@kdm31091 wrote:
@red259 wrote:
@Sharingan wrote:
@icyhot wrote:
I wouldn't consider Fidelity Amex or the Double Cash non-restricted 2%, for one the Fidelity can only be deposited into a Fidelity account, restriction right there. Then the Double Cash isn't flat 2% on purchases, it's 1% on purchases 1%, and not everyone PIF. I would put the Venture over both 1 for the bonus and 2 it has a higher starting limit and can easily be converted to a non-AF card. If someone wants to be rewarded quickly for their travel expenses the Venture and Arrival are the way to goThe Double Cash most certainly is an unrestricted 2% card, unless you are advising that people not pay their bill to get the other 1%. In that case, missing out on that 1% would be the least of their worries. I have my own reservations about the Fidelity AmEx, but saying it's a restricted 2% card with that argument is really grasping at straws. Also, if you aren't paying in full, you are going to quickly wipe out the value of your rewards no matter what rewards card you are using. The Arrival and Venture aren't immune to this. In no uncertain terms would I ever recommend the Arrival+ or Venture over the Double Cash/Fidelity AmEx for most people.
The signup bonus for the arrival and venture alone make it worth a look. After the first year the value diminishes though unless AF gets waived. The fidelity amex does require an extra step to get it and that can be a factor for consideration as well. The venture has the possibility of SP CLI. Don't know if you can do that with the fidelity amex, also amex isn't necessarily accepted at as many places as a MC or Visa.
Since when do people get fees on Arrival+ and Venture waived? Very rarely. Yes, if the fees are waived, it's less big of a difference but you are still stuck with only redeeming towards travel purchases.
SP CLIs happen with Citi too (Double Cash) which is a Mastercard.
I just feel like people are grasping at straws to defend Venture and Arrival. They have their (minimal) place. Venture has no FTF, and if you travel internationally a ton and want 2% back and are willing to redeem only towards travel, it can be valuable. But the majority of people who have it did not get it for that. They got it for the bonus and will close or consolidate it later, because it holds no long term value for most people. This is why I say DC or Fidelity is better. To each their own. Nobody would care about getting the fees waived if the products had a long term value.
Got my venture fee waived so I don't know what to tell you. I'm not grasping at staws or defending the cards. Simply saying they can be worth a look for a number of factors.
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@red259 wrote:
@Sharingan wrote:
@icyhot wrote:
I wouldn't consider Fidelity Amex or the Double Cash non-restricted 2%, for one the Fidelity can only be deposited into a Fidelity account, restriction right there. Then the Double Cash isn't flat 2% on purchases, it's 1% on purchases 1%, and not everyone PIF. I would put the Venture over both 1 for the bonus and 2 it has a higher starting limit and can easily be converted to a non-AF card. If someone wants to be rewarded quickly for their travel expenses the Venture and Arrival are the way to goThe Double Cash most certainly is an unrestricted 2% card, unless you are advising that people not pay their bill to get the other 1%. In that case, missing out on that 1% would be the least of their worries. I have my own reservations about the Fidelity AmEx, but saying it's a restricted 2% card with that argument is really grasping at straws. Also, if you aren't paying in full, you are going to quickly wipe out the value of your rewards no matter what rewards card you are using. The Arrival and Venture aren't immune to this. In no uncertain terms would I ever recommend the Arrival+ or Venture over the Double Cash/Fidelity AmEx for most people.
The signup bonus for the arrival and venture alone make it worth a look. After the first year the value diminishes though unless AF gets waived. The fidelity amex does require an extra step to get it and that can be a factor for consideration as well. The venture has the possibility of SP CLI. Don't know if you can do that with the fidelity amex, also amex isn't necessarily accepted at as many places as a MC or Visa.
I don't recommend cards based on their sign up bonuses. I also wasn't speaking for anyone else when I wrote the sentence you decided to bold. If you prefer to use sign up bonuses as a criteria, great. I prefer to recommend them based on their long term viability, merits, and my own experience with the cards.
The Venture and Arrival+ would bring someone right back to square one after the first year, wouldn't it? That is a big reason why I strongly recommend the Double Cash/Fidelity AmEx over the Venture and Arrival+. The aforementioned cards have the edge when it comes to long term viability. Some people choose to divide the value of the sign up bonus by the AF to justify keeping a card for x number of years, but I don't like that kind of logic.
