Originally Posted by sxpsxpsxp

Apologies for the long post -- there are 3 separate points here and I didn't want to make 3 separate posts.

I've been debating with myself on whether to downgrade my Brilliant card come renewal time or not. With the $650 fee increase it is no longer a no-brainer. I can easily use the $300 restaurant credit, so that's not an issue. The GE benefit is worth $20/year, so that leaves $330/year for the FNC. I suppose one can extract at least $330 value out of the FNC, so I guess it sort-of still makes sense? I have to say that I've definitely taken advantage of Amex's other benefits on this card, such as purchase protection and return protection. They're infinitely easier to use than Visa's versions and I find Amex to be quick,fair and generous with the claims. I actually love this aspect of the Amex relationship. As I'm writing this, it seems like I'm talking myself into keeping the card. I'm curious what people think?

The other thing that I was just reminded about is the $60k spend earned FNC. I would not normally hit that threshold, but I do have some spending that is currently being directly debited from my bank accounts that could be redirected to this card instead. It would be at a cost -- to make it simple let's say 3% cost. But I figure if I put this additional spend on the card, I'll now reach the $60k threshold. Let's say for the sake of argument that the additional spend is $30k/year, which at 3% comes at a cost of $900, and ends up putting me over the $60k limit. So my cost is $900 and in return I get 60k points (2x points per $) plus 1 85k FNC. To me this seems like a wash, at best -- meaning I could perhaps get $900 of value out of the 60k points and the FNC. But it makes it easier to keep track of money coming in and out of my account. Is what I'm saying here reasonable, or am I missing something important about how all of this will work?

Lastly, I was looking at the Chase cards again. If I'm understanding things correctly, the only way to get to the Ritz card is to have a Chase Bonvoy card and then ask for a product change. Because I'm a current Amex cardholder I'm not eligible for the welcome bonus, which stinks, but isn't the end of the world. The part that I'm struggling with, though, is the language Chase has in their terms about the 15 Elite night credits. So I get 25 nights from Amex. If I also have the Chase card, do I get an additional 15 nights from that card? The wording on the Chase website implies they give a maximum of 15 nights even if one has more than one card, except if one is a personal and one is a business card, and so I'm interpreting it as I won't get any nights from Chase because I'm already getting 25 nights from Amex. I have no business, so it would all be personal. Am I reading this correctly, or am I totally wrong?