We finally review the relaunched Wells Fargo Propel Amex, which drops the annual fees and expands bonus categories.  When you also have Wells Fargo Visa Signature, Propel Amex is a powerhouse for bonus category rewards (travel & gas & dining & streaming) and poses a great challenge to some of our favorite credit cards.

The Facts

• Annual Fee: none
• Signup Bonus: 30,000 points after spending $3,000 within 3 months of new account opening.  This bonus is not available if you have had received signup bonus or introductory APR(s) or fees from any Wells Fargo credit card within the last 15 months.  In addition, you will only be approved for one Wells Fargo credit card every 6 months.  Historical best bonus of this card: 30K since introduced in 2018.
• Application Landing Page
• Rewards: 3x travel, gas, dining and select streaming services, and 1x everywhere else.  For streaming services that qualify for 3x bonus, please see wellsfargo.com/credit-cards/propel/streaming.
• Best Use of Wells Fargo Go Far Rewards points: Normally, Wells Fargo points can be redeemed for cash, merchandise gift cards, travel, etc., up to 1 cent per point.  However, if you have Wells Fargo Visa Signature which carries $0 annual fee and offers 5x points on gas, groceries, and drugstores for 6 months of new account opening, you points may be redeemed for airfare through Wells Fargo's booking portal at a fixed rate of 1.5 cents per point (cpp) or even 1.75 cpp if your annual spending on the Visa Signature exceeds $50,000.
• Amex CONNECT Benefits: (1) Amex Offers - you receive savings in form of statement credit at select merchants when using your card; you need to add the certain offer(s) to your card before you receive savings.  (2) Hotel privileges and savings.  (3) Taste from American Express - savings or benefits at 400+ restaurants worldwide.  (4) Entertainment Access.  (5) Amex Essentials (digital magazine).  Please visit https://www.americanexpress.com/us/network/wellsfargo/ for details of the Amex CONNECT program. 
• Other Benefits: (1) Waive foreign transaction fees.  (2) Embedded EVM chip with the "Chip & PIN" technology which has much better acceptance worldwide than the previous "Chip & Signature" technology.
• Consumer Protection: In general, Propel Amex offers mediocre consumer travel and purchase protection.  However, it is one of the very few credit cards that offers Cellphone Protection - you will be reimbursed up to $600 per claim with a $25 deductible when your cellphone is damaged or stolen.  You don't need to purchase your cellphone with the card, but rather enjoy the coverage as long as you pay your cellphone bills with the card.
• History: After a not-so-successful run of the two Propel Amex cards (Propel 360 Amex with a $45 annual fee & Propel World Amex with a $175 annual fee) for nearly four years, Wells Fargo decided to make another attempt to earn more customers with the updated Propel Amex in July 2018, by dropping the annual fees all together and expanding the 3x bonus categories substantially.  This was a positive and generous change as part of the general effort to win back customers after Wells Fargo's infamous account fraud scandal.

The Math
Because Wells Fargo Go Far Rewards program does not allow points to be transferred to frequent traveler miles/points, the value of this Amex heavily depends on whether you have another Well Fargo card (Visa Signature) to achieve the redemption value of 1.5 cpp (or even 1.75 cpp when annual spending exceeds $50K).  Let's first look at how difficult it is to achieve 1.75 cpp value.  If you spend $50K on the Visa Signature, you essentially lose $50,000 x (2% - 1.75%) = $125 per year, compared to the 2% cashback you can easily earn with quite a few non-fee cards (such as Citi Double Cash).  In the meantime, you gain an additional (1.75 - 1.5)% x 3 = 0.75% on the 3x bonus categories with Propel Amex.  Thus, you will need to spend at least $16.7K on the 3x categories to offset the $125 you lose on general purchases, as $16.7K x 0.75% = $125.  To hit the maximum 1.75 cpp value and still come out ahead, you will need to spend $50K on non-bonus categories with Visa Signature and $16.7K on 3x categories with Propel Amex, which is nevertheless a very tough requirement.  The bottom line is that 1.75cpp value looks amazing on paper but is not easily achieved in reality.  So let's use the more realistic 1.5 cpp value in our analysis.  

