With the recent changes to the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, a lot of people are questioning whether they should stick with the Chase card system or move on to American Express. Before making any major changes to your card setup, let’s run through a few scenarios.

1. If you’re someone under Chase 5/24

Chase has an unwritten rule that you will be automatically denied for a credit card if you have opened 5 or more personal credit or charge cards in the past 24 months from any credit issuer.

If you’re under the Chase 5/24 rule, I recommend adding the Chase cards you want first before moving on to American Express. By adding other issuers first, you’re leaving money on the table.

Chase cards aren’t limited to Ultimate Reward earning cards. There are also co-branded cards like The World of Hyatt Credit Card, United℠ Explorer Card, and the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card.

Each Chase card can easily yield $500-$1,000 in value, depending on how you redeem the points. Watch the video below for a detailed explanation on the value of Chase “slots.”

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Card Options

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Chase Cash Back Setup

If you’re someone who doesn’t care about travel and prefers to focus on cash back, there’s still value in the core Ultimate Rewards cards.

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2. Pros and Cons of American Express Charge Cards

If you are someone that is over Chase 5/24 or you don’t care for Chase cards, then American Express is a good alternative.

The Platinum Card® from American Express card was one of my favorite card picks of 2019 since it has a strong intro bonus and benefits that I use often.

The Platinum Card® from American Express 

See if the Amex Platinum is worth it for you: https://www.asksebby.com/credit-cards/the-platinum-card-from-american-express-worth-the-550-annual-fee

Check if you're targeted for the 100k offer via CardMatch: http://bit.ly/2zqinrc

Another reason to go for American Express cards is that you can usually get a retention offer every other year. Your mileage may vary based on your profile with Amex. Chase rarely gives out retention offers.

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Before jumping in to get the Platinum card or any other charge card, there are a few reasons why you might want to avoid it:

1. The Platinum card doesn’t have a no annual fee downgrade option.
2. If you’re someone who wasn’t happy with the Chase Sapphire Reserve annual fee increase to $550, it seems like Amex just got the green light to increase the annual fee again. The Platinum card recently increased the annual fee to $695. Rates and fees.
3. If you’re someone who doesn’t use rideshare or food delivery services, it might be hard to derive value from the card. The Chase Sapphire Reserve has Lyft and DoorDash, while the Platinum card has Uber/UberEats and Saks credits.
4. The airline incidental credits from the Amex charge cards are harder to use. You cannot buy airline gift cards anymore.

Overall, I don’t recommend getting an American Express charge card if you don’t have a strong foundation of cards to fall back on. The economy can take a turn, and if you need to cancel, your credit history will take a hit.

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