flyte

I have the same, Citi Prestige at $350 a year. But I'm still planning on switching to CSR (if the "pending" doesn't change to a "deny") for these reasons:

1. Priority Pass lounges aren't great.
2. Hardly ever stay at the same hotel for four days. Even on a vacation, we'd be at a different place after three days.
3. Presumably better concierge services.
4. Better roadside assistance? Not sure about this as it's 10 miles free vs $50 free.
5. $100 AF vs $150 AF is easily surpassed by a $2,500 annual spend on dining and entertainment (2.5% earning+spending rate on the new prestige vs 4.5% earning+spending rate on the CSR).

What do you all think?

penner42

TY points (as of next summer) will be worth only 1.25c each vs 1.5c with the CSR. I find Chase's transfer partners (mostly United and Hyatt) infinitely more useful than Citi's. About the only Citi transfer I can see using is if I ever want to go to Germany, for SQ Suites. But I can also transfer my Chase points to SQ.

Crystal is not available for everyone. If you already have it, good for you! It's hard to get.

4th night free is a real benefit. The points, as I said above, are not worth as much. Caveat here: I find most of my lengthy hotel stays are on points. Once the 4th night free changes go into effect so it's the average cost and doesn't include taxes, you can get close in other ways. If I'm not using points on the stay, it's likely because it's not a chain, so in that case I don't mind not getting status/benefits/points from the hotel stay. So I can use hotels.com through TopCashBack. I get essentially 10% with the stay 10/get 1 free from hotels.com rewards, and TopCashBack is currently at 7% and has been as high as 10%. So that's 17-20% back on the pre-tax hotel cost. Almost as good as 4th night free for a 4 night stay. Possibly better than 4th night free if the stay is longer than 4 nights.

I'd love these benefits, but again, card is hard to get. Also there's no signup bonus now, right? So you'd have a hard pull and delaying getting another Chase card if you're near 5/24.

I already have the Prestige. It will likely disappear in favor of keeping the CSR when my annual fee comes due in April. (It may not, I may keep both.)

But it's not $150 I have to justify. I need to keep at least one premium Chase card so I can transfer my points (as do most of us, I'm sure). So I only need to justify $55, the difference between an Ink/CSP and the CSR. And $55 is pretty easy.

AAdmiral

Went to this page regarding the CSR Priority Pass Select Membership to try and get a clearer picture.

https://www.chase.com/card-benefits/...reserve/travel

This is what's listed under the fine print at the bottom. It doesn't mention one way or another if the guests are free or must pay.

4Complimentary Priority PassTMSelect Membership
One time activation required. There is no additional cost to activate your membership and certain terms, conditions and exclusions apply. Priority Pass Select membership includes access to airport lounges participating in the Priority Pass Select network. Participating lounges are owned and operated by independent third parties and their participation and/or facilities may change. To access a lounge, member must show his/her valid Priority Pass Select membership card. Priority Pass Select membership is subject to the Priority Pass Select Terms and Conditions. Account must be open and not in default to maintain membership. For complete Priority Pass Select Terms and Conditions and a listing of participating lounges, please visit www.prioritypass.com/select (Opens Overlay).

PackingIt

There is a big difference between 'useless' and getting a better deal with a different card. The benefit itself is not useless just because another card offers a better benefit.

jediwho

Depends on where you live? If you have City National Bank, then I would go with Prestige and Crystal.

NoStressHere

Interesting for folks that travel often.
From the link below:
"...Provides coverage when the covered trip has been purchased with an eligible Chase card or with rewards earned on an eligible Chase card..."

What is a bit fuzzy is common event for us. Trip is paid for via multiple points, possibly multiple credit cards, etc. Our trips are often multiple stops/segments/etc. Does the ENTIRE trip need to be connected to Chase to get this coverage?

Hmmmm

https://www.chase.com/card-benefits/...reserve/travel

Just found this - full detailed benefits booklet. (added to WIKI) https://www.chasebenefits.com/sapphirereserve

bigbuy

You make valid points. I am in a Delta hub, so the $50 Schwab Amex Platinum fee works fine for Delta flights. Other flights I just pull out the Prestige Priority card. As for the dining points angle, I do not pay for restaurant tabs (was ripped off several times years ago) UNLESS the reader is brought to the table and there is no tip line. That usually only sometimes happens in Europe or somewhere else outside the USA so recouping the cost does not work in my favor. As always, YMMV.

missamo80

This really depends on where you're flying, but in general any lounge is better than sitting in the terminal. It gets me access to Alaska Airlines Board Rooms at SeaTac and they are just fine. Also gets me into the Air France lounge in SFO, which is also fine and close to the gates I use.

I've got the $350 AF by virtue of applying for the Prestige in-branch, so it's a $100 AF for me. I basically look at it as getting me Priority Pass with two guests for $100 a year which is a screaming deal.

CSR wouldn't give me any real long-term advantages over the Citi card.

Neil

jediwho

I am not too worried about the 1.25 cents as I transfer most of my points. Also, I will be surprised if we don't see AA being added as a transfer partner in the next six months after the recent Citi/Barclays/AA credit card deals. Right now, Citi's TY program is the only one where it does not have it's flagship carrier as a transfer partner. Even if this does not happen, they have SQ and FlyingBlue, which are good for me.

I agree on the fourth night. I also usually use points for hotels, FHR or Rocketmiles is next, followed by Amex offers, followed by ebay/hotel gift cards. All my hotel expenses goes on respective hotel cards.

When I signed up for Crystal, it did not have the bonus, but the first year was free. But here's a link from a DOC's recent piece that says they are now offering 50K sign up: https://www.rbcwm-usa.com/resources/file-862410.pdf

Of course, the sign up is meaningless since we are talking whether CSR is a card to keep in YR2....I think almost everyone would agree it is well worth getting it in YR1 with a 100K sign up bonus.

I think the combo, if one could get is Prestige and Crystal.

flyte

What if one is young/single and have no AUs to add. Does the combo still beat CSR and its $150 AF?

penner42

But getting the Crystal is not meaningless as it effectively prevents you from getting another signup bonus, at least with Chase, thanks to 5/24. So it's good that it has at least something.

PsiFighter37

There's not a live application link yet, is there? I haven't seen one on the official website...just want to make sure I am not missing anything.

jediwho

Could not agree more. There just isn't any defining benefit this card brings to the table for me either to keep it.

wco81

If you're spending several thousand each year in travel, you're probably in a position where the difference between the $95 AF of the CSP and the net $150 AF of the CSR is not that significant in the scheme of things.

Unless you want to spend a whole lot of time trying to analyze how to squeeze every last cent of value.

jediwho

Depends on how much you value 12 GoGo passes, AF waived in year one, and $100 discount on 2 to 5 airline tickets (domestic only).