Why CSP?

[UncleB]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@CreditCuriosity wrote:

Also CSP has primary rental car coverage for a cheaper price that a CSR if that is a concern for said traveler not to mention ability to transfer out as others echoed.  To each and their own everyone has different reasons whether we consider them right or wrong

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Frequent car rentals generally indicate frequent air travel, lodging, dining, etc. It just seems unlikely that someone would put much value on domestic primary rental coverage and yet not benefit from CSR's improved protections and rewards.

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Again, sometimes but not always.  I'm a good example (and there are others here as well) of someone who would put value on the domestic primary rental coverage if the CSP was my primary card, and I still wouldn't need a CSR.

Obviously frequent car rentals can be an indicator of frequent travel, but for some that would be in lieu of flying.  You're still not considering that one might not need all the extras that the CSR provides for the extra $55 (assuming one uses the travel credits).  To some this might be a trivial amount (that's subjective) but I'm personally not going to part with it unless there's a reason.

I agree that it might not be common (especially among our members here) but to say that's it's unlikely is a stretch.

In any case, rather than try to shoe-horn people into a one-size-fits-all solution, what's the harm in letting them do the math and take the option that works better for them?

[wasCB14]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@CreditCuriosity wrote:

Also CSP has primary rental car coverage for a cheaper price that a CSR if that is a concern for said traveler not to mention ability to transfer out as others echoed.  To each and their own everyone has different reasons whether we consider them right or wrong

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Frequent car rentals generally indicate frequent air travel, lodging, dining, etc. It just seems unlikely that someone would put much value on domestic primary rental coverage and yet not benefit from CSR's improved protections and rewards.

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that is an incorrect asumption, plenty people rent cars for variety of reasons. I rented car 5 times this year, some times as long as one week, and they are not travel related (4 times for work, one because my car is in shop).

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I'm a bit curious...for what kind of work do you rent a car every few months (rather than use something in your employer's fleet) but not drive far enough so as to need away-from-home lodging of some sort?

[wasCB14]

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@UncleB wrote:

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In any case, rather than try to shoe-horn people into a one-size-fits-all solution, what's the harm in letting them do the math and take the option that works better for them?

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Strictly speaking, I'm not trying to push people into a "one size fits all" solution. I've mentioned the merits of not just CSR but also Chase cobrands and products from other issuers.

I'm saying this size would seem to fit very few, despite the card's popularity.

Put another way, CSP is the new Amex Green.

*I can see some value if you use it for just a few short rentals a year (not enough for the rewards to matter much) and put almost all other travel on another card. Infrequent renters with an Amex could also just sign up with Amex to pay for primary coverage on a per-rental basis.*

[UncleB]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

 Put another way, CSP is the new Amex Green.

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Possibly so, but I would add that even the Amex Green is the right card for some (again, not a majority here, obviously).

I'll save my thoughts on that for another thread, though.

[Anonymous]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@CreditCuriosity wrote:

Also CSP has primary rental car coverage for a cheaper price that a CSR if that is a concern for said traveler not to mention ability to transfer out as others echoed.  To each and their own everyone has different reasons whether we consider them right or wrong

---

Frequent car rentals generally indicate frequent air travel, lodging, dining, etc. It just seems unlikely that someone would put much value on domestic primary rental coverage and yet not benefit from CSR's improved protections and rewards.

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that is an incorrect asumption, plenty people rent cars for variety of reasons. I rented car 5 times this year, some times as long as one week, and they are not travel related (4 times for work, one because my car is in shop).

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I'm a bit curious...for what kind of work do you rent a car every few months (rather than use something in your employer's fleet) but not drive far enough so as to need away-from-home lodging of some sort?

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I do field work 350 miles away every 3 months, my institution's fleet is always booked full so I had to rent from hertz. Its much cheaper than flying.

I do need a hotel stay every trip, but I am a money conservative guy, I keep all the cost, including hotels, below 150 total. So, i.e., no fancy hotels (its usually microtel for me, lol).

I think it is pretty obvious, just look around, most car rental company has multiple locations outside airport, that alone should tell us lot of people renting cars for reasons that doesn't involve flying.

 I did all the math, if somebody rely on sapphire system for lot of travel and dining, there is no question CSR is a no brainer, but if they don't completely rely on sapphire system, CSR/CSP makes little difference, and CSP may just be less hassle and still offers sufficient benifit.

[Anonymous]

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@UncleB wrote:

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In any case, rather than try to shoe-horn people into a one-size-fits-all solution, what's the harm in letting them do the math and take the option that works better for them?

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In general, IMO opinion it would be great if people did the math on any number of cards!  From what I see though, a lot of people don't, and get cards for other reasons, sometimes because they don't even know how to do the math.   That doesn't harm me, but I think to suggest that most people here make rational calculated decisions is a stretch.   Hence FOTM.    Yes, we can say that there are valid reasons for each person to get the cards they get, but that is an act of faith.   You see people getting, e.g. MR cards without any idea how to use them as an example.....

[redpat]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@CreditCuriosity wrote:

Also CSP has primary rental car coverage for a cheaper price that a CSR if that is a concern for said traveler not to mention ability to transfer out as others echoed.  To each and their own everyone has different reasons whether we consider them right or wrong

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Frequent car rentals generally indicate frequent air travel, lodging, dining, etc. It just seems unlikely that someone would put much value on domestic primary rental coverage and yet not benefit from CSR's improved protections and rewards.

---

that is an incorrect asumption, plenty people rent cars for variety of reasons. I rented car 5 times this year, some times as long as one week, and they are not travel related (4 times for work, one because my car is in shop).

