Cash back Credit card fees

[chicklets123]

Do you keep cards there have fees even though you get a cash back? Or cancel before the renewal?


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[Jack0Life]

Don't truly understand your question but the only CC that have that cost money is the Chase Reserve.
Annual fee is still $450 for me and since I instantly get $300 in travel credit, it's really only $150 annual fee.
The benefits I get + 3% travel and restaurant cash back is worth it for me to keep the card. I also use the Reserve to transfer Chase Points to wherever I need.

[PDXTabs]

I personally just use my CapitalOne Quicksilver Rewards with 1.5% cash back and no annual fee.

[bacchi]

Don't truly understand your question but the only CC that have that cost money is the Chase Reserve.
Annual fee is still $450 for me and since I instantly get $300 in travel credit, it's really only $150 annual fee.
The benefits I get + 3% travel and restaurant cash back is worth it for me to keep the card. I also use the Reserve to transfer Chase Points to wherever I need.

How is this better than a 2% Citi Double Cash card?*

15,000 on anything = $300
15,000 on travel and restaurants = $450 - $150 = $300

Do you spend more than $15k on travel and restaurants?


* Better yet, a fee-free card for 3% on travel and restaurants and the Citi Double card for anything else.

[PJC74]

I pay for the $90 fee on Amex preferred for 6% on groceries and 3% on gas. We easily max the 6500 grocery spend so it does pay for itself plus some. All other cards we use are fee free.

[kanga1622]

I won’t have any card that has annual fees. Not worth it for us. We don’t travel and I haven’t seen any card that is worth it for the expenses we run through our card.

[Sibley]

I don't think my Discover card has any fees. Could be wrong.

[Peachtea]

Don't truly understand your question but the only CC that have that cost money is the Chase Reserve.
Annual fee is still $450 for me and since I instantly get $300 in travel credit, it's really only $150 annual fee.
The benefits I get + 3% travel and restaurant cash back is worth it for me to keep the card. I also use the Reserve to transfer Chase Points to wherever I need.

How is this better than a 2% Citi Double Cash card?*

15,000 on anything = $300
15,000 on travel and restaurants = $450 - $150 = $300

Do you spend more than $15k on travel and restaurants?


* Better yet, a fee-free card for 3% on travel and restaurants and the Citi Double card for anything else.

You also get 1% back on everything with the Chase travel cards. And spending the chase points, if done correctly, gets you more than the cash out value. Spending points on chase travel portal means points are worth 25% more. So you could either cash out that $300 in points or book travel through their site for $375. (With the pandemic they added 2% back on groceries and the 25% extra value applies for reimbursing yourself for grocery and delivery charges, which has been a nice feature too.) You can also transfer to a travel partner where the conversion gets you even more, sometimes a lot more value.

We sign up for fee cards for the bonus and then cancel at the year mark. But we keep the chase sapphire $95/annual fee for travel, mostly because of its travel partners and how easy it is to combo chase card offers. I.e. Get the United sign up bonus of 40k, transfer 20K chase points to get free RT flight to Europe. Since it’s easier to earn chase points than United points, outside the initial bonus, chase is a good in between card. Our favorite is to transfer to Hyatt, which has really great point value. You can transfer between couples’ cards and various chase cards too (no fees). So if you have the free 1.5% cash back chase card or free 5% cash back rotating categories chase card you can use those to earn more points on the everything else categories and transfer the points to the travel card to then transfer to travel partners or use on the portal. Stacking the points.

Basically it’s great for point flexibility when travel hacking. If you’re not travel hacking (by signing up for other cards for bonuses) then yes, it probably makes sense to stick with a higher cash back on everything card.

[bacchi]

Don't truly understand your question but the only CC that have that cost money is the Chase Reserve.
Annual fee is still $450 for me and since I instantly get $300 in travel credit, it's really only $150 annual fee.
The benefits I get + 3% travel and restaurant cash back is worth it for me to keep the card. I also use the Reserve to transfer Chase Points to wherever I need.

How is this better than a 2% Citi Double Cash card?*

15,000 on anything = $300
15,000 on travel and restaurants = $450 - $150 = $300

Do you spend more than $15k on travel and restaurants?


* Better yet, a fee-free card for 3% on travel and restaurants and the Citi Double card for anything else.

You also get 1% back on everything with the Chase travel cards.

?? 1% is still worse than 2%.

Basically it’s great for point flexibility when travel hacking. If you’re not travel hacking (by signing up for other cards for bonuses) then yes, it probably makes sense to stick with a higher cash back on everything card.

