So how is a cash transaction more valuable to you from a tax standpoint? I'm not tracking.

Was just a hypothetical scenario in which a person did get paid in cash that wasn't taxed.

htxag09 said:

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aTm2004 said:

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I calculated it a couple years ago, and IIRC, you have to spend $1300/month to cover the fee (travel credit taken out). I love the card and we only use it for eating out, travel expenses, and monthly household bills, so the monthly break even is lower with food/travel points earned.

Tip…great value for points is to transfer points to your Hyatt account to book with points.

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Question, when calculating this are you comparing the card to no card or to other cards?

We have the AMEX platinum and will cancel this year with the increased fee. Do we still see more benefit/value in the card that more than covers the fee? Absolutely. But I can go to lower cost/free cards and see some of those benefits as well.....

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When I initially got the Reserve, I did so because we were going to book a Disney trip (taken in Feb '20), so I knew I was going with that one off the bat (points earned from that 1 transaction almost covered the remaining fee after the $300 credit). When the renewal got near, I began looking at whether or not I wanted to keep it or drop down to the Preferred, so that's when I did my calculation, and given our spending, I chose to keep the Reserve due to us getting the annual fee back in points and the points value being $0.015 vs $0.0125 for the Preferred. That little extra adds up...we've bought several flights with points, and I haven't paid for a hotel in a couple of years, and still have ~100k points available. My only gripe is I wish I could hold off the travel benefit and specify when to use it rather than it being nickeld and dimed with toll tag charges. I may change that to our debit card to avoid this. I've also looked into the Chase trifecta to really begin maximizing my points...just don't know if our bank account could handle my wife putting everything on a card.

I did look at the AMEX Platinum and Gold, but the lack of points earned for restaurants with the Platinum ruled it out, and we don't travel enough to get the full benefit of the card. The Gold was more with our spending areas, but AMEX's lack of x-fer to United made it tough to go there since we live near IAH. They have revamped the Gold card and the 4x points for grocery is tempting as we don't travel as much as we did now that our weekends are occupied going from one sporting event to another with our 3 kids, so I may go that route in the future.

We play this silly game and have eight or nine different cards. That being said, here are my top three if we had to choose:

BOA Premium Rewards Visa (as preferred thanks to holding investments with ML): 2.6% cash back and 3.5% on dining and travel
AA Citi Executive MC: collect AA miles and get AAdmirals Club memberships for each cardholder (if we didn't travel as much we would get a lesser AA card to avoid the fee)
Amex Gold: as mentioned above, 4x points on groceries and dining, 3x for flights in addition to other credits and deals that run through the year

Teslag said:

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12thAngryMan said:

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So how is a cash transaction more valuable to you from a tax standpoint? I'm not tracking.

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It's not. He's advocating for felony tax evasion.

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It's more valuable if you can negotiate a lower price. If someone is doing a cash job for you, knowing that THEY will be cheating on their taxes, you can usually negotiate a lower price for the job.

Separately, I wonder if many businesses in Texas are tacking on extra fees for using a CC. I don't ever see it in Fl or Maine, but almost all businesses are charging 4% extra to use a card on Long Island. I've gone back to carrying around a big wad of cash again.

I've only noticed it in shady parts of town or independent convenience stores, especially if owned by pakis or Indians.

aTm2004 said:

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htxag09 said:

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aTm2004 said:

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I calculated it a couple years ago, and IIRC, you have to spend $1300/month to cover the fee (travel credit taken out). I love the card and we only use it for eating out, travel expenses, and monthly household bills, so the monthly break even is lower with food/travel points earned.

Tip…great value for points is to transfer points to your Hyatt account to book with points.

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Question, when calculating this are you comparing the card to no card or to other cards?

We have the AMEX platinum and will cancel this year with the increased fee. Do we still see more benefit/value in the card that more than covers the fee? Absolutely. But I can go to lower cost/free cards and see some of those benefits as well.....

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I did look at the AMEX Platinum and Gold, but the lack of points earned for restaurants with the Platinum ruled it out, and we don't travel enough to get the full benefit of the card. The Gold was more with our spending areas, but AMEX's lack of x-fer to United made it tough to go there since we live near IAH. They have revamped the Gold card and the 4x points for grocery is tempting as we don't travel as much as we did now that our weekends are occupied going from one sporting event to another with our 3 kids, so I may go that route in the future.

