Credit Cards

In the clip Clooney and Farmiga brag about their credit card perks...

Also thanks to the mods for creating this community, was missing this one from Reddit!

For transparency, I only signed up for a Discover card recently because they had a 15 month 0% balance transfer promotion, which is what I've been looking for. In general it's seemed like their rewards were not outstanding and you had to deal with potentially not having the card accepted elsewhere.

My receiving bank botched the transfer and the funds were missing for a bit. Discover was excellent -- every time I called there was a minimal wait for a U.S. based customer support agent that I could understand clearly and was knowledgeable about the situation. I was surprised.

I get that you may go years without ever needing to contact support, but it definitely quickly made a difference for me.

So I am always curious to hear how folks value points in different reward systems. I think many of the card reviewers greatly overvalue points based on booking ridiculously overpriced international first class tickets at a fraction of the cost, but still 2x-3x or more what you would pay for an economy ticket. Here is how I would value the point systems I have had cards for:

• Amex MR: 1.2 ¢/pt
  • I generally will transfer points to domestic or international economy flights or to hotels when I can get at least 1 ¢/pt. The CS platinum sets a good minimum redemption rate.
• Chase UR: 1.6 ¢/pt
  • Assuming CSR. May get better rates for Hyatt and occasionally economy flights, but portal bonus/PYB set the minimum
• Marriott Bonvoy: 0.67 ¢/pt
  • Based on what I typically see scrolling through the site.
• Hilton Honors: 0.5 ¢/pt
  • Based on what I typically see scrolling through the site.
• Hyatt: 1.67 ¢/pt
  • Can be higher but the options are more limited.
• Delta Miles: 1.2 ¢/pt
  • Based on what I typically see scrolling through the site. Sometimes there are good deals on partner flights internationally.

That all said I mainly use the Amex trifecta because I can earn MR at a fast enough rate to make up for the lower valuation and I can use the credits effectively.

How do you value points?

I am using a Savor One as my daily driver. It's an excellent card and the 3% in groceries and dining covers two of my largest spend categories so it's a great fit.

However, I still feel as though I'm leaving a lot on the table for everything else that only gets 1%. I am currently using a secondary Venmo Visa -- mainly because I needed VISA exposure for costco. It's an aesthetically pretty card but the lack of authorized users and only being able to manage the account inside the app are pretty big hindrances for me. I don't think I'm going to stick with it.

Any recommendations for a complementary daily driver? I know I should just consider the WF Autograph but I REALLY hesitate to work with them just on principle.

I live in Europe (transplanted American) and would love to know some resources for international churning.

I keep a US residence and mailing address.

Any thoughts or ideas are appreciated!

My 4 year anniversary with the CSR is coming up. I couldn't re-earn the sign-up bonus during that time, but now that's going to be gone how do I earn it again?

I've read that I could down grade and upgrade, but is there a step by step detail so I don't mess it up? I'm not finding much about that except for thus: https://upgradedpoints.com/credit-cards/reviews/chase-sapphire-preferred-card/upgrade-to-chase-sapphire-reserve/

Hi, the Capital One duo is looking like a much better deal than with the Chase trifecta, especially if you're a CSR holder. With Chase reducing their benefits and trimming their bonus categories every year, I don't see a point in keeping the Chase trifecta as your main source of points anymore. The Capital One duo + Bilt (if you rent), at least on paper, look amazing for travel points.

Wanted to know your opinion. Cheers!

Wondering if they even have a reason to increase it anytime soon.

It is recommended to use this template if you would like replies to your post.

• Current cards: (list cards, limits, opening date)

  • e.g. Amex BCP $8,000 limit, May 2019

• FICO Score: e.g. 750

• Oldest account age: e.g. 5 years 6 months

• Chase 5/24 status: e.g 2/24

• Income: e.g. $80,000

• Average monthly spend and categories:

  • dining $800

  • groceries: $400

  • gas: $100

  • travel: $100

  • other: $30

• Open to Business Cards: e.g. No

• What's the purpose of your next card? e.g. Building credit, Balance transfer, Travel, Cashback

• Do you have any cards you've been looking at?

• Are you OK with category spending or do you want a general spending card?

Common Abbreviations and Lingo:

• FICO Score - This is the score used by 90% of credit issuers (This is NOT the score given by Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, Capital One, etc.) (MyFICO.com, Experian.com, CreditScoreCard.com are FICO scores)

• AAoA - Average age of all of your accounts.

• 2/30 Chase rule - A rule of no more than two Chase credit card applications every 30 days

• 5/24 Chase rule - A rule where if you've opened 5 or more accounts in the past 24 months you cannot get approved for a new Chase card.

• AF - Annual Fee

• SuB - Sign-up Bonus

• MSR - Minimum Spending Requirement (usually referring to sign-up bonuses)

• 2/90 AmEx rule - A rule where you can only get approved for 2 AmEx cards in 90 days

• 1/5 AmEx rule - A rule where you can only get approved for 1 AmEx card every 5 days