1 point per dollar on other spendings.
Transfer to partner airline and hotel programs

Recent discussion here: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...gold-card.html

Primary thread: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...it-2022-a.html

The biggest caveat to the Gold Card is that Amex is stringent about places being coded as a "Restaurant". About a third of the restaurants in my town are classified as "bars/clubs/lounges" (to be fair, I live in a college town).

Contrast that to Chase Sapphire Preferred, where any bar earns 3x. I prefer having the peace of mind knowing that, whenever I eat out, the multiplier applies. Plus I prefer UR points over MR points.

That other thread has me rethinking my prior position on Amex Gold.

(1) I don't want to constantly be thinking "have I been to Shake Shack this month?" I go there maybe 3x a year as it is. None of the other options on that list interest me or are near me.
(2) I do not use food delivery services and will not do so no matter how much a credit card tries to coax me.
(3) I *do* use Uber and Lyft, but I sometimes go months without them - or have cases where Lyfts are closer to me than Uber or vice versa. I have no brand preference here but would have months where I don't use the credit.
(4) I don't want to have to constantly be writing Amex about miscategorized restaurants.

So I think I'm still open to ideas on maximizing value from spend on travel, dining, groceries, and general spend. Starting to wonder if my Costco Visa and simple 3% cashback on travel/dining isn't as bad as I thought it was.

I already have all of the premium perks like PP, etc. through my various hotel credit cards. I just need to figure out where my future spend is going and I'm probably ready to move it away from hotel points given my existing stash.

With more and more retailers now accepting mobile-wallet payments, you can earn 4.5% as a credit towards future travel purchases by getting the US Bank Altitude Reserve Visa. You would earn 4.5% back on all "travel" purchases, and 4.5% back on all mobile-wallet purchases. The annual $325 credit on travel/dining purchases and generous retention offers can bring the $400 annual fee down to a net of $0 -- or less.

I currently have the Delta Amex Platinum card. And all restaurants I go to including pubs, sports bars are included. Do you think the Amex Gold Card would treat those different, considering they are both Amex cards?

Looking at the Delta Amex Platinum's official terms it says "You will not earn additional miles for purchases at bars, nightclubs, cafeterias, and convenience stores." I imagine the Amex Gold and Delta Platinum would both face the same issue.

If you go to a sports bar and it's actually coded as a restaurant (I imagine a place like Buffalo Wild Wings would be like this) it will count as a restaurant and you'll get your bonus. There is no rhyme or reason from my experience; it's not like Amex sends an auditor to to establishment to compare how many people are drinking vs. eating. I think it comes down to what the the establishment self-identified as when they installed their transaction system.

I use my Chase Sapphire transaction history to tell what places are "bars" or "restaurants". Of course, Chase's bonus category is labeled "dining" so they provide 3x regardless.

In general, classification codes are selected by the merchant's acquirer, the company which processes their card transactions. In many cases merchants own several businesses, they often use the same underlying account to process all of their card transactions, and this can cause inaccurate classifications at some locations. All card issuers which offer category based bonuses have this problem, and they all disclaim responsibility in their terms.

Quick q on what card I should apply for next.

I'm at 5/24 until 3/30/2024. I have the AmEx Plat, C1 Venture X, CSP, CFreedom, CFreedom Flex, and Chase IHG Rewards Premier card. I've been eyeing the C1 Venture for the SUB, but C1 has called out that I've had too many recent inquiries when I applied 2-3 months ago for the Venture. Do you think I should wait to pursue the Venture with C1? Try and move to Citi? Or pursue a business card to get back under 5/24? Any other rec's?

I've also got my eyes on the AmEx Gold at some point, but was going to leave that for my "end game." What card would you recommend pursuing at this point? Thanks in advance.

In the Information Desk forum, you've asked about which FFP you should concentrate on, given your expected future air travel. You might want to consider deferring your decision on the next credit card to get until you decide on an FFP. If you opt to go with AA, for example, you might want to sign up for one or more AA cards, not only for the mileage bonuses, but also because each dollar charged to such a card earns one Loyalty Point towards AAdvantage elite status. If, one the other hand, achieving oneworld status (though not necessarily AAdvantage status) is a priority, and you decide that crediting your future AA/oneworld flights to BA or IB would enable you to achieve higher elite status sooner, then an AA card becomes irrelevant, unless you just want to amass a bunch of redeemable AA miles through SUBs.

Hello all,
I have Cap1 Venture and Chase Sapphire Preferred so far, and got 90k points in each of them. I will be moving out of US and settle down in South Asian country soon, which means I will have very limited usage of cards and will shut them down. But I have a upcoming good expense of around $7000 and thinking of getting a card, which can give me some points for these expense.
In options I can apply for any Citi AA cc. Low SUB (60,000) and low AF. Or else I can apply for Amex platinum. High SUB (can get probably 150k) and $695 fees. If I go for Amex, I assume even with high AF, its SUB will surpass value of overall points ???
At this stage I am less focusing on perks, and more on SUB. Later even if I close cards, I will have points to use them on air travel. What would you suggest?
Thanks

If you close an account with transferrable points, those remaining points will go away. To avoid that, you'll need to either:

1. Convert your card to a no-annual-fee version which uses the same type of points
2. Transfer your points to a partner before closing your CC account

You may already know that, but I wanted to be clear just in case. If you're planning on option 2, the advantage of transferable points goes away and it opens the door to just getting some airline-specific credit card with non-transferable points from the get-go.

If you are getting a card just to churn it, it's easy math to determine which is best bang for the buck. Just be sure to consider minimum spending requirements.

guv1976 Thanks for the reply.

I live outside of the US (in London) and travel a decent bit, but don't travel consistently with one airline/alliance enough to pursue FF status, so mostly seeking transferrable points from the SUBs. Any quick guidance/thoughts based on that?

If some of the flights you anticipate taking would be a better deal by paying cash rather than by redeeming miles, you might take a look at the US Bank Altitude Reserve card, which earns cash credits which can be applied to the cost of "travel" (flights, hotels, car rentals) booked directly with the supplier (i.e., you don't have to book through the card's travel portal). The card's SUB is $750 in credits, which is not huge. But the card earns 4.5% in travel credits on all "travel" purchases, and and on all purchases made with mobile wallet. The card also provides eight annual Priority Pass visits, good at PP restaurants and lounges. (I understand that the Amex Platinum PP benefit now excludes restaurants.)

I'm a little surprised to learn that, living in London, you don't expect to fly enough with oneworld to attain status -- especially since you mentioned expecting to fly internationally in Business or PE. Just 1½ intercontinental roundtrips in either class would get you oneworld Ruby if you credited the flights to Iberia Plus; three such roundtrips would get you oneworld Sapphire. But then you'd be earning Avios; earning a different FF "currency" might be more valuable for future redemptions.

Does the Realtime Rewards algorithm recognize (example) airline merchant accounts hosted outside the USA or billed in another currency?

I am using thepointcalculator to check the valuation (I hope this is how we should check?).
Amex Platinum, 150k points worth $2100.
AA card, 60k points worth $840.
Even after paying $695, 150k points of Amex sits higher, unless I get two AA cards (for 50k + 60k points)