Originally Posted by
diesteldorf
The standard vanilla Platinum can be product-changed to a gold or green card in the future, and, it also offers, based on previous data points, better retention offers if you decide to close it. However, if I was in your position, I'd get Schwab. not only for the $100 asset-based discount, but also for the ability to cash out points at 1.1 cents. Grab the sign up bonus. You can always get the vanilla Platinum in the future. Good Luck.
Thanks, was actually thinking about getting a Platinum and an extra Gold card for my wife as an authorized user (at no extra charge). That way we have all the travel (and other) perks of the Platinum and all the restaurant and grocery perks of the Gold. The only (small) downside is after January 31 she would have to pay for lounge access, but I think between $175 for an AU on Platinum and the extra savings from buying food on the Gold Card, that lounge entry fee would be worth eating a couple times a year.
The way I see it, if I structure spending to hit the 100,000 MR points ($6k spend in 6 months), that is basically $1,100 back (at 1.1 cents per MR) on a $695 annual fee, and I am “playing with house money” for a year to decide if I want to keep it.