Amex biz plat has 1.5x on large purchases and a 95K-100K SUB probably the best way to go. Another option would be to go with Amex BBP (10K SUB) or BBCash ($500), which offer 2x MR or 2% cash up to 50K, respectively.

Moving into a new house in 2 weeks, waiting on closure of mortgage to open cards. I've been abstinent on applications for the last few months, so I'm at 2/24 but will be buying a lot of furniture etc for the move. Looking to apply for multiple cards quickly to capitalize, and was looking at advice with the order as well. Flex seems great especially with the 5x grocery which I can max on spend, but should I grab another Chase card first with a bigger SUB at risk that the 5x intro goes away?
I do find MR somewhat difficult to redeem especially since I have my 200K VA and international travel is basically off limits now. I have Companion Pass through summer 21, so if I qualified this year I'd really only extend by 6 months. Having said that, I'm not sure if getting another airline card would be a ton of benefit now since I do have the CP for essentially another year from now. Also not sure if I should be overlapping benefits and annual fees ie Platinum (Hilton/Marriott Gold) and Biz Plat or adding another AA card since my wife still has hers, or if it's worth banking HH, Marriott, Delta, United points/miles/benefits in current climate. I love my Hyatt and their new 2020 promos are great and value HH/Marriott equally but not as much as Hyatt. Was leaning towards Marriott Biz since it comes with a free night.
I have CSR (3 year), SW priority, Hyatt (<1 year), CIC, Ink Unlimited, SW Biz, AMEX Plat (1.5 years), BBP, Blue Cash Plus.
Currently have ~200K Virgin Atlantic from canceled COVID, ~200K AMEX, ~250K UR, ~70K Southwest
Flying out of MSY so Alaska and Jetblue have no value to me
Right now I'm leaning towards Chase Flex (no AF, likely will have no issue maxing 5x grocery) and an AMEX Biz (which one?) applying on the same day.

Seeking credit card recommendation
 

The card isn't for me but for someone else so perhaps if I give you a profile you could help me pick a card for that person.

a) Cannot afford to meet the spending requirements for a bonus from a premium card so that is out of the question. Now that we got that out of the way:
b) Wants a cash back or rewards that also generates a cash equivalent
c) No annual fee
d) Phone insurance is good
e) Makes one foreign trip a year so not having foreign exchange fees is a plus
f)Trip cancellation insurance is good
g) Damage and theft insurance is desirable
i) Car rental insurance would be nice but not essential

The shortlist so far is:
1) Chase Freedom Flex (checks all the boxes with the only exception that it has a 3% foreign exchange fee)
2) BOA Cash Rewards (for the higher rate of earnings based on the second tier but it may only offer cash rebates and not the other features)
3) Citi Double Cash (2% earnings but it may not offer features)
4) Costco Anytime Visa (seems to check most boxes but may not offer trip cancellation insurance, and does not offer phone insurance)

Dammit, if only the Freedom Flex offered no foreign exchange fees it would have been no-brainer. Now it involves compromises. Any suggestions?

Also, do any Capital One cards fulfill the conditions above?
Will the Freedom Flex come with a sign on bonus?

Here again is the criteria (updated)

I. Cannot afford to meet the spending requirements for a bonus from a premium card so that is out of the question. Now that we got that out of the way:
II. Has COSTCO membership in a round about way in the sense that the person (wanting the credit card) is a spouse of a COSTCO member and has membership only because of the COSTCO card allows for additional "household" cards. Does that count to get a Citi COSTCO Visa standalone card?
III) Annual spend on potential card about $7K
IV) Wants SINGLE card for all spend (no multiple cards so 1 size fits all scenario)
V) Wants a cash back or rewards that also generates a cash equivalent
VI) No annual fee
VII) Phone insurance is good
VIII) Makes one foreign trip a year so not having foreign exchange fees is a plus
IX)Trip cancellation insurance is good
X) Damage and theft insurance is desirable
XI) Car rental insurance would be nice but not essential
XII) Currently has a BOA account that would qualify for Tier 2 status at BOA.
XIII) While it is highly desirable to have a VISA for shopping at COSTCO , it is not essential as that spend could be put on an ATM card.

The shortlist so far is:
1) Chase Freedom Flex (checks all the boxes with the only exception that it has a 3% foreign exchange fee)
2) Chase Freedom Unlimited (drawbacks: doesn't offer phone coverage, has 3% foreign transaction fee but is a VISA so can facilitate COSTCO shopping)
3) Costco Anytime Visa (seems to check most boxes but may not offer trip cancellation insurance, and does not offer phone insurance)

Dammit, if only the Freedom Flex offered no foreign exchange fees it would have been no-brainer. Now it involves compromises. Any suggestions?

