Which Chase Card

[Anonymous]

We have the Chase Sapphire reserve and put $118,000 on our card in 2025 with about $11,000 being spent on travel. Just got charged the annual fee (795 plus 195 authorized user) and wondering if it’s worth it since we aren’t traveling that much compared to a few years ago.

Should I downgrade?

[Anonymous]

Yes. You paid almost $1,000 for that card and probably only got that much back in benefits. Get 2% cash back with no annual fee instead.

https://www.wsj.com/buyside/personal-finance/credit-cards/best-cash-back-cards

[Anonymous]

Ask an LLM. It comes down to if you use lounges or luxury hotel portals

You are spending over $100k/year. Most of that is earning 1 point per dollar.
• Current Setup: $107,000 (non-travel) earns 107,000 points.
• Better Alternative: If you used a Chase Freedom Unlimited for that same spend, you’d earn 1.5% back, giving you 160,500 points.

Points are generally worth $.01 so a 2% cash back makes more sense with less travel.

Travel cards are good for sign up promos and if you travel a lot or luxuriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ask an LLM. It comes down to if you use lounges or luxury hotel portals

You are spending over $100k/year. Most of that is earning 1 point per dollar.
• Current Setup: $107,000 (non-travel) earns 107,000 points.
• Better Alternative: If you used a Chase Freedom Unlimited for that same spend, you’d earn 1.5% back, giving you 160,500 points.

Points are generally worth $.01 so a 2% cash back makes more sense with less travel.

Travel cards are good for sign up promos and if you travel a lot or luxuriously.

Never mind, the Chase freedom unlimited only earn that much when you also have the reserve card to transfer to. It’s kind of complicated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask an LLM. It comes down to if you use lounges or luxury hotel portals

You are spending over $100k/year. Most of that is earning 1 point per dollar.
• Current Setup: $107,000 (non-travel) earns 107,000 points.
• Better Alternative: If you used a Chase Freedom Unlimited for that same spend, you’d earn 1.5% back, giving you 160,500 points.

Points are generally worth $.01 so a 2% cash back makes more sense with less travel.

Travel cards are good for sign up promos and if you travel a lot or luxuriously.

Never mind, the Chase freedom unlimited only earn that much when you also have the reserve card to transfer to. It’s kind of complicated.

Oh look at that, the LLM didn't understand nuances. What a shock. Also you are incomplete, you can also downgrade to Sapphire Preferred and still have most of the best attributes of the Reserve, but for $95/year. And then add the CFU and pool the points together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask an LLM. It comes down to if you use lounges or luxury hotel portals

You are spending over $100k/year. Most of that is earning 1 point per dollar.
• Current Setup: $107,000 (non-travel) earns 107,000 points.
• Better Alternative: If you used a Chase Freedom Unlimited for that same spend, you’d earn 1.5% back, giving you 160,500 points.

Points are generally worth $.01 so a 2% cash back makes more sense with less travel.

Travel cards are good for sign up promos and if you travel a lot or luxuriously.

Never mind, the Chase freedom unlimited only earn that much when you also have the reserve card to transfer to. It’s kind of complicated.

Oh look at that, the LLM didn't understand nuances. What a shock. Also you are incomplete, you can also downgrade to Sapphire Preferred and still have most of the best attributes of the Reserve, but for $95/year. And then add the CFU and pool the points together.

Oh yeah, that’s gets you 1.25 points, when I worked with the LLM saw that option as well. My point is that finding these numbers and navigating all the options is a lot for the discussion board to figure out, and playing with an AI may reveal all some other options

I said preferred. I meant Sapphire, I don’t know the Chase lingo very well, I just switch to whatever travel card give me a huge bonus when I sign up and then rinse and repeat

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask an LLM. It comes down to if you use lounges or luxury hotel portals

You are spending over $100k/year. Most of that is earning 1 point per dollar.
• Current Setup: $107,000 (non-travel) earns 107,000 points.
• Better Alternative: If you used a Chase Freedom Unlimited for that same spend, you’d earn 1.5% back, giving you 160,500 points.

