I love credit cards so much!

[wendow]

Double Cash
Fidelity Visa

both are 2% on everything. no AF. cash back though.

things that come close to it is 1.5% with Freedom Unlimited.
CSR is probably the best for your aunt if shes spending 15k in dining.

Thank you, Albort. You think the CSR would even be better than the CSP? I guess it is that $300 travel credit that really sweetens the deal in favor of the CSR. She could definitely make use of that!

 

[Albort]

Thank you, Albort. You think the CSR would even be better than the CSP? I guess it is that $300 travel credit that really sweetens the deal in favor of the CSR. She could definitely make use of that!

well, lets do that math.
CSR - $450 AF | $150 after $300 travel credit | 15k spending x 3 = 45k | $450 return - $150 = $300 return
CSP - $95 AF | 15k x 2 = 30k | $300 cash back return - $95 = $205

yup, CSR seems to be the winner here. CSR also has 45K higher bonus and lounge access... i didnt factor in the $100 Global entry price either. also the fact that you can get 2 travel credits on 1 AF.

 

[ISUamanda]

Oh, good point on the cash back. I hadn't thought of that. I am a Costco member and have the Costco CC. I didn't remember how the CC rewards were given.

You can take the rewards check to Costco and they'll give you cash. Now if that's a very large amount, I'm not sure how they handle it, but you don't *have* to spend it at Costco.

3% of $16k = $480 - $55 membership fee = $425

 

[Eighty8Keys]

You can take the rewards check to Costco and they'll give you cash. Now if that's a very large amount, I'm not sure how they handle it, but you don't *have* to spend it at Costco.

3% of $16k = $480 - $55 membership fee = $425

That's what I usually do with my rewards check. I cash it in and use the money for vacation. If I spend it at Costco then I'm missing out on the rewards I would have earned if I used a credit card.

 

[GPC0321]

On the first day of December, Chase bank gave to me, my very own CSP.

Yay! I now have: Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, Disney Visa, Southwest Premier, and Sapphire Preferred. Four of those (all but the original Freedom) were obtained since September. AND I got a Sam's Mastercard during that time too.

Madness! But so fun. Hee hee.

Now I have to decide if I'll drop the Southwest card before the af comes around next year. I'm correct that I can transfer my UR points from Freedom and Unlimited to my CSP, right? So if I want airfare, I can do that instead of the SW card, right?

 

[Lain]

After a lot of waffling, I finally signed up for the Chase Sapphire Reserve and was instantly approved! It was so easy and harmless, I wish I had done it sooner. I've never liked having too many credit cards and balances spread out among them, but with the various benefits offered by the different cards, and a sinking feeling that I'm missing out on saving money, I'm getting around to seeking the best return on my spending and charging accordingly! (Early new year's resolution!) And with a big family trip coming up later this month, the travel credit benefit made applying for the CSR a no brainer.

It's great so see so many familiar names from the Disney Gift Card Deals thread in here! 61 pages is a lot easier to digest than 1200. I'm going to be adding this thread to my watch list and will hopefully pop in often.

 

[CaterFamily]

Since starting this whole shebang we're not close to 375,000 UR points! Thats from September 2016!

Cards:

CSP
CSR
Ink+
Freedom Unlimited

Thats it. Being smart with the bonuses is CRITICAL!!! Its soooo easy to miss out when you're in a rush. I have used a 3x5 card with the bonuses on them for when we're out shopping.

We're planning on being at about 500K UR points by May-June...I think this is more addicting than my LEGO collecting! (Or its enabled me to collect more LEGO sets!!)

 

[calypso726]

you should be able to transfer within the program, but i recall @calyso saying that the transfer rate is really bad... i looked around and i think its 3-1 ratio. (30k UR --> 10k SPG). dont quote me...

Yup, I did feel it was a bad transfer. It isn't one I would do.

I have a very dear aunt that I am asking this question for She has primarily used the SW card (plus, I think) up until recently. She and my uncle have just always put everything on that card. Recently I talked her into applying for the CSR, which she was approved for and is liking. She is considering keeping that card but I wanted to see if that really makes the most sense for them or if there is another rewards card that might be better. She would need to add my uncle on if that were to be their primary card so the AF would be $525.

Their primary expense is dining out and they spend about $15k per year eating out. They do travel domestically a few times a year, usually WDW once, another various vacation and then a couple of times to see us but no hotel on visiting us. She typically buys discounted GC's to fund her Disney trip so I am not sure that would factor into her travel rewards.

I guess I am wondering if the CSP would be the best card for her. Or I even wondered about her joining Costco so she could get the Costco visa. She does not have Costco around her but seems like she could join online and get the card without ever needing to step into the store, right? She would have to pay the $55 membership fee but then no AF on the card and she would get 3% dining (and 4% gas).

Any advice? She is not into CC churning or travel hacking, really. Just got the CSR cause I told her the sign up was too good to pass on.

