Hi all, new here and would love some of your expert advice!


Started researching and watching tons of Youtube videos about different cards, "trifectas", etc. After much thought I was about to sign up for Citi Strata Premier, and then Get Double Cash and Custom Cash, and eventually PC Double Cash to Custom and then get another Double Cash.


Goals: Do not travel much right now, but will be starting more. Mostly driving to destinations, VA Beach oceanfront which is an hour away, Ocean City, Outer Banks, other east coast beaches, Florida (Orlando for Disney World and Universal, eventually Sea World, Busch Gardens Tampa, and others). In the future we may incorporate flying to All Inclusive Caribbean, doing some cruises, and further down the line international travel to Italy or Ireland. But not often, and not in near future. We don't dine out much, but do occasionally with 2 kids, get take-out occasionally as well. It might equal monthly gas expense.


To maximize both SUB and accumulating points through everyday spending, I thought Citi sounded best- getting 2 Custom Cash for highest rewards which likely are gas and groceries. Other expenses include mortgage, HELOC on a rental house that we otherwise own outright, utilities, insurance, every day online spending like Amazon or other retailers, etc. We also have semi-annual property taxes, HOA, rental property expenses, and I have an LLC small business that I do part-time with not more than a few thousand total expenses per year consisting of gas/mileage, dump fees for disposal of junk, insurances, business cards/sponsorships/advertising, and dump trailer payment. Maybe $3-$4K each year total.


I thought Citi would be best, utilizing 2 Custom Cash cards for what would be highest each month- Grocery and either home improvement or dining, which ever is highest, and Strata for gas at 3% and Double Cash for everything else. Good overall coverage at 5, 3, and 2 percents, without a lot of overlap. Also, bonus that grocery includes in-store whereas Chase is online-only. We don't do that and prefer not to.


Also, the 4X redemption for I Prefer Hotels sounded good, 1 to 2 for Choice Privileges hotels, access to Wyndham and IHG partners- all sounded good. We aren't fancy and don't need luxury accommodations, find with low-mid or mid-tier stuff. Was about to start signing up, when others kept recommendating Chase


The reason kept being 2 reasons- First, that even if earning is less, more benefit with Chase for redemptions. Second being good value with Hyatt. Third being that Citi Customer service is bad, and research seems to reflect that with lots of complaints about service, false fraud alerts and rejected purchases that require waiting time to resolve having to wait for stuff in the mail. That turns me off pretty badly.


However, Chase also seems worse, for our needs, when it comes to earning with lots of overlap benefits, less point accumulation due to lower percentages like 1.5 and 2, and grocery being online-only. One benefit is that's it's VISA instead of MC, so in-person Costco we could use it.


Are the redemption benefits, especially for hotels since we don't fly much, that much better with Chase UR? For hotels, I'd be fine with Hyatt and IHG as well. Maybe down the line might add a Marriott or Hilton Card to make those hotels a better option since as I understand it, you get less point value with them. I'd love to be able to use points to stay on-site at WDW Swan or Dolphin hotels.


So- better to go with Citi for more point accumulation and customized to match our spending categories, or Chase for, as I've been told multiple times, better point redemption and better service?


Citi would be Strata Premier, Double Cash, and Custom Cashes. Chase would be Sapphire Reserve, Freedom Flex, and Freedom Unlimited. Hopefully Bilt 2.0 once they release their new cards in 2026 to cover mortgage and maybe other household/taxes/insurance stuff. Currently have old Barclay Arrival Plus and Wells Fargo Active Cash.


Thanks!

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

You might also take a look at the US Bank Cash+ card:

https://www.usbank.com/credit-cards/...edit-card.html

Note, though, the monthly or quarterly limits that some of these cards have on their bonus categories.

Points earned on the Cash+ card are redeemable for one cent apiece if used as cash on Amazon purchases, or if deposited into a US Bank bank account. I recommend the Amazon route.

Thank you I will consider that one, as 5% is a good rate.

I'd really like to get into either the Citi or Chase system to get a decent chunk of SUB for the group of cards, one set for me and one set for my wife, max out the bonuses from 3x-5x, and pool all the points for mostly hotel points. Aside from Chase UR having access to Hyatt at low cost per point, I'm not sure why everyone seems to say their points are worth more. There's no Hyatt brands in Outer Banks NC for example where there's other chains that do have a few, and few more Wyndham and IHG options at Disney World, and probably some other places too. UR at 1:1 with Chase, 1:2 for Citi. I'm just trying to figure out why I read everywhere that CUR are worth more than CTYP when I can earn a lot more points at 3x-5x with Citi than I can with Chase.

For those of us who travel to destinations with Hyatt properties, Hyatt points tend to be very valuable.

