Choosing Between the Sapphire Reserve, Prestige, Platinum, and Ritz-Carlton Credit Cards

[Offers contained within this article may no longer be available]

The Chase Sapphire Reserve, Citi Prestige, Platinum Card from American Express, and Ritz-Carlton are four of the top benefit-based credit cards available for travelers. I’ve already compared the Sapphire Reserve vs the Prestige and vs the Platinum Card, so check those articles for very detailed comparisons. (Also check out this brilliant breakdown from Reddit and this article from the Doctor of Credit to see more a side-by-side comparison of thee three cards.) While those in-depth comparisons are very helpful, this article walks you through a series of questions in an effort to point you in the right direction for choosing the right card or cards for your wallet. 

Are you solely interested in the sign-up bonus?

Are you primarily or heavily interested in the sign-up bonus of a benefits card but not interested in holding on to the card beyond the first year?

If that’s the case, then I recommend a couple of options. 

My first recommendation would be to get the Chase Sapphire Reserve, since it currently comes with a 100K sign-up bonus after spending $3,000 in the first three months that’s open to the public. It’s rumored that the bonus may drop down after September, but nobody really knows for sure. 

The Platinum Card occasionally sends out targeted offers for 100K and every now and again leaks a link for the 100K offer (although the last leak resulted in the great freeze of 2016). Other offers go out for 75K and 50K but the standard public offer is 40K. If you’re primarily concerned with earnings from the sign-up bonus, I say try to wait it out for the 100K or even 75K offer. I personally, wouldn’t go for the 40K simply for the sign-up bonus since you could rack up 50K Membership Rewards with cards that have no first year annual fee, such as the Green or Gold card (might need Google Incognito to show those bonuses).

The current Prestige offer for 40K is also uninspiring and not worth it to pursue simply for the sign-up bonus, in my opinion. Sign-up bonuses for the Prestige have been as high as 100K but judging by the recent trend of Citi lowering bonuses (or removing them all together), I think it might be a while before we see another large sign-up bonus for the Prestige. 

The Ritz-Carlton currently offers three complimentary nights (at categories 1 – 4) after you spend $5,000 in purchases in the first three months from account opening. Three nights at a Ritz-Carlton category 4 hotel could add up to close to $3,000 in value if properly utilized so this is nothing to scoff at, though you obviously don’t benefit from the flexibility provided by the other cards.  

Do you need a solid exit strategy?

If you’re just getting the card(s) for the sign-up bonus, you’re going to need an “exit strategy” that can get you out of paying the annual fee in the future. The best exit strategies are those that allow you to downgrade or product change to cards that don’t require you to pay annual fee, so that you can allow your average age of accounts to lengthen and increase your credit score at no cost.

The Sapphire Reserve should be able to be downgraded after 12 months to a no-annual fee Sapphire or no-annual fee Freedom card, such as the Freedom (classic) or Freedom Unlimited and the Prestige also should be able to be downgraded to the Citi Thankyou Preferred, another no-annual fee card (Citi may allow you other non-Thankyou card product changes as well).

Unfortunately, the best you could do with the Platinum Card is downgrade to a card like the Green Card that still has an annual fee of $95. And finally, I’m not aware of people having success with product changing the Ritz-Carlton card to a card with no annual fee so there may not be a way to get around the annual fee this way for the Ritz-Carlton.

Thus the Sapphire Reserve and Citi Prestige have the best exit strategies. 

Are you very averse to a high annual fee?

A lot of people see an annual fee for over $400 and think there’s no way in Hades they’d apply for such a card. But once you understand the value you receive from a high annual fee card and how you can utilize travel credits to mitigate these fees, the fees actually become pretty reasonable.

If you’re wanting a card with the best way to reduce your annual fee,then my recommendation would be the Chase Sapphire Reserve. It has the highest travel credit worth $300 and it also has the most broadly defined travel category, making it the best way to reduce an annual of $450 down to essentially $150.

The Ritz-Carlton card also offers a $100 travel credit that’s not quite as expansive as the Sapphire Reserve, but still not too shabby. It knocks the annual fee of the Ritz to an effective $150 and with the $100 off roundtrip domestic tickets, one could easily more than cancel out what they pay for the annual fee.

The Prestige has a $250 airline credit that can help knock its $450 fee down to $200 but it’s not as expansive as the Reserve. It is still quite broad, though, and can even be used toward the purchase of airline tickets. 

Finally, the travel credit from the Platinum is a bit limited. It’s limited to incidentals to one domestic airline that you must choose and it’s only $200, meaning that your annual fee is reduced to $250. One big plus to the Platinum Card is that you can utilize the MPX app to make purchases at department stores and places like Amazon, so for some people, this “travel credit” actually can work out to be even more useful and practical than the travel credit for the Reserve. 

Do you want to redeem points for travel?

Not everyone wants to transfer points to travel partners. Some people like to redeem for their points for travel because it’s simpler than transferring points as there are no black out dates and when you redeem points for travel, it’s like paying cash so you can earn miles on your travels and achieve elite status easier. 

If you want to redeem points for travel, such as airfare or hotels, then your decision is easy, go with the Chase Sapphire Reserve, where you can redeem at a rate of 1.5 cents per point through the Ultimate Rewards travel portal on airfare, hotels, and cruises.

Here are the redemptions rates compared for the major programs:

Chase Ultimate Rewards

Ultimate Rewards can be redeemed in the following ways:

  • 1.0 cent per point for cash back
  • 1.0 cent per point for gift cards
  • As a Sapphire Reserve card holder, you can redeem points as 1.5 cents per point on the Ultimate Rewards travel portal.

Citi Thankyou Points

Thankyou Points can be redeemed in the following ways:

  • 1.0 cent per point for cash back
  • 1.0 cent per point for gift cards
  • As a Citi Prestige card holder, you can redeem points as 1.25 cents per point on airlines.

The Prestige comes close in competing with the Reserve, but after losing its 1.6 cents per point redemption rate on American Airlines, it now sits at second place behind the Reserve. 

American Express Membership Rewards 

Membership Rewards can be redeemed in the following ways:

  • Between .5 and 1.0 cent per point for gift cards
  • 0.6 cent per point for a statement credit/charge.
  • 1.0 cent per point on airfare
  • 0.7 cent per point on hotels, cruises, and vacation packages. 

Do you fly Delta?

If you fly Delta often, you should consider the Platinum Card. It offers you entry to Delta Sky Club lounges when you fly with Delta on that day, regardless of the class you booked. One thing, you’ll have to pay to have up to two guests join you.  

Do you frequent airports with Centurion lounges?

Just about everyone agrees that American Express Centurion lounges are among the best airport lounges in the United States. With the Platinum Card from American Express (or Centurion black card), access to these lounges is free and you bring in immediate family members or up to two guests. 

These lounges are found at the following airports: 

  • DFW
  • IAH
  • LAS
  • LGA
  • MIA
  • SEA (smaller studio version, though currently expanding)
  • SFO

If you regularly fly in or out of these airports, then holding on to an American Express Platinum Card may be worth it. Access to these lounges is restricted to American Express cardholders and without a Platinum/Centurion card, they must pay $50 for a day pass. Thus, even if you only visit a Centurion lounge a handful of times a year, you’re still getting significant value from your Platinum Card. 

Do you travel with family and friends?

If you regularly travel with family and friends, then chances are that you’re going to want them to be able to accompany you in the lounges. 

Several cards can accomplish this goal albeit in different ways. 

Guest access with Priority Pass lounges 

It’s still not 100% clear to me what the guest policy will be for the Sapphire Reserve but it appears to be similar if not the same as the Citi Prestige, in that at least two guests will be allowed to enter for free (though this may be subject to the discretion of the lounge being visited). The Ritz-Carlton card also offers this same type of guest policy, thus all three of these cards are great options for bringing along guests and/or family members into lounges with you

The Platinum Card’s Priority Pass membership does not include complimentary guest access which is a bit of a bummer. Of course, as just stated, you can get guests in to Centurion lounges for free, so if most/all of your travels are domestic and go through major airports with Centurion lounges then the guest policy effectively works out to be the same. 

Do you plan on adding authorized users?

For all of these cards, authorized users receive the same lounge benefits but they all have different price tags for adding them. 

The Ritz-Carlton card is the best for adding authorized users because you can add as many authorized users as you want for free, meaning that you can confer the Priority Pass benefit worth $400 to people with no cost! The rest of the cards charge as follows: 

  • Citi Prestige: $50 fee for adding authorized users 
  • Chase Sapphire Reserve: $75 fee for adding authorized users 
  • Platinum Card: $175 for adding 1 to 3 authorized users; after that it’s $175 per authorized user. 

The drawback to the Ritz card is that you won’t be earning a rewards currency that transfer out to as many partners (at good ratios) so you lose that but if your priority is getting lounge access to a handful of authorized users, you could easily save a couple of hundred bucks by going with the Ritz-Carlton card. 

Are you concerned with earning bonus points?

I think that the majority of travelers will benefit from the bonus categories of the Sapphire Reserve more than any other card. That’s because the travel category is very broad and covers the following expenses: 

airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, campgrounds, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, and operators of passenger trains, buses, taxis, limousines, ferries, toll bridges and highways, and parking lots and garages.

The Prestige comes close with its 3X on airfare and hotels but those two categories only make up a subsection of the travel category.

The 2X on entertainment offered by the Prestige covers:

select entertainment merchants, including sports promoters, theatrical promoters, movie theaters, amusement parks, tourist attractions, record stores and video rental stores.

These expenses on entertainment can certainly add up but I don’t think that they will net more earnings for most travelers who will earn 3X on travel purchases and an extra 1X on dining. Thus, if you want a benefits card that’s going to earn you the most points via spending, the Chase Sapphire Reserve is likely your best option. 

For your reference, here are the earning rates of the other cards: 

Sapphire Reserve

  • 3X on travel
  • 3X on dining
  • 1X on all other purchases

Citi Prestige

  • 3X on air travel and hotels
  • 2X on dining and entertainment
  • 1X on all other purchases

Ritz-Carlton credit card 

  • 5X on Ritz-Carlton/Marriott and partner hotel purchases
  • 2X on dining and airline and car rental
  • 1X on all other purchases 

Platinum Card

Updated: October 5, 2016

  • 5X on airfare purchased directly from airlines
  • 1.5X on purchases over $5,000 
  • 1X on all purchases

Do you plan on getting additional cards to increase earnings? 

When it comes to combining earning potential with other no-annual fee credit cards, the Sapphire Reserve is reigns supreme. 

The great thing about the Sapphire Reserve is that it can be combined with several no-annual fee cards that earn tremendous bonus rates on purchases. You could add: 1) the Freedom Classic which offers 5X on rotating categories like gas, dining, groceries, etc.; 2) the Freedom Unlimited that earns 1.5X on all purchases on an unlimited basis; and 3) the Chase Ink Cash, a small business credit card that offers superb 5X earnings on cable, internet, and phone bills, and office supply stores. If you could swing those three cards along with the Sapphire Reserve, you’ll have a points-earning machine unmatched by anything.

The Amex EveryDay card is a nice addition to the Platinum that earns 2x points at US supermarkets, on up to $6,000 per year in purchases and then allows you to earn a 20% bonus on points earned during the month when you make over 20 transactions. While those earnings are nice, they simply don’t compare to the potential earnings of the Chase cards.

Finally, Citi does not offer a credit card with no annual fee that earns points in categories that the Prestige does not currently earn.

Do you spend 4 nights or more for hotel stays?

