hotturnip

I've looked around, but I can't find another thread on this theme. Mods can move if I've missed something.

I just got my official notice of the fee increase for the CSR. This is coming at the same time that Amex is announcing their fee hike for the Platinum. However, Amex is simultaneously announcing a bunch of new benefits. No such luck for CSR holders.

There's no guarantee on the extension of the $60 Doordash credit, so it's really going to be a $250 card. So many of the benefits are duplicated by the Amex Plat. I've valued it in the past because I could use it on Priceline and Expedia purchases, but I'm not sure the extra point is worth it. Wouldn't it be smart to switch to the Sapphire Preferred?

Do people have suggestions on exit strategies to allow me to keep my points and apply for a CSP and get another bonus? My renewal date is 2/1/22. I'm also interested in other people's takes on this.

Steve in Olympia

The issues you raise are discussed extensively in this thread:
Sapphire Reserve 60k, $4,000 spend in 3 months, $550 fee.

EdofFX

The exit strategy has been discussed often on the CSP thread. You just PC the CSR to one of the Freedom card, and the UR will stay with the Freedom card until you get a CSP.

DeltaNeutral28

The card was never meant for someone who doesn't dine/travel. The PYB with the dining and grocery stores at 1.5% has been unreal for those with large stacks of UR just sitting during the past 15 months, sure I'd like to get 2-2.5x redemptions, but no traveling makes that difficult. Besides that, even at $190 AF ($550-$300-$60) vs the CSP at $95 which gets ? I make up for the $95 with the extra UR on dining purchases on the CSR over 12 months, before even considering the 1.5% vs 1.25% PYB. It's fine to not get any use out of it, but given the type of card it's marketed toward, it's a 10 bagger at least vs the $190 AF, which is still $90 until next year I believe. And if you have multiple UR cards with chase, it can be an "infinite" bagger. I don't even know what the CSP offers better than the CSR for perpetual use (i.e. excluding a 12 month SUB and cancel).

hotturnip

Thank you for the link. However, I don't find that discussion "extensive." More like "sporadic." Most of that thread involves issues dealing with how Chase is delaying the fee hike a year by giving people a $100 credit in 2021.

If mods would like to consolidate, I understand. But I'd like to see a really thorough discussion along the lines of what's going on in the Amex forum regarding the Platinum fee hike.

I'm unclear about the recommendation to switch to a Freedom card. The Freedom cards I can see all are cash-back cards, not UR cards. What am I missing?

mia

Freedom and INK Cash cards are "marketed" as cash-back cards, but they actually earn Ultimate Rewards points. UR points earned with ANY card can be redeem for cash. The other ways to redeem points (e.g. transfer to airline/hotel) vary based on the card(s) that you hold at the time of redemption.

mary mary

Remember that you can only get a bonus on any Sapphire card every 48 months. So unless you've had your CSR 4+ years there is no way for you to get a bonus on the CSP.

hotturnip

Thanks for the kind (and snark-free!) explanation of the Freedom cards. The marketing is totally misleading. Would they allow me to just downgrade my existing account to a Freedom?

I THINK it will have been 4 years in January, but good point. I need to double check that.

As much as I like the ability to redeem on the Chase travel site at such a high valuation, I'm just not sure that feature is worth $250/year. I'm already putting all my dining on the Gold Amex, so this card was really just used for Priceline hotels and Expedia packages, which I booked fairly frequently, and for foreign purchases because it never got declined. I'm wondering if I should just get an Amex green for the other travel costs, since it offers 3 points/$ for all travel. In fact, with 3 points/$ for dining, it might be worth dumping the Gold Amex. I'd need to find another good card to approach the 4 points/$ for groceries.

What are some combinations you can think of for such a situation? E.g., keeping the Amex Plat for the travel benefits, needing good return on other travel not covered by plat, and also maxxing out the return for dining and groceries?

EdofFX

This is the CSP thread that I mentioned with discussions about the PC and reapply for CSP process. I posted my data point at post #1397.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/33354847-post1397.html

threeoh

My calculus:

- $300 travel credit
- $150 in Lyft benefits per year (between 10x points and 15% off)
- $25 per year amortized Global Entry fee
- $200 two PP lounge visits per year (me + guest)*
- $60 free food from DoorDash
- $300 average annual Trip Delay claim (1 hotel + 1 meal + 2 taxis)
- $250 average saved per year by transferring points to airline partners or using Travel Portal

That's $1,285 in average benefits against a $550 fee. Plus they gave me $1,000 to sign up in the first place.

I'm pretty happy with the CSR.

The CSP would be a bad fit for me, I'd just stick me with Freedom Unlimited if the CSR didn't make sense.

* Lounge visits are the most questionable thing on this list because without the PP membership I probably would not have paid $50 per person to enter the lounge.

strickerj

I canceled my CSR a couple years ago, before the fee increase was announced. Bonus points for dining was a plus, but I dont use Lyft or Doordash, and I wasn't using the PriorityPass lounges enough to justify the price (much as I do love free lounge access). I'm considering getting the CSP instead to supplement my Freedom Unlimited since transfers to partners (particularly Hyatt) is worth the $95 a year.

jamesinclair

I moved from Prestige to this when Prestige saw a price increase and they slashed a ton of benefits.

Ive been happy with the card at 450, which is effectively 250. But I also just got my letter stating it will be 550 as of 2/2022.

We will see what happens. In the past, I might have moved onto Platinum, but thats a hard no at the new price. Citi has made no effort to revive the Prestige, but maybe they will?

Aside from the direct benefits, I do value the travel insurance stuff, which Prestige canceled. Thats always a nice thing to have IMO.

Theres also always the chance that retention might throw a bone our way if we push.

mia

Read here: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/citi...continued.html

Adelphos

CSR is a great card if you put a lot of dining and travel spend on the card. However other cards (including Chase’s own Freedom cards) earn as much or more in these categories. If you don’t spend on the CSR, the CSP is a good alternative - not for spending, but as a CSR transfer portal card. I view the CSP as paying a $95 a year “member fee” to transfer to travel partners, which is worth it to me

strickerj

Exactly my thought too - travel would go on the CSP if/when I get it for the bonus and insurance benefits; everything else on the Freedom Unlimited. Fuel is 3x on the FU now but I wonder if that's just temporary - when professional employees were working from home last year, not a lot of fuel was being purchased by them, so I can't imagine that bonus cost Chase much more than a rounding error.