With the Visa Signature in your drawer, Propel Amex is able to cover a wide range of 3x bonus categories: airfare, non-airfare travel, dining, gas, and streaming, with a return rate of 4.5% rewards.  The return rate for general spending at 1.5% is not bad either.  However, we still recommend a 2% cashback card for general spending instead.
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Wells Fargo Propel Amex vs. Citi ThankYou Premier: First of all, Citi ThankYou Premier carries a $95 annual fee while Wells Fargo Propel Amex has none.  Currently, points in the two programs have similar values in our book (assuming you have Wells Fargo Visa Signature).  Propel Amex returns 3x points on travel & gas & dining & streaming, while ThankYou Premier returns 3x points on travel & gas and 2x dining & entertainment.  Obviously, while the old Propel World Amex failed to match ThankYou Premier, the updated Propel Amex actually leaves ThankYou Premier in the dust with regards to bonus categories.  The most important difference between the two, however, is how the 1.5 cpp value is achieved: on Propel Amex, you redeem for airfare at a fixed rate of 1.5 cpp when you also have Wells Fargo Visa Signature; on ThankYou Premier, this value could only be achieved when you transfer ThankYou points to miles of airline partners, usually for premium cabin awards tickets.

Wells Fargo Propel Amex vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR): The updated Propel Amex nows poses a great challenge to our favorite CSR.  First of all, even considering the $300 annual travel credits, CSR's effective annual fee is still $150.  Secondly, Propel Amex offers two additional 3x categories - gas & streaming.  Looks like on paper, Propel Amex has CSR beaten up pretty badly.  However, CSR's $150 effective annual fee gets you quite some nice perks such as airport lounge access, luxury hotel privileges, primary rental car coverage, and better consumer travel and purchase protection.  In addition, while Ultimate Rewards points earned from CSR might be redeemed for airfare at the same fixed value of 1.5 cpp, they might also be transferred to miles of airline partners, recommended for premium cabin awards tickets.  Lastly, getting Propel Amex to hit the magical 1.5 cpp does require having another Wells Fargo card.  If you haven't had Wells Fargo Visa Signature, it is recommended to get Propel Amex first with the signup bonus, start using it for 3x categories, and open Visa Signature six months later to activate the 1.5 cpp value.

Wells Fargo Propel Amex vs. US Bank Altitude Rewards: Unlike Citi ThankYou or Chase Ultimate Rewards programs, US Bank Altitude Rewards doesn't have a miles transfer feature.  So a comparison between Wells Fargo Propel Amex and US Bank Altitude Rewards Visa is much easier, as both have the fixed 1.5 cpp value for airfare redemption.  Altitude Rewards has an effective annual fee is $75 after considering the annual $325 travel credits and offers some premium perks such as airport lounge access, luxury hotel privileges, primary rental car insurance, and GoGo inflight internet.  When it comes to rewards, Altitude Rewards returns 3x points on travel & mobile payment services, while Propel Amex returns 3x travel & gas & dining & streaming - we think Propel Amex has better rewards for most consumers.  So if you don't need the travel perks from Altitude Rewards or you have received similar perks from other cards, Propel Amex will be a better card, as long as you also have Wells Fargo Visa Signature.

The Conclusion
With the relaunch of Propel Amex, which drops the annual fees all together and expands bonus categories substantially, Wells Fargo tries very hard to earn customers.  We welcome the positive changes.  When you have Wells Fargo Visa Signature to increase points value to 1.5~1.75 cpp, Propel Amex is a powerhouse for a wide range of bonus categories and poses a serious challenge to some of our favorite cards such as Chase Sapphire Reserve and US Bank Altitude Rewards.

This is not the first time Amex runs this kind of promotions for its Delta cobranded SkyMiles Credit Cards, and won't be the last one.  Now through 9/19/18:

• Amex Delta Gold SkyMiles Card (personal) - 60K miles ($95 annual fee waived for 1st year)
• Amex Delta Gold SkyMiles Business Card - 60K miles ($95 annual fee waived for 1st year)
• Amex Delta Platinum SkyMiles Card (personal) - 70K miles + 10K MQMs ($195 annual fee)
• Amex Delta Platinum SkyMiles Business Card - 70K miles + 10K MQMs ($195 annual fee)

As our current valuation for Delta miles and its MQMs are around 1 cent a piece, the signup bonus after considering the first year annual fee for either of these four cards is roughly $600.

