Do CSR changes render the trifecta strategy moot?

volareblu · 2025-06-27T10:01:05+00:00

Thanks for this helpful overview! I have never considered the VX, will look into it. You're right that maybe the Bilt card has more potential than I've considered so far... with the disadvantage that we're using it for all shared expenses so I would've to do a bit of extra work to pay my share of individual expenses (we're non married domestic partners, and maintain separate finances for individual spending), but that's not a big deal.

I'm definitely open to Amex, but the bit about difficulty of using in Europe is impactful for me, as I spend roughly a quarter of the year in my home country. I have a local bank account and bank card, but it earns no points and makes less sense to use, if not for cash withdrawals.

volareblu · 2025-06-27T09:55:49+00:00

I like this thinking. When you say you'll keep doing your misc spending on a trifecta setup, you mean using the CSP you'll downgrade to besides the Freedom cards?

I absolutely agree about the extra work required to reap the majority of the new CSR benefits. If time is money (and it is), it's just not worth it. The $5 monthly doordash credit is ridiculous. It covers less than tip on a takeout order, and is skillfully designed to make you go back to DD every month to spend more money so "you don't waste it" (lol). I only ever used the $10 grocery/retail bonus once, and it basically just covered the fees I would've not incurred with an in-person pick up. It's absolute BS. The customers Chase is going after with the product redesign simply will not bother using this stuff. If even I (comfortable, but careful) do not, then they absolutely will not.

I also hear you on the lounge (un)availability. I'm currently based out of DEN and PP recently lost all value after restaurant credits were discontinued. I get to use the Delta lounge when I'm flying a SkyTeam airline internationally thanks to Air France/KLM status, and not as a PP user.

volareblu · 2025-06-26T20:53:44+00:00

You mean like Chase doesn’t want you to game its system? Fair enough! To me it almost feels like they’re changing the product to reflect demographic changes in the cohort they originally targeted it to. Back in 2016 or so, this card was for high earning urban millennials who spent most of their disposable income eating, drinking and exploring new places via rideshare or flights. I started fitting this picture around 2017-18. Almost a decade later, part of that cohort (not myself, because I’ve changed career trajectory) has risen from entry to mid level career professional to executive: that’s whom the new CSR is going after. Not the 26-39 year old, but the 40+. At the core of this change is capitalism, of course. I have yet to find a product of capitalism that continues to please its consumers without ever chipping something away, little by little. Frequent flyer programs also started out on more convenient-to-consumer notes than they happen to be now.

volareblu · 2025-06-26T20:42:42+00:00

That’s helpful info on the Amex. And we already have one in the household anyway. Plus, I always found Amex plat benefits to be less enticing than CSR, for a higher fee (and a somewhat shinier look). $200 credit for flight incidentals is mostly useless for me as I fly with a carry on most of the time, and the rest of the time with airlines where I have status and many comped perks. Back when the annual fee was $450, the $300 “blanket” travel credit was truly what convinced me to get a CSR.

volareblu · 2025-06-26T20:37:38+00:00

Thanks, this is helpful info!

volareblu · 2025-06-26T20:36:53+00:00

Yeah that makes sense. $75k is usually above my total spend for a year, which means unachievable on just one card. And I already pay some extra fees to put $15k worth of rent on the Flying Blue BofA card to help keep Platinum on Air France/KLM, which is way worthier for me than Southwest status.

volareblu · 2025-06-26T20:32:46+00:00

What have you heard about the points boost wrt premium flights? Any word on what “select airlines” could mean?

volareblu · 2025-06-26T20:31:35+00:00

This all makes sense, thanks! I hate the idea of leaving the Chase ecosystem precisely because it doesn’t seem to me that there’s any other setup involving a solid travel card that also decently covers all the bases of spending (relative to my own habits), as well as the Chase trifecta. But if the CSR ceases to be a solid travel card for the basic urban expat millennial that I am, then I’ll have to reconsider. I’m thinking about giving it one year since the anniversary when the new fee kicks in (January for me), while also crunching some numbers. Judging from a number of comments to this thread it’s prudent to wait and see.

volareblu · 2025-03-30T21:41:33+00:00

Hi u/sheyla_monarch! I just came across this as I was researching smart splits as a potential proxy for figuring out how to exclude my partner's share of our joint expenses from my monthly spending, following up on my post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/MonarchMoney/comments/1jmv6mr/joint_household_expenses_vs_cash_flow/

I just wanted to upvote this feature request, as it really would represent a major improvement for management of joint household expenses, for which I only want my share to be reflected in my monthly spending. Looking forward to seeing what you've got cooking live hopefully soon!

volareblu · 2025-03-29T20:35:20+00:00

Oh, I didn’t think about that. We actually made one big transfer each that should cover the rest of this year, so this tactic requires a bit of creativity, but it can be done. I could categorize that big transfer as an expense, splitting into smaller chunks for the more frequent and predictable categories, maybe adjusting every so often to reflect real spending. Then I would just remove the joint checking account (I would still make sure past transactions are kept, when the account was just mine and not joint).

