Battle Of The Premium Cards: Which One Is Right For You? - Forbes

At the high end of the credit card market sit the premium credit cards: The Platinum Card® from American Express, Chase Sapphire Reserve® and the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. These cards carry large annual fees, but also offer some of the most generous benefits you'll find. The perks on these high-end cards include travel statement credits, airline lounge access, rewards on spending and robust travel and consumer insurance protections.

In this article we compare several premium credit cards to see which ones rise to the top and which ones fall flat against the competition. The results might surprise you.

The Contenders

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is Chase's flagship premium travel card. In addition to having a compelling set of point transfer partners, the $550-annual-fee card offers a number of ways to increase the value of cash-equivalent redemptions for those in the Chase Ultimate Rewards® ecosystem. The card features a $300 travel credit that is applied automatically towards travel purchases. Rewards are worth 50% more when redeemed for travel through the Ultimate Rewards site and may be worth outsized value when transferred to travel transfer partners.

The Platinum Card® from American Express

American Express increased the annual fee on The Platinum Card® from American Express (Terms apply. See rates and fees) to a lofty $695 making it the most expensive card in our contest. The card earns 5 membership rewards points per dollar for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel on up to $500,000 per calendar year, 5 points per dollar on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel and 1 point per dollar on other eligible purchases. The card also offers more statement credit opportunities than perhaps any other card, plus widespread access to premium airport lounges including the American Express Centurion and Escape Lounges, Priority Pass lounges and Delta Sky Clubs when flying Delta. However, the $200 airline incidental credit, $100 Saks Fifth Avenue Credit (enrollment required) and the myriad of other credits that come with this card require jumping through hoops to redeem.

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is the newest contender in the premium card lineup. Priced well below the other premium cards at $395 per year, the card earns 2 miles per dollar on all eligible purchases and 5 miles per dollar on flights and 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars when booking via Capital One Travel, and comes with premium travel insurance benefits and Priority Pass lounge access. The card offers an up to $300 annual travel credit for travel booked through the Capital One portal and a 10,000 mile anniversary bonus.

U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card*

The U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card* may be lesser-known, but offers generous cash-back equivalent rewards for both travel and mobile wallet spending. With this card you'll earn 5 points per dollar on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked directly in the Altitude Rewards Center, 3 points per dollar on eligible travel purchases and mobile wallet spending and 1 point per dollar on all other eligible net purchases. The card also features an extremely usable travel credit benefit and a $400 annual fee. One potential caveat: You have to bank with U.S. Bank in order to apply for the card.

Crystal® Visa Infinite® Credit Card*

The Crystal® Visa Infinite® Credit Card* from City National Bank used to be a favorite among travel bloggers until the card cut the guest entry perk on its Priority Pass Select membership benefit. But the card still offers a more-generous than-the-others lounge benefit that includes an up to $550 annual airline lounge membership fee credit if annual spending on the card is $50,000 or more that can also be combined with the card's up to $350 airline incidental fees statement credit.

Battle of the Perks

Airport Lounge Access

Most premium cards come with some form of airport lounge access, and which lounge access program is most advantageous will depend heavily on your travel patterns.

• If you are a solo traveler: who is either not loyal to a particular airline or who is loyal to Delta Air Lines, The Platinum Card® from American Express comes out on top. In addition to offering Priority Pass Select access with two guests, the Platinum Card grants access to the American Express Centurion Lounges and Escape Lounges, which includes an additional 40+ lounges globally. The Platinum Card® from American Express offers the most lounge access of any credit card, but keep in mind that starting in 2023 Centurion Lounge guest access will be limited unless you put $75,000 annual spending on the card.
• If you have a traveling companion or a family: The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card likely offers the best lounge access benefit for you. The card offers a Priority Pass membership which allows two guests for free and access to Capital One's small, but expanding network of airline lounges. For travelers with family or trusted friends, the Venture X's killer feature is that the card allows you to add up to four authorized users at no cost, and each authorized user receives their own Priority Pass membership.
• If you need to purchase access to an airline lounge program: The City National Bank Crystal® Visa Infinite® Credit Card* offers up to a $550 airline lounge club membership fee statement credit when you spend over $50,000 on your card within a year. The Crystal® Visa Infinite® Credit Card* also offers Priority Pass access, which expands your lounge reach beyond just one airline's branded lounges.

