Why does AMEX charge an Excise fee/tax?

[Anonymous]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

Chase, as far as I know, doesn't offer transfer bonuses. Citi and Amex do. In that sense, Chase is different than everyone else in a negative way.

Does that mean Chase customer service is bad, or that the whole UR program should be avoided? I certainly don't think so. Different programs just have their pros and cons.

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Instead they have 1:1 transfers to valuable programs and cards that pool together to earn 5x the UR point per dollar. The other companies need to give out bonuses just to match what Chase allows as a standard procedure. 

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The UR program does have its strengths. There's no base 2x like with MR, but the 1.5x is uncapped. 5x is capped but is still 5x. 3x opportunities are plentiful.

But I believe you are well over 5/24, so it's probably not an available option. Unless you're going to garden for a year, I'm not sure it's a relevant comparison to TY and MR programs.

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I'd have to wait about 1.5 years to be under 5/24. It is a long term goal of mine to get a pair of the Chase UR, one being the Sapphire Preferred and the other being either the FU or the Freedom. I guess if I had to pick at this moment, I'd take the 5x UR card because 1.5x doesn't appeal to me when I can just get 1x without having to carry all three. 

[wasCB14]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:
The UR program does have its strengths. There's no base 2x like with MR, but the 1.5x is uncapped. 5x is capped but is still 5x. 3x opportunities are plentiful.

But I believe you are well over 5/24, so it's probably not an available option. Unless you're going to garden for a year, I'm not sure it's a relevant comparison to TY and MR programs.

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I'd have to wait about 1.5 years to be under 5/24. It is a long term goal of mine to get a pair of the Chase UR, one being the Sapphire Preferred and the other being either the FU or the Freedom. I guess if I had to pick at this moment, I'd take the 5x UR card because 1.5x doesn't appeal to me when I can just get 1x without having to carry all three. 

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If you won't spend enough on UR cards to justify CSR over CSP, it's probably best to just get the occasional bonus and not worry about 5/24.

[Anonymous]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:
The UR program does have its strengths. There's no base 2x like with MR, but the 1.5x is uncapped. 5x is capped but is still 5x. 3x opportunities are plentiful.

But I believe you are well over 5/24, so it's probably not an available option. Unless you're going to garden for a year, I'm not sure it's a relevant comparison to TY and MR programs.

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I'd have to wait about 1.5 years to be under 5/24. It is a long term goal of mine to get a pair of the Chase UR, one being the Sapphire Preferred and the other being either the FU or the Freedom. I guess if I had to pick at this moment, I'd take the 5x UR card because 1.5x doesn't appeal to me when I can just get 1x without having to carry all three. 

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If you won't spend enough on UR cards to justify CSR over CSP, it's probably best to just get the occasional bonus and not worry about 5/24.

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I could spend enough to justify $450-$300 (travel credit) = A $150 annual fee. But I'd rather just save $55/year. 

[Anonymous]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

Did you close Costco already? Or are waiting until the card arrives to add it to your signature?

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Closed it. I only have one Citi card left and it's hanging by a thread since I have alternatives. 

I'm so tired of their garbage customer service, and tired of talking to outsourced customer service reps. I even asked to speak to a supervisor about something the other day and that person was outsourced too.  

I've finally gotten rid of my impulse problem I think LOL. I've also closed two AMEX's last week (two are left because they have balances, both business cards), and then I think my BoA card will be scrapped once I reach the $25+10% threshold. 

[TheBoondocks]

I heard that you can also transfer indirectly, so I know with Virgin Atlantic, you could transfer to IHG at 1:1, if you do it directly than the fees will be charged. I don't know why they do it but everybody have to make money lol.

[wasCB14]

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@TheBoondocks wrote:

I heard that you can also transfer indirectly, so I know with Virgin Atlantic, you could transfer to IHG at 1:1, if you do it directly than the fees will be charged. I don't know why they do it but everybody have to make money lol.

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A couple things here...

MRs do not transfer to IHG. URs do but it's a poor value.

IHG points do transfer to Virgin Atlantic, but 10k IHG gives only 2k Virgin Atlantic.

I don't know if Virgin Atlantic transfers to IHG, but if it's 1:1 it seems wasteful.

URs and MRs both transfer to Virgin Atlantic directly. Since it's a British airline, neither Amex nor Chase pays an excise tax, so there's no tax for Amex to pass on to customers.

And there's no tax for transfers to hotels. And even if IHG was an airline, it's British and not domestic, so there would be no tax.