Points are generally worth $.01 so a 2% cash back makes more sense with less travel.

Travel cards are good for sign up promos and if you travel a lot or luxuriously.

Never mind, the Chase freedom unlimited only earn that much when you also have the reserve card to transfer to. It’s kind of complicated.

Oh look at that, the LLM didn't understand nuances. What a shock. Also you are incomplete, you can also downgrade to Sapphire Preferred and still have most of the best attributes of the Reserve, but for $95/year. And then add the CFU and pool the points together.

Oh yeah, that’s gets you 1.25 points, when I worked with the LLM saw that option as well. My point is that finding these numbers and navigating all the options is a lot for the discussion board to figure out, and playing with an AI may reveal all some other options

I said preferred. I meant Sapphire, I don’t know the Chase lingo very well, I just switch to whatever travel card give me a huge bonus when I sign up and then rinse and repeat

No, the real value in Chase points is transferring to travel partners, that's why you need a Sapphire card- either Reserve or Preferred (or the equivalent business cards), that opens up the ability to transfer to partners. Few weeks ago needed a one night stay in Florida pretty last minute, everything that wasn't a shack within 10 miles was $400/night (Florida in February), transferred 18k points to Hyatt, done. Small example but that was over 2 cents in value per point. The play here is to have the Sapphire Preferred AND the Freedom Unlimited. Use the Sapphire Preferred for things which gets you bonus points- travel (2x) and dining (3x) purchases. Use the Freedom Unlimited for everything else at 1.5x. Then roll your Freedom Unlimited points into your Sapphire Preferred card and away you go.

But yes this is all a bit complicated, and if OP isn't getting value out of transfer partners, or doesn't want the complications of it, that's totally understandable. In that case, agreed a 2% cash back card is best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask an LLM. It comes down to if you use lounges or luxury hotel portals

You are spending over $100k/year. Most of that is earning 1 point per dollar.
• Current Setup: $107,000 (non-travel) earns 107,000 points.
• Better Alternative: If you used a Chase Freedom Unlimited for that same spend, you’d earn 1.5% back, giving you 160,500 points.

Points are generally worth $.01 so a 2% cash back makes more sense with less travel.

Travel cards are good for sign up promos and if you travel a lot or luxuriously.

Never mind, the Chase freedom unlimited only earn that much when you also have the reserve card to transfer to. It’s kind of complicated.

Oh look at that, the LLM didn't understand nuances. What a shock. Also you are incomplete, you can also downgrade to Sapphire Preferred and still have most of the best attributes of the Reserve, but for $95/year. And then add the CFU and pool the points together.

Oh yeah, that’s gets you 1.25 points, when I worked with the LLM saw that option as well. My point is that finding these numbers and navigating all the options is a lot for the discussion board to figure out, and playing with an AI may reveal all some other options

I said preferred. I meant Sapphire, I don’t know the Chase lingo very well, I just switch to whatever travel card give me a huge bonus when I sign up and then rinse and repeat

No, the real value in Chase points is transferring to travel partners, that's why you need a Sapphire card- either Reserve or Preferred (or the equivalent business cards), that opens up the ability to transfer to partners. Few weeks ago needed a one night stay in Florida pretty last minute, everything that wasn't a shack within 10 miles was $400/night (Florida in February), transferred 18k points to Hyatt, done. Small example but that was over 2 cents in value per point. The play here is to have the Sapphire Preferred AND the Freedom Unlimited. Use the Sapphire Preferred for things which gets you bonus points- travel (2x) and dining (3x) purchases. Use the Freedom Unlimited for everything else at 1.5x. Then roll your Freedom Unlimited points into your Sapphire Preferred card and away you go.

