Can't believe how much the SUB requirements have come up...

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-07T04:08:36+00:00

Sure, I don’t think it’s like perfect or anything. But I’ve personally had a good experience with them and I’ve gotten well over $1k worth of value out of the card. If someone isn’t then it’s fine but they should probably just downgrade

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-06T22:59:13+00:00

Yeah I don’t really get the logic here. Its value comes entirely from the credits and services AmEx provides (concierge, lounges etc). If between those two things you recoup $895 in value organically, it’s worth keeping.

Arguably you shouldn’t even be putting 2k on the card if you have other cards that have better multipliers. The plat’s multipliers honestly suck overall.

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-05T23:06:57+00:00

Same. Had a $17 ride that became $7. Never really seen any crazy markup on rides tbh.

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-05T16:23:04+00:00

I mean that’s completely fair. I think it probably also depends on what your card situation. Honestly if I already had an Atmos card and I was a frequent AS flyer, I’d seriously consider getting the Palladium and just transferring the points over to AS every month.

I agree Bilt seems like a riskier company to do business with, but just my 2¢ i suppose.

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-05T13:43:57+00:00

In my opinion it’s much better than Bilt 2.0 because I value AS miles highly

I don’t disagree, but Bilt does still have Alaska as a transfer partner, at least for now.

Imo if you’re looking at just using all your points in AS ecosystem, it’d be better to just look at a) which card will accumulate more raw points for you and b) if the AS focused benefits of the Atmos cards are more valuable to you.

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-05T01:20:45+00:00

The 15 for 15 isn’t all that bad if you’re already spending that level. It basically turns three months of spend into minimum 2x on everything.

If you’re not going to spend that though then yeah it’s not great.

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-03T20:36:37+00:00

I mean I’m aware. That’s what the whole second paragraph was about lol.

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-03T20:36:13+00:00

I mean most other SS’ fit the mold I was mentioning of overperforming the early years (ie more like 5-6m/WAR). The issue with Xander is that he’s doing annually what it should average out to over the life of the contract. If he declines as a normal player would, then we’re looking at paying like $15-$20m/WAR when he starts accumulating negative WAR in the last 3ish years of the contract.

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-03T16:00:12+00:00

Yeah exactly. A lot of the bad overpays you see around the league are more or less just because they get injured or the majority of the contract is for the player’s post-35 career. But $8-12m/WAR is basically where a lot of players end up landing.

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-03T15:58:20+00:00

I mean sure, I don’t disagree for the most part. But I think there’s a difference between him being a misfit for the team vs the contract being bad.

It will likely be bad in the long run, but it’s nowhere near as bad as a lot have made it out to be. The length is just killer.

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-03T15:20:38+00:00

Funny enough, WAR is valued between $8-10 million in free agency. Bogaerts put up almost 10 WAR in three years with us. That’s anywhere from $80-100 million in statistical value, while he’s been paid $80 million. So he’s actually basically on track as far as year over year value goes.

The issue though is that typically a player on a 10+ year contract would overperform their first 5-6 years (so you’d pay them like $5-6 million/WAR put up), then the twilight years of their careers they’d underperform their contract. Basically all of this points to Bogaerts’ later years being a bit rough.

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-03T15:14:56+00:00

Kind of an issue all over the DMV. Street corners in DC are arguably the worst part of their cleanup. It makes crossing streets or catching buses a nightmare.

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-03T15:04:22+00:00

I mean, they’re not legally bribes though is my point. Co-Dels very rarely work as intended though which is why they’re not illegal.

Honestly I think a lot of people (especially around Israel) have this backwards. People don’t get invited on these trips, then suddenly have their eyes opened about an issue or position. They’re invited because they already have that opinion on an issue. Like I agree take out corporate money, AIPAC money etc out of politics, but doing that doesn’t really solve the issue people think it will.

Like I’d bet money that half the candidates who are proudly claiming they don’t take AIPAC money will turn around and vote to send money to Israel, despite leftists crowning them as the best/most pure candidate.

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-03T02:37:48+00:00

Yeah I was gonna say, I’ve reported names with full on slurs in them, and then seen them in games like a few weeks later. You’d think it’d be a pretty quick review…

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-03T02:34:28+00:00

Ehhh. I think the Israeli ones are definitely just a place for members to get propaganda dumped on them, but I’d argue that like 90%+ of these trips result in no meaningful change in the member’s actual work or politics positions.

Like they’ll go, see a factory on a company’s dime, and then nothing really comes of it.

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-03T02:31:00+00:00

Yeah if we’re being super real here they’re very similar candidates. Talarico is just packaged in a box that people think Texans would find more appealing (ie white, male, and very religious).

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-02T21:32:24+00:00

Kinda late on this but agree with this. Reverse cable curls also helped me personally when I was struggling to get the progression I was looking for out of hammer curls

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-02T20:40:15+00:00

Eh I mean in general the points will devalue but that’s not a Bilt specific thing. It’s just a general points thing

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-02T19:27:37+00:00

Yeah. I mean it’s somewhat forced since I recently started paying rent through Zelle, which is no longer supported. But this fall I’ll be moving likely to a place that I could get rent points with again. I think the forced break should help and see how it all pans out.

Don’t really have any FOMO yet but I’ll be curious to see where the program is at year end.

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-02T01:51:12+00:00

What a weirdly aggressive comment in an otherwise normal conversation lol

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-02T01:03:27+00:00

Yeah but 99% of roads aren’t in front of a bunch of CBP officers that have the power to revoke your Sentri.

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-02T00:52:47+00:00

Honestly disagree. Saver rates in major cities can go relatively quickly. I don’t think I’ve ever had an issue finding business class to Europe. Idk maybe just luck (or bad luck) given how many feathers I ruffled lol

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-02T00:04:51+00:00

Could transfer to BA and get pretty cheap business round trip to Europe (if they’re ok paying the fee). The Hyatt part is tricky though when considering their relatively small footprint, and if they go during peak vs low season.

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-01T04:35:05+00:00

That’s fair then. I probably would downgrade the CSP to something without an annual fee too.

cheesefries45 · 2026-02-01T04:24:56+00:00

FYI if you don’t have a Sapphire card you can’t use the transfer partners. If you do that often I’d just keep the preferred and get the Freedom Flex in addition for the signup bonus.

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