- Citi Prestige: (1) earn 5x points on online purchases, up to $1,500 spent in this category (in addition to the regular 5x on airlines | travel agencies | dining, 3x on hotels | cruise lines), from 6/2/2020 through 8/31/2020; (2) as previously announced, the annual $250 travel credits can be used towards groceries and dining, from 5/1/2020 through 12/31/2020.
- US Bank Altitude Reserve: (1) the annual $325 travel credits can be used towards dining, from 6/1/2020 through 12/31/2020; (2) earn 3x points on dining (in addition to the regular 3x on travel and mobile wallets), from 6/1/2020 through 12/31/2020.
As covered in a previous post, we praised Chase Sapphire Reserve for offering powerful temporary COVID-19 related benefits such as reduced annual fees, 5x points on groceries, enhanced flexibility for $300 annual travel credit, and enhanced flexibility in points redemption. Now Citi and US Bank are following Chase to offer some great temporary benefits for Sapphire Reserve's two major competitors.
0 Comments
With the unfortunate recent devaluation of United miles, we have to adjust our ranking. Chase United Club Visa is now replaced with Amex Green Card as the #10 Best Credit Card by Dr. Credit Card. We don't want to cover the details of the devaluation - you might visit travel blogs such as onemileatatime for details. In a nutshell, United has decided to align its Star Alliance partner redemption rates with those of its own metals, and as a result, our valuation of United miles is adjusted from 1.4 cents per mile (cpm) to 1.3 cpm. Below is a comparison of our Top 10 list before and after this change.
Chase further improves COVID-19 related benefits for Sapphire Reserve and Sapphire Preferred5/29/2020 As detailed in the previous post, several card issuers have temporary COVID-19 related benefits for select credit cards. Now Chase pushes this further on the popular Sapphire Reserve Card and Sapphire Preferred Card.
Obviously, Sapphire Reserve is a very powerful card during this special time, as no other card has offered 5x points on groceries temporarily or offered 1.5 cent/point temporary redemption option for groceries & dining & home improvement. Of course the added flexibility of the annual $300 travel credit and temporary reduced annual fees all add to the value of the card. Personally, I was on the fence whether to keep this card upon my renewal in the coming October due to the increased annual fee and greatly reduced spending on travel & dining, and now it is clear that I will keep this card, at least for another year. COVID-19 pandemic has obviously changed consumer behavior big time, and it makes sense that credit card issuers are making adjustments accordingly. This post summarizes these adjustments from Amex, Chase, and Citi.
American Express
Chase
Citi
Chase and Southwest have brought the signup bonus on the Rapid Rewards (RR) Performance Business Visa to a historical high of 100,000 points. You receive up to 100,000 points (70,000 points after you spend $5,000 within 3 months of new account opening, and additional 30,000 points after you spend $25,000 total within 6 months of new account opening). This bonus is not available if you currently have any personal Southwest Rapid Rewards credit card or have received a signup bonus for any personal Southwest credit card in the past 24 months.
Opening a business card requires you have a small business or you are preparing to open a small business, and the $25K spending requirement within the first 6 months is pretty high. However, once you hit $25K spending, you will earn at least 125,000 points which are more than enough to earn you Southwest Companion Pass, which normally requires 110,000 points in a calendar year and allows you to take a companion for free (you pay for your ticket and the taxes and fees for your companion) as many times as you could for the rest of 2020 and the entire 2021. This is arguably the easiest way to qualify for the lucrative status. Chase has re-branded United Explorer Business Visa as United Business Visa, and introduced a few changes:
Also now the card offers 100,000 miles after you spend $10,000 within 3 months of new account opening, better than United Explorer Business Visa ever offered. To reflect the major changes that kicked in as of January 12, 2020, our review of Chase Sapphire Reserve has been updated, so as many other reviews that involve this popular card.