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I'm a bit curious...for what kind of work do you rent a car every few months (rather than use something in your employer's fleet) but not drive far enough so as to need away-from-home lodging of some sort?

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I do field work 350 miles away every 3 months, my institution's fleet is always booked full so I had to rent from hertz. Its much cheaper than flying.

I do need a hotel stay every trip, but I am a money conservative guy, I keep all the cost, including hotels, below 150 total. So, i.e., no fancy hotels (its usually microtel for me, lol).

I think it is pretty obvious, just look around, most car rental company has multiple locations outside airport, that alone should tell us lot of people renting cars for reasons that doesn't involve flying.

 I did all the math, if somebody rely on sapphire system for lot of travel and dining, there is no question CSR is a no brainer, but if they don't completely rely on sapphire system, CSR/CSP makes little difference, and CSP may just be less hassle and still offers sufficient benifit.

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Doesn’t your company pay for airfare.  I have employees and I would never have them travel 350 miles, it isn’t cost effective and they are required to pay you during travel time, too much down time.  Same goes for hotel stays. Are they treating you as a contractor rather than an employee?

lol, I would find another company to work for if they made me drive 700 miles round trip.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@UncleB wrote:

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In any case, rather than try to shoe-horn people into a one-size-fits-all solution, what's the harm in letting them do the math and take the option that works better for them?

---

In general, IMO opinion it would be great if people did the math on any number of cards!  From what I see though, a lot of people don't, and get cards for other reasons, sometimes because they don't even know how to do the math.   That doesn't harm me, but I think to suggest that most people here make rational calculated decisions is a stretch.   Hence FOTM.    Yes, we can say that there are valid reasons for each person to get the cards they get, but that is an act of faith.   You see people getting, e.g. MR cards without any idea how to use them as an example.....

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From what I see so far, most people here did try to do math for themselves, and most have pretty good reason (obviously not all) in trying to get the card they want. Maybe their math is not the same as yours or mine, but they also have their own real life considerations that are different from yours or mine.

I would refrain from suggesting somehow any of us know exactly what others need to/want to/should use. Sure we can give suggestions based on the questions asked and information provided, but that should be it.

[Anonymous]

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@redpat wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@CreditCuriosity wrote:

Also CSP has primary rental car coverage for a cheaper price that a CSR if that is a concern for said traveler not to mention ability to transfer out as others echoed.  To each and their own everyone has different reasons whether we consider them right or wrong

---

Frequent car rentals generally indicate frequent air travel, lodging, dining, etc. It just seems unlikely that someone would put much value on domestic primary rental coverage and yet not benefit from CSR's improved protections and rewards.

---

that is an incorrect asumption, plenty people rent cars for variety of reasons. I rented car 5 times this year, some times as long as one week, and they are not travel related (4 times for work, one because my car is in shop).

---

I'm a bit curious...for what kind of work do you rent a car every few months (rather than use something in your employer's fleet) but not drive far enough so as to need away-from-home lodging of some sort?

---

I do field work 350 miles away every 3 months, my institution's fleet is always booked full so I had to rent from hertz. Its much cheaper than flying.

I do need a hotel stay every trip, but I am a money conservative guy, I keep all the cost, including hotels, below 150 total. So, i.e., no fancy hotels (its usually microtel for me, lol).

I think it is pretty obvious, just look around, most car rental company has multiple locations outside airport, that alone should tell us lot of people renting cars for reasons that doesn't involve flying.

 I did all the math, if somebody rely on sapphire system for lot of travel and dining, there is no question CSR is a no brainer, but if they don't completely rely on sapphire system, CSR/CSP makes little difference, and CSP may just be less hassle and still offers sufficient benifit.

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Doesn’t your company pay for airfare.  I have employees and I would never have them travel 350 miles, it isn’t cost effective and they are required to pay you during travel time, too much down time.  Same goes for hotel stays. Are they treating you as a contractor rather than an employee?

lol, I would find another company to work for if they made me drive 700 miles round trip.

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Well, first I would rather not spend more than necessity, even though it is reimbursed, money is still tight everywhere.

Second, the field work requries equipments that are... lets just say not air travel friendly.

[UncleB]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@UncleB wrote:

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In any case, rather than try to shoe-horn people into a one-size-fits-all solution, what's the harm in letting them do the math and take the option that works better for them?

---

In general, IMO opinion it would be great if people did the math on any number of cards!  From what I see though, a lot of people don't, and get cards for other reasons, sometimes because they don't even know how to do the math.   That doesn't harm me, but I think to suggest that most people here make rational calculated decisions is a stretch.   Hence FOTM.    Yes, we can say that there are valid reasons for each person to get the cards they get, but that is an act of faith.   You see people getting, e.g. MR cards without any idea how to use them as an example.....

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Yep, thus the circular nature of this type of conversation. (The 'do I or don't I' threads about the 4506-T come to mind.)

To me it's a stretch to make overarching generalizations, that's my main issue with this thread and others like it.  I'm fine with subjective reasoning - it has its place - but in this case I also can see how objectively the CSP can be the right option for some people, as in the examples already pointed out. 

Just because some don't bother to 'do the math' doesn't mean that no one does (clearly some do).  That's not a subjective act of faith, that's fact.  I've made my point and it still stands, however those not convinced by now likely never will be, which is fine, too.

If this thread is to continue we need to get back to 'Why CSP?'; if we want to branch-out beyond that (why not fly, why not travel cards, why not fleet vehicle, etc.) a new thread should be started.