The Citi trifecta is clearly better in terms of straight cash back and economy travel, but in terms of protections and premium travel Chase is far better. Really eager to find out how good the Citi Strata Cards that they're rolling out sometime this year are. One or even both of them could really make the Citi trifecta the superior one.
Citi Trifecta has better multipliers. 5x highest spend cat, 3 travel, 3x real grocery multiplier, 3x dinning, 3x gas and 2x everything else smokes Chase multipliers. The downside with Citi is the lack of travel protections.
I also agreed, the citi premier really becomes a $95 membership fee so you can use the portal to transfer to partners. Without travel protections, it’s hard to use it for travel purchases.
It all comes down to what ecosystem you prefer. The Citi trifecta definitely has the earning categories covered better, but I think the Chase points and travel ecosystem beats it for my personal use case. Great comparison all around though Kevin!
Thanks for your videos. I've been watching credit vids non-stop to help decide which fecta is best. I would 100% choose Chase if groceries weren't online only and if the CFU was 2%. And the fact that it's so easy to PC from across the Citi cards is a plus for later down the road. In terms of travel protection, I guess I'd just have to get private travel insurance to solve that haha.
@@KevinYang oh yeah I was considering getting the flex for one year then getting the unlimited once the year was done to get two years of 5% but I wanted something long term. I do have a feeling Chase will improve their rewards in the next few years though.
Greetings! Trenton Matthews from Denver CO here. I would love it one day, if you were to do a dive into the "Capital One Trifecta" (or as I affectionately call it, the "QSV Trio"). The crazy thing with it though (besides the QuickSilver card starting it all), all of said other cards can be combined while mixing and matching with each other, depending on which tier ya prefer to climb. E.g, The "Cashback Duo", with "tier one" being the "Silver" and the "Saver One", and "tier two" being the "Silver" and the $95 "Saver." While with the Bifecta being either/or the following tiers (if not ading the Quickslver into the mix): Tier One = Saver One/Venture One Tier Two = Saver/Venture (or Saver One/Venture). Keep in mind with all of these tiers, I haven't even mentioned the Venture X yet! May you have a fantastic wednesday!
@@KevinYang My pleasure! I'm just glad I was able to get my own Quicksilver out of that $300 CL bucket last Friday (upgreated from the platinum), to $550! I also now have the Saver One at $500, and the Discover It Cashback at $3000 (with 18 months zero interest til August 2024).
The Citi Trifecta definitely has better multiplier coverage, but since the Premier card has questionable approval odds, I’d be happy with the Chase Trifecta if denied by Citi. Great comparison Kevin!
Yeah Chase has been pretty good at approvals. I have a friend who recently moved to the US and got approved for a Chase Freedom Unlimited in-branch in his first/second week!
@@KevinYang how? I’m planning on moving to US in the next months. And I’ve been told many times that you can’t get a credit card, you can only apply once you’ve been one year with your secured discover card 😅
I have the PayPal 2% cashback card because I got an offer for a $100 bonus for that one over the Citi double cash which never offered one. Now I’m deciding between the Citi custom cash and the Amex blue cash everyday. I’m leaning heavily towards the Custom cash because I am really looking for a gas card. Citi has a nice trifecta though.
If you're going for a card setup, Citi would be better than the Blue Cash. Within the Amex cash back arena you'll get a 3% gas and grocery with a 1.5% catch all. 6% on grocery if you pay a $95 AF.
I have the freedom flex currently. I've only had it since Jan '23. When I apply for the freedom unlimited soon I won't be able to get its bonus it sounds like.
I have had 2 Chase cards and 2 Citi cards for a bit now. I just got the Sapphire Preferred card. Does it make sense to buy into both ecosystems and get the Citi Premier card since they share a few of the same transfer partners?
