Now, even the NYTimes is writing about the CSR…

You know it’s bad when even mainstream media outlets like the New York Times are writing about a credit card and the buzz it’s generating. (In full disclosure, I applied and was approved for a Chase Sapphire Reserve card)

All I’ll say right now is that you should get on the gravy train while it lasts. The CSR offers some ridiculous value with the 3x points on travel and dining and 1.5 cent redemption rate, which essentially means 4.5% back on those categories. I don’t see that rate of cash back as sustainable over the long run. If you think that something is too good to last, it probably is.

In recent years, one prominent example was the Club Carlson credit cards. 5x earning plus 1 night free on any award stay, and you could