MastaHanky

Hi,

I'm currently a Delta American Express Platinum card holder. I mainly got the card not for mileage accrual, but for the free yearly companion certificate. The mileage accrual was a nice add-on, but was not the primary reason for getting the card.

This last year Delta changed their companion certificate fare classes so only sub-classes of a certain fare are eligible. (For example, this year I used it on an SLC-MSY flight. The lowest fare class was a T-fare for about $300 roundtrip. However their new terms said this particular T-fare wasn't eligible, and the cheapest eligible fare was $460 roundtrip. $460 r/t + the yearly fee is pretty much the same price I would pay for two tickets at the lowest available fare - where's the benefit?)

The fee on the Platinum Amex is also going up significantly this next cycle - I believe from $145 to $195 if I remember correctly.

Between all of this and the revamped Delta FF program, I've decided to shift all my flying to whomever is cheapest or best for my schedule. I've always been a low-level Medallion (Silver or occasionally Gold), and haven't realized many benefits from it beyond an extra checked bag that I never use or a bit of extra mileage.

SOOOOOO, with all that said......

...is there any point in me having a rewards-earning credit card if I no longer concentrate my flying on a certain carrier, and if I don't have much yearly spend? I estimate my yearly spend is only around $10k on a card. I don't really have any interest in having multiple cards or churning cards - just something to get a bit of benefits for my meager spending.

I'm SLC-based, still fly Delta a lot (but no longer exclusively), and tend to stay at Marriott or Starwood properties. I probably do 3-4 domestic trips and 1-2 international trips a year. The main thing I would like is flexibility in whatever reward points I do manage to accumulate - perhaps they can be transferred to an airline or hotel program of my choice?

roki

Of the $10K you spend, what ballpark percentage would you say goes to major categories, such as Dining, Groceries, Travel (Flight/Hotel), and Gas?

The short answer is that yes, rewards cards can definitely be worth it, but probably not your Delta AMEX with an annual fee that high. If you want flexibility to transfer points, you will be paying an annual fee, but there are cheaper options.

The long answer: Consider a Chase Freedom / Chase Sapphire Preferred combo, putting categorical spend on the Freedom during applicable quarters for 5x UR points and everything else on the CSP at 1.07x UR points. For example, if $2500/$10K falls into the 5x Chase Freedom categories, $1500/$10K falls into 2.14x Dining/Travel CSP categories, and $6K goes on the CSP at 1.07x, you'd earn 22,130 UR points off of $10K spend. You'll pay $95 for the CSP, but that allows you to transfer the points to numerous hotels and airlines. To me, that doubles the value of points (25K UR = $250 cash, 25K United = $500 cash, in my book). I used 81K UR points ($810) to book a room through Hyatt that would have cost $2750 cash, so that's over 3x). If you don't get the CSP and have the same spend on the Freedom (no annual fee), you'd earn 20K UR points, but your only option would be the $200 cash/GC/Travel value.

No one can say "Yes this is worth it to you" -- you have to decide how you value your time and the different point programs, and make that decision yourself.

davie355

The Amex EveryDay has no annual fee and allows point transfer to a number of hotels and airlines (including Delta) through Membership Rewards.

flyer4512

IMO you're better off with a straight cash back card and forget keeping track of rewards.

$10k spend can get some decent travel rewards but you are going to have to get multiple cars/signup bonuses to do so

Joe1690

Yes, some reward cards make sense. A few I would recommend if you are looking for only 1 card include:

1. Fidelity Amex Card - 2 points per dollar on all purchases, which can be redeemed for cash into a Fidelity account at 1 cent per point or in increments of 20,000 points for a $200 check. Points expire after 5 years. As such, with 10k in spend you could average $200 in rewards annually. Also, there is currently a $75 signup bonus. Keep in mind this card is issued by FIA card services which is owned by Bank of America

2. BankAmericard Travel Rewards: 1.5 points on all purchases plus a 10% annual relationship purchase on dollars spent if you have a Bank of America account. The points can be redeemed for travel expenses of $25 or more where 2500 points equals $25. As such you could earn 15000 - 16000 points annually on 10k in spend which is worth $150 - $160, and the points never expire. There also is a $100 signup bonus if you spend $500 in the first 60 days of card membership.

3. American Express Everyday Card: This card is supposed to launch April 2st, and participate in the full membership rewards program. However, the details on number of points required to transfer to partner programs has not been released. The card has no annual fee and provides you with 1 membership reward point per dollar on all purchases and 2 points per dollar on supermarket purchases up to 6k annually. In addition, if you use the card to make 20 purchases or more per statement cycle you will earn a 20% bonus on Membership Rewards points earned. So you could earn anywhere from 10k - 24k points annually depending on your spend. These points can be transferred to British Airways, Delta, Jetblue, Virgin America among many other partners.

