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Thoughts on the new Chase Freedom Flex?
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Pre-fee increase I had the CSR. Now I just have platinum as a high end benefits card. However, as a points junky I only charge flights and merchants with offers or reimbursed by AMEX to the card. I charge Hyatt stays to my Chase Hyatt card, Marriott stays to my AMEX Bonvoy card, other travel and all other non-US spending to a CSP, and everything else to a (no-annual-fee) Chase Freedom Unlimited for the 1.5 UR points/$ it offers.
Re: AMEX Plat vs CSR, AMEX has significantly more airport lounges with the inclusion of Delta SkyClubs, AMEX Centurion lounges, and Plaza Premium lounges on top of the Priority Pass lounges that both AMEX and CSR provide access to. I also use the Hilton Gold, Hertz Presidents Circle, and National Executive status the card comes with. The card annual fee is well covered by the credits, though I acknowledge it feels like a high-end coupon book sometimes. Credits I use: $189/year for Clear - covers me + one other person since I have United Silver status that discounts the cost of Clear, $20/month digit services - I use for the Hulu/Disney+/ESPN bundle plus a NYT subscription, $200/year Uber credit, $200/year airline fee credit - on some airlines there are ways to turn it into essentially a gift certificate, $50 every six month Saks credit - I buy gift cards at a Saks retail store and redeem them at Off 5th, $200/year FHR/hotel collection credit - FHR perks are good and stays earn normal hotel points and elite benefits. I used to value FHR more broadly but you can get largely the same benefits through Virtuoso (and I’m a travel agent who’s part of Virtuoso as a side gig). The included Walmart+ membership comes with Paramount+ too. Living in NY, I also use the Resy status a lot - platinum card members get notifications of restaurant availability before others, and I generally choose UberVIP, which is a platinum card benefit, though I can’t say how much difference it really makes.
The CSR $550 annual fee is offset by double dipping the $300 travel credit across 2 calendar years before cancelling. The CSR sucks for earning, only good for the Travel Insurance and enabling partner transfers, so I have a schedule that lets me enjoy those benefits every other year while paying no fees, maximizing SUB and netting $50 every other year to boot:
Year 1 I get the CSR SUB, pay the AF, use $300 credit
Year 2 I use the $300 credit and downgrade to Freedom
Year 3 I upgrade freedom to CSR, pay AF, use credit
Year 4 use credit and then downgrade to Freedom
Year 5 apply for a new CSR SUB and start the cycle anew.
I mix in NLL Amex Biz plats for the years when I don’t have a CSR but only hold the Amexes for a year because they aren’t worth the fee without the SUB.
During year 2, can you upgrade another Chase card to CSR so you at least have one CSR?
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Platinum is great for perks + buying flights but isn’t a great everyday card. If you’re already on the chase platform, CSR likely makes most sense for ease.
Fwiw, I’ve got csr, Amex plat & Amex gold because I’ve found enough value across all of them
Thanks for all the help went with big daddy platinum… the 150 credit for being a corporate member made it make sense. Also the 125k promo they sent me in the mail
It did not but too late
Honestly, I think the CSR value is just not there anymore.
Platinum is great as a coupon book if you value it’s “coupons”
Gold is great for dinning specially if you are already in the Amex ecosystem
There’s other big boy cards out there
Amex customer service is terrible though
I've had both - think they've both turned into how can I stretch these credits to maybe recoup fee.
Best card out there right now is VentureX, $395 fee, $300 travel credit + $100 bonus per year ++ all the luxury benefits (lounge, protection, etc.)
Feel free to DM if you have questions / also happyto refer
Amex is totally worth it you have a corporate card to get the discount on the annual fee.
I have the highest targeted referral for both the amex plat and gold, feel free to dm if interested
$100 discount on Gold and $150 on Plat personal cards if you have Amex Corporate card. It’s called Personal Card Annual Credit and you can find it in the membership benefits section of your Corp card on Amex app.
Venture x is great right now
Happy to refer!
VentureX is what I would recommend as a first premium travel card.
I only have CSR for Hyatt points transfers at this point. It's not really competitive at it's price between Venture X and Amex Plat