If you regularly spend 4 nights or more at hotels than the Prestige can easily net you the most value out of any of these cards, as you easily can bite off a couple of hundred in savings each time you use it. However, there are some factors to consider.

In order to take advantage of this benefit you have to book your hotel through Citi, which means that sometimes there may be better rates out there for the hotels you’re booking. Also, Citi just changed the calculation methods for the free night and they now calculate the rate on an average nightly rate basis and taxes are not included. However, even with some limitations, the 4th night free is a powerful benefit that if used effeciently can easily bring you more value than any other benefits card. 

Do you value primary car rental insurance?

Primary rental card insurance is a tremendous benefit because it makes dealing with accidents while traveling abroad much more streamlined and can help you avoid having to file a claim with your car insurance company and risk increasing your premium. 

The only two cards to offer primary rental car insurance are the Chase Sapphire Reserve and the Ritz-Carlton card. Both the Platinum Card and the Prestige offer only secondary coverage. 

Are you concerned with trip interruption? 

The Citi Prestige offers the best trip interruption/delay protections as it only requires you to wait 3 hours before coverage comes into effect and the Chase Sapphire Reserve requires you to wait 6 hours. Unfortunately, these protections are not built-in to the Platinum Card and you’ll have to pay extra for this kind of coverage to apply. 

In terms of other protections like lost luggage, purchase protection, return protection, extended warranties, etc. all of the cards offer pretty similar coverage with the Platinum Card lacking on some things like price protection. Thus, overall, you can’t really go wrong with the protections offered by these cards but I’d probably stick with the Reserve or Prestige to maximize the protections. 

Final word

As you can tell, the Sapphire Reserve card is on another level compared to all of the other credit cards, as it beats them out almost all the way across the board. There are some specific instances when you’d want to stick with the Prestige, Platinum, or Ritz-Carlton credit card, but overall the Reserve is going to bring more value to more people on average, I’d suspect. While I am a fan of getting several of these cards for their great sign-up bonuses, I think that I’d probably stick with the Reserve in the long-run.  

 

 

 

The Chase Sapphire Reserve vs The American Express Platinum Card

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is the newest benefits card to hit the market and consumers are going crazy over this card (and rightfully so). It’s a bit of a super-card, offering an outstanding sign-up bonus, some of the best benefits out of any card, and great bonus category earning rates. But how does is stack up to the tried-and-true Platinum Card from American Express? Here’s a comparison between the two cards with a final winner decided at the end.

Update: Some offers are no longer available — click here for the latest deals!

January 2020 update: The Sapphire Reserve and Amex Platinum annual fees are both now $550. 

Charge card vs Credit Card

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is a credit card while the American Express Platinum is a “charge card.” A charge card must be paid off in full each month or else you face a hefty monthly fee. The benefit to a charge card like the Platinum is that you’re not restricted to a strict credit limit and so you have a little more spending flexibility (although credit limits with the Reserve tend to start quite high so it’s not a huge advantage here). 

Note: Over time, you can often effectively turn your charge card into a credit card with Amex with the “Pay Over Time” feature. 

Transfer Partners

Membership Rewards

The Platinum will earn you Membership Rewards that can be transferred to a variety of travel partners listed below: 

Airlines

Membership Rewards Airline Partners
Membership Rewards Airline Partners
Membership Rewards Airline Partners
Membership Rewards Airline Partners

These partners do not have all have the same transfer ratios as you can see below:

  • Delta Skymiles
  • Club Premier AeroMexico
  • Aeroplan Air Canada
  • Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
  • MilleMigilia Club Alitalia
  • ANA
  • Asia Miles
  • Avios British Airways (250 points = 200 Avios)
  • Emirates Skyrewards
  • Hawaiin Airlines
  • Iberia Plus
  • JetBlue
  • KrisFlyer Singapore Airlines
  • Virgin America (200 points = 100 Elevate points)
  • Virgin Atlantic

Hotels

Membership Rewards Hotels

  • Best Western Rewards
  • Choice Privileges
  • Hilton HHonors (1,000 points = 1,500 HHonors points)
  • SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) (1,000 points = 333 Starpoints)

There are a few things to keep in mind about Membership Rewards:

  • Bonus transfers are occasionally offered allowing you to transfer your points to partners for higher ratios. Check this thread for a history of these transfer bonuses.
  • Your Membership Rewards cannot be freely transferred between you and any friend or family members but you can transfer them to authorizes users’ rewards accounts. 
  • They don’t expire as long as you remain a cardholder

Chase Ultimate Rewards

The Sapphire Reserve earns “Ultimate Rewards” that can all be transferred at a 1:1 ratio to a variety of travel partners listed below.

Airlines

  • British Airways Executive Club
  • Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
  • Korean Air SKYPASS
  • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
  • Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
  • United MileagePlus
  • Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Hotels

  • Hyatt Gold Passport
  • IHG® Rewards Club
  • Marriott Rewards
  • The Ritz-Carlton Rewards

Which reward program is better? 

Both programs have their strengths and weaknesses and lots could be written in a comparison between the two but here’s a brief look at some of the key highlights of the travel partners.

Membership Rewards

Chase Ultimate Rewards

Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards

Two partners overlap each program:

And as far as hotel partners go, I’d roll with Ultimate Reward partners Hyatt, Marriott, and IHG over the transfer ratios for SPG and Hilton. 

As you can see both programs have many options for booking great redemptions to just about anywhere you want to go in the world. In the end, unless you have a very clear plan as to what loyalty program you’ll be utilizing, it’s hard to go wrong with either program. Once you learn the system for redeeming miles with alliance partners, you’ll see that both of these reward programs have tons to offer depending on your personal goals for your travel. For that reason, I’m declaring it mostly a draw with a slight edge to Ultimate Rewards for its better transfer ratios and hotel partners.

Redeeming Points

In addition to transferring points to travel partners you can always redeem your points in different ways, such as for cash back, gift cards, or to book travel.

Membership Rewards 

Membership Rewards can be redeemed in the following ways:

  • Between .5 and 1.0 cent per point for gift cards
  • 0.6 cent per point for a statement credit/charge.
  • 1.0 cent per point on air fare
  • 0.7 cent per point on hotels, cruises, and vacation packages.

Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal

Ultimate Rewards can be redeemed in the following ways:

  • 1.0 cent per point for cash back into your Chase checking or savings account.
  • 1.0 cent per point for gift cards
  • As a Chase Sapphire Reserve card holder,  if you book travel through the Ultimate Rewards Portal you can redeem points as 1.5 cents per point.

The Reserve easily beats the Platinum with these redemption options. Although I always transfer my points out to travel programs, 1.5 cents per point redemption on any travel is solid and very tempting, especially when compared to what you’re given with the Platinum. And while I definitely would never redeem Ultimate Rewards for a statement credit, the points to redeem at one cent per point almost double the rate of Membership Rewards. Thus, the Sapphire Reserve is the clear winner here.

Sign-up Bonus

Platinum Card 

New bonus of 60K is out — will update article soon. 

  • 40K to 100K (currently 40K) when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months.

The 40K offer is the standard offer available to the public, and the 100K offer comes around in three forms but there’s no guarantee that you will ever get it. The three forms it comes in are:

  • 1) Targeted mailings (if you’re already an Amex cardholder your chances of getting this offer in the mail are slim to none).
  • 2) Pre-approval links: Some sites (including the Amex site) that allow you to view your pre-approved credit card offers will show this offer.
  •  3) Incognito/Private browser windows sometimes show this offer (rare)

Tip: When applying for bonuses with Amex cards always remember that bonuses for personal cards are only given once a lifetime.

Sapphire Reserve

  • 50K when you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months

The drawback to the Reserve is that it’s subject to the Chase 5/24 rule, meaning that if you’ve opened up 5 or more accounts in the past 24 months, you won’t be approved subject to certain limited exceptions.

Bonus Categories

Platinum Card

October 7, 2016 update:

  • 5X on purchases of airfare made directly with airlines
  • 1X on all other purchases

Sapphire Reserve

  • 3X on travel
  • 3X on dining
  • 1X on all other purchases 

This is another lopsided comparison in favor of the Sapphire Reserve. 3X on travel and dining is extremely competitive even among non-benefit based cards, so the Reserve definitely stands out in this regard. 

Benefits 

The real reason you apply for and keep a credit card with an annual over $400 is for the benefits that the card offers.

Platinum Card 

Priority Pass

Here’s a breakdown of my favorite benefits of the Platinum, but in a nutshell this card confers a host of benefits to you making it worth it including:

  • Priority Pass airport lounge access (worth $400 per year)
  • Centurion Lounge Access/Delta Lounge Access (when you fly with them)
  • $200 annual airline credit (essentially reducing the annual fee to $250)
  • $100 statement credit for Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check 
  • Add up to 3 authorized users for only $175 per year (for all 3)
  • Gold status with Hilton and Starwood
  • Free Boingo Wifi subscription (worth $120 per year)
  • Rental car benefits with National Car Rental, Avis, and Hertz
  • Concierge service

Also, while not exclusive to the Platinum, Amex Offers (which are special discounts and rebates given to Amex cardholders) can add up quickly if used efficiently and can certainly act as a considerable benefit to having the Platinum.

Sapphire Reserve

  • Priority Pass airport lounge access (worth $400 per year)
  • $300 annual travel credit (essentially reducing the annual fee to $150)
  • $100 statement credit for Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check 
  • Add authorized users for $75 per person
  • Rental car benefits with National Car Rental, Avis, and Silvercar
  • Visa Infinite concierge service
  • Elite Hotel Benefits at Relais & Châteaux

Primary rental car insurance 

Platinum Card 

  • Excess rental car insurance (may cover what your insurance company doesn’t cover), subject to exceptions such as no coverage for exotic cars and cars with retail value over $75,000. 

Chase Sapphire Reserve

  • The Sapphire Reserve offers primary rental car insurance covering up to $75,000. This benefit comes with fewer restrictions than the Sapphire Preferred had.  

Primary rental car coverage is a huge benefit offered by the Sapphire Reserve because it can save you from having to file a claim with your insurance company and keep your premiums down.

Travel protections

Lost or damaged Luggage

Platinum Card 

  • Will pay a benefit for the Replacement Cost, up to $3,000, for each Covered Person on a Covered Trip for Loss of carry-on Baggage.
  • Will pay a benefit for the Replacement Cost, up to $2,000, for each Covered Person on a Covered Trip for Loss of checked Baggage

Chase Sapphire Reserve

  • For checked or carry-on bags are damaged or lost by the carrier, you’re covered up to $3,000.00 for each Insured Person for each Common Carrier Covered Trip and up to $500.00 for each Insured Person for each Common Carrier Covered Trip for jewelry, watches, cameras, video recorders, and other electronic equipment.

Additional Benefits

The Sapphire Reserve has many other travel benefits, too. These include:

  • Trip Interruption: If your trip is canceled or cut short by covered situations, you can be reimbursed up to $10,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, 
  • Trip Delay Reimbursement: If delayed more than 6 hours you are covered for expenses, such as meals and lodging, up to $500 per ticket. (upgrade from the Sapphire Preferred which required 12 hours). 
  • Baggage Delay Reimbursement: If delayed more than 6 hours, you are covered for essential expenses, such as toiletries and clothes for up to one hundred ($100.00) dollars per day for a maximum of five (5) days.

For the Platinum, you’d have to purchase travel insurance before your trip to get these benefits. Thus, the Sapphire Reserve is a far superior travel credit card in this regard.

Purchase protections

A) Purchase protections

Platinum Card 

  • Covers your new purchases for 90 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per Card Member account per calendar year.