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Pro tip: AMEX transfers to Avianca Lifemiles, which is a star alliance partner with United. You can book United flights on the Avianca Lifemiles website and using Avianca miles. Now every single United flight won't be on the Lifemiles website, but theres enough United flights to make it worthwhile. Also, the taxes are cheaper for international flights booking it this way compared to United website.

Ive been doing the above with my AMEX and haven't paid for a United flight in like 6-7 years. I also fly out of IAH primarily.

I do similar. Multiple star alliance partners are partnered with Amex. Not as simple as chase transfer but 100% doable.

Can you do that for domestic flights, because that's 99.99% of our flying. I remember watching a YouTube video on how to move points around, and all they talked about were international.

aTm2004 said:

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Can you do that for domestic flights, because that's 99.99% of our flying. I remember watching a YouTube video on how to move points around, and all they talked about were international.

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Yes, you can do it for domestic flights as well. The big bang for your buck with miles is using them for business class international flight tickets, but you Can for sure book United domestic flights on the Avianca Life Miles website.

htxag09 said:

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Tangent but lounges have to have become the biggest crock of **** in all of travel and credit cards. My wife was in Las Vegas last week and sent this picture of the line to get into the Amex lounge. Yes, that many people are waiting to get into an exclusive, private, and "free" lounge vs just paying for a drink at a bar

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100% agree. The biggest reason I keep the AMEX platinum is access to lounges. But the last two times I tried to get into the IAH centurion lounge, it was full and they wouldn't let us in. So frustrating.

A few weeks ago I had an international flight at IAH. I tried the centurion lounge and it was full. Then tried the KLM lounge and they wouldn't let AMEX Priority pass members in. So went to Air France lounge, which is the crappiest lounge out of all 3, and they finally let me in. This exact scenario has happened twice in a row for me.

Might be time to cancel the AMEX with their increased annual fee.

well good news and bad news I suppose.

They're basically ending the guest access policy at the Amex Lounge starting Feb 1st.

That should thin the crowds out quite a bit but not being able to bring a guest sucks. Clearly a necessary move though

Diggity said:

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well good news and bad news I suppose.

They're basically ending the guest access policy at the Amex Lounge starting Feb 1st.

That should thin the crowds out quite a bit but not being able to bring a guest sucks. Clearly a necessary move though

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Aren't they also increasing the monthly spend you have to have in order to access the lounge? I seem to recall reading something in this forum about it...right after my BF upgraded his Am Ex work card (specifically so we could have access to the lounges when we travel). Even with his business spend, we thought it would be hard for him to maintain the minimum and have access.

I've said many times here that I've had a Capital One Venture care for years, and I love it. I also have the Chase version, and I like the Cap One better. Cap One is supposed to be opening lounges for their customers, but right now only like 3 domestic airports have a lounge (IIRC, Dallas does, and Denver does or will have one soon). They are planing to open more.

Went to the capital one lounge at DFW in September and the line was ridiculous

I think you can bring a guest if you spend $75K+ per year on that card. Never been a spend requirement for the primary card holder.

Certainly seems they are going to have to up lounge entrance requirements as those have been more and more democratized.

Wonder how that will go with people already paying $400-500 per year in annual fees. I still just use my Sapphire Reserve for everything but I don't really need lounge access anywhere and don't care about it.

YouBet said:

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Certainly seems they are going to have to up lounge entrance requirements as those have been more and more democratized.

Wonder how that will go with people already paying $400-500 per year in annual fees. I still just use my Sapphire Reserve for everything but I don't really need lounge access anywhere and don't care about it.

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Lounge access was nice 6+ years ago when you could walk in, grab a seat and plate, and not deal with crowds. Now they're more crowded then airport restaurants/bars.

Only time I still seek out a lounge is if I have an international layover. But honestly just easier to pay for a day pass at this point.

htxag09 said:

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YouBet said:

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Certainly seems they are going to have to up lounge entrance requirements as those have been more and more democratized.

Wonder how that will go with people already paying $400-500 per year in annual fees. I still just use my Sapphire Reserve for everything but I don't really need lounge access anywhere and don't care about it.

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Lounge access was nice 6+ years ago when you could walk in, grab a seat and plate, and not deal with crowds. Now they're more crowded then airport restaurants/bars.

Only time I still seek out a lounge is if I have an international layover. But honestly just easier to pay for a day pass at this point.

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Amex Plat continues to tighten this up whilst at the same time expanding many of their lounges. They also tend to have edible food and still have free adult beverages.

Yet, I still only go if on a layover or happen to be stuck in airport due to traveling with old people or weather.

