Originally Posted by
ethernal
Just do the math on the opportunity cost based on your membership rewards consumption habits and your alternative cards.. below is an order of magnitude annual credit card spend for me:
Amazon: $15K spend @ 5% back with Amazon Prime Card
Dining and Travel: $40K spend @ minimum 3.75% back with Chase Ultimate Rewards on the Sapphire Reserve (5-6% with transfer partners)
Grocery and General Stores / Online Commerce: $20K @ 2% with 2% cashback card
Costco (not eligible for Amex): $10K @ 2% with a 2% cashback card
Taking only the AmEx eligible spend that gets me to $75K, that's $2600 to $3500 in value from other cards. 75,000 SkyPesos is maybe $1000 in value. 75,000 MR is maybe $1000-1500 depending on transfer partners (of course higher is possible with international J, but then you'd have to adjust the Chase benefits too to >2 cents per point)
So.. the question is.. how much do you value the unlimited lounge access and how much do you value the "single card simplicity" (with an asterisk that you still need a Visa anyways). I look at the $1500-2000 difference and say - meh, that's not worth it to me. But others may have different math.
To answer the question about access post 1/1/25 - the simple answer is... I won't have access. I will drop my Amex cards. I don't really find huge value to lounge access as I try to optimize airport arrival time to minimize wait to departure and don't connect often. It's ironic as I literally just bought back into the Delta ecosystem this year but will drop on account of the changes.
You bring up a good point - perhaps its better just to ask - is it worth it to even bother with a SkyClub at all. What I would have loved to have seen - is an announcment on their end (to improve the product further), a removal of the 3 hour arrival time, the premium bar now being included (Could that happen?). You really are making me think - $75k to get cheese cubes and a bad spicy tomato soup does seem a bit wild. What I'm worried about is that Amex will introduce the same rules for their centurion lounges.