Chase Sapphire Reserve

  •  Covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account. (This is a significant upgrade from the previous $500 limit of the Sapphire Preferred.)

B) Extended Warranty Protection

Platinum Card 

  • Provides one additional year if the original manufacturer’s warranty is between one year and five years limited up to a maximum of USD $10,000 per occurrence

Chase Sapphire Reserve

  • Extends the time period of the original manufacturer’s written U.S. repair warranty by one (1) additional year on eligible warranties of three (3) years or less, up to a maximum of ten thousand ($10,000.00) dollars per claim

C) Price Protection

Platinum Card 

  • No price protection offered

Chase Sapphire Reserve

  • If a card purchase you made in the U.S. is advertised for less in print or online within 90 days, you can be reimbursed the difference up to $500 per item, $2,500 per year.

D) Return Protection

Platinum Card 

  • You can be reimbursed for eligible items that the store won’t take back within 90 days of purchase, up to $300 per item, $1,000 per year.

Chase Sapphire Reserve

  • You can be reimbursed for eligible items that the store won’t take back within 90 days of purchase, up to $500 per item, $1,000 per year.

Travel accident insurance

Platinum Card 

  • Up to $500,000 for loss of life

Chase Sapphire Reserve

  • Up to $1,000,000 for loss of life

Roadside assistance 

Platinum Card 

  • Free for up to 4 times per year for the following services: towing up to 10 miles, winching, jump starts, flat tire change when Card Member has a workable spare, lockout service when key is in vehicle and delivery of up to 2 gallons of fuel.

Chase Sapphire Reserve

  • Free for up to $50 and up to 4 times per year

Foreign Transaction Fees

  • Both cards have no foreign transaction fees.

Annual Fee

Platinum Card

  • $450, not waived (more like $250/year with airline credit)

Chase Sapphire Reserve

  • $450, not waived (more like $150/year with airline credit)

While the annual fees are the same one aspect where the Reserve comes out on top is that you should be able to downgrade it to a no annual fee card like a Freedom or regular Sapphire. With the Platinum, the best you can do aside from canceling it is to downgrade it to a Green Card with a $95 fee.

Highlighting the Differences 

Lounge Access and hotel status

The Platinum card has a leg up on the Reserve when it comes to lounge access and hotel perks. The access to Centurion lounges (and free entry for up to two guests or immediate family members) and Delta SkyClub lounges (when you fly with them) can be huge for those who frequent them. In addition, having complimentary gold hotel status with Hilton and SPG (and now Marriott) is a nice perk that’s afforded me several upgrades. Thus, if you’re concerned primarily about lounge access and will actually frequent Centurion and Delta lounges, the Platinum card might be better suited for you to hold on to in the long-term. 

I’m still awaiting confirmation of the guest policy of the Priority Pass with the Reserve. Early indications are that guests will be allowed subject to the discretion of the lounge. (I will update when facts emerge.) 

Update: It’s now confirmed that the Sapphire Reserve Priority Pass access allows complimentary access to you and the guests in your “travel party.” Which means all the guests accompanying you can enter subject to availability and the rules of the lounge (some lounges restrict guest access to always try to check ahead of time). 

Travel credit

The Sapphire Reserve stands out for its $300 travel credit. This travel credit can be applied to anything that falls under the travel category. This is extremely broad and makes it ridiculously easy to take advantage of the travel credit.

The Platinum, on the other hand, limits this travel credit to incidentals for one single domestic airline. While there are easy ways to get around this with gift cards or through the MPX app, for many people it still doesn’t compare to the ease and breadth of the Sapphire Reserve travel credit (not to mention it’s $100 more).

The travel credit on expensive credit cards like these is important because it allows you to offset the annual fee making what you effectively pay for the card much more reasonable. In this case, you’re essentially paying $150 for the Sapphire Reserve and $250 for the Platinum, making the Reserve a better card to hold onto it the long term for people primarily concerned with paying the lowest annual fee possible. 

Bonus categories

The Platinum earns 5X on purchases made directly with an airline and 1.5X on purchases of $5,000 or more, but the Sapphire Reserve earns 3X on dining and travel. The 1.5X on huge purchases probably doesn’t mean much to most consumers and you can always pair the Reserve with the (no annual fee) Freedom Unlimited and earn 1.5X on all purchases, so it’s not a huge win for the Platinum there. 

The 5X on airfare can be nice but it still won’t be worth it to ditch the Reserve’s 3X on travel for a lot of people (see my article here on keeping both the Sapphire Reserve and the Platinum). 

Overall, the Reserve’s 3X on dining and travel huge for people like myself who spend well over $3,000 each year in dining and travel. That’s because it only takes about that amount of spending to make it worth keeping the Sapphire Reserve over the Sapphire Preferred. Furthermore, these bonus earnings just bring even more value to the Reserve that the Platinum card simply can’t compete with. Thus, based on your spending habits, the bonus categories alone can make the Reserve the more economical option over the Platinum in the long-run.  

Authorized users

The Platinum card requires you to pay a flat fee of $175 to add an authorized user but allows up to three to be added for that price, while the Reserve requires you to pay $75 for each authorized user. The authorized users receive the key benefits like lounge access, status, etc. This means that if you just want to add one authorized user the Reserve will save you $100 but if you’re going to add 3, you’ll be paying more out of pocket with the Reserve ($225) than you would with the Platinum ($175).

Protections

Both cards offer great protections for purchases but the Reserve definitely trumps the Platinum overall. First, the primary rental car coverage is a huge point in favor of the Reserve. Second, the Platinum doesn’t even offer complimentary travel/baggage delay protection. Also, when you run down the list of other travel/purchase protections the Reserve wins in just about everything except for extended warranty coverage.

Final Word 

The Reserve outshines the Platinum Card in almost every category. I really think that that only reason to hold onto the Platinum over the Reserve is if you’re going to get your money’s worth out of frequent visits to Centurion lounges or Delta lounges. Otherwise, the Sapphire Reserve is the better option almost all the way across the board. With that said, if you can swing a 100K bonus for both of these cards, I think it’s worth to get them both but maybe only hold on to the Reserve for the long-term. 

 

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card vs the Barclaycard Arrival Plus

Two of the top “statement credit” travel cards are the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and the Barclaycard Arrival Plus. These cards are very similar and offer many of the same benefits, such as identical sign-up bonuses. There are some key differences between the cards, however, and some of those differences may make you prefer one card over the other. Here’s a comparison of the Capital One Venture Card vs the Barclaycard Arrival Plus.

Update: Some offers are no longer available — click here for the latest deals!

How these card work

Both of these cards earn “miles” that come in the form of redeemable points worth 1 cent per point. So, for example, if you earn 40,000 miles with a sign-up bonus, that equates to $400 worth of redeemable points. You then use your earned miles to redeem statement credits after you make qualifying travel purchases, effectively canceling out your travel purchase. It’s one of the easiest ways to earn and redeem points and the simplicity of these type of rewards credit cards, attracts a lot of consumers.

Sign-up bonus

Both cards have offered the same sign-up bonus for 40,000 miles for spending $3,000 within 3 months. However, the Barclaycard Arrival Plus recently upped its bonus to 50,000 miles! 

Bonus earning potential 

Both cards earn 2X on all purchases when those miles are redeemed towards travel. 

While they both earn “double the miles” remember that they are not true 2X cards, since you only get that much value when you redeem your miles toward travel expenses. Other cards like the Citi Double Cash give you 2X on everything and don’t limit your redemptions to travel (more on that card below).  

Additional Earnings

The Barclaycard has the Barclaycard RewardsBoost. This is a web portal where you can log-in and make purchases with your Barclaycard and earn additional miles on items from a host of different retailers. There’s also the Barclaycard Travel Community, which allows you to earn miles by sharing notes and photos about your travels. You can learn more about these earning opportunities here.

Capitol One does not currently offer a shopping portal so there’s no way (aside from promotions) to earn additional miles with shopping. 

How is travel defined?

Here are the terms taken straight from Capital One’s website: 

Purchases made from airlines, hotels, rail lines, car rental agencies, limousine services, bus lines, cruise lines, taxi cabs, travel agents and time shares are generally considered to be travel purchases and availability for redemption is based on the merchant category code assigned to them by the merchant.

Here are the terms taken straight from the Barclaycard:

Merchants in the travel category include airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, campgrounds, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, trains, buses, taxis, limousines, and ferries.

Barclay’s definition of travel appears to be a little bit more expansive because it lists more examples, but I’m not sure that it actually is. Whether or not something qualifies as “travel” usually just comes down to how the merchant codes the purchase and I’d be surprised if there was a major difference between the cards. In any event, you can rest assured that the major and most common travel purchases (airlines, hotels, trains, etc.) will likely be covered by both cards. Thus, I don’t think there’s a clear winner here.

Rules on redeeming

Both cards differ pretty significantly when it comes to the rules for redeeming.

Time frame

Capital One

  • You have to redeem your statement credit within 90 days from the date of purchase. (You may not be aware but you can actually call and request an extension for up to 6 months on this time restriction.)

Barclaycard

  • You have to redeem your statement credit within 120 days from the date of purchase. Unfortnately, there is no option for getting an extension but 4 months should be plenty of time for you to redeem your miles. 

Minimum redemption amount

Capital One

  • There is no minimum requirement for redemptions.
  • For partial redemptions, the minimum requirement is $25 (or 2,500 points).

Barclaycard

  • $100 minimum for all redemptions. 

This is where the Venture card wins huge.

There are so many miscellaneous travel purchases like taxi rides that fall under $100 that Barclaycard has made it terribly inconvenient to use its card with its $100 minimum. However, with no minimum redemption requirement, the Venture is a perfect card to cover these expenses.

Redemption rebate

Capital One

  • No rebate 

Barclaycard

  • 5% rebate

When you redeem your points with the Barclaycard Arrival Plus, you automatically get 5% of your points put back into your account. So if you were to redeem all 46,000 of your points earned from your sign-up bonus with your first redemption, you’d get 2,300 points put back into your account for $23 worth of travel.

That rebate (which used to be 10%) is decent but keep in mind you’ve still got to spend $3,850 on your card to meet the 10,000 points threshold to redeem your miles for a purchase. And that’s $3,850 worth of spend that could’ve gone on another card to likely earn a much more valuable amount of travel.

For that reason, I personally don’t put too much value in the 5% rebate benefit.

Annual Fee

Capital One

  • $59, waived the first year

Barclaycard

  • $89, waived the first year

Some people cite to the additional $23 gained from the 5% rebate on the Arrival Plus as a reason for why these annual fees are roughly equal. As already stated, I don’t value the 5% rebate because of the need to spend so much extra on the card. But more than that, both of these cards are “earn and burn” in my book, meaning that I would downgrade them after the first year in order to avoid the annual fee.

If you’re thinking about keeping either of these cards for the long term and paying the annual fee, I’d recommend you to reconsider your decision.

For most people, I’d venture (no pun intended) to guess that you’d be better served with a no annual fee cash back card like the Citi Double Cash if you’re wanting to just earn straight 2X back on spending. While the Barclaycard Arrival Plus offers a higher effective earning rate of 2.11 (with the 5% rebate factored in), you’d still have to spend $87,000 in order to offset the annual fee that you don’t have to pay with the Citi Double Cash ($87,000 x 2 = 174,000 miles and 174,000 x .05 =  8,700 miles or $87). 

And for many others, cards like the Amex EveryDay and Chase Freedom cards (when paired with the Sapphire Preferred or the Ink Plus) will provide superior value in travel redemptions with so much spend put on them, especially if you’re interested in redeeming for premium airfare. $87,000 worth of spend on the Chase Trifecta, could go a long way and net you thousands of dollars more in travel value. 

