The Ultimate Travel Credit Card Battle!

[00:00] So, on the screen right now are the big

[00:01] four of premium travel credit cards. The

[00:03] $895 MX Platinum, the $795 Chase

[00:07] Sapphire Reserve, the $550 City Strata

[00:10] Elite, and the $395 Capital 1 Venture X.

[00:13] These are for the right person

[00:15] potentially the most valuable travel

[00:16] credit cards you can have. But because

[00:18] of their high annual fees and

[00:19] overlapping benefits, you probably only

[00:21] need one of them at most. So, which

[00:23] one's going to have the most valuable

[00:24] benefits? Which one's going to give you

[00:25] the best multipliers? and which one is

[00:27] actually going to be worth it for you to

[00:29] have in your wallet. To answer those

[00:30] questions, we're going to be ranking

[00:31] these credit cards based on five key

[00:33] factors here where each factor on each

[00:35] card is going to get a score from one to

[00:36] five stars. And then at the end of this

[00:38] video, we're going to add up all those

[00:39] stars to see which credit card comes out

[00:41] on top with the highest score. And I'm

[00:42] also going to let you guys know which

[00:43] one here is my own personal favorite

[00:45] travel card because my favorite card out

[00:47] of these four was not actually the one

[00:49] with the highest score. So, let's start

[00:50] off here by first looking at welcome

[00:52] bonuses because this is where people are

[00:54] going to generate the most value in the

[00:55] shortest period of time. And welcome

[00:57] bonuses can be a bit tricky when

[00:58] evaluating them for a video like this

[01:00] just because these bonuses are always

[01:01] changing. So, what's available today

[01:03] might not always be available tomorrow.

[01:05] So, just a big disclaimer here that I'm

[01:06] going to go over the signup bonuses that

[01:08] are going on right now across these four

[01:10] cards as of October 23rd when this is

[01:12] being recorded, but make sure you go out

[01:13] and do your own research to see what's

[01:15] out there whenever you watch this. And

[01:16] we're going to begin with the MX

[01:17] Platinum card here, which is currently

[01:19] offering as high as 175,000 membership

[01:22] rewards points after spending $8,000 in

[01:24] the first 6 months. 175,000 points is

[01:27] worth a lot. So even at a baseline value

[01:29] of 1 cent per point, that's going to be

[01:31] $1,750.

[01:33] And to compare these varying bonuses

[01:34] across these four cards on more of an

[01:36] applesto apples basis, we can look at

[01:38] return on spend at that 1 cent per point

[01:40] rate. So $1,750

[01:42] divided by $8,000 of spending to get

[01:44] that bonus is going to be 21.88%

[01:47] return on spend. Now, personally, I

[01:49] value my own transferable bank points

[01:50] like this at around 2 cents each. But

[01:52] just to be conservative and consistent

[01:54] again, we're going to use 1 cent per

[01:56] point as our number here in this video

[01:57] just to compare these welcome bonuses.

[01:59] Also, American Express has recently been

[02:01] using this as high as language on many

[02:03] of the pages where you can apply for

[02:04] this card. So basically that's their way

[02:06] of saying that we could give you an

[02:07] offer of 175k points, but we might give

[02:10] you less if we feel like it. And they

[02:11] might give you those lower offers just

[02:13] based on your history with MX along with

[02:14] a number of other factors. American

[02:16] Express also has some infamous once per

[02:18] lifetime language within their terms and

[02:20] conditions that might limit your ability

[02:22] to get more than one signup bonus on

[02:23] each MX card. But like anything, your

[02:25] mileage may vary on those terms and the

[02:27] value of the offers on the MX Platinum.

[02:29] So, I'm going to give this factor a four

[02:31] out of five stars here because that is a

[02:33] lot of potential upfront value on this

[02:34] bonus regardless of any terms. Next,

[02:36] we've got the Chase Sapphire Reserve

[02:38] with a current offer of $125,000 points

[02:41] after spending $6,000 in the first 3

[02:43] months from account opening and add a

[02:44] value of 1 cent per point. That's going

[02:46] to work out to be $1,250

[02:48] in value and a 20.83% return on spend.

[02:52] So, those numbers are still really good,

[02:53] but just a bit below the MX Platinum's

[02:55] top offer. Now, Chase, City, and Capital

[02:57] One tend to have just one public welcome

[02:59] bonus that's going to be the same for

[03:00] everyone out there, which I've always

[03:02] liked compared to what AMX does with

[03:04] varying offers to different people. And

[03:05] something else I want to mention here

[03:06] that's going to be important to consider

[03:08] is the length of time to hit minimum

[03:10] spend requirements to earn these

[03:11] bonuses. So, like I said, the Chase

[03:12] Sapphire Reserve's current offer says

[03:14] that you have 3 months to spend $6,000.

