Originally Posted by
ESpen36
Okay, so now I'm thinking of doing the following:
- upgrade the SPG Amex personal to the SPG Luxury card when the upgrade becomes available - and be sure to stay at an SPG/Marriott property once a year to offset the annual fee with the $300 hotel credit, plus free night
- upgrade the MR Chase to the new MR Premier Plus (worth it for only $10 more per year)
- ditch the SPG Business before August 1 - no reason to pay annual fee after Sheraton lounge benefit goes away
- keep AMEX Plat - I love the Uber credit and Centurion/PP lounges and 5x points on airfare
SPEND:
- SPG Luxury - for SPG/Marriott stays (6x points) and Restaurants (3x points; hopefully broadly includes fast food, Starbucks, etc.)
- AMEX Plat - for airline tickets (5x points)
- MR Premier Plus Visa - for merchants that do not take AMEX
(Ironically, both the SPG Luxury and MR Premier Plus will earn the same 6x at SPG and Marriott properties, so it no longer will matter which card one uses at these properties to maximize points....correct?)
But I still have not solved the problem of....NON-bonus, NON-category spend. I'm still looking at a 33% devaluation in points regardless of which of the above I use. Everyone seems to be saying the CSR. But I'm not sure I want to have THREE high-annual fee cards...
I would consider ditching the SPG Luxury card and replacing it with CSR. This solves your problem of 3 high fee cards, and replaces the 6 points you'll get at SPG/Marriott with 3 UR points, which are worth a minimum of 4.5%. That is pretty much a wash. You will get the same 3 points (4.5%+) for restaurants and for all other travel, considerably better than SPG Luxury giving 3 new Marriott points for restaurants and direct booked flights only.
I am ditching the SPG Amex, keeping CSR, and added the Amazon Prime Chase card (5% back at Amazon and Whole Foods where together my spend is significant). I will use CSR for everything but Amazon/WH, so will get 4.5%+ on travel and restaurants, 5% on Amazon/WF, and 1.5%+ on everything else with just 2 cards (only one high fee). I may keep a no-fee Amex (probably the Biz Plus) for cases where Amex is the only card accepted.