Does anyone have a good reason to go for the Chase trifecta over the Capital One duo if you travel about once a year?
Hi, the Capital One duo is looking like a much better deal than with the Chase trifecta, especially if you're a CSR holder. With Chase reducing their benefits and trimming their bonus categories every year, I don't see a point in keeping the Chase trifecta as your main source of points anymore. The Capital One duo + Bilt (if you rent), at least on paper, look amazing for travel points.
If I'm only traveling once a year, trying to get good value out of the $300 portal credit on the Venture X would be difficult. The CSP, while more expensive on paper when valuing credits at 100% face value, would not tie me in nearly as much into portal usage (at most I just ignore the $50 Chase hotel credit and it's a full $99 AF.) The Venture card could also work and has a better base earning rate, but I still think I'd rather have the rotating 5x categories and Hyatt transfers over the extra 0.5x on unbonused spend.
You are correct in that, however I think Capital One mentioned a price-match guarantee? I would personally only book hotels through portals (I would be traveling once a year myself) since I don't have any loyalty memberships. For flights, I would transfer to partners.
Do you get enough value out of your CSP to justify the $99 price tag? I would be very interested to know how you use your Chase trifecta
Right now I only have the CSP for the SUB (plan on cancelling after the year is up,) but I also travel a few times a year - enough that I feel comfortable being able to use the $300 somehow most years, and that I'm willing to do that for lounge access. My comment was more thinking to a point where if I was only traveling (at least by air) only once a year - and at that point I'd prefer a simpler, less credit-based setup. Although at that point I might just go completely no-annual fee, using Bilt to get some Hyatt points (since they have a lot of decent sweet spots) and then cash-back cards for the rest.
One big thing to note is that the Cap1 portal doesn't have every hotel listed. They do have a lot, but I have a stay coming up that I couldn't book through them and so had to book it through Expedia. Cap1 also won't price match member rates, which most chain hotels have, so it's quite possible that someone would pay more on the Cap1 portal vs. a direct booking.
Realistically everyone who is going to daily drive a trifecta should categorize their current spending, assign a value to points, and see which card sets maximize their value with google sheets or something. Make sure you factor in all of the credits you can reasonably spend and try to assign a conservative value to things like priority pass, travel insurance, hotel/rental status, etc. If you don't care much about that make it zero.
When I did this Chase was second to the Amex trifecta because I can enough of the credits to cover the AF with minimal work.
What killed my interest in the Venture X was when they switched to providing credit for the travel portal instead of cash back to your card when doing the price match. Portal credits are basically useless to me since the only reason I would have them is because the portal was charging more than booking directly. If you travel a lot, you might be able to use the credits on a flight/hotel that is priced the same as booking direct, but there's no guarantee that opportunity will arise.
Indeed. We currently have a somewhat bad market for travel credit cards at the moment: CSR is too expensive for most people, same with the AMex line. Venture X and Chase have portal-only bonuses, which is useless if you transfer out to travel partners. I guess the CSP is simply the economical option right now, but it's not very good either (I hate that so many categories are missing)
Agreed. As someone who only travels a handful a times of year, I've been using the BILT card as my travel card since it has pretty good travel protections and transfer partners for $0 AF. And I recently picked up the Hilton Honors Surpass for the SUB & 10 free Priority Pass visits per year. I think that combo works well for my current travel needs.
I'm really debating on the Altitude Reserve. If you don't travel the bonus annual credits can also be used on dining. Plus effective 4.5% back on contactless.
This is going to sound backwards but hear me out: The Amex Trifecta (Platinum, Gold, BBP) can actually be a very good combo for less frequent travel, if you can effectively use the credits. You need to be already paying for Hulu, Disney plus, and some other entertainment credit options, be able to use the uber and grubhub credits (I get pickup once a month from each and use it easily). FHR is a great option for a weekend trip if you find one in the $200-$300 range due to all the benefits.
If you can justify the (very) high AF with the credits without spending more than you normally would, you get a lot of perks that you would only get by travelling a lot otherwise (hotel/rental status, more lounge access, FHR).
Absolutely, if someone uses the credits well, the Amex cards are great! I'm just trying to be more frugal in my life, which is why I can't justify the price of said cards. And I don't eat out that much.
In that case I would say take a look at the US Bank Attitude reserve if you are able to pay with mobile wallet.
Its really going to depend on your spending profile to determine which is better though the CSP and CSR target people who eat out and travel more.
Do you fly when you go on your 1 trip or drive? Another option would be to get one of the hotel cards. The Ritz Carlton card is basically a supercharged Marriott card with many of the same benefits as the CSR.