The above is perfectly correct.

Also keep in mind, a lot of people also have AmEx Platinum and probably Gold card too. So AmEx card holders already get Uber and GrubHub/Seamless benefits. Some of us do not use them either. Now you add two more vendors. You need more micro-management skills to keep track of them all.

I can see some young people living in metro area can benefit from ride-share and food delivery. But how many of them have the energy to keep track of saving $2 or $5, here and there? Most of them do not.

Also CSR should be the premium card, targeting the more affluent customers. Those people probably use those "benefits" less often than the young people.

I'm sure that's what their marketing people told them but it only works if people fall for it. The CSR fit a nice niche that no other card really hit before this change so it isn't a sure thing that people felt it was stagnant.

Chase CSR is still a leading premium travel/dine card. But it is not the top one any longer. You would be surprised how many cardholders care about this $100 increase.

The appeal of CSR vs AmEx card is its vendor independence on its travel and dine benefits. But that has been changed. The appeal is gone. CSR is a copycat of AmEx cards now.

Many already have Amex Platinum. When CSR was $450 it was easier to justify holding 2 premium cards but not now.

I don't know if "move the needle" is the right phrase; I think it's more about keeping the existing cardholders in the target demographic happy while Chase jacks up the annual fee. If you use either of the benefits as much as a typical Valley millennial does the fee bump pays for itself even in back-of-the-envelope math, so the initial reaction to the fee hike is "cool, but I get even more benefits". Meanwhile Chase is quietly getting a bulk discount, but more importantly is only promising these benefits through December 2021, whereas the fee hike is obviously permanent.

And I disagree in part on ROI of rewards -- I think the CSR is absolutely targeted at the consumer who is more conscious of the actual cost of card benefits. Chase all along had the angle of trying to bring more of these affluent types into their brand portfolio, and I don't think the CSR was ever going to steal people who don't have the sense to understand that putting non-categorizing spend on an Amex Plat or Centurion card is a terrible financial decision. The whole marketing effort behind the card was focused on the actual cash value of the rewards, not their "bling factor".

The CSR's original sell versus the Plat was that it had actually useful, easy-to-understand benefits.

I think this is overstating the case here...
1) Putting non-bonus spend on an Amex Platinum is not a "terrible" financial decision. It is just a decision that doesn't necessarily maximize rewards. Overlevergaing, defaulting on loans, overspending, etc, are "terrible financial decisions."
2) Tons of people put non-bonus spend on a CSR when they could get 1.5x by also holding a CFU - are they making a "terrible decision" as well?
3) There was, and is, a ton of bling factor in the appeal of CSR - look, this card can get me to Paris, Maldives, Bora Bora, Tokyo, etc...

At the end of the day, this is a hobby. Some extremely smart and successful people don't care all that much and put all their spend on one card. Some analyze every penny.

Okay, I exaggerated a little bit. It's a financial choice which performs strictly worse in all scenarios. It's probably akin to burning a $1 bill - it's not going to actually cause most people financial strain, but it's also unequivocally not the best choice.

There are plenty of wealthy people who couldn't care less about optimizing that $1, but the CSR is not the card for them - and no "Lyft Pink status" is going to sway them on that.

Obviously it's a matter of opinion (and anecdotal), but I find it hard to believe that one. I don't know anyone who got a CSR and is sharing what a "luxury experience" it is - I know lots of people who talk about the dollar value of what they get out of it. In contrast, the people I know with Amex Plats are more likely to talk about the status comps, Centurion Lounges, or concierge.

It's hard to get useful data. We're all likely overly influenced by the information readily available to us, rather than having access to a representative data set.. Single data point example - the desk person at the Aman Tokyo said the CSR was his favorite card and he sees it frequently.

I do wonder about the target demographics for the various premium cards. The people I know who who do "luxury experiences" tend not to care particularly about status comps and Centurion Lounges. For example, if you're traveling international J or F on a major airline, status doesn't get you much and you get lounge access. On the other hand if you need benefits from a card to get the luxury experience, these can be very valuable benefits.

Not true. See the Amex forum for those who spend $1m on their platinum just to receive Centurion invitation.

on the other hand, if you buy J or F and stay in RC/St Regis/etc., Amex offers way better benefit/savings through IAP and FHR.

Also depending on your domestic travel patterns, the Centurion Lounge may well be the best lounge option money can buy.

You said I was kidding. But you did not answer my question that, how many of those 4.5 millions college graduates are tech genius and are targeted by Chase as its key demographic?

Some people are married to the CC they committed. So they won't listen....

Just some background info.

AmEx clearly targets the more affluent business executives and professionals. The original AmEx cards are status symbols for wealth and wealthy people. A lot of them do not even care about the annual fees. Also AmEx has a lot of travel services with various sizes of corporations and businesses. A lot card holders carry AmEx corporate cards. This is how the brand royalty was built. And more, the original AmEx cards are charge cards. The wealthy and business cardholders do not carry balances. So AFs and other travel related fee revenues were the main and still the main revenue base for AmEx. Look at the current AmEx Platinum offerings. None of the other premium CCs offer anything close to Platinum benefit package: Global Lounge; Fine Hotels & Resorts; 5x on flights; both Hilton and Marriott Gold; International Airline Program; Departure Magazine; No fee Gold card with Global Entry/Pre-check; and $175 for 3 sub cards.

As a commercial bank with deposit base, Chase targets individuals and families. CSR was designed for the busy professionals and families. With its record jaw-dropping 100,000 UR bonus, it generated a lot of publicity and the card went viral. The rest is all we know. So Chase did not compete with AmEx for the business travelers.

I think in general, this CSR product update is negative as a whole. I do not think it helps Chase to acquire more card holders. The 100,000 point excitement is long gone. Chase CSR still have its solid following, but it is just another premium travel credit card. The competitive landscape is wide open.

Going forward, I expect AmEx continues to maintain its status symbols and for its value of global lounge and other travel benefits. The Citi DC and BofA preferred Reward, Cash Reward and Travel Reward offer very strong tremendous value and are much easier to use for the mass consumers. Chase CSR is still "one of the premium" travel cards. But it is not the king of travel card any more.

The youngsters in my family already married to Uber and Uber eats. They do not even use GrubHub/Seamless. They have no intention to switch. I think very soon the their companies will issue them corporate credit cards, probably AmEx cards to cover Uber rides and possible food and food delivery for working late hours.

No, they never had my CSR, but they carry the AmEx Plat cards and they enjoy Centurion, Delta lounges and international lounges overseas.... Also AmEx Platinum cards all have different card numbers. They can pay their own bills. Chase CSR can't do that....

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/31691527-post113.html especially the last sentance

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/31693733-post122.html

For me, the main value of the Amex Plat would be IAP, but the few tests I've had people run have not shown much value. I don't see value in their lounges and see many reports of overcrowding https://www.google.com/search?q=cent...ge+too+crowded Virtuoso and other TAs seem to provide more value than FHR, even with the hotel status. Credit card as status symbol? Magazine? This no doubt colors my view of Amex.

I agree that the CSR update is a negative as a whole.