Therefore, the only way that I’d even think about using the Arrival Plus in the long-term is if I earned over 174,000 Barclay miles a year and was very adverse to rewards programs that require points to be transferred to travel partners.  

Credit bureaus pulled

One great thing about the Arrival Plus is that Barclaycard will often pull Transunion (although sometimes they will pull from an additional bureau as well). Transunion is the bureau that seems to get pulled the least from the major banks, so applying for the Arrival Plus is a great way to give your credit report a rest.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Capital One will often pull from all three bureaus! The good news is that you can freeze one of your credit reports like Experian (and still get approved). It will cost you about $22 total, but if you’re really trying to preserve your credit inquiries it might be worth it to you. 

Redeeming for non-travel items

Capital One 

You can redeem your miles for cash in the form of a check or account credit, gift cards and moreThe redemption rate remains at 1 cent per point for gift cards and charitable redemptions but if you’re trying to redeem for a check or statement credit, it drops down to .5 cents per point (not worth it in my opinion).

Barclaycard

You can also redeem your miles for statement credits and gift cards but for these redemptions you’ll be redeeming at .5 cent per point, making the Capital One Venture a bit more versatile and valuable. 

Other benefits 

Although one card is a Visa Signature and the other one is a Mastercard World Elite, both cards have the standard benefits you’d expect from travel rewards credit cards, including: 

  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Purchase protection
  • Lost luggage reimbursement
  • Auto rental insurance
  • Fraud coverage

One benefit of the Arrival Plus is that it offers EMV chip technology, making it a great card to bring around in places like Europe where it’s often necessary to have a “true” chip and pin to go through with a purchase.

Final Word

Overall, these cards are very closely matched, but I’d give the edge to the Capital One Venture since it has no minimum for redemptions and is thus more practical to use to cover the array of travel expenses you might incur. However, in the end, I view both cards as “earn and burn” options and not as options for long-term use, so it’s really all about utilizing the sign-up bonuses for me. 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred vs The Amex EveryDay Preferred

[Offers contained within this article may no longer be available]

The Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Amex EveryDay Preferred are two popular reward-earning credit cards. The Sapphire Preferred is more of a true “travel credit card,” while the Amex EveryDay Preferred is better described as a credit card great for earning travel rewards. Here’s a comparison of the two cards and a recommendation as to which card would be better off for travelers.

1. Transfer Partners

Both of these cards earn flexible points that can be transferred to a number of quality transfer partners. It’s tough to pick which program has the better partners since that often depends on your personal preference and geographical location. However, you should always make sure you’re familiar with airline alliance partners before picking a program because you can often utilize travel partners from both of these programs to book awards through alliances that can serve your needs.

Chase Ultimate Rewards

The Sapphire Preferred earns “Ultimate Rewards” that can be transferred to a variety of travel partners listed below: 

Airlines

  • British Airways Executive Club
  • Korean Air SKYPASS
  • Flying Blue
  • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
  • Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
  • United MileagePlus
  • Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Hotels

  • Hyatt Gold Passport
  • IHG® Rewards Club
  • Marriott Rewards
  • The Ritz-Carlton Rewards

Membership Rewards

The Amex EveryDay Preferred will earn you Membership Rewards that can be transferred to a variety of travel partners listed below: 

Airlines

Membership Rewards Airline Partners
Membership Rewards Airline Partners
Membership Rewards Airline Partners
Membership Rewards Airline Partners

These partners do not have all have the same transfer ratios as you can see below:

  • Delta Skymiles
  • Club Premier AeroMexico
  • Aeroplan Air Canada
  • Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
  • MilleMigilia Club Alitalia
  • ANA
  • Asia Miles
  • Avios British Airways (250 points = 200 Avios)
  • Emirates Skyrewards
  • Hawaiin Airlines
  • Iberia Plus
  • JetBlue
  • KrisFlyer Singapore Airlines
  • Virgin America (200 points = 100 Elevate points)
  • Virgin Atlantic

Hotels

Membership Rewards Hotels

  • Best Western Rewards
  • Choice Privileges
  • Hilton HHonors (1,000 points = 1,500 HHonors points)
  • SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) (1,000 points = 333 Starpoints)

There are a few things to keep in mind about Membership Rewards:

  • Bonus transfers are occasionally offered allowing you to transfer your points to partners for higher ratios. Check this thread for a history of these transfer bonuses.
  • Your Membership Rewards cannot be freely transferred between you and any friend or family members
  • They don’t expire as long as you remain a cardholder

2. Redeeming Points and shopping portals 

In addition to transferring points to travel partners you can always redeem your points in different ways, such as for cash back, gift cards, or to book travel.

Membership Rewards 

Membership Rewards can be redeemed in the following ways:

  • Between .5 and 1.0 cent per point for gift cards
  • 0.6 cent per point for a statement credit/charge.
  • 1.0 cent per point on air fare
  • 0.7 cent per point on hotels, cruises, and vacation packages.

Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal

Ultimate Rewards can be redeemed in the following ways:

  • 1.0 cent per point for cash back into your Chase checking or savings account.
  • 1.0 cent per point for gift cards
  • As a Chase Sapphire Preferred card holder,  if you book travel through the Ultimate Rewards Portal you can redeem points as 1.25 cents per point.

For the most part, I would avoid these redemption options, as you will almost certainly get better value with travel partners. However, redemptions through the Chase travel portal at 1.25 cents per point aren’t horrible (just make sure you’re not paying a lot more than you would by booking elsewhere). Thus, if I had to give a preference for redeeming points for these options, I’d give the edge to the Sapphire Preferred.

Shopping Portals

A plus to having the Sapphire Preferred is it grants you access to the Ultimate Rewards Shopping Portal. If you’re unaware, there are many shopping portals that will allow you to earn miles or points when you make purchases online. Read about online shopping portals here if you’re unfamiliar. The Ultimate Rewards Shopping Portal often offers some of the best rates for earning points. 

Unfortunately, American Express did away with its shopping portal a couple of years ago. However, they have “Amex Offers.”  With Amex Offers, you can score a some great discounts from online retailers and if utilized properly, you can easily end up saving a couple of hundred bucks a year, depending on your spending habits.  

3. Sign-up Bonus

sapphire_preferred_card

Chase Sapphire Preferred

  • 40K to 50K (currently 50K) when you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months
  • An additional 5K for adding an authorized user.
Amex EveryDay Preferred
The standard offer for the Amex EveryDay Preferred
  • Get 15,000 Membership Rewards points after you use your new Card to make $1,000 in purchases in your first 3 months.
    • This is the standard public offer
  • Get 30,000 Membership Rewards  after you use your new Card to make $2,000 in purchases in your first 3 months.
    •  This offer comes around occasionally, often via Google Chrome Incognito.
  • Get 50,000 Membership Rewards  after you use your new Card to make $2,000 in purchases in your first 3 months!
    • Highly targeted offer that only some have received in the mail. 

The standard sign-up bonus for the Sapphire Preferred is obviously much more valuable than the standard offer for the EveryDay Preferred. Even if you’re able to find the “Incognito” offer, you’re still falling short of the Sapphire by about 15 to 25,000 points. Thus, the winner here is definitely the Sapphire Preferred.

4. Bonus category earning potential

Chase Sapphire Preferred

  • 2X on Travel (This covers a broad range of expenses from tolls, parking, bus fairs, train tickets, and of course, air line tickets.) 
  • 2X on Dining

Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card

Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card

This is where the Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card really shines and in my opinion, it might just be the top earning travel rewards credit card, especially if you max out the supermarket categories. Let’s take a look at its bonus earning potential.

  • 3x points at US supermarkets (On up to $6,000 in purchases per year)
  • 2x points at US gas stations
  • 1x points on other purchases

What really makes this card such a high earner is that when you use your card 30 or more times on purchases in a billing period you get 50% more points on those purchases!

Comparing the Earning Potential

The following is an unscientific, estimated breakdown of the main expenditures by American consumer units mostly by using official data over the past couple of years (2012 to 2014) on consumers. I modified some of the figures to make things easy and have added some to the travel category just to make the comparison more relevant to travelers.

(Keep in mind, I’m not factoring in expenses that some people could put on their credit cards like healthcare, car payments, rent, utilities, loan payments, etc.)

Here’s a breakdown of the spending I’m factoring in:

  • Gasoline: $2,500
  • Parking, tolls, and misc. travel: $1,500
  • Entertainment: $2,500
  • Food at home (groceries): $6,000
  • Dining: $2,700
  • Apparel: $1,500
  • Phone service: $1,000
  • Misc.: $800
  • Household expenses and furnishings: $3,000

That comes out to a total of $21,500 of expenses that could be put on your credit cards.

So let’s see how the cards would earn compared to each other:

Chase Sapphire Preferred

  • Gasoline: $2,500
  • Parking, tolls, and misc. travel: $1,500 (2x)
  • Entertainment: $2,500
  • Food at home (groceries): $6,000
  • Dining: $2,700 (2X) 
  • Apparel: $1,500
  • Phone service: $1,000
  • Misc.: $800
  • Household expenses and furnishings: $3,000

Year 1 earnings

  • 25,700 Ultimate Rewards

Amex EveryDay Preferred

  • Gasoline: $2,500 (2X) 
  • Parking, tolls, and misc. travel: $1,500
  • Entertainment: $2,500
  • Food at home (groceries): $6,000 (3X)
  • Dining: $2,700
  • Apparel: $1,500
  • Phone service: $1,000 
  • Misc.: $800
  • Household expenses and furnishings: $3,000

We will assume 30 purchases are made each month so you qualify for the 50% bonus.

Year 1 earnings

  • 54,000 Membership Rewards

As you can see, the EveryDay Preferred blows the Sapphire Preferred out of the water with these spending habits. In fact, I think that only in a small number of cases the Sapphire Preferred could actually beat out the Everyday Preferred. The 50% monthly bonus in points is simply too good to beat out in most cases.

While the EveryDay Preferred earns more, don’t forget that you don’t have the annual fee waived the first year and will likely earn many more Ultimate Rewards with the sign-up bonus for the Sapphire Preferred. Thus, in the short term, I would give the nod to the Sapphire Preferred but for long-term earning potential, the EveryDay Preferred would have to be the winner.

5. Annual Fees

Chase Sapphire Preferred

  • $95, waived the first year

Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card

  • $95, NOT waived the first year

The $95 fee cuts into the savings of the EveryDay card, making the Sapphire Preferred even more of a valuable option.

6. No interest for the first 15 months

One thing that the EveryDay Preferred has over the Sapphire Preferred is that it has a 0.0% introductory APR for the first 15 months. This is nice to have but if you’re not in the market for a 0.0% introductory APR  and more concerned with travel rewards and benefits, then this perk obviously won’t mean much to you. 

7. Foreign Transaction Fees

Chase Sapphire Preferred

  • No foreign transaction fees

Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card

  • 2.7% on international transactions

The Sapphire Preferred really starts to outshine the EveryDay Preferred when it comes to travel-related benefits. One of the first ways it does is that the EveryDay card has foreign transaction fees. With so many travel cards offering no foreign transaction fees, it really wouldn’t make sense to use the EveryDay on international trips.

8. Primary rental car insurance 

Chase Sapphire Preferred

  • The Sapphire Preferred offers primary rental car insurance usually covering the full lost value of the automobile (subject to certain exceptions, of course). 

Amex EveryDay Preferred

  • Excess rental car insurance (may cover what your insurance company doesn’t cover)

Primary rental car insurance is one of the top benefits of the Sapphire Preferred even though it’s not discussed often. For some, the $95 annual fee would be worth this benefit alone.

