The wife and I are taking the kids to Disney early next year, so I've been thinking about getting a good CC to use for this so I get something out of it, instead of the thrill of just writing a check and seeing a smaller balance. We've discussed doing something similar in the past to use for daily purchases vs. a debit card, so this would be a good segue into that, IMO. Given the amount of the trip, we'll have no problem meeting the spend needed for the introductory bonus of any of them.

The 4 primary cards I've looked at are the AE Platinum, AE Gold, Sapphire Reserve, and Sapphire Preferred.

AE Platinum: I've pretty much ruled this one out based on what earns the most points per dollar isn't something we spend a ton on each year, though we do travel, but not enough to get the most out of the benefits.

AE Gold: The 2 highest earning categories (dining and supermarkets) are probably our 2 highest spends each month outside of fuel. With 3 kids, we do a lot of grocery shopping, and the bills eating out are climbing more and more each year.

Reserve: Spend a lot on the dining and their "travel" definition is pretty broad. What's enticing about this is the annual $300 travel credit, which we would use on something we spend on anyway (hotel, airfare, etc). That essentially takes the cost of the card down to the 2nd cheapest. Points are also valued at more. Some of the other benefits are nice, but not something we'd get a lot of use of outside of a few times a year.

Preferred: Same as the reserve but lower earning in the categories, points are valued less, and none of the other perks that the reserve offer. The annual fee is much cheaper and there's no additional cost for a 2nd card.

Any dos or don'ts here? Thoughts? Any other cards that I may be missing? I've been reading a lot on TPG to get an idea of what's out there and what would work best. If I decide to go with one of the Chase cards, I'll probably get the Freedom as well given the bonus categories each quarter are in areas we spend a lot in, so that would help build the points. Also, neither of us have gotten a new CC in over 10 years and each have 800+ credit scores, so no issue with qualifying for any.

For what you are planning to do, the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Hands down. I've got the AE Platinum and the Reserve.

If you want a grocery card, look at the AE Blue Cash Preferred.

I'm leaning the Chase route due to being able to combine points from multiple cards if you have one with ultimate rewards. From my understanding, you can't do that with AE, correct?

Appreciate the feedback.

Hype nailed it

I recently got a Chase Sapphire Preferred card after being a loyal Capital One Venture cardholder for 5+ years.

I got the Chase because they are offering a 60k bonus after spending $4k, and I want the points to help pay for some flights to Alaska next year. However, I will probably go back to using my Cap One card once I get the 60k points.

I put just about everything on my credit card(s), and the 2 points for every dollar spent that Cap One gives can't be beat IMO. Yes, I have to trade the points in on travel purchases to maximize their value, but we travel enough that it's not an issue. I routinely get back at least $1000 every year, and last year I got $1500. It's the equivalent of 2% cash back. And I don't have to worry about traveling on a specific airline or hotel or transferring points or not having enough points to cover the full cost of something. I can cash in 100k points on a $2k hotel bill to get $1k back as a credit on my bill (don't have to have 200k points).

The other reason I pulled the trigger on the Chase card is their luxury hotels partnership/perks is better than Cap One's. Cap One made some changes to theirs this year, including dropping a lot of properties that I want access too (at a discounted rate). But if you aren't staying in Hyatt and Fairmont type properties, it's probably not that big of a perk.

As a side note, it is nice to have two perk-earning cards, since inevitably, at least one of them will be compromised at least once a year. But a $100 annual fee is about all I'm willing to spend on any card (Cap One used to be $59, and I think I still pay that, but new cardholders are charged $99).

CSR for you. CSP for the wife after you meet the minimum spend. (maybe you can also refer her so that you get the bonus) At the end of the day, combine the points and enjoy the good life.

Hadn't thought about that. How would that work with points? Transfer all of hers into my account? If I do that, do the points value at the higher 1.5x or still the 1.25x earned with the preferred?

She just sent me airfare info she's finding, so I'll probably be making a decision in the next couple of days.

I went with the CSR this time last year and then went and moved all of my banking to Chase.

