Originally Posted by
sdsearch
Those people who say the Chase UR are worth more are mostly the ones who want to redeem for Hyatt and longhaul major airlines in business class or above.
I agree that Citi TYP is often a better value for someone who mainly stays in the US, and travels to smaller places, and wants to stay in lower-end hotels.
I also like lower end hotels because I'm a senior who sleeps best with a temperature at around 67F by bedside, and lower-end hotels like most Choice hotels and Best Westerns and even Hampton Inn at Hilton and Holiday Inn Express at IHG tend to have air conditioners at the window aimed at the bed, while higher end hotels, or even upgraded rooms at some mid-tier hotels including Hyatt, all too often have the air conditioner aimed away from the bed, which makes cooling the bed harder especially if you arrive in the evening for a one-night stay.
Hopefully you're able to pay all your credit card bills in full each month, however, since there is one big difference AFAIK between other 2% cards like WF Active Cash, and Citi DoubleCash. Most 2% cards are just that, but Double Cash actually gives only 1% when you buy and only gives the other 1% when you pay. So if you pay all your bills each month, that's not that huge a difference, but if you don't, it could mean a long time before you earn the other 1%.
And I also agree that the US Bank Cash+ card can be worth it, because if you have utility bills that you can pay with a credit card, US Bank Cash+ can be set to earn 5% back on those.
Thanks for your perspective. I also like a nice chilly room with a strong AC
I had a conversation with a few people who convinced me that the best play is to start with what can help with growing points quickest, and while I could probably get more with Citi's cards on spending multipliers that I would be able to accumulate much more with Chase through more SUB, both for CSP, referral to P2 (spouse), and a supplemental Freedom, refer to her again, and then there's personal and business Ink card SUB. Obviously not all right away, but over time we'd get more with SUBs on those than a few more multipliers on daily Citi cards. Also probably will end up getting the Strata Premier and a Custom Cash for the SUBs and custom monthly 5% and access to Wyndham/IHG if/when we wanted, or a different airline if needed. Basically end up with a Hybrid setup, and over time add an HHonors card, Amex Gold, etc.
I hope that's the right play, utilize a few cards for their benefits, get points through select spending on different platforms, but also utilize SUB and P2 to have enough on them to use when needed. So I applied for CSP earlier in the day, now waiting on it to come in the mail. And if Hyatt is good I'm good with that, we go to Virginia Beach oceanfront and there's 2 Hyatts on the boardwalk so we can always use points for those. I've seen that Marriott/Bonvoy program is not as good as it used to be which is sad, because I would have liked to combine Chase UR and a future Marriot Bonvoy card's points to stay at Disney Swan or Dolphin. But there's plenty of other Disney Springs hotels in other groups.