9. Travel protections

The Chase Sapphire Preferred really has the EveryDay Preferred beat when it comes to travel protections. The only benefit offered by the EveryDay is for lost or damaged luggage. Here’s how that that benefit compares:

Lost or damaged Luggage

Chase Sapphire Preferred

  • For checked or carry-on bags are damaged or lost by the carrier, you’re covered up to $3,000.00 for each Insured Person for each Common Carrier Covered Trip and up to $500.00 for each Insured Person for each Common Carrier Covered Trip for jewelry, watches, cameras, video recorders, and other electronic equipment.

Amex EveryDay Preferred

  • Will pay a benefit for the Replacement Cost, up to $1,250, for each Covered Person on a Covered Trip for Loss of carry-on Baggage.
  • Will pay a benefit for the Replacement Cost, up to $500, for each Covered Person on a Covered Trip for Loss of checked Baggage

The Sapphire Preferred has many other travel benefits, too. These include:

  • Trip Interruption: If your trip is canceled or cut short by covered situations, you can be reimbursed up to $10,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, 
  • Trip Delay Reimbursement: If delayed more than 12 hours you are covered for expenses, such as meals and lodging, up to $500 per ticket.
  • Baggage Delay Reimbursement: covers up to one hundred ($100.00) dollars per day for a maximum of five (5) days 

For the EveryDay, you’d have to purchase travel insurance before your trip to get these benefits. Thus, the Sapphire Preferred is a far superior travel credit card in this regard.

10. Purchase protections

The EveryDay Preferred can definitely hold its own against the Sapphire Preferred with respect to purchase protections, however. Here’s a run down of some of the major benefits.

A) Purchase protections

Chase Sapphire Preferred

  •  Covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.

Amex EveryDay Preferred

  • Covers your new purchases for 90 days against damage or theft up to $1,000 per claim and $50,000 per Card Member account per calendar year.

B) Extended Warranty Protection

Chase Sapphire Preferred

  • Extends the time period of the original manufacturer’s written U.S. repair warranty by one (1) additional year on eligible warranties of three (3) years or less, up to a maximum of ten thousand ($10,000.00) dollars per claim

Amex EveryDay Preferred

  • Provides one additional year if the original manufacturer’s warranty is between one year and five years limited up to a maximum of USD $10,000 per occurrence

C) Price Protection

Chase Sapphire Preferred

  • If a card purchase you made in the U.S. is advertised for less in print or online within 90 days, you can be reimbursed the difference up to $500 per item, $2,500 per year.

Amex EveryDay Preferred

  • No price protection offered

D) Return Protection

Chase Sapphire Preferred

  • You can be reimbursed for eligible items that the store won’t take back within 90 days of purchase, up to $500 per item, $1,000 per year.

Amex EveryDay Preferred

  • You can be reimbursed for eligible items that the store won’t take back within 90 days of purchase, up to $300 per item, $1,000 per year.

Final Word

The Amex EveryDay Preferred card is a fine card for racking up tons of Membership Rewards through spending, and it’s an okay travel card in the sense that you can earn points quickly that you can apply to travel. However, it’s not a good travel credit card in terms of travel benefits and travel perks offered.

Overall, in terms of which card is the better credit card to be used on and while traveling, the Amex EveryDay Preferred can’t compare to the Sapphire Preferred. However, if you’re just wanting a card to earn you tons of points that will help you to be able to redeem trips with travel partners, the Amex EveryDayPreferred is a terrific option with its high bonus earning rates and great purchase protection.

The Discover it vs The Chase Freedom Card

[This article contains expired offers]

There are two Discover it® cards and two Chase Freedom cards available. For this comparison, I’m going to compare the Discover it® cash back card with the 5% rotating categories to the standard Chase Freedom card, also with 5% rotating categories. While these cards appear almost identical, there are certain features of each card that can make one much more valuable than the other depending on how the cardholder plans on redeeming their points.

Cash back vs potential miles

Cash
Not all “cash back” is created equally

Photo by 401(K) 2012 via Flickr

One of the biggest differences between these two cards is that the Chase Freedom card earns Ultimate Rewards. If you also have the Chase Sapphire Preferred® or the Chase Ink Plus®, you can transfer these Ultimate Rewards to a variety of airline and hotel partners. With the Discover it, you care limited to strictly redeeming for cash back and/or gift cards or online purchases.

This is a huge difference in terms of potential value because although Chase Ultimate Rewards can be redeemed for cash back at a rate of one cent per point, when they are utilized effeciently, they can be worth much more. For example, I recently wrote about redeeming about 60,000 Ultimate Rewards on Singapore Airlines at a redemption rate of 8.9 cents per point! (more on that below.)

Since the Discover it doesn’t earn any reward currency that can transfer to travel partners, you can’t ever multiply the value of your “cash back earned.” Thus, for the serious traveller who is keen on maximizing redemptions with airlines and hotels, the points earned from the Chase Freedom will often prove to be more valuable than the straight cash back redeemed from the Discover it.

Basic card features

Freedom

Chase Freedom

  • No Annual Fee
  • 0% Intro APR for 15 months on purchases. After the intro period, a variable APR of 14.24%, 19.24%, or 23.24%.
  • 0% Intro APR for 15 months on balance transfers. After the intro period, a variable APR of 14.24%, 19.24%, or 23.24%.
  • Balance transfer fee is 5% of the amount transferred with a minimum of $5.

Discover it®

Discover It

  • No Annual Fee
  • 0% Intro APR for 12 months on purchases. After the intro period, then 11.24% to 23.24% Standard Variable Purchase APR applies.
  • 0% Intro APR for 12 months on balance transfers. After the intro period, then 11.24% to 23.24% Standard Variable Purchase APR applies.
  • Balance transfer fee is 3% of the amount transferred.

The Discover it also has a few additional benefits that you won’t find with the Freedom, such as:

  • Free FICO score
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • No late fee for 1st missed payment
  • 100% U.S.-based customer service available day or night

These card features are roughly similar with the Freedom offering a longer interest free intro period of 15 months and the Discover it offering more benefits like no foreign transaction fees and free FICO scores.

The lower balance transfer fee of 3% for the Discover it is great, too, especially for those trying to pay off a large balance. It should be noted that the Discover it is generally easier to get approved for than the Chase Freedom, so if you’re trying to build up your credit you might want to consider your approval odds. 

Redeeming cash back

Discover it®

You may redeem your Cashback Bonus for:

  • Gift cards or instant eCertificates —starting at $20
  • Charitable donation to select charities—starting at a penny
  • Credit to your Account—starting at a penny
  • Electronic deposit into any account you designate—starting at a penny
  • Pay with Cashback Bonus at select online retailers—starting at a penny

Chase Freedom

  • Gift cards or travel at 1 cent per point
  • Cash back through an account statement credit or an electronic deposit into an eligible checking or savings account held by a financial institution located in the United States.  —  you need at least 2,000 points to use them for cash.

The Discover it allows for more flexible redemptions for cash back, as you can redeem starting at one cent for cash back, while the Freedom requires $20 increments for cash back. However, as already mentioned, the Chase Freedom can transfer out points to travel partners so long as you have one of the requisite premium Chase cards.

Therefore, if you know you just are interested in cash back rewards, the Discover it is more flexible but if you think you might be transferring points to travel partners, the redemptions for the Chase Freedom are going to be better.

Earning Potential

Chase Freedom

  • Earns 5X on rotating bonus categories up to $1,500 per quarter.
  • Earn a $150 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.
  • Earn a $25 bonus when you add your first authorized user and make your first purchase within this same 3-month period.

Discover it®

  • Earns 5X on rotating bonus categories up to $1,500 per quarter.
  • Cashback MatchTM: After the first 12 consecutive billing periods that your new account is open, Discover will match all of the cash back rewards you’ve earned.

The sign-up bonus sets the Freedom apart from the Discover it but the doubling of all points earned in the first year is a tremendous perk and can more than make up for the lost earnings of the sign-up bonus as will be shown below.

Comparing the 5X categories

The quarterly categories for both cards are roughly the same. Although they change each year, you can expect to generally see the same major categories like Amazon.com, gas, restaurants, etc.

If I had to give an edge, I might give to the Discover it for having Amazon.com in two quarters and for allowing for a heck of a stacking deal the first where you can basically earn 20X on certain categories by utilizing Discover Deals (more on that below). Chase might be stepping up its game in this department, however, as they offered a bonus 10X on Amazon.com last year in 2015.

Chase-Freedom Bonus Categories
2015 Chase Freedom Bonus Categories

 

2016_04_26 DISCOVER IT QUARTERLY BONUS
2015 Discover It Bonus Categories

Comparing the earning potential

So let’s run some simple math to see what card nets the most amount of cash back when you factor in the Freedom’s sign-up bonus vs the Discover it’s “Cashback Match.”

Since both of these cards offer 5X on rotating categories up to $1,500 per quarter and then 1X on all other purchases, the base earning rate will be the same for these comparisons. The question will be whether or not the doubling of the cash back from the Discover it out-earns the $175 sign-up bonus offered by the Freedom.

(Obviously, as just shown, there are some differences in the 5X categories between these two cards but to make the calculations simple, I’m going to assume the same amount of spend for the different 5X categories.)

1. Maxing out 5X bonus categories

If you spend $10,000 perfectly maxing out rotating bonus categories.

  • Discover it: $340 x 2 = $680 (6.8%)
  • Chase Freedom: $340 + (SUB $175) = $515 (5.2%)

If you spend $25,000 perfectly maxing out rotating bonus categories.

  • Discover it: $490 x 2 = $980 (3.9%)
  • Chase Freedom: $490 + (SUB $175) = $665 (2.7%)

2. Halfway maxing out 5X bonus categories

If you spend $10,000 perfectly halfway maxing out rotating bonus categories.

  • Discover it: $220 x 2 = $440 (4.4%)
  • Chase Freedom: $220 + (SUB $175) = $395 (3.95%)

If you spend $25,000 perfectly halfway maxing out rotating bonus categories.

  • Discover it: $370 x 2 = $740 (2.9%)
  • Chase Freedom:  $370+ (SUB $175) =$545 (2.2%)

As you can see, the Discover it earns significantly more cash back than the Chase Freedom does in the first year. The cash back rate even hits as high as 6.8% when you max out the bonus categories and spend $10,000. 

But remember what I said about redeeming my 60,000 Ultimate Rewards for 8.9 cents per point on Singapore Airlines? If I were to factor in that value into these calculations, it comes out to far more than the Discover it.

Let’s use the las $25,000 spend as an example.

At 2.2%, the Freedom would earn me 54,500 Ultimate Rewards (or $545 cash back). However, if I were to redeem these awards at 8.9 cents per point, I’d come out with $4,850.50 worth of value. That amounts to a return of 19.4%, which is far higher than anything the Discover it could offer. 

It’s true that Ultimate Reward redemptions won’t always be as sweet as that extreme example and there’s a difference between earning cash back that you can do whatever you want to do with versus earning points that are going towards pricey redemptions you wouldn’t otherwise book. However, it just goes to show that for a traveler, the value in travel currency can far outweigh the value of straight cash back from a card like the Discover it.

Also, don’t forget that the high cash back values for the Discover it will only last for 12 months. After that, you’ll be more limited compared to Ultimate Rewards, which will always have the potential to be redeemed at higher rates. 

