Oh Wise CardFolk, Your Advice?
 

Long story short: I have a Chase UA card that the spouse and I have been using to bank extra UA miles. We've been very pleased with Chase's service (they handled a card skimming episode extremely well).

However, I'm not flying UA anymore thanks to the merger mess. So continuing to bank UA miles is not something we want to keep doing.

As we're pretty happy with Chase as a card provider, switching Chase cards is an obvious option. Another one is switching to AmEx. I'm not particularly interested in picking up an Citi AA card; I used to have a Citi card and was not all that impressed with their service.

My question: Are there options I'm overlooking or am I right that I should focus on the Chase vs AmEx options?

Switching always has the advantage of new signup bonuses!!!

I have both Chase and Amex, and one thing I like about Chase is that points are transferrable. I buy points from co-workers and have told family that points would make a great Christmas present. I don't think Amex has rules against buying or selling points, but they are not transferrable, meaning that if I buy them, I have to deposit them immediately in a travel partner account.

Mostly it depends which partners you want to use. Amex has more, but you should figure out which one(s) you'd want to use.

Also, I think Chase points can be more flexible. Unless I'm mistaken, UR points can be turned into cash for 1 cent or into pretty much any kind of travel for 1.25 cents. I think Amex points cannot be cashed, can be turned into gift cards for under 1 cent, and you can get 1.25 cents for travel only with Membership Rewards First, which requires a plat card.

To me personally, Amex points are most valuable, because I need Air Canada points the most. But both have their value.

If you get an Amex card, there are a number of options. The Plat card has a very high fee ($450, not waived first year) but the best signup bonus and a lot of other really good benefits. Preferred Rewards Gold has 25K signup and 3X on airfare, 2X on gas and groceries, and 15K bonus if you spend $30K in a year. Those are usually the two best options.

What do you have in mind? Are you primarily interested in spend accumulations or sign-up bonuses? Also, quite honestly, I don't understand why it has to be Chase or Amex? Why not both and then some?

Which airline(s) are you flying?

Bear in mind that miles can be redeemed for travel on flight operated by any airline in the same alliance. Accumulating UA miles does not necessarily entail flying on UA.

If you like Chase, I'd say go for the chase sapphire preferred as the earning potential on it is very high and can use points on a few airlines and hotel partners, giving a LOT of flexibility.

Otherwise SPG amex is a nice card for travel since SPG points transfer basically everywhere but United, but only get 1 point per dollar except for SPG hotel charges.

yeah get into the chase sapphire/ink bold...at least you keep your business with chase but also gain the flex

Thanks all, I am leaning heavily towards Chase Sapphire, but wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking any options. :)