Originally Posted by
sethMCOflyer
What's the point of the annual fee at this point on the prestige card? After the $495 fee - $250 travel credit you end up paying $245 for two free hotel nights assuming you book two 4 night hotel stays through their reservation system and decent point earnings. Am I missing something? Is that really worth $250?
The Chase Sapphire Reserve you pay an effective $150 for slightly less point earnings on hotels and flights, but gain travel protection and a ton of other benefits. Plus the ability to cash the points out for travel at 1.5 cents per point.
Price rewind + insurance is what made the math pencil out for me.
Without it, it's $250 a year for priority pass + 2 potential free nights. And on average, I only get 1 free night a year because I rarely stay in the same spot for 4 nights.
So it's no longer worth it.
I think I might move to the Chase Sapphire Reserve. I have Amex Gold, and the math on the Platinum never made any sense to me (a Saks $50 credit, really?). If I flew out of an airport with an Amex Lounge, then maybe, but the airports I most frequent do not have one. Amex also doesnt include car insurance, which is garbage. I believe its primary coverage on the Chase cards.