I would say the CSR if she is able to make good use of the UR points as miles. The CSR beats the CSP once you are spending $3200 in travel/dining per year. If the domestic flights they do are inexpensive then a 2% cash back card with no AF would be a better option. I always value miles over cash but that is because I use them to travel in first both domestically and internationally. A 2% cash back card will never get me the cash I would need to pay for those flights. $15,000 per year on a 2% cash back card will earn $300. That can cover 1 inexpensive domestic flight. With the CSR that same $15k spend earns 45,000 miles on Delta by transferring UR points to Korean which will be enough to get a round trip flight to Hawaii in first class. That same flight is $2600 which would have required me spending $260,000 to have earned enough cash back to pay for it on the 2% cash back card.

Apparently, my aunt said that my uncle has some CC that gives him 2% back on all purchases with no AF. So, that could be a thought too. I wish there was an easier way to figure all this out lol

Diversifying is a good thing. I'll pick up a cash back card every once in a while when I want to do something expensive and don't feel like paying for it

 

[Rovim]

Wow. That is good to know. I have the Citi cash back card but I may look at the Costco card to supplement it.

That's what I usually do with my rewards check. I cash it in and use the money for vacation. If I spend it at Costco then I'm missing out on the rewards I would have earned if I used a credit card.

 

[Psychodisney]

The points guy posted about a website I had never heard of: www.cashbackmonitor.com. You can customize your page to see a snapshot of which shopping portal offers you your best return on your cybershopping. For example, you can see Chase UR, freedom, Rapid rewards, AA, marriot etc and chose up to 20 stores. I think it's a great tool to make sure you are shopping through the best portal for you!

 

[jsrowdon]

Can anyone verify that the CSR travel credit is triggered by buying tickets from undercover tourist? I assume it will since they have coded as travel in the past but has anyone actually seen it happen?

 

[ski_mom]

The points guy posted about a website I had never heard of: www.cashbackmonitor.com. You can customize your page to see a snapshot of which shopping portal offers you your best return on your cybershopping. For example, you can see Chase UR, freedom, Rapid rewards, AA, marriot etc and chose up to 20 stores. I think it's a great tool to make sure you are shopping through the best portal for you!

That is a great site! I don't use a lot of different sites, but this makes it easy to check the ones I want to look at. The only one that I use that is not listed is mypoints, but it would be easy to check it by itself.

Thanks for posting it!

 

[peel]

Someone on Reddit posted they called Chase about the 2017 Freedom rotating categories, and were told Q1 is Gas Stations and Transit & Q2 is Grocery Stores and Drug Stores.
Time to find a gas station with a store in the area that sells gift cards and codes as gas.

 

[havaneselover]

Someone on Reddit posted they called Chase about the 2017 Freedom rotating categories, and were told Q1 is Gas Stations and Transit & Q2 is Grocery Stores and Drug Stores.
Time to find a gas station with a store in the area that sells gift cards and codes as gas.

Ugh on Q1. I spend next to nothing on gas.

 

[Eighty8Keys]

Ugh on Q1. I spend next to nothing on gas.

I second that "ugh." With my small gas tank and fuel rewards I spend less than $30 a month on gas. I already get 4% with my Costco Citi card

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Someone on Reddit posted they called Chase about the 2017 Freedom rotating categories, and were told Q1 is Gas Stations and Transit & Q2 is Grocery Stores and Drug Stores.
Time to find a gas station with a store in the area that sells gift cards and codes as gas.

These are the same as Q1 2016, right?

 

[Albort]

These are the same as Q1 2016, right?

yes... 2017 will be a bad year for freedom card... :\ might have to use my Discover Card over it.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

yes... 2017 will be a bad year for freedom card... :\ might have to use my Discover Card over it.

DH is needing a credit card in his own name. He moved from Canada with 0 credit history, but after a little over a year as an authorized user on some of my cards, he should be alright to apply for a card now. He is planning to apply for the Chase Freedom this weekend. We chose this card because it has no annual fee and we can transfer the rewards onto my CSR card to get 1.5x points on travel redemptions.

Sucks that the categories will be pretty mediocre for the first quarter, but oh well.

 

[Albort]

DH is needing a credit card in his own name. He moved from Canada with 0 credit history, but after a little over a year as an authorized user on some of my cards, he should be alright to apply for a card now. He is planning to apply for the Chase Freedom this weekend. We chose this card because it has no annual fee and we can transfer the rewards onto my CSR card to get 1.5x points on travel redemptions.

Sucks that the categories will be pretty mediocre for the first quarter, but oh well.

if he has good enough credit, i would suggest a CSP/CSR instead, then after a year, downgrade it to a freedom.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

if he has good enough credit, i would suggest a CSP/CSR instead, then after a year, downgrade it to a freedom.

I thought about this too. And honestly, he could apply for both a CSP card and freedom card at the same time. We were planning to use the 15 months 0% to finance new phones. CSP/CSR don't have any financing offer, but the bonus is much better.