[0:00] So, on the screen right now are the big
[0:01] four of premium travel credit cards. The
[0:03] $895 MX Platinum, the $795 Chase
[0:07] Sapphire Reserve, the $550 City Strata
[0:10] Elite, and the $395 Capital 1 Venture X.
[0:13] These are for the right person
[0:15] potentially the most valuable travel
[0:16] credit cards you can have. But because
[0:18] of their high annual fees and
[0:19] overlapping benefits, you probably only
[0:21] need one of them at most. So, which
[0:23] one's going to have the most valuable
[0:24] benefits? Which one's going to give you
[0:25] the best multipliers? and which one is
[0:27] actually going to be worth it for you to
[0:29] have in your wallet. To answer those
[0:30] questions, we're going to be ranking
[0:31] these credit cards based on five key
[0:33] factors here where each factor on each
[0:35] card is going to get a score from one to
[0:36] five stars. And then at the end of this
[0:38] video, we're going to add up all those
[0:39] stars to see which credit card comes out
[0:41] on top with the highest score. And I'm
[0:42] also going to let you guys know which
[0:43] one here is my own personal favorite
[0:45] travel card because my favorite card out
[0:47] of these four was not actually the one
[0:49] with the highest score. So, let's start
[0:50] off here by first looking at welcome
[0:52] bonuses because this is where people are
[0:54] going to generate the most value in the
[0:55] shortest period of time. And welcome
[0:57] bonuses can be a bit tricky when
[0:58] evaluating them for a video like this
[1:00] just because these bonuses are always
[1:01] changing. So, what's available today
[1:03] might not always be available tomorrow.
[1:05] So, just a big disclaimer here that I'm
[1:06] going to go over the signup bonuses that
[1:08] are going on right now across these four
[1:10] cards as of October 23rd when this is
[1:12] being recorded, but make sure you go out
[1:13] and do your own research to see what's
[1:15] out there whenever you watch this. And
[1:16] we're going to begin with the MX
[1:17] Platinum card here, which is currently
[1:19] offering as high as 175,000 membership
[1:22] rewards points after spending $8,000 in
[1:24] the first 6 months. 175,000 points is
[1:27] worth a lot. So even at a baseline value
[1:29] of 1 cent per point, that's going to be
[1:31] $1,750.
[1:33] And to compare these varying bonuses
[1:34] across these four cards on more of an
[1:36] applesto apples basis, we can look at
[1:38] return on spend at that 1 cent per point
[1:40] rate. So $1,750
[1:42] divided by $8,000 of spending to get
[1:44] that bonus is going to be 21.88%
[1:47] return on spend. Now, personally, I
[1:49] value my own transferable bank points
[1:50] like this at around 2 cents each. But
[1:52] just to be conservative and consistent
[1:54] again, we're going to use 1 cent per
[1:56] point as our number here in this video
[1:57] just to compare these welcome bonuses.
[1:59] Also, American Express has recently been
[2:01] using this as high as language on many
[2:03] of the pages where you can apply for
[2:04] this card. So basically that's their way
[2:06] of saying that we could give you an
[2:07] offer of 175k points, but we might give
[2:10] you less if we feel like it. And they
[2:11] might give you those lower offers just
[2:13] based on your history with MX along with
[2:14] a number of other factors. American
[2:16] Express also has some infamous once per
[2:18] lifetime language within their terms and
[2:20] conditions that might limit your ability
[2:22] to get more than one signup bonus on
[2:23] each MX card. But like anything, your
[2:25] mileage may vary on those terms and the
[2:27] value of the offers on the MX Platinum.
[2:29] So, I'm going to give this factor a four
[2:31] out of five stars here because that is a
[2:33] lot of potential upfront value on this
[2:34] bonus regardless of any terms. Next,
[2:36] we've got the Chase Sapphire Reserve
[2:38] with a current offer of $125,000 points
[2:41] after spending $6,000 in the first 3
[2:43] months from account opening and add a
[2:44] value of 1 cent per point. That's going
[2:46] to work out to be $1,250
[2:48] in value and a 20.83% return on spend.
[2:52] So, those numbers are still really good,
[2:53] but just a bit below the MX Platinum's
[2:55] top offer. Now, Chase, City, and Capital
[2:57] One tend to have just one public welcome
[2:59] bonus that's going to be the same for
[3:00] everyone out there, which I've always
[3:02] liked compared to what AMX does with
[3:04] varying offers to different people. And
[3:05] something else I want to mention here
[3:06] that's going to be important to consider
[3:08] is the length of time to hit minimum
[3:10] spend requirements to earn these
[3:11] bonuses. So, like I said, the Chase
[3:12] Sapphire Reserve's current offer says
[3:14] that you have 3 months to spend $6,000.
[3:16] And that means that obviously you got to
[3:18] be able to put $2,000 of spend per month
[3:20] on this card on average. But then with
[3:22] the MX Platinum, that card's going to
[3:23] require $8,000 of that same spending
[3:25] over 6 months to get your bonus. And
[3:27] that is around $1,333
[3:29] per month on average. So yeah, I just
[3:31] wanted to call that out here because you
[3:32] definitely want to make sure that you're
[3:33] able to meet these minimum spend
[3:35] requirements in order to get these
[3:36] bonuses so that you don't miss out. Now,
[3:38] Chase also recently joined American
[3:39] Express by adding some language that can
[3:41] limit your eligibility for getting new
[3:43] bonuses as well. It's pretty vague
[3:44] though because they do say that they're
[3:46] going to consider factors like which
[3:47] cards you've held in the past with them,
[3:49] the number of credit cards you have in
[3:50] total or that you've opened or closed,
[3:52] as well as other factors out there. So,
[3:53] because of all this, I'm going to give
[3:55] the Sapphire Reserve four out of five
[3:56] stars as well here. All right, next.