If you're planning to get a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve card, it's a good idea to pair it with a no-annual-fee Chase Freedom Flex Mastercard, which earns 3% at drug stores, and has rotating quarterly 5% categories. (This quarter it's gas and EV charging stations, select live entertainment venues, and Instacart.)

Note that Rakuten currently offers $25 cash back on a successful Chase Sapphire Preferred application if you are a Rakuten member and access the CSP application page via the Rakuten link.

ultimately it depends on your redemption patterns. some people find that hyatt gives good value, but it may not be so to you since you are ok with cheaper alternatives and dont travel alot. personally, i have been redeeming my aa miles at more than 3cpp, which is a lot higher than what people usually value them. this also makes citi typ, the only transfer partner to aa, very valuable to me. instead of using the valuation of other people, the best way to find out for now is to look at some mock bookings and see which program work out best for you

also, it is better to have a few applicable transfer partners rather than one, as programs may change (devalue), and having options help minimize the impact or simply the fact that there isnt a program that is the best in all situations

the earning rate also affects the the overall value, and since everyone's spending patterns are different, you need to see which suits you best. for example, most of my spend is on travel, and citi is 3x, while chase is 2x (i dont qualify for the chase ink card which gives you 3x), citi arguably gives me more value even if i dont consider aa miles

also, chase and citi can be complimentary. citi and chase has no overlapping partners if we are only talking about hotels. i have little experience with redeeming hotel awards, so i cant say if all the hotel programs are useful, but if they are, you may want to consider getting into citi for yourself and chase for your wife (or vice versa). it is also a good idea to have cards from different issuers and different payment network, which can help against rejected payments or being shut down, etc. further

im one of the person who complained about citi fraud detection on this forum. it is definitely annoying when it happens, but at least it has been quite infrequent. idk if it is worth boycotting citi over, especially since the reverse could also be true. most recently, i wanted to buy a ticket from avianca, and chase rejected the transaction. i guess that it's because chase suspected fraud, but the notification didnt come until some time later. as it was in the middle of the night, i didnt want to call customer service, so i paid with a citi card and it went through

Those people who say the Chase UR are worth more are mostly the ones who want to redeem for Hyatt and longhaul major airlines in business class or above.

I agree that Citi TYP is often a better value for someone who mainly stays in the US, and travels to smaller places, and wants to stay in lower-end hotels.

I also like lower end hotels because I'm a senior who sleeps best with a temperature at around 67F by bedside, and lower-end hotels like most Choice hotels and Best Westerns and even Hampton Inn at Hilton and Holiday Inn Express at IHG tend to have air conditioners at the window aimed at the bed, while higher end hotels, or even upgraded rooms at some mid-tier hotels including Hyatt, all too often have the air conditioner aimed away from the bed, which makes cooling the bed harder especially if you arrive in the evening for a one-night stay.

Hopefully you're able to pay all your credit card bills in full each month, however, since there is one big difference AFAIK between other 2% cards like WF Active Cash, and Citi DoubleCash. Most 2% cards are just that, but Double Cash actually gives only 1% when you buy and only gives the other 1% when you pay. So if you pay all your bills each month, that's not that huge a difference, but if you don't, it could mean a long time before you earn the other 1%.

And I also agree that the US Bank Cash+ card can be worth it, because if you have utility bills that you can pay with a credit card, US Bank Cash+ can be set to earn 5% back on those.

Thanks for your perspective. I also like a nice chilly room with a strong AC

I had a conversation with a few people who convinced me that the best play is to start with what can help with growing points quickest, and while I could probably get more with Citi's cards on spending multipliers that I would be able to accumulate much more with Chase through more SUB, both for CSP, referral to P2 (spouse), and a supplemental Freedom, refer to her again, and then there's personal and business Ink card SUB. Obviously not all right away, but over time we'd get more with SUBs on those than a few more multipliers on daily Citi cards. Also probably will end up getting the Strata Premier and a Custom Cash for the SUBs and custom monthly 5% and access to Wyndham/IHG if/when we wanted, or a different airline if needed. Basically end up with a Hybrid setup, and over time add an HHonors card, Amex Gold, etc.

I hope that's the right play, utilize a few cards for their benefits, get points through select spending on different platforms, but also utilize SUB and P2 to have enough on them to use when needed. So I applied for CSP earlier in the day, now waiting on it to come in the mail. And if Hyatt is good I'm good with that, we go to Virginia Beach oceanfront and there's 2 Hyatts on the boardwalk so we can always use points for those. I've seen that Marriott/Bonvoy program is not as good as it used to be which is sad, because I would have liked to combine Chase UR and a future Marriot Bonvoy card's points to stay at Disney Swan or Dolphin. But there's plenty of other Disney Springs hotels in other groups.