I'll probably downgrade US Bank to the no-annual-fee version and use it sporadically as a charge card. It has been a good "sacrificial lamb" for small online purchases with airlines like Air Asia, or websites that may not be as careful as they should be with credit-card information. Sometimes it even gets approved when other cards don't.

FYI, if you sit on the card without many charges, US Bank eventually sends transfer offers. Lowest I've seen on those is 3% uncapped fee up front, and 4.99% for the life of the balance. That used to be middling but is very good by today's standards. You wouldn't want it on a card that charged an annual fee, though.

The card I've used for the lion's share of charges all along is my credit union's, which has a program similar to the new US Bank one for the signature card, at $1=1 point. 20K can be redeemed for $300 off any ticket on anyone to anywhere (a key consideration), and the freebie counts as a paid ticket for miles and upgrades. But the CU card also has no annual fee.

I know that things like EQM promos change the math, but I'm not enough of a high roller for that. This US Bank one seems destined to end badly. Have also not been a fan of Amex.

While not a complete and total disaster, I still say the merger is a net negative, and roughly in proportion to what you might expect from the reduction in competition. Call it maybe three steps forward and four steps back.