s your current daily driver?


@Anonymous wrote:

Recently, Uber Visa and Citi DC have been my daily drivers.  Cards with the highest usage.

Going forward, Chase World of Hyatt replaces both, at least for the first $15K of dining/miscellaneous spend per year, as it effectively earns 5.1% on dining and 3.4% on miscellaneous once $15K spend is met.


 

Your posting gave me pause to think and do a further analysis.  If nothing else, your strategy is certainly interesting, even if I am not yet convinced it is one I wish to pursue, but thanks for that perspective!   My analysis is just my random thoughts on the topic, @Anonymous, so if it is working for you, that's great!  I just wanted to discuss my analysis on the forum, though.

 

I app'ed the Chase World of Hyatt card a few months ago for the awesome SUB and to eventually close and move the limit to other Chase cards.  (I just met the $6K spend to get the total of 50K Hyatt points. Smiley Very Happy)  I really hadn't planned on keeping it but have been reconsidering whether to keep it and the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless, mainly for the "FREE" annual rooms.  I've always thought that for a frequent Hyatt business guest, the card makes great sense as it pays 4 Hyatt points per dollar on purchases at Hyatt, worth about a 6.8% return!  In my case, I do not pay for my rooms directly when I travel (paid by employer) so my only direct hotel charges would be occasional personal travel rooms and restaurant charges.  I'd have to pay the $95 fee in exchange for the "FREE" annual room, which is not really totally free but just discounted by somewhere around $50 to $200 after the AF, depending on how it's redeemed. I didn't really think keeping either of the cards just for this was worthwhile, but maybe I'm too quick to discount.  Rewards are great but they aren't my only objective and I have usually preferred not to over-complicate my card line-up.

 

Honestly, I had quickly dismissed the $15K annual spend perk because I hadn't calculated the potential benefit.  I see now where you get that (potential) 5.1% return on dining and 3.4% overall, and that is quite impressive if you are able to maximize it!  I had doubted my use of the card for $15K based on prime earnings only (at Hyatt hotels) but had not included general spending. Still, hitting that bonus level precisely seems a little cumbersome.  Let me explain.

 

For anyone who needs more background, I'll add an explanation for the Hyatt strategy.  World of Hyatt points are valued at about 1.7 ccp.  (Meaning you earn 4x or 6.8% at Hyatt; 2x or 3.4% at restaurants, airfare, local commuting/transit, gym memberships; and 1x or 1.7% elsewhere, as long as you redeem the points at Hyatts for rooms.)  However, hitting the $15K annual spend threshold also earns you a free night at a level 1-4 Hyatt property.  (Hyatt points are redeemed by levels 1-8 at respective point values of 5K, 8K, 12K, 15K, 20K, 25K, 30K and 40K.)  So if you redeem for level 4, you get a valuation of 15K points at 1.7 ccp equals a (maximum) value of $255 in hotel rooms.  So the base level of 2 points per dollar at restaurants (2x1.7= 3.4%) or general spend (1x1.7 = 1.7%) becomes (3.4 + 1.7 = 5.1%) and (1.7 + 1.7 = 3.4%). 

 

The cons for this strategy I see are:

 

(1) reaching that high and precise spend level. To get the full 5.1 ccp or 3.4 ccp, regardless of other cards, you'd have to spend a minimum of $1250 per month; $289 per week; $41 per day, which some people would not be able to do comfortably.  I could usually do that easily if this was my 'daily driver' but I have other cards I want to put spending on during the year also. I don't want to neglect my other cards, and the idea of having to meet a high and very specific perennial spending level on a single card to maximize the rewards on it is a complication.  It might preclude being able to meet SUBs on new cards or the ability to maximize rewards on my existing cards, so there is a potential trade-off here.  And then there is the long-term commitment to do this year-after-year; if you changed your mind mid-year and stop short of $15K, you just tanked your rewards.  Moreover, you can't just make this your forever daily driver and not ever think about it again because the moment you exceed $15K annual non-category spend, you just started decreasing your rewards rate incrementally with every additional dollar you spend.  So you have to use it a lot (up to $15K) ... and then not at all (or only at Hyatt) ... to fully maximize earnings.  That is a disincentive to me.  It's like having yet another 5% category card to track to make sure you get the maximum 5% return on without starting to chip away at your returns by spending more than $1500 in a quarter or whatever the cap for that card.  Spending caps (and/or thresholds, in this case) are annoying. 

