Any reason to stick with DC?
 

I've been a DC holdout for many years, hoping that BMO would improve the card, but nothing seems to be happening. Is there anyone out there who thinks that DC is still worth it? The customer service is atrocious and the card seems uncompetitive, and has been the same for years.

Which card do you have?

I have the professional card - the old one that Citi used to offer

The chip and PIN part is nice at least (though occasionally a liability in the US) and depending on the exact card you have and your travel habits can be the least expensive way to get lounge access.

FWIW the few times I've had to contact their support, they were competent. I wouldn't say they were at the level of, say, Chase's dedicated CSR/CSP line, but my issues were ultimately resolved. The CS representatives for the consumer cards may be different from the old Citi cards though.

Thanks for the reply. The lounge benefits aren't so useful for where I live, and the FX fees are just plain wrong these days. The only thing I think I get is a positive contribution to my credit score since I've been with DC for two decades. I've found their customer service to be patronising and dismissive.

I don't use the lounge benefits enough to make that be the deciding factor for me either. For me, it's the fact that it's the only flexible points credit card program with a decent transfer ratio to secondary hotel programs whose own credit cards make little sense. Since I travel often enough to small towns where the "big" hotel programs have no presence, that has mattered to me.

Thanks for the replies.

I used to justify keeping my DC for the primary car rental insurance. Since the end of last year, I now have another card providing me that.
Then there were the airport lounges. But now all the lounges that accept DC seem to also accept PP that I get from three other cards. So I may end up terminating my DC at renewal time.

I actually feel like DC has some value for the more expensive rentals (e.g. Silvercar) due to the terms being more explicit on the maximum MSRP they'll cover. However, this might not be as big of an issue anymore; since the CSR is a Visa Infinite and Silvercar having discounts for using such a card for booking, Chase might be fine with covering cars rented from them in case of an issue.

Also, there's Club Rewards too, despite points being a lot more difficult to accumulate than, say, UR (mainly due to low earn rates and lack of signup bonuses back when the consumer cards were still open for applications).

Another consideration is that Club Rewards (USA) has a few transfer partners that do not participate in American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards or Citi ThankYou Rewards.

• Alaska Airlines*
• Best Western
• Icelandair
• SAS
• South African Airways

Also, Diners shares several transfer partners in common with Chase Ultimate Rewards, but offers a better transfer ratio to IHG and Marriott, 1250:1500, rather than 1000:1000.

*Alaska Airlines accepts transfers from Starwood Preferred Guest, but with Marriott's takeover of SPG we don't know if SPG will be a viable airline transfer option after 2017.

I had not paid attention to any difference in MSRP covered. Chase reserve seems to go up to $75k. It seems that it is the same for DC unless you have Carte Blanche, in which case it is $100k.
Is that your understanding as well?

When I looked a while ago (before Chase came out with the CSR), DC was $50K per T&C while CSP didn't explicitly mention any upper limit in theirs. The latter had language prohibiting cars considered "exotic" though, which is why it was a good idea to double-check with the benefits administrator before using a Chase card for a more expensive rental.

Anyway, I have no idea if Chase explicitly mentions an upper limit in their T&C for the CSR. If they do and it's indeed higher than DC, that'd be good news.

I checked their document: stated page 2 and 3 is a limit of $75k. There are some exclusions for antique cars, trucks, pickup trucks as well, since they exclude vehicles with an "open cargo bed".
Also vans for more than 8 passengers.

PS: DC has the same exclusions.

I get "an error occurred while processing your request" when I click on the Chase link.

Anyway, I guess that just leaves Club Rewards, lounge access, no FTF (for the Consumer cards) and chip and PIN as reasons to keep the card. I'm not sure if there's anything else, really. Personally, the latter is enough for me to pay the AF considering how rare that feature actually is, but something like the Arrival+ might be more than enough for most.

To me, another plus is the hotel transfer partners and their ratios. Much better ratios than Amex, and very little overlap with Chase. And you obviously can't transfer to hotel partners (other than Marriott) from SPG.

But of course it depends how much you travel to smaller towns / rural locations where some of those "lower end" chains may be the only way to get a room on points. So it's not for everybody, but may be important for some people.