Good morning everyone, I hope you enjoyed reading about my credit card decisions surrounding keeping, closing, or converting my credit cards after the annual fees post. Check out my thoughts on my Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Ink Plus Business credit cards; my American Express Hilton Ascend and SPG Business credit cards; my Bank of America Alaska Airlines Business and Citi AT&T Access More credit cards. As a reminder, here are all the credit cards and their annual fees. In today’s post, I am going to cover both the US Bank FlexPerks Gold American Express Credit Card and the Wells Fargo Propel World Elite American Express Credit Card. Are they worth keeping, should I close them, or should I convert them to another credit card?
- Chase Sapphire Reserve – $450 (posted 4/1)
- Chase Ink Plus Business – $95 (posted 4/1)
- American Express Hilton Ascend – $95 (posted 4/3)
- American Express SPG Business – $95 (posted 4/6)
- Bank of America Alaska Airlines Business – $75 (posted 4/2)
- Citi AT&T Access More – $95 (posted 4/4)
- US Bank FlexPerks Gold – $85 (posted 4/3)
- Wells Fargo Propel World – $175 (posted 3/31)
US Bank FlexPerks Gold American Express Credit Card
The $85 annual fee just posted and I have seriously lost interest in FlexPoints over the years. The death nail came on December 31, 2017, when FlexPoints changed to a fixed 1.5 cents per point (CPP) value for all travel redemptions. This credit card earns 3x on airfare, 2x on gas, and 2x on restaurants. I currently use my Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card for travel, restaurants, and gas since I get 3x Chase Ultimate Reward Points on those purchases. I can also redeem Chase Ultimate Reward Points for travel at 1.5 CPP, so the Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card is as good or better in every way compared to the US Bank FlexPerks Gold American Express Credit Card. I redeemed almost all of my FlexPoints before December 31, 2017, and have a few hundred FlexPoints leftover in my account. Not to worry, I have a no annual fee US Bank FlexPerks Select+ American Express Credit Card that will keep my few hundred FlexPoints alive.
Decision: US Bank FlexPerks Gold American Express Credit Card will be converted to a no annual fee US Bank Cash 365 American Express Credit Card. That card earns 1.5% cash back on all purchases, so it will never be used.
Wells Fargo Propel World Elite American Express Credit Card
First of all, I have no idea how Wells Fargo can justify the $175 annual fee on this credit card. This card earns 3x on airfare, 2x on hotels, and 1x on everything else. The points are called GoFar rewards, which have limited uses. Like I said earlier, my Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card is as good or better in every way compared to the Wells Fargo Propel World Elite American Express Credit Card. The one good thing about this credit card is the $100 airline reimbursement, which can be used to buy airline gift cards. All in all, this credit card is not very good, I just got it for the $400 sign up bonus + $100 airline reimbursement.
Decision: Wells Fargo Propel World Elite American Express Credit Card will be a sacrificial lamb when I apply for the Wells Fargo Cash Wise Credit Card ($200 sign up bonus after spending $1,000 in 3 months, 1.5% cash back, and no annual fee). If I do not get instantly approved for that credit card, I will call Wells Fargo and move the credit line over to that new card. If that is not possible, I will downgrade this credit card to a no annual fee credit card.
Here is what the Wells Fargo Cash Wise Credit Card looks like and the card benefits:
Both of these credit card decisions were pretty easy. Do you think I made the right choices? If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. Have a great day everyone!
Consider product changing your US Bank FlexPerks Gold Amex to the Cash+ card instead of the 365 card. Cash+ has some great choices for 5% back quarterly bonus categories that you can choose, plus the earn limit is on $2,000 spend, not $1,500 like Chase Freedom.
Also, the FlexPerks Select+ card earns different points that are worth about $0.0067 per point, so I don’t think your remaining points will convert, and if they do, they will be almost worthless.
Hmm, good idea. I already have a US Bank Cash+ Credit Card, but I will call US Bank and see if they can convert my US Bank FlexPerks Gold AMEX to another US Bank Cash+ Credit Card. I totally agree that the US Bank Cash+ Credit Card is much better than the US Bank Cash 365 AMEX or US Bank FlexPerks Select+ AMEX. Thanks for the tip!
Please do let me know how the product conversion goes. Last year, I had asked to downgrade the Flexperks Visa to the Cash+ card and was not allowed. Did HUCA 3 times and seemed like they would not budge. In fairness, my spend on the card did pretty much stop once I got the Olympics signup bonus. Would like to hear if you are allowed to successfully PC to a no annual fee card, Grant.
I’ll let you know. Stay tuned.
Curious to hear what you did?
Pingback: Before Closing Wells Fargo Propel World AMEX Credit Card, Get $100 Airline Reimbursement
Once I converted my credit card to the US Bank Cash 365 Credit Card, I could not convert that credit card to another credit card or move the credit limit from those cards to my other US Bank cards.