PSA -Sapphire Reserve with 100K points bonus, LAST CHANCE is Saturday 3/11 at branch...

[Exterous]

Can I use my points to book travel solely for my spouse? She has to go to the East Coast for a relative's funeral, but I'll be at home with kids.

Finally got my points today!

Now what should I do with them?

Give me access to your account so I can use them?

 

[GeekDrew]

After you receive the card, do yourself a favor and immediately activate your Priority Pass membership. It's free and takes about 2-3 weeks to receive.

So the new credit line is already visible in my Chase online account portal... thingy. And it says that I can activate my Priority Pass there, so I'd guess I can activate it without even having first received my credit card.

That said... has anyone heard of any conflicts/issues with having multiple Priority Pass memberships? I already have one via Amex, and have honestly not had occasion to use it yet, so... *shrug*. :-\

 

[Exterous]

That said... has anyone heard of any conflicts/issues with having multiple Priority Pass memberships? I already have one via Amex, and have honestly not had occasion to use it yet, so... *shrug*. :-\

No - just make sure you bring the right card if one has better benefits than the other

 

[Svnla]

The higher fee from AE Platinum is a rip off - http://finance.yahoo.com/news/american-express-platinum-550-fee-141012540.html

 

[LikeLinus]

Its all subjective. I've gotten some great tickets with amex plat. I've not had much experience with Chase reserved.
So there is certainty a choice between the two....

 

[Svnla]

Its all subjective. I've gotten some great tickets with amex plat. I've not had much experience with Chase reserved.
So there is certainty a choice between the two....

Different strokes for different folks. I have both and this is my take.

I do give AE Platinum an edge with its legendary CSR reputation. The Centurion Lounges are pretty good from what I heard, too bad none at my regular airports. I did call Chase before I headed out of the country and the CSR was American, not foreigner with Susie as her name.

Here is a list that I think the Chase new card is better (IMO):

1. $300 vs. $200 plus you can use almost anything travel related for your credit with Chase, unlike AE.
2. The 100K bonus was higher than AE. I haven't seen any 100K points on AE except business card account. Plus Chase points is better value (redeem power) than AE imo.

 

[Exterous]

Different strokes for different folks. I have both and this is my take.

I do give AE Platinum an edge with its legendary CSR reputation. The Centurion Lounges are pretty good from what I heard, too bad none at my regular airports. I did call Chase before I headed out of the country and the CSR was American, not foreigner with Susie as her name.

Here is a list that I think the Chase new card is better (IMO):

1. $300 vs. $200 plus you can use almost anything travel related for your credit with Chase, unlike AE.
2. The 100K bonus was higher than AE. I haven't seen any 100K points on AE except business card account. Plus Chase points is better value (redeem power) than AE imo.

Amex has had a fair number of 100k personal card sign up bonuses and both my wife and I have gotten one under those promotions. I think they had that 2 times last year?

The Amex has a couple of other benefits as well:
-SPG gold status which is now Marriott gold as well. Still remains to see how the merger shakes out though as Marriott is a Chase partner and SPG is an Amex partner. A big potential benefit is that SPG gold allows you to join their partnership program with Delta and earn extra Delta points in addition to all your normal SPG points on SPG hotel stays (This isn't like the hilton program where you get less hilton points if you also want to get airline miles)
-Hilton Gold status
-FHR program which is superior to both the Visa and Chase hotel programs. Better benefits, more participants and, often, a lower price point
-Delta lounge access if flying on Delta (Useful for me since DTW is a Delta fortress hub and has 0 priority pass lounges)
-More proven medical evacuation policy. The reserve offers something very similar but no reports of how smooth the process actually is. Having been an early adopter of the preferred card and spending 6 months trying to get a delayed luggage reimbursement claim paid I would be cautious about how well this works for a bit (The delayed luggage process has vastly improved since then). There is a huge additional consideration here as well. For US Platinum card holders you do not need to charge your trip to the card to be able to use this. You, your spouse\DP and eligible dependents get this coverage simply by you being a card member. With Chase you must use charge at least a portion of your trip to the card to have medical evacuation coverage.


Chase has a huge edge in phone based CSR support though. All US based call centers and no automated menus is a nice perk compared to the Platinum

 

[Anubis]

so the global entry "interview" isnt really an interview, it takes like 10 min and all they do is fingerprint you and ask you to verify the info you already submitted.

Most annoying part of it was the 4 hours i had to spend in the car driving to and from the closest office

 

[Svnla]

Amex has had a fair number of 100k personal card sign up bonuses and both my wife and I have gotten one under those promotions. I think they had that 2 times last year?

