jmj9905

While not a millennial I have been playing the credit card game since aa first introduced the aa citi mc. People often ask what is the best credit card. My answer is what are you looking for. Cash back, hotel points, airline mileage etc. There are many affinity cards out there. In my view, they all have there strengths and weaknesses. For me, my priority is airline miles. Therefore, for me, the best card is the Amex SPG card, which I believe you can get in platinum. It allows you to transfer points to a huge number of airlines, way beyond what has been listed above. In addition, if you transfer 20,000 miles it gives you a 25% bonus of 5000 additional miles

STS-134

Yeah, so long as the UberEats thing keeps going. If they remove that, then the entire benefit is nearly useless to me.

LOL, since meeting the signup bonus with the Plat, I've probably put spend on that card at a rate of about $500-1000/year. Most of that is taking advantage of Amex Offers, including Amex gift cards for $10 off $200 and using promo codes for free shipping so I'll get a $200 card for around $194. Then I'll burn the gift card on stuff that doesn't get me bonus points on any card, like paying my utility bills.

jediwho

^

Explorer789

Yeah, I use the amex gc offers as well. It's an excuse to do some free MS on it without raising any suspicion.

STS-134

It's not MS unless you use the GC to pay off your Amex bill.

terryversay

I'm a millennial myself, hooked on points and miles ~5 yr ago. This discussion actually made me reflect on a shift of my CC usage attitude.

Years ago I was so obsessed with points of various kinds that I knew what cards to use at airlines, hotels, restaurants, grocery, gas station, in which season. (Confounding factors: 20+ cards in 3yrs, accelerators, exceptions, seasonal bonus, one-off promo camps, retention offers spend x get y, and specific merchant partners). I was proud of the discipline I had for all the spends, rarely earning less than the optimal scenario aka minimal oppt'y cost.

Then I built points banks with airlines, hotels, banks with millions of points/miles in each. The accumulation process itself was fun, however, with those in banks, I started to loose the thrill of points earning. As I shifted from a grad student to a full-time employee in corporate. With growing responsibility and fixed vacation time, I started to make mistakes, 'Darn, I should've used this card for that' 'Wow why there's an extra 10k in this account? (later found out that's a promo bonus for spend x, which I registered but completely forgot)'. From the beginning of this journey, miles were the only way I could cross the Pacific/Atlantic ocean in some style without hurting my back; now, thanks to the points banks, I would be happy to pay 10k or 20k extra for better routing or more comfortable seats (not every seat is equal as FTers are aware of). I only have ~4 weeks of vacation time every year, and I try to use it for self-exploratory, family and friends' reunion and occasionally a mileage run. Once I was planning a trip to London with a best friend. With not much planned in advance but a high expectation of the trip, I counted on Platinum's COncierge desk to surprise and delight. They totally delivered; competent knowledge of the area, positive attitude, detailed information and helpful tips/reminders. Not only did a rep score a reservation at a Michelin restaurant for us, she also kept me informed during the process, with Plan B pre-booked just in case. I started to appreciate that efficiency. Another time, a rep called me to advise on fraud activities. That whole conversation was so professional that I saved a lot of time on my end, compared to previous lengthy calls with Citi cross various dept.

Last month, I was on a trnscon JFK-SFO. A gentleman next to me happened to be discussing the new Plat card. He is a consultant but recently had a baby. It's funny that he was excited about 5X on Air and Amextravel site but didn't intend to use points for travel, not even transfer. He told me that he was so happy that MR points could be redeemed for GCs for his wife to shop for clothing. (not a good value at all) After I told him my experiences with Concierge, he shared more of his, on the last-min restaurants bookings and some event tickets. 'I don't use the website often, as the reps usually take care of my needs.' was a summary of his experience.

Gradually, I find my spend more Platinum card - an incremental of 0.25 or 0.5 pt per dollar is not that significant imo, but the time saving on potential disputes and not-so-understanding reps is worth the use.

It's interesting to find myself shifting preference, as an ex-points-obssessive. Only time will tell about the renewal of CSR and other millennials' preferences.

