any credit cards with annual fees worth it

[enharu]

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@kkapdolee wrote:

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@longtimelurker wrote:

Manufactured Spend, buying of (near) cash equivalents to get rewards, using the proceeds to pay off the card and repeat.

(The BCP ISN'T a good card for this)

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longtimelurker,

why do you say bcp is not a good ms card? Is the cap too small?

do you consider PenFed platinum a good ms card?

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my guess is that

1. the BCP's cap is relatively limited.

2. Amex is probably one of the worst lenders to push your luck with when it comes to MS.

[Revelate]

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@enharu wrote:

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@kkapdolee wrote:

---

@longtimelurker wrote:

Manufactured Spend, buying of (near) cash equivalents to get rewards, using the proceeds to pay off the card and repeat.

(The BCP ISN'T a good card for this)

---

longtimelurker,

why do you say bcp is not a good ms card? Is the cap too small?

do you consider PenFed platinum a good ms card?

---

my guess is that

1. the BCP's cap is relatively limited.

2. Amex is probably one of the worst lenders to push your luck with when it comes to MS.

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This.  LTL and a few other heavy MS proponents were bitterly disappointed when the BCP changed to the current limit.

[longtimelurker]

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@Revelate wrote:

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@enharu wrote:

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@kkapdolee wrote:

---

@longtimelurker wrote:

Manufactured Spend, buying of (near) cash equivalents to get rewards, using the proceeds to pay off the card and repeat.

(The BCP ISN'T a good card for this)

---

longtimelurker,

why do you say bcp is not a good ms card? Is the cap too small?

do you consider PenFed platinum a good ms card?

---

my guess is that

1. the BCP's cap is relatively limited.

2. Amex is probably one of the worst lenders to push your luck with when it comes to MS.

---

This.  LTL and a few other heavy MS proponents were bitterly disappointed when the BCP changed to the current limit.

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Yes, just the limit (since I fully intend to use the Blue its not to do with the issuer!).   The cap on groceries is so small, limiting to $360 a year, and using this for MS takes away from any real grocery rewards you want to use.

That said, I shouldn't have been so definitive because  if you are able to by gift cards (or VR) with a credit card at a gas station, then you could use it as that is an unlimited 3%.   (And in that scenario, the Penfed card is even better.) 

[takeshi74]

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@Weights wrote:

any credit cards with annual fees worth it.  

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As with any topic worth is highly subjective.  We can't tell you what's worth it to you or not.  That's for you to determine.  The reason you haven't see any other posts similar to this is that they're not useful since there are no one-size-fits-all answers to the question.  If there was just one answer for everyone as to the worth of any given card then we'd all have the exact same cards in our wallets.  People's signatures clearly indicate that this is not the case in the real world.  Again, this notion applies to any topic given the highly subjective nature of worth.  The way to approach it is to outline your specific needs/wants and then find suitable cards.

You know what your spend is like.  The credit cards list the rewards and benefits on their site.  With info you can determine if you'd earn rewards that would exceed the AF which is what a lot of people use as their major criterion for whether or not it's worth it to pay the AF.  However, benefits and other features of a given card also factor in.

All of my AF cards --  UMPE, BCP, CSP, Ink Plus -- are worth it to me but not necessarily for the same reason(s).  I have the UMPE mainly for the flight related benefits on United through I did hit the spend requirement for the 10K mile bonus in 2013.  My BCP netted (i.e. accounting for the AF) me $325 in 2013.  CSP and Ink Plus are a bit more difficult to determine cash value but have accrued well over 200K UR points in 2013 and redeemed about half of those points so far.  Granted, some of all this is due to sign on bonuses so things may change next year but I'll do an analysis and if their worth has changed then I'll make suitable changes for myself.

Keep in mind that income, budget, spend, etc all vary from person to person so that doesn't mean that these cards are worth it to you.  If you want feedback and recommendations then you need to clarify what is and what isn't worth it to you.

Don't just avoid cards with AF's.  Do a total cost analysis to see if you'd benefit from the card or else you can easily miss out.

[Cdnewmanpac]

ALL cards with AF are "worth it" to someone, or the issuer would have either eliminated the fee or dropped the card. The key, as many have mentioned, is to match the cards you choose to your goals, spending habits and values. To someone who places no value on united points, priority boarding, free bags, etc. the MPE wouldn't be worth the fees, regardless of spending. For me, one trip to hawaii ($150 in bag fees r/t) more than justified the fee. A free night in a cat 4 hyatt offsets the AF for that card, but only if you would have stayed at a cat 4 hyatt anyway. 

Even $39 to Cap1 for a starter card is worth it if it helps you build/rebuild your credit. Heck, I even paid 1st premier $59/year for a secured cc for a year when my score was in the 500s and it was all I could get. 4 years later, I have a mortgage at 3.25%, all the credit cards I want and the ability to go into any bank, auto dealership, etc. and know I'll get a decent rate on any loan product that I might need. All that for $59...well worth it.

What people need to be cautious about is when the lure of "prestige" or the excitement of getting a "prime card" lead to unjustified fees. How many people on these boards have the Amex PRG? How many of them spend enough (30k/year or slightly less if all travel) to offset not only the $175, but the points they could have gained with a cheaper card? 

[supervelous]

I have 2 cards with Annual Fees.  The Amex BCP and Chase Sapphire Preferred.

For the BCP, the 6% on Groceries, and 3% on gas, should pay for the $75 annual fee itself and then some for most people's spending habits.  For the CSP, the $400 bonus for new accounts pays the annual fee for over 4 years.  

Although for the CSP, without the bonus not sure if it would be worth it for me.  Although you get 2X on travel and dining, I don't travel much, and I have the US Bank Cash+ which I can get 5% on dining with no annual fee.  What will probably make me keep it anyway once AF hits, is the points transfers to travel partners 1:1 which can be extremely valuable, and how "nice' the card looks/feels.  Plus I like Chase (2 Checkings, Saving, 2 credit cards, much bonus $ from them over the years).

But as many above said, YMMV and it's very specific to your personal situation.  Are you getting enough value from the card to justify the AF.  I had a few AF cards beginning of 2013 which provided me no value EXCEPT the fact I didn't have other options since I had not so good credit.  But, that was valuable to me, building credit with those cards until I could get prime cards.