[3:58] Let's look at the new City Strata Elite
[4:00] Card where the welcome bonus on City's
[4:01] website is currently for 100,000 points
[4:04] for a limited time after spending $6,000
[4:06] in the first 3 months. That works out to
[4:08] be $1,000 in value and a 16.67% return
[4:12] on spend. So, not the highest welcome
[4:14] offer here compared to MX and Chase. And
[4:15] you've got 6K of spend in three months
[4:17] as well, but that's still a good deal in
[4:19] my eyes considering the value that City
[4:20] Points now have with some transfer
[4:22] partners, which we'll get to later on.
[4:23] Now, I do want to point out here that
[4:25] when this card launched, we were only
[4:26] seeing offers online for 80,000 points,
[4:28] which I definitely think was too low.
[4:30] So, it is nice to see that City maybe
[4:32] realized that they had to be more
[4:33] competitive with this 100K limited time
[4:35] offer, but we'll see how long this
[4:36] lasts. My piece of advice here to City
[4:38] is just keep this offer around if you
[4:40] really want this new car to compete and
[4:41] stay relevant. So, I was going to give
[4:43] the Strata Elite 3.5 out of five stars
[4:45] here if they were only offering 80K
[4:47] points. However, since they do have this
[4:49] 100K offer going on right now, I'll give
[4:51] them four out of five as well since the
[4:53] $6,000 minimum spend is still pretty
[4:55] manageable. But just be aware of the
[4:56] potential for this offer to be lower in
[4:58] the future. And then finally, we have
[4:59] the Capital 1 Venture X coming in with a
[5:01] welcome bonus of $75,000 after $4,000 of
[5:05] spending in 3 months. So that works out
[5:06] to be $750 in value at 1 cent per mile
[5:09] each, which is an 18.75% return on
[5:12] spend. Now, this is going to be the
[5:13] lowest welcome bonus and the lowest
[5:15] return on spend across these four cards.
[5:17] And Capital 1 rarely ever does limited
[5:19] time offers on the Venture X. So to me,
[5:21] 75,000 mi really just isn't that high
[5:23] anymore. However, they do have the
[5:24] lowest annual fee and the easiest
[5:26] structure of credits to fully offset
[5:28] that fee as well. So, even though I'm
[5:30] going to give them 3.5 out of five stars
[5:32] here for the welcome bonus factor,
[5:33] they're going to do much better on the
[5:34] second factor that I want to cover next
[5:36] here for annual credits. So, let's go
[5:37] ahead and continue talking about the
[5:39] Venture X for that. Now, with a 395
[5:41] annual fee already coming in well below
[5:43] the other three premium travel credit
[5:44] cards, the Capital 1 Venture X already
[5:46] looks a lot more appealing to more
[5:48] people. But then on top of a relatively
[5:50] lower upfront cost, this card is also
[5:52] going to come with a $300 annual travel
[5:54] credit and a 10,000 mi anniversary bonus
[5:56] that's worth at least $100 at a 1 cent
[5:58] per mile rate. So just from those two
[6:00] benefits alone, you're already coming
[6:02] out ahead of the annual fee by five
[6:03] bucks with pretty minimal effort. Now,
[6:05] the one downside to the $300 travel
[6:07] credit is that it's only going to be
[6:08] valid on bookings that you make through
[6:10] Capital 1 Travel, which normally isn't
[6:12] always ideal compared to just booking
[6:13] directly through a hotel or airline. But
[6:15] I will say that after using Capital 1's
[6:17] portal myself, it's probably my favorite
[6:19] out of any issuer. That's because they
[6:21] offer features like price drop
[6:22] protection and price matching within 24
[6:24] hours after booking. So, what I
[6:26] recommend is to shop around and then if
[6:28] you see a valid better price somewhere
[6:29] else that's eligible for price matching,
[6:31] then you can go ahead and book through
[6:32] Capital 1 and then get a credit back for
[6:34] the difference. So yeah, that $300
[6:36] travel credit and the 10,000 mi
[6:38] anniversary bonus are going to be as
[6:39] good as it gets in this whole premium
[6:41] travel card space because it is going to
[6:42] get a lot messier and more coupon booky
[6:44] from here. So to me, the Venture X is
[6:46] going to be a five out of five stars
[6:48] here for its annual credits. Now, after
[6:49] that, there's going to be the recently
[6:51] refreshed MX Platinum. And going over
[6:52] all the annual credits on this card here
[6:54] is going to be kind of tough for a video
[6:56] like this because there's just so many.
[6:57] So what I'm going to do is I'm going to
[6:58] list them on the screen right now and
[7:00] then just go over them kind of quickly.
