If you don't fly, the Premier Pass isn't for you, although even an occassional flight would give you a decent amount of flight points to convert.

I have a Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards card that pays 5 TY points per dollar at gas, grocery, drugstores and 1:1 everywhere else. I average 3-4 pts/dollar with it as I use it almost exclusively at those places and have other cards I use at restaurants and for travel. I actually just got the Premier Pass Amex (which only gives you 1 flight point/3 miles flown) so I can make 2% back at Costco (pairing a purchas pt with a flight pt) instead of the 1% I get with my current Amex.

In addition, if you shop online with Thank You Merchants, you can get 3-10 pts per dollar spent.

But where the real benefit comes in is the fixed price flight options. There are no blackout dates, so during a busy travel season when most airlines have no award availability, you can call TY network and get a flight, no matter how much the cost. If you want to book a domestic flight that would cost you $500, Thank You will book it for 25,000 points. So upon redeeming the points, you get 2:1, and that's on top of the earning ratio I described above.

ON - Why the TY points when they are 1:$1?
- They are not 1:1 on Chairman or PP Elite.
- Its 3:1 on Chairman for select spending
- Its 2:1 of PP Elite for select spending
- Its N:1 on both cards for TY Merchant purchases depending on the
merchant rate
- This is a better return rate than most cards that just offer 1 point per $.
- When comparing to a cash card the evaluation depends upon how you value reward airline ticket versus cash rewards. Some people value airline tickets at 0.015 cents per point or higher.
- This valuation would make both Chairman and PP Elite superior to many 1 pt/$ or cash cards


ON - If it is Airline Club membership with the Merrill+ you want....
- Use the Merrill Card for the first $50k. Then use the cash card.
- If you value the club membership at $350 and the points at 1.5 cents/pt you get a return of 0.022 cents per $ spent for the first $50k.


ON - I understand that the Citi PP Elite is great BUT that is if you fly alot and can match up the miles with the spend. But I don't fly.
- Consider the AMEX HH card. If you stay at premium hotels for your vacations, you can achieve nearly 4% return.
- Consider a cash card.

ON - Even if I could get Chairman card why is it better (than PP Elite)
- Priority Pass membership
- Extra point per $ on select spending
- Unlimited point accumulation each year
- Excellent personal assistant service
- HH Gold Status

I agree with the assessment of the TY program here. There are many cards that could be helpful:

Citi Professional Card - 3pts per $ of gas, car rental, restaurants, and office supplies
Citi Diamond Preferred - 5pts per $ for the 1st year on gas, grocery

However, if convienence is important, then a single card may be better for a $500k annual spend.

centurion + starwood

I have to agree with Dennis on the fact that since he is a "vacation" flyer, there is no way he will fly 500,000pts....to match the 500k spend...

But at that level spend, he will need a card with unlimited earning potential....

What service level is the OP asking for? Does he PIF (deadbeat)?

The $400 chairman will be back out in Q1 07 right drbond...so he could apply for that then, spend as much as he wants up to the limit of flight miles with no earning limit....so that he gets the Priority Pass and HH Gold...and excellent service and Personal Assistants...for $400/yr....He can keep spending on this if he wants but the point/$ will seriously decrease after his vacation flights are over....

so, then he can go with the SPG AMEX -- which I am only recommending since his spend vs flight is so different -- and he can transfer those points to miles and earn SPG GOLD at the same time...I do not knwo if there is a cap on the transferring *points or not...someone who has an SPG can help here...but if there are, then he should do the following:

1) Get an airline branded card to max out the annual miles on that airline...like with AA -- I think he can earn only 60,000miles/yr if he does not status....

2) If he still has spend left over, then he should get another airline branded card....and max that out...

and if still has spend left over, he can mail me a check for the rest....


I would not recommend Centurion....since it will cost him $2500/yr without any meaningful benefits...and there are no flight points...

...need to decide what rewards and benefits you are interested in. Once you do that you can pick between cash, general rewards, airline miles, or hotel points. Just pick an unlimited rewards card.

not being a smart a** -- but is this your standard answer to anyone who asks what type of card they want....how are you helping them?

