jags86

The value really comes down to if MR points still have a place in your points library or if UR is all you need. I'm having this talk with myself right now.

With Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, Ink Cash, and CSR...there's no compelling reason to use an AMEX for MR points for anything but groceries unless you value MR points more than UR points.

Fact of the matter is I have 2 Sallie Mae 5% cards and that covers my grocery spend to the tune of $300/yr in cashback. I also get 5% from Discover and 5 UR from Chase Freedom 1-2 times a year.

If I max out my EDP grocery bonus it's 27000 MR points for the year plus a $95 annual fee. I value my MR at about $0.018/pt so that's $486 in rewards minus $95 fee a net of $391. Only issue is that at only 27,000 pts/yr I can't earn a meaningful enough number of points for it to make sense to keep earning them...it would take almost 5 years to earn 120,000 pts which is the present going rate for 2 RT coach flights from US to Europe. What will that rate be 5 years from now? If it were a matter of just buying 12 $500 VGC from Shop Rite I'd keep it, but where I live I cannot find any $500 VGCs in grocery stores anymore...just $200.

I will likely downgrade my EDP to an ED to preserve my 125k MR points. I also will make exactly 1 call to see if I can get the $50 + $50 retention offer on my PRG, if not I'll cancel. It's too bad--AMEX charge cards are certainly the classiest looking cards IMO. If only the ED cards weren't so ugly...

JustinTJ

You make a very valid point, unless you fly and have Delta status. SPG Gold is very nice with the Amex Plat if you can take advantage of crossover rewards. I currently plan on keeping my Amex Plat until SPG is merged. I plan on keeping my PRG forever, especially if I get the respective 200 and 100 retention offers even if only every other year.

Delta Status = Crossover Rewards. Travelers like me, who spend 12k+ per year in airfare with Delta get 12k SPG points for nothing. 12k SPG points at 2 cents per point = $240. That combined with $200 in airfare credits (Delta Gift Cards) and any retention offers makes me money by holding the card. Not to mention Delta SkyClub access for all the flights. I'm keeping the PRG for a different reason, I want to keep a balance between my MR and UR reward balances. I don't want to end up with 500k UR and 100k MR, so I plan to keep using my PRG for airfare and groceries and my CSR for all other travel and dining. Gas stations are a tossup, as both Ink and PRG give 2X, so I can have flexibility to keep the accounts balanced.

STS-134

I wonder if DL is going to follow in UA's and AA's footsteps though, and cut off access to their lounges for AXP Plat holders. If Amex wants to warn DL what will happen in that case, it will open a second Centurion lounge in SFO T2 (the AA terminal) to go along with the lounge in SFO T3 (the UA terminal).

eajusa

Delta has an exclusive credit card arrangement with Amex. UA and AA had arrangements with other banks. The only way the Plat card would lose the DL lounge benefit is if Delta went looking for a different bank to carry their credit card.

JustinTJ

Yeah, I think that's part of their big extension deal with Amex that pays them more than the previous deal. I think Amex wanted secure SkyClub access for Plat. That agreement runs for 5 years, so we've got a while. If and when we lose SPG Gold, and especially if we lose SkyClub, I'll be cancelling my Amex Plat and my Delta Plat, and going with the Delta Reserve instead.

JHake10

I got the CSR card but also plan to keep the Amex Plat card. These cards are pretty different.

The CSR is all about collecting points. I'm a millenial as others mentioned and love getting the maximum points from charging hotels and rental cars from my consulting job every week (flights billed directly to the company). This subsidizes any vacation I take (along with the points I accumulate through the programs directly). Why would I want to charge ~1200/week and get 1200 MR points when I can get 3600 UR points. Additionally, the value of these points are pretty comparable.

I wish amex would just add a tierd point system, and primary rental insurance.

I think both cards are great.

seawolf

AMEX Plat is still unique with Centurion Lounge and DL relationship. It's Citi Prestige that should be worried. Only unique benefit is the fourth night free hotel benefit.

jags86

That's poo pooing a pretty big benefit. 4th night free, if you can take advantage of it a few times in a year, trumps the benefits of all other cards.

At least with Citi Prestige you can dollars and cents make up the cost of the AF.

With AMEX Platinum you have to "assign" $250 of value to it's perks. Same with Chase, you need to "assign" $150 of value to it's perks.

taliesin

If you use FHR you get some concrete dollars and cents benefits (sometimes even... 4th night free!). I haven't used the corresponding CSR portal to see how it compares in terms of the hotels offered and the benefits.

roundtree

That's certainly oversimplifying the argument in the other direction. Certainly, you can "dollars and cents" the remainder of the Amex and Chase AFs too, based on how one uses the benefits.

To make the 4th night free work, there's a large cost to those first three nights. Not sure that makes much economic sense in most cases, but it only has to make sense for you compared with the other premium cards. Personally, I tend to see the Amex Plat and CSR winning out more often than the Prestige, but my criteria aren't identical to everyone else's (thankfully) and I'm not sure that I would want a one size fits all card.

krazykanuck

It is a potentially big benefit, but depends completely on your travel patterns. I have only had 1 4 night stay in the past year. So now, the 4th night free isn't a benefit I can count on for a whole lot.

But...back when I was working on consulting projects I had 4 night stays every week. I'd be making ~$1k a month for nothing if I had the Prestige back in 2012 and if it had the same benefit.

jags86

Agreed prestige and platinum are, IMO, "do they work for you" cards in the sense that you need to somehow figure out how to use ancillary benefits to see if it makes sense.

CSR is a completely different beast IMO as most people's regular spend can justify the annual fee. As long as you spend more than $6000 combined on travel and dining you will out earn a 2% cash back card. Plus you get primary auto and priority pass.

It's a different product than Prestige and Platinum to be honest.

paperwastage

which goes back to the original question, how does amex counter CSR?

a "proper" high-spending/earner FT might hold all three cards for benefits

- amex just for lounge(centurion/delta)
- citi prestige just for 4th night free
- CSR for PP+all guests

and put all spend on CSR (3x restaurant/travel)+CFU(1.5x everything else) or Citi Prestige (3x air travel/hotel, 2x entertainment)

not doing any spend on amex, unless he/she values MR a lot more than UR/TYP. amex just gets AF, doesn't get transaction fees

(BGR obvious has better earning rates than centurion)


(of course, a non-FT might not know enough about citi prestige/CSR, and continue using just amex earning 1x MR. different amex cards have different earning rates ,which might earn amex some more spend)

seawolf

To answer your question on how to counter CSR. No change.

Using your scenario, high spender (assuming chasing after points) would not have charged to PLAT anyway with/without CSR as Prestige already offered spend category bonuses. Would have used PLAT just for Centurion/DL lounges. CSR does take over spend that would have otherwise went to Citi Prestige/Citi Premier/Chase Sapphire Preferred.

Troopers

Now, my effective annual fee is now $0 with recent savings of $50 in real dollars at Vineyard Vines ^