Download MaxRewards: maxrewards.app.link/spencer (Code: SPENCER) 💲 To see me get approved for arguably the best beginner premium travel credit card, watch this video next: th-cam.com/video/7KzT7yoZboo/w-d-xo.html 🎥 If you could only choose one of these premium travel credit cards, what would it be and why? 👇🏼
I'm finally early for once. I just used the VX travel credit for a hotel that I don't have status with so booking through the Cap1 portal was a no brainer. The hotel I booked happen to be a part of their lifestyle collection so I got a free room upgrade and a $50 property credit. So a total of $350 in savings. Another great video.
Haha I appreciate you man! And that VX travel credit really is easy to use for most people. I know some can't be bothered to use it and wouldn't find the card that valuable, but it's easy enough for me. That's awesome to hear you had a good experience with their lifestyle collection! I need to check those out. Thanks so much for watching man!
While it's not perfect, I love my Schwab Platinum. If you travel enough it definitely a card that's worth it and you can easily offset the AF. The Centurion Lounge is the best part of having the card. I know most people talk about over crowding, but I've never experienced that at my local Lounge here at JFK. The Venture X is a card I would also consider out of all the others. Great vid Spencer💥
The CS Platinum is a serious powerhouse for sure. Even just being able to open up your redemption options to cash back too could be worth the $695 for a year. Thank you for sharing your experience with the Centurion lounges too! I appreciate you as always!
Nice comparison video Spencer! There are a lot of great travel credit cards out there, and it's nice to have so many options because like you mentioned, there's no one right card for everyone. Depending on what you're looking for, there's definitely a travel card out there that fits your individual situation! I like how you included the USB AR and BofA PR Elite since not everyone really thinks about them, but they can be great options if you're cool with some good cash back value for "travel" cards without any travel partners!
I appreciate you Stan!! I completely agree with you here. There are so many options out there and there's really no one-size-fits-all answer here, just like the rest of the credit card game. I was hoping you'd appreciate the analysis of the lesser talked about cards as well. They're amazing cards for the right person and that's not discussed enough!
Great video. If you get the chance, I'd love to see a Hilton Aspire video. I'm currently contemplating a trip to the Maldives in the next couple years, and I think the Aspire card would be very helpful. I'm not a Hilton loyalist, and don't travel too often, so I'd love some more info to see if the card is worth it.
Thank you so much! That's great to know. I definitely plan on making a video including the Aspire card very soon. For your particular use case, I imagine the card is extremely valuable for you, but maybe my video including it will explain it better!
Great video Spencer & love the coverage of some of the more underrated premium travel cards such as the U.S Bank Altitude Reserve. The Venture X is definitely a Card I want to add in the next year or 2, and the Plat is an end-game Card for me, once I start traveling even more frequently and get a lot of value out of benefits like Airport Lounge access. Good point about Cap One Travel Partners not having a good domestic option as far as hotel or airline. I personally do utilize Aeromexico a lot though, so that would be a really useful travel partner for me.
I appreciate you Matt! And I'm glad you appreciated the love for the lesser known cards. I'm excited to see you pick up some of these luxury cards over time, and I'm excited to do the same myself. It's good to hear you'll find a lot of value from Cap1's transfer partners even if not everyone would use them in the same way! Thanks for being here man!
Spence we need a mid level travel card comparison! Out of those listed, i would do the business verison of the AmEx Platinum. Although i am happy using the Green card for travel. Maybe the VX. Im gona pc my current Cap1 QS to the regular Venture to see test out Cap1's travel side. Eventhough i love my CSP, im just dont see enough of a difference to upgrade to the CSR
I wish C1 gave me the option to pc to the Venture, they did let me pc QS to the Savor One I was happy about that. Did you ever pc to the Venture card, how do you like it if you have?
@@shawn.credit - yes, I changed my QS to a Venture, but then decided to downgrade to the Venture 1 because I didn’t want to pay the AF. In retrospect i should a just got the Savor 1.