You can always trial out cards for the first year and see if it makes sense to renew! Value in the first year is *usually* worth it given you can hit the minimum spend for welcome bonus
Citi seems to take the cake for team cash back. And if you'll spend more than $500 on a hotel, it makes sense. But the lack of travel protections makes it not an ideal travel setup -->> makes Chase the winner there.
i love your videos man and am a subscriber but your audio recording kills me. i mean this with all due respect, and only as feedback. upgrade your mic or tweak your settings. 🙏
Hey thanks a ton for that feedback! Do you think the more recent videos have improved? I do have a condenser mic boomed above me, though no sound dampening with hardwood floors. I wonder if this was a one-off instance, or they continue to be like that. Thanks!
@@KevinYang shiti contacts the merchant to determine whether the charge was legitimate. If the merchant says that it was, shiti will take their side and you’re SOL. Doesn’t matter what the truth of the situation is, the merchant’s word is law to them, even though you’re the paying customer/cardholder. So if it is a fraudulent charge but is otherwise made legitimately (such as entering in credit card information to buy an item), the merchant can say it’s legitimate, reports this to shiti and then shiti puts the bill on the cardholder. You really have no recourse short of getting the police involved and threatening shiti with legal action, bad press or both.
To me it kind of sounds like a citi trifecta (or the two citi no af cards until the premier is needed) + the amex trifecta is kind of the best set up. You get the premium travel perks and protections from amex (plus p good multipliers) and citi covers just a few things like gas and a 5x category of your choice. It would take some serious planning around when to open the premier for the transfer partners but beyond that seems like they compliment each other well. The Hyatt-Chase partnership is single-handedly keeping Chase alive these days
Chase sapphire reserve, Southwest Airlines (chase), and Citi Aadantage World Elite is all ya need imo. I have so many benefits and points i can fly in comfort anywhere and still feel like a vip admirals lounge and priority pass through sapphire reserve
I think for 99% of people, it’s smarter to get the Citi custom cash and the Citi premier card, and then downgrade the Citi premier card to the double cash. You still get the bonus, but you never have an unnecessary card charging you $95. Think about it. The only advantage for the Citi premier is the 3% for gas, supermarkets, and restaurants. The double cash gets you 2% for these categories without spending $95. You’d need to spend a minimum of $9,500 in those 3 categories to break even with the double cash because that’s when the extra 1% covers the $95 annual fee of the premier. Groceries are usually the largest expense for a person so you would actually be better off spending that in the 5% custom cash category. That’s on up to $500 a month which covers most people. That means you’d need to spend $9500 on restaurants and gas per year, which is far below the average spend per household in America. That $95 annual fee doesn’t cover this, so after the first year you’re probably losing money on the Citi premier. Not to mention losing out on the ease of using the double cash for everything except one category.
Nope downgrade the premier to another custom cash. You now can cover 2 of the premiers categories for 5x for no af. You can even get a third custom cash with a bit of ambition. Throw in the rewards+ and double cash and woo!
@@KevinYang the simple venture x credits are superior to competitors, plus 2x back on all purchases. Combine that with 3x categories of the savor one, and the earning potential is far better for the majority of people than the Amex, chase, and citi. Why get a free card from citi that earns 2% when you can get 2% with the venture x (a card that pays you $5 per year)?
@@christopheroleary9455 Such a great breakdown! I think the only caveat is how people then use those points. If they're going for straight non-travel cash back, definitely! However if travel, Chase does have some more options for good redemptions, including a (imo) better list of travel partners!
@@KevinYang the gold is my favorite card hands down and i can take advantage of the 240$ credit easily so at 10$ annual fee it can’t be beat i managed to find a referral link on google and got a 90k welcome bonus go for it it’s worth it.
The Citi trifecta is clearly better in terms of straight cash back and economy travel, but in terms of protections and premium travel Chase is far better.
Really eager to find out how good the Citi Strata Cards that they're rolling out sometime this year are. One or even both of them could really make the Citi trifecta the superior one.
That's a great way to put it! And same here on the upcoming Citi cards!
