Originally Posted by
direct
I've been looking at the high end AMEX Platinum/DL Reserve/SPG as a lifetime card- perhaps a year or more of usage on my prepaid would put me in a better position.
Any cards I should take a close look at in the mean time?
Future churner once I have rock solid score and history
All are decent cards, but I'm personally more attached to the Chase Sapphire Preferred. The downsides I see to each are this:
Amex Platinum is $450 a year, and although it has some awesome perks, that's alot of money. Also, I feel like Amex points are limiting in their airline transfer partners. They have no good Star Alliance transfer partners and their OneWorld transfer partner, BA, charges ridiculous fuel surcharges on most of their international flights. That leaves their only decent transfer partner as Delta, and "decent" is used liberally. Finding award availability with Delta is like banging your head against the wall.
The DL Reserve card earns Delta points...enough said.
SPG is certainly a strong card. One downside is that you'll pay the 3% foreign transaction fee when traveling abroad.
If I were you, I'd couple the SPG with the Chase Sapphire Preferred. CSP transfers to United (an awesome Star Alliance partner because you'll never pay fuel surcharges) where as SPG can transfer to AA (a great OneWorld option). That way you have all your bases covered.
Plus, the CSP will give you 2x points on travel and dining and a 7% bonus at the end of the year, helping to cancel out the annual fee.