[7:02] But I'm also going to create a PDF that
[7:04] summarizes everything in this video that
[7:05] you can go ahead and download for free
[7:07] with the link down below in the
[7:08] description. So on the Platinum card,
[7:10] there's up to $600 in hotel credits that
[7:12] are split up into 300 bucks semiannually
[7:14] for bookings that you make with the fine
[7:16] hotels and resorts program or the hotel
[7:18] collection through MX Travel. There's up
[7:19] to $200 of Uber credits split up into 15
[7:22] bucks per month with an extra $20 in
[7:24] December. And there's also a credit that
[7:25] covers the cost of Uber 1. Then there's
[7:27] up to $200 of airline fee credits, a
[7:29] credit for clear plus, up to $400 in
[7:32] resi credits that are split up into 100
[7:34] bucks per quarter, as well as up to $300
[7:36] in digital entertainment credits split
[7:38] up into 25 bucks per month. Up to $300
[7:40] in Lululemon credits split up into $75
[7:43] per quarter. Up to $100 of Saks Fifth
[7:45] Avenue credits split up into 50 bucks
[7:47] semiannually. And then a credit that
[7:49] covers the cost of a Walmart Plus
[7:50] subscription. So yeah, that's a ton of
[7:52] credits here to keep track of that could
[7:54] be valuable to you depending on your
[7:55] spending habits. But spending habits are
[7:57] very subjective. And I will also say
[7:59] that it's kind of annoying that there's
[8:00] all these different timelines that you
[8:02] have to keep track of as well for when
[8:03] each of these credits expires. So for
[8:05] me, I'm going to give the MX Platinum a
[8:07] 3.5 out of five stars here for its
[8:09] annual credits because there's
[8:10] definitely a lot of potential value here
[8:12] for someone who is willing to do the
[8:13] work. But paying $895 for an upfront
[8:16] annual fee just to have this card every
[8:17] year is also a pretty big hole to dig
[8:19] yourself out of. So I think 3.5 stars is
[8:21] a fair rating. Next, there's the Chase
[8:23] Sapphire Reserve, which now is pretty
[8:25] much just another coupon book after its
[8:26] recent update. So, again, same thing
[8:28] here where I'm going to quickly go over
[8:29] all the annual credits that you get with
[8:31] this card, but then I'll also summarize
[8:32] things in more detail in that free PDF
[8:34] you can get down below. Now, with the
[8:36] Sapphire Reserve, you're going to get up
[8:37] to $300 of annual travel credits that
[8:39] are super easy to use on any kind of
[8:41] travel. So, pretty much anyone who does
[8:43] even some light traveling is easily
[8:44] going to get the full $300 in value from
[8:46] this credit to help lower the $7.95
[8:48] annual fee down to something that feels
[8:50] effectively like it's lower already.
[8:52] There's also up to $500 in credits for
[8:54] the edit collection of hotels that you
[8:56] can book through Chase, which is split
[8:57] up into 250 bucks for the first 6 months
[8:59] of the year and then another 250 bucks
[9:01] for the second 6 months of the year.
[9:03] However, credit to Chase with his
[9:04] credit, no pun intended there, because
[9:06] starting on January 1st of 2026, now
[9:09] this credit is going to be just up to
[9:11] $250 for prepaid bookings made with the
[9:13] edit collection twice per year at any
[9:15] time. There's also $250 of value for
[9:18] Apple TV Plus and Apple Music
[9:19] subscriptions. A $120 Door Dash Dash
[9:22] Pass membership up to $300 in StubHub
[9:25] credits split up into 150 bucks
[9:27] semiannually. up to $120 in lift credits
[9:30] split up into 10 bucks monthly. Up to
[9:32] $120 bucks in Pelon credits split up
[9:34] into 10 bucks monthly. And then up to
[9:36] $300 in Door Dash credits that contain
[9:38] monthly credits for several different
[9:40] delivery types that Door Dash offers.
[9:41] Again, apologies for all those numbers.
[9:43] But personally, I love that $300 travel
[9:45] credit. And then again, all those other
[9:47] credits are going to be very subjective.
[9:48] They all have different timelines as
[9:50] well, just like the MX Platinum. So, I'm
[9:51] going to give the CSR the same rating
[9:53] here of 3.5 out of five stars. But that
[9:56] rating could be higher or lower for you
[9:58] based on your own spending habits. Then
[9:59] for the City Strata Elite, this card's
[10:01] going to kind of fall in between the
[10:02] other three cards by having a $550
[10:05] annual fee. And there's both good news
[10:06] and bad news here with the credits here
[10:08] that it gives card holders to help
[10:10] justify that fee. The good news is
[10:11] there's only three credits here that are
[10:13] all annual or semiannual with their
[10:14] timelines, which is going to make things
[10:16] simple and easy to keep track of. But
[10:17] the bad news is there nothing that's too
[10:19] exciting. So, on the Strat Elite, you're
[10:21] going to get up to $300 off a hotel stay
[10:23] of two nights or more when you book that
[10:25] through citytravel.com, as well as what
[10:27] they're calling a $200 annual splurge
[10:29] credit, where you can get up to $200
[10:30] back on brands like First Dibs, American
[10:32] Airlines, Best Buy, Future Personal
[10:34] Training, and Live Nation. There's also
[10:36] up to $200 of annual credits for a brand
[10:38] called Black Lane, which is basically
[10:40] just a premium chauffeur service. And
[10:42] that credit there is going to be split
[10:43] up into semianual $100 credits for both
[10:45] the first half and the second half of
[10:47] the year. To me, I like that these
[10:48] credits are pretty simple and the fact
[10:49] that there's not a ton of them to manage
[10:51] and track. But I do not like that
[10:52] they're not as easy to use as some of
[10:54] the other credits found on the other
[10:55] cards. So, I'm going to go ahead and
[10:57] give it three out of five stars. Now,
[10:59] moving on to the spending multiplier
[11:00] factor next year, where I'm going to be
[11:02] covering spending multipliers in two
[11:03] ways. So, first, we're going to look at
[11:05] how you can earn points and miles when
[11:06] booking travel in each issuer's own
[11:08] travel portal. And then second, we're
[11:10] going to look at any other multipliers
[11:11] for the more standard categories of
[11:12] spending. Now, for the travel portal
[11:14] multipliers, I'm going to go ahead and
[11:16] lay these all out side by side on the
[11:17] screen here just to compare everything.