Yep. Funny they call it “protections” when it’s a glass house and everyone has stones.
Citi Trifecta has better multipliers. 5x highest spend cat, 3 travel, 3x real grocery multiplier, 3x dinning, 3x gas and 2x everything else smokes Chase multipliers. The downside with Citi is the lack of travel protections.
Yup, Citi really needs to bring back travel protection... maybe they'll do so with their rumored upcoming card
@user-ni2wx7ih5v Did you product change into Custom Cash cards?
@user-ni2wx7ih5v Thanks for sharing!
I also agreed, the citi premier really becomes a $95 membership fee so you can use the portal to transfer to partners. Without travel protections, it’s hard to use it for travel purchases.
@@jinWhuang Though if you use the $100 credit, then it *could* be a good break even!
Great explanation! Really made it simple to understand the details
Glad you found it useful, thanks for watching!
It all comes down to what ecosystem you prefer. The Citi trifecta definitely has the earning categories covered better, but I think the Chase points and travel ecosystem beats it for my personal use case. Great comparison all around though Kevin!
Thanks Spencer! Agreed, some very good reasons to go one way or the other!
^^ what he said 👍🏼
@@docsays Great minds think alike!
Thanks for your videos. I've been watching credit vids non-stop to help decide which fecta is best. I would 100% choose Chase if groceries weren't online only and if the CFU was 2%. And the fact that it's so easy to PC from across the Citi cards is a plus for later down the road. In terms of travel protection, I guess I'd just have to get private travel insurance to solve that haha.
It's a trade-off for sure! Though the Chase Freedom Flex/Unlimited cards seem to still have the 5% back on groceries as part of their welcome bonuses!
@@KevinYang oh yeah I was considering getting the flex for one year then getting the unlimited once the year was done to get two years of 5% but I wanted something long term. I do have a feeling Chase will improve their rewards in the next few years though.
To me just the Hyatt transfer offer with Chase makes Chase the winner. Hyatt has amazing value if you can use them.
Hyatt is such a big part of the Chase strategy!
I really wish the Freedom Unlimited would bump their 1.5% to 2% back.. 🤷♂ Nice comparison Kevin!
That would be huge, especially getting the extra bonuses from the CSP and CSR on top!
It's already 2.25 essentially with the csr
@@aaront936 Yeah I think that's one of the reasons why they haven't done so yet!
I'm still higher on the Chase trifecta but Citi is making headway for sure!
Yup, Chase offers more "premium" experiences, but Citi is pretty close
Greetings!
Trenton Matthews from Denver CO here.
I would love it one day, if you were to do a dive into the "Capital One Trifecta" (or as I affectionately call it, the "QSV Trio").
The crazy thing with it though (besides the QuickSilver card starting it all), all of said other cards can be combined while mixing and matching with each other, depending on which tier ya prefer to climb.
E.g, The "Cashback Duo", with "tier one" being the "Silver" and the "Saver One", and "tier two" being the "Silver" and the $95 "Saver."
While with the Bifecta being either/or the following tiers (if not ading the Quickslver into the mix):
Tier One = Saver One/Venture One
Tier Two = Saver/Venture (or Saver One/Venture).
Keep in mind with all of these tiers, I haven't even mentioned the Venture X yet!
May you have a fantastic wednesday!
Some interesting insights, thanks!
@@KevinYang
My pleasure!
I'm just glad I was able to get my own Quicksilver out of that $300 CL bucket last Friday (upgreated from the platinum), to $550!
I also now have the Saver One at $500, and the Discover It Cashback at $3000 (with 18 months zero interest til August 2024).
Great Video Kevin! 👍
Thanks for watching!
The Citi Trifecta definitely has better multiplier coverage, but since the Premier card has questionable approval odds, I’d be happy with the Chase Trifecta if denied by Citi. Great comparison Kevin!