@Sharingan wrote:
@red259 wrote:
@Sharingan wrote:
@icyhot wrote:
I wouldn't consider Fidelity Amex or the Double Cash non-restricted 2%, for one the Fidelity can only be deposited into a Fidelity account, restriction right there. Then the Double Cash isn't flat 2% on purchases, it's 1% on purchases 1%, and not everyone PIF. I would put the Venture over both 1 for the bonus and 2 it has a higher starting limit and can easily be converted to a non-AF card. If someone wants to be rewarded quickly for their travel expenses the Venture and Arrival are the way to goThe Double Cash most certainly is an unrestricted 2% card, unless you are advising that people not pay their bill to get the other 1%. In that case, missing out on that 1% would be the least of their worries. I have my own reservations about the Fidelity AmEx, but saying it's a restricted 2% card with that argument is really grasping at straws. Also, if you aren't paying in full, you are going to quickly wipe out the value of your rewards no matter what rewards card you are using. The Arrival and Venture aren't immune to this. In no uncertain terms would I ever recommend the Arrival+ or Venture over the Double Cash/Fidelity AmEx for most people.
The signup bonus for the arrival and venture alone make it worth a look. After the first year the value diminishes though unless AF gets waived. The fidelity amex does require an extra step to get it and that can be a factor for consideration as well. The venture has the possibility of SP CLI. Don't know if you can do that with the fidelity amex, also amex isn't necessarily accepted at as many places as a MC or Visa.
I don't recommend cards based on their sign up bonuses. I also wasn't speaking for anyone else when I wrote the sentence you decided to bold. If you prefer to use sign up bonuses as a criteria, great. I prefer to recommend them based on their long term viability, merits, and my own experience with the cards.
The Venture and Arrival+ would bring someone right back to square one after the first year, wouldn't it? That is a big reason why I strongly recommend the Double Cash/Fidelity AmEx over the Venture and Arrival+. The aforementioned cards have the edge when it comes to long term viability. Some people choose to divide the value of the sign up bonus by the AF to justify keeping a card for x number of years, but I don't like that kind of logic.
Its fine that you don't consider it as part of your criteria, but being the signup is worth $400 in cashback I figured it was worth mentioning, so people can make an informed decision.
@CH-7-Mission-Accomplished wrote:
@icyhot wrote:
I wouldn't consider Fidelity Amex or the Double Cash non-restricted 2%, for one the Fidelity can only be deposited into a Fidelity account, restriction right there. Then the Double Cash isn't flat 2% on purchases, it's 1% on purchases 1%, and not everyone PIF. I would put the Venture over both 1 for the bonus and 2 it has a higher starting limit and can easily be converted to a non-AF card. If someone wants to be rewarded quickly for their travel expenses the Venture and Arrival are the way to go
I have a strong gut feeling that when my Venture comes up for renewal, Cap 1 will waive the annual fee. Just a hunch.
For a family putting through 5k a month in credit card spend (which I think is a lot of money), that is $100/month in cash for vacation expenses. So after one year you have $1200 cash for vacation. I'm not sure I care that I can't redeem that for some other category when I know I will spend way more than $1200/year on family vacation. Heck a couple of plane tickets could eat that up. So unless you don't travel at all, who cares about the restriction if you would spend that amount anyway? I mean it could be restricted to grocey stores and it would still be very usable.
What I like about the Venture is the high limits and the $400 bonus that you can earn more than once. Add a couple of Venture One's, combine the whole thing into a 50K monster card and life is good. Also, I have redeemed all my earnings on the Venture for a recent trip and it's so easy. No minimums. No games. No thresholds. Just an instant credit on my statement.
I can't get in with Citi, but it seems that most of the DC cards have crappy limits, even for people who have 20K plus limits on other cards. I see folks with a 3K DC limit which seems absurdly low.
I love my Venture card.
Yes, I noticed a lot of people reporting low limits on the DC. I wouldn't apply for the DC outright, but I might PC another citi card with a higher credit line into one. The thing about redeeming for travel with the venture card is that travel is very broad. I can use it on a subway, tolls, buses, trains or taxi at home and those count as travel expenses, so it is useful outside of vacations as well.