[03:16] And that means that obviously you got to

[03:18] be able to put $2,000 of spend per month

[03:20] on this card on average. But then with

[03:22] the MX Platinum, that card's going to

[03:23] require $8,000 of that same spending

[03:25] over 6 months to get your bonus. And

[03:27] that is around $1,333

[03:29] per month on average. So yeah, I just

[03:31] wanted to call that out here because you

[03:32] definitely want to make sure that you're

[03:33] able to meet these minimum spend

[03:35] requirements in order to get these

[03:36] bonuses so that you don't miss out. Now,

[03:38] Chase also recently joined American

[03:39] Express by adding some language that can

[03:41] limit your eligibility for getting new

[03:43] bonuses as well. It's pretty vague

[03:44] though because they do say that they're

[03:46] going to consider factors like which

[03:47] cards you've held in the past with them,

[03:49] the number of credit cards you have in

[03:50] total or that you've opened or closed,

[03:52] as well as other factors out there. So,

[03:53] because of all this, I'm going to give

[03:55] the Sapphire Reserve four out of five

[03:56] stars as well here. All right, next.

[03:58] Let's look at the new City Strata Elite

[04:00] Card where the welcome bonus on City's

[04:01] website is currently for 100,000 points

[04:04] for a limited time after spending $6,000

[04:06] in the first 3 months. That works out to

[04:08] be $1,000 in value and a 16.67% return

[04:12] on spend. So, not the highest welcome

[04:14] offer here compared to MX and Chase. And

[04:15] you've got 6K of spend in three months

[04:17] as well, but that's still a good deal in

[04:19] my eyes considering the value that City

[04:20] Points now have with some transfer

[04:22] partners, which we'll get to later on.

[04:23] Now, I do want to point out here that

[04:25] when this card launched, we were only

[04:26] seeing offers online for 80,000 points,

[04:28] which I definitely think was too low.

[04:30] So, it is nice to see that City maybe

[04:32] realized that they had to be more

[04:33] competitive with this 100K limited time

[04:35] offer, but we'll see how long this

[04:36] lasts. My piece of advice here to City

[04:38] is just keep this offer around if you

[04:40] really want this new car to compete and

[04:41] stay relevant. So, I was going to give

[04:43] the Strata Elite 3.5 out of five stars

[04:45] here if they were only offering 80K

[04:47] points. However, since they do have this

[04:49] 100K offer going on right now, I'll give

[04:51] them four out of five as well since the

[04:53] $6,000 minimum spend is still pretty

[04:55] manageable. But just be aware of the

[04:56] potential for this offer to be lower in

[04:58] the future. And then finally, we have

[04:59] the Capital 1 Venture X coming in with a

[05:01] welcome bonus of $75,000 after $4,000 of

[05:05] spending in 3 months. So that works out

[05:06] to be $750 in value at 1 cent per mile

[05:09] each, which is an 18.75% return on

[05:12] spend. Now, this is going to be the

[05:13] lowest welcome bonus and the lowest

[05:15] return on spend across these four cards.

[05:17] And Capital 1 rarely ever does limited

[05:19] time offers on the Venture X. So to me,

[05:21] 75,000 mi really just isn't that high

[05:23] anymore. However, they do have the

[05:24] lowest annual fee and the easiest

[05:26] structure of credits to fully offset

[05:28] that fee as well. So, even though I'm

[05:30] going to give them 3.5 out of five stars

[05:32] here for the welcome bonus factor,

[05:33] they're going to do much better on the

[05:34] second factor that I want to cover next

[05:36] here for annual credits. So, let's go

[05:37] ahead and continue talking about the

[05:39] Venture X for that. Now, with a 395

[05:41] annual fee already coming in well below

[05:43] the other three premium travel credit

[05:44] cards, the Capital 1 Venture X already

[05:46] looks a lot more appealing to more

[05:48] people. But then on top of a relatively

[05:50] lower upfront cost, this card is also

[05:52] going to come with a $300 annual travel

[05:54] credit and a 10,000 mi anniversary bonus

[05:56] that's worth at least $100 at a 1 cent

[05:58] per mile rate. So just from those two

[06:00] benefits alone, you're already coming

[06:02] out ahead of the annual fee by five

[06:03] bucks with pretty minimal effort. Now,

[06:05] the one downside to the $300 travel

[06:07] credit is that it's only going to be

[06:08] valid on bookings that you make through

[06:10] Capital 1 Travel, which normally isn't

[06:12] always ideal compared to just booking

[06:13] directly through a hotel or airline. But

[06:15] I will say that after using Capital 1's

[06:17] portal myself, it's probably my favorite

[06:19] out of any issuer. That's because they

[06:21] offer features like price drop

[06:22] protection and price matching within 24

[06:24] hours after booking. So, what I

[06:26] recommend is to shop around and then if

[06:28] you see a valid better price somewhere

[06:29] else that's eligible for price matching,

[06:31] then you can go ahead and book through

[06:32] Capital 1 and then get a credit back for

[06:34] the difference. So yeah, that $300

[06:36] travel credit and the 10,000 mi

[06:38] anniversary bonus are going to be as

[06:39] good as it gets in this whole premium

[06:41] travel card space because it is going to

[06:42] get a lot messier and more coupon booky

[06:44] from here. So to me, the Venture X is

[06:46] going to be a five out of five stars

[06:48] here for its annual credits. Now, after

[06:49] that, there's going to be the recently

[06:51] refreshed MX Platinum. And going over

[06:52] all the annual credits on this card here

[06:54] is going to be kind of tough for a video

[06:56] like this because there's just so many.