Thanks so much ...here is my spend patterns...

The $500,000 is not spent on gas, grocery, restaurant, or home impvmt. It is spent on equipment purchases. So, extra points for gas etc. are not valuable.

It would be great to have Elite Status upgrades, or access to Airline clubs for the vacations.

All credit card bills are paid on time.

Seems to me that unless the Airline cards offer double points then the Starwood is better.

How does Centurion or Chairman or Merrill+ offer benefits more than Starwood Amex?

Awake:

I reread your excellent post...

1. I would like High Rate of Rewards
2. I live in Los Angeles
3. I would like Status and Benefits as long as I do not have to give up High Rate of Rewards.

Thanks,
DUKE

Hi Duke,

After thinking a bit about your situation. I would probably choose an unlimited reward card for SPENDING. I might chose other cards just for BENEFITS. I juggled cards for a few years to earn bonuses. That is a bit painful to me. I have much more important things to do (like FlyerTalk).

For you primary SPENDING card, I would choose an unlimited cash card (incl. Fidelity Visa Signature) OR a general reward card like

AMEX SPG
AMEX Platinum/Centurion
Citigroup Chairman
Carte Blanche
Diners Club
Merrill+

I do not think that an airline card is good choice because (a) most of them do not offer unlimited miles for travellers without status, and (b) I doubt that you would spend 500,0000 miles per year. SPG is included in this list because it can be used for hotel stays or mile transfers, so I consider it general rewards.

You should choose a primary airline, as well. In LA, I would choose between AA and United. I have to admit that I am biased towards AA. You can earn lifetime status by transferring miles to the AA program. (If you chose a United credit card, your miles would be limited annually to 60k. Also, transfers to United from SPG are not at an advantageous rate.)

You need to decide how you will use your rewards:

Airline FirstClass
Airline Coach
Hotel
Cash

If you want first class airline tickets, I recommend using SPG AMEX as your primary SPENDING card and transferring to AA.

If you want coach airline tickets, consider Citigroup Chairman (when available). AA shows up pretty often in the thankyou travel program. You will also earn miles for your flights on thankyou reward tickets.

Frankly at $500k annual spending, I would expect the earnings rate between AMEX SPG and Citigroup Chairman to be similar. (Citi may be higher depending upon your spending pattern.) Citi ThankYou program may offer better coach rewards because you can earn airline miles when you use the rewards ticket. The downside is that Citi ThankYou does not offer good rates for first class. Also, Chairman is not available right now.

If you want cash go with an unlimited cashback card. However, I think that first class airline tickets offer a higher value of rewards per $ spent.

I would go with AMEX SPG. I would not choose AMEX Platinum, Diners Club, Carte Blanche, or Merrill+ as my primary spending card because the reward rate is lower than AMEX SPG. Centurion may be higher. I do not have experience with that card.

BENEFITS are a different story. You may consider carrying cards just for the benefits and perhaps spending on those cards to get certain benefits that you want. Pick the benefits/cards that have appropriate value for you. Here is the menu:


HIGH FEE
a. AMEX Platinum - DL/CO/NW club access, Fine Hotels program, SPG Gold Status (which you would earn with $30k spend on AMEX SPG), AAA-like benefits, restaurant access, special events, concierge.
b. Citigroup Chairman - Currently Priority Pass Airline Club Access, HH Gold Status, personal assistant. (In the future this card may offer AA club access when it is available again.)
c. AMEX Centurion - See other threads
d. Diners Club Carte Blanche MC - Concierge/Personal Assistant, plus Diners Club benefits, similar program to AMEX FHR (research this), AA mileage transfers

MODERATE FEE
e. Diners Club MC- Primary rental insurance, AA mileage transfers
f. Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa - Silver Marriott Status
g. Citi AA MC - Reduced mileage awards

NO FEE
h. HH Amex - Automatic Silver Status; Gold Status with $20k spend
g. ML+ Visa- AA or DL club membership with $50k spend

Remember, you will need a Mastercard/Visa as well. Get one with benefits.