Also, do any Capital One cards fulfill the conditions above?
Will the Freedom Flex come with a sign on bonus?

Of the choices listed, I'd probably opt for the Freedom Flex. Cell phone insurance, trip cancellation/delay, extended warranty, purchase protection, and limited rental car insurance coverage. (And 20,000 UR sign-up bonus for $500 spend in 3 months.)

I cannot think of any no-fee credit cards (off the top of my head) that don't charge foreign transaction fees.

Thanks. That's what I was leaning towards.

Separately, the only one I can think of that has no foreign exchange fees is the Citi Costco Card but needs to have a COSTCO membership.

The BoA travel rewards seems like a good option for you. 2.25% on all purchases when points are used to erase travel charges. No annual fee and no foreign transaction fees. Current bonus of 25k points ($250) for $1k spend.

Don't get hung up on the necessity of a Visa for Costco. You can purchase Costco Cash cards online with other payment types and use in the warehouse. We do this often, although we do have the Costco Visa, when there is a warehouse bonus shopping promo

Capital One Savor - 3% dinning 2% grocery

TD Bank Cash 3% dining 2% grocery

Indeed, don't get hung up on the idea that you must choose one card. If Chase Flex meets all the criteria except VISA network and FTF, supplement it with a free VISA that has no FTF, such as any VISA issued by Capital One. When choosing "cash" as the reward type there is no compelling reason to stay with one card or family of cards, because cash from all issuers can be combined.

Diversifying away from Chase?
 

I have some large expenses coming up and was thinking to add a card fro SUB. I am entrenched in UR currently, have all business cards, CSR, CF, CFU, SW, Hyatt and use most of my points for my family on SW and Hyatt. I was thinking to diversify to MR (Amex Gold 75k SUB) or TYP (Premiere) but I dont really have any upcoming uses for any of their travel partners. So my question is, should I diversify just for the sake of diversifying even though no real use of points for the time being or continue to bank UR points. Thanks

If you have no use for AMEX or Citi transfer partners then I recommend you diversity to cash. US Bank Altitude Reserve comes with a 50k ($750) bonus and lets you redeem your points at $0.015/pt value towards any travel expense. You can’t use Chase, Citi, or AMEX points at $0.015 value to cover things like hotel charges to your room, Uber and taxi rides, point of sale car rental charges, or upgrades or incidentals at airlines (separate and apart from any travel credit you receive). If you’re not an Apple or Samsung Pay user, you’d be extremely surprised how many places accept it and this will up your earnings to 4.5% CB at many non-bonus category places. Since money is fungible, I’m always redeeming my AR points any time I have an opportunity to at $0.015/pt.

There are better cashback schemes (BOA with Platinum Honors status) but this is the simplest with the most broad (and getting broader) bonus category with mobile wallet.

Capital One Quicksilver, 1.5% cashback all purchases (as mentioned, All C1 cards have no FTF)
Hotel.com Visa, 2.2% back towards Hotels.com free nights
BECU Cash Back Visa, 1.5% cashback on all purchases
Apple Card, 3% Apple Pay with Apple + some merchants/2% Apple Pay/1% physical card

You can cash out UR right now at 1.5 cpp through 9/30 on Pay Yourself Back. I agree that looking at cashback products might be the way to go.

Advice on credit card strategy requested
 

I've searched around but haven't been able to find anything like what I am considering. I would really like some input from other FT members who may have a different perspective than me.

I was looking over my credit cards and their limits and it raised a question that hadn't occurred to me. If I have two cards that are fairly equal, for instance; the Aviator Red and the Aviator Business, would I be better off keeping the business card and cancelling the personal one? Here's my thinking. My score is over 800, my personal card limits are over $100k, and my annual salary is under $100k, so I don't really need to improve my score or increase my credit limits. By keeping the business cards it would lower my "available" credit as far as the credit card companies are concerned which should increase my odds on acquiring new cards. Is this a good idea or is there a flaw in my logic that I am over-looking? Would I be better off simply asking them to lower my limit on my current cards? Thanks for taking the time to read this post and reply.

I am no expert on this, but unless you are paying an AF on a CC that you no longer value the benefits, you should keep as many CC as you can manage open, especially on one that has over $100K credit line. You credit utilization is part of the equation on figuring out your credit worthiness, so if you lose $100K in available credit, you credit score will likely suffer in the short term. If that CC has an AF that you no longer wish to pay, it's probably better to downgrade to one without AF while keeping that credit line, IMO. I am sure others with more knowledge can chime in if I am off on this.

LAX