Winners: American Express Platinum Card for solo travelers, Capital One Venture X Card for family travelers
Honorable Mention: City National Bank Crystal Visa Infinite Card

Transferable Points Rewards

If you are looking to maximize the value of a transferable points currency, the place to look is point transfers to airline and hotel partners. Transferring to these travel partners can elevate the value of your points from a fixed cash value, even when you redeem points for domestic coach class awards. When you redeem your points for business class and first class international travel, it's possible to get even more value.

Of the major transferable points currencies, Chase Ultimate Rewards generally offers the most value for U.S. based travelers because of a combination of travel partners with easily accessible redemption options and aspirational luxury travel opportunities.

U.S.-based travelers will find the most utility out of transfers that offer easy redemptions for domestic travel, and here Chase delivers. Ultimate Rewards can be transferred directly to JetBlue, United Mileage Plus and Southwest Rapid Rewards, all partners which offer easy redemption for coach class domestic and international travel on their websites. In addition British Airways offers some compelling redemptions on short-haul domestic travel on its partner American Airlines.

For those seeking aspirational awards, Chase partners with some interesting airlines that frequently offer outsized value through business and first class award travel redemptions. For business class travel to Europe, KLM's special fares sometimes offer 50% off business class award ticket prices to Europe, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is frequently the best place to find reasonably priced awards in Delta One to Europe. Aspirational luxury travel awards can also be found with Emirates Skywards and Singapore Airlines, also Ultimate Rewards transfer partners.

Finally, for those seeking hotel awards, Ultimate Rewards transfers to Hyatt can frequently net well over 1.5 cents in value per point. All-around, the Chase Sapphire Reserve has the best combination of usable and aspirational transfer partners for U.S. based travelers.

The honorable mention in this category goes to The Platinum Card® from American Express. Their transfer partners include both partners useful for U.S. domestic flights like Delta Air Lines and JetBlue and easily accessible partners offering aspirational awards like KLM, LifeMiles and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.

Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve
Honorable Mention: American Express Platinum

Rewards on General Spending

The most rewarding card for general spending is a card that doesn't get much coverage in the miles and points space, the U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card*.

The card earns a competitive rate on travel spending, but its secret weapon is that the card also earns 3 points per dollar on mobile wallet spending. If you add the card to Google Pay or Apple Pay and shift to using your mobile wallet for in-store purchases, you'll earn 3 points per dollar on in-store purchases at places like Best Buy, Walmart, Costco, your favorite grocery store, furniture stores, home improvement stores and more as long as they accept mobile wallet purchases at the register. Many stores offer contactless payment compatible with Google Pay and Apple Pay, meaning that you'll likely earn increased rewards on almost everything that you don't buy online. If you are a heavy spender on travel, the card offers additional value, as you can redeem your points for 1.5 cents each against travel purchases, making it an effective 4.5% cash-back card for general spending.

The obvious runner-up for general spending is the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, which earns 2 points per dollar on all spending, everyday.

Winner: U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card
Honorable Mention: Capital One Venture X

Cash Value of Points

Many consumers prefer cash to other types of rewards because cash is the most flexible reward of them all as it can be spent on anything you like. If cash is your preference, there's one card that stands out: the U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card*.

