eajusa

That depends. Have you seen some airport restaurants? Have you heard the noise throughout the airports? I've been in some very full lounges, but never a noisy one. Second tier or first tier, I like my lounges.

Econ1

i did not know that!

Econ1

i find it impossible to work in an airport restaurant however I am very productive in the admirals club business centers. on a side note, this is something centurion clubs do not have, its very hard to be productive in them as they just have a long open table in a usually crowded room.

mia

I explicitly took the Travel Reimbursement feature into account, it reduces the annual fee from $450 to $150. It's not a benefit, its a refund.

The introductory bonus is typical for the price point. American Express Platinum offers have ranged from 40,000 to 250,000 in the past year. 100,000 makes it worth applying, but I think this thread is not about the one-time bonus, but rather about whether it will threaten American Express' market share in the target demographic to an extent that American Express needs to "counter" it, and how they might do that.


Does this translate into transaction volume or profit? Chase is a solid #2 in transaction volume (2015)

• $692 billion American Express
• $542 billion Chase
• $297 billion Bank of America
• $223 billion Citi
• $210 billion Capital One

..which means their transaction volume per card is substantially lower than American Express. Chase is #1 in revolving balances (customers carrying a balance, which can be profitable in their charge-offs are low.)


Nothing new or unique to Chase. You could obtain Priority Pass from Citi Prestige for a lower price. $350 annual fee (apply in branch) less $250 airline credit.

I am puzzled by your enthusiasm for Priority Pass. In another thread you complained about the perks offered by the Admirals Club at LGA. I think you will find that most Priority Pass lounges offer fewer amenities than the lounges operated by AA, DL (and probably UA, but I don't use those much even though I have a lifetime membership.) None of those airlines accept Priority Pass anymore.

antonius66

Well, for me at the moment, the CSR is going to replace BOTH the personal plat (better benefits for less money) and the Business Gold, because I no longer need the BGR for 3x airfare. Since the CSR has 3x airfare (and more) and with the Hyatt 5% rebate having already gone away last year, the BGR was already on thin ice. For $175 a year, I don't think Amex offers alone are worth the money, and I can think of no other reason to keep the BGR without 3x airfare.

With regards to the platinum, I don't get enough use out of Amex lounges to justify the $250 annual fee (subtracting the $200 airline credit). They are nice and I DO enjoy them, but I am not a lounge hound, and both the CSR and CP give Priority Pass with the superior membership version over Amex, which while the lounges are not as nice, they are everywhere should I really need a lounge. The $200 credit, while obtainable, is a hassle that always involved some skullduggery as opposed to a straight airline/travel credit like Citi or Chase, and I don't use FHR because I can almost always get a better deal with a BRG, Citi 4th night or some other avenue.

Basically, for me, and I am sure, many others, it breaks down as follows:

Amex Platinum PLUS Business Gold
3x on airfare (you CAN select a different 3x category, but why would you? Gas? Chase Ink is better...5x with GCs, or even Citi Costco...NO AF and 4% cash back on gas PLUS 2% at Costco)
2x on remaining 4 category options on the BGR (gas, select media, computer hardware/software from select vendors, shipping and airfare is another option IF your 3x choice is one of the other four)
1x on everything else
2x cards to use for Amex offers (some actual value here)
FHR access (not that useful for any real deal seeker MOST of the time, and less so if you also have the Citi Prestige)
Priority Pass for the cardholder ONLY
Amex lounge access
$200 airline fee credit (or not fees with some minor risk...MPX, UA gift registry, etc)
Rental car coverage with a fee (unless I am mistaken, it is still $25 for the rental coverage even with a Platinum card I believe)

Total Cost
450 Plat AF + 175 BGR AF - 200 Plat airline fee credit = $425 a year

Chase Sapphire Reserve
3x on airfare
3x on hotels
3x on dining
1x on everything else
Priority Pass for the cardholder PLUS 1 guest
$300 airline or hotel credit. No risk...tickets, hotels, fees...covered.
Luxury Hotels and Resorts (worth anything? Who knows...)
PRIMARY rental car coverage

Total Cost
450 CSR AF - 300 CSR airline/hotel credit = $150 a year

Considering the two cards combined are still inferior overall in my opinion and cost almost 3x as much, at the moment, I feel the CSR is the clear winner. Even if you remove the BGR card, the fee on the platinum alone is still $250, or 66% more than the CSR, and then the earning rates are ABYSMAL, which translates into more $$$. I am sure I am missing or omitting some of the benefits that I personally don't care about or even know exist, and I know they both have many other similar identical benefits like Global Entry reimbursement, etc. The transfer partners are very similar and have a relatively equal number. Now, obviously if you REALLY care about a specific transfer partner, like ANA, Air Canada or Delta then the Amex might gain some extra value, or lose some if you care about hotel partners, United, Korean or Southwest.

