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Posted (edited)
28 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

I’m a little skeptical on some of the proposed use cases for AI, but a good one would be to analyze spending patterns and to recommend the best card.

I actually did some analysis using ChatGPT and the Chase Sapphire Preferred was suggested, but it was just a small sample of spending patterns. I need to find an easy way to get my purchases from the last 2 years analyzed without putting any personal information out there.

Edited by mycox
Posted
1 hour ago, LCHorn said:

Same, my wife is keeping hers, however (at least that’s the plan, currently).  
 

I haven’t found a suitable replacement yet; our travel is predominately foreign and it seems like some of the better alternatives (Amex, for example) are far less widely accepted than VISA.  
 

I’m a little skeptical on some of the proposed use cases for AI, but a good one would be to analyze spending patterns and to recommend the best card.

I haven't found anything that beats the combo of CSR and Amex Platinum. I know fees are high, but you get 80-90% of that back through credits and things like Precheck.

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Posted
13 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

I haven't found anything that beats the combo of CSR and Amex Platinum. I know fees are high, but you get 80-90% of that back through credits and things like Precheck.

Do you?  I’m pretty down conceptually on how the supposed credits are “tuned” to limit their value (like selling a $120 Door Dash credit but it’s actually $10 a month for 12 months-both of these cards are replete with that kind of chicanery).  
 

Precheck is $120 once every four years.  Chase touts it because it’s marketing their card as the best for travelers, so it’s a complimentary offering, but the actual value isn’t that high.  
 

My big concern with switching is a) Chase  and Amex are really pretty good when it comes to resolving disputed charges, b) additional warranty coverage on some purchases and c) built in trip insurance (which I actually have reason to need because we do a good bit of flying out of ABIA (so not direct) and I bet we end up delayed 50% of our trips.  

Posted
16 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

Do you?  I’m pretty down conceptually on how the supposed credits are “tuned” to limit their value (like selling a $120 Door Dash credit but it’s actually $10 a month for 12 months-both of these cards are replete with that kind of chicanery).  
 

Precheck is $120 once every four years.  Chase touts it because it’s marketing their card as the best for travelers, so it’s a complimentary offering, but the actual value isn’t that high.  
 

My big concern with switching is a) Chase  and Amex are really pretty good when it comes to resolving disputed charges, b) additional warranty coverage on some purchases and c) built in trip insurance (which I actually have reason to need because we do a good bit of flying out of ABIA (so not direct) and I bet we end up delayed 50% of our trips.  

Don't forget lounge access, too. That's worth a few hundred a year to me since I use it probably 5-6 times.

Posted
45 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

I haven't found anything that beats the combo of CSR and Amex Platinum. I know fees are high, but you get 80-90% of that back through credits and things like Precheck.

If you are beholden to a hotel and airline franchise owning their branded cards is a no brainer. There is almost no day to day spending you should do on a plat.  The only reason to have it is for the lifestyle credits and the GE/Clear and ailine fee reimbursement which for me personally I can get my fee back.  Their lounges are completely unusable at this point.

Posted
Just now, Chewbacca said:

Don't forget lounge access, too. That's worth a few hundred a year to me since I use it probably 5-6 times.

On the Chase side, the Priority Pass lounges are crowded, ghetto or non-existent.  I might swing by for a free Diet Coke, but I’m not drinking a fucking Heineken and stuffing my face with a ham and cheese croissant right before I depart, and because I fly out of ABIA I’m usually sprinting to my connect.  It’s frankly been more valuable when you can get credit at some random restaurant.  
 

I presume that’s why Chase is trying to build out their own lounges.  

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Posted
1 minute ago, midtown said:

If you are beholden to a hotel and airline franchise owning their branded cards is a no brainer. There is almost no day to day spending you should do on a plat.  The only reason to have it is for the lifestyle credits and the GE/Clear and ailine fee reimbursement which for me personally I can get my fee back.  Their lounges are completely unusable at this point.

I put business spend on the plat and personal spend on the CSR.  I know I could optimize for points but I don't really care to. Currently sitting on about 1.5 million miles combined.

Posted
1 minute ago, LCHorn said:

On the Chase side, the Priority Pass lounges are crowded, ghetto or non-existent.  I might swing by for a free Diet Coke, but I’m not drinking a fucking Heineken and stuffing my face with a ham and cheese croissant right before I depart, and because I fly out of ABIA I’m usually sprinting to my connect.  It’s frankly been more valuable when you can get credit at some random restaurant.  
 

I presume that’s why Chase is trying to build out their own lounges.  

Most of my lounge time is in the Amex lounge in either DFW or IAH when my flight gets delayed, but I have managed to swing by a couple of Chase lounges. Agreed on the Priority Pass lounges.  They are trash.

Posted
3 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Most of my lounge time is in the Amex lounge in either DFW or IAH when my flight gets delayed, but I have managed to swing by a couple of Chase lounges. Agreed on the Priority Pass lounges.  They are trash.

Most lounges are trash now. With PP being the worst.  AMEX you can barely get into because the whole planet has a plat now and even the guest rule hasnt seemed to help.  The united lounges are hti and miss; they can get crazy crowded and they are filled with kids its seems. Its almost better now to sit out in the concourse and have a bite and drink out there.

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Posted (edited)
3 minutes ago, midtown said:

Most lounges are trash now. With PP being the worst.  AMEX you can barely get into because the whole planet has a plat now and even the guest rule hasnt seemed to help.  The united lounges are hti and miss; they can get crazy crowded and they are filled with kids its seems. Its almost better now to sit out in the concourse and have a bite and drink out there.

We hit up the United lounge in DIA in May when our flight to Reykjavik was delayed (had access through Icelandair).  I was sorely disappointed.  Food was terribad and I had to pay $15 for a Hendricks and tonic.  We should have just stayed in the terminal and gotten some food.

Amex lounges are much better but, as you say, quite overcrowded. Amex needs to raise their fee to cut some of the riff raff.

Edited by Chewbacca
Posted
1 minute ago, Chewbacca said:

Amex needs to raise their fee to cut some of the riff raff.

I'd rather they just raise their required credit score.  That would solve a bunch of the problems.  You can't tell me all those people have 800 credit scores

Posted
Just now, Biff Tannen said:

CSR also has a $300 generic travel credit each year, so if you take just one trip it chops that off the annual fee immediately. 

And toll roads count towards that, too.

Posted (edited)
14 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

CSR also has a $300 generic travel credit each year, so if you take just one trip it chops that off the annual fee immediately. 

They are increasing the fee to $800 this year.

I agree the Chase lounges are trash these days, and a let of terminals don't have Chase lounges anymore. They don't even offer restaurant credit anymore.

The Lyft perk is nice, however.

Edited by mycox
Posted
2 hours ago, LCHorn said:

Same, my wife is keeping hers, however (at least that’s the plan, currently).  
 

I haven’t found a suitable replacement yet; our travel is predominately foreign and it seems like some of the better alternatives (Amex, for example) are far less widely accepted than VISA.  
 

I’m a little skeptical on some of the proposed use cases for AI, but a good one would be to analyze spending patterns and to recommend the best card.

I'm sure the CC companies, Apple Pay, etc. are doing that in the the background but giving that type of data to Google, Amazon or Grok could lead to some interesting targeted marketing.

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