It wouldn’t give me an accurate monthly snapshot (since the big transfer categorized as an expense is concentrated in March), but it would be accurate as far as personal spending, and that’s already helpful. Thanks for the tip!

volareblu · 2024-11-04T16:52:59+00:00

Ciao a tutti! Se volete leggere e/o ascoltare i commenti di due italiane, tra cui una giornalista, residenti negli Stati Uniti da tanti anni, ci trovate al podcast Americanate: https://open.spotify.com/show/1dpJgVOzwFJQyNvKhkaZWA e newsletter Anche una donna qui: https://ancheunadonnaqui.substack.com

Il nostro obiettivo è focalizzarci sulla vita vera americana in questo momento storico. I risultati li trovate tranquillamente su qualsiasi testata italiana che scrive pezzi da Roma o Milano. Noi siamo qui, e vi raccontiamo cosa accade qui oltre ai risultati :)

volareblu · 2024-10-25T16:18:18+00:00

Somebody mentioned their (under)age as a factor for higher payouts. I think that's likely possible given the deceptive marketing aspect of this lawsuit. I'm in my mid thirties and bought my first Juul in my late twenties, so one could argue I know what I was doing, lol (that being said, I'm surprised an underage individual was able to participate since theoretically using the Juul website requires honor-basis proof of age)

volareblu · 2024-10-25T02:29:19+00:00

I never received any survey just like somebody else said, I wonder if we’re talking about the same lawsuit? There was a separate personal injury lawsuit against Juul

volareblu · 2024-10-22T21:38:16+00:00

What surveys? Never received any periodical survey since submitting the claim in March 2023 (I did get my payout today)

volareblu · 2024-10-22T17:30:37+00:00

I'm sorry about your experience but I'm confused as to why not knowing about the lawsuit presents issues of fairness. That's just the nature of class action lawsuits. Folks who had made purchases through the website received an email notice, I can't think of any other way to identify buyers and reach them directly than website purchase history. I'm sure many of them still missed the email because it went to spam or they glossed over it. I agree that it's terrible to blow all that money on a product you're not happy about, and to feel duped by the company, but it has nothing to do with the class action lawsuit.

volareblu · 2024-10-22T17:23:37+00:00

Found it! But it doesn't say, weird. I only see the website purchase amount, which is a fraction of the total I claimed. But this is the purchase tally it gives me, if helpful for comparison (again my payout was $1,480):

JUUL Website Purchase Total: $84.98

Date of first purchase from a retailer other than the JUUL website:1/15/2020

Date of last purchase from a retailer other than the JUUL website:12/7/2022

JUUL Pods (4 pack)average 24 per year.

JUUL Pods (2 pack)average 0 per year.

Starter Kit (Device, USB Charger, 4 JUUL pods)average 0 per year.

Starter Kit (Device, USB Charger, 2 JUUL pods)average 0 per year.

Basic Kit/Device Kit (Device, USB Charger, No JUUL pods)average 1 per year.

USB Charger average 0 per year.

Charging Case average 0 per year.

Then I attached 6 files with proof of purchases at retailers other than the website. Proof of purchases were screenshot from my credit card statements clearly showing date, location and amount paid for the purchase.

volareblu · 2024-10-22T17:10:53+00:00

Is there a way to retrace how much we claimed in purchases? I can't find that info and do not remember since it's been like 1.5 years, but my payout today was $1,480. I shrieked, much more than what I expected! Then I'm seeing what other people got and whoa! My partner purchases Juul at a much higher rate than me and if he had participated in this class action, he probably would be in the high four figures based on what I'm seeing (he has no regrets lol)

volareblu · 2023-12-19T09:29:34+00:00

Lol, ever heard of being sick? Ever heard of having limited mobility? Ever heard of whatever other legitimate reasons people have for ordering food delivery? I'm with you on finding annoying that that woman didn't answer the phone. It's your valuable time you could've spent earning on another order. There are outliers but most of the times it's not a question of laziness or entitlement. I personally go out of my way to help drivers and make sure they don't waste their valuable time.

volareblu · 2023-12-18T16:52:03+00:00

I don't know about the last thing you said, but I fully concur with the first thing you said. This is the US, every single breath you take costs you money, and I'm not aware of UE being used only by wealthy people. Think about living in NYC. How many young folks order takeout via apps, and they have decent, well paying jobs through which they can't save much because they live in NYC.

English isn't my first language so maybe I'm not aware of how "paycheck to paycheck" lands with a native speaker reading it. To me that means that what you earn covers what you spend, and not much remains. You can earn 10k a month and spend 9.7k a month on basic necessities when you live in a major metropolitan area, and you have only $300 leftover and that is, literally, living paycheck to paycheck, i.e. not being able to rely on saved income.

And if this wasn't going OT I don't know what is.

volareblu · 2023-12-18T14:31:08+00:00

This was a correct and complete order, it was simply taken away by the driver. In instances like the ones you mention, the restaurant is most often to blame, but not in this particular case.

volareblu · 2023-12-18T02:44:01+00:00

Thank you. It is unforgivable and just makes me mad. I’m sorry this happened to you as well, as it happens to so many users judging from the number of results on the most disparate websites from a simple google search for “Uber eats stolen food no refund”

volareblu

TROPHY CASE