Ragoo said:

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I went with the CSR this time last year and then went and moved all of my banking to Chase.

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Chase is offering $600 if you open a direct deposit checking account and a savings account (and deposit $15k in it) with them. Getting a Chase cc makes you eligible for this offer. I'm on the fence about it, since I'm earning MUCH better interest in my Capital One savings account.

Offer expires Nov. 25.

rodan85 said:

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Fidelity has a card with no annual fee that pays 2% cash back. This can be directly deposited into an IRA or money market.

That is by far the easiest if you just want cash.

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I actually thought about switching to the Fidelity card for simplicity's sake, but I actually like and use the hotel perks offered with the travel cards. Usually I can get a room with no deposit, two free breakfasts, and some kind of food/beverage credit to use during the stay.

Well, went with the CSR. Should serve us well, and if it doesn't, I'll downgrade and/or cancel. My only issue is the annual fee, but I think we'll (me mostly) be able to manage (stomach) that and find some way to justify it. Thing that sucks is it'll hit my statement in either December or January...just in time for Christmas and property tax season! Oh well, we don't escrow, so I'll budget this into that going forward.

You get reimbursed $300 per year in travel. Do your TSA Precheck and it pays for itself int he first year. Then it is just $150 after, after credit.

Make sure you apply promotion codes to the card on the website. Starbucks, targets, hotels, etc you c an get 5-10% back from purchases auto reimbursed.

Yeah, I'm going to do Pre-Check. Maybe will talk the wife into it as well.

I've looked on the site after I was approved and there's a lot more things that the site didn't originally state, such as the promos and stuff. I'll take a closer look at that tonight.

The Sapphire Reserve is a no-brainer place to start, and is a no-brainer over the Sapphire Preferred with the $300 travel credit.

I do have both systems running right now. In the short time (1 year) that I've been hard core into the credit card game, I have personally gotten better value from Amex MR points than Chase UR points. Amex frequently offers point transfer bonuses to various airlines and hotels, and Chase does not. You are able to pretty easily book American Airlines flights through British Airways, who is an Amex transfer partner. You get really phenomenal value booking AA flights with BA points. I recently got 5.9 cents/point value using this method. You should definitely also look at which airlines you typically fly and whether on not they're a transfer partner to your chosen card.

If you can stomach it, the Sapphire Reserve/Freedom Unlimited/Freedom AND Amex Gold is, in my opinion, a great combo to utilize both systems. As a family, the Amex Gold is our biggest points earner through grocery stores and restaurants.

TXTransplant said:

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Ragoo said:

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I went with the CSR this time last year and then went and moved all of my banking to Chase.

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Chase is offering $600 if you open a direct deposit checking account and a savings account (and deposit $15k in it) with them. Getting a Chase cc makes you eligible for this offer. I'm on the fence about it, since I'm earning MUCH better interest in my Capital One savings account.

Offer expires Nov. 25.

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Have thought about taking up this offer but yeah, the interest for the savings account is pretty trash.

Im going to look at the other chase cards and go with one of those more than likely. Like the idea of the wife getting the preferred and transferring points.

We did two reserve. Got 50,000 bonus points for each. Then booked 5 nights at the Hyatt in Maui in a premium room with 3 nights free.

Agree on the Hyatt - great value. Transferring to southwest is also super easy and can get you 1.6-1.7 per point. As someone who flies only a few times a year having priority pass is also a nice perk I wouldn't have otherwise. I also skip on travel insurance as the program seems pretty robust. I easily get my value from the annual fee several times over in a year.

I'm weird. I like my 1.5% cash back no annual fee quicksilver card.

Sapphire Reserve. They actually do have really good deals using points for flights too. Have used this several times and always get a good discount.

Agree on the CSR with the Hyatt points. I was able to get a family suite for two nights at Lost Pines this summer for 80,000 points ($800 cash value). The cost paying normally was $1,973. With 5 kids we don't fit into a normal room and they had no adjoining rooms available. The family suite cost the same points as two normal rooms. Also, when using points at Hyatt, there is no resort fee that you have to pay, which is $35/night.