Yeah Chase has been pretty good at approvals. I have a friend who recently moved to the US and got approved for a Chase Freedom Unlimited in-branch in his first/second week!
@@KevinYang how? I’m planning on moving to US in the next months. And I’ve been told many times that you can’t get a credit card, you can only apply once you’ve been one year with your secured discover card 😅
@@ernestomorales6091 Not sure, they applied online, got denied. Went in branch and got one approved!
@@ernestomorales6091 Not sure about Chase freedom unlimited, but I got approved for the discover it card (not the secure) after 1 month moving to US
I’d never put travel spend on shiti. That’s playing with fire!
I like the citi setup; however, they need a premium travel card that earns thank you points, hopefully that is what we get with the strata series
Yes x1000!
I think you should do a chase trifecta vs capital one bifecta video. Also a video comparing prices in both travel portals
Noted!
@@KevinYang please if you can. I plan on applying next month but I’m stuck between the 2 setups.
@@CCpool007 Thanks for the suggestion, next week's video will be on comparing those two setups!
I have the PayPal 2% cashback card because I got an offer for a $100 bonus for that one over the Citi double cash which never offered one. Now I’m deciding between the Citi custom cash and the Amex blue cash everyday. I’m leaning heavily towards the Custom cash because I am really looking for a gas card. Citi has a nice trifecta though.
For gas, I'd definitely look at the Custom Cash. There is the $500 monthly limit, but unless you're driving a TON, it should still be fine
@@shawn7603 Gotta love Amex
If you're going for a card setup, Citi would be better than the Blue Cash. Within the Amex cash back arena you'll get a 3% gas and grocery with a 1.5% catch all. 6% on grocery if you pay a $95 AF.
Around 300k dead civilians by the most conservative estimates. I guess we should ignore those. 🙄
Can you do a comparison between Chase vs CapitalOne travel portal?
I have the freedom flex currently. I've only had it since Jan '23. When I apply for the freedom unlimited soon I won't be able to get its bonus it sounds like.
You will! They are treated as different cards and you will qualify for the bonus on the Freedom Unlimited!
@@KevinYang OK cool. I'll wait until next Jan so I can get its 1yr grocery bonus.
I have had 2 Chase cards and 2 Citi cards for a bit now. I just got the Sapphire Preferred card. Does it make sense to buy into both ecosystems and get the Citi Premier card since they share a few of the same transfer partners?
You can always trial out cards for the first year and see if it makes sense to renew! Value in the first year is *usually* worth it given you can hit the minimum spend for welcome bonus
Thank you Kevin. I appreciate your reply and guidance.
@@JonsCreditAndTravel No problem, enjoy whichever card you get!
Citi seems to take the cake for team cash back. And if you'll spend more than $500 on a hotel, it makes sense. But the lack of travel protections makes it not an ideal travel setup -->> makes Chase the winner there.
Exactly, definitely strong on the purely cash back front!
i love your videos man and am a subscriber but your audio recording kills me. i mean this with all due respect, and only as feedback. upgrade your mic or tweak your settings. 🙏
Hey thanks a ton for that feedback! Do you think the more recent videos have improved? I do have a condenser mic boomed above me, though no sound dampening with hardwood floors. I wonder if this was a one-off instance, or they continue to be like that. Thanks!
Can you use points from different credit cards to the same travel partner on the same transaction?
Within the same ecosystem, you can usually transfer points between your cards!
The shiti trifecta is all well and good until you have a $10k charge that you didn’t make and the bank refuses to believe it wasn’t you.
How was the processes of marking this as fraud?
@@KevinYang shiti contacts the merchant to determine whether the charge was legitimate. If the merchant says that it was, shiti will take their side and you’re SOL. Doesn’t matter what the truth of the situation is, the merchant’s word is law to them, even though you’re the paying customer/cardholder. So if it is a fraudulent charge but is otherwise made legitimately (such as entering in credit card information to buy an item), the merchant can say it’s legitimate, reports this to shiti and then shiti puts the bill on the cardholder. You really have no recourse short of getting the police involved and threatening shiti with legal action, bad press or both.