The Amex has a couple of other benefits as well:
-SPG gold status which is now Marriott gold as well. Still remains to see how the merger shakes out though as Marriott is a Chase partner and SPG is an Amex partner. A big potential benefit is that SPG gold allows you to join their partnership program with Delta and earn extra Delta points in addition to all your normal SPG points on SPG hotel stays (This isn't like the hilton program where you get less hilton points if you also want to get airline miles)
-Hilton Gold status
-FHR program which is superior to both the Visa and Chase hotel programs. Better benefits, more participants and, often, a lower price point
-Delta lounge access if flying on Delta (Useful for me since DTW is a Delta fortress hub and has 0 priority pass lounges)
-More proven medical evacuation policy. The reserve offers something very similar but no reports of how smooth the process actually is. Having been an early adopter of the preferred card and spending 6 months trying to get a delayed luggage reimbursement claim paid I would be cautious about how well this works for a bit (The delayed luggage process has vastly improved since then). There is a huge additional consideration here as well. For US Platinum card holders you do not need to charge your trip to the card to be able to use this. You, your spouse\DP and eligible dependents get this coverage simply by you being a card member. With Chase you must use charge at least a portion of your trip to the card to have medical evacuation coverage.


Chase has a huge edge in phone based CSR support though. All US based call centers and no automated menus is a nice perk compared to the Platinum

I haven't seen anything for the general public (not business card) with 100K for the last 1.5/2 years and I went to a lot of deals sites. Plus Chase UR points is more valuable in redemption than AE MR points per my own experience.

SPG and Hilton are good for sure but Courtyard/Marriott has my business. Decent price ($60-$100 per night plus taxes) with decent clean rooms.

Not familiar with FHR much.

Delta lounge - too bad I don't travel much to ATL anymore. My main airport is IAH and secondary one is DFW and I am not sure Delta has much of a presence in those two airports.

Medical evacuation. It is nice to have it but I hope I will never ever use it.

 

[ponyo]

I like the free primary rental car coverage provided by Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve for the peace of mind. American Express Platinum still only provides secondary insurance coverage. I know lot of personal car insurance will cover it too but it's nice to use a card that has primary coverage. I rented a full size car at San Francisco airport for $6.80 a day before taxes. I like to thank all the people who purchase the optional expensive car rental insurances for subsidizing my cheap car rental costs because their credit card only provides secondary coverage.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I haven't seen anything for the general public (not business card) with 100K for the last 1.5/2 years and I went to a lot of deals sites. Plus Chase UR points is more valuable in redemption than AE MR points per my own experience.

SPG and Hilton are good for sure but Courtyard/Marriott has my business. Decent price ($60-$100 per night plus taxes) with decent clean rooms.

Not familiar with FHR much.

Delta lounge - too bad I don't travel much to ATL anymore. My main airport is IAH and secondary one is DFW and I am not sure Delta has much of a presence in those two airports.

Medical evacuation. It is nice to have it but I hope I will never ever use it.

Then you really missed out. The 100k app has popped up a few times and I got mine with it.

Basically the AE Plat doesn't have value to you but you can't argue that it doesn't have value to others.

$200 air + $200 uber + hotel status + Amex FHR + Amex promos + Amex Concierge is all enough for me to willingly pay the annual fee every year and come out ahead.

 

[Exterous]

I haven't seen anything for the general public (not business card) with 100K for the last 1.5/2 years and I went to a lot of deals sites.

You should get some better deal sites then. They had a publicly available link in November and one back in May.
http://www.doctorofcredit.com/amex-platinum-100000-bonus-back/

They ran several promos through Cardmatch.com in 2015 that matched about 75% of the people who used it with a 100k personal platinum card offer

Plus Chase UR points is more valuable in redemption than AE MR points per my own experience.

For my personal travel habits I would agree but they have different partners so some people will get more use out of MR points than others.

SPG and Hilton are good for sure but Courtyard/Marriott has my business. Decent price ($60-$100 per night plus taxes) with decent clean rooms.

SPG is part of Marriott now so the gold status gets you a match into Marriott. If point generation from stays interests you at all then hilton is likely a better program. I can regularly get 45+ points per $ spent which makes marriott's earnings seem pathetic in comparison - even when you consider that hilton properties cost slightly more to redeem points at.

 

[Svnla]

Then you really missed out. The 100k app has popped up a few times and I got mine with it.

Basically the AE Plat doesn't have value to you but you can't argue that it doesn't have value to others.