[wasCB14]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:
The UR program does have its strengths. There's no base 2x like with MR, but the 1.5x is uncapped. 5x is capped but is still 5x. 3x opportunities are plentiful.

But I believe you are well over 5/24, so it's probably not an available option. Unless you're going to garden for a year, I'm not sure it's a relevant comparison to TY and MR programs.

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I'd have to wait about 1.5 years to be under 5/24. It is a long term goal of mine to get a pair of the Chase UR, one being the Sapphire Preferred and the other being either the FU or the Freedom. I guess if I had to pick at this moment, I'd take the 5x UR card because 1.5x doesn't appeal to me when I can just get 1x without having to carry all three. 

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If you won't spend enough on UR cards to justify CSR over CSP, it's probably best to just get the occasional bonus and not worry about 5/24.

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I could spend enough to justify $450-$300 (travel credit) = A $150 annual fee. But I'd rather just save $55/year. 

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CSR doesn't give rewards on the $300 anymore, so it's more like $75 more...but by the time you've even met minimum spend the difference is small.

And if you don't put much travel/dining spend on it, there's not much reason to cool off the bonus chasing to get either Sapphire card.

[Anonymous]

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@wasCB14 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:
The UR program does have its strengths. There's no base 2x like with MR, but the 1.5x is uncapped. 5x is capped but is still 5x. 3x opportunities are plentiful.

But I believe you are well over 5/24, so it's probably not an available option. Unless you're going to garden for a year, I'm not sure it's a relevant comparison to TY and MR programs.

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I'd have to wait about 1.5 years to be under 5/24. It is a long term goal of mine to get a pair of the Chase UR, one being the Sapphire Preferred and the other being either the FU or the Freedom. I guess if I had to pick at this moment, I'd take the 5x UR card because 1.5x doesn't appeal to me when I can just get 1x without having to carry all three. 

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If you won't spend enough on UR cards to justify CSR over CSP, it's probably best to just get the occasional bonus and not worry about 5/24.

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I could spend enough to justify $450-$300 (travel credit) = A $150 annual fee. But I'd rather just save $55/year. 

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CSR doesn't give rewards on the $300 anymore, so it's more like $75 more...but by the time you've even met minimum spend the difference is small.

And if you don't put much travel/dining spend on it, there's not much reason to cool off the bonus chasing to get either Sapphire card.

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I spend a ton on dining every year (talking at least $3,000)... Way too much to be honest. Travel spending would be moderate but not as much as frequent travelers. I'd use miles and hotel points, but they may not cover the cost of an entire trip. I think I'd get a UR mostly for Hyatt points... I love their hotels and the earning rate would be better than the actual Hyatt cards themselves, and then the free nights aren't exactly a ton of points either for what you earn on Chase cards. 

[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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@Anonymous wrote:

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@wasCB14 wrote:
The UR program does have its strengths. There's no base 2x like with MR, but the 1.5x is uncapped. 5x is capped but is still 5x. 3x opportunities are plentiful.

But I believe you are well over 5/24, so it's probably not an available option. Unless you're going to garden for a year, I'm not sure it's a relevant comparison to TY and MR programs.

---

I'd have to wait about 1.5 years to be under 5/24. It is a long term goal of mine to get a pair of the Chase UR, one being the Sapphire Preferred and the other being either the FU or the Freedom. I guess if I had to pick at this moment, I'd take the 5x UR card because 1.5x doesn't appeal to me when I can just get 1x without having to carry all three. 

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If you won't spend enough on UR cards to justify CSR over CSP, it's probably best to just get the occasional bonus and not worry about 5/24.

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I could spend enough to justify $450-$300 (travel credit) = A $150 annual fee. But I'd rather just save $55/year. 

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CSR doesn't give rewards on the $300 anymore, so it's more like $75 more...but by the time you've even met minimum spend the difference is small.

And if you don't put much travel/dining spend on it, there's not much reason to cool off the bonus chasing to get either Sapphire card.

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I spend a ton on dining every year (talking at least $3,000)... Way too much to be honest. Travel spending would be moderate but not as much as frequent travelers. I'd use miles and hotel points, but they may not cover the cost of an entire trip. I think I'd get a UR mostly for Hyatt points... I love their hotels and the earning rate would be better than the actual Hyatt cards themselves, and then the free nights aren't exactly a ton of points either for what you earn on Chase cards. 

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MDV, you are just a pup w/ 3k annually, try personal & biz between 18k - 20k, lol!

[K-in-Boston]

I don't dare calculate what I spend on dining, but I spend at least $2500 a year just at Dunkin' Donuts.