I'm going to max the 5% Gas Stations and Digital Wallets quarter with my discover it in the next few weeks. Then probably go back to the amex bcp. I've been abusing the 0% intro and it's gorgeous.
this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2023
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Everyone would say that the Venture X would compliment the Savor One quite nicely. The annual fee of $395 is the only deterrent and the ecosystem for the points are best utilized for travel at that point.
The annual fee is negated by the $300 travel credit when booking on the portal and the 10k annual points given on your anniversary date.
I really dual daily the Amex Gold and BBP. Most of my monthly spending falls into the Dinning/grocery spending for 4 MR, then everything else gets 2 MR.
Ritz-Carlton card, which nets at least 6% on everything (factoring in devalues, it’s more if you go now) if you only redeem points for Maldives or Bora Bora, which I already did. This is not effective if you’re redeeming Marriott points on everyday places though.
I have and like the Ritz card but that is a had sell on the use case lol
It’s a use case that works if you were already going to those specific places, and provides unparalleled return, but if you’re not it’s totally worthless. Marriott points generally suck. But I was already doing that, and others are too; for that, it’s basically the best daily use card by a long shot.
Also I didn’t downvote you.
Hotel points are worth what they are worth and you have to just factor that in when you get them. The earnings rate for Marriott Hyatt and Hilton are basically the same for the $95 cards once you factor in the point value, and they will be a bit more for hotel spending than a card like the CSR. I will definitely have to look into the Maldives trip at some point though.
Also who care about down votes there's no karma here ;)
For Marriotts it’s a huge difference actually: per Cardpointers, my Marriott card gets effective 18% back, versus just 6.3% from my CSR. And that’s factoring in more devalues on Marriott points— last I used it, I was getting well above 3cpp. My next redemption is looking to be decently above 3cpp as well.
And yeah you’re right, no karma. Crazy, already better than Reddit was!
To clarify that's only for the Maldives reservation that you do. Generally, you are going to get 6x Bonvoy points per dollar spent and the value is 0.7-0.9 vs 3x at 1.5-2.0.
Yeah exactly, hence why I think it’s a pretty garbage card if you’re getting normal value for the typically kind of sucky Marriott point. Cardpointers had it at 0.7cpp which feels about right
For me the card pays for itself between the free night and the $300 incidental credit, plus some of the other benefits. I also have the Amex trifecta, which is not great for hotel stays besides the Fine Hotels and Resorts program so it meshes well with that.
Have you found FHR to be useful? It usually costs too much over the regular price and typically doesn’t offer much more than the hotel already would. The only ones I’ve found it good at are Amans where I don’t have status.
Also a neat little benefit with the Ritz card, unlimited guests at upcoming Sapphire lounges. Funny how Ritz cardholders get more benefits there than Sapphire ones do.
I have stayed at 6 FHR resorts in the last 2 years since getting the Platinum (using 3x $200 credits). All of them cost $200-$350 per night which was a bit more but well worth it for a weekend trip because early checkin to late check out nets you 28 hrs at the resort (12pm-4pm). The dining credit and breakfast make it roughly equivalent in price to the reasonably nice hotels that we would have stayed at. It gets less cost effective for multiple days but its great for a one night weekend trip. Really depends where you live though.
And lol that's great about the lounges.
Which hotels, if you don’t mind? All the resorts I frequent have like a $200 premium per night, and I already get breakfast and stuff, so the only real win is guaranteed 4pm checkout vs based on availability. I’d love to stop either burning the credit or only using it on Amans.
Mostly places near southern California:
- US Grant Hotel in San Diego
- Mission Pacific/ The Seabird in Oceanside
- The Westin in Anaheim
- The Conrad in Las Vegas (I think this is no longer on the list but there are many Vegas options)
- The Biltmore in Phoenix
- Also the Rome Cavilari which was a bit more pricy but incredible.
You inspired me to check FHR again, and I ended up booking Halekulani for next week. Amazingly, it’s the exact same price, making it a genuinely good value. A good property too, can’t believe I’ve never checked FHR for it. I went and double checked and I don’t think I’ve burnt an FHR credit before, but if I have, it double sucks to not have known this prior.
Cheers!
Awesome have a great trip!
When booking hotels my process goes:
Check Google for cost in the area, then in this order book what is reasonably around that price:
FHR/THC > Marriott > Hilton > Amex Portal > Hyatt > other chain direct site > Discount sites
I have the Aspire and Ritz cards right now (I plan to downgrade the aspire when I hit 1 year unless I get a retention offer).
Neat, thank you. Finding FHR options has been a challenge, wish there was a datapoint thread for those.
Alliant Credit Union has a flat 2.5% card. To qualify you have to keep a monthly average of $1k in an ACU checking account, have at least 1 transfer on that account per month, and use e statements. Makes for a good daily driver.
That sounds almost too good to be true. Does the CU have restrictive sign up criteria? All you have to do is park a small amount in the account, make one deposit a month (does it need to be direct deposit) and you get 2.5% everywhere???
It's good, but after crunching some numbers I find it to be less of the unicorn some folks make it out to be.
The Alliant checking account earns 0.25% interest, and right now SPAXX is paying out 4.75%, so there's a delta of 4.5%.
So now there's $45 in interest a year you give up, closer to $32 after taxes.
$32/0.005 = $6,400 <- This is the breakeven point versus a 2% card with no deposit requirement (WF ActiveCash, Fidelity Visa, Citi DC, PayPal MC, etc.).
That amount might be chump change to you if you have a lot of uncategorized spend, but it's worth taking into account when choosing the best card. This was kind of my wake-up call where I realized that churning will do much more for you than optimizing spend every will. Even if you spend the $6,400 to break even, and then spend another $20,000/year, you're netting an extra $100/year. It'd take you seven years to catch up to the sign up bonus for the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
I’ve held my nose and have an Autograph/Active Cash set up. They’ve been fine to deal with. I know Fidelity has a 2% cash back Visa but I don’t personally have any experience with it.
I would recommend a catch-all card that earns 2% cash back on everything like the Wells Fargo Active Cash or FNBO Evergreen. They are both Visa cards as well.
I've been working on unlocking the 60k bonus travel points (80k when I signed up) on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. It's my first time getting a card specifically for the rewards and so far it's going well. Depending on how I use the points, they should be valued at at least $800, which easily offsets the $95 annual fee.
ETA: As for being my daily driver, its 3x points on dining and groceries is nice, along with 5x on travel. The points are stacking up noticeably faster than my Discover cards did.
One way to think about the sign up bonus is 20% cash back, if it is $800 after spending $4000, as well as the points you earn for that spending.
There are cards where you can earn 40%, ie $200 back after spending $500, but you can only apply for so many cards per year, so it would be difficult to maximize your total cash back with these smaller cards.
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