Torn between Citi, Chase and Amex
 

Hi all,
I'm currently in possession (11months) of Citi AAdvantage Platinum World Elite credit card. Few months ago became actively interested in earning miles as I found this forum and other blogs.
The card itself is okay - I have $6500 credit line (no late payments, though the score is in range 660-680, dropped due to short credit history) and I was able to get signup bonus of 50000 miles, spent them on roundtrip LAX-DC and one-way to Atlanta after few months.
Now I discovered a whole new way to earn more points - shopping portal, dining, hotels&car rentals, concerts, etc. This makes me stoked and I feel I can easily take advantage of all of these on a daily basis.
However, I'm looking at the other rewards programs and I have thoughts, that I might be earning more with them and at the same time earn AAdvantage miles (as it's not tied to any credit card, in fact). So the idea is to close AAdvantage citi card and:

1/ Get ThankYou Preferred Citi credit card - 3x on travel&gas and 2x on dining everywhere.
2/ Get Chase ultimate Saphire Preferred -2x travel, 2x dining worldwide (I travel at least 2-3 times a year)
3/ Get American Express Premier Rewards Gold card - 3x travel, 2x dining (US only though)

The main idea - is that I can still use any of the above cards with AAdvantage program, right? (as it is card-agnostic) And, I guess, they won't close my AAdvantage account if I close my card. So when I use my new card through a shopping portal (or add it to the dining) I'll earn miles in AAdvantage and points in other rewards program, won't I?

Let me know your thoughts!

More contextual info - I spend around $1.8-2/monthly, eat out $200-300/monthly, everything that's possible - I load on credit card, pay out balance in full every month.

Welcome to Flyertalk.

Each of these cards earns points in the issuer's proprietary rewards program, and none of them can be converted to AAdvantage miles. You can still use these cards at the AAdvantage shopping portal or to buy AA tickets, but you will not be able to combine the points awarded by the credit card company with the miles awarded by the portal.

Hi mia,

Thanks for the reply!
That's right, I don't want to combine (I mean, because it's not possible). The idea is to earn points simultaneously in different programs for same purchases.

Thanks for mentioning it, though!

And you can certainly do that with no problems. I just used the AAdvantage Shopping portal to buy bras from JCPenny.com, and used my Chase Freedom card to pay for the purchase; I got 3x AAdvantage miles from the shopping portal plus 5x Ultimate Rewards points by using Chase Freedom (as department stores are one of their bonus categories this quarter). Did the same thing last year using the AAdvantage portal to buy Christmas candy from Macy's.

I'll add a card to your list to consider: Chase Sapphire Reserve. Offers 3x points on dining and travel, plus travel insurance and primary rental car insurance coverage, plus a $100 credit when you apply for or renew Global Entry or TSA Pre-check. It has a $450 annual fee, which is NOT waived during the first year, but since it also credits you up to $300 on travel expenses charged to the card yearly, that becomes a $150/year fee. For only $55/year more than the Sapphire Preferred, you earn points faster and get more travel benefits. It's not a card for everyone, but since you sound like you travel a lot, it's one that might make sense for you.

Yes, you can do that, but then you will have several accounts of unrelated miles and points. Diversity can be a good strategy if you earn enough in each program for an award, but it might mean that you won't have enough of any one type to redeem for an award.

What is your objective?

• What route(s) do you want to fly on award tickets?
• In economy or in a premium cabin?
• One person, a couple or a family?

Always diversity! I'm invested in all 3 programs and that is what I recommend most folks do.

1. UR is easy to earn via spending. You can combine a lot of cards to optimize your everyday expenses.
2. TYP is easy to earn but isn't worth a whole lot. ATM it can be redeem for 1.6 cpp towards AA flights.
3. MR is hard to earn via everyday expense but easy to earn through various signup bonus.

Also SPG transfers to AA I think.

Thanks for the replies!
Will definitely consider getting another card now!

mia, per your questions:
- domestic 50% (US) as well as international 50% - Southeast Asia/Europe
- most likely economy most of the time, as premium will require more points/miles
- one person

artemis, I'm afraid my credit score (Transunion 680, Equifax 699, FICO 669) won't be enough for this one. What do you think? (It's weird that it's so low, I have 11months history, not a single late payment; probably other loan dragging it down...)

runb4fun,
>1. UR is easy to earn via spending. You can combine a lot of cards to optimize your everyday expenses.
what cards do you mean? i.e. can I use non-Chase cards as well?

No, only other Chase cards, and most with annual fees. The only free ones are the original Freedom (with rotating quarterly 5x bonuses) and Freedom Unlimited (with a fixed 1.5x earning rate). There are annual fee cards that gives bonuses in other categories, but you need significant purchases in those categories to make a separate annual fee work for that.

Unfortunately that probably is too low for you to qualify for the Sapphire Reserve. But keep the card in mind for the future when your score has improved. With luck, the big signup bonus will still be around when you're ready to apply for it. If not, well, there are plenty of other ways to earn Ultimate Rewards points.