[11:19] So, when booking through MX Travel on
[11:20] the Platinum card, you're going to be
[11:22] able to earn 5x points on flights on up
[11:24] to $500,000 of spending per year. And
[11:26] then you're also going to be able to
[11:27] earn 5x points on any prepaid hotel
[11:29] bookings made through American Express.
[11:31] For the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you'll
[11:33] be able to earn 8x back on all purchases
[11:35] that you make through Chase Travel,
[11:37] including the edit hotel program that
[11:38] they have in that portal. And then for
[11:39] the Capital 1 Venture X, you're going to
[11:41] be able to earn 10x miles on hotels and
[11:43] rental cars that you booked through
[11:44] Capital 1 Travel, as well as 5x miles on
[11:47] flights and vacation rentals booked in
[11:48] that portal. And then finally, for the
[11:50] City Strata Elite, those multipliers are
[11:52] going to jump up to 12x back on hotels,
[11:54] car rentals, and attractions that you
[11:55] book through cityravel.com, as well as
[11:57] 6x back on air travel booked over there
[11:59] as well. Now, the travel portal
[12:01] multipliers on cards like these are
[12:02] something that's kind of developed over
[12:04] the past few years as all these issuers
[12:06] now look to make money off of
[12:07] encouraging people to book travel
[12:09] through them versus other thirdparty
[12:10] booking websites. So, that's why they're
[12:12] able to offer such high multipliers on
[12:14] this stuff specifically. But then for
[12:15] the other multipliers, the MX Platinum
[12:17] didn't really have that much else going
[12:19] for it. So, it's going to get 5x points
[12:20] on flights that you book directly with
[12:22] airlines as well. But that's pretty much
[12:24] it because they didn't offer anything
[12:26] else new after this card recently got
[12:27] updated. So, I'm going to give them a
[12:29] 2.5 out of five stars here for that
[12:31] missed opportunity and they're below
[12:32] market rate for multipliers. I do also
[12:35] want to point out though that these
[12:36] multipliers could be a bit deceiving
[12:38] when it comes to travel portals because
[12:40] let's say that AMX offers prices that
[12:42] are actually lower than what other
[12:43] issuers offer, then that could be
[12:45] actually a net positive for them despite
[12:47] their lower multipliers. But pricing
[12:49] differences are going to be pretty
[12:50] situational and they're going to vary a
[12:52] ton from one website and one portal to
[12:54] another based on a number of factors.
[12:55] So, just make sure that you always go
[12:56] out there and take into account things
[12:58] like price multipliers and other
[13:00] benefits that you get or you lose when
[13:01] booking inside or outside of a travel
[13:03] portal. Then, for the Chase Sapphire
[13:05] Reserve, you're going to get 4x points
[13:06] on all flights and hotels booked
[13:08] directly with an airline or hotel brand,
[13:10] as well as 3x points on dining
[13:11] worldwide. And Chase actually used to
[13:13] offer 3x back on all travel booked with
[13:15] this card, which a lot of people used to
[13:16] use to book things like cruises, rental
[13:18] cars, trains, and other stuff. But now
[13:20] that feature is gone and it's been
[13:22] replaced by that 4x on all flights and
[13:23] hotel stays thing, which is a bit
[13:25] disappointing. So, because that 3x on
[13:27] all travel is now missing and the 3x on
[13:29] dining is kind of redundant since the no
[13:31] annual fee freedom cards the Chase
[13:33] offers also earn 3x on dining, I'm going
[13:35] to give the CSR a three out of five
[13:37] stars here because there's definitely
[13:38] some value for frequent travelers. But I
[13:40] really do think they should have just
[13:41] kept that 3x on all travel thing because
[13:43] that was previously a big selling point
[13:45] for a lot of people. For the Capital 1
[13:46] Venture X, it's nice and simple here
[13:48] because you're just getting a flat 2x
[13:50] miles per dollar on everything, which
[13:52] kind of makes this an ideal catch-all
[13:53] card for most people. And again, with
[13:55] the price matching that they offer on
[13:56] the travel portal for travel book there,
[13:58] that's basically going to help to reduce
[14:00] a lot of the risk that people have with
[14:01] whether or not you're actually getting a
[14:03] good deal when booking in a portal. So,
[14:04] I'm going to give the Venture X a four
[14:06] out of five stars, and it's actually a
[14:08] card you'll be using every day for that
[14:09] 2x multiplier. Then for the City Strata
[14:11] Elite, in addition to their travel
[14:13] portal multipliers, you're going to be
[14:14] able to earn 6x points at restaurants
[14:16] during what they call city nights. And
[14:18] those are going to run from 6:00 p.m.
[14:20] every Friday until 6:00 a.m. every
[14:21] Saturday, and then 6:00 p.m. every
[14:23] Saturday until 6:00 a.m. every Sunday.
[14:25] Outside of those times, you're going to
[14:26] earn 3x points at restaurants as well.
[14:28] Then you're also going to be able to
[14:30] earn 1.5x points per dollar on all other
[14:32] purchases, which is a bit useless since
[14:34] City already offers the no annual fee
[14:36] double cash card that you can pair with
[14:38] the Strata Elite, which effectively
[14:39] already earns 2x points on everything.
