Related Posts
Enthusiast
Anonymous User
Conversation Starter
More Posts
Bowl Leader
Additional Posts in The Worklife Bowl
Enthusiast
Y'all were too quick to judge
Rising Star
Enthusiast
Conversation Starter
Conversation Starter
Chief
US Police or HK Police ?
Rising Star
Chief
Pro
Pro
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
Chief
It depends. The annual fee on most cards either gives you additional benefits or increased earning rates. Basically you just need to do a cost benefit on each card and you have your answer
I was a holder of the Chase Sapphire Reserve because the benefits made it worth it, as D2 noted. After having a second kid, and no longer traveling for work (I’m in industry), we don’t travel enough where the cash back even after the perks creates enough of an ROI for us. Plus, we are selling our Peloton (i rejoined a gym). Moved to a cash back card now (Costco Citibank). Point is, focus on a card that helps you with what you want to do. The Chase Card points helped pay for a lot of trips (Europe, Thailand, New Zealand), Global Entry, and other things. Now, between formula and diapers, and going camping instead, a cash back card works better for us.
It depends. I have a Chase Sapphire Reserve and the annual travel credits, included insurance on rental cars/travel delays/large purchases, Peloton credits, and presale concert tickets (I paid $100 for floor seats that went for $475 via TicketMaster) are all worth it. I am strategic about making it worth it, and not paying any interest fees.
It depends on your spending. Look at the categories of your spend, look at the card benefits, and decide whether it’s worth the pricing. I had a CFU like you and applied for a CSP (not CSR) because the annual fee is lower but I would be able to make it back and more via points spend and rewards, where the CSR would not have been worth it given my purchasing habits.
You’re spending $2k a month living at home?
To be fair, I shouldn’t make this judgement to quickly. I’m basing this on your age - at 23 I wouldn’t expect you to have that kind of disposable income. But maybe I’m wrong. Still, does seem like a lot.
Chief
You pay for the honor of them charging you interest
^ this
I love my Apple Card if you do Apple Pay a lot. Discover also has 5% sometimes. I do the same.
I gladly pay the annual fee for Chase Sapphire Reserve - the benefits more than pay for the fee.
Yeah Chase is offering me a $1200 traveling bonus if I sign up for the sapphire reserve
My annual fee on the Chase Sapphire is largely negated by no foreign transaction fees. And if it's not, it's negated by the extra points I get when traveling. You have to have a use case for cards with annual fees but they're oftentimes worth it.
The only benefit of the CSR, Amex Platinum, etc. these days IMO is if you're looking for premium hotel stays or first class flights. Airline miles are pretty much worth the same as cashback, without being as liquid, in economy and hotels points aren't worth much outside of Hyatt IMO. If your work lets you charge a personal card and get reimbursed for your trouble, it's worth getting a branded hotel and/or airline card to use the spend to get higher status, but that's pretty much it. Lounges are also super packed nowadays because everyone and their mother has a Priority Pass or Amex Platinum for Delta/Centurion.
Unless you're able to spend A LOT of money via work or personally and want luxury redemptions, I'd stick with cash back. There's plenty of virtually free cards that get you >2% back on every purchase.
No.
Rising Star
It depends on what you use it for. For instance, adding a CSR to your CFU will allow you to maximize points earning across most categories (they get multipliers in complementary areas) and redeem at the higher rate of the CSR through the portal. The CSR also offers benefits if you travel.
AmEx Platinum is more of a pure benefits card but easy enough to get more value than the fee if you fly a lot with Delta or have a Centurion lounge at your main airport.
Basically calculate the value of a card’s benefits to you based on how likely you are to use them, and get it if you think you’ll come out ahead.
The buffet.
Conversation Starter
You're paying an annual fee on your chase freedom unlimited? That card has no annual fee
They’re offering a bonus if I sign up for the sapphire so I’m trying to see if it’s worth it
Really depends on the card and your priorities/lifestyle. My husband and I prioritize travel, so we pay for the Platinum Delta card. It’s $250/year, but you also get an annual companion pass, free checked bags, and pretty good mileage return. They’ll also refund you a precheck or global entry fee once every four years.
I know my husband used to pay a fee for another card. It was a simple cash back card on different categories and that wasn’t worth it unless he paid close attention and was strategic about using it which… he wasn’t 🤪
You need to do the math on the card against the next best alternative to see if it’s worth it.
I got a ton of use from the CSR when I was traveling - paid for 30+ meals on fly day from its priority pass benefit. When COVID happened, I was able to use the pay myself back to get a 50% bonus redemption effectively getting myself 4.5%. Plus the door dash premium benefit, plus the TSA precheck reimbursement - it more than paid for itself
I had the United Club card as well. I don’t spend anything on it, but it gets me access to some discounted point redemption fares and it’s less expensive than buying a club membership
Now that I’m not traveling, I dropped both. My spend shifted and I can’t use the travel benefits, so there isn’t much point.
I like the AMEX blue cash preferred. $95 fee, but 6% back from grocery stores and a lot of Amex offers for random $ throughout the year.
I kept my Marriott cards as well. I usually at least break even with the fee because I get a free hotel night. It makes it easier to get status if you do end up traveling at some point as well. They made a lot more sense then because I could trivially maintain status at both Marriott and Hilton. I wouldn’t suggest anyone to go and run to pick it up if they don’t travel, but I’m not cancelling it as I always end up using the nights regardless
1. Stop spending so much and start saving.
2. It depends on the cost and the benefits that the card provides.
Go read The Points Guy and similar sites that review the various cards and breakdown the fees and benefits as well as the value of the miles/points earned. Signing up for a card when there’s a large mileage or cash back bonus is tempting and provided you can avail yourself of the benefits the card offers, then the net annual fee may not be that much. But if you don’t use a lot of the benefits it’s likely a waste. As an example, AMEX has been increasing their annual fee on the platinum card and added a bunch of new benefits, but a lot of what they recently added are not things that I need/use. I still have the card because I get enough value from it (Uber/Uber eats $300/yr, Saks $100/yr, Clear membership $179/yr, Global Entry (but I have other cards that also provide this benefit), purchase/loss protection, etc).
A card that makes sense for you today may be different than what makes sense at another time based on what your current spending is.
Never. Plenty of credit cards out there with no fees.
Will be paying af for airline cc bc otherwise I would have paid for checked luggage(in total I foresee > af).
Whereas CSR doesn’t justify the cost to me bc a lot of those complimentary freebies are not necessarily for me. (Paleton, instacart, lyft membership… etc. I would not have gotten them so for me CSR af doesn’t worth it)