Sure but why would you keep it past the 1st year? It's all about the bonuses. Alternate between the premium cards that allow UR transfers and reap the sweet bonuses. There are 3 xfer cards, last I checked, and Sapphire Preferred had an 80k bonus last fall. The current biggie is the Ink Preferred with 100k UR points.

Get the Ink 100k and cancel it next year.
Next year, player 2 gets the Preferred and cancels it in 2023.
Mix and match.
Etc.
Etc.

The Reserve is a cool metal card but keeping it comes at a cost.

[Jack0Life]

Don't truly understand your question but the only CC that have that cost money is the Chase Reserve.
Annual fee is still $450 for me and since I instantly get $300 in travel credit, it's really only $150 annual fee.
The benefits I get + 3% travel and restaurant cash back is worth it for me to keep the card. I also use the Reserve to transfer Chase Points to wherever I need.

How is this better than a 2% Citi Double Cash card?*

15,000 on anything = $300
15,000 on travel and restaurants = $450 - $150 = $300

Do you spend more than $15k on travel and restaurants?


* Better yet, a fee-free card for 3% on travel and restaurants and the Citi Double card for anything else.

I never said the Reserve card was better than any other card.
Different cards work better for different folks.

I actually was going to cancel the Reserve this renewal but since they will keep this at $450, I will keep it until they raised this to $550 which I will then cancel.
Why do I keep this card as my main ?? Remembered this is essentially a $150 annual fee card.
- I get Priority lounge access. If you travel a lot, stop by these places at airport are great. FREE booze and food. Some lounges are great, some are so-so but it's an awesome perk.
- I get Lyft Pink for FREE, which is 15% off all rides.
- I get primary rental insurance which means claims will go through the Reserve CC first.
- I use my Freedom card for 5% back and I use my Reserve card to transfer the point over. There's only 3 Chase cards that can do this. Reserve, Preferred and Ink Preferred.
- Chase points are by far the best to have. I use it to transfer to Hyatt or Southwest when needed.
Hyatt- Hyatt points are the best hotel program. Sometimes I use 15,000pts($150) for a room that would cost me $450++. I value my Chase pts a lot more than other CC pts.
Southwest- SW pts are great also. It's particular more important to me because I have Companion Pass. For example, I'm flying out to Utah this Feb for 6,800 each way and my wife flys for FREE making my Chase points invaluable.
There's other benefits that I don't use regularly so I don't know about it but all those are easily worth the $150 to me.

You mentioned why not rinse and repeat the Preferred and Ink card.
It's not that easy.
You can't have the Reserve and Preferred at the same time anymore. And there is a 4 yr grace period for the bonus points.
The Ink Preferred is one of the much harder to get card right now.  I tried getting one before and failed. I have a regular Ink card now. Yeah if I have the Ink Preferred I would cancel the Reserve.

[bacchi]

You mentioned why not rinse and repeat the Preferred and Ink card.
It's not that easy.
You can't have the Reserve and Preferred at the same time anymore. And there is a 4 yr grace period for the bonus points.
The Ink Preferred is one of the much harder to get card right now.  I tried getting one before and failed. I have a regular Ink card now. Yeah if I have the Ink Preferred I would cancel the Reserve.

It IS that easy. You have 2 players and there are 2 (or 3) card choices:

Card1 P1
Card1 P2
Card2 P1
Card2 P2

That's 60k-100k extra UR points a year. Flip the Marriott/Hyatt/IHG/United/SW cards every 2 years and you're swimming in travel points.

That's if you're trying to meet the 5/24 rule. I'm finishing up the BBVA $1000 cash back ($4000 spend) card right now and am about re-start the Chase journey.

Keeping the IHG card for a free hotel night makes sense, as the room value exceeds the annual fee. Keeping a high annual fee card for vague "travel benefits" is not a sound financial move.

[Jack0Life]

You mentioned why not rinse and repeat the Preferred and Ink card.
It's not that easy.
You can't have the Reserve and Preferred at the same time anymore. And there is a 4 yr grace period for the bonus points.
The Ink Preferred is one of the much harder to get card right now.  I tried getting one before and failed. I have a regular Ink card now. Yeah if I have the Ink Preferred I would cancel the Reserve.

It IS that easy. You have 2 players and there are 2 (or 3) card choices:

Card1 P1
Card1 P2
Card2 P1
Card2 P2

That's 60k-100k extra UR points a year. Flip the Marriott/Hyatt/IHG/United/SW cards every 2 years and you're swimming in travel points.

That's if you're trying to meet the 5/24 rule. I'm finishing up the BBVA $1000 cash back ($4000 spend) card right now and am about re-start the Chase journey.