When you redeem your Altitude Rewards against travel purchases for statement credits, your points are worth 1.5 cents each. In addition to offering incredible cash-back value, U.S. Bank makes cash-back redemptions easy and immediate. When you sign up for Real-Time Rewards, you receive a text message immediately after an eligible charge and you can redeem your points against that charge via a text message back. Even without travel purchases to redeem against, U.S. Bank Altitude Rewards can be redeemed for 1 cent each.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® also offers generous cash-back equivalent rewards. Through its Pay Yourself Back program, Chase allows you to redeem your Ultimate Rewards points against certain purchases for 50% increased value, or 1.5 cents each. Specific categories in the Pay Yourself Back program change but have previously included categories like groceries and dining. Points can also be redeemed for travel purchases with Chase Ultimate Rewards at 1.5 cents each, but you'll miss out on the generous earnings on Ultimate Rewards travel spending if you redeem this way, so it's not entirely equivalent to cash back. Chase Ultimate Rewards can always be redeemed for a cash-back reward at 1 cent each.

American Express does not offer a compelling way to cash out Membership rewards; most of the cash-back equivalent redemptions offer well less than 1 cent per point value.

Winner: U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card
Honorable Mention: Chase Sapphire Reserve

Annual Statement Credits

Statement credits can be a valuable perk that provide a cash rebate to offset certain purchases. At first glance, you might gravitate toward the largest number, but size of the credit isn't the only thing that matters. Credits that apply automatically to a wide variety of purchases or are applied automatically are vastly more usable than credits that require booking with a specific vendor or that apply only to a small subset or purchases. For example, the Capital One Venture X credit must be used for travel booked through Capital One's portal, which is less valuable than the Sapphire Reserve's $300 statement credit that applies automatically to eligible travel purchases.

The U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card* offers an annual travel credit of $325. The credit is applied automatically against charges from merchants that classify themselves as travel, a restaurant, a fast-food restaurant or a bar. The $325 credit is both larger than the credits offered by the other cards and applies automatically to a wide variety of categories, making it among the most useful statement credits.

American Express receives an honorable mention for the sheer number of statement credits offered with enrollment, but doesn't clinch the award in this category because all of them only apply to a limited set of vendors or are meted out monthly over the year. Statement credit offers include $200 toward airline incidentals on your preferred airline, a $200 credit toward bookings with Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection, $200 in Uber Cash, a $179 Clear Credit, a $240 Digital Entertainment Credit, a $155 Walmart+ credit and more. In addition to annual statement credits, the Amex Offers program offers cardmembers a variety of targeted statement credit opportunities throughout the year. If you are willing to jump through some hoops and spend with specific vendors, you will find that The Platinum Card® from American Express offers the greatest opportunity for statement credits.

Winner: U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card
Honorable Mention: American Express Platinum Card

Rewards on Travel Spending

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® and U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card* rise to the top with their 3 points per dollar earn rate on a wide variety of travel purchases. But if you are able to book travel through the cards' respective portals, you can substantially increase the rewards you earn.

Both cards also sweeten the deal with additional rewards when you book through their travel portals, but Chase is both more generous with rewards on travel purchased through Ultimate Rewards and awards bonus points on a wider variety of travel. Hotels and car rentals booked through the Ultimate Rewards portal earn 10 points per dollar spent. Flights booked through the Ultimate Rewards portal earn 5 points per dollar.

The U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve is less generous in its rewards for bookings through the Altitude Rewards Center. Only prepaid hotels and car rentals booked through the portal earn increased rewards of 5 points per dollar.

Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve
Honorable Mention: U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Card

Notable Unique Perks

Some cards include notable additional perks that you might be able to leverage for some incremental value. For example, most cards offer some sort of credit for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry enrollment. A few highlights are below, but we've only listed perks that are relatively unique to each card.

In the unique perks category, the Venture X is the clear winner as free authorized user cards allow you to have up to five Priority Pass memberships on a single account.