$200 air + $200 uber + hotel status + Amex FHR + Amex promos + Amex Concierge is all enough for me to willingly pay the annual fee every year and come out ahead.

Read my post above. I have BOTH of them but the Chase card is only recently (about 3 months).

$200 air is less than Chase ($300 plus less restriction), $200 Uber (no applicable for me plus you can't use all $200 at once). I never said AE was bad, just not as good as the new competitor plus the new fee increase is not good imo.

 

[Svnla]

You should get some better deal sites then. They had a publicly available link in November and one back in May.
http://www.doctorofcredit.com/amex-platinum-100000-bonus-back/

They ran several promos through Cardmatch.com in 2015 that matched about 75% of the people who used it with a 100k personal platinum card offer



For my personal travel habits I would agree but they have different partners so some people will get more use out of MR points than others.



SPG is part of Marriott now so the gold status gets you a match into Marriott. If point generation from stays interests you at all then hilton is likely a better program. I can regularly get 45+ points per $ spent which makes marriott's earnings seem pathetic in comparison - even when you consider that hilton properties cost slightly more to redeem points at.

Learn something new, did not know about that webite you posted. As I said before, I have both of them (AE is a couple years old) and AE was not a bad card at all but the new Chase card is pushing hard for new market share (as the article from WSJ I posted above, AE is losing market share vs. about 3 years ago).

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Read my post above. I have BOTH of them but the Chase card is only recently (about 3 months).

$200 air is less than Chase ($300 plus less restriction), $200 Uber (no applicable for me plus you can't use all $200 at once). I never said AE was bad, just not as good as the new competitor plus the new fee increase is not good imo.

And I said that for different people, the Plat is better than the CSR in every way except for spend earning potential.

 

[ponyo]

One thing American Express Platinum has over Chase Sapphire Reserve is the higher spending limit. My business partner charged $100k-$150k every month on his personal Platinum card no problem. I don't think Chase will give you that high of a limit or if they do, it's pain in the butt to get with all kinds of financial records required. It's why he's loyal to American Express and now has the Amex Black personal card.

 

[Svnla]

And I said that for different people, the Plat is better than the CSR in every way except for spend earning potential.

No, you did not say that. This is what you said in your exact words: "Basically the AE Plat doesn't have value to you but you can't argue that it doesn't have value to others."

Show me my exact words that I said AE card doesn't have value to me (why I have it if I don't think it has value to me?) or to others as you claimed.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

No, you did not say that. This is what you said in your exact words: "Basically the AE Plat doesn't have value to you but you can't argue that it doesn't have value to others."

Show me my exact words that I said AE card doesn't have value to me (why I have it if I don't think it has value to me?) or to others as you claimed.

Why you so mad. Maybe I should have put "as much value to you"

 

[Svnla]

Why you so mad. Maybe I should have put "as much value to you"

I am not mad. I know what I said and I stand by what I said. See post #381 above, I never said AE was a bad card or not value to me or anyone. I just showed a couple items that I thought Chase was better than AE.

As I said, both cards are good and I have both of them but if I have to pick ONLY one of them right now, I will have to pick Chase.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I am not mad. I know what I said and I stand by what I said. See post #381 above, I never said AE was a bad card or not value to me or anyone. I just showed a couple items that I thought Chase was better than AE.

As I said, both cards are good and I have both of them but if I have to pick ONLY one of them right now, I will have to pick Chase.

K agreed on your points and I listed out items that I feel that AE has an advantage on CSR.

 

[DrunkenSano]

Now that I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, question is should I leave my Chase Freedom alone or just cancel it? I already transferred my points over.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Now that I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, question is should I leave my Chase Freedom alone or just cancel it? I already transferred my points over.

Leave alone. Use it when it's beneficial when it has 5x bonus categories.

 

[DrunkenSano]

Leave alone. Use it when it's beneficial when it has 5x bonus categories.

Was thinking about doing that but it seems like for at least the last year, Discover and Chase share the same 5% bonus.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Was thinking about doing that but it seems like for at least the last year, Discover and Chase share the same 5% bonus.

Double up.

I have 2 Freedoms and 1 Discover that I max out when its worth it, especially when it comes to Costco.

 

[LikeLinus]

Now that I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, question is should I leave my Chase Freedom alone or just cancel it? I already transferred my points over.

Use both wisely. Reserve gives you 3x points on travel and food, but only 1 point for every dollar on everything else.

The Freedom gives you 1.5 points for every dollar. So use it for everything but food and travel, then move the points together as needed.