sigh... there's a $300 travel credit annually so it's really only $150. That credit applies to taxis, parking, uber, trains, planes, rental car, hotel, etc.
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/03/y...cut-sapphire-reserve-cards-bonus-in-half.html Spoiler When a Wall Street banking institution starts throwing 100,000-point bonuses at credit card customers, it may be best to grab them before they inevitably disappear. And so it goes with Chase Sapphire Reserve, a card that the bank, JPMorgan Chase, introduced last summer. The bank offereda sign-up bonus worth $1,500 to people who spent $4,000 on the card in the first three months they had it and then redeemed the bonus for travel. Now the bank is cutting the bonus in half. Jan. 12 will be the last day that people can earn it by applying for the card online, though people who apply at a bank branch will still be able to get the bonus until March 12. You need not be a current bank customer to apply at a branch, according to a bank spokeswoman, Ashley E. Dodd, who confirmed the changes. INTERACTIVE FEATURE What Do You Know About Your Credit Card? Travel hackers obsessively analyze the nuances of premium card deals. Take this quiz to find out how well you know your credit cards. OPEN INTERACTIVE FEATURE The bonus played a big role in bringing the card so much attention, landing it on the cover of Bloomberg Businessweek and leading the bank to hand out so many perks that it caused a $200 million to $300 million hit to its earnings. Even without the outsize bonus, which was very rare in the history of credit card bonus offers, the card is likely to remain popular. While it has a steep $450 annual fee, cardholders receive a $300 credit each year for any travel spending they put on the card. And customers earn three points for every dollar they spend on all travel and dining, which can lead to better value than the rewards that most other cards offer for customers who spent a lot in those areas. The Points Guy blog first reported the slashing of the sign-up bonus. Many such sites now exist to help consumers take advantage of the most lucrative sign-up offers, while collecting commissions when they pass readers on to card issuers’ application sites. If those customers keep the cards for a few years (and especially if they run up balances and pay interest), the banks can come out ahead. With too many people gaming the offer, however, bank profitability can suffer, especially when the sign-up bonuses are so large that they attract hordes of freebie-seeking consumers.
Citi's customer service is pure shit at times - the customer service + Primary rental coverage on CSR / CSP + the combo with Freedom (5x UR) + transfer partners really seals the deal for Chase IMO. I may get the Prestige down the line but with AirBnB + Hotel points, I don't think I'd come out ahead on the free 4th night deal - not sure if you still have to use their travel partner (Carson Wagonlitt) but the never had the best rates when I've booked through them in the past.
You can get it twice by the end of your membership year. So you're really coming out ahead by 150$, even if you don't count the bonus. The 3x on Travel & Dining isn't too shabby either.
And you will get blackballed most likely from any future big time card, especially Chase, if you cancel after one year.
Why do you transfer your points to an airline partner as opposed to redeeming the points for flights through the ultimate rewards portal at 1.5 cent per point? Do you get a better value transferring them to specific airlines?
Depends on the flight you're looking for. I got flights for 30k from Charlotte to Zagreb and another 30k from dubrovnik to Charlotte through united. Those flights were both like a grand a piece so I came out way ahead. That's not always the case. Redeeming for business or first class though it is usually the case, as you can go business for 140-150k round trip instead of ~3 Grand cash dollar value Really depends
I've had 20+ cards in the past 3ish years & never experienced it nor heard the same from anyone I know. I've cancelled or downgraded all but 2 of my fee based cards.
Echoing Arkadin here but sometimes the point values are better with the actual airline. I'm about to book a $1400 round trip for 60k points on United which is much better than the redemption value through UR. Also, Southwest typically redeems for a higher value than the 1.5 as well. However, I booked round trip flights to the Bahamas for 26k points through the portal on Delta and American (which aren't airline transfer partners) and that point value was better than I was getting directly through the airlines
Shit. Thanks guys. I guess I'll have to look up airlines points now as an extra step when I book. I always just assumed it'd be the same.
Have you done it with a card on the same tier as the CSR? Maybe the early rumors were untrue but the word was any one that sucked out before the renewal fee hit was going to be blacklisted by chase.
I've never cancelled or downgraded before the annual fee hit again - the people who were blackballed / had their points clawed back by Amex / Chase were all hitting up minimum spends, transferring points & cancelling cards in the matter of a month or few. That's just plain stupid. If you use the card normally & keep it for a year, there should be no problem at all.
I am not saying I disagree however the word when the card first was released and people clamoring how you can profit by not upping for a second year led to belief that if that occurred Chase would be blackballing you from getting other high end cards released from them in the future. Just pointing out there may be reprucussions going for future releases (not points being taken away) if you opt for that route.
IMO it's just fear mongering. There are lot of assholes out there on Flyertalk, Dansdeals, etc. who intentionally post bullshit. With me being comfortably over 5/24, Chase is not much of a worry for me & my wife's a CPC so I don't see any issues downgrading in a year for us or really for anyone else.
Others covered it above, but I use my points only for international business or first class where you get a much better value transferring to an airline than through UR. Last year I got a $10,000 round trip ANA first class round trip between LA and Tokyo for 140,000 miles. This year booked a $7000 business class roundtrip between LA and Bali back from Singapore on Korean air and singapore air for 175,000 miles. So for premium cabins you'll almost always get a much better deal transferring to the airline. Coach tickets usually you're better off with claiming UR points. Especially with continual award chart devaluation. Downside to transferring to an airline is that there has to be award seat availability which is often very limited, and you'd obviously want to check before moving miles to that airline. Through UR you can book any seat available for purchase.
