In addition to some other starter cards, I have the Venture X and Freedom Flex. I’m thinking of applying for the Sapphire Reserve. Good travel benefits (I think more so than Venture X), good cash back, better ways to redeem points than many other similar cards. I know there is some decent overlap between the Venture X and Reserve so wasn’t sure if it’s worth it. I mean AF wise as long as I use it to travel once a year, Venture X pays for itself. Reserve would be great for normal travel (trains, subways, etc) and again with a little other travel would cover costs too. Thoughts?
Transfer partner Hyatt alone makes Chase worth it
This ^, the ultimate hack for credit card games if you travel a little bit and care about the quality of properties you stay at. Hyatt even on a normal day you can get 2c/pt. out of Chase UR points. However for this use case you could just get the CSP, the multipliers are almost identical.
I'd recommend the preferred over the reserve. The multiple nerfs to the card over the year have devalued the AF to the point that the multipliers don't make sense versus the preferred (earn versus redemption) even for a very normal user (without over optimizing for certain categories). I do like the luxury of the Amex plat (I don't have C1) for everything else, and I'm getting rid of my Citi Prestige because citi is a garbo company for a rewards program
I’d do the CSP, World of Hyatt and Freedom to go along with your Venture X. The only downside of the above setup is lack of lounge access, which your Venture X covers.
Amex plat
Depends on how you spend your money, I went with the sapphire reserve because I felt like I had to change the way I spend for the Amex platinum to be better
Yeah that’s my thing too. Don’t hit enough of the perks to make it worth it for me