All great points. I velieve Uncle Luke said it best "Let your lifestyle choose the card and not the other way around". Seriously wish citi was bringing out the Strata cards. They have the potential out there with there cards to be something great and a true contender but alas they pulled back it seems.
I appreciate that Woodzy! I heard Stan say that line a while back and it's stuck with me ever since. Originally I was gonna mention the possibility of the Citi Strata Elite in this video, but with the recent rumors about those cards being cancelled, I decided to not include it. Citi likes to disappoint us I feel like! 😆
@SpencerJohnsonOfficial the citi premier is a total workhorse. If it had insurances and protections Like the CSP, they could even bump the price and it would be a strong contender
I can see where you're coming from! That might not be the best 2 card setup for everyone, but I can see how it would be really valuable for the right person... even myself maybe!!
Amex setup and their banking now is great.... However, my frustration is that their cards are not accepted at many places, both within the US and internationally. So I have to use another card a lot of the time anyway. Annoying
I really like the 3% mobile wallet on AR but having both CSR and VX I think I’d find it hard to get consistent positive value. On the other hand if I downgrade the VX I could consistently get 4.5x back from mobile wallet with the AR but it’s a shame the vanilla venture doesn’t come with any credits so I kinda feel like I wasted a 5/24 slot if the AR is a better catch all card than the 2X miles on VX
I think the Altitude Reserve is definitely a card more people should consider, including myself. I can see why you'd feel like you'd wasted a 5/24 slot if you downgrade your VX, but just remember that you got a really solid SUB on it and got positive value on it so far (hopefully) so it's not a waste.
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficialmy main beef with AR is somewhat low SUB and hard to make back the $75 AF unless you have no other cards with lounge access (and don’t need more than 8 total visits/yr). Maybe if I was more firmly team cash back. I’m trying to be more hybrid but it’s harder to make up the AF on this vs all the other options unless you can put on enough spend and don’t use the VX much which seems like a bit of a waste. My specific objective is good catch all card with global acceptance
You brought up Visa Infinite benefits. The VX card has some of its bennifits listed but some are just infinite benifits no different than the other Infinite cards but some how its marketed as a benifit to that card only.
If I’m not in the preferred BofA program but have history with the bank, should I get it in expectation to enter the gold tier soon? Or get a different travel card until I am in the preferred categories?
I am actually hoping I don’t get the sign up bonus for the VX and upgrade the card since I don’t want to waste a 5/24. Also gives me the chance to see if this card is worth it because it will act like I am on year 2 now. But I want the US bank card more than the Amex plat due to the mobile wallet
That's fair enough! I'd definitely try to get an upgrade offer though. Passing up on 75k points is a big opportunity cost! I look forward to hearing about which cards out of these you like the most!
Currently in Pop-Up Jail as well and have been for the past 3 months, have had the AMEX gold for about 1.5 years and have been looking into getting the Plat for a while. But since I am in jail and unable to get the welcome offer, honestly considering the Venture X, would love to hear thoughts?
I've made a full video on it that's linked in the description of this one but it's basically where Amex won't allow you to get the welcome bonuses on their cards for a certain amount of time. It's very annoying for sure!
I’m shocked that no one is talking about C1 matching program through their portal and the fact that C1 has way more options for flights than other portals and price is usually significantly lower. So, at the end of the day, even though point value is 1:1, you might end up getting a better deal using C1 then CSR.
Capital One Venture X is just not for me. I don't like using any portal and I would rather not figure out that I have to transfer miles to Air Canada to fly United or British Airways for American to fly from HI to CA. I would prefer flying Hawaiian (AmEx MR Pts) or Southwest (Chase UR Pts). I plan to apply for the combo of CSR and AmEx Plat.
The $325 credit on the US Bank Altitude Reserve. If one were to spend their first purchases on dining/travel, does it count towards the $4500 welcome bonus or will they credit it back to your account and not count? Will the credit pull be from a specific bureau(s) or all three?
I have this card. So the 325 does count for the 4500 spending requirement even though it’s reimbursed. I used it for a hotel and got 3x points from travel spend and then it was credited about 3 days later. There is a tracker that keeps tabs on how much more you need to spend to get the bonus and that charge is there. US bank only hits one credit bureau. I live in NJ and they hit Experian for me. I’ve seen videos where it seems that trans union was the one hit. I believe those people were in states where US bank has a presence. NJ is not one of those states.