I love Amex, have had several cards for many years, and love their customer service and hope they will up their game. The rep who gave me a $200 statement credit to retain my platinum card told me they are working on improving the card to make it better and competitive again, so who knows. I kept the card for $250 this year with the statement credit, because as long as I get my $200 after January 1, the card is definitely still worth $50. However, unless Amex is willing to give me that every year, or CSR is seriously devalued and/or the Amex platinum is seriously enhanced...and I mean actually enhanced, not "enhanced", next year will be its last.

edealinfo12345

Actually, the Chase Priority Pass allows you to bring in unlimited, yes, unlimited guests!

krazykanuck

* Subject to lounge limits of course. Many PP lounges impose guest limits and the most common I've seen is two guests.

mhdena

The one in SFO has a lot of separate areas, which Centurian were you at?

MasterGeek

Amex Plat ought to offer Gold status with a Star Alliance or Oneworld airline.

Amex Plat ought to offer bonus points on the following categories: Dining, Drugstores, Entertainment and Groceries

Econ1

ive been to all of the clubs multiple times except for las and iah. where are the separate areas in the SFO lounge? except for one visit there it has almost always been standing room only with people eating at the two computer stations and the long wooden table.

my strategy is to eat in the amex club then go to the airline club to work (if time allows).

lbotez

Love the Centurian lounges. Been in the one at SFO; was fine; had a great breakfast... don't remember standing. :-) The one in DFW is the best; and LGA isn't too shabby either. I prefer them to any airline lounge. Wish they would put one in Chicago. Love my Amex Plat card, won't leave home without it. They also give you Priority Pass; I only use that when I'm connecting in Europe somewhere.

Just got the Chase Sapphire Reserve-- sounds good, will see after I've had it for awhile; have a Prestige card now, but ditching it because they've dropped AA lounges next year. My hubby has the Executive Card so we can keep visiting the Admiral Club without having to fly AA... :-)

Was in the Admiral Club in LHR yesterday; wasn't too bad, had some decent food and was relatively large...

Also, love staying in Hiltons and getting into the Executive Club most of the time with the free Gold upgrade from the Amex Plat card. Also, Amex has offers and at the moment with the Plat card you can get $50 off your AT&T phone bill 3X... plus other offers they have (though recently they aren't quite as good as they've been in the past).

I guess I'm a lounge lizard. :-)

elg26

Now that I got the CSR....its only common sense to cancel my Amex Plat or Amex PRG.

I have a couple of months on both, and I know I should cancel at least one of them, but im torn on which one.

For pure AF savings and not having to pay for 2 large AF (even with retention bonuses), cancelling the Plat would make sense but I would lose out on my of the preferred features of the Plat that CSR doesn't have. But then why keep the PRG if Im going to now use the CSR for the category bonuses.

What is the consensus here?

Troopers

There is no consensus. Everyone uses/values the benefits differently. If you value all three cards, keep all three.

Duke787

You'll have to do the CBA yourself but don't forget that the PRG gives you 2x on grocery spend which CSR does not cover for the category bonuses. If you spend a lot annually on groceries that is a sizeable bonus. However you could consider switching to an EDP for Grocery Spend. That's what my plan is but I need to get under 5/24 first to get the CSR so I can't throw in an app right now for EDP (and I want the signup bonus rather than a PC to it).

On the other hand, if you often fly DL or fly through cities with Centurion Lounges, the lounge benefits you get through Plat might more valuable.

Also remember the effective annual fee for Plat is $250 vs. $95 for PRG when taking into account the airline credits.

STS-134

I'll be keeping the Amex Plat, but that's because I'm SFO based (Centurion lounge). Otherwise, I'd probably cancel it and get the SPG or HHonors cards instead (cheaper to get Gold status with the Amex HHonors Surpass than with the Plat, and the earn rates for getting HHonors points are much better on that card than going Plat to MR points to HHonors points). As for SPG Gold status, it's not that useful; no free breakfasts.