Keeping the IHG card for a free hotel night makes sense, as the room value exceeds the annual fee. Keeping a high annual fee card for vague "travel benefits" is not a sound financial move.

How is a $150 annual fee "high" ??
Why do you keep questioning other people's reason ?? The Reserve is one of the most highly rated CC out there. Basically you're saying every travel blogger is wrong.
I've listed all the benefits I enjoyed from the card and yet you choose to ignore them all and say vague "travel benefits". So I guess enjoying FREE booze and food at airports are vague. Or 15% all Lyft rides are vague. Not having to paid extra insurance for car rental is vague.
If all these benefits are vague, then you enjoy your card and I'll enjoy mine. Thank You.

[bacchi]

How is a $150 annual fee "high" ??
Why do you keep questioning other people's reason ?? The Reserve is one of the most highly rated CC out there. Basically you're saying every travel blogger is wrong.

Because this is the MMM forum and not a travel forum.

Most travel bloggers are paid by referrals. It's why they push certain cards and not others.

There was a HUGE marketing campaign around the Reserve when it came out and it was aimed squarely at Gen Y. It worked and Chase received so many applications that they ran out of metal cards and had to send out plastic ones instead (the horror!). They successfully made the Reserve a status card.

So I guess enjoying FREE booze and food at airports are vague.

I get free lounge access when I fly business class. I do that by getting more points each year.

Or 15% all Lyft rides are vague.

That is a good bonus, agreed, but there are other cards out there that provide Uber/Lyft bonuses (plus, how many times did you use Lyft in 2020?) AmEx Gold offers $10 back each month and any World Elite offers $10 back over 5 rides. That + the $150 you pay for this privilege means that it's not worth it unless you're spending $1800/year on rides.

Not having to paid extra insurance for car rental is vague.

There are numerous travel cards with this feature. The Propel offers rental insurance, luggage insurance, and cell phone protection -- and it's $0/year.


You're still missing the point however. By not being beholden to one card, you can get MORE points and enjoy the same or similar benefits. Unless you're a really big Lyft user, you can do better.

[RedmondStash]

I don't even consider cards with annual fees, even if they have better cash-back rates. I object to annual fees on principle, given how much money the credit card company is making off my purchases.

So no, I don't keep credit cards with annual fees, even if they have cash back. There are other cash-back cards that have no annual fees; I stick to those.

[Jack0Life]

How is a $150 annual fee "high" ??
Why do you keep questioning other people's reason ?? The Reserve is one of the most highly rated CC out there. Basically you're saying every travel blogger is wrong.

Because this is the MMM forum and not a travel forum.

Most travel bloggers are paid by referrals. It's why they push certain cards and not others.

There was a HUGE marketing campaign around the Reserve when it came out and it was aimed squarely at Gen Y. It worked and Chase received so many applications that they ran out of metal cards and had to send out plastic ones instead (the horror!). They successfully made the Reserve a status card.

So I guess enjoying FREE booze and food at airports are vague.

I get free lounge access when I fly business class. I do that by getting more points each year.

Or 15% all Lyft rides are vague.

That is a good bonus, agreed, but there are other cards out there that provide Uber/Lyft bonuses (plus, how many times did you use Lyft in 2020?) AmEx Gold offers $10 back each month and any World Elite offers $10 back over 5 rides. That + the $150 you pay for this privilege means that it's not worth it unless you're spending $1800/year on rides.

Not having to paid extra insurance for car rental is vague.

There are numerous travel cards with this feature. The Propel offers rental insurance, luggage insurance, and cell phone protection -- and it's $0/year.


You're still missing the point however. By not being beholden to one card, you can get MORE points and enjoy the same or similar benefits. Unless you're a really big Lyft user, you can do better.

LOL, you're dense as hell. Plus you missed the part where I stated I carry the Freedom card also.
I think you're the one missing the point.
This thread is not a "recommend the best CC" nor "I think this card is the best".
The OP simply asked what fees do you paid. I listed mine never mentioned anything else.
You then jumped and stated "why is this better than the 2% Citi" which I never said it was.
I simply explained why I still choose to keep my Reserve.
Why do you even care what card I carry ?? You asked and I cordially answered. End of discussion.
If I need your advice I will ask for them.

[bacchi]

LOL, you're dense as hell.

Tsk, tsk. Forum rules.

If I need your advice I will ask for them.

That's not how a forum works.

[exterous]

Cash back cards with annual fees? No.

For cards with travel perks I will pay the annual fee for a couple of the cards. It is worth it for me although I'm assuming we'll be able to travel again sometime within the next 12 months. The benefits and insurance protection (which I have used several times) has more than paid for the annual fees. That said I recognize the cost\benefit analysis won't work for everyone