@Manny, The CSR has hotel status with Marriot, The luxury hotel collection, Relais & Chateux, and Ennismore Hotels. Compared to CP 1, UR points are more flexible than CP1 miles. In comparison to CP1 our $300 travel credit is more flexible since we can use it outside the travel portal. The CSR also gives the user a 50% boost when redeeming travel in the UR portal compared to CP1. In my opinion Chase's transfer partners are better than CP1. Chase's priority pass covers lounges and restaurants compared to CP1. We also have car rental status as well with Avis, Silvercar and more. When comparing CSR to Amex Plat the CSR covers miscellaneous travel and dining at 3x and is more reliable internationally than the Amex Plat since visa is more widely accepted worldwide. I have the CSR and so far I without a doubt made a solid selection.
Great video my man! I agree with Stan in terms of showing love to the lesser known cards. I’m similar to you in having a VX/CSP setup. I hear some people for the VX mention that the 2x catch all is why C1 doesn’t have a portal boost; in addition you can get between 5-10% boost through the travel eraser feature. Not the same as 25-50% boost by any means but just wanted to throw that out there lol
Thank you so much! I'm glad you appreciated the analysis of the lesser talked about cards. They are extremely powerful for the right person, that's for sure. And that's a good point about the VX! I appreciate you bringing that up. There's definitely an opportunity cost to be calculated there, so that's good to keep in mind.
Well luckily the bonus on the VX has been the same practically since the card launched so there's no big rush. It's sometimes an annoying card to get approved for so I feel for you there!
@SpencerJohnsonOfficial I wanted that 90k I saw like last week. But had open the citi custom cash and the Marriott card just need another 1k to finish the 5k bonus for those 5 free nights.
@SpencerJohnsonOfficial I messed up getting the Savor card 1st back in May. The 4% back is nice, but nothing to offset the annual fee of 95$ is annoying will ask for a retention. Hopefully, by next year, I will try to take advantage of the 4% entertainment since I do go to a lot of concerts wish it had 4% on groceries might of been a keeper card.
At least you got a good bonus on it to cover the fee for a year! I'd just wait a year and PC it to the Savor One. No mistakes there in my opinion!! @@deadxpride45
I can see why that was confusing! However, the offer I got was because I searched in an incognito browser which means it hides all of my personal information and I can see better targeted offers. That's how I recommend most people apply, but if you're stuck in pop-up jail that won't usually get you around it.
Download MaxRewards: maxrewards.app.link/spencer (Code: SPENCER) 💲
To see me get approved for arguably the best beginner premium travel credit card, watch this video next: th-cam.com/video/7KzT7yoZboo/w-d-xo.html 🎥
If you could only choose one of these premium travel credit cards, what would it be and why? 👇🏼
I'm finally early for once. I just used the VX travel credit for a hotel that I don't have status with so booking through the Cap1 portal was a no brainer. The hotel I booked happen to be a part of their lifestyle collection so I got a free room upgrade and a $50 property credit. So a total of $350 in savings. Another great video.
Haha I appreciate you man! And that VX travel credit really is easy to use for most people. I know some can't be bothered to use it and wouldn't find the card that valuable, but it's easy enough for me. That's awesome to hear you had a good experience with their lifestyle collection! I need to check those out. Thanks so much for watching man!
While it's not perfect, I love my Schwab Platinum. If you travel enough it definitely a card that's worth it and you can easily offset the AF. The Centurion Lounge is the best part of having the card. I know most people talk about over crowding, but I've never experienced that at my local Lounge here at JFK. The Venture X is a card I would also consider out of all the others. Great vid Spencer💥
The CS Platinum is a serious powerhouse for sure. Even just being able to open up your redemption options to cash back too could be worth the $695 for a year. Thank you for sharing your experience with the Centurion lounges too! I appreciate you as always!
