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Comment by light_hue_1 | Hacker News Reader

Wow. The X1 card is a terrible deal in a nice looking package.

Compared to the Chase Sapphire Reserve, it's just a step down in every way. You have lower rewards (about half) and fewer perks.

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You should compare the X1 against other cards with no annual fee, not against the CSR with its $550 annual fee.

One thing to note is that X1 points have fairly limited redemption options [1].

There are several cards that offer no annual fee + straight 2% cash back, like PayPal Mastercard, Citi Double Cash, Wells Fargo Active Cash, etc. Also, they tend to have better sign up bonuses ($100-$200) compared to just a few more points.

[1] https://frequentmiler.com/x1-card-too-good-to-be-true-heres-...

That citation is from 2020, and https://x1creditcard.com/legal/program-terms#x1-card-rewards... indicates you can redeem points 1point:1cent as statement credits.

And of course reddit points out they have cut that down to 0.7 cents

So I'll bet that cash back was always a lower rate. Their terms are rather evasively written, but my reading is that they have two different redemption categories, both called "statement credit":

1) "eligible Rewards Partner transaction" statement credit

2) general "Cash Back Statement Credit"

From the link you provided, they tell you that 2) can be a lower rate, but they don't tell you what that lower rate is. But I did see the recent reddit discussion saying that it's 0.7 points.

I've never had a card with an annual fee, honestly never really even considered it. I am FLOORED people are willing to get one that's $550. How does it work, if I go to sleep on 12/31 with a $0 balance, do I wake up on 1/1 owing $550?

You pay annually like any recurring subscription.

That chase card and its american express equivalent (the platinum card) give pretty nice rewards for people who travel often. This includes airport lounge access, credits for dining or taking uber/lyft, access to helpful services, status at hotels etc.

There are rewards cards across the price spectrum (some are free, some have an annual fee of $100, $250 etc).

Often for anything except the higher cost credit cards, making up the fee in rewards is trivial. American express has a CC that gives 6% back on groceries up to $6,000 annually. The annual fee is $100. That's pretty easy to make back and then some as an individual let alone as a couple or even a family.

Let’s see, I get the first $300 returned as a travel credit so now the net fee is $250, a chase point has about a $0.015 value, and you probably earn 2 points per dollar (but varies based on your spend mix), which equates to about 3% cash back on your spend or $8,333 dollars break even spend to make the $550 worth it (not including all the extra benefits that I’ve ascribed zero value to). If your spend mix skews more to travel and eating out, and you optimize for high value reward spend, you can get the equivalent of 4-10% cash back, so paying a net $250 to earn $400-$1,000 for every $10,000 I spend seems like a good deal

Those ultra high annual fee cards tend to have substantially better rewards than cheaper cards. For the sort of person who might spend $50,000 or more on travel in a year for example, it can make sense.

Exactly. In the case of the CSR, there’s a big general travel credit (maybe $200 or $300 off the top of my head), so that makes the net price less ridiculous. The target market with that kind of travel rewards card spends enough on travel for the rewards and statement credits to easily outweigh the annual fee. I don’t spend anywhere near enough for it to make sense for me, but it’s not quite as crazy as the $550 price tag makes it seem.

i dont disagree, but just to note the CSR gives you $300 back on a very broad, very easy to hit "travel credit", making it 250 a year effectively.

> You have lower rewards (about half) and fewer perks.

I'm not sure you're reading it right. From what I can tell, I can make tax and rent payments and get 3% statement credits. These two categories are typically at the lowest tier, and come with convenience fees. But at 3 percent, that cancels out and then some.

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