[14:41] So, personally, I do like that they
[14:43] tried to get a bit creative here with
[14:44] that whole City Knights thing, which
[14:46] could be valuable for the right person,
[14:47] but I also think they could have done a
[14:49] bit better with that 1.5x on everything
[14:51] else multiplier by just replacing it
[14:53] with something that was more unique. So,
[14:55] I'm going to give them three out of five
[14:56] on this score. Next, let's move on to
[14:58] airport and other travel benefits
[14:59] because perks like airport lounge access
[15:01] and other stuff like that can make
[15:03] travel a bit more pleasant and they're
[15:05] going to be big reasons why customers go
[15:06] out and apply for a premium card in the
[15:08] first place. So, let's actually go right
[15:09] back to the City Strata Elite to start
[15:11] off. Now, while AMX, Chase, and Capital
[15:13] 1 have all been bidding against each
[15:14] other and kind of just building out
[15:16] their own airport lounges, City was kind
[15:18] of just sitting back and maybe figuring
[15:20] out how they wanted to compete in this
[15:21] whole top tier travel card space. So
[15:23] unfortunately as of right now we do not
[15:25] have any city branded airport lounges.
[15:27] However, City knew they couldn't launch
[15:28] a premium travel card and then not
[15:30] include any lounge access with it. So
[15:32] what they did here was they took
[15:33] advantage of their soontobe exclusive
[15:34] partnership with American Airlines and
[15:36] they went ahead and threw in four passes
[15:38] to Americans Admirals Clubs each
[15:40] calendar year. Now unfortunately if you
[15:42] are traveling with someone who is 18 or
[15:44] older and you want to go ahead and bring
[15:45] them into the lounge with you, you are
[15:47] going to have to use one of those four
[15:48] passes on yourself and then a second
[15:50] pass on the other person. But if you're
[15:52] traveling with anyone under the age of
[15:53] 18, you're able to bring up to three of
[15:55] those guests with you without using a
[15:57] pass. So there could be some value here
[15:58] for families with kids traveling maybe
[16:00] once or twice per year for vacations and
[16:02] stuff like that who want lounge access
[16:04] to a good Admirals Club. You also get a
[16:06] Priority Pass Select membership with no
[16:08] credits for Priority Pass restaurants
[16:10] for anyone who's curious about that now
[16:11] that that's kind of a rare benefit on
[16:13] very few cards. And you also get a
[16:14] credit once every four years of up to
[16:16] $120 to cover the application fee for a
[16:19] global entry or TSA precheck, which is
[16:21] also standard for a premium travel card
[16:23] nowadays. Now, as for any other travel
[16:24] protections, they do mention that the
[16:26] Strata Elite card has trip delay, trip
[16:28] cancellation, and trip interruption
[16:30] protection, lost or damaged luggage
[16:31] protection, as well as master rental
[16:33] coverage for car rental insurance, which
[16:35] is going to be secondary. But from what
[16:36] little information they do provide
[16:38] online for the insurance and travel
[16:39] protection stuff, this card only really
[16:41] offers the bare minimum compared to the
[16:43] other three cards in this video. So
[16:45] overall, I'm going to give the Strata
[16:46] Elite 2.5 out of five stars here because
[16:48] there's not that much in terms of
[16:50] airport benefits or other travel stuff
[16:52] that's going to get people excited when
[16:53] they're applying for a $595 card. But
[16:56] let's go ahead and compare that with the
[16:57] Capital 1 Venture X card next here
[16:59] because this does have some cool things
[17:01] going for it. First of all, Capital 1
[17:03] lounges are great because we're seeing
[17:04] more and more of them pop up all over
[17:06] the country. And personally, I really
[17:07] love the vibe they have, as well as the
[17:09] unique ability they give Venture X card
[17:11] holders to kind of just quickly stop in
[17:12] to grab and go with some food and
[17:14] non-alcoholic drinks if you're in a
[17:15] rush. The Venture X was really a fan
[17:17] favorite for many years for its guest
[17:19] policies as well. But unfortunately, I
[17:21] do think they were a bit too generous
[17:22] with guest access, which then led to
[17:24] overcrowding. And so now they're kind of
[17:26] just rolling things back. And so now, as
[17:27] of February of 2026, there's going to be
[17:29] no more free guest lounge access, as
[17:31] well as a payw wall effectively for
[17:33] authorized users to get access. I've
[17:35] covered those changes in another video
[17:36] that I'll go ahead and link to down
[17:38] below underneath the subscribe button.
[17:39] However, there are still a few other
[17:40] useful travel benefits and protections
[17:42] that you can still find here. You still
[17:43] get priority pass access with no
[17:45] restaurant credits. You still get up to
[17:47] $120 as a credit to cover Global Entry
[17:50] or TSA PreCheck. And there's also some
[17:51] really underrated car rental benefits as
[17:53] well here, including top tier Herz
[17:55] president circle status, which is
[17:56] awesome. And then on top of that,
[17:58] there's also primary auto rental
[17:59] coverage that covers theft and damage
[18:01] without needing to use your personal
[18:02] insurance first. There's other trip
[18:04] delay, trip cancellation, and trip
[18:05] interruption protection and lost or
[18:07] damaged luggage protection as well. So,
[18:09] because of all that stuff, we're going
[18:10] to give the Venture X a four out of five
[18:12] stars here. Next up, we've got the Chase
[18:14] Sapphire Reserve, which gives you and up
[18:16] to two free guests access to the growing
[18:18] number of Chase Sapphire lounges that
[18:20] personally are my favorite out of all
[18:21] the credit card issuer lounges here in
[18:23] the US. So, pretty cool that you can
[18:24] still bring guests for no additional
[18:26] cost. You're also getting Priority Pass
[18:28] Select without Restaurant Credits, plus
[18:30] a credit of up to $120 for Global Entry,
[18:32] TSA Pre-Check, or Nexus. Then, the
[18:34] Sapphire Reserve is also one of the best
[18:36] credit cards out there when it comes to
[18:37] travel protections. So, you're going to
[18:39] get primary auto rental coverage as well
[18:40] here. emergency evacuation and
[18:42] transportation coverage, which some
[18:44] people out there like to have for that
[18:45] peace of mind when they're traveling.