[06:57] So what I'm going to do is I'm going to

[06:58] list them on the screen right now and

[07:00] then just go over them kind of quickly.

[07:02] But I'm also going to create a PDF that

[07:04] summarizes everything in this video that

[07:05] you can go ahead and download for free

[07:07] with the link down below in the

[07:08] description. So on the Platinum card,

[07:10] there's up to $600 in hotel credits that

[07:12] are split up into 300 bucks semiannually

[07:14] for bookings that you make with the fine

[07:16] hotels and resorts program or the hotel

[07:18] collection through MX Travel. There's up

[07:19] to $200 of Uber credits split up into 15

[07:22] bucks per month with an extra $20 in

[07:24] December. And there's also a credit that

[07:25] covers the cost of Uber 1. Then there's

[07:27] up to $200 of airline fee credits, a

[07:29] credit for clear plus, up to $400 in

[07:32] resi credits that are split up into 100

[07:34] bucks per quarter, as well as up to $300

[07:36] in digital entertainment credits split

[07:38] up into 25 bucks per month. Up to $300

[07:40] in Lululemon credits split up into $75

[07:43] per quarter. Up to $100 of Saks Fifth

[07:45] Avenue credits split up into 50 bucks

[07:47] semiannually. And then a credit that

[07:49] covers the cost of a Walmart Plus

[07:50] subscription. So yeah, that's a ton of

[07:52] credits here to keep track of that could

[07:54] be valuable to you depending on your

[07:55] spending habits. But spending habits are

[07:57] very subjective. And I will also say

[07:59] that it's kind of annoying that there's

[08:00] all these different timelines that you

[08:02] have to keep track of as well for when

[08:03] each of these credits expires. So for

[08:05] me, I'm going to give the MX Platinum a

[08:07] 3.5 out of five stars here for its

[08:09] annual credits because there's

[08:10] definitely a lot of potential value here

[08:12] for someone who is willing to do the

[08:13] work. But paying $895 for an upfront

[08:16] annual fee just to have this card every

[08:17] year is also a pretty big hole to dig

[08:19] yourself out of. So I think 3.5 stars is

[08:21] a fair rating. Next, there's the Chase

[08:23] Sapphire Reserve, which now is pretty

[08:25] much just another coupon book after its

[08:26] recent update. So, again, same thing

[08:28] here where I'm going to quickly go over

[08:29] all the annual credits that you get with

[08:31] this card, but then I'll also summarize

[08:32] things in more detail in that free PDF

[08:34] you can get down below. Now, with the

[08:36] Sapphire Reserve, you're going to get up

[08:37] to $300 of annual travel credits that

[08:39] are super easy to use on any kind of

[08:41] travel. So, pretty much anyone who does

[08:43] even some light traveling is easily

[08:44] going to get the full $300 in value from

[08:46] this credit to help lower the $7.95

[08:48] annual fee down to something that feels

[08:50] effectively like it's lower already.

[08:52] There's also up to $500 in credits for

[08:54] the edit collection of hotels that you

[08:56] can book through Chase, which is split

[08:57] up into 250 bucks for the first 6 months

[08:59] of the year and then another 250 bucks

[09:01] for the second 6 months of the year.

[09:03] However, credit to Chase with his

[09:04] credit, no pun intended there, because

[09:06] starting on January 1st of 2026, now

[09:09] this credit is going to be just up to

[09:11] $250 for prepaid bookings made with the

[09:13] edit collection twice per year at any

[09:15] time. There's also $250 of value for

[09:18] Apple TV Plus and Apple Music

[09:19] subscriptions. A $120 Door Dash Dash

[09:22] Pass membership up to $300 in StubHub

[09:25] credits split up into 150 bucks

[09:27] semiannually. up to $120 in lift credits

[09:30] split up into 10 bucks monthly. Up to

[09:32] $120 bucks in Pelon credits split up

[09:34] into 10 bucks monthly. And then up to

[09:36] $300 in Door Dash credits that contain

[09:38] monthly credits for several different

[09:40] delivery types that Door Dash offers.

[09:41] Again, apologies for all those numbers.

[09:43] But personally, I love that $300 travel

[09:45] credit. And then again, all those other

[09:47] credits are going to be very subjective.

[09:48] They all have different timelines as

[09:50] well, just like the MX Platinum. So, I'm

[09:51] going to give the CSR the same rating

[09:53] here of 3.5 out of five stars. But that

[09:56] rating could be higher or lower for you

[09:58] based on your own spending habits. Then

[09:59] 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.