Ah, this is business rather than personal spending. Regardless which card(s) you decided to use for your primary spending here are benefits you could receive if you allocate $100,000 to three specific cards during, say, the first quarter of each calendar year:

1. If you spend $20,000 in a calendar year on American Express Hilton HHonors credit card (Fee = $0) you qualify for Gold status in the HHonors program. Reports indicate that if you time it correctly you need use the HHonors card only in alternate years because Hilton actually makes the status effective as soon as you satisfy the spending requirement, and it runs to April of the year after next. $20,000 spending would also generate at least 60,000 HHonors points.

2. If you spend $30,000 in a calendar year on American Express Starwood Preferred Guest credit card (fee = $30) you qualify for Gold Status for the following year. This is a new benefit, no indication that SPG will make the status effective early.

3. If you spend $50,000 in a calendar year on Merrill+ VISA (fee = $0) you would have 50,000 rewards points which could be redeemed for 50,000 British Airways miles or about $500 in gift cards. You would also earn Merrill +3 status which includes benefits such as a one year membership in American Airlines Admirals Club (or Delta Crown Room), and a personal concierge as described here...

https://cards.ml.com/MLRewardsCenter...s-Benefits.htm

However, Merrill has not yet published the 2007 program and the qualification thresholds, benefits or rewards could change. Also, the Terms and Conditions include these statements: Business-related expenses are not eligible for Merrill Points earnings. and purchases made by or for a business or for a business purpose ... will not qualify for achievement of +2 or +3 status. I do not know if Merrill monitors spending or enforces these provisions, but if these benefits appeal to you it may be prudent to use the Merrill+ card for $50,000 of personal spending.

Another possibility ...

4. If you spend $50,000 in a calendar year on American Express Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card you earn 20,000 Elite Qualifying Miles. There is also a Business Platinum Skymiles card. I believe, but do not know for certain, that you could earn 40,000 EQM per year by spending $50,000 on each card. 40,000 is 80% of the amount required for Delta Gold (mid-tier) status. I would not devote $100,000 spending to earn Skymiles or go out of my way to obtain status on Delta until they emerge from bankruptcy, unless I lived in Atlanta, but your judgement may differ.

dennis

double post

Lets keep this as simple as possible:

1) Get the SPG AMEX now since Chairman is not available.....this way you can transfer you points to AA miles earn lifetime PLAT status in 2 yrs without even flying once...giving you the status you want.....and SPG GOLD

2) Get the Chairman when it is available --- just put enough charges on it for the "vacation" flying you do...then match it with spending....giving you the cheap coach tickets in AA which is always on the list of coach flights avaialbe at 25000pts which you can upgrade being the AA LIFE PLAT that you are....

I saw a couple of references to Citi PremierPass card in this and other forums and have to say, before anyone seriously considers carrying this card, read the fine print. I got one of those "you're pre-approved!" mailers with an offer for 0% APR on balance transfers till 1/2008 which is a really good deal; I was actually considering transferring some off of a moderate interest card just for the 0% (I already earn a ton of miles and points so the interest was the only attraction for me)... till I read the back of the offer letter.

Default interest rate (which is what your payments will jump to if you're late even once) is a ghastly 33% today and set at prime+29% variable! That's quite possibly the highest credit card interest rate I have ever seen!

While I am a firm believer in automated payments to safeguard against missed payments (I always have the money but can't always remember what day of the month it is), even these aren't 100% guaranteed as I've had automated payments to other companies black-holed due to computer glitches (their end, not mine). And while I am generally happy with Citi (I carry the card with the TY network), and rarely if ever miss payments to anyone, I just can't in good faith carry this card.

So on whatever offer you go with, read the fine print... free miles on purchases are not worth 33% interest!!!

Interesting approach.....I thought it takes 2 million miles for Lifetime Plat on AA. That's alot of airline vacation flying. Is it worth it? OR, as AWAKE advised get a cash back card at 1 1/2%?