BNBFlyer

I typically fly American as they have reasonably priced first class, but they don't give you lounge access (total B.S.) so I would need the AAdvantage card to get Admirals Club access. They also denied me access a few weeks ago when I just wanted to buy a day pass. Not satisfied with American lately.

Problem is, I also fly international and not with American, and Priority Pass and Lounge Club provide the lounges I would use the most on international and they do have some domestic lounges in cities that I fly American. So it seems my best bet might be the AMEX Platinum, as you get Centurion lounge access - which is in the AA terminal in Miami, plus the priority pass lounges elsewhere.

I would never charge anything on it. 1 point per dollar is useless. Right now I have an AMEX Gold (business card) because the point multipliers are substantially better than Platinum. If I gave that up, I'd lose about $1,000/year in points. So that's not worth it.

See how complicated this gets! I guess I could always just sit in the chairs at the gate....

hiima

Citi prestige might be good for you.

mia

It's industry standard. No USA airline gives free lounge access when flying on a domestic itinerary.

Citi Prestige also gives Admirals Club access (when flying AA), and include Priority Pass with two free guests, and it costs $250 less than Citi Executive because of the Airline Fee Reimbursement benefit. It also has points multipliers in some categories.

Lounge Club is a subset of the Priority Pass network and does not add incremental value.

emkay

and you found a link with a bonus still?

fnaime23

glad I found this thread. I just received the letter invite a week or so ago. I already have priority pass (lower level, so I pay per visit). for now I have free lounge access with Star Alliance and I have the Delta Reserver from Amex for skyteam. Doesn't look like this does anything for me, along with Chase Sapphire Preferred. I think I've covered all the bases. not sure why I would want this card short of having a 24K plated card to display after year one
If it had some amazing benefits and replace all my cards at once. then I would consider it.

Need

Got the invite letter yesterday and thought about it for a few seconds.. not because it is plated gold, not because it get 2% back, not because it has "luxury gifts", but because it is a Mastercard! I haven't gotten a Mastercard in years since my Freedom switched from Mastercard to VISA.

TerryK

There seems to be no sign up bonus anymore. Is Barclays giving up?

mia

Even though these cards are issued by Barclays I don't believe they are responsible for the product design or marketing:

I think the business model is to sell cards and collect the annual fee revenue.

GrnLantern

In case anyone's wondering, Black Card sent out an annual gift this year.

It was a $150 Ray Ban sunglasses: http://www.ray-ban.com/usa/sunglasse...gory_Id=332607

Funny enough, I've never received anything for being a JP Morgan Palladium / Reserve cardholder for years. But I think this is two years in a row that Black Card sent me something.

Still doesn't make up for the mediocre benefits. Though, their concierge has gotten me things that Palladium and Amex Platinum haven't.

iloverice

Kind of a weird data point: I never intended to really use this card except to try it out when the sign on bonus negated the annual fee. I got some perks (GE credit, 2x airline credits, Priority Pass) but no where near the $1k annual fee, so I called to cancel today. They offered to waive the annual fee? Weird for such a large amount. I took them up on the offer but it still seems weird to me.

lonewolf210

So they are ending the annual fee waiver for Military. Kinda saw it coming but surprisingly they are going to leave the card at 0% apr and all other fees waived. Anyone know if you can product change these cards to a different barclay card. A 0% CC is still pretty awesome.

hiima

Nope, unless you want to pc to black card or titanium card, which are equally useless

M60_to_LGA

I just got an offer in the mail for the Gold version of this card. It seemed extremely unattractive to me, for the same reasons that have already been discussed in this thread.

I already get 2% cash back on all purchases from my Fidelity card, and I don't travel /check luggage/care about lounge access enough to justify paying a $1000 annual fee.

matrixwalker2012

So if I were to pick up this Gold Card, when I redeem points, it's 2% for cash back, and 2% for airfare, and 1% for some gift cards, why does this card even offer any redemption other than cash back?

If I have 50,000 pts, and instead of redeeming for $1000 air travel credit, I just redeem it for $1000 cash back, and then put the entire airfare on the card, then wouldn't I end up with 1000 extra points than if I had redeemed for travel credit? Also, why would this card even offer gift cards at a worse rate than cash back? Seems illogical...

hi55us

Not if you are the credit card company...

Gimmicks like this let me rest easy when playing games with CC companies, since they are the original gamers...