But yes this is all a bit complicated, and if OP isn't getting value out of transfer partners, or doesn't want the complications of it, that's totally understandable. In that case, agreed a 2% cash back card is best.

And also, to comment about huge bonuses, if OP really wanted to play this well, they would open a Sapphire Preferred for the 75k bonus, move the Reserve points over, and then close the Reserve to get the annual fee refunded- if the fee is less than 30 days old. That's the real best play, but you need to move the points over first before your cancel, otherwise they disappear.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Looking at 2% cash back cards now, and it doesn’t look like Chase has one exactly. I cashed in most of my points last month using pay yourself back. So right now I’m thinking of downgrading Chase to a no annual fee option and getting Wells Fargo active cash and make that our regular card. Does that make sense?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask an LLM. It comes down to if you use lounges or luxury hotel portals

You are spending over $100k/year. Most of that is earning 1 point per dollar.
• Current Setup: $107,000 (non-travel) earns 107,000 points.
• Better Alternative: If you used a Chase Freedom Unlimited for that same spend, you’d earn 1.5% back, giving you 160,500 points.

Points are generally worth $.01 so a 2% cash back makes more sense with less travel.

Travel cards are good for sign up promos and if you travel a lot or luxuriously.

Never mind, the Chase freedom unlimited only earn that much when you also have the reserve card to transfer to. It’s kind of complicated.

Oh look at that, the LLM didn't understand nuances. What a shock. Also you are incomplete, you can also downgrade to Sapphire Preferred and still have most of the best attributes of the Reserve, but for $95/year. And then add the CFU and pool the points together.

Oh yeah, that’s gets you 1.25 points, when I worked with the LLM saw that option as well. My point is that finding these numbers and navigating all the options is a lot for the discussion board to figure out, and playing with an AI may reveal all some other options

I said preferred. I meant Sapphire, I don’t know the Chase lingo very well, I just switch to whatever travel card give me a huge bonus when I sign up and then rinse and repeat

No, the real value in Chase points is transferring to travel partners, that's why you need a Sapphire card- either Reserve or Preferred (or the equivalent business cards), that opens up the ability to transfer to partners. Few weeks ago needed a one night stay in Florida pretty last minute, everything that wasn't a shack within 10 miles was $400/night (Florida in February), transferred 18k points to Hyatt, done. Small example but that was over 2 cents in value per point. The play here is to have the Sapphire Preferred AND the Freedom Unlimited. Use the Sapphire Preferred for things which gets you bonus points- travel (2x) and dining (3x) purchases. Use the Freedom Unlimited for everything else at 1.5x. Then roll your Freedom Unlimited points into your Sapphire Preferred card and away you go.

But yes this is all a bit complicated, and if OP isn't getting value out of transfer partners, or doesn't want the complications of it, that's totally understandable. In that case, agreed a 2% cash back card is best.

And also, to comment about huge bonuses, if OP really wanted to play this well, they would open a Sapphire Preferred for the 75k bonus, move the Reserve points over, and then close the Reserve to get the annual fee refunded- if the fee is less than 30 days old. That's the real best play, but you need to move the points over first before your cancel, otherwise they disappear.

How does this work exactly? I thought if I am downgrading, it doesn’t count as a “closed account” on my credit, but opening a new one, having 2 open at the same time, and then closing the old one seems like it would?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask an LLM. It comes down to if you use lounges or luxury hotel portals

You are spending over $100k/year. Most of that is earning 1 point per dollar.
• Current Setup: $107,000 (non-travel) earns 107,000 points.
• Better Alternative: If you used a Chase Freedom Unlimited for that same spend, you’d earn 1.5% back, giving you 160,500 points.

Points are generally worth $.01 so a 2% cash back makes more sense with less travel.

Travel cards are good for sign up promos and if you travel a lot or luxuriously.

Never mind, the Chase freedom unlimited only earn that much when you also have the reserve card to transfer to. It’s kind of complicated.