Barclays American Airlines Aviator Red WEMC has increased the signup bonus from 50K miles to 60K miles (the best ever offer), still just after your make the first purchase (which is very rare these days).  Our review has been updated too to reflect the post- Amex SPG discussions (see below).

The Facts

• Annual Fee: $95
• Signup Bonus: 60,000 miles after your first purchase within 3 months of new account opening.  Historical best bonus of this card: 60,000 miles for limited time in 2017 and 2018.
• Application Landing Page
• Rewards: 2x American Airlines, 1x everywhere else.  
• Best Use of AAdvantage miles:  AAdvantage is the frequent flyer program of American Airlines, a member of oneworld.  AAdvantage miles are generally valuable when redeemed on American or partner flights.
• Travel Benefits: (1) Receive 10% of your redeemed miles back, up to 10,000 miles per year.  (2) Earn $3,000 Elite Qualifying Dollars after spending $25,000 each calendar year.  (3) First checked bag free for you plus four passengers on your reservation.  (4) Priority boarding (Group 1, after first or business class passengers and elite members) on American flights.  (5) 25% discount for onboard purchases. (6) Waived foreign transaction fees with an embedded EMV chip.
• Standard World Elite MasterCard Benefits: including World Elite Luxury Hotels & Resorts (free breakfasts, upgrades, early check-in, late check-out, and hotel specific amenities), World Elite Air Program (upgrades, savings, or companion tickets, mostly on full fare tickets), World Elite Cruise Program (up to $500 savings), World Elite Tours and Vacations (up to $250 or 5% savings), World Elite Car Rental (savings and elite status with Avis, National, and Sixt), World Elite Chauffeured Car Service (savings and benefits), World Elite Private Jet Program (savings and benefits), MasterCard Airport Concierge (15% savings), and so on.
• Other Facts:  This product was introduced in early 2015 as a replacement for US Airways MasterCard, with the merger of American Airlines AAdvantage and US Airways Dividend Miles.  After the merger until 2017, Citi was the sole issuer of the post-merger American Airlines' credit card products, and Barclays could only convert existing US Airways MasterCard to the new Aviator Cards.  However, starting 2017, Barclays began to issue new Aviator Red cards to new applicants and increased the annual fees from $89 to $95 while upgrading it from World MasterCard to World Elite MasterCard and adding the EQD earning feature.

The Math
In the past we used to not recommend this card for general spending, as the old Amex SPG (before August 2018) returned 25% more AA miles than any AA cobranded cards.  Effective August 2018, AA cobranded credit cards have become the best way of earning AA miles via credit card general spending.

AAdvantage Aviator Red vs. AAdvantage Aviator Silver: Aviator Silver is $100/year more expensive than Aviator Red, and it comes with three premium features: (1) a 3-2-1 earning structure vs. 2-1 on Red (one additional mile on American, hotels, and car rentals), (2) EQM earning potential with $25K-50K spending, and (3) annual $99 companion certificate with $30K spending.  Even if you don't use the last two, you just need to spend $6,250 a year on American airlines, hotels and car rentals to come ahead of the $100 difference in annual fees if you happen to value an AA mile at 1.6 cents a piece like we do, as $6,250 x 1 mile/$ x 1.6 cent/mile = $100.  Of course, if your value is different, you can do your own math.  The bottom line is that if you are a frequent American flyer, you will most likely find upgrading to Silver Aviator a great deal.

AAdvantage Aviator Red vs. Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select:  These two cards are direct competitors - they share many features.  Their differences are: (1) Citi's version has a $99 annual fee ($4 more than Barclays') but waives it for the first year; (2) Citi's version offers 2x dining and gas; (3) Citi's version offers Reduced Mileage Awards (saving 7,500 miles on select routes); (4) Citi's version offers $100 flight discount after $20K annual spending; (5) Barclays's version offers 3K Elite Qualifying Dollars after $25K annual spending.