[18:47] And then some other standard but useful
[18:48] benefits with good limits like trip
[18:50] cancellation and interruption insurance,
[18:52] trip delay reimbursement, baggage delay
[18:54] insurance, and more. You're not really
[18:55] getting any rental car status here. But
[18:57] the stuff that you do get covered, plus
[18:59] the airport lounge access that still
[19:00] allows free guests for now, all of that
[19:02] is going to give the CSR a 4.5 out of
[19:04] five stars rating. And then for the AMX
[19:06] Platinum, obviously you're going to be
[19:08] getting access to the well-known
[19:09] Centurion lounges, which currently have
[19:11] the largest footprint here in the US and
[19:13] across the world for a US lounge
[19:15] network. And these lounges are good. But
[19:16] now, after getting to go to Chase and
[19:18] Capital 1 lounges, I do have to say that
[19:20] AMX lounges are going to rank as my
[19:22] third favorite among those three.
[19:23] They're still great and they're super
[19:24] valuable if you travel a lot because
[19:26] you're more likely to travel through an
[19:28] airport that might have one compared to
[19:29] what the other issuers have out there.
[19:31] But there's also no free guests here
[19:32] anymore with AMX. So, not a good thing
[19:34] for couples or families who are looking
[19:36] for lounge access. You do get Priority
[19:38] Pass Select as well with no restaurant
[19:40] credits just like the others. And then
[19:41] again, a similar credit of up to $120
[19:43] for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. And
[19:46] you also get a bonus credit for up to
[19:48] $29 to cover Clear Plus. You also get
[19:50] top tier president Circle status for
[19:52] Hertz on the MX Platinum card just like
[19:54] the Venture X. And then you also get
[19:55] some other statuses here as well for
[19:56] Avis and National. And even though the
[19:58] included auto rental coverage on the
[20:00] Platinum card is going to be secondary,
[20:02] you can choose to enroll in premium car
[20:04] rental protection where you'll pay
[20:05] around 1995 in most states to get
[20:07] primary coverage for theft and damage of
[20:09] a rental car for up to 42 days of
[20:11] coverage. As always though, terms for
[20:12] insurance benefits are going to vary.
[20:14] You have to go out and do your own
[20:15] research to see what's covered. And then
[20:17] for other travel insuranceances and
[20:18] protections, you're going to be getting
[20:20] a lot of other similar premium benefits
[20:21] here that a lot of the other cards have
[20:23] as well, like trip cancellation and
[20:25] interruption insurance and stuff like
[20:26] that. Overall, there's definitely enough
[20:28] here to keep the AMX Platinum
[20:29] competitive with the Chase Sapphire
[20:30] Reserve and the Capital 1 Venture X that
[20:32] I'm going to give it four out of five
[20:34] stars for this factor. So, really, it's
[20:35] just the City Strata Elite that kind of
[20:37] falls behind here with airport lounges
[20:39] and travel benefits. But, that is going
[20:40] to lead me to the final factor here
[20:42] where City might be able to pick up the
[20:43] slack. So, let's go over ecosystems of
[20:45] each issuer as well as any other notable
[20:47] features with each card. For City, the
[20:49] Strata Elite card is going to work in a
[20:51] City Trifecta setup with the no annual
[20:53] fee double cash card that we talked
[20:54] about earlier that earns effectively 2x
[20:56] points on everything, as well as the no
[20:57] annual fee custom cash, which earns 5x
[21:00] back on your top eligible spend category
[21:01] each billing cycle in one of 10
[21:03] categories. And those categories are
[21:05] going to include valuable things like
[21:06] restaurants, gas stations, grocery
[21:08] stores, and more. However, I actually
[21:10] think the cheaper $95 per year City
[21:12] Strata Premiere is going to be the
[21:13] better travel card to have within a City
[21:15] Trifecta. And that's because it's got
[21:16] some better everyday multipliers than
[21:18] the Strat Elite does since it earns 3x
[21:20] back on things like air travel, hotels,
[21:22] restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations,
[21:24] and EV charging. Now, one added benefit
[21:26] to earning City thank you points on any
[21:28] one of these City cards is that they can
[21:29] be combined with either the Strata Elite
[21:31] or the Strata Premiere to then get
[21:33] access to American Airlines as a
[21:35] onetoone transfer partner, which is
[21:36] huge. So, City is now the only
[21:38] transferable points currency that
[21:39] transfers over to American directly.
[21:41] It's also worth noting that for the City
[21:43] Strata Elite specifically, if you want
[21:45] to add an authorized user, then you're
[21:46] going to have to pay an additional $75
[21:48] per year for that. But if you're a City
[21:50] Gold or City Gold private client, then
[21:52] you can get some decent discounts on the
[21:54] annual fee for the primary card holder.
[21:56] So, that is good to keep in mind.
[21:57] There's also no foreign transaction fees
[21:59] on the Strata Elite, as well as all the
[22:00] other top tier cards in this video,
[22:02] which I forgot to mention earlier. But
[22:03] for the overall city ecosystem though,
[22:05] I'm going to give the Strata Elite a 3.5
[22:07] out of five stars here, mostly for the
[22:09] American Airlines transferability. But
[22:11] City is lacking any of the three major
[22:13] hotel brands for Hyatt, Marriott, or
[22:15] Hilton transfers. And like I said, the
[22:17] Strata Premiere is really going to be
[22:18] the better card to hold in the City
[22:20] trifecta in my opinion. Customer service
[22:22] with City has also always been something
[22:24] that they struggle with compared to the
[22:25] competition. So, it's worth mentioning
[22:27] that as well. And that is going to mean
[22:28] the City Strata Elite is going to finish
[22:30] with a respectable 16 out of a possible
[22:32] 25 stars. Next, for the Capital 1
[22:34] Venture X, your best bet here is going
[22:36] to be to pair this with the no annual
[22:38] fee saver card to form what's called a
[22:40] Capital 1 Duo. This is honestly one of
[22:42] the best twocard setups you can have
[22:43] considering the price and the number of
[22:45] categories that you're covering here.
