Basically the title, what are your favorite cards? I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve which I'm planning on getting rid of, any recs?
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Why are you getting rid of the Reserve?
I use Amex Gold for restaurants and groceries; Amex Green for transit, flights, hotels; BILT for rent and any vendor that doesn't take Amex.
I was thinking about switching to Amex Gold actually, funny you mention. My Dashpass / Lyft Pink subscriptions are about to run out the clock on CSR and my biggest expense beyond rent is just food + airfare. Seemed like CSR wasn't giving me the best bang for buck when you compare annual fees
Heard good things about BIlt
Capital One Venture X is a very solid travel card
At this point, my setup is:
1. Cash back card (I use BofA)
2. Airline Lounge Card (Currently AAdvantage Executive)
I've attained top tier hotel and mid-tier airline status and personally think loyalty is useless at this point. These programs keep devaluing their points and monetize seats/rooms, so getting upgraded is really difficult even as an elite. It's also hard to get to the top levels of any program unless you're either able to afford paying for international business class (or your firm pays it) or your firm allows you to run your expenses on a personal card and reimburses you for it. The only good program left is Hyatt, but who knows how long that'll last. Plus, their footprint in most cities isn't the best.
I'd say if you value some luxury on layovers, etc., just get the lounge CC for the airline that dominates your home city so you can get some free food there while you travel. Outside of that, just be a free agent and collect cash back in the interim.
Great tip on #2. CSR was utterly useless for lounges and lots of other cards give you similar cash back on travel
I was thinking about the AA Advantage Exec as well. AA has a hub in the city where my parents live, regarding where I live I'm going to be moving for my next gig hopefully in the next few months or so -- will probably see then which airline makes sense. It's likely either AA or United, Delta prices just don't feel worth it to me
Yeah, I only have the AA Executive card for the lounge access. If I stop traveling as much for work, I'll likely cancel that. FWIW, AA is the easiest to get status with because you earn 1 loyalty point for every dollar you put on the card. Plus, because AA doesn't transfer from Chase/AMEX/Bilt, etc., I do find their rewards are on average a bit better than United, etc.
That said, you'll need to be a big spender on the card to get the really worthwhile status and even the status at that point isn't that great. I know quite a few Executive Platinums who rarely get upgraded, especially if they're flying out of DFW/CLT. The point of that tangent is that I'd be weary of putting too much spend on that card otherwise. AA points are nice, but can easily be devalued or have shitty itineraries for award tickets.
The bottom line nowadays is if you want to fly first or stay in a suite, you probably need to buy it. Don't get suckered into putting spend on a card with limited redemptions on the idea that you're "building status".
Fidelity Signature Rewards, it's a legacy AMEX that's now chase visa, but it's 2% on anything into your IRA that you can backdoor roth. it autoloads too.
I think it needs a credit rating around a Sapphire Reserve despite being a no fee card though.
I've got negative comments about Fidelity and their flagging me trying to invest into low volume products: I once had to say to some poor lady CSR "I know the 30 day ADV is zero, we launched it 90 minutes ago, but I'm literally on BBM with our head of capital markets" but the card is good.
Amex Platinum - had a Gold for a couple years but stopped using it when I got a CSR. Was going to cancel but got targeted with a 100k point upgrade so I did it. Wasn't sure if I'd hold onto the Plat but I think I extract just enough value out of it that it's fine to hold. On paper I don't come out ahead.
CSR - my go to since most of my spending is on food or travel
CFU - my catch all for things not covered by another card; can transfer points over to the CSR for the same (1.5x) redemption value
BofA cash rewards (or whatever it's called) - the basic card I got as an intern, still have it. Allows you to choose a category to get 3% cash back on every quarter, and you get boosters on this if you keep your money with BofA. I leave mine on online shopping which essentially allows me to get over 5% cash back on any purchase (but it's capped at only $2,500 of spending a quarter). Just saved $60 on NFL tickets the other week using this. Also worked to save me 70+ dollars on a set of tires. Really works for everything.
Capital One Savor One - literally got this just for the Uber One and 10% cash back on Uber; since this isn't being renewed I will probably cancel
Bilt Rewards - pay rent and then the minimum number of transactions per month to accrue points
Curious why you ditched the Gold for the CSR?
When you factor in the 1.5x redemption for the CSR it actually accrues points on food at 4.5x, vs 4x for the Gold, and I almost never buy groceries (the other 4x points category on the Gold). On the CSR I can apply that same multiplier to travel (vs only flights, and only at 3x, on the Gold), which I spend at least 10x what I spend on groceries in a year. To be fair, this is now offset somewhat by me purchasing my flights on the Plat at 5x.
That's really it. That and I had a CFU for years beforehand and had saved all of those points to redeem when I got a CSR (instantly become worth 50% more). The $550 annual fee is really just $250 once you factor in the travel credit which applies to basically anything, even Lyft rides. You also get two years of Lyft Pink All Access and then one year half off (usually $200 a year). I was already paying for Lyft Pink so this made sense for me. And you get 10x points on Lyft, though this is expiring next year.
Amex Gold for dining/purchases other than groceries/gas
Amex Blue Cash Preferred for groceries (6% cash back) and gas (3% cash back)
I don't travel much, so Amex Platinum is not particularly useful for me
I used to be big into the game and tried to min/max everything, but these days I put 95% of purchases on my Delta Reserve. Probably not the most bang for my buck, but it's nice to be able to buy status, get the near-immediate coach to middle class upgrade as a result (which also often turns into a first class upgrade with Diamond status), have access to the lounge (although the food has gone downhill pretty dramatically and the lounges are still over crowded), and the free first class companion ticket pays for itself.
I still have a load of others just for history of credit purposes, but I don't use most of them. I had the Chase Sapphire Reserve for a while but didn't see the value in it so I downgraded it to the Preferred just to have a VISA for out of the country travel. I suppose I have the Amazon Chase card too, but that's more "this is my Prime membership" and it doesn't get used. I have a Marriott Business card that I only use for Marriott stays and two Blue Business Pluses that I used for sign up bonuses that I really need to cancel. Have a couple of credit union cards with no fee too. I also got a great sign up bonus with the Alaska Air card, but man have I had some bad experiences with them.
I still have the Amex Gold but I should get rid of it since most of my expenses just go on the Delta Reserve. I never saw the value in or got use out of the Platinum when I had it. Miss me with the "privilege" to overpay for luxury hotels that I can find cheaper on the literal hotel website. Maybe if I flew out of an airport with a Centurion Lounge it would be different.
To each their own.
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