WheelsFirst

They are great but also available on other (including no-fee) AMEX products.

krazykanuck

All of these would be awesome. I think that expanding the airline fee reimbursement to all air travel expenses would be a very easy change for them to make and valued by cardholders.

Primary CDW would be great too, but also free Priority Pass guests is now offered by both of the Platinum's competing cards, so would be good for them to match that. We can dream about better point earning structures, but that's the big thing the PRG has over the Plat, so they may not want to change that risking cannibalization.

Regardless, I think both the Platinum and CSR will co-exist in my wallet for a while. Both my Citi cards are likely going in the trash when their respective annual fees hit though.

Troopers

Right but aren't we evaluating CSR vs Prestige vs Plat?

Duke787

You can't look at them in the vacuum. One of the reasons I don't have a Plat is that Citi Prestige offers me better benefits (as does CSR when I hopefully get it once I'm back under 5/24) and PRG gets me access to MR with a better points earning structure.

Both the Prestige and CSR take their middle tier cards and makes them better and doesn't degrade the points earning structure in the process (CSR actually improves on CSP earnings and Prestige matches Premier on everything except at 3x where Prestige is Air & Hotel only and Premier is all travel including gas).

AMEX Plat doesn't do this. It is a big points earning downgrade vs. the PRG and the benefits don't make up for it (especially when you can get almost all the same benefits from CSR/Prestige while keeping a solid points earning structure).

TennisNoob

This is why AMEX plat is giving an spending offer of 2x on everything for an limited amount. AMEX will probably reach an decision in an few months with something new.

Jason77

i think Amex Plat is a much better product. In regards to auto coverage, return protection, trip interruption Amex is 1000% better. Good luck dealing with Chase for any of the above issues.
You also get real elite benefits with SPG and Hilton. The Centurion Lounges and Delta Lounge benefits are REAL benefits. You also get bonuses on miles transfers. The BA one right now is great. last year the Virgin one with Gold status was great etc. The Amex offers like spend $300 on travel get $50 cash back is great. These are real benefits I use regularly. fHR is another great product.

Getting bonus points on dinning and travel is not a reason to call the reserve a better card. If an extra $100 travel credit makes it a better deal than Amex you are not using the real benefits of Amex Plat.
And if you are the kind of person that spends a lot on travel the insurance benefits of Amex Platinum are far more valuable then extra bonus points using chase

vinhsynd

Is the International Platinum Airfare program accessible to supplementary card holders?

Troopers

That's great that the Prestige offers you better benefits. And there's a more affordable product that offers another person else better benefits than the Prestige. No one card suits every individual. These type of discussions are highly biased based on an individual's situation/preferences/etc. Comparing products for discussion purposes, generalizing a broad group of cardholders is more meaningful.

My point about Amex offers is that any Plat cardholder can easily achieve a net annual fee of well less than $250 ($450 annual fee minus the $200 airline incident credit). I emphasize easily because the offers do not require certain travel habits or opportunities...these are daily non-travel opportunities such as $10 off $50 Chevy's, $10 off $50 Petco and $10 off $40 CPK. Travel benefits such as Prestige's fourth night or the Cent Lounge require certain travel habits/opportunities.

So, when comparing annual fees, Amex offers should be considered.


Generally agree...it's an interesting academic discussion but what difference does it make in evaluating if one should get a Prestige vs CSR vs Plat (or vs another card)?

Jason77

If you buy items online or have items shipped I'd put it on platinum. Same with electronics for extended warranty and items you may want to return and will have difficulty from merchants. Car coverage Amex and my own primary all the way. The visa infinite is basically same as signature in this regard. Complete garbage.
For every day spend there's obviously better earning cards. Just got to make sure the bonus points cover the annual fee on additional card. Pretty simple math if it makes sense.

mia

This is a narrowly targeted offer, it's not available to most of us.

American Express (USA) CDW coverage is secondary while Chase's coverage is primary. American Express Platinum does not include any trip interruption benefit.

Yes, but one must have fairly specialized requirements to find that benefit useful.

Agreed, but the Offers are in lieu of a shopping portal, which Chase still has and which American Express eliminated. I don't consider this to be a disadvantage because I use airline portals instead.

Troopers

Shopping portals can result in very high earning rates. It does NOT reduce one's out of pocket cost to hold the respective card, unlike Amex Offers.

Jason77

Anyone that realizes on chase primary auto coverage is nuts. Huge time sink if a real problem occurs like an accident. I had a minor accident when a tire blew on a rental car and because the tire blew it was excluded.
While Amex Plat does not include trip interruption but ironically I'd still go through them. They have helped me navigate airline reimbursement.

Just speaking from experience I'm never going to be sitting on the side of a road waiting for Chase to figure out towing again. And this was in Los Angeles. They brought the car all the way to corona/ riverside 4 hours later. That would never happen with Amex. I could have called AAA or used my primary for free towing. But that would have voided the chase claim which they didn't pay anyway.

bgriff

Personally I am excited about the CSR but it doesn't really change my views around the Amex Platinum, other than giving me another option for Priority Pass membership -- but as others have said, I place a pretty small value on PP membership.

Amex Platinum still uniquely valuable to me for Delta SkyClub access, FHR, and especially Centurion lounge access. (I debate periodically whether I actually value those things at $250 a year, but thus far the math has worked out "yes" and the CSR doesn't really change the calculation on any of them.)

But where I am really torn with the CSR is on my Premier Rewards Gold card. I spend a fair amount on airfare each year so have been using the CSP card for non-airfare travel, plus the PRG for airfare and groceries, with dining split randomly between the two, which seemed like a reasonable, if somewhat expensive, combination. (I live in NYC without a car so gas spend is negligible for me.)

But now the CSR is just as good on airfare, and I don't spend enough on groceries to really justify the PRG annual fee. The only reason I can come up with to keep the PRG is to keep up a decent MR account balance in order to have options to book things with MR-unique transfer partners, which I have certainly gotten big value out of in the past (including transfers to Aeroplan, ANA, Delta, Virgin America, and a useful top-off transfer to Hilton). But I also only got a CSP fairly recently and didn't have any UR points when I made those MR transfers, so it's entirely possible that if I'd had UR points in the past I might have found different but equally good options through UR.


(I also think Chase made a strategic error with the CSR making the CSP entirely redundant -- there is no reason to hold the CSP if you're going to keep a CSR, and I'm planning to cancel my CSP soon. Whereas Amex has structured its cards so there is reason to have both a Plat and a PRG, with all the annual fee income that entails. No idea how many people have both, but if it is a lot, I am sure Amex will take that into consideration before adding any Plat card bonus earning categories.)

mia

If you intend to use Chase Reserve for travel spending I would replace Premier Rewards Gold with the free American Express Everyday card for the grocery spend.

phant0m

Pretty much. I don't see any reason to keep the PRG at this point.