To me it kind of sounds like a citi trifecta (or the two citi no af cards until the premier is needed) + the amex trifecta is kind of the best set up. You get the premium travel perks and protections from amex (plus p good multipliers) and citi covers just a few things like gas and a 5x category of your choice. It would take some serious planning around when to open the premier for the transfer partners but beyond that seems like they compliment each other well. The Hyatt-Chase partnership is single-handedly keeping Chase alive these days
and the Hyatt-Chase partnership seems to be getting weaker.
You’re also paying 945$ in annual fees. Not the best value.
Chase sapphire reserve, Southwest Airlines (chase), and Citi Aadantage World Elite is all ya need imo. I have so many benefits and points i can fly in comfort anywhere and still feel like a vip admirals lounge and priority pass through sapphire reserve
I think for 99% of people, it’s smarter to get the Citi custom cash and the Citi premier card, and then downgrade the Citi premier card to the double cash.
You still get the bonus, but you never have an unnecessary card charging you $95. Think about it. The only advantage for the Citi premier is the 3% for gas, supermarkets, and restaurants. The double cash gets you 2% for these categories without spending $95. You’d need to spend a minimum of $9,500 in those 3 categories to break even with the double cash because that’s when the extra 1% covers the $95 annual fee of the premier.
Groceries are usually the largest expense for a person so you would actually be better off spending that in the 5% custom cash category. That’s on up to $500 a month which covers most people. That means you’d need to spend $9500 on restaurants and gas per year, which is far below the average spend per household in America.
That $95 annual fee doesn’t cover this, so after the first year you’re probably losing money on the Citi premier. Not to mention losing out on the ease of using the double cash for everything except one category.
Nope downgrade the premier to another custom cash. You now can cover 2 of the premiers categories for 5x for no af. You can even get a third custom cash with a bit of ambition. Throw in the rewards+ and double cash and woo!
I like both, but have a chase trifecta.
Yeah I do lean team Chase too haha
Capital One is the new king.
What do you love about Capital One?
See my comment I just posted for an extremely fun but absolutely maze of an idea for an upcoming video for this channel!
@@KevinYang the simple venture x credits are superior to competitors, plus 2x back on all purchases. Combine that with 3x categories of the savor one, and the earning potential is far better for the majority of people than the Amex, chase, and citi.
Why get a free card from citi that earns 2% when you can get 2% with the venture x (a card that pays you $5 per year)?
@@christopheroleary9455 Such a great breakdown! I think the only caveat is how people then use those points. If they're going for straight non-travel cash back, definitely! However if travel, Chase does have some more options for good redemptions, including a (imo) better list of travel partners!
I find chase card boring since they pretty much share all the same benefits across all their cards.
Yeah the overlap is a bit annoying. Do you use Citi instead?
@@KevinYang I only have the Citi custom cash for points i mainly use Amex I have a duo setup currently Gold & BBP.
@@Ragnar0321 The Amex Gold and BBP are amazing.. Can't wait til I can get my hands on the Gold!
@@KevinYang the gold is my favorite card hands down and i can take advantage of the 240$ credit easily so at 10$ annual fee it can’t be beat i managed to find a referral link on google and got a 90k welcome bonus go for it it’s worth it.
@@Ragnar0321 Nice! Yeah that one has been extra popular, along with Resy's offer for 75k points + up to $250 back on restaurant spend
Citi
What makes you choose Citi over Chase?
Chase/Hyatt > Citi
That Chase/Hyatt combo is really strong!
Citi, more like “Sh!tty”. By far the worst credit cards of all four issuers
Gotta give you a dislike, only because you missed the Citi Quadfecta.
The Rewards+ is definitely a card to consider, but wanted to keep it as apples to apples as possible! What do you love about the Quadfecta?