Credit Cards

[Saltzy]

I'm gonna make an assumption that people on this forum have an average credit rating at or above 800, so as a credit card hobbyist I am curious to know what the spectrum is on people's preferred credit card of choice here.

For the last few years, for me personally if wasn't really close. I have been a pretty staunch defender that the card with the best bang for the buck is the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, but now that they raised the annual fee to $550 I'm not so sure that is the case anymore, and am seriously considering moving over to the Amex universe, specifically the Platinum card.

What is your guys go to card for personal spending?

[Art 1]

I have well above that score and the equivalent in Canada. Have a chase visa rewards card and several others from my US accounts. And a TD Visa from my Canadian accounts. High limits. Works for me. Don’t need or want the fancy stuff.

[HERITAGE82]

I had the Chase sapphire reserve for a while, but the fee just didn't make it worth it anymore. I use the Rose Gold Amex now and it suites my needs and the fee being $250 is ok since I get most of it back by maximizing the offers. I also use a Chase Freedom and Discover card and bounce back and forth depending on the 5% cash back offer at the time.

[Cazador60]

I have a Citibank AA card and a Chase UA card mainly for the miles that I accrue for the 2 airline companies I use the most...

[stratguy]

I made the move from Chase Sapphire to the Apple Card. I really like it. I have an AmEx as backup.

[Saltzy]

For the time being I am gonna stick with the Chase Reserved card paired with the Unlimited Freedom card.

3X points for all dining and travel on the Reserved card...1.5X points for everything else on the Unlimited card...and then roll all the points to the Ultimate Rewards so that I can get an extra 50% on travel when I use the points for it.

It's been a pretty solid combo the last few years, certainly when you calculate in the $300 travel reimbursement, so it was really only $150/year for the annual fee.

Now it's $250, but I get a free Lyft and DoorDash premium memberships.

I'm on the fence about how much I still think it's worth it.

[Justinmg]

Amex platinum for travel and Amex gold for everything else. Amex Customer service is great!

[SPMN]

I have a very high credit score and use the AMEX/Delta Skymiles card. I've been using the Gold card, but they recently moved a number of those benefits over to the Platinum card (free companion ticket annually, and Delta Lounge access). I really only travel half a dozen times or so per year, and only used the Lounge 1...maybe 2 times annually, so the Gold was perfect for me.

I'll probably get the Platinum card shortly. It looks like they're offering 100K bonus miles at the moment, and infrequent lounge access is nice. The annual fee is $250 for Platinum. I get at least 2 free trips annually for the amount I spend, and first checked bag free is nice as well.

They're perfect for me. The fees are easily offset by the perks, and AMEX is so much easier working with than VISA.

[Kneecough]

Originally Posted by Justinmg

Amex platinum for travel and Amex gold for everything else. Amex Customer service is great!

Similar... Amex gold for dining and groceries, Amex Platinum for everything else (price protections, added warranty...)

[Saltzy]

Originally Posted by SPMN

I have a very high credit score and use the AMEX/Delta Skymiles card. I've been using the Gold card, but they recently moved a number of those benefits over to the Platinum card (free companion ticket annually, and Delta Lounge access). I really only travel half a dozen times or so per year, and only used the Lounge 1...maybe 2 times annually, so the Gold was perfect for me.

I'll probably get the Platinum card shortly. It looks like they're offering 100K bonus miles at the moment, and infrequent lounge access is nice. The annual fee is $250 for Platinum. I get at least 2 free trips annually for the amount I spend, and first checked bag free is nice as well.

They're perfect for me. The fees are easily offset by the perks, and AMEX is so much easier working with than VISA.

Amex Platinum has a $550 annual fee.

[Saltzy]

The biggest downside of the Amex Platinum is that I travel to Europe probably once or twice a year and it's hit or miss on whether a vendor or restaurant will accept Amex over there.

That's probably my biggest concern with moving over to Amex.

[encarter13]

Amex Platinum for business and AMEX Delta Reserve for personal.

I have a Visa for a backup.

[Raypep]

I just got the Chase Ink Preferred (80k bonus points); I pair that w/ Costco Visa & Chase Freedom Unlimited. In the future I plan on getting the Chase Freedom to complete the Chase trifecta and drop my Costco card. Instead of the Chase Ink preferred, I did debate getting reserve, however, with the increased fee (where I don't see the benefits) and lack of bonus points.

Amex also doesn't make sense to me, I tend to fly Southwest as much as possible, and SW isn't a partner w/ AMEX. Also Amex isn't widely accepted where I am at.

[Ferdelious]

Bank of America Cash Rewards Visa

[Saltzy]

Originally Posted by Raypep

I just got the Chase Ink Preferred (80k bonus points); I pair that w/ Costco Visa & Chase Freedom Unlimited. In the future I plan on getting the Chase Freedom to complete the Chase trifecta and drop my Costco card. Instead of the Chase Ink preferred, I did debate getting reserve, however, with the increased fee (where I don't see the benefits) and lack of bonus points.

Amex also doesn't make sense to me, I tend to fly Southwest as much as possible, and SW isn't a partner w/ AMEX. Also Amex isn't widely accepted where I am at.

You should strongly consider the Chase Sapphire Preferred card too if those are your cards of choice.

For $95 a year you get a bunch of perks, and most importantly would be able to roll all the Ink and Freedom points over to it and get an extra 25% boost when you use the points for travel.

[Raypep]

Originally Posted by Saltzy

You should strongly consider the Chase Sapphire Preferred card too if those are your cards of choice.