ShutteLag

I had a Diner's Club card since my college days. For some odd reason, they were the only credit/charge card company that would grant me a card at that time. (perhaps they were desperate?)

I was a loyal customer for the next 25 years... then finally had to give it up. It was almost impossible to find places to use it.

I also carried AmEx, but it's also starting to feel like a Diner's Club in a way.

On top of that, I have not taken my credit or debit cards out of my wallet for almost a year and half, thanks to Samsung Pay. I use my phone to pay for almost everything. (Samsung Pay works almost everywhere, unlike Apple Pay on my iPhone 7)

STS-134

Did the rep actually do something that you couldn't do yourself? Like could you have gotten this reservation on your own, by going online, calling the restaurant, etc? If it's something you could have done yourself, I don't see how this really adds value, but if it is not, then I think it's valuable.

Explorer789

Millennials these days are still incredibly financially ignorant. They lack basic financial knowledge and budgeting skills. Furthermore, they have become credit avoidant due to student loans and do not want to be in more debt. Hence the common false perception that simply using cc's results in more debt and paying interest, even though it does not as long as you pay on time.

I have stopped trying to explaing benefits of cc's to friends because it usually was a waste of time. Unless they specifically ask about it and are genuinely interested, I just shake my head and move on.

terryversay

To your point, I'm wondering if the buzz of 'getting values' got many more into the CSR portfolio. (I am still a firm believer in that only a minority cares and knows about the points stuff...)

Explorer789

I don't think most of them signed up because of the benefits at all. Most of these people probably just saw a CSR ad somewhere online or heard others they knew were getting it, so they signed up as well just to cash out the 100k points to use on amazon or statement credit for instant gratification.

SightseeMC

I find the dismissal of Millennials here to fit the general attitude of most older people. "Oh they're just shallow, silly, and undisciplined. Glad I am better than them."

In some ways I'd agree, but because it makes sense. People who are younger tend to have fewer critical expenses, and have priorities based on more free time and more energy (in general). They are less likely to have children, much less a house or a spouse. So if they are more frivolous, it's partly because they can be.

Additionally, it's not like older generations: a) were oh-so-much-smarter when we were young, or; b) are super financially disciplined now. It's not Millennials who were using their houses as ATM machines 10 years ago, and who went belly up across the nation (and world) with interest-only mortgages they couldn't pay back. It's not Millennials who are within a few short years of retirement with nothing saved.

So maybe the answer isn't that Millennials are shallow. They have priorities, and they are marketed to just as we older people were/are. If they all want the CSR but aren't necessarily going to get the full value of its benefits, that would probably be true of the AMEX as well. If Chase's marketing is more effective, well good for them. There's a reason 80s songs started showing up in commercials for luxury cars: Gen Xers are now the target market, and are apparently "shallow" enough that marketers think they'll perk up when they hear them.

(Spoken as a Gen Xer with a CSR and an AMEX SPG...but no luxury car.)

gsxsilver

Just because its something that one could have done himself doesn't mean there is no value in not having to do it. 30 minutes saved on searching for booking is 30 minutes that I can do something much more enjoyable.

Oformula

Or get some billable hours so you can pay the annual fee on the card (among other things).

Explorer789

I am a millennial who has both Plat and CSR...I'm only giving my opinions based off of personal observations of the people I know (friends, classmates, coworkers, etc). I'm basing this off the fact that the school system teaches you absolutely nothing about finance to prepare you for handling things like credit or saving in general. Just look at /r/personalfinance to see the types of questions that just get repeated over and over. So I do not think that the dismissal of the younger generation is misguided.

Millennials tend to like low effort rewards and instant gratification that comes with short attention span. If it is too difficult to understand what we get, we just avoid all together. The whole article tries to make the idea of having premium cc's like CSR/Plat as a status symbol type thing. In reality, it has nothing to do with shallowness and more of a cc benefit war. If you want millennials to sign up, you need to offer something they care about. Amex is losing because 5x air/hotel is useless for most people who do not have much savings to travel more than once a year, while 3x dining/travel is straightforward and more applicable to daily use.