• Chase Sapphire Reserve: Earn 10 points per dollar with Chase Dining purchases through Ultimate Rewards
• American Express Platinum: Highly rated concierge service. Upgrades and hotel amenities through Fine Hotels + Resorts
• Capital One Venture X: Free authorized user cards, 10,000 miles every cardmember anniversary year

Winner: Capital One Venture X
Honorable Mention: American Express Platinum

Travel Insurance

Travel insurance is frequently a benefit of premium credit cards, and the differentiator is often in the details. Many of the cards featured in this article offer some combination of trip cancellation and interruption insurance, auto rental collision damage waiver insurance, lost luggage reimbursement and trip delay reimbursement.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® includes a full suite of travel insurance benefits, but makes its rental collision damage waiver benefit primary insurance. Many of the other cards offer only secondary insurance, meaning that your other insurances, such as your personal auto insurance will pay before the credit card's benefit will kick in. In addition, for some other insurances that require you to charge eligible travel to your card, Chase's guide to benefits states that only a portion of the eligible travel must be charged to your card for the benefit to apply. Many of the other cards require you to charge the entire amount of travel to your card or impose additional requirements such as round-trip travel.

The Crystal® Visa Infinite® Credit Card* adds Hotel Theft Protection to the mix, covering up to $1,000 in personal property stolen from a hotel room. In addition, its auto rental collision damage waiver insurance is primary which is enough to give it an honorable mention.

Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve
Honorable Mention: City National Crystal Visa Infinite

Insurance and Protections

Many credit cards offer consumer insurance protections like extended warranty protection, purchase protection and return protection, but the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and The Platinum Card® from American Express rise to the top of the pack of the premium cards offering these benefits.

Both the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and The Platinum Card® from American Express offer the trifecta of consumer insurance benefits, including purchase protection, return protection, and extended warranty coverage. But Chase's benefit limits are more generous in ways that are likely to be more useful to most. Chase extends purchase protection for 120 days from the date of purchases, while American Express only provides this benefit for 90 days* and Chase allows up to $500 per item for return protection claims, as opposed to American Express' $300 limit per item*. Finally Chase's extended warranty covers purchases by an additional year, while the American Express benefit doubles the warranty, up to an additional year*.

American Express deserves an honorable mention in this category for both consistent service and one aspect of their extended warranty protection that may be more useful in some cases. American Express has a history of efficient and timely claims processing for its consumer insurance benefits and its extended warranty protection applies to warranties of up to 5 years*.

Helpful Terms
Extended Warranty Protection extends the warranty of eligible purchases usually by up to an additional year.
Purchase Protection protects your purchases against loss, damage or theft for a period of time, usually 90-120 days after the date of purchase.
Return Protection provides a refund of an item's purchase price if a merchant refuses to take an item back within a specified window, usually 90 days from the date of purchase.

Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve
Honorable Mention: American Express Platinum

The Winners

Which card will be best for you depends primarily on your travel patterns and which perks you value. For three specific types of travelers, however, a few cards stand out:

• For those who prefer cash rewards: The U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card* is likely the best choice for you. The card earns 5 points per dollar on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked directly in the Altitude Rewards Center, 3 points per dollar on eligible travel purchases and mobile wallet spending and 1 point per dollar on all other eligible net purchases. Points can be redeemed for a cash statement credit at 1 cent per point, or redeemed for statement credits to offset travel purchases for 1.5 cents per point. In addition, the card offers an up to $325 eligible travel expense rebate that mostly offsets its annual fee.
• For those who prefer travel rewards: The Chase Sapphire Reserve® earns 5 points per dollar on air travel and 10 points per dollar on hotels and car rentals when purchasing travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards® immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3 points per dollar on other travel and dining and 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases and several options to redeem points through the Chase Travel center at a value of 1.5 cents per point. In addition, Chase's mix of airline and hotel transfer partners include both partners that offer easy options for common redemptions as well as opportunities to redeem points for luxury travel.
• For those who prefer airline lounge access: The right card for you will likely depend on how many people you travel with and whether you are loyal to a particular airline. If you are a solo traveler, The Platinum Card® from American Express is likely your best bet and will offer the widest lounge access. If getting as many people into international lounges is your priority, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card can get you the most lounge access for the most people.

To view rates and fees for The Platinum Card® from American Express please visit this page.

Battle Of The Premium Cards: Which One Is Right For You? - Forbes