Nice comparison video Spencer! There are a lot of great travel credit cards out there, and it's nice to have so many options because like you mentioned, there's no one right card for everyone. Depending on what you're looking for, there's definitely a travel card out there that fits your individual situation! I like how you included the USB AR and BofA PR Elite since not everyone really thinks about them, but they can be great options if you're cool with some good cash back value for "travel" cards without any travel partners!
I appreciate you Stan!! I completely agree with you here. There are so many options out there and there's really no one-size-fits-all answer here, just like the rest of the credit card game. I was hoping you'd appreciate the analysis of the lesser talked about cards as well. They're amazing cards for the right person and that's not discussed enough!
Good video. I like that you talk about downside and to warn us to consider our travel habits to maximize our efficiency on the card we choose.
Thank you so much! I'm glad you appreciated that look at both sides of the coin. I hope it was helpful for you!
This was a very well put together video with a different approach 👍🏾
Hey Spencer, I'm a CRC at U.S. Bank and you can actually pool all your altitude points between altitude products
Great video. If you get the chance, I'd love to see a Hilton Aspire video. I'm currently contemplating a trip to the Maldives in the next couple years, and I think the Aspire card would be very helpful. I'm not a Hilton loyalist, and don't travel too often, so I'd love some more info to see if the card is worth it.
Thank you so much! That's great to know. I definitely plan on making a video including the Aspire card very soon. For your particular use case, I imagine the card is extremely valuable for you, but maybe my video including it will explain it better!
Great video Spencer & love the coverage of some of the more underrated premium travel cards such as the U.S Bank Altitude Reserve. The Venture X is definitely a Card I want to add in the next year or 2, and the Plat is an end-game Card for me, once I start traveling even more frequently and get a lot of value out of benefits like Airport Lounge access. Good point about Cap One Travel Partners not having a good domestic option as far as hotel or airline. I personally do utilize Aeromexico a lot though, so that would be a really useful travel partner for me.
I appreciate you Matt! And I'm glad you appreciated the love for the lesser known cards. I'm excited to see you pick up some of these luxury cards over time, and I'm excited to do the same myself. It's good to hear you'll find a lot of value from Cap1's transfer partners even if not everyone would use them in the same way! Thanks for being here man!
Same but with Avianca
Thank you for 4 versions of Visa Infinite cards. I like the US Bank card a little better than the Bank of America card. Keep putting out good info.👍
Spence we need a mid level travel card comparison!
Out of those listed, i would do the business verison of the AmEx Platinum. Although i am happy using the Green card for travel.
Maybe the VX. Im gona pc my current Cap1 QS to the regular Venture to see test out Cap1's travel side.
Eventhough i love my CSP, im just dont see enough of a difference to upgrade to the CSR
I wish C1 gave me the option to pc to the Venture, they did let me pc QS to the Savor One I was happy about that. Did you ever pc to the Venture card, how do you like it if you have?
@@shawn.credit - yes, I changed my QS to a Venture, but then decided to downgrade to the Venture 1 because I didn’t want to pay the AF. In retrospect i should a just got the Savor 1.
Im in Boston and love Chase, will be getting the Sapphire Reserve
That's awesome man! You have a solid home airport as a Chase fan, that's for sure!
Great content and insight, especially on those lesser known cards. Appreciate you!
Thank you so much man! I appreciate YOU!
All great points. I velieve Uncle Luke said it best "Let your lifestyle choose the card and not the other way around". Seriously wish citi was bringing out the Strata cards. They have the potential out there with there cards to be something great and a true contender but alas they pulled back it seems.
I appreciate that Woodzy! I heard Stan say that line a while back and it's stuck with me ever since. Originally I was gonna mention the possibility of the Citi Strata Elite in this video, but with the recent rumors about those cards being cancelled, I decided to not include it. Citi likes to disappoint us I feel like! 😆
@SpencerJohnsonOfficial the citi premier is a total workhorse. If it had insurances and protections Like the CSP, they could even bump the price and it would be a strong contender
I completely agree!! @@woodzy883
Never did I think I was going to get two premium travel cards but if my plan plays out correctly, I’ll have the VX and CSR by July!!
