- For those who applied on or after April 10, 2020: (1) effective June 2, 2020, earn 3x points on groceries and dining; (2) continue to earn 3x on travel & gas and 2x on entertainment through August 22, 2020; (3) effective August 23, 2020, earn 3x on airlines & hotels & gas & groceries & dining and 1x everywhere else; (4) effective August 23, 2020, earn $100 annual hotel credits when you purchase a hotel stay $500 or more through ThankYou.com; (5) effective April 10, 2021, the fixed value travel redemption will be reduced from 1.25 cents to 1 cent per point.
- For those who applied before April 10, 2020: (1) effective June 2, 2020, earn 3x points on groceries and dining; (2) continue to earn 3x on travel & gas and 2x on entertainment through April 9, 2021; (3) effective April 10, 2021, earn 3x on airlines & hotels & gas & groceries & dining and 1x everywhere else; (4) effective August 23, 2020, earn $100 annual hotel credits when you purchase a hotel stay $500 or more through ThankYou.com; (5) effective April 10, 2021, the fixed value travel redemption will be reduced from 1.25 cents to 1 cent per point.
Citi offers 3x points on groceries & dining ahead of the scheduled August revamp of Citi Premier6/7/2020 Just like many other credit cards that receive COVID-19 related temporary benefits, now Citi Premier also receives something pretty good: starting June 2, 2020, you will earn 3x points on groceries (increased from 1x) and dining (increased from 2x); however, the difference here is that this benefit is considered permanent rather than temporary. Back in April, Citi announced the revamp of Citi Premier which would kick in as of August 23, 2020 and include 3x points on groceries and dining; obviously after seeing competitors ramping up the temporary COVID-19 relief, Citi has decided to move the implementation date of this benefit a couple of months earlier. However, the whole revamp situation is kind of complicated, and here we would like to break it down for you.
0 Comments
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.
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
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. After Citi's September overhaul and Barclay's November overhaul of their credit card protection benefits, Amex will also have some major changes coming on January 1, 2020. Here are the breakdowns of the upcoming changes.
Overall, the changes are mixed - some gain and some loss - but not as bad as Citi's drastic devaluation. The cards that benefit from the changes are probably limited to those with an annual fee at least $450 - Platinum Card (personal and business), Delta Reserve (personal and business), Hilton Aspire, and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant; the rest of the cards are generally considered to receive reduced coverage. We think most cardholders will be unhappy about the changes. We will update our Protection page once these changes kick in. Following Citi's drastic devaluation of credit card protection benefits, Barclays has also cut quite a few protection benefits on its credit card portfolio effective November 1, 2019. The following benefits are removed from most of their credit cards:
At the same time, just like other MasterCard issuers, Barclays has added Cellphone Protection to its World MasterCard and World Elite MasterCard. So after the devaluation, Barclays American Airlines Aviator Red Word Elite MasterCard, for example, will offer protection benefits such as Travel Accident Insurance, Travel Cancellation and Interruption, Baggage Delay, Cellphone Protection, Identity Theft, Rental Car Collision Damage Waiver (still secondary), etc. For details of credit card protection benefits, please visit our Protection page. Overall, the changes are not as bad as Citi's but still very bad for Barclays' cardholders. BTW, American Express also has some major benefit changes on the way (kicking in as of 1/1/2020), which we will cover in the next post. It seems like a trend in the industry, but we will see if other major players such as Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and US Bank will follow suit. 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! Starting September 22, 2019, Citi Double Cash allows its cash rewards to be transferred to ThankYou points. This feature makes Double Cash the best personal card for general spending, returning 3% travel rewards based on our current valuation of ThankYou points, if paired with a premium ThankYou card such as Citi Prestige or Cit Premier. Finally, we have a personal card comparable to Amex Blue Business Plus. At least on paper, Double Cash beats Alliant Visa Signature which returns 2.5% cashback with a $99 annual fee. A combo of Double Cash and Citi Prestige is also one of the best credit card combos.
The details can be found in the reviews and here are some highlights:
|
AuthorDr. Credit Card helps you to find the best cards and the best signup deals for you! Archives
May 2023
Categories
All
|