Additional earning potential

The Discover it also has access to Discover Deals, which is a shopping portal where you can earn even more cash back savings when purchasing items from online retailers. The beauty of getting the Discover it is that Discover will also double the cash back earned in the first year from the shopping portal! And those points are in addition to what you’ll earn on the card. So if you hit a 5X category and found a great deal on Discover Deals like 5X at a place like Home Depot, you could earn 20X on those purchases!

Chase has the Ultimate Rewards  shopping portal but in order to get access to it you’ll have to have a premium card like the Sapphire Preferred® or the Ink Plus®. While the Ultimate Rewards shopping portal often has some of the best bonus rates, I don’t think it can compare with the potential first-year earnings of the Discover it with Discover Deals.

Final word

If you are just looking to earn cash back on a credit card, the Discover it will earn you more cash back. You’ll have to wait out the 12-month waiting period, but the additional cash back will be worth it, as you can sometimes net a few extra hundred dollars than the Freedom depending on your spending habits.

If you have a premium Chase card like the Sapphire Preferred or the Chase Ink Plus, and are focused on transferring Ultimate Rewards to a travel partner, then I would go with the Freedom, since you have the potential to redeem those points for more cents per point than the Discover it.

 

 

Citi Double Cash vs The Chase Freedom Credit Cards

[Offers contained within this article may no longer be available]

The Citi Double Cash and Chase Freedom are two of the best cash back cards out there. For travelers, it can be kind of confusing when choosing between cash back cards, especially when one has the potential to transfer points to travel partners. This article will review the Citi Double Cash, Chase Freedom, and Chase Freedom Unlimited, and show why you may want to choose one credit card over the other.

Basic features

citi-double-cash-credit-card

Citi Double Cash

  • No Annual Fee
  • 13.24% to 23.24% APR, based on your creditworthiness.
  • Balance Transfer Fee Either $5 or 3% fee of the amount of each balance transfer, whichever is greater.

chase freedom unlimited

Freedom

Chase Freedom and Chase Freedom Unlimited

  • No Annual Fee
  • 0% Intro APR for 15 months on purchases. After the intro period, a variable APR of 14.24%, 19.24%, or 23.24%.
  • 0% Intro APR for 15 months on balance transfers. After the intro period, a variable APR of 14.24%, 19.24%, or 23.24%.
  • Balance transfer fee is 5% of the amount transferred with a minimum of $5.

Cash back Earned

Each card has its own way of earning cash back. Here are the differences:

Citi Double Cash

  • Earns 1X on all purchases and another 1X on those payments when your monthly bill is paid on time. This amounts to a 2% return.
  • No sign-up bonus

Chase Freedom Unlimited

  • Earns 1.5X Ultimate Rewards on all purchases (which functions as cash back)
  • Earn a $150 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.
  • Earn a $25 bonus when you add your first authorized user and make your first purchase within this same 3-month period.

Chase Freedom

  • Earns 5X on rotating bonus categories up to $1,500 per quarter.
  • Earn a $150 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.
  • Earn a $25 bonus when you add your first authorized user and make your first purchase within this same 3-month period.

How far can you max out the Chase Freedom bonus categories?

Screen Shot 2016-04-01 at 11.49.46 AM
2016 Chase Freedom cash back calendar.

Because the Freedom earns 5X up to a certain limit on rotating bonus categories, you need to think about how much you would spend on any of these given categories throughout the year in order to gauge which card would work best for you. Ask yourself the following question:

Can I spend $6,000 annually in the following ways:

  • $1,500: Gas, local commuter transportation
  • $1,500: Grocery stores
  • $1,500: Restaurants
  • $1,500: Amazon.com

It might seem unrealistic to max out these categories but for many it isn’t. Usually, those are people who know how to utilize gift cards and eat out a whole lot or are able to cover the bill for meals and drinks (and then get paid back). Also, something to consider is that Chase has offered 10x on the Amazon quarter, allowing a lot of people to exceed the total earning potential or at least make up for other quarters where their spending lacked.

Still, I think the average person probably would fall somewhere in the middle. Thus, I’m going to compare the three cards based on spending habits that would either 1) max out the bonus categories or 2) halfway max out the bonus categories.

Here goes…

I. FIRST YEAR COMPARISON

(The first year comparison will factor in the sign-up bonuses (SUB) for the Freedom cards.)

1. Maxing out Freedom bonus categories

If you spend $10,000 perfectly maxing out rotating bonus categories.

  • Citi Double Cash: $200
  • Chase Freedom: $340 + (SUB $175) = $515 (Huge winner)
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited: $150 + (SUB $175) = $325

If you spend $25,000 perfectly maxing out rotating bonus categories.

  • Citi Double Cash: $500
  • Chase Freedom: $490 + (SUB $175) = $665
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited: $375 + (SUB + $175) = $550

Thus, the results are quite clear here. If you max out the rotating bonus categories and hit the sign-up bonus the top earning cards are:

  1. The Freedom (by a long shot)
  2. The Freedom Unlimited
  3. The Citi Double Cash

However, many people don’t max out the bonus categories on the Chase Freedom so let’s see what happens when you only meet half of the maximum allowed on the bonus categories.

2. Halfway maxing out Freedom bonus categories

If you spend $10,000 perfectly halfway maxing out rotating bonus categories.

  • Citi Double Cash: $200
  • Chase Freedom: $220 + (SUB $175) = $395
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited: $150 + (SUB $175) = $325

If you spend $25,000 perfectly halfway maxing out rotating bonus categories.

  • Citi Double Cash: $500
  • Chase Freedom:  $370+ (SUB $175) =$545
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited: $375 + (SUB $175) = $550

Findings after first year of spending:

If you are going to hit the maximum allowed spend for the rotating bonus categories:

  • The Chase Freedom blows away the competition at $10,000 and $25,000 spend!

If you are only going to hit about half of the maximum allowed spend for the rotating bonus categories:

  • The Chase Freedom still blows away the Citi Double Cash at $10,000 but it’s a lot closer at $25,000.
  •  The Freedom Unlimited is the top earner, though virtually tied with the Freedom, at $25,000 in annual spend.

This is a very interesting comparison but we all know that we like to keep our cards longer than one year and we don’t earn sign-up bonuses every year (retention offers aside). Thus, let’s take a look at how these earnings measure up after the first two years of spending.

II. SECOND YEAR COMPARISON

A. Maxing out Freedom bonus categories

If you spend $10,000 perfectly maxing out rotating bonus categories.

  • Citi Double Cash: $200 + $200 = $400
  • Chase Freedom: $515 + 340 = $855
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited: $325 + $150 = $475

If you spend $25,000 perfectly maxing out rotating bonus categories.

  • Citi Double Cash: $500 +$500 = $1,000
  • Chase Freedom: $665 + 490 = 1,155
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited: $550 + $375 = $925

The results are quite clear once again: If you max out the rotating bonus categories and hit the sign-up bonus the top earning cards are:

  1. The Freedom
  2. The Freedom Unlimited
  3. The Citi Double Cash

2. Halfway maxing out Freedom bonus categories

If you spend $10,000 perfectly halfway maxing out rotating bonus categories.

  • Citi Double Cash: $200 + $200 = $400
  • Chase Freedom: $395 +$220 = $615
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited: $325 + 150 = $475

If you spend $25,000 perfectly halfway maxing out rotating bonus categories.

  • Citi Double Cash: $500 +$500 = $1,000
  • Chase Freedom:  $545 +370 =$915
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited: $550 +375 = $925

The results get shaken up now and the winners need to be broken down.

Findings after second year of spending:

If you are going to hit the maximum allowed spend for the rotating bonus categories:

  • The Chase Freedom still tops the competition at $10,000 and $25,000 spend!

If you are only going to hit about half of the maximum allowed spend for the rotating bonus categories:

  • The Chase Freedom holds strong at $10,000 spend but gets passed up by the Citi Double Cash and the Freedom Unlimited at $25,000 spend. This gap would only continue to grow each year due to the earning gaps between the cards and the Citi Double Cash would end up dominating.

So let’s run one more test but assume five years of constant spending to see how all of the cards measure up.

II. FIFTH YEAR COMPARISON

A. Maxing out Freedom bonus categories

If you spend $10,000 perfectly maxing out rotating bonus categories.

  • Citi Double Cash: $200 X 5 = $1,000
  • Chase Freedom: $855 + ($340 X 3) = $1,875
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited: $475 + ($150 X 3) = $925

If you spend $25,000 perfectly maxing out rotating bonus categories.

  • Citi Double Cash: $500 X 5 = $2,500
  • Chase Freedom: $1,155 + (490 X 3) = $2,625
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited: $925 + ($375 X 3) = $2,050

The results are quite clear once again: If you max out the rotating bonus categories and hit the sign-up bonus the top earning cards are:

  1. The Freedom
  2. The Freedom Unlimited
  3. The Citi Double Cash

2. Halfway maxing out Freedom bonus categories

If you spend $10,000 perfectly halfway maxing out rotating bonus categories.

  • Citi Double Cash: $400 + ($200 X 3) = $1,000
  • Chase Freedom: $615 + ($220 X 3) = $1,275
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited: $475 + ($150 X 3) = $925

If you spend $25,000 perfectly halfway maxing out rotating bonus categories.

  • Citi Double Cash: $1,000 + ($500 X 3) = $2,500
  • Chase Freedom:  $915 + ($370 X 3) = $2,025
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited: $925 + (375 X 3) = $2,050

The results get shaken up now and the winners need to be broken down.

Findings after fifth year of spending:

If you are going to hit the maximum allowed spend for the rotating bonus categories:

  • The Chase Freedom wins both $10,000 and $25,000 spend, though it’s very close in the $25,000 spend to the Citi Double Case.

If you are only going to hit about half of the maximum allowed spend for the rotating bonus categories:

  • The Chase Freedom wins out in the $10,000 spend but loses by almost $500 to the Citi Double Cash in the $25,000 spend.

Not all points are created equally…

ULTIMATE REWARDS LOGO

It would appear like the most valuable long-term choice for earning the most back would be the Citi Double Cash. However, that is almost certainly not going to be the case for most travelers, especially for those looking to book business class or first class tickets.

Here’s the reason.

The Citi Double Cash does not earn Citi Thankyou® Points but the Chase Freedom cards do earn Ultimate Rewards. This means that points earned from the Freedom cards can be transferred to travel partners and redeemed for substantially more than 1 cent per point. (You’ll have to have the Chase Sapphire Preferred® or the Chase Ink Plus® to make this transfer so assume one of these cards.)

Why the Freedom cards actually earn more

I’m going to use the example of a recent booking I made to illustrate why the Freedom cards still bring more value to the table for a traveler like me.

I recently used Ultimate Rewards to book a Singapore Airlines first class suite flight from Tokyo to Singapore for 60,000 KrisFlyer miles. I paid $23 in fees.

That ticket would have cost me $5,365… So let’s discount what I paid in cash for fees and we have $5,365 – $23 = $5,342.

$5,342/60,000 = 8.9 cents per point on that redemption!

Recall that if I’m just halfway maxing out the bonus categories on the Freedom in the first year and spending $25,000, that would put the Freedom earnings at 54,500 Ultimate Rewards, or $545 cash back.

That means that at a redemption rate of 8.9 cents per point like the one above, I would get $4,850.50 worth of value from 54,500 Ultimate Rewards, which were earned by spending $25,000. On the other hand, the Citi Double Cash would only earn me a maximum of $500 for the same spend since the Citi Double Cash points can’t be multiplied for more valuable redemptions. 

Now, the redemptions won’t always be so sweet and I’m admittedly using an extreme example, but it’s very easy to consistently net more than 2% cash back earnings when earning Ultimate Rewards with the Freedom cards and subsequently transferring them to Ultimate Rewards travel partners.

