DrRodneyMcKay

I'm hoping my fellow flyertalk-ers can help me out with this one.

Up until now, I haven't acquired any flexible currency credit cards (e.g. MR, UR, etc. points) - I've mostly relied on my co-branded hotel and airline credit cards for points earning and benefits. I know, I know, but at the moment it's not realistic for me to have too many annual fee credit cards. However, looking forward, I'd like to acquire a flexible currency credit card so that I have more options and flexibility in travel. The question, of course, is which one to go for, so here's a little bit about my travel aspirations:

-I'm not particularly interested in redeeming for unique or high tier airline travel. Business class is nice, sure, but I fly mostly domestic or transatlantic (US to Europe) so I can deal with not having a first class seat with champagne.
-I'm a huge hotel geek. I love being able to stay at unique hotels - historical properties, non cookie-cutter experiences, etc. I like to take advantage of Marriot's Luxury collection, Hilton's Waldorf-Astoria, etc. So, having a card through which I could transfer points to hotel chains, not just airlines, would be great (even if that requires multiple transactions - I believe I read on a blog post somewhere that you can transfer a flexible points currency to Avios, then to Hilton Honors, for example?)
-I would also, however, hugely appreciate being able to use whatever points I earn towards independent/non-chain properties. There's a lot of unique hotels out there whose cash rates are pretty high, so I'd love to be able to redeem points towards that stay, even if 1 point gets me 1 cent. A few of these properties won't necessarily show up through a portal like Amex Travel.

Regarding spend, mine is mostly split between restaurants, grocery/supermarkets, and travel, which are all categories I can maximize with the right card.

Based on that, what are your suggestions? I'm wary of getting anything with MR points, even if they do have great bonuses/offers, precisely because you have to book through the Amex Travel portal. I'm tempted by the Barclaycard arrival because of the way its points can be redeemed toward travel, or one of the Chase UR points because it allows transfers to Marriott, IHG, etc as well as (I believe) statement credits on travel purchases.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

Duke787

Couple of thoughts.

1) Citi Prestige - the 4th night free benefit is applicable to nearly any hotel in the world. You can now utilize TYP against the bookings though in many cases you need cash but the 25% off is a big benefit and releases you from being tied just to the major chains (particularly useful to me in some places like Santorini / Bali / etc., where the major chains don't play in the same league as individual hotels or high-end chains with no reward program). TYP as a whole aren't an overly valuable currency IMO (though minimum 1.25 CPP on direct redemptions and some value plays like SQ / FlyingBlue / Turkish Miles & Smiles / etc., if you look hard enough - I push all my TYP to SQ or FB and then supplement with AMEX MR or Chase UR to top off for a redemption since I perceive TYP to be least valuable of the set).

2) My favorite flexible currency combo is CSR for the 3x on travel / restaurants combined with the Chase Freedom Unlimited which is 1.5x on everything (my go to card at Costco since they are Visa only) and the Chase Freedom (5x rotating) - especially since only the CSR has an annual fee. It allows you to really maximize categories and then at a minimum get a 1.5 CPP redemption option for straight bookings through the Chase Portal plus the option of transferring to IHG / Marriott and most importantly Hyatt (very valuable for PH aspirational properties like Maldives / Tokyo / Sydney)

3) Since you have hotel co-brand already I assume you have an SPG Amex? If not that's the automatic no-brainer to start with especially with the 35k bonus I think they are offering. Just remember Chase utilizes 5/24 so assuming you are currently under 5/24 you'll have to sequence CSR first or else you might be out of luck to get it.

sdsearch

First, keep in mind that SPG Amex + SPG program is not likely to be around (at least in its present form with its present 1:1:1 usefulness) for any more than maybe another year or so, due to the merger with Marriott.

Second, adding toward 5/24 can be avoided by applying for a business card with most banks (Cap One and Discover being the main exceptions), but the latest SPG business Amex offer requires a whopping $10k spend in 6 months (in two steps), while the same offer half a year ago only required $8k spend (in two steps). The personal requires far less spend for the same 35k, but does count towards 5/24.

DrRodneyMcKay

Thank you both! I did have the SPG Amex - signed up for it a couple years ago and got the bonus. But I don't stay at many SPG properties, so the $85 annual fee wasn't worth it for me to get just 1 point/dollar for most spend. I am hugely tempted by the CSR, but again am having trouble justifying the $95 annual fee considering that my yearly spend isn't that huge (I'd estimate it at about $20k). Even with the bonus categories I'd have to spend at leas $3k on dining and travel to "break even" and I have trouble justifying that to myself.

toomanybooks

I think you are confusing the CSR with the CSP.

Agree on the Citi Prestige. 25% off 4-night stay. 20% off 5-night. Can often stack this with "stay 2, get 3rd free" offers.

DrRodneyMcKay

I may have, yes. But even with the $300 airline credit, I' m still essentially paying a $150 annual fee, which, again, I have a hard time justifying to myself even with the travel and dining bonus category. I don't like the concept of having to spend X amount of money on a credit card just to break even for their annual fee before I start actually earning miles/points. For example, I could earn double points on everything with the Amex Business Blue card, so why would I pay such a hefty yearly fee for that extra point on travel and dining?

Duke787

Well here's how I justify it.

We went to Santorini this year. The hotel was $600/night for 4 nights. We used the Citi Prestige to book it so we saved $600.

We went to Puerto Vallarta this year. The hotel was $450/night for 4 nights (all inclusive Hyatt). We used the Citi Prestige to book it, saved $450, and were still able to use a Hyatt DSU to upgrade the room.

We are going to Brussels in December. The hotel is $100/night for 4 nights. We are using the Citi Prestige and so we'll save $100.

We are going to Bali next year for our honeymoon. The hotel is $450-500/night for 4 nights. We'll use the Citi Prestige to book it and save $450-500.

List goes on and on.

I don't just break even on the Citi Prestige, I end up very much in the black and that's before even considering the actual points earning you get out of it.

It's an incredibly strong value prop if your focus is hotels especially if you are interested in non-chain hotels where you can't necessarily use points. Everytime I think about cutting it out because of the annual fee I just can't, as long as you are able to put together a couple of 4 night blocks for trips each year, you should be able to easily make back the annual fee. Plus retention is often a couple of bonus points thrown your way on travel - last year mine was 7x on travel right before I had a slew of bookings (those first two in particular) so I netted a handsome number of points on top of the 4th night free (and you get points on the full purchase, not just the post credit amount).

javabytes

I agree on Citi Prestige for 4th night free, which is fantastic for non-chain hotels.

Some of your other requirements, I don't understand: "I'd love to be able to redeem points towards that stay, even if 1 point gets me 1 cent" - Just get a cash back card if that's what you want, rather than fuss with points transfers.

As far as flexible award currencies for hotel awards, there are really not too many interesting opportunities out there, as most credit cards are focused on air partners rather than hotel (at least at any sort of reasonable transfer rate). Chase --> Hyatt is perhaps the notable exception.