notquiteaff

well, the S&P is actually not that cheap anymore. VTI sells for about the same as last year May (and many considered it overvalued then). You should have cashed out in March to buy VTI. Another way to look at it: if you are right and UR no longer grave travel utility due to permanent/mid-term impact of covid-19 on travel, maybe another major drop is coming.

But I am holdIng on to my CSR. For now, I am happy earning 5X UR for groceries, probably my largest expense other than health insurance. I can always cash them in later - no actual cash back card offers 5%, I think. And if air travel continues to be a problem, I could buy hotel rooms via Chase Travel or transfer to Hyatt for road trips.

UA miles on the other hand... or for that matter, any airline “currency” is less attractive to me at this time. I am still due 25k miles from Chase for my 40k+25k Explorer offer from pre-covid times (applied in Jan), but no current spend goes on any airline card. My trusty old UA Select VISA is finally going to be cancelled/downgraded.

uastarflyer

Wait, CSR offers 5% on groceries? Is there a link?

WineCountryUA

Too late for new applicants, this changes each quarter
Freedom 2020 Q2 bonus categories: grocery, fitness clubs, gyms & "select" streaming.

uastarflyer

The post I responded to referred to CSR (Sapphire Reserve) as getting 5% on groceries.

notquiteaff

There is a long thread about this and related temporary Chase offers. Here is a post from that thread with the email that went out yesterday. I already received 5X for purchases on 5/2, so definitely works.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/32353922-post66.html

PsiFighter37

Starting to put groceries on my Presidential Plus now...5x miles + $ spend towards PQPs / extra PlusPoints...feels like a great idea, but I am more worried about UA as a going concern and the miles not being worth anything...

RNE

My paranoia: a few people at the hotel are found to have COVID-19 and all guests are quarantined in their rooms.

RNE, not wanting to spend 14 days in my room -- not even a suite.

JetAway

Exactly why my wife and I are thinking about renting a nice RV for our summer road trip, something we would never have considered otherwise.

stimpy

That sounds like a great idea, as long as you are ok with doing the daily cleaning yourself. And how do you socially distance at a laundromat?

All the emails I've received from the hotel chains go on and on about the extra effort they are now putting into room cleaning. So I don't think we will find the scenario of an entire hotel being quarantined. They are not going to re-open breakfast buffets anytime soon.

I got 140,000 points for signing up for the Chase IHG card, plus a free night. I am going to stay in hotels this year!

JetAway

Cleaning the interior of an RV is not a major chore. An we usually travel with a lot of hand wash/quick dry clothes wherever we go. No laundromats for us.

emcampbe

i saw the article on TPG, though couldn’t find it on Chase’s site (didn’t really look that much, though), and haven’t officially received the email yet (maybe I’m in a later batch?). That said, I put my last grocery store trip earlier this week on my CSR, and posted with the 5x Miles. I’ve been using my Freedom with the 5x in Q2, but this is easier as I don’t need to transfer the UR from Freedom to CSR UR accounts to get the $0.015 travel value.

caseminole

I dont see any use now for keeping the CHASE PREZ+ card

I have that card and Mileage Plus Explorer

The FLEX PQMs were very useful to top off missing mileage credits towards elite status

Suggestions for replacing?

At this point, I dont even need the benefits of United Club membership either. I get credits from the Plat AmEx for that if i need it (I dont fly nearly as much as I used to now. Maybe 3 times a year max)

WineCountryUA

Are you looking for a MP branded card?
A Chase issued card with UR?
or any credit card?

caseminole

Yes, something where i earn MP miles is fine.

I just cant justify the fee for the Prez+ since it seems to be devalued now.

Probably a mid-tier MP branded card, not necessary to have United Club membership.

Do any credit cards offer a way to help qualify for elite status like Prez+

WineCountryUA

That's is the Explorer card, the only other one is the free Gateway card with reduced purchase mileage and fewer benefits
Chase United TravelBank Card becoming non-cashback Chase MP Gateway Card 21 Sept 2020

all including PresPlus but the Gateway card can earn a limited amount of PQPs from purchases. https://mileageplusupdates.com/milea...h/cardmembers/