Originally Posted by
jags86
$4583 came from doing my math wrong. The real number is $2750. If you pay $2750 on a combination of travel and dining a year on your CSP it's worth getting CSR and dumping th CSP.
Let's take the numbers:
You need to make up $55 dollars in annual fees after accounting for the $300 credit.
If you spend $2750 on your CSP you will earn 5500 points with a min value of $0.0125 each netting you $68.75 of value.
Spending the same $2750 on your CSR will now earn you 8250 points at a minimum redemption value of $0.015 each earning you $123.75 of value--exactly $55 more than the CSP. Everything after that is gravy.
This cards perks will not last long IMO.
Anybody who has the CSP (and is getting value net the annual fee) should get the CSR.
I thought that to justify keeping at least the CSP you're going to need to spend enough in the bonus categories to at least get the AF back. On that basis, you're going to need to spend at least $3800 a year on travel and dining (3800 * 2 = 7600 * 0.0125 = $95). With the additional 0.25% and 1x of the CSR, that results in 3800 * 3 = 11,400 * 0.015 = $171, or $21 more than the AF.
Also, if you have the Freedom you'll probably get 5x back on dining for three months out of the year. Assuming your bonus spend is all on dining and distributed evenly throughout the year, that's $3800 / 4 = $950 less that goes on the CSP/CSR. On the other hand, you'll get 950 * 5 = 4750 * .015 = $71.25 in value from those points vs. $42.75 if that spend went on the CSP/CSR, for a grand total of $199.50 across both cards.