For $95 a year you get a bunch of perks, and most importantly would be able to roll all the Ink and Freedom points over to it and get an extra 25% boost when you use the points for travel.

The CSP & CIP are very similar. However, I just got the CIP, within the month, so I have to hold tight for awhile! It was a thought to get the CSP instead of the CIP, but those 20k additional points, I had to get the CIP.

[SPMN]

Originally Posted by Saltzy

Amex Platinum has a $550 annual fee.

I'm referring to the SkyMiles Platinum, which is $250.

[crew]

I just renewed my Chase Sapphire Reserve card in January for the old fee of $450. From my perspective there’s not a better rewards card out there.
I also have the Chase Freedom Unlimited for my college son’s use and roll over the points into my Sapphire account to capture the 50% bonus.
I have two AMEX cards as well, the Delta SkyMiles Platinum and AMEX Platinum, which I got about two years ago when they offered a lucrative points bonus.
I have to say that AMEX, in general, has been a disappointment for me. The fee just jumped to $550 for the Platinum and I am canceling it when it renews. There just isn’t enough value to it and some places won’t even accept it (like Costco) so why bother.

[Saltzy]

Originally Posted by crew

I just renewed my Chase Sapphire Reserve card in January for the old fee of $450. From my perspective there’s not a better rewards card out there.
I also have the Chase Freedom Unlimited for my college son’s use and roll over the points into my Sapphire account to capture the 50% bonus.
I have two AMEX cards as well, the Delta SkyMiles Platinum and AMEX Platinum, which I got about two years ago when they offered a lucrative points bonus.
I have to say that AMEX, in general, has been a disappointment for me. The fee just jumped to $550 for the Platinum and I am canceling it when it renews. There just isn’t enough value to it and some places won’t even accept it (like Costco) so why bother.

Have you ever done a google search on the JP Morgan Reserve card?

It's essentially the same as the Chase Sapphire Reserve card in almost every way, except the card itself is this beautiful brushed metal that weighs like 3x as much as the Sapphire Reserved card. It used to be called the Palladium card. Supposedly the card itself was made of $800 worth of it.

They market it as saying you need a $10m portfolio with Chase to get approved, but I've heard stories that they will give you one if you just keep pestering them for it.

Now that I have pulled off a Rolex it's moved up a slot on my life's wish list.

[Saltzy]

Want.

[EEpro]

It's tough to beat $0 fee and 2% cash back on everything.

[Saltzy]

Originally Posted by EEpro

It's tough to beat $0 fee and 2% cash back on everything.

That's not really the right logic to use. If all you want is cash back, then yes, something like 2% with no annual fee like the Citi Double Rewards card is about the best you are gonna do. I tell everyone I know that asks me if you don't care about points or rewards or perks, this is precisely what they should do. I literally just told my dad to do this over the weekend actually.

If you do care about that stuff and really wanna get as much value as you can, or you frequent the same vendor over and over (like Amazon) you should and can pretty easily earn more than 2%.

If you are a frequent traveler (and don't get the benefits from a business card) the amount of crap they give you for a relatively nominal overall annual cost is insane.

Ex, the Chase Reserve card gets 3X points for travel and dining, which are worth 50% more when used for travel....so, on the high end I get 4.5% and using my Freedom Unlimited card, which gets 1.5X on every other purchase, I get 2.25% on the low end. Based on my spending habits, I get something like 3.5% of everything I charge towards free travel/upgrades.

This doesn't even account for the lounge access, travel protection, Global Entry fee and like 20 other really valuable perks. As a frequent traveler, it's incredible how much value I have got from this card....certainly the annual fee's worth, and then some.

[Cryten]

I used to care about cards when I was younger and thought the colour of my card meant something. I used AMEX a lot until I started travelling extensively, then I discovered that no one gave a sh*t about my card. AMEX was a no go 90% of the time. No one takes it out of the US. It's a useless card, barely more than a status symbol.

Now I use a standard bank Visa and could care less about any benefits that require hoop jumping and reading endless benefit packages. It's just a card. I get lounge access for work, so anything else is just coupon clipping and I don't have the time or interest for that.

[GoingPlaces]

Originally Posted by Saltzy

Want.

Why? What's the difference in points and rewards?

[Saltzy]

Originally Posted by GoingPlaces

Why? What's the difference in points and rewards?

I'm not even gonna lie. They are basically exactly the same as far as that stuff.

Actually, this card (as the Palladium version) pre-dated the CSR and had all the same perks 1st. When they released the CSR 'for the masses' and it basically had the same benefits the people that had this card went crazy from what I've heard.

It's shallow and it's terrible, but I only want this card because no one else has it. It's even rarer than the Amex Black card. I've never even actually seen one in real life before.

It's basically impossible to get approved for and for that reason alone, I want it.

[zorinindustries]

Ritz Carlton JP Morgan Chase and AMEX Platinum% higher fees, but benefits pay for them in the first few months for a frequent traveler


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[patrickjb]

Amex Platinum for me, for literally everything.

It’s certainly gone downhill in terms of rewards over the years, but the annual fees pay for itself.

[Saltzy]

Citi Prestige is the other annual fee premium travel card as well.

[zengineer]

Delta Amex Reserve. $550 annually but includes both Delta and Amex Centurion lounge access and other perks if you fly Delta frequently.

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[sokoloka]

Originally Posted by EEpro

It's tough to beat $0 fee and 2% cash back on everything.

Citibank Double Cash all the way for me as well. Keeps it simple and everything goes on it.