4. IHG Rewards Mastercard: This card has a $49 annual fee but the fee is waived the first year. You can get a signup bonus of 60k or 80k depending on the link used to apply. You can earn 1 point on all purchases, 2 points at gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants, and 5 points per dollar at IHG Properties. In addition you will receive Platinum Status (top tier status) in the IHG Rewards program for the length you hold card. The best part is after your 1st card membership year you receive a complimentary night annually which is good at any IHG property with almost no restrictions. The IHG points are not always worth a lot, but if you stay annually at an IHG property then the annual fee can easily pay for itself.

5. Chase Freedom: You can earn 1 Ultimate Reward point per dollar, and 5 points per dollar on rotating categories that change quarterly. These categories have included restaurants, gas stations, department stores, Amazon, etc. Ultimate rewards points are worth 1 cent per points so once again you can earn a minimum of $100 annually and up to $500 annually. Also if you have a Chase checking account you can earn an additional 10% relationship bonus on all points earned.

I am sure there are other cards I have missed, but from the limited information you provided I think these are decent cards for your spend.

MastaHanky

Thanks for the info - I guess it is worth grabbing a few points even with small spending! I'm a mid-30s single male with no kids, so my grocery bill tends to be no more than a bag of chips and a frozen pizza. My restaurant spend, on the other hand....

The Chase Freedom card is intriguing. I'm wondering if maybe that + AmEx Everyday might be a good combo. Use the Chase for whatever the 5x promotion is, and the AmEx for everything else. But then I have two cards and will start getting sucked into the vortex of card churning. (I just barely escaped the Mileage Running vortex two years ago!)

Several years ago I had an unfortunate incident involving a rental car and a rhino. The automatic insurance that AmEx provided when I paid for the rental with the card ended up covering the entire repair cost, and it was very easy to get processed. I'm fond of keeping an AmEx card around just for incidents like that. Their electronics warranty and lost item protection is nice too, although I haven't used them yet. Do any of the other cards offer services like that?

taxicabnumber

If your spending is primarily on restaurants, what about the US Bank Cash+ (https://www.usbank.com/credit-cards/...gnature.html)? You choose two 5% categories per quarter - which include restaurants and fast food.

darthbimmer

Yes, with $10k annual spend it's worth collecting some dividends from your credit cards. You should be able to manage around $200 a year just from straight spending with wisely chosen cards. And since you're not planning to travel frequently with a single airline or hotel chain, "wise" includes choosing cards with flexible redemption options-- especially converting points to cash, which you can then spend anywhere.

Don't totally write off the idea of churning cards, BTW. Without changing your spending patterns you could cycle through a few cards each year to capture their signup bonuses. That could push you from collecting $200 a year in dividends to over $1000.

Joe1690

While many card issuers do offer extended warranty coverage and some offer lost item protection, the gold standard is Amex. They require a lot less hassle and documentation typically then other cards which outsource the coverage to third party insurance companies. As such, since Amex typically handles the warranties in house through their own insurance company they have an incentive to provide better customer service, since you are Amex's cardmember. On the other hand most of Visa and Mastercard's extended warranties offered by almost any card issuer are outsourcer to a third party insurance company which gets paid to handle the warranty claims and has no vested interest in seeing your claim processed expediently and with minimal paperwork since it is my understanding that they are not paid per claim but rather per card issued so they already have the money in the bank.

With the information provided I would definitely recommend keeping an Amex card issued by Amex and not a third party like FIA or Citibank for the extended warranty protection and other benefits for large purchases. I think the Everyday card is a great fit for this especially if airline and hotel transfers are really 1:1 as everyone is assuming. Then the question becomes if you want another card for either most of your other spending or just for restaurant spending. I know Citibank has the Thankyou Preferred which provides 2 Thankyou points per dollar on dining and entertainment and one point on all other purchases. I believe you can redeem the points for airfare at a rate of 1 cent per point through their travel provider. The other reward options on this card are typically lackluster unless you have a student loan, then you can a check made out to your student loan company where each points is worth 1 cent per point.

Personally, I always recommend people have at least 2 credit cards issued by different issuers. First off because if your card is compromised or the credit issuer decides to discontinue their relationship with you, then you don't have a backup card. In addition, not all merchants accept American Express, and in a few cases this is true of Mastercard and Visa. As crazy as this sounds, I had issues using a relatively lightly used BofA credit card in Las Vegas a few weeks ago because the terminal would not read the magnetic strip. As such, if I only had one card, I would have been out of luck on this large purchase for show tickets. However, luckily I had a Citi card with me that didn't have any problems. As such, it is always good to have a second card. For peace of mind, I would recommend an Amex card for the extended warranty benefits and a second card which can either be used as a backup card or as an everyday spender.

Whatever decision you make, a rewards card will provide you with some monetary benefit that you otherwise would be leaving on the table, and having two cards while adding complexity does provide additional peace of mind.