The Conclusion
Barclays designs the replacement of US Airways MasterCard to align with Citi's counterpart.  However, if you frequent American or just have big hotels/rental cars spending, you will find upgrading from Aviator Red to Aviator Silver very rewarding.

Chase IHG Rewards Club Premier World Elite MasterCard now has a 105K + $50 credit signup bonus, the best we have ever seen on this card or the card it replaced (IHG Rewards Club Select MC).  The $89 annual fee is not waived for the first year.  The signup bonus: $50 statement credit after the first purchase + 100,000 points after spending $3,000 within 3 months of new account opening + additional 5,000 points after adding one authorized user and making the first purchase within the same 3-month period.  The bonus is not available if you currently have this card or have received a signup bonus for this card in the past 24 months. Note that this card is NOT subject to Chase' infamous 5/24 rule (you won't be approved for a new card if you have opened 5 or more new accounts within the past 24 months).

So do you apply now?

• Pros: (1) The best ever signup bonus on any IHG-brand credit cards (the previous best bonus was 85K).  (2) The card is NOT subject to the 5/24 rule, so for people who are over 4-card limit it could be be approved.  (3) The anniversary free night capped at 40K level, even not as lucrative as the un-capped free night previously available on IHG Select MC, is still a good reason to keep the card after the first year.  (4) If you still have the old IHG Select MC, you will have two anniversary nights going forward.
• Cons: The value of IHG points are generally not that great - our value is 0.4 cent a piece.  So the signup bonus in our book after considering the $89 annual fee is $380.  If you are interested in other great signup offers, you might want to check out our Promotions page for the list in the order of signup value.

Effective July 29, 2018, Citi has updated the travel and consumer protection benefits provided by its credit cards, and they get worse!  The last time Citi revamped the protection benefits was in May 2016 and it was a major enhancement.  We think it was a little too generous and undoubtedly represented industry-leading benefits, and this time around Citi has reduced certain benefits to get closer to the rest in the market.  The following summary is for Citi Prestige ($450 annual fee) which offers the best level of protection among Citicards; other cards may not have all these benefits, but if they do the changes will be the similar.  However, at this point, we are not sure if Citi AA Executive WEMC which used to share all the same protection benefits as Citi Prestige will be affected, though we highly suspect Citi will exempt one card from what seems like a system wide change.

• Car Rental Insurance: You may be reimbursed up to a maximum of $75,000, reduced from $100,000. In addition, coverage won't apply to charges or expenses for the loss of use of the rental car, rental agency fees, or taxes any more.  Note that cheaper cards continue to have a maximum of $50,000.
• Trip Cancellation & Interruption: You may be reimbursed up to a maximum of $5,000 per trip - this maximum used to be per person per trip.  Note that some cheaper cards reduce the maximum accordingly, for example, from $3,000 per trip to $1,500 per trip.  In addition, coverage will be limited to you and your family members - it used to also cover traveling companions.  Citi used to be the only issuer that cover traveling companions and it makes sense for them to reduce it to meet competitions.
• Trip Delay Protection & Baggage Delay Protection: Coverage will be limited to you and your family members - again it used to cover traveling companions. In addition, coverage will only apply to delays of 6 hours or more, down from 3 hours or more.  Citi used to be the only issuer that cover delays of 3 hours or more, for certain cards (Citi Prestige and Citi AA Executive), which was very generous and beneficial in practice.  Some other cards such as Citi ThankYou Premier continue to cover delays of 6 hours or more.
• Lost Baggage Protection and Travel & Emergency Assistance: Coverage will be limited to you and your family members - again traveling companions won't be covered any more.
• Citi Price Rewind: You may be reimbursed up to a maximum of $200 per item and $1,000 per calendar year - the maximum was down from $500 per item & $2,500 per year.  In addition, coverage won't include consumables, tires, watches, firearms, or ammunition any more.  You also won't be reimbursed if the lower priced item is found at a warehouse club where the merchant requires a membership fee.
• Damage & Theft Purchase Protection: You may be covered for up to $10,000 per incident for 90 days from the date of purchase or delivery of the item purchased with your card - it used to be 120 days from the date of purchase or delivery.  In addition, coverage won't include lost items, firearms, ammunition, jewelry, watches, tires or items that are under the care and control of a third party including, but not limited to, the U.S. Postal Service, airlines, or delivery services.  Also note that coverage will be secondary (meaning if you have another insurance policy, this benefit will cover only the amount your other policies do not). 
• Return Protection: You may be reimbursed up to a maximum of $1,500 per calendar year, down from $2,500 per year.  Coverage won't include firearms, ammunition, tires, jewelry, furniture or appliances any more.

