With these changes to the Freedom Unlimited, it makes one wonder if the Chase Reserve is worth the cost of the $550 annual fee. I have used the Chase Ultimate Reward program to fund the majority of my travel expenses. I have a Freedom which is a no annual fee card that now earns points better that what is earned on the Reserve. I also have a Chase Sapphire Preferred card that will let me combine points from the Unlimited. Using the Preferred I get all the flexibility that is available on the Chase Travel Portal. I will only be able to redeem my points at 1.25 cents when I use the Preferred, opposed to getting 1.50 cents if I used the Reserve. I can live with that.protagonist wrote: ↑Wed Sep 02, 2020 11:29 am I just got this email today:
EARN MORE CASH BACK
ON YOUR CARD STARTING 9/13/2020!
All of this is automatic—no activation required, no annual fee and no caps on the amount of rewards you can earn! Benefits include:
Man on road trip 5%
Unlimited cash back on
travel
purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®1
Couple eating pizza 3%
Unlimited cash back on
dining
at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services1
Girl in a Drugstore 3%
Unlimited cash back on
drugstore
purchases1
Plus, continue to earn 1.5% unlimited cash back on everything else you buy.1
Simply use your card to enjoy your new earning power starting September 13, 2020 — it's all automatic, no activation required and no annual fee.
The only thing that I will be missing using the Unlimited/Preferred system is access to travel lounges. When we traveled, we really enjoyed taking advantage of this benefit. I am seriously considering going the Morgan Stanley route to get the Amex Platinum. I can work this so that I can get the Platinum card and not pay any fees. This will give me lounge access plus more.
https://www.morganstanley.com/what-we-d ... hplus.html
With all these changes, one has to think that more changes will be coming, specifically to the Reserve and the Preferred.