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Amex Hilton Changes

Aspire no longer has PP as someone reminded me upthread.

I used the 1.5x redemption for airfare so its loss is a large devaluation to me. I guess I can dig into the Hyatt transfers ... but we need airfare than we need more hotel nights.
 
letsgobobby said:
Aspire no longer has PP as someone reminded me upthread.

I used the 1.5x redemption for airfare so its loss is a large devaluation to me. I guess I can dig into the Hyatt transfers ... but we need airfare than we need more hotel nights.
Click to expand...
I had not realized that. She is AU on my Platinum, so she can get it that way. But we always travel together, so it doesn't matter.

I always book airlines direct. First, i always want to be sure to get credit as that is key. Second, I've read of horror stories of having to deal with Chase (or other agents) as intermediary should things go pear-shaped. I'd rather deal directly with the airline, And we use our points for Hyatt, so nothing to spare for airfares anyway.

Cheers.
 
letsgobobby said:
Aspire no longer has PP
Click to expand...
one reason that we have held on to our Amex Platinum...that and the Delta lounge access and Centurion lounge. It is getting expensive though and harder to, at least, break even unless you are traveling a lot.
 
HuskerATL said:
one reason that we have held on to our Amex Platinum...that and the Delta lounge access and Centurion lounge. It is getting expensive though and harder to, at least, break even unless you are traveling a lot.
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I always have to consider this card. We don't fly Delta a lot but, when we do, this is a nice benefit. Most Centurion locations have as-good or better other lounges that we can access. But the Walmart+ (don't use often, but convenient when we do) and NYT subscription are sorta worth it. We don't use all of the Platinum Uber credits, so we're leaving money on the table there. But I can cash in the $200 airline credit annually. Our Aspire is a cash net positive. This, not so much. But enough benefits to keep for now.

Cheers.
 
brp said:
I always have to consider this card. We don't fly Delta a lot but, when we do, this is a nice benefit. Most Centurion locations have as-good or better other lounges that we can access. But the Walmart+ (don't use often, but convenient when we do) and NYT subscription are sorta worth it. We don't use all of the Platinum Uber credits, so we're leaving money on the table there. But I can cash in the $200 airline credit annually. Our Aspire is a cash net positive. This, not so much. But enough benefits to keep for now.

Cheers.
Click to expand...
we use the streaming service credits for our Disney/Hulu/Espn+ bundle and Peacock..if you use the ad version, you can basically cover these for the year. If you use the Walmart +, you get Paramount + for free. We use some of the Uber credits, mainly for Uber eats...basically covers the tip for a delivery per month. We use the airline credits and global entry/Clear/TSA pre-check. Rarely use the hotel credit because the eligible hotels booked via Amex are too expensive...there are cheaper routes. My wife uses the Saks credits, offers here and there (like I just used the Peets offer and the McDonalds offer). I do use it for rental cars. This year, I will do the math on it. My wife and older son have AU...so that adds to the cost.
 
HuskerATL said:
we use the streaming service credits for our Disney/Hulu/Espn+ bundle and Peacock..if you use the ad version, you can basically cover these for the year. If you use the Walmart +, you get Paramount + for free. We use some of the Uber credits, mainly for Uber eats...basically covers the tip for a delivery per month. We use the airline credits and global entry/Clear/TSA pre-check. Rarely use the hotel credit because the eligible hotels booked via Amex are too expensive...there are cheaper routes. My wife uses the Saks credits, offers here and there (like I just used the Peets offer and the McDonalds offer). I do use it for rental cars. This year, I will do the math on it. My wife and older son have AU...so that adds to the cost.
Click to expand...

Yeah, forgot the Paramount+ that comes with Walmart+. We use that a fair bit. Clear, yes. We have a bunch of cards that cover GE. I get Peacock for free from Comcast as we've been members for umpteen years. I hadn't realized that the Disney+ came under the Platinum entertainment credit. But it just about covers NYT, so we're happy with that. Yeah, all this stuff I forget about that just happens :)

Cheers.
 
HuskerATL said:
we use the streaming service credits for our Disney/Hulu/Espn+ bundle and Peacock..if you use the ad version, you can basically cover these for the year. If you use the Walmart +, you get Paramount + for free. We use some of the Uber credits, mainly for Uber eats...basically covers the tip for a delivery per month. We use the airline credits and global entry/Clear/TSA pre-check. Rarely use the hotel credit because the eligible hotels booked via Amex are too expensive...there are cheaper routes. My wife uses the Saks credits, offers here and there (like I just used the Peets offer and the McDonalds offer). I do use it for rental cars. This year, I will do the math on it. My wife and older son have AU...so that adds to the cost.
Click to expand...

MS flavor Amex Platty credits back the AF with the useless MS platinum plus cash account; one loses the interest on 25k, which one needs to park there (which is significant now, as interest rates are higher, but used to be nominal when they were much lower) + 1 AU free.

*Amex Platty's 2025 deval is coming soon too, per their announcement of their announcement, on day of CSR's deval :-(
 
Cap1 VX devalued their Cap 1 lounge access severely, so not nice.

It still has PP; only 395 AF (for now), $300 travel credit/yr; +10% points back/yr; 2x pts on all everyday purchases + usual Visa Infinite benefit of primary car rental insurance like CSR, so C1 VX seems a better pick for my use case, than CSR but shall see...

C1VX also has nice xfr partners (although Not Hyatt)

Can still xfr to BA/AY Avios for 15k o/w nonstop eco, to Hawaii from mainland on AA metal (which I have done for many of our Hawaii trips).
 
haven't pursued Amex Plat because there is no Centurion lounge in our home airport, the SEA (where we often connect ) lounge always has a wait, and the benefit allows for zero guests, which doesn't work for a family of 3-4.

that said there is now an Escape lounge at PDX and we would value the digital benefit for nyt which we pay for anyway.
 
mountainboy said:
Amex Platty's 2025 deval is coming soon too, per their announcement of their announcement, on day of CSR's deval :-(
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I saw there there was going to be a change but didn't read the article. It sounds like it was a positive change but until it is real....it isn't...so I don't pay too close attention.
 
HuskerATL said:
I saw there there was going to be a change but didn't read the article. It sounds like it was a positive change but until it is real....it isn't...so I don't pay too close attention.
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They just announced that they will be announcing some changes later this year....
 
mountainboy said:
They just announced that they will be announcing some changes later this year....
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I won't hold my breath....kind of like my wife telling me that I am going to get some thing nice for my birthday.....and then forgets about my birthday...:)
 
letsgobobby said:
with the major CSR changes anyone rethinking their approach? Amex may become our daily spender year round. I think i'm going to keep my CSR at least the first year and see if we use the hotel and dining credits.
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Very much so…I’m just not sure what comes after and whether I’m going to downgrade to CSP or Freedom.

But the CSR is now basically useless to us. We never used the CSR as a daily spender (we have a 2x cash back card for that) or for 90% of our hotel and airline spend (we have brand specific cards for that).

Misc travel and restaurant spend was all we used the CSR for and so dropping travel from 3x to 1x means Chase would have had to *lower* the annual fee by $245 not raise it for us to keep the card. Particularly since I have no interest in any of the new coupons. Nor are any of the ‘status perks’ with brands we care about (IHG and Southwest).
 
ljmiii said:
Nor are any of the ‘status perks’ with brands we care about (IHG and Southwest).
Click to expand...
On a blog I read, someone commented: I would literally rather receiving nothing for $75K spend than a Southwest $500 credit. :D

Cheers.
 
With all the devaluations of higher end properties I'm worried that HH points caps or something similar are coming to the Free Night Awards. I hope I'm worrying about nothing, but it seems to me the vast majority of changes in the points and miles space seem are negative.
 
Huskerpaul said:
With all the devaluations of higher end properties I'm worried that HH points caps or something similar are coming to the Free Night Awards. I hope I'm worrying about nothing, but it seems to me the vast majority of changes in the points and miles space seem are negative.
Click to expand...
My concern is that they will reduce the amount of standard rewards and have more premium which you can't use a FNC for.
 
letsgobobby said:
haven't pursued Amex Plat because there is no Centurion lounge in our home airport, the SEA (where we often connect ) lounge always has a wait, and the benefit allows for zero guests, which doesn't work for a family of 3-4.

that said there is now an Escape lounge at PDX and we would value the digital benefit for nyt which we pay for anyway.
Click to expand...

Club SEA (via PP) is ok (although not nice)
 
Both DW and I get PP, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Spotify on our Crytpo.com Visa. Keeping that and using the PP when we can. PP lounges are ok. United Airlines Chase has bonus last three months 4,000 bonus points per month and 12,000 bonus points if we meet the min spend. If we fly UA then we can use the lounge once a year. Just renewed $95 so will use as promotions come up. We have one Delta Amex which since we got bonus points already we use when we book FF points trips at a discount. Going to likely cancel it before annual fee. But since we have SWA Companion Pass only flying them. Only charging WN flights on that card. Soon we will have AA and One World non-rev flight benefits so the FF points on other airlines will be for back up in case we get stuck somewhere and need to get home. It's going to be a steep learning curve. Will consider CSR since we will be hanging out in airports waiting for space available flights. But seeing all the changes keeps us hesitating.

Hotel points and airport lounge benefits is what we will need and not so much flights. Still focusing on keeping up the travel & Hilton Resort credits on our Aspires. I'm already at over $30k for additional FNC. Will use DW who needs $10k more spend for another FNC. This will give us 4 FNC's to use before a year is up. Hoping Maldives over water or Costa Rica WA. I hope Hilton stops with the devaluations. Enough is enough. The journey continues. Thanks to all for sharing your strategies. Learning a lot.
 
letsgobobby said:
i have Alaska lounge membership and SEA N lounge rocks so i always go there. We choose between PP and AC/AL depending on if we are flying One World and how nice the relative lounges are.
Click to expand...

*Reminds me there are 2 Club SEA lounges: S was better than A, in my limited experience.

*I am AS poor; no elite status (+ always fly economy = do not have AS lounge access)

(Just xfr'd many pts from Amex MR to AS via HA, as backdoor closing very soon...)
 
Zenichiro said:
Aspire no longer has priority pass. Will be interesting to see what platinum refresh we get later this year.
Click to expand...
Hopefully, they don't remove PP from it. I use it a lot when overseas.
 
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