Chase CO Presidential vs. AMEX Plat for Lounge Access
 

My AMEX Plat is up for renewal next month ($499 yr.) and I am considering swithching to the Chase premium card with louge acess ($375-$75) as access to Delta and NWA is of little benefit.

Does anyone have knowledge of what the changes will be with * Alliance? 75% of my travel is with CO, 25% US Air so a card accepted at * lounges would be ideal.

There's been no information on US lounges for President Club members.

FWIW, it is widely assumed there will be strong reciprocity between PCs and RCCs but this is no guarantee that US clubs will be included too.

Beyond that the Chase card grants you a full PC membership (you can enter whenever you want) and the AMEX requires you must be traveling on the airline -- something you may want to consider.

Unless you are fully using the benefits of the AMEX card, the Chase PP card is the better option.

To each their own but no way would I want to use a PC say @ EWR if Im not flying out of either A or C. As is the case with most PCs where they are mostly located past security (TSA) and a hassle IMO if a person isnt flying out of the same Term or Concourse.

So even with Term A @ EWR if Im not flying out of the same Concourse as CO uses at Term A , no way would I want to go thru TSA twice, once to get to the PC the 2nd to get to my flight

no question ist cheaper and as you said if a person isnt using the other main benefits and plans on flying CO then teh Pres CC probably will be a better bet

But then all 1 can earn is CO miles, while with the Amex theres numerous Carriers the Miles can be moved to. Either to top off or say CO has no availability to XYZ and thusly a person can them move their MR pts to XX and get a tkt that way. etc etc

Why and by whom?

UA makes US Club holders (:rolleyes:) pay a higher annual fee to access RCC's. Why should we assume the CO / UA relationship will be any different. Money [in the US] is still green last time I checked.

By Alex, of course! :D
But that said, who knows with US as they upcharge for RCC/*G access. :rolleyes:

Also of note, you need a same day BP to access the RCC with a RCC membership, it's not like the PC where you can just show up (not that getting a same day boarding pass is all that hard, but food for thought.)

Really??

What if I also fly AA on occasion? That isn't "fully" using the benefits but it is certainly cheaper to have the AmEx than a PC/PPlus and AC membership.

I don't use the vast majority of the benefits that the AmEx Platinum card offers. No FHR stays, no Cruise bonuses and no 2-4-1 international deals for me. I do use the louneg access, the SPG Gold (minimal though that benefit may be) and a few of the other benefits. And I definitely still feel that I get better value from my AmEx card than I would from the PPlus card.

I have the AMEX too, but at $400+ annual fee it now gets to the point where I have to consider if it is really worth it.

I really think this is one of those YMMV situations.

If one is flying CO 75,000+ BIS miles per year then the PPlus is a no brainer. Lounge access + ~19,000 bonus miles + Avis + ability to earn points for purchases, especially if you would have already bought a membership to the PC anyways ($325 1 year Plat vs $375 1 year annual fee from Chase.) The downside is you're linked to CO and if you venture out, the card won't offer much value.

Now if one is not flying CO 75k+ (or is traveling heavily on other alliance too) than I think the AMEX option gains value. While you do loose some abilities to earn bonus onepass miles, one could easily argue MRs impressive list of partners justifies any potential loss. Likewise the ability to access multiple airline lounges across alliances is particularly useful for those who fly multiple carriers. The rather steep $500 annual fee can easily be justified if one could save buying a PC, AC and DL lounge membership - to say nothing of the ability to earn MR points.

Anyways, I think this is truly one of those YMMV but if you're just on AA once or twice a year (and CO for the rest) I'd think the PPlus card + a daypass or two to the AC when needed would be a better value...but that's just me.

I did fly over 75K this year on CO and I still think I did better without the PPlus card. The Avis benefit is useless to me as I have a much better deal from "elsewhere" that I tend to use. The bonus miles are nice, but they don't sway the deal for me. I like that the MR points are much more fungible, even if I earn them at a (very) marginally lower rate.. While you're earning all those CO points for the 100K reward on VS UC from NYC to London I'm happily redeeming that exact same reward for 63K points via ANA from MR. That's just one example; there are others.

As for the AA example, I've taken a trip or two on them each of the past couple years and my wife was with me. That's a lot of day passes. And the AX card is $450, not "nearly $500" for the annual fee. I also happen to get some other perks that are work-related from it (I have the Biz version, not the Personal) so there are other value considerations for me, too.

Believe me, I consider it very carefully every year. I might not renew next year and take a year off since I'll have BD *G that will get me into CO lounges throughout 2010. It is definitely YMMV and each person has their own values they assign to the various bits.

Bingo we have a Winner!

what is good for me might not be for someone else, thusly as in most things a most Definite YMMV issue

@:-)

Might want to ask the OP about that.And that's another angle -- if you're getting lounge access comped then the value of any lounge-access card changes.

Just out of curiosity, if you were to drop the AMEX plat in favor of BD *G for lounge access what would you replace it with, if anything?

Pres Club members already have access to ORD, LAS & PHX RCCs with no upcharge. Also, since he is TPA based I don't know how much EWR will effect him. Since TPA Pres Club uses DL right now I'm guessing that they'll have to find a new partner for that airport......like maybe US