Thus, for those seeking to use their savings for travel, the Freedom cards will bring you more value than the Citi Double Cash most of the time. And if you’re interested in high-end business or first class fares, the competition isn’t even remotely close.

(Note: The annual fee for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® is ignored in this instance because I believe the Sapphire Preferred®sign up bonus would offset the cost of the annual fee in any event.)

Conclusion

Now, yes, my findings ignore certain variables like the freedom (no pun intended) to do what you want with your cash and what not, but this article is geared towards travelers that likely have their eyes set on travel redemptions, particularly with high-end business and first class suites.

When you make the comparison from that perspective, the Citi Double Cash card really isn’t close at all to the Freedom cards and the question becomes which Freedom card is the best for your individual spending habits. As seen above, the answer to that question depends on how you utilize the bonus category spending and what level of overall spend you put on the cards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Citi Premier vs The American Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card

[Offers contained within this article may no longer be available]

The American Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card and the Citi Thankyou Premier are two of the best travel rewards credit cards available right now. They both offer great earning potential through bonus category spending and pretty good sign-up bonuses as well. Here’s a comparison of the two cards that will give you a better idea of which card is better for you. 

Charge card vs Credit Card

Don’t forget that the Citi Thankyou Premier is a credit card and the American Express Premier Rewards Gold Cards is a “charge card.” A charge card must be paid off in full each month or else you face a hefty monthly fee. The benefit to a charge card is that you’re not restricted to a credit limit and so you have a little more flexibility — you just need to be able to keep yourself in check to make sure you’ll pay off your balance in full each month.

Transfer Partners

Citi Thankyou Transfer Partners

citi-logo

Airlines

  • Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific)
  • EVA Air
  • Eithad Guest
  • Flying Blue (Air France, KLM)
  • Garuda Indonesia Frequent Flyer
  • Malaysia Airlines Enrich
  • Qantas Frequent Flyer
  • Qatar Airways Privilege Club
  • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
  • Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
  • Virgin America Elevate (1,000 pts = 500 Elevate points)
  • Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Hotels

  • Hilton HHonors (1,000 pts = 1,500 HHonors Bonus Points )

American Express Membership Rewards Transfer Partners

Airlines

  • Delta Skymiles
  • Club Premier AeroMexico
  • Aeroplan Air Canada
  • Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
  • MilleMigilia Club Alitalia
  • ANA
  • Asia Miles
  • Avios British Airways (250 points = 200 Avios)
  • Emirates Skyrewards
  • Hawaiin Airlines
  • Iberia Plus
  • JetBlue
  • KrisFlyer Singapore Airlines
  • Virgin America (200 points = 100 Elevate points)
  • Virgin Atlantic

Hotels

  • Best Western Rewards
  • Choice Privileges
  • Hilton HHonors (1,000 points = 1,500 HHonors points)
  • SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) (1,000 points = 333 Starpoints)

I’d probably give a slight edge to American Express for having more hotel partners and for having domestic airline partners like Delta, Virgin America, JetBlue, etc. You can still use some of Citi’s Thankyou partners to book on domestic airlines by booking through alliance partners but it just makes things a little bit more complicated (although a little extra legwork can often save you some miles).

One way that they differ is that Citi allows you to transfer your points to other people – a benefit that makes booking way less of a headache in a lot of scenarios. The only issue with Citi’s transfer policy is that once you transfer the points they expire within 90 days, so make sure you have a plan. Unfortunately, American Express does not offer this benefit.

Just like American Express, Citi sometimes offers temporary specials that offer bonus transfer rates to certain partners. Sometimes these rates will give you great deals like 50% more points when you transfer, so always be on the lookout for them.

It’s important to note that several of these partners are members of both programs like Flying Blue (Air France/KLM), KrisFlyer Singapore Airlines, Virgin, and Hilton HHonors. This makes it really easy to accumulate enough points for business and first class tickets on these airlines.

Point Redemption

You can redeem Citi Thankyou points for gift cards, statement credits, and for travel. Gift cards are redeemed at a value of 1.0 cents per point while statement credits redeem for .7 cents per point. With the Premier you can also redeem points for 1.25 cents per point through the Citi ThankYou Travel Center. The deal gets even sweeter if you have the Citi Prestige because you’re able to redeem points at 1.33 cents per point for any airline and 1.6 cents per point on American Airlines.

Membership Rewards can be redeemed for between .5 and 1.0 cents per point for gift cards and only .6 per point for a statement credit/charge. If you go through Amex Travel you can redeem at 1.0 cent per point on air fare but only up  to .7 cent per point on hotels.

I think Citi definitely wins this category with its much better redemption rates for flights and statement credits, although I pretty much always advise against travelers using points for statement credits and usually don’t recommend redeeming points through these portals. 

Tip: Sometimes these travel portals offer decent deals but other times you can find much cheaper rates by going through online travel agencies (Expedia, Booking, etc.) or by booking directly through the hotel. 

Sign-up Bonus

Citi Thankyou Premier

Citi Thankyou Premier

  • 40K to 50K (currently 40K) when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months
Screen Shot 2016-01-13 at 8.22.49 AM

Premier Rewards Gold Card

  • 25K to 75K when you spend $1,000-3,000. The 75K offer is highly targeted and rare and the 50K offer, while also targeted, is far more common to receive.

This comparison is a bit close and really hinges on when you catch the bonus. I think the 50K Membership Rewards for spending $1,000 in 3 months is one of the best sign-up bonuses that I’ve come across, so I would say that’s the winner. However, the standard public offer is 25K and compared to the lowest offer of the Premier (40K) that falls short. Most people value Membership Reward points more than Citi Thankyou Points but even with that in mind, I still say the winner is the Premier since the standard public offer is at least 40K versus 25K.

Tip: Try using Incognito/Private browsing windows on the American Express website to get the 50K offer to appear for you.

Bonus category earning potential

Citi Thankyou Premier

  • 3X on Travel (this covers an extremely broad range of expenses).
  • 3X on Gas
  • 2X on Entertainment (This includes movie theaters, some sport events, museums, tourist attractions, amusement parks, and more)
  • 2X on Dining

Premier Rewards Gold Card

  • 3X on Airline Tickets (4X through the Amex Portal)
  • 2X on Dining, Groceries, and Gas
  • $100 Airline credit for fees and incidentals
Citi Premier Bonus Categories

This is a tough comparison because the Premier Rewards Gold Card offers 2X on groceries, a category that many people probably spend a lot on. At the same time, the Premier offers 3X on the following items: airlines, hotels, car rental agencies, travel agencies, gas stations, commuter transportation, taxi/limousines, passenger railways, cruise lines, bridge and road tolls, parking lots/garages, campgrounds and trailer parks, time shares, bus lines, motor home/RV Rental and boat rentals and also offers 2x on entertainment.

That’s a long and valuable list for 3x earning opportunities. Thus, while I like that the the Premier Rewards Gold Card is valuable for those who shop a lot at grocery stores, I think the Premier is the better point earner for the average traveller. (I’d just rely on another card like the Premier Rewards Gold Card or Everyday Preferred so that I’d earn a bonus rate on supermarkets.)

Personally, I use both of these cards so I didn’t have to choose just one and I think it would be a good idea to think about getting both if you are interested in earning both Membership Rewards and Citi Thankyou Points.

Tip: “Amex Offers,” which gives American Express cardholders exclusive discounts and rebates for quality stores, can also add a lot of value to the Premier Rewards Gold Card. On average, I probably save at least a couple of hundred dollars per year by using these offers, so it’s definitely something to factor into your consideration.

No Foreign Transaction Fees

Both cards have no foreign transaction fees.

Annual Fee

Citi Thankyou Premier

  • $95 waived the first year

Premier Rewards Gold Card

  • $195, waived the first year

The Premier Rewards Gold Card’s annual fee is essentially reduced to $95 if you can make good use of the $100 annual airline credit. Still, it’s nice to not have to jump through hoops to get the annual fee down to $95. Thus, I’d give Citi a slight edge for the annual fee.   

Final Verdict 

I think the winner is the Citi Thankyou Premier, although I wouldn’t recommend on holding out on the Premier Rewards Gold Card. Again, I’m a big fan of building up points for the big three (Ultimate Rewards, Citi Thankyou Points, and Membership Rewards). Thus, I think it’s good to get on board with at least one good rewards-earning card from each program. Both the Citi Thankyou Premier and the American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card fit that bill. 

The Citi Prestige vs The Citi Thankyou Premier

[Offers contained within this article may no longer be available]

The Citi Prestige and Citi Thankyou Premier are both two of the best travel credit cards with flexibility in point use. The major difference between the two cards is that the Prestige is more benefit oriented while the Premier is more about earning Thankyou Points with bonus category spend. Still, while the Prestige is more about the benefits, it also offers exceptional point earning opportunities that you don’t find in many other benefit-based credit cards like the American Express Platinum. This article will compare the two cards and see how they stack up to each other.

Transfer Partners

citi-logo

Both cards obviously earn Citi Thankyou Points. Just as a refresher, here are the different Thankyou travel partners.

Airlines

  • Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific)
  • EVA Air
  • Eithad Guest
  • Flying Blue (Air France, KLM)
  • Garuda Indonesia Frequent Flyer
  • Malaysia Airlines Enrich
  • Qantas Frequent Flyer
  • Qatar Airways Privilege Club
  • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
  • Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
  • Virgin America Elevate (Get 500 Elevate points for 1,000 pts)
  • Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Hotels

    • Hilton HHonors (Get 1,500 HHonors Bonus Points for 1,000 pts)

Sign-up Bonus

Citi Thankyou Premier

Citi Thankyou Premier

  • 40K to 50K (currently 40K) when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months

Citi Prestige

  • 50K to 100K (currently 50K) when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months

Personally, I’m holding out on the Prestige until the 100K offer rolls around again but that’s only because I already have the American Express Platinum card, which offers me similar benefits. If I didn’t currently have a card offering me things like Priority Pass, I’d still go for this card even with the 50K offer. The Citi Premier just switched back to 40K from 50K, so I’m not sure when the 50K bonus will be back.

Bonus category earning potential

Citi Thankyou Premier

  • 3X on Travel (this also covers an extremely broad range of expenses like the CSP but is even a little bit broader!).
  • 3X on Gas
  • 2X on Entertainment (This includes movie theaters, some sport events, museums, tourist attractions, amusement parks, and more)
  • 2X on Dining

Citi Prestige

  • 3X on Air fare and hotels (this is more limited than the “travel” category for the Premier)
  • 2X on Entertainment
  • 2X on Dining

I think it’s pretty rare for a benefits-focused card to offer such great bonus earning potential like the Prestige does (the Amex Platinum offers none). The only categories missing from the Prestige are the 3X on gas and broader travel category. This makes the Prestige a pretty decent primary card to use for daily spending.

However, you’d likely want to compliment this card with one or two others that offer rewards in things like groceries, gas, and the broader travel category. Two cards that could fill this role are the Chase Sapphire Preferred (2X on Travel) and the American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card (2X on groceries and gas).

Benefits

citi-prestige-card

Citi Prestige

  • $250 airline credit (which can be used for broader expenses, such as airline tickets)
  • Priority Pass Select airport lounge access for you and up to two guests for free (the Platinum requires that you pay $27 per guest for this benefit)
  • Complimentary access with two guests to American Airlines Admirals Club lounges (when you fly with them)
  • Complimentary night at any hotel of your choice after a minimum 4-consecutive-night booking (Probably the most valuable benefit)
  • $100 Global Entry credit
  • 3 free rounds of golf through GolfSwitch
  • Rental car benefits like express check-in, free upgrades, and discounts with status.
  • Add authorized users for $50 each.
  • Concierge service

If you have the Citi Prestige card you can transfer your Premier points to the Prestige and redeem those points toward American Airlines miles at a rate of 1.6 cents and 1.33 cents for any other airline.

I think that these benefits are among the best that are offered by any credit card and I’ll illustrate why.

I’ll use my last year’s travels as an example.

  • There were three times that I could’ve potentially taken advantage of a fourth night free. With an average cost of $200 per night, that’s $600 worth of value I could’ve got from that benefit alone.
  • When you add in the airline statement credit that’s another $200
  • Throw in the Priority Pass lounge access and that’s easily  $1,200 worth of value. And if I used my free guest pass for my partner each time, it would have been like getting another $400 in value.

So that’s roughly $1,600 of value and that’s not even counting the value from the sign-up bonus, which could easily add on at least another $500.

As you can see with the statement credit, lounge access, global entry, and the potential for free hotel nights, these benefits can easily total a return value in the thousands — if you play your cards right. You can check out how the Citi Prestige compares versus the American Express Platinum here.

Annual Fees

Citi Thankyou Premier

  • $95, waived the first year

Citi Prestige

  • $450, not waived

If you’re a Citigold client and/or a you apply for the Prestige in-branch you can often get the annual fee knocked down to $350.

No Foreign Transaction Fees

  • Both cards boast no foreign transaction fees.

Overall, both cards are solid choices for earning Citi Thankyou Points. However, if I had to choose one it would likely be the Prestige. The Prestige has the potential to earn you thousands if you travel frequently and play your cards right. On top of that, it still has a decent earning potential with its bonus categories. Since I could get so much out of the Prestige, I value it more.  

 

The American Express Platinum vs The Citi Prestige

[Offers contained within this article may no longer be available]

The Citi Prestige and the American Express Platinum cards offer some of the best travel benefits in the credit card game. However, with those valuable benefits come high annual fees. With such high fees, a lot of people struggle to decide which card to apply for. So here’s a comparison of the two cards with a final verdict at the end.

July 25, 2016 UPDATE: Big changes have just been announced to the Citi Prestige and this article has been modified to reflect those changes. 

Charge card vs Credit Card

First, don’t forget that the Citi Prestige is a credit card the American Express Platinum is a “charge card.” A charge card must be paid off in full each month or else you face a hefty monthly fee. The benefit to a charge card like the Platinum is that you’re not restricted to a credit limit and so you have a little more flexibility — you just need to be able to keep yourself in check to make sure you’ll pay off your balance in full each month. 

Transfer Partners

The American Express Platinum earns Membership Rewards, which transfer out to several partners. Here are the transfer partners of Membership Rewards.

Airlines

  • Delta Skymiles
  • Club Premier AeroMexico
  • Aeroplan Air Canada
  • Flying Blue Air France/KLM
  • MilleMigilia Club Alitalia
  • ANA
  • Asia Miles
  • Avios British Airways
  • Emirates Skyrewards
  • Etihad Guest
  • Hawaiian Airlines
  • Iberia Plus
  • JetBlue
  • KrisFlyer Singapore Airlines
  • Virgin America
  • Virgin Atlantic

Hotels

  • Best Western Rewards
  • Choice Privileges
  • Hilton HHonors
  • SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest)

Citi Thankyou Points

The Citi Prestige earns Thankyou Points and Citi has fairly recently added a lot of new travel partners. These partners are:

citi-logo

Airlines

  • Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific)
  • EVA Air
  • Eithad Guest
  • Flying Blue (Air France, KLM)
  • Garuda Indonesia Frequent Flyer
  • Malaysia Airlines Enrich
  • Qantas Frequent Flyer
  • Qatar Airways Privilege Club
  • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
  • Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
  • Virgin America Elevate (Get 500 Elevate points for 1,000 pts)
  • Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Hotels

  • Hilton HHonors (Get 1,500 HHonors Bonus Points for 1,000 pts)

Typically, the transfer partners are one of my first considerations when considering a travel rewards card but with two cards like these, which are heavy in the benefits department, more weight should probably go to which benefits will fit better into your travel lifestyle.

Still, although I’d give more consideration to the benefits, I would have to say that Membership Rewards edges out Thankyou Points here since at the very least they boast the better hotel selection and offer better airline transfer options. And for someone like me who lives near a United hub, it’s great having both ANA and Aeroplan (along with Singapore Krisflyer) to transfer to and book Star Alliance flights with. 

Redeeming Points for Travel

Membership Rewards can be redeemed in the following ways:

  • Between .5 and 1.0 cent per point for gift cards
  • 0.6 cent per point for a statement credit/charge
  • 1.0 cent per point on air fare
  • 0.7 cent per point on hotels, cruises, and vacation packages.

Thankyou Points can be redeemed for cash back and gift cards at one cent per point but you can get more for air travel. With the Prestige, Thankyou Points can be redeemed at a rate of 1.33 cents per point for airlines and 1.6 on American Airlines. With the new changes, Thankyou points will be able to be redeemed for 1.25 cents on all airlines. 

Sign-up Bonus

AMEX Platinum

  • 40K to 100K (currently 40K) when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months.
Amex Platinum Card

The 40K offer is the standard offer available to the public, and the 100K offer comes around in three forms but there’s no guarantee that you will ever get it. The three forms it comes in are:

  • 1) Targeted mailings (if you’re already an Amex cardholder your chances of getting this offer in the mail are slim to none).
  • 2) Pre-approval links: Some sites (including the Amex site) that allow you to view your pre-approved credit card offers will show this offer.
  •  3) Incognito/Private browser windows sometimes show this offer (rare)

Tip: When applying for bonuses with Amex cards always remember that bonuses for personal cards are only given once a lifetime (although not 100% enforced).

Citi Prestige

  • 40K to 100K (currently 40K) when you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months.

Most value Membership Rewards more than Thankyou Points so with an even bonus of 40,000, the Platinum likely is offering you more value when you consider the value of cents per point.

There’s really no telling when the higher 100K offers will (if ever) return. Amex sometimes sends out targeted 100K offers and a couple of times those offers have leaked to the public. However, your odds of receiving (or taking advantage of a leaked offer) are probably not very high. Also, Citi’s recent trend towards eliminating or reducing sign-up offers makes it feel like the Prestige 100K offer isn’t coming back any time soon. 

So, unless you get a little lucky, you’ll probably be stuck with 40K offers for the time being in which case, I’d give the Platinum the edge. 

Bonus Categories

AMEX Platinum

  • 1X on all purchases
  • 5X on airfare purchased directly with the airline

Citi Prestige

  • 3X on air travel and hotels
  • 2X on dining and entertainment
  • 1X on all other purchases
Citi Prestige Bonus Categories
Citi Prestige Bonus Categories

One of the biggest knocks against the Platinum is that it doesn’t have any bonus categories for spending. While the Amex PRG and the Everyday Preferred cards can assist with earning MR points, the Citi Prestige has earning capability built in and won’t require you to pay an annual fee for an additional Citi card just to be able to earn more points.

Benefits

AMEX Platinum

Priority Pass

Here’s a breakdown of my favorite benefits of the Platinum, but in a nutshell this card confers a host of benefits to you making it worth it including:

  • Priority Pass airport lounge access (worth $400 per year)
  • Centurion Lounge Access/Delta Lounge Access (when you fly with them)
  • $200 annual airline credit (essentially reducing the annual fee to $250)
  • $100 statement credit for Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check (a Godsend that’s good for 5 years!)
  • Add up to 3 authorized users for only $175 per year (for all 3)
  • Gold status with Hilton and Starwood
  • Free Boingo Wifi subscription (worth $120 per year)
  • Rental car benefits like express check-in, free upgrades, and discounts with status.
  • Concierge service
Amex Centurion Lounge at IAH.

Also, while not exclusive to the Platinum, Amex Offers (which are special discounts and rebates given to Amex cardholders) can add up quickly if used efficiently and can certainly act as a considerable benefit to having the Platinum.

Citi Prestige

  • $250 airline credit (which can be used for broader expenses, such as airline tickets)
  • Priority Pass Select airport lounge access for you and up to two guests for free (the Platinum requires that you pay $27 per guest for this benefit)
  • Complimentary access with two guests to American Airlines Admirals Club® lounges (when you fly with them)
  • Complimentary night at any hotel of your choice after a minimum 4-consecutive-night booking (now calculated on an average nightly rate basis and taxes are not included)
  • $100 Global Entry credit
  • 3 free rounds of golf through GolfSwitch
  • Rental car benefits like express check-in, free upgrades, and discounts with status.
  • Add authorized users for $50 each.
  • Concierge service

With the recent changes to the Citi Prestige, the contest between these two cards is a lot closer. The Prestige does offer more valuable Priority Pass lounge access but it doesn’t offer anything above that now. With the Platinum, you get Centurion lounge access, which are some of the best airline lounges in the U.S. (and you can bring up to two guests for free). You also get Delta SkyClub lounge access when you fly with them. Thus, if you regularly fly Delta or fly in and out of airports with Centurion lounges, the lounge benefits offered by the Platinum begin to surpass those offered by the Prestige

However, the Prestige still has the better airline credit, bonus earning potential, and the fourth night free benefit, so there’s still an edge that can be had with the Prestige. 

Protections

citi-prestige-card
The Citi Prestige

Protections for purchases and travel aren’t usually a priority for many but these protections can be extremely valuable when things go wrong. The Amex Platinum has a number of quality protections but not as many as the Citi Prestige. Specifically, the Citi Prestige offers protections on baggage delay, trip delay/cancellation, and price protection. 

No Foreign Transaction Fees

Both cards have no foreign transaction fees.

Annual Fee

Citi Prestige

  • $450, not waived* (more like $200/year with airline credit)

*If you are a Citigold member, the annual fee should be reduced to $350. In addition, some have had success with getting the $350 annual fee when they apply in-branch.

AMEX Platinum

  • $450, not waived (more like $250/year with airline credit)

Highlighting the Differences 

So overall, here are some of the key differences between the cards that I would consider when making a decision between the two cards.

The Citi Prestige

  • Offers a $250 airline credit that can be used even for airfare tickets
  • Earns a very respectable 3X on airfare and hotels, and 2X on dining and entertainment
  • Offers a fourth night free when booking hotels
  • Allows two guests to visit Priority Pass lounges for free
  • Citi Prestige offers Admirals Club access to the primary cardholder when flying on American Airlines.
  • Allows you to add each authorized user for $50.

The American Express Platinum

  • Offers a $200 airline credit that is meant to be utilized for fees and incidentals (although there are ways around this)
  • Earns no bonus category points
  • Offers gold HHonors and SPG status
  • Allows no free guests with your Priority Pass and you must pay $27 per guest
  • Offers access to Centurion Lounges with free access for up to two guests
  • Offers access to Delta SkyClub lounges when you fly with them
  • Allows you to add up to three authorized users for $175 total
  • Gives you access to Amex Offers

The Verdict

The most widely used benefit conferred by these type of cards is lounge access. Now, with the recent changes, the Platinum Card offers better lounge access to a lot of travelers. Some may still be able to get more value out of the Prestige with its airline credit, 4th night free benefit, and more expansive Priority Pass membership but it all depends on your travel habits and goals. Before, I stated that the Prestige was the clear-cut winner in this comparison but now I have to say it’s much more a of a toss-up and that it really depends on how you’ll be taking advantage of the benefits.