[22:46] That's because the Capital 1 Saver card
[22:48] is going to earn 3% back on grocery
[22:50] stores dining entertainment and
[22:52] popular streaming services. And when you
[22:53] hold a card like the Venture X, you can
[22:55] then convert that cash back into
[22:57] effectively 3x Venture miles per dollar
[22:59] on those categories. That makes this
[23:01] setup a great option where most people
[23:02] out there can just remember to use the
[23:04] Saver card on food and entertainment
[23:06] spending for 3x back and then the
[23:07] Venture X card for everything else to
[23:09] get 2x. Plus, again, you've got higher
[23:11] multipliers in the Capital 1 travel
[23:12] portal where there's going to be those
[23:13] price drop and price matching benefits
[23:15] as well. For transfer partners, you
[23:17] don't really have any standout options,
[23:18] but they are still solid except for the
[23:21] fact that you're missing those three
[23:22] major hotel brands here as well. And
[23:23] then for authorized users, you can add
[23:25] up to four of those for no additional
[23:27] cost, even though again those free
[23:28] benefits like airport lounge access for
[23:30] those authorized users is going to be
[23:32] going behind a payw wall very soon in
[23:34] early 2026. You do also get a cell phone
[23:37] protection benefit here, which doesn't
[23:38] get talked about that much, but it is a
[23:40] nice added feature. So, I'm going to
[23:41] give the Venture X a 3.5 out of five
[23:43] stars here for its ecosystem based on
[23:45] its simplicity, its low cost, and the
[23:47] multipliers that the Capital 1 Duo
[23:49] covers. And the only reason I'm not
[23:51] making it a four out of five is because
[23:52] it's also worth mentioning that Capital
[23:54] 1 is kind of notorious for being
[23:55] difficult to get approved for, even when
[23:57] you have a great credit score and a
[23:59] history of responsible credit card
[24:00] usage, which I'll touch more on in just
[24:02] a minute. That's going to give the
[24:03] Venture X a 20 out of 25 possible stars,
[24:06] which helps it to take the lead over the
[24:07] City Strat Elite for now. But let's see
[24:09] if Chase or AMX can beat that next. So
[24:11] for the Chase Sapphire Reserve, it's
[24:12] going to be no secret that I really like
[24:14] the fact that Chase has Hyatt as a
[24:16] transfer partner, and that's going to
[24:17] make them the only points currency other
[24:18] than Built Rewards that transfers
[24:20] directly over to Hyatt, which still has
[24:22] the highest and most consistent
[24:23] redemption values compared to other
[24:25] hotel brands. Chase also has a bunch of
[24:27] other airline transfer partners that
[24:28] you'll find with other points
[24:29] currencies, as well as United and
[24:31] Southwest, which are fan favorites for
[24:32] those who fly on those airlines a lot.
[24:34] Then there's also a points boost feature
[24:35] for booking travel with points inside
[24:37] the Chase travel portal that can be good
[24:39] sometimes but not always, which I
[24:41] covered in a separate video that I'll
[24:42] link to down below. But then an area
[24:44] where Chase is currently struggling that
[24:46] they don't really seem to want to
[24:47] address is going to be within the
[24:48] multipliers that are found in the Chase
[24:50] Trifecta ecosystem. So with a setup like
[24:52] the Chase Trifecta, you could have the
[24:54] CSR along with the no annual fee freedom
[24:56] unlimited and the Freedom Flex. And then
[24:58] just like these other same issuer
[24:59] setups, you can then combine and pull
[25:01] together your ultimate rewards points
[25:03] earned across these different cards to
[25:04] then redeem with the transfer partners
[25:06] or points boost features on the Sapphire
[25:08] Reserve. However, the problem with those
[25:09] other Chase credit cards include the
[25:11] fact that the Freedom Unlimited only
[25:13] earns 1.5x points per dollar in the all
[25:15] other category as a catchall card in the
[25:17] setup. And that's pretty much below the
[25:18] going rate of 2x that other cards like
[25:20] this earn. Another problem is that
[25:22] there's no steady grocery or gas
[25:23] category found within the Chase
[25:25] trifecta. So, even though all three
[25:26] cards here earn 3x back on dining,
[25:29] there's really no point in having all
[25:30] that overlap when those grocery and gas
[25:32] multipliers are missing. Sure, you can
[25:34] usually find groceries and gas making
[25:35] their way into one of the rotating 5x
[25:37] category slots on the Freedom Flex at
[25:39] some point almost every year, but that's
[25:41] only going to get you 5x Ultimate
[25:42] Rewards points for one quarter out of
[25:44] the year on that stuff. So, that's going
[25:46] to end up hurting the overall Chase
[25:47] ecosystem score for the Sapphire
[25:49] Reserve. The card also charges $195 for
[25:52] authorized users. And then I can mention
[25:53] that there's some other minor benefits
[25:55] unlocked after 75k of spend in a
[25:57] calendar year as well. But to me, those
[25:59] aren't really going to be great selling
[26:00] points here. So overall, I'm going to
[26:02] give the Sapphire Reserve a three out of
[26:04] five stars, which is propped up by the
[26:06] fact that they do have height as a
[26:07] transfer partner. And that's going to
[26:08] bring their total up to 18 out of 25
[26:10] stars, putting them in second place. So
[26:13] can the American Express Platinum card
[26:14] finish strong to close out first place?
