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You’re in a relationship. Remember that when it comes time to paying your annual fee. You must, as I do, sit down and assess the fees you’re paying and if you’re truly worth the price year after year. To me, and most of the bloggers advising you, we view credit cards as memberships to a club. If that club doesn’t continue to provide the goods, we cancel our membership, and look elsewhere. This ideology lead my decision to make 3 phone calls this morning. 2 cancellations and 1 card conversion.
The two cards I canceled: Barclay Aviator and Barclay Aviator Business
Both cards enticed be with generous welcome offers, but after recent devaluations…it wasn’t worth the wallet real estate. Let’s dig in.
Barclay Aviator
I’ve kept a Barclay Aviator in my wallet for a few years now. I happily paid the annual because the card offered benefits that created more value than what I was paying. Namely…10% back on all redeemed purchases, up to 100k a year, and access to reduced mileage awards with AA. You could also earn EQMs via spend, but I had pivoted away from AA as my carrier of choice, and so that specific benefit was moot. The latter benefit can be accessed via the Citi branded cards, which I’m now eligible to get a welcome offer on again, but the first benny was where the juice lived in my wallet. 10% back meant I was getting 10k points a year for $99. Absolutely no brainer.
Also…I recently got AA Gold status off of the Hyatt/AA partnership challenge, so the waived bag fee and priority boarding are redundant.
Barclay Aviator Business
I’m not really sure what I would continue to pay $95 to receive? The card offers an amazing welcome offer, but what’s keeping me around? I’d need to spend $25k on the card to get $3k EQD which I don’t need, nor do I need the free bag or priority boarding. If you’re a high spending business that falls short of EQD…you could argue it out, but for me, especially when I’m aligned with Alaska…not worth it.
Would I get them again?
Sure. If the benefits changed, earn structure was better, my elite status falls off, am eligible for welcome offers again. Sure, why not? But right now Chase, Amex, and Citi are killing the game. Citi, you say, let’s move on to my card conversion.
The credit card I converted. My Citi Thank You Preferred just became a Citi Double Cash.
If you missed the news…Citi Double Cash is no longer just a cash back card. It’s the Citi equivalent, in conversion ability, to Chase Freedom cards. Sure, you technically earn cash back, but there is a new function whereby you can convert $1 into 100 Thank you points if you maintain a premium Thank You card suddenly you can make use of that Citi Double Cash to earn 2x points. Here’s a look at the earning structure of the card.
- Earn 1% cash back when you make a purchase
- Earn 1% cash back when you pay that purchase off
This means you can earn 2% cash back on all purchases, which is effectively earning 2 Citi Thank You points on every single dollar you spend, without limit. That’s amazing.
I phoned in to inquire. I’ve held onto my Citi Thank You Preferred for several years now ( it was once a Citi Thank You Premier, downgrade to avoid the Citi clock.) It sat in my wallet and collected dust. I asked the rep if I could do it. She said yes. I asked could they be converted to Thank You points, she said no. I asked again and she said no. Instead of pushing, I said, you know what? I’m going to do it anyways. Thank You, no pun intended. Now my Citi Thank You Preferred is a Citi Double Cash.
Final thoughts
I keep a lot of credit cards, but they all serve a purpose. I’m looking to add to my portfolio, but first I wanted to thin out the weak.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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