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You definitely should get one of the freedom cards for your daily spendings. That’s how you get the most points out of your purchases! Whether or not you upgrade to the reserve really depends on if you think you’ll use the benefits. For me it’s worth it
Have you had CSP before and if so how do they compare? Of course I know the different perks on paper but curious about personal experience and where you felt the most difference
….and other misc travel expenses which I believe count toward the $300 credit from CSR?
Would love to hear more from the experts on recs!
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A hesitation I have with amex in general is the acceptability. I will be traveling abroad for a little over 2 months soon, so Visa + no foreign transaction fee with CSP is a huge necessity.
Since you asked, I have had both the CSP (formerly) and the CSR (now). The main perk (IMO) the CSR has over the CSP is 50% bonus on point value when booking through the UR portal. Plus 3 points vs 2 (and the $300 credit, ofc) on travel spend.
As for other cards you may want to pair with either, the Freedom Flex gets 5 points/$ on revolving categories, and the Freedom Unlimited gets 1.5 points/$ on non-cat spend. So they would complement whichever nicely.
Thanks for elaborating! Looks like I def need to get a more daily usage card
Depending on how much you spend on restaurants/travel, you’re likely better off changing from a CSP to CSR. Unfortunately, Chase limits Sapphire product family signup bonuses to once every 48 months, so you can’t get a CSR bonus.
Looking at your earn rates for restaurants/travel (completely ignoring normal spend), you break even with the CSR over the CSP when spend in this category >= $8,333 per year (or ~700/mo). This is reflective of the net annual fee for the CSR ($250 after credit), higher earn rate for dining/travel, and higher redemption floor value.
Super helpful math. Thank you!
What would you say are your top spending categories monthly?
I have CSR and think it’s a no brainer. Keep in mind $300 travel credit is broad and can be used for parking fees etc so that brings card cost down to $250 annually.
Other perks to lower that annual cost aside from travel: Door dash premium and $5 monthly credit, instacart membership for one year plus $15/month credit, 10x Lyft points, go puff $10/month credit, redeem points for 50% more CSR vs 25% more with CSP when using for Chase Travel or Dining, 10x points for prepaid dining reservations (unless you like Michelin type restaurants this is likely very unique use case).
Travel perks vs CSP: primary rental car insurance coverage, Priority Pass including food ($28 credit for you and a guest at select airport dining locations that participate),
I highly recommend getting the freedom unlimited for everyday purchases. I use CSR for travel only and CFU for everything else. I prefer to use CFU for dining bc oddly some places I consider restaurants don’t get categorized as such by the merchant so this ensures I get the max rate either way (you still get 3x dining with CFU).
Let me know if you need a referral for CFU or CSR.
SPM 1, the CSR gives me 3x points on travel and really awesome travel perks including top status for some rental cars (national and Avis), primary rental insurance, priority pass including dining perks, travel protections including insurance and baggage/trip cancellation and delay etc, not to mention the DoorDash premium, Go Puff, and Instacart perks monthly.
You also get 10x points with Lyft so I use Lyft when it’s cheaper than Uber and when work pays for it.
Plus by using CSR, I can transfer my Ultimate Reward points from my CFU to the CSR card and then redeem them for at least 1.5x or transfer to partners like Hyatt or United for higher value redemptions.
I think I get more value from the two cards combined than I would with just one or the other. I also use the Chase Freedom Flex as well for the 5% rotating category and transfer those points to the CSR also.