Originally Posted by
bugyboy78
Thanks! I have a question about some of your recommendations--can you explain your thinking a bit on some of these?
Downgrade CFU to CFF: Why? CFU is my workhorse card.
CFU is 1.5x only, which is subpar to other cards, such as Citi DC, WF Active Cash, WF Signify Cash, Amex BBP, all of which earn 2x without AF.
Skip VX: Why? The card pays for itself, is good to get early, and I get 10k points/year.
I have this card, but I consider C1 ecosystem subpar, since the max multiplier is 3x on Savor card. You can get 2x on many other cards (see above). C1 lounges are nice, but there are only few of them. $300 portal coupon is not as good as others.
Get Boundless, IHG, United, Aeroplan (this brings you to 5/24)
: Wouldn't that be 6/24? Why IHG/United/Aeroplan as opposed to others?
Skip Hyatt
IHG is a must have card (business one is slightly better), because of 4th night free on awards, and other perks.
United is good to have in order to get extended availability, discounted fares, 25% extra on MPX and better rates on UA shopping portal.
Aeroplan is a great card, which allows 1.625cpp UR redemptions, as well as many other perks for AC awards, discounted fares, extended availability and 10% bonus when transferring from Chase.
Get and keep Strata Premier
: Why should I keep this card? Isn't VX a much better option?
No, VX is not better. In fact Citi has superior ecosystem with most useful 5x multipliers (you will need to get multiple Custom Cashes for that), very useful 3x multipliers on CSP, 2x on DC, also you can get Rewards+ for extra 10% boost (up to 10k per year), so your multipliers become 5.5x, 3.3x and 2.2x respectively. I personally converted all my R+, Preferred, Premier and DC Citi cards to CCCs, since I get more points from those than from DC, R+. I do have Prestige, AT&T AM and Sears as well (those are discontinued). You will need to have Premier in order to have full access to transfer partners.
Get HA or AA (get HA better, get AA from Citi)
: Barclays AA is going away, so wouldn't it make sense to get it asap?
You will not be able to get both, because of 1/6 and 6/24 rules. Get AA from Citi, later convert to another CCC.
Get Aspire and Surpass
You can get 2 Chase cards on the same day (2/30 rule): Would this create only 1 HP?
For Amex you will get 1 HP, since after you have an Amex card, there will be no more hard pulls from Amex ever.
For Chase you will probably also get 1HP, if you apply on one days, but I wouldn't care much about additional HP.
You need to get Amex BBP in order to keep your MR points. There was an Amex Everyday option, but it's now discontinued
: Business cards aren't an option, unfortunately
There is no other option to keep MR points other than this. Since other options were discontinued, and you can't PC to them.