AMEX increasing annual fees while minimizing rewards
May 19, 2019, 11:18 pm
#16
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With the Gold, like many others I had some coding issues shortly after the revamp where things were coding as 1x vs 4x, but they've been fixing things. I think I've had only one miss in the last 2-3 months.
May 20, 2019, 8:09 am
#17
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: SFO
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May 20, 2019, 8:27 am
#18
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Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
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My recent CSP charges have been at a rate which is considerably under market. If I didn't know better, I'd say Chase was applying a currency conversion fee.
May 20, 2019, 8:27 am
#19
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: BGI | MIA
Programs: AA Platinum Pro | Hyatt Globalist | HH Diamond | SPG Gold
Posts: 316
its my understanding from experience that the issuing bank determines the exchange rate.
Ive used several different Visa cards on the same day and each had its own exchange rate. They were very similar but some were clearly better then chase. Chase isn’t horrible in my experience but it’s not as good as USB and Penfed
May 20, 2019, 8:30 am
#20
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Charleston, SC
Programs: SPG/Marriot Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 412
Agree! The Gold Card is great now, even with the AF increase the effective AF is lower, at least for me. Plus at 4x grocery stores is an MS gold mine if you participate in that. As far as the Plat goes, even at $550 can hold a lot of value. I am clearly biased as a primarily Delta flyer and have a Centurion Lounge at my usual airports so I can see how those who don't, don't see the same value. I am also in the nice position of being able to cash out my airline GCs from the airline credit at 100% through work reimbursable travel.
With the Gold, like many others I had some coding issues shortly after the revamp where things were coding as 1x vs 4x, but they've been fixing things. I think I've had only one miss in the last 2-3 months.
With the Gold, like many others I had some coding issues shortly after the revamp where things were coding as 1x vs 4x, but they've been fixing things. I think I've had only one miss in the last 2-3 months.
Chase is easier to use for redemption, but I find the premium features of the CSR to be lacking. No Centurion lounge, Delta lounges, and PP lounges are not that common in the US, so I don't even consider PP as a feature. I also use the Uber credits, which the CSR does not offer (although they do offer $300 in credits, I know). No FHR, no Hilton/Marriott status.
May 20, 2019, 10:12 am
#21
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: LGA, JFK
Programs: OZ Diamond/*G, AMEX Plat (Marriott Gold), AMEX Hilton Aspire (Hilton Diamond)
Posts: 92
wait really? amazon purchases earn 4x points on the Gold card? or does it only apply to amazon fresh?
May 20, 2019, 10:14 am
#22
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May 20, 2019, 10:27 am
#23
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: WAS
Programs: Free Agent
Posts: 1,757
Agreed. For my particular spend profile, groceries and dining are our 2nd and 3rd biggest expense after rent. We're seeing phenomenally better returns since Amex introduced the new Gold card.
May 20, 2019, 10:33 am
#24
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Austin, TX -- AA Life Platinum; QF Life Silver; UA Silver
Posts: 5,462
Yeah, mrs hauteboy's Amex Plat is up for renewal.. was debating not renew this year. Though she's traveling more this year, not to airports typically with an (accessible) Amex or PP lounge.
May 20, 2019, 11:11 am
#25
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: PHX, SEA
Programs: Avis President's Club, Global Entry, Hilton/Marriott Gold. No more DL/AA status.
Posts: 4,422
The Amex products do seem more specific than the Chase products, with no one-size-fits-all card. For me, the $550 Platinum annual fee is more than paid for. The Gold card doesn't work for my household though because I'd rather just get 3% on restaurants and all travel (used except for flights on my Plat) from the $0-AF Costco card. My wife had been looking at the business Plat for her business but that refresh is a definite no-go for her.
Funny though, I don't use my Plat day-to-day, I earn MRs with my $0 AF Everyday card (1.2 pts/$ with the bonus)
Great point, but I will remind folks that if you use a gift card at Amazon you lose out on various credit card perks like price adjustments or extended warranty.
Funny though, I don't use my Plat day-to-day, I earn MRs with my $0 AF Everyday card (1.2 pts/$ with the bonus)
Great point, but I will remind folks that if you use a gift card at Amazon you lose out on various credit card perks like price adjustments or extended warranty.
May 20, 2019, 11:13 am
#26
Join Date: Mar 2017
Programs: HHonors, TrueBlue, Delta SkyMiles, Hyatt Discoverist, Starwood Preferred Guest, American Airlines.
Posts: 2,035
This is true if you're looking to book mostly coach tickets through the Expedia portal. Then you'll get 1.5cpp using the CSR. AMEX transfer partners are much better than Chase. Chase has 2 unique partners, United and Hyatt. With the recent United devaluation MileagePlus isn't as valuable as it use to be.
AMEX can't even do 1:1 to JetBlue like Chase does.
Hyatt is a better hotel transfer partner than anything AMEX has.
Delta is a weak transfer partner. Southwest and United are both better transfer partners.
Marriott is a weak transfer partner.
Hilton is a weak transfer partner.
In fact, I would go as far as saying MR has been devalued plenty over the last several years, where Chase has mostly remained the same or become slightly more valuable.
Last edited by mikesyr18; May 20, 2019 at 11:45 am
May 20, 2019, 11:16 am
#27
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Location: Miami, Mpls & London
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May 20, 2019, 11:43 am
#28
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 156
ditto, im picking up almost 3.5x as many points per month since i paired the gold and plat cards (vs plat only). i spend significantly more eating out then rent or groceries so the 4x kicker has been awesome.
May 20, 2019, 12:20 pm
#29
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Join Date: May 2012
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May 20, 2019, 12:37 pm
#30
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