[26:16] Well, to me, I think that is going to be
[26:18] kind of tough when their ecosystem has
[26:19] the big challenge of high annual fees to
[26:21] overcome. The AMX Platinum can be paired
[26:23] with the AMX Gold, which has a $325
[26:26] annual fee and even more credits to
[26:28] manage. So, even if you run your numbers
[26:29] and you truly do believe that you're
[26:31] getting positive value from the many
[26:32] credits across those two cards, you'd
[26:34] still have to be paying $1,220
[26:37] upfront every year in fees, and a lot of
[26:38] people are just not willing to do that.
[26:40] American Express, unfortunately,
[26:42] introduced the credit card world to the
[26:43] world of coupon booking, and now there's
[26:45] really no going back, as other issuers
[26:47] have begun to see just how profitable
[26:49] this business model can be. So, like it
[26:50] or not, if you're going to be in the MX
[26:52] ecosystem, then you're going to have to
[26:54] be someone who is very organized and
[26:56] someone who also wants to keep track of
[26:57] several monthly, quarterly, semiannual,
[27:00] or annual credits. There's also always
[27:01] the option to go down to the cheaper AMX
[27:03] green card as well at $150 per year. But
[27:06] the downside here is that if you want to
[27:08] get the signup bonuses on the green, the
[27:09] gold, and the platinum, then you have to
[27:11] go in that order, or otherwise,
[27:13] according to the terms and conditions,
[27:15] that could prevent you from getting a
[27:16] bonus if you tried going in the opposite
[27:18] order. Additional platinum cards are
[27:20] going to cost you $195 as well, and
[27:22] that's a price you're going to have to
[27:23] pay if you want to bring along your
[27:25] player two with you into AMX Lounges.
[27:27] So, I'm going to give the AMX Platinum
[27:28] card a three out of five stars here for
[27:30] their ecosystem because the gold card is
[27:32] a powerful card for earning points. But
[27:34] again, that's a lot of credits to keep
[27:35] track of, and that's not going to be
[27:37] right for everyone. So, that brings the
[27:38] MX Platinum up to a total of 17 out of
[27:41] 25 stars, putting it into third place
[27:43] overall. And that makes the Capital 1
[27:45] Venture X the winner here with the Chase
[27:46] Sapphire Reserve coming in second. and
[27:48] the City Strata Elite coming in last.
[27:50] Now, personally, even though I love the
[27:52] Venture X, my own favorite card out of
[27:54] these four is going to be the Sapphire
[27:55] Reserve. There's a few good reasons why,
[27:57] which are purely based on my own
[27:59] experience and my own personal
[28:00] situation. So, just remember that going
[28:02] forward that this might not be true for
[28:03] you. But, the Venture X is a great card
[28:05] and my wife has it in our own two-player
[28:07] setup. However, like I mentioned,
[28:09] Capital 1 can be a bit challenging when
[28:10] it comes to getting approved. And that's
[28:12] something that I've experienced
[28:13] firsthand because I've been denied twice
[28:15] for this card, making it the only two
[28:17] credit card denials I've ever had. They
[28:19] told me that I had too many revolving
[28:20] credit card accounts on my credit
[28:22] report. And they're really the only
[28:23] issuer that seems to have a problem with
[28:25] that because I never miss payments. And
[28:27] I'm always managing my utilization and
[28:29] being responsible with all that stuff.
[28:30] And I'm also not alone in getting denied
[28:32] by Capital 1 for reasons like this
[28:34] because I constantly get messages and
[28:36] comments from other people with similar
[28:37] stories. Now, as always, your mileage
[28:39] may vary with stuff like this. But then
[28:41] the other reason here why the Sapphire
[28:43] Reserve is going to be my own personal
[28:44] top pick out of these four cards is
[28:46] because they're the only card out of
[28:47] these four that have their own airport
[28:49] lounges and they still allow free guest
[28:51] access. Unfortunately, I do feel like
[28:53] this is going to go away at some point
[28:54] in the future just because they do want
[28:56] to avoid overcrowding. But for right
[28:58] now, my home airport here in
[28:59] Philadelphia has the largest Chase
[29:01] Sapphire Lounge. That's my favorite that
[29:03] I love to visit all the time when I'm
[29:04] traveling. And I do also like earning
[29:06] points within the Chase and Built
[29:07] ecosystems because of Hyatt being a
[29:08] transfer partner with them. I also
[29:10] personally do get enough value to
[29:12] justify the annual fee on the Sapphire
[29:13] Reserve, even though I don't love the
[29:15] fact that it's now a coupon book. But I
[29:17] want to make it clear that my feelings
[29:18] could change for this card over time as
[29:20] I use it in my day-to-day life. So, let
[29:22] me know what you guys think about these
[29:23] four travel credit cards down below.
[29:25] Which ones do you have and which one do
[29:27] you think is best? Be sure to comment
[29:28] your thoughts because those data points
[29:30] and opinions on all this stuff is going
[29:32] to be truly helpful for other people out
[29:33] there to make their own decisions. And
[29:35] again, while you're down in the comment
[29:36] section, make sure to go ahead and
[29:37] download that free PDF summary of this
[29:39] video that's going to highlight all the
[29:41] features and benefits of these cards in
[29:42] one place. But as always, thanks so much
[29:44] for watching.