In general, we are sad to see Citi reduces these benefits, especially the loss of traveling companion coverage, Trip & Baggage Delay coverage minimum changing from 3-hour to 6-hour, reduced maximum for a few benefits, as well as loss of consumer coverage for items like lost items, firearms, jewelry, tires, furniture, etc.  However, they are still considered reasonable adjustments.  Note that Citi's travel protection is still considered the best in industry, probably on par with Chase's, as it covers cardholders plus family members as well as awards tickets; also Citi's Extended Warranty is still industry leading (now on par with Amex, see below) because it covers two additional years.

In comparison, you need to be aware of the fact that effective August 26, 2018, Chase will be eliminating two consumer protection benefits: Price Protection (for all Chase cards) and Return Protection (for Sapphire Preferred, Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, Ink Preferred, United Explorer).  So we should actually give credits to Citi for at least not taking some benefit items away completely like Chase does.

Interestingly, when Citi and Chase scale back on the protection benefits, Amex has decided to improves some of its.  Effective August 1, 2018, Amex will increase Extended Warranty from one additional year to two and will extend Purchase Protection from 90 days (from date of purchase or delivery) to 120 days.

Citi has brought back the 75K-miles signup bonus for American Airlines AAdvantage Executive WEMC, which carries a $450 annual fee but offers full Admirals Club membership for the primary cardholder and access to 40+ domestic/international AA lounges for the authorized users plus two guests.  Our value for the signup bonus after considering the first year annual fee is $750.  For details see our review.

This offer could die at any moment!  One of our Top 10 lister Citi ThankYou Premier is offering 60K points signup bonus after $4K spending.  See details in our review.

The new benefits of Citi American Airlines AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite MasterCard (what a long name) kick in today for existing cardmembers: gas & dining as 2x bonus categories and an annual $100 flight discount after $20K spending; the annual fee is increased from $95 to $99, still waived for the first year.  The expanded bonus categories give this card a boost in scores which enables the card to land on our Top 10 Best Credit Card list as #8 and bumps Chase United Airlines Club Visa Signature off the list.  BTW, the Top 10 List will be going through major changes in the coming month considering the revamp of SPG and Marriott affiliated credit card products and the reduction of Citi's travel and consumer protection.  Stay tuned.

The card offers either a 60K-mile bonus or a 50K-mile +$200 credit bonus.  The 10% rebate for awards bookings, up to 10K miles per year, along with other travel perks such as free first bags, priority boarding, 25% onboard discount, have made the card a keeper after the first year.  Now with the newly added 2x bonus categories and Amex SPG's reduced points earning starting August, this card becomes a must-have if collecting American miles is your primary goal concerning credit cards.  For details see our updated review.

We haven't written many posts in the recent year or so, and the reason was explained in the previous few posts.  However, now we would like to change things up again, based on feedback from readers.  We will have more short, Twitter like posts, for new or updated reviews as well as credit card and poitns/miles related news.

Chase has introduced Southwest Rapid Rewards (RR) Priority Visa, with a up-to-65K points signup bonus.  The 7.5K anniversary points and the $75 annual Southwest credit combined more than offset the $149 annual fee, and you will enjoy upgrades to Business Select (who will mind A1-A15?) four times a year, 20% onboard discount, potential Tier Qualifying Points earning, etc. for free. A great card to keep after 1st year.  For details see our updated Southwest Visa Review.

The recent highlights on the site include the rebranded U.S. Bank Radisson Rewards Visa, the new Chase World of Hyatt Visa, the new Chase Ink Unlimited Business Visa, the revived Barclays Arrival Plus WEMC.