Originally Posted by
surfmonkey89
My "issue" is that I'm trying to figure out which way to go between Starriott. Membership Rewards, and UR. I have both Starwood and Marriott cards, I'm a new Platinum Amex member (where I've been fortunate to have the AF paid for by Morgan Stanley), and Ultimate Rewards, where I'm a new CFU owner, racking up points at 3% for a year, and trying to figure out whether to go all-in with a CSR.
I don't have a ton of points in any of them, I like to travel maybe once a year (one or two more times per year would be great), and I don't want to water things down by spreading everything across three programs.
Right now my plan is to keep using my SPG Amex to get that sweet 1:3 conversion on August 1st, and then probably move to CSR, but having the Platinum Amex is throwing a wrench in things. I could get the Amex Everyday Preferred and use that to build MR, but I'm not sure if MR is the right program for me. Plus, I always have to have a Visa with me anyway, because not everyone takes Amex, so why not just get a CSR and use that as my only card?
I just don't know what to do.
It is probably worth getting a CSR (or at least CSP) sooner rather than later, given the rumors that Chase is considering discontinuing or devaluing the ability to transfer points from CF/CFU to premium cards. Hopefully if that does happen Chase will give some notice, but ideally you'd want to have the CSR account already open so you could transfer right away.
Though on the other hand, given that the special bonus on the CFU makes that card at least as good as the CSR for all spend, it is kind of a waste to have to pay the CSR annual fee earlier than necessary. So I guess you could gamble with it. If Chase does give some notice, as long as you'd be able to get approved for a CSR immediately (i.e. as long as you'd be under 5/24) you should have enough time to get the CSR during the notice period, and if you're approved immediately the CSR will show up on your Chase.com account immediately so you should be able to do the points transfer right away, even before receiving the CSR card in the mail.
And even if Chase doesn't give notice, 3% cash back for all spend isn't too shabby either.
If you don't travel a lot then I wouldn't stretch yourself thin by trying to build up MR too. Indeed if you're not going to have much of a presence in MR, I probably wouldn't even bother putting airfare on your Amex Platinum, even though it earns more points than the CSR. (Unless you're hoping to save up UR points to transfer to one of the programs that UR and MR have in common, like SQ, BA, or AF, where you could combine your UR points with the bits of points earned on the Amex Plat.)