Diggity said:

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I think you can bring a guest if you spend $75K+ per year on that card. Never been a spend requirement for the primary card holder.

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That sounds right, now that you've refreshed my memory. Because he said it wasn't worth it if he couldn't bring me or his boys into the lounge. He doesn't travel alone very often.

Traveling with friends this summer, I only went to the Am Ex lounges at IAH, LAX, and PHL. None had lines to get in, but IAH and LAX were crowded. I think we had to have a "reservation" at IAH and LAX…or at least my friend pre- booked just to be sure we could get in.

Don't even bother with the AMEX lounges anymore unless I have an early-morning flight leaving close by. AAdmiral Clubs are pretty spare in comparison but at least you know that you can usually get a seat and some snacks/drinks without much hassle.

I don't think that I have ever used a Priority Pass lounge in the US (a common perk with premium cards) but they have been a lifesaver at a few far-flung airports over the years.

AMEX also sent a email that they are adding additional "reserved" tables for Centurion cardholders because the lounges are getting so packed.

They do have much better food options than the airline lounges, although I still prefer the terminal D priority pass lounges at IAH since you have to walk to that terminal and take the secret backdoor elevator to get to the centurion lounge anyway. And the priority pass lounges have self serve drinks!

I played the churn game for a bit. Now I just funnel everything possible through a CC each month and park an emergency fund in a high-yield savings. This nets about $1,000/yr via the CC and $1000/yr (lately) on the savings account in free money that we normally spend towards a Christmas trip in-state

TXTransplant said:

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Diggity said:

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I think you can bring a guest if you spend $75K+ per year on that card. Never been a spend requirement for the primary card holder.

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That sounds right, now that you've refreshed my memory. Because he said it wasn't worth it if he couldn't bring me or his boys into the lounge. He doesn't travel alone very often.

Traveling with friends this summer, I only went to the Am Ex lounges at IAH, LAX, and PHL. None had lines to get in, but IAH and LAX were crowded. I think we had to have a "reservation" at IAH and LAX…or at least my friend pre- booked just to be sure we could get in.

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IAH is home base for me - it was always busy, but has steadily gotten worse. I had a wait last month at the IAH lounge, but was only like 5 minutes.

I've done the DFW and Hong Kong ones (HK was great!), but that was pre-COVID, so it's probably different now - but both were easy to get into then at least.

Wife uses Amex bonvoy.
I use chase united club.
Never pay interest or use the card if there is specific fee to do so. (Some utilities, vehicle registration, mortgage, etc. )

We haven't paid for hotel or flights since the kids were born 7-8 years ago. Using cash or debit is leaving free stuff on the table.

My wife and I open 2 cards a year for the bonus points. Just booked two Cairo to Brisbane tickets from the Venture X bonus moving the points to Aeroplan.

62strat said:

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EliteZags said:

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Groceries, gas/Amazon/Ebay/Uber/Lyft gift cards - Amex BC preferred 6%

Restaurants/bars(most months), occasional plane tickets - Citi Custom Cash 5%

Bills/utilities- Valley Max Cash 5%

gym, entertainment(concert/fest/event tix) - 2nd Valley Max Cash 5%

online purchases - BOA Cash Rewards 3%

Restaurants/bars(months I use Citi CC for another category) - 2nd BOA Cash Rewards 3%

everything else - Citi DC 2%


usually only carry around the Amex and Citi's

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Holy *****

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I agree but there are entire CC spend strategies built around the CC Churn Game. People have built spreadsheets and mini programs to maximize points/spend/rewards across multiple CCs.

YouBet said:

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62strat said:

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EliteZags said:

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Groceries, gas/Amazon/Ebay/Uber/Lyft gift cards - Amex BC preferred 6%

Restaurants/bars(most months), occasional plane tickets - Citi Custom Cash 5%

Bills/utilities- Valley Max Cash 5%

gym, entertainment(concert/fest/event tix) - 2nd Valley Max Cash 5%

online purchases - BOA Cash Rewards 3%

Restaurants/bars(months I use Citi CC for another category) - 2nd BOA Cash Rewards 3%

everything else - Citi DC 2%


usually only carry around the Amex and Citi's

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Holy *****

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I agree but there are entire CC spend strategies built around the CC Churn Game. People have built spreadsheets and mini programs to maximize points/spend/rewards across multiple CCs.

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not sure how the cash back cards work, but if it just credited my card back, I don't feel like if ever be getting anything. My bill is just a bit less.

I like when we go to book a trip and we have 60k Marriott or united points to use.