In a nutshell, the changes for Sapphire Reserve are as the following:
As we can see the new Lyft and DoorDash perks, which might be useful to some customers, are sort of temporary to mitigate the annual fee increase. We think in general this card was devaluated. Considering the easy-to-use $300 annual credit, the effective annual fee is increased from $150 to $250. In order to cancel that out and beat the benchmark 2% cashback provided by several non-fee cards such as Citi Double Cash and Fidelity Visa, the minimum spending on the 3x categories (dining & travel) is increased from $6,000 to $10,000, with our valuation of Chase Ultimate Rewards points at 1.5 cents a piece, because $6,000 x 3 x 1.5% = $6,000 x 2% + $150 while $10,000 x 3 x 1.5% = $10,000 x 2% + $250. When compared to another Chase card that offer flexible miles/points transfer feature - Sapphire Preferred which carries a $95 annual fee and offers 2x points on dining & travel, you need to spend $10,500 per year on dining & travel to cancel out the effective annual fee difference, because $10,500 x 3 x 1.5% - $250 = $10,500 x 2 x 1.5% - $95. Previously, you only need to spend $3,700t on dining & travel to cancel out the difference in effective annual fees, and that was why it was an easier recommendation to get the seemingly more expensive Sapphire Reserve. Now you really need to figure out if you could spend that much in those categories and how much you value the extra perks and protection provided by Sapphire Reserve. Another factor to consider is that Sapphire Reserve is still a better card for Ultimate Rewards ecosystem (we always recommend comparing it with the non-fee Freedom Unlimited to get best out of this ecosystem), as in addition to the flexible miles/points transfer feature it does offer a better fixed travel redemption option at 1.5 cents when you book through Chase. All in all, it is not as easy as before to recommend Chase Sapphire Reserve, but for cardholders who spend enough on dining & travel and/or value excellent travel perks such as airport lounge access, luxury hotel privileges, primary rental car insurance, premium roadside assistance, the best travel & consumer protection provided by any credit card, and the ultimate flexibility in redeeming points, this card still represents great value. After number crunching, Sapphire Reserve maintains the No.1 spot on our Top 10 Best Credit Cards list, for now. Three personal Chase Southwest Visa cards offering the historical high 75K points bonus each1/12/2020 Chase has upped signup bonuses on all three personal Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards (RR) Visa Credit Cards to 75,000 points each with a $5,000 spending requirement: Southwest RR Plus Visa ($69 annual fee), Southwest RR Premier Visa ($99 annual fee), and Southwest RR Priority Visa ($150 annual fee). These bonuses are arguably the best in history in terms of number of points. Remember Chase used to offer a straight Companion Pass plus 30K points back in 2019, and Companion Pass plus 40K points for California residents back in 2017. Companion Pass status allows you to take one companion for free as many times as you want, as long as you pay your own tickets and taxes and fees for your companion. With the new 75K offers, it is actually not hard at all the qualify for the Companion Pass which requires 110K points accumulation in a calendar year. Note that you won't receive a second bonus if you open two personal Southwest Visa cards; however, you could open one personal Southwest Visa and one Southwest Business Visa (RR Premier Business or RR Performance Business) to easily qualify for Companion Pass.
We never reviewed Amex Green Card because of the mediocre rewards (2x points on travel booked through Amex Travel, 1x everywhere else), until October 2019 when Amex had a major revamp of the card by increasing annual from $95 to $150 but enhancing travel & dining earning to 3x points and adding $100 CLEAR credit & $100 LoungeBuddy credit. Please see our review for details. It is now rated as one of the best credit cards for rewards.
The current signup bonus is 45,000 points after spending $2,000 within 3 months of new account opening; you also receive up to $100 in statement credits for purchases made directly with Away (a travel luggage brand) within the first three months when you apply by January 15, 2020. This signup bonus is not available to applicants who have or have had this card or any previous Amex Green Card. Our analysis: "The annual $100 CLEAR credit and $100 LoungeBuddy credit can't be treated at face value for most customers, so we will still consider the annual fee to be $150 for this card. Using our current valuation of MR points at 1.5 cents a piece, you need to spend $6,000 a year in travel & dining combined to beat the $150 annual fee and 2% cashback provided by non-fee cards such as Citi Double Cash and Fidelity Visa, because $6,000 x 3 point/$ x 1.5 cent/point - $150 = $6,000 x 2%." The 3x rewards structure is exactly the same as our favorite card Chase Sapphire Reserve which happens to have an effective annual fee of $150 after considering the $300 annual travel credit, and our current valuation of Chase Ultimate Rewards points happens to be the same at 1.5 cents per point. In general, however, Sapphire Reserve is still a better card due to its travel perks, consumer protection, and enhanced 1.5 cent per point fixed value travel redemption. Amex Green Card also pairs well with Amex EveryDay Preferred (EDP) to form a formidable MR combo. We wrote, "with 30 transactions per month, EDP returns 4.5x points on groceries (up to $6K spent each year, = 6.75% rewards) and 3x on gas (=4.5% rewards), while Amex Green returns 3x points on travel and dining (=4.5% rewards). As for general spending, EDP returns higher rewards at 1.5x (=2.25% rewards) and will be ideal for most purchases other than foreign transactions. With this powerful combo, you can easily cover all five most important bonus categories: grocery, gas, dining, airfare, and non-air travel, with impressive returns - that is an incredible deal! There are quite a few updates on the website in the recent weeks, and here is a quick roundup.
|
AuthorDr. Credit Card helps you to find the best cards and the best signup deals for you! Archives
May 2023
Categories
All
|