Oh look at that, the LLM didn't understand nuances. What a shock. Also you are incomplete, you can also downgrade to Sapphire Preferred and still have most of the best attributes of the Reserve, but for $95/year. And then add the CFU and pool the points together.

Hah.

[Anonymous]

You could have gotten a companion pass and A list preferred for a year on Southwest with that level of spending (not what it was with their changes but still) and their annual fee is maybe $100?

[Anonymous]

Amex Platinum

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask an LLM. It comes down to if you use lounges or luxury hotel portals

You are spending over $100k/year. Most of that is earning 1 point per dollar.
• Current Setup: $107,000 (non-travel) earns 107,000 points.
• Better Alternative: If you used a Chase Freedom Unlimited for that same spend, you’d earn 1.5% back, giving you 160,500 points.

Points are generally worth $.01 so a 2% cash back makes more sense with less travel.

Travel cards are good for sign up promos and if you travel a lot or luxuriously.

Never mind, the Chase freedom unlimited only earn that much when you also have the reserve card to transfer to. It’s kind of complicated.

Oh look at that, the LLM didn't understand nuances. What a shock. Also you are incomplete, you can also downgrade to Sapphire Preferred and still have most of the best attributes of the Reserve, but for $95/year. And then add the CFU and pool the points together.

Oh yeah, that’s gets you 1.25 points, when I worked with the LLM saw that option as well. My point is that finding these numbers and navigating all the options is a lot for the discussion board to figure out, and playing with an AI may reveal all some other options

I said preferred. I meant Sapphire, I don’t know the Chase lingo very well, I just switch to whatever travel card give me a huge bonus when I sign up and then rinse and repeat

No, the real value in Chase points is transferring to travel partners, that's why you need a Sapphire card- either Reserve or Preferred (or the equivalent business cards), that opens up the ability to transfer to partners. Few weeks ago needed a one night stay in Florida pretty last minute, everything that wasn't a shack within 10 miles was $400/night (Florida in February), transferred 18k points to Hyatt, done. Small example but that was over 2 cents in value per point. The play here is to have the Sapphire Preferred AND the Freedom Unlimited. Use the Sapphire Preferred for things which gets you bonus points- travel (2x) and dining (3x) purchases. Use the Freedom Unlimited for everything else at 1.5x. Then roll your Freedom Unlimited points into your Sapphire Preferred card and away you go.

But yes this is all a bit complicated, and if OP isn't getting value out of transfer partners, or doesn't want the complications of it, that's totally understandable. In that case, agreed a 2% cash back card is best.

And also, to comment about huge bonuses, if OP really wanted to play this well, they would open a Sapphire Preferred for the 75k bonus, move the Reserve points over, and then close the Reserve to get the annual fee refunded- if the fee is less than 30 days old. That's the real best play, but you need to move the points over first before your cancel, otherwise they disappear.

How does this work exactly? I thought if I am downgrading, it doesn’t count as a “closed account” on my credit, but opening a new one, having 2 open at the same time, and then closing the old one seems like it would?

Yes, if you just downgrade, on your credit report nothing changes. If you got 2 new cards and closed an old one, all that activity would be added to your report. It doesn't really matter though, your score might drop by 10 points for a few months, but that's the only impact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Looking at 2% cash back cards now, and it doesn’t look like Chase has one exactly. I cashed in most of my points last month using pay yourself back. So right now I’m thinking of downgrading Chase to a no annual fee option and getting Wells Fargo active cash and make that our regular card. Does that make sense?

Yes the Wells Fargo card is a solid 2% cash back card, one nice thing is it's a Visa and has no foreign transaction fee, so it's good to use while traveling outside the US as well.

Not sure why you would hold onto the Chase card even if you downgrade it, if you don't think you will get value out of their points system. If that's the case, I would just close it. If it's within 30 days of paying the annual fee you will get that refunded.