I haven't watched your vids in a couple months and DAMN, do you look more and more like Patrick Bateman now Spencer LOL 😆
Haha I'll take that as a compliment!! Thanks man!
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial Now let's see Paul Allen's credit card lineup
In my opinion, I think the BEST 2 card setup is the US Bank Altitude Reserve and C1 Venture X
You don’t think those 2 overlap too much?
I can see where you're coming from! That might not be the best 2 card setup for everyone, but I can see how it would be really valuable for the right person... even myself maybe!!
Amex setup and their banking now is great.... However, my frustration is that their cards are not accepted at many places, both within the US and internationally. So I have to use another card a lot of the time anyway. Annoying
I have Amex Platinum and Venture X, I’m keeping those 2 for a while
Im new to the travel card game and a solo traveler.. I was leaning towards the Venture x but lately looking at the American express..
I really like the 3% mobile wallet on AR but having both CSR and VX I think I’d find it hard to get consistent positive value. On the other hand if I downgrade the VX I could consistently get 4.5x back from mobile wallet with the AR but it’s a shame the vanilla venture doesn’t come with any credits so I kinda feel like I wasted a 5/24 slot if the AR is a better catch all card than the 2X miles on VX
I think the Altitude Reserve is definitely a card more people should consider, including myself. I can see why you'd feel like you'd wasted a 5/24 slot if you downgrade your VX, but just remember that you got a really solid SUB on it and got positive value on it so far (hopefully) so it's not a waste.
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficialmy main beef with AR is somewhat low SUB and hard to make back the $75 AF unless you have no other cards with lounge access (and don’t need more than 8 total visits/yr). Maybe if I was more firmly team cash back. I’m trying to be more hybrid but it’s harder to make up the AF on this vs all the other options unless you can put on enough spend and don’t use the VX much which seems like a bit of a waste. My specific objective is good catch all card with global acceptance
You brought up Visa Infinite benefits.
The VX card has some of its bennifits listed but some are just infinite benifits no different than the other Infinite cards but some how its marketed as a benifit to that card only.
Got the hair product back 😉
If I’m not in the preferred BofA program but have history with the bank, should I get it in expectation to enter the gold tier soon? Or get a different travel card until I am in the preferred categories?
I am actually hoping I don’t get the sign up bonus for the VX and upgrade the card since I don’t want to waste a 5/24. Also gives me the chance to see if this card is worth it because it will act like I am on year 2 now. But I want the US bank card more than the Amex plat due to the mobile wallet
That's fair enough! I'd definitely try to get an upgrade offer though. Passing up on 75k points is a big opportunity cost! I look forward to hearing about which cards out of these you like the most!
Currently in Pop-Up Jail as well and have been for the past 3 months, have had the AMEX gold for about 1.5 years and have been looking into getting the Plat for a while. But since I am in jail and unable to get the welcome offer, honestly considering the Venture X, would love to hear thoughts?
What is pop up jail?
I've made a full video on it that's linked in the description of this one but it's basically where Amex won't allow you to get the welcome bonuses on their cards for a certain amount of time. It's very annoying for sure!
I’m shocked that no one is talking about C1 matching program through their portal and the fact that C1 has way more options for flights than other portals and price is usually significantly lower.
So, at the end of the day, even though point value is 1:1, you might end up getting a better deal using C1 then CSR.
Capital One Venture X is just not for me. I don't like using any portal and I would rather not figure out that I have to transfer miles to Air Canada to fly United or British Airways for American to fly from HI to CA. I would prefer flying Hawaiian (AmEx MR Pts) or Southwest (Chase UR Pts). I plan to apply for the combo of CSR and AmEx Plat.
The $325 credit on the US Bank Altitude Reserve. If one were to spend their first purchases on dining/travel, does it count towards the $4500 welcome bonus or will they credit it back to your account and not count?
Will the credit pull be from a specific bureau(s) or all three?