 

(2) having to redeem at Hyatts (ONLY) to get the maximum 5.1/3.4%. There is no cash redemption option and transfer to Hyatt airline partners is at a rate of only 0.4 ccp, a very poor rate of return.

 

(3) Moreover, having to redeem at a Level Four Hyatt property (ONLY) to get those maximize rewards, since there is less value on levels 1-3.  (In addition to base level of points earned, Level 1 would only give 0.5 ccp added value, Level 2= 0.9 ccp added value, Level 3 = 1.3 ccp added value, and finally Level 4 at 1.7 ccp added value.) Depending on where you want to go, there may be a very narrow redemption option to achieve best results.

 

I also have the Chase's Sapphire Reserve which gives me 4.5 ccp travel redemptions and I can redeem that widely on any brand hotels, airfare, or rental cars, so it has much more flexiblity and a competitive or sometimes better rate of return.  (Even with the 15K bonus, at Level 1 and 2 property redemption, CSR would still beat the Hyatt card return on dining. And at Level 1, CSR/CFU beats Hyatt on everything else category.)  Worst case, CSR transfers at 1.0 ccp to partners versus Hyatt's 0.4 ccp.

 

In my opinion, there seems to be many hoops to jump through and limitations to maximize Chase World of Hyatt as a daily driver, perhaps with the exception of someone who is also a frequent Hyatt guest.  But if you're willing to do this, the rewards are certainly available.  Just be careful with spending levels and redemptions, as those pitfalls will very quickly and greatly diminish your rewards.

 


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Message 127 of 173
scfc1972
Valued Member

Re: What’s your current daily driver?

Venture for general spending. Amex BCE for groceries and gas.

Capital One - Secured Platinum $500
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Message 128 of 173
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: What’s your current daily driver?


@Aim_High wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

Recently, Uber Visa and Citi DC have been my daily drivers.  Cards with the highest usage.

Going forward, Chase World of Hyatt replaces both, at least for the first $15K of dining/miscellaneous spend per year, as it effectively earns 5.1% on dining and 3.4% on miscellaneous once $15K spend is met.


 

In my opinion, there seems to be many hoops to jump through and limitations to maximize Chase World of Hyatt as a daily driver, perhaps with the exception of someone who is also a frequent Hyatt guest.  But if you're willing to do this, the rewards are certainly available.  Just be careful with spending levels and redemptions, as those pitfalls will very quickly and greatly diminish your rewards.

 


Great analysis.  You are spot on.  The sweet spot is $15K spend.  Once you spend more, the effective earn is reduced.  And the points I earn are only available for use at Hyatt.  These are the drawbacks.

 

But for me, (I don't qualify for CSR under 5/24):

 

1.  I love Hyatt.  They have some fantastic resort properties and also some great values out there where I can get more than 1.7 cents per point.  For example, the Hyatt Place in Austin is located within easy drives of great golf courses.  I can stay there for 5,000 points.  Nights usually run $100-120 for a 2.0 to 2.4 cents per point return.  Obviously, I would be using points and not the free night certificate on a Category 1 property.

 

2.  I have Citi DC (2x Thank You on misc spend) and Discover (Q3 dining at 5%)/Aspire (7x = 4.2% on dining) to handle any dining/misc spend above $15K for the year.  

 

YMMV

Message 129 of 173
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: What’s your current daily driver?

Most things: Paypal MasterCard - 2% cashback and 0% interest till April.

 

Restaurants and Entertainment: Capital One Savor One

 

Travel: Amex Platinum for 5x

 

Theoretical large purchases I want to spread out over 18 months: Amex Everyday Cash.

Message 130 of 173
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