Same here, it’s mostly on dining. GrubHub, DoorDash, etc count.
+1. It’s that darn Thør Frusenglädjé talking about Wiking Riffer Cruises every Sunday night on PBS! It really does look like a wonderful way to spend a week or two.
Yes those damn PBS cruise commercials! :)
Cruises can be really relaxing if you are happy to spend your time reading and drinking in a lounge chair on deck in the Caribbean sun. Those are sea cruises where when you look out all you see are the waves, which are beautiful but after a bit it’s the same thing over and over. I love that view but you gotta do something else after staring at the waves for a bit.
The river cruises in Europe hug the shore so the view is much more interesting – at least in my imagination, never having taken one. They are smaller ships and much more intimate, so the opportunity to meet and bond with other guests is greater. We want to do one, so we will blow a lot of money on one as a bucket list thing. We still need to do more research. There may be good alternatives to the Viking Cruises and those sorts. Maybe a small steamer like Bogart piloted in the African Queen?
The fun thing is, in a general sense, is it’s important to continue to look forward to the future rather than reminisce about the past. I don’t need to hang out in a McDonald’s talking about how things were better when I was young. The future ahead is exciting!
Makes sense if you use those perks. And even if you don’t, the signup bonus is substantial. Chase Sapphire Reserve is much more flexible though.
Once I start traveling again I’ll get one of those two. Just having access to airport lounges is a big perk for layovers.
I had the Delta card when I lived in Atlanta and travelled a lot, and that was super handy.
I believe the Amex Platinum gets you access to some special tier of lounges not included with the CSR. Forget the name.
Centurion lounges, which are quite a bit nicer than Priority Pass, but not enough (for me) to justify a whole different card and fee.
Yep depends how often you travel. If you’re on the road 100 nights a year, definitely worth it.
That’s a nice card. I like the $20/month that can be used for Audible among all the other perks.
The card makes a lot of sense if you’ll use those very specific perks. And for 1 year regardless, due to the large signup bonus.
You gotta spend $6000 quickly, though. I think the only way we do that is through a car purchase or home remodeling. I guess we could go on a fabulous vacation but we seldom spend anywhere near that much on vacation.
Wait! Super expensive gaming PC and VR setup! The GF won’t object! :)
I guess that depends on your lifestyle, I spend waaaaaaaay more than $1000/month on my credit cards. I put everything on credit other than my mortgage. I’d do that too if they let me.
I get 7.5% (groceries), 5% (Amazon/Whole Foods), 4.5% (dining/travel), or 2.25% (everything else) back, so there’s a strong incentive to put everything on credit.
WAT. That is $7.50 back on every $100 spent. Or in lordkosc terms, a dozen free donuts for every $100 spent.
What card is that ?
Chase freedom unlimited gives 5% in points on groceries for the first year, then you move those points to the chase sapphire reserve and redeem them with a 50% bonus on the “pay yourself back” deal on any dining/travel charges.
Most impressive!
My Amex card only gives 6% on groceries, I was amazed to hear that there was possibly a better card.
That’s great if it works more than one year. This one doesn’t, but 7.5% on groceries is tough to beat.
Those are impressive numbers, but damned if I can bring myself to pay a yearly fee for the ‘privilege’ of using a damned credit card. It’s some kind of mental block; the same kind that won’t allow me to pay for a membership to shop at Sam’s Club or Costco. I’m always thinking, “That’ll be the day when I hold a goddamned store in such high esteem that I’m willing to pay for the privilege of shopping there.”
I know my thinking is flawed, just strictly numbers-wise, but it’s more the idea that a credit card or big store has the gall to charge people to shop there or use their services (in addition to the money they make off you normally). I mean, I’m not entirely opposed to capitalism, but this is taking it too far! Dammit.
The yearly charge is intended to be a barrier to people who don’t look at the terms and do the math. CSR is $550/year but you get $300 back immediately in travel credits, making it $250/yr.
Then you get included lyft pink (worth $240/year IF you’ll use it), which also includes Grubhub+ (worth $120/yr) and in NYC anyway free Citibike access ($100/yr). You get free doordash plus ($120/yr), a $60 doordash credit yearly, a $100/yr global entry credit, and free TSA Precheck. And you get priority pass lounge access ($429/yr, but I don’t think anyone actually pays for this). You also get 60k points as a one-time signup bonus, which is worth $900 with “pay yourself back”. And that’s all off the top.
Then you get 3% back in points on travel/dining, with the 50% bonus when used to book travel or redeemed for credit on dining/groceries. This means you get 4.5% off all travel/dining. Don’t know about you, but dining is a large portion of my charges. That adds up.
I then use the chase freedom unlimited card for 5% off groceries in points (meaning 7.5% off groceries) and 1.5% (2.25% with pay yourself back) off everything not covered above, so the minimum I save on all my purchases, literally every single dollar I spend other than my mortgage, is 2.25%.
If all the above sounds like too much trouble, well, it really isn’t, it’s simple. But if you just don’t give a shit, get the citi double cash card, which gives 2% back flat-out.
I track my spending. I just do the math every year. Keep the $100/year card with 6% cash back on groceries, or go down to the free card with 3% groceries. Every year it works out that the 6% card is worth it.