nope, just make sure u ask right before your AF hits. Even if it does, they probably refund it to u anyways...
Source: i just downgraded my CSP --> CFU last month.
They will refund as long as you downgrade within 90 days of AF. I downgraded my CSP to the CFU last week. I had already paid the AF a month or two ago and they refunded me.
Currently getting ready to consolidate some cards and wanted to get some advice. I travel for work a good bit and have been staying at Hilton and Marriott properties.
I'm thinking of the following:
-Hilton Honors card
-Marriott card
-Chase Sapphire - (for card rental)
-Citi Double Cash Back (dining and other charges)
The bulk of the card spending would be at hotels, car rental and dining.
Thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
It really all depends on your goals and priorities. If you goals are strictly cash back then you can't go wrong with the Citi Double cash back. If you're looking for status through spend on hotels you will be frequenting then it would make sense to actually put spend on one or both of the hotel cards. If you are looking for the best all around travel rewards card then the Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve can't be beat.
If your goals are obtaining status through spend and stays on a hotel chain then you want to make sure you get the right card. There are 4 Hilton cards, 2 from Amex and 2 from Citi. You'd need to spend $40k to achieve diamond with the Hilton Amex Surpass but it comes with auto gold staus. On the no fee Amex Hilton card you need to spend $20k to get gold status. The Citi Reserve card comes with gold, plus an annual weekend night bonus, and the no fee version is auto silver.
Marriott card gets you 15 elite credits annually and you earn elite credit for every $3k in spend, plus an annual bonus night a cat 1-5 hotels.
I have each of the cards you mentioned above and have them for very specific reasons. 2 of them sit in a drawer and one of them stays in my wallet and one of them is getting cancelled this week. My goals are always for higher luxury travel experiences that I would never pay real money for. I plan all travel 2 - 5 years out and then get the cards I will need to get me where I want to go. So, my advice is start with a specific goal or destination in mind. If you don'y have a place in mind yet that is ok too. Start with building a decent portfolio of miles and points. With Chase 5/24 in effect then you want to start with Chase cards that fall under 5/24 before you do anything else. I will give you my reasons for having the cards you listed above. They may be very different for the reasons you are contemplating the cards.
I have a Marriott personal card and so does DH. We initially got them because we wanted to use the annual night each year to have a built in getaway for a weekend. We do use them every year and that benefit outweighs the annual fee. So, we keep the card and don't spend any money with it except once a year or so to keep it active so it sits in a drawer. Marriott points are not all that valuable to me. We used the bonus points for a weekend in London and did get decent value from that. The Citi Double Cash card was a product change I made when I was ready to cancel my fourth American Airlines card. It has no fee and I had a high credit line with it. When I am ready to apply for another AA card I will use this one as leverage for moving credit lines. It sits in a drawer.
I have the Hilton Surpass card which will be cancelled this week. I need to make room for whatever Amex is going to come out with to go head to head with the CSR as well as the Delta AMex since it is being offered at 70k. I got this card as a strategy to visit Bora Bora in 2020. I had calculated it was going to take me and DH 7 credit cards each to do the trip we want there so this one is on the 5 year plan. I will eventually have had all the Hilton cards but will be leaving the Reserve card for last.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is like the Holy Grail of credit cards for my goals. 3 UR points on dining and travel is amazing because those points can transfer 1:1 on airlines across all 3 alliances. If you don't spend at least $3200 per year in dining and travel categories then of course the Sapphire Preferred makes more sense at 2 UR points for dining and travel. This card stays in my wallet but to make the most out of earning UR points I also have the UR cards that will exponentially increase my UR earning potential. The Ink+ will get me 5x on lots of my everyday spend via purchasing gift cards at office supply stores. The Freedom no fee card gets me 5x on bonus categories each quarter and the Freedom Unlimited no fee gets me 1.5 on everything else.
If your goals are travel I would suggest getting the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. Right off the bat you are going to be able to get over $2100 in value from it at a minimum the first year. If you decide down the line that your earning and spend doesn't justify the AF you can downgrade to the Sapphire Preferred. 3 UR points are worth much more than 5 Marriott points in terms of redemption value. If I was starting this hobby all over again, my first priority would be to get the Chase cards that fall under 5/24 that I intend to keep. Hope that helps.
. Now to figure out what to buy for $4,000!