You do have to use their travel partner, BUT, they will match any Hilton diamond, Hilton MVP or Marriott corporate code I have. So i still get my Diamond status when staying at hilton properties but I also get the 4th night free at the lowest possible rate I can produce to them to recreate. Agree about their customer service though, can be shit at times. I carry the Prestige and the Hilton Amex Surpass, so I'm already at $600 OOP for annual fees, easily recouped by my current travel schedule, but I'm not sure I want to take on another $400.
Question for CSR holders. Is alcohol free in airport lounges with the priority pass that comes with the card? I've never used an airport lounge but I have a 2 hour layover in Houston tomorrow
I think it depends on the lounge. Looks like only the KLM Crown Lounge has alcohol of the two at IAH https://www.prioritypass.com/en/Lounges/North-America/USA/Houston/Houston-TX-Intercontinental
Generally yes. If its a lounge not associated with a major airline, its usually beer and wine at best. If its an international based airline lounge, should have some booze as well. Don't think I've ever been in a lounge that didn't offer at least free beer/wine.
In Beijing they had a bunch of handles just sitting on the counter Siem Reap was full bar Hong kong was beer and wine
I've got the Delta Platinum and it works great for our needs. Its $195 per year, but the companion certificate more than makes up for that plus we've earned about 170,000 miles in the 2 years we've had it. The companion cert cannot be used with miles though and you can't find many options going to smaller airports. I am in the market for a Visa, and singed up for the BOA travel card due to no annual or foreign transaction fees. We shop at Costco and I hate using my debit card and will be doing some travel this summer where Amex isn't as widely accepted. We won't use the Visa too much otherwise since we have the Amex, which is the reason i didnt spring for the CSR, but I may need to rethink that in the next week.
Escape Lounge at MSP had a bartender. Complimentary beer (Bud/Bud Light/Sam Adams), house wine, and well liquor and premiums you could pay for. Pretty much the same as all of the Admiral's and Sky clubs I've been in.
Just started the process of booking a partner award flight w/ CSR points via Korean Air. Its pretty convoluted and I have minimal confidence its going to work.
Just remembered - stopped over at the PP lounge in Dubai a couple of weeks ago and they had some liquor bottles along with the usual beer & wine collections.
So far I spent 20 minutes on hold before a nice Korean gentleman answered and said they would have to call me back. Of course they called 3 hours later at the least opportune time.
I'm sitting on 320k skymiles and ready to book business class tickets to SE Asia for next Christmas for my GF and me. I can only book through 12/2 as of today though. I'm guessing that Korean Air will be blacked out so I'll have to fly China Southern or China Eastern. Hopefully I can find some availability. I'm pretty indifferent as to whether to fly into Singapore, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phnom Penh, or elsewhere. They're all 160k RT so I'll just plan the trip around where I'm able to go. I'd prefer to go to Vietnam but my last trip over there with the GF was to India so she's eager to do a more developed version of South Asia.
Korean Air tends to have great award availability. I'd fly them before the Chinese airlines. What about Singapore air? That'd be the best. I don't know how skymiles work bc I rarely fly delta.
I had zero problem calling korean air and booking the flights I needed. Was able to call back and change the flight no problem as well. I just made sure to have all the flight numbers ready and told them exactly what to put in and it was fine. Then you tell them you want to pay later, sign on to your korean air ff account and its there waiting for you to transfer miles. Huge benefit to Korean over many other airlines is they let you hold award tickets without sufficient mileage so you dont have to transfer miles and hope the award is still available.
I expect them to have award blackouts over Christmas but that would be my first choice. If I go out of Portland rather than JFK, I can take a Delta bird to Shanghai and then a Chinese airline.
I don't think they have blackouts. But they do have random ass off-peak dates. Korean Air is awesome. Make sure to look for Airbus>Boeing birds. Better business and first class setups.
I don't think they have blackouts. But they do have random ass off-peak dates. Korean Air is awesome. Make sure to look for Airbus>Boeing birds. Better business and first class setups.
Really? I thought Korean Air was known for having tons of blackout dates. I'll be booking in the next few weeks so Ill find out soon enough.
Did you guys actually book Korean Air award tickets or partner award tickets. I'm looking to go dtw to Hawaii on delta. I just heard back from them and there is no availability.
I succumbed to the pressure and grabbed the Sapphire Reserve this morning. Arrives in 3-5 business days. This will more than likely lead to the closure of my Prestige account assuming the CSR Priority Pass lounge membership level is the same (free for me, authorized cardholders, and up to 2 guests per visit).
So gf has a Chase United credit card and it's her oldest card. Anyone know if you can downgrade these co-branded cards to the Freedom/Unlimited? She finally applied for the CSR so now she needs to downgrade her Preferred but also would like to do the United card and I don't want her to cancel it since it's her longest line of credit
No. But just downgrade to the no fee United card. The card is dogshit. Just put it in the underwear drawer.
You can't apply for it. It's only available as a downgradeable card. Unless they did away with it within the last 6 months. She'll have to call and ask to be downgraded.
You can also ask to be downgraded through the secure message center. It requires a little bit of back and forth, but helps avoid sitting on the phone and creates a paper trail