Originally Posted by
friedablass
If they're spending $75k on cruises then they're well beyond the breaking even point.
Also, most people (which I understand is who you are referring to since $75k cruise spenders are a very small minority) value UR at more than 1 cpp if they have a card that makes them transferable to partners.
But even not taking into consideration transfer to partners which have a value range, just with a Preferred (personal or biz) the floor is currently still 1.25 cpp (and with a Reserve its still 1.5). Therefore, they would need to spend about $3,750 in other travel to break even for the AF (less if they also have a Reserve currently to transfer to and if they can spend it prior to 10/25). Plus there are other 3x categories on the CIP that you can spend in to count towards the AF to break even if you're already doing that.
I was referring to people getting an Ink card in addition to Reserve.
Obviously if you don’t care for Chase lounge access, then there’s really no need to get or keep the Reserve.
That’s really the main selling point for all these premium cards now. It’s no longer a no brainer hold card just because you travel.
For people who do spend money on these coupon categories (and I suspect a lot of Chase target demographics do), the choice becomes an effective “free card” with added benefit vs $95 a year.
I would never argue you should spend up or clip coupon to justify having a card. But the Chase gamble, and I don’t think they are necessarily wrong, is that there are plenty of people who already do or plan to.