Changing My Travel Credit Card Setup

Considerations for making changes this year

People in the points and miles game frequently reevaluate their credit card setup, and I’m no different. Changes to credit cards, travel habits, life circumstances, and so on necessitate adjustments.

American Express Platinum

I’ve held the Amex Platinum card for almost two years now. I’ve enjoyed many of the benefits. However, this card is definitely high maintenance. It comes with many credits and benefits that offset the annual fee. If one is willing to put in the time and effort to extract maximum value, then it can worth it. Many people say that it’s a coupon book, and I believe that’s a fair criticism. I’ve grown tired of the coupon book, and I’m wanting to simplify things.

In the past year, American Express has refreshed several of their cards. This means higher annual fees and more statement credits. The Platinum card is also due for an annual fee hike, and I’m sure there will be even more credits that I would have to keep up with. There’s speculation that the annual fee will be $895; that’s just speculation, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Dropping $895 all at once for a credit card is a hard pill to swallow, and I’m not sure I’ll be willing to do that when my fee comes due again.

In previous posts, I’ve written about how much I like airport lounges when I fly. This card has the best and most comprehensive lounge access. However, I fly 6-8 times a year. It’s more than the average person, but I don’t consider myself a frequent flyer. Lately, I’ve been thinking that maybe I don’t fly often enough for lounge access to be a major consideration when I’m deciding whether to get or keep a card. If I was flying multiple times a month, then maybe it would be a more important consideration.

The earnings on this card are quite poor: 5X MR points on flights and pre-paid hotels. There are no other earnings categories. I never book pre-paid hotel stays, and since I only fly 6-8 times a year, this card doesn’t get much use or earn many points. People get this card mostly for the benefits and not the earnings. I was okay with that at first, but my attitude has changed.

If I do decide to cancel my Amex Platinum card, what alternatives am I considering?

Ritz Carlton Credit Card

In a recent post, I talked about product changing my Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card to the Ritz Carlton card. By the way, I did receive it in the mail, and I plan to write more about in the future.

I’m considering having this as my one and only premium travel credit card for a couple of reasons:

• The annual fee is lower. $450 a year is less than $695 and a lot lower than $895.

• It has insurances and protections that are at least as good as the Amex Platinum card, and they are superior in some ways.

• It gives me access to Priority Pass and Chase Sapphire lounges.

• It doesn’t have a long list of credits that I have to keep track of and use in order to offset the annual fee. This card has a $300 credit for airline incidentals that I can easily use as well as a free night award.

• I really like that it gives primary CDW coverage for rental cars.

One reason I might not want to have this as my only premium travel card is that it earns Marriott points which are less valuable and less flexible. It’s possible to transfer Marriott points to airlines, but the transfer ratio is poor. Having a premium card that earns a more flexible points currency might be a good idea such as the following card.

Chase Sapphire Reserve

When I first started looking at premium travel credit cards a few years ago, the Chase Sapphire Reserve was at the top of my list. It would give me lounge access and excellent insurances and protections. There are two other major reasons I’m considering this card:

• It has more earnings categories, so I would be able to use it more in my everyday life.

  • Earn 5x total points on flights when you purchase travel through Chase Travel after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually.*

    Earn 10x total points on hotels (excluding The Edit^SM) and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually.*

    Earn 3x points on dining at restaurants, including eligible delivery services, takeout, and dining out.* Plus earn 3x points on other travel worldwide after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually.*

    Earn 10x total points on Chase Dining purchases with Ultimate Rewards^®.*

  • I like the broad 3X general travel category. It encompasses many different types of travel purchases.

  • The 3X points at restaurants would definitely get used a lot. It would probably make it my go-to dining card.

• It gives you a 50% boost on travel booked with points in the Chase travel portal. It’s certainly possible to transfer Chase UR points to travel partners for higher redemptions, but sometimes it’s nice to just keep it simple and book in the portal.

One downside I see with this card is that it has an annual fee of $550 and a $300 travel credit. I can easily use the $300 travel credit, but that’s the only one I’m likely able to use. That means the card will effectively cost me $250 a year. I would have to decide if it’s worth it.

Citi Strata Elite

I have been hearing rumors for a while that Citi will be releasing a premium travel credit card, the Citi Strata Elite. I cannot say much about this possibility, since there is no available information about the earnings categories, credits, benefits, insurances, protections, etc. I suspect it will be similar to their discontinued Citi Prestige card, and if that’s the case, it will be a very strong contender.

Citi^® / AAdvantage^® Executive World Elite Mastercard^®

This is the most premium American Airlines credit card. At the present time, I consider it to be a fairly unlikely choice. However, it does have a few features that make it attractive.

• It grants the card holder access to the Admirals Club. That combined with the Priority Pass and Chase Sapphire Lounge access from my Ritz card would give me fairly broad lounge access.

• It gives a free checked bag. I usually travel with at least one checked bag, so I could get a lot of value from this benefit.

• It would give me priority check-in. The general check-in line at the airport can get quite long, but the priority line is usually much shorter. Every little thing that saves time is much appreciated.

• Group 4 boarding.

I’ve been looking on Google Flights to see what’s available for the flights I’ll need to take this year. In the last two years, I’ve flown with American almost exclusively. However, it looks like Delta will be the better option for some of the flights I’m planning. This makes an American Airlines card less appealing. This also illustrates one of the downsides of airline specific cards; you only enjoy the benefits of that particular card when you fly with that particular airline. I’m not especially loyal to any airline. I normally just book whichever flight is the cheapest and fastest. Perhaps I will remain a free agent, but I’m not sure.

Conclusion

I’m keeping my Ritz Carlton card no matter what else changes. I don’t know yet what other premium travel card I will add or if I will add anything at all. I have until November of this year to make a decision. As usual, I seem to have analysis paralysis after doing so much research. There are many factors to consider, and there is no perfect solution. I will post a follow-up on this sometime later this year. Stay tuned.