I agree that the CSP is actually the better deal for most people. Knocking the bonus down to 50K and fixing the first year travel credit loophole nerfed the CSR enough to make the card only useful to people who are actually willing to pay the higher AF long term.
I mean as far as the Travel Credit you have to have expected that for launching the card that late in the year as soon as January rolled around people would use it again...now that that is fixed along with the lower sign up bonus I don't see them really losing money on this card.
What additional benefits does it have over CSP?
Global Entry ($100 every 4 years) not a huge benefit and few people use it. Even if they did that's $25 each year if you think of it that way.
3x instead of 2x UR again not a huge difference. Just to make up the AF difference ($95 vs effective $150) that's $5,500 spend additional.
1.5x vs. 1.25x - Not a huge difference because not many book through travel portal because you get better return doing point transfer which both CSP and CSR offer. Even if you do book through the portal they end up using their flight points or hotel rewards to pay for your stay at a big discount making up that difference.
I think they are both good cards, but would app for CSP over CSR any day with the way it stands right now.
If they up'd the sign up bonus to 75-80k UR it would be worth it for me. I'd probably even keep it over a year. They probably won't though because of all those people getting it then leaving. But maybe they'll just do it targeted which would probably be good.
I just got the Chase Ink Preffered which is essentially a middle ground between CSP and CSR with a juicy 80k sign up bonus. It's a nice card
What additional benefits does it have over CSP?
Global Entry ($100 every 4 years) not a huge benefit and few people use it. Even if they did that's $25 each year if you think of it that way.
3x instead of 2x UR again not a huge difference. Just to make up the AF difference ($95 vs effective $150) that's $5,500 spend additional.
1.5x vs. 1.25x - Not a huge difference because not many book through travel portal because you get better return doing point transfer which both CSP and CSR offer. Even if you do book through the portal they end up using their flight points or hotel rewards to pay for your stay at a big discount making up that difference.
I think they are both good cards, but would app for CSP over CSR any day with the way it stands right now.
If they up'd the sign up bonus to 75-80k UR it would be worth it for me. I'd probably even keep it over a year. They probably won't though because of all those people getting it then leaving. But maybe they'll just do it targeted which would probably be good.
I just got the Chase Ink Preffered which is essentially a middle ground between CSP and CSR with a juicy 80k sign up bonus. It's a nice card
@Anonymous wrote:
I mean as far as the Travel Credit you have to have expected that for launching the card that late in the year as soon as January rolled around people would use it again...now that that is fixed along with the lower sign up bonus I don't see them really losing money on this card.
What additional benefits does it have over CSP?
Global Entry ($100 every 4 years) not a huge benefit and few people use it. Even if they did that's $25 each year if you think of it that way.
3x instead of 2x UR again not a huge difference. Just to make up the AF difference ($95 vs effective $150) that's $5,500 spend additional.
1.5x vs. 1.25x - Not a huge difference because not many book through travel portal because you get better return doing point transfer which both CSP and CSR offer. Even if you do book through the portal they end up using their flight points or hotel rewards to pay for your stay at a big discount making up that difference.
I think they are both good cards, but would app for CSP over CSR any day with the way it stands right now.
If they up'd the sign up bonus to 75-80k UR it would be worth it for me. I'd probably even keep it over a year. They probably won't though because of all those people getting it then leaving. But maybe they'll just do it targeted which would probably be good.
I just got the Chase Ink Preffered which is essentially a middle ground between CSP and CSR with a juicy 80k sign up bonus. It's a nice card
To you it's it a huge difference. For others that is a very big difference if you purchase a lot of travel. Any time you can get fifty percent more points, that's can be a significant upgrade. While you or I might not use the travel portal, certainly others do and that 1.5 redemption rate sets it above their competitors. Just because the card may not fit your spending habits don't assume that the same holds true for others. Weren't you the one who spelled out what assume means. 
@Anonymous wrote:
Chase didn't win by social media picking up on the card. They lost big time. They got a bunch of people who were interested in the 100000 points the 600 dollar credit. These people stopped using the card as soon as they met spending requirement. Never carried a balance. They made the offer too good. Now the preffered is the better deal.
I find it ironic Chase has their 5/24 rule and got so badly burned. They wanted to market to millenials which is silly for a card with a 450 dollar annual fee. Market that to people in their 40s and 50s who can put a ton of money through the card.
As bad as Chase as screwed me over in the past it makes me happy to see them fail.
I kinda doubt they just stopped using the CSR card. The bonus categories for restaurants and travel make it very appealing to use the card for those reasons (I know I use the CSR quite a bit) and I'm sure chase brought in some people who are not hard core churners (but saw the 100k signup and went for it) who would likely use the card for all their spend for the next year before closing it.
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@UpperNwGuy wrote:Actually, the CSP is a better deal than the CSR only if you spend less than $4000 a year on travel and dining. And at that low level of spending, the Citi Double Cash beats both the CSP and the CSR. At $6000 of travel and dining spending, the CSR catches the Double Cash. The CSP doesn't catch the Double Cash until $9500 of travel and dining spending -- and that's assuming that CSP UR points are worth $.015 each via transfer to airline partners rather than $.0125 each through the Chase travel portal.
My formula: (spending x rewards rate - net annual fee) / spending
I think this may confuse people. There are a ton of benefits you get with the CSR that you do not get with the double cash. If you use those benefits you will come out way ahead with the CSR. In addition I find your point valuation of .015 to be low. I often can redeem for .020 or more per point. Its really difficult to come up with a hard and fast formula when different people use cards in different ways and get different benefits. If you were comparing two straight cash back cards together it would be a bit easier. Cash back vs point values will vary depending on how those points are used.