tmount
Administrator
It is coming to that time of the year that I start to get rather concerned about reducing expenses. With the holidays coming, my reselling business will become a prime focus, however I never try to lose sight what we’re paying for the credit card benefits we are getting.
So with that, in a post similar to Joe’s “Annual Fee reduction” post, I’ll cover the cards that both my wife and I are carrying and what we plan to do about them.
Disclaimer: Primary cardholder benefits may not be exhaustive lists, as these benefits are well covered elsewhere.
Chase Sapphire Reserve
My wife and I were both happy to get this back when it was first released, despite being far beyond 5/24. That said, you get the following benefits:
- Priority Pass Select
- Ability to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to airline partners
- 50% more value when redeeming Ultimate Rewards Points for travel (e.g. 1.5 cents per point).
- $300 Annual Travel Credit – Automatic vice AMEX.
- Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection
- No Foreign Transaction Fee
- Primary Car Rental Insurance
- Annual Fee: $450
- Priority Pass Select
- Ability to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to airline partners (though this confuses me, as the points should be under the ownership of the primary cardholder, yes?)
- Primary Car Rental Insurance
- Annual Fee: $75
American Express Business Platinum
The benefits of this card are rather well known for the primary cardholder, you get:
- Global Lounge Collection, including Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Club Lounges and Priority Pass Select
- $200 Airline Fee Credit
- 35% points reimbursement when paying with points for premium tickets (or any class on your selected airline) – note, I’m grandfathered in on the 50% points reimbursement that ended a few months back.
- No foreign transaction fees
- 10 free GoGo internet passes, and unlimited Wi-Fi at Boingo Hotspots
- American Express Platinum Concierge Services (a benefit I definitely am not maximizing!)
- American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts
- A bunch of status – National, SPG (which translates to Marriott), Hilton.
- Annual Fee: $450
- 10 Gogo in flight passes
- Most everything above, except the $200 credit)
- Cost: $300 Annual Fee.
Citi Prestige
The Citi Prestige has actually become a much more important card in my wallet of late. The travel benefits seem to be some of the best. Here’s what you get:
- A $250 Air Travel Credit – Automatic vice AMEX.
- Complimentary 4th night free on hotel stays of 4 nights or longer.
- No Foreign Transaction Fee
- Priority Pass Select
- Ability to transfer points to Citi Thank You partners
- Priority Pass Select
- Annual Fee: $50
Wrapping Up
I realize this isn’t an exhaustive list. There are other great premium cards out there, like Chase’s Ritz Carlton card, Bank of America’s new one, and the Citi AAdvantage Executive–which I already am an authorized user on–and a few others from American Express. Rather, I wanted to look at the big three, and I have to be honest. I’m having a hard time seeing the value of an authorized user on any of the cards. Its a shame, because I’ve been really enjoying my Chase Sapphire Reserve.
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