I have this card. So the 325 does count for the 4500 spending requirement even though it’s reimbursed. I used it for a hotel and got 3x points from travel spend and then it was credited about 3 days later. There is a tracker that keeps tabs on how much more you need to spend to get the bonus and that charge is there. US bank only hits one credit bureau. I live in NJ and they hit Experian for me. I’ve seen videos where it seems that trans union was the one hit. I believe those people were in states where US bank has a presence. NJ is not one of those states.
Centurion Lounges used to be pull, now it's a turn off for me.
The Venture X and AMEX Platinum are at the top of my list out of the premium cards!
Nice man! I'm still team Chase personally, but they're all great cards really.
@Manny, The CSR has hotel status with Marriot, The luxury hotel collection, Relais & Chateux, and Ennismore Hotels. Compared to CP 1, UR points are more flexible than CP1 miles. In comparison to CP1 our $300 travel credit is more flexible since we can use it outside the travel portal. The CSR also gives the user a 50% boost when redeeming travel in the UR portal compared to CP1. In my opinion Chase's transfer partners are better than CP1. Chase's priority pass covers lounges and restaurants compared to CP1. We also have car rental status as well with Avis, Silvercar and more.
When comparing CSR to Amex Plat the CSR covers miscellaneous travel and dining at 3x and is more reliable internationally than the Amex Plat since visa is more widely accepted worldwide. I have the CSR and so far I without a doubt made a solid selection.
I guess your not loosing the bennifit you liked with the VX. With car rental...
if Capital One adds Hyatt as a transfer partner... Chase will have an emergency meeting
Great video my man! I agree with Stan in terms of showing love to the lesser known cards. I’m similar to you in having a VX/CSP setup.
I hear some people for the VX mention that the 2x catch all is why C1 doesn’t have a portal boost; in addition you can get between 5-10% boost through the travel eraser feature. Not the same as 25-50% boost by any means but just wanted to throw that out there lol
Thank you so much! I'm glad you appreciated the analysis of the lesser talked about cards. They are extremely powerful for the right person, that's for sure. And that's a good point about the VX! I appreciate you bringing that up. There's definitely an opportunity cost to be calculated there, so that's good to keep in mind.
I need the Venture X with that new bonus but I have to many active cards so I gotta wait a month or 2 rip
Well luckily the bonus on the VX has been the same practically since the card launched so there's no big rush. It's sometimes an annoying card to get approved for so I feel for you there!
@SpencerJohnsonOfficial I wanted that 90k I saw like last week. But had open the citi custom cash and the Marriott card just need another 1k to finish the 5k bonus for those 5 free nights.
Ah I gotcha. Yeah those offers do float around but you still got a couple good cards nonetheless! @@deadxpride45
@SpencerJohnsonOfficial I messed up getting the Savor card 1st back in May. The 4% back is nice, but nothing to offset the annual fee of 95$ is annoying will ask for a retention. Hopefully, by next year, I will try to take advantage of the 4% entertainment since I do go to a lot of concerts wish it had 4% on groceries might of been a keeper card.
At least you got a good bonus on it to cover the fee for a year! I'd just wait a year and PC it to the Savor One. No mistakes there in my opinion!! @@deadxpride45
Top 3
Woahhh Michael coming in for the win this week?! Nice work man! 👑
Another great video too! Fortunately you being later on posting video made me first for the day!
Thanks so much man! I appreciate you being here even on a delayed upload! @@OfficialMichaelGlathar
👍🏻
Thank you sir!
Wait a minute, wait a minute. What? You’re in AMEX pop-up jail, but you have also been selected, by name, for a targeted offer? Tell more me
I can see why that was confusing! However, the offer I got was because I searched in an incognito browser which means it hides all of my personal information and I can see better targeted offers. That's how I recommend most people apply, but if you're stuck in pop-up jail that won't usually get you around it.
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficialwhy? Do they use IP blocking?
Hi spencer 😂❤
Hey Pablo!! 👋🏼
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial thank you spencer❤💯✋🙏🏻
Second 😭😭😭
So close!! Thanks for being here so early! 🥉
You look better without the hat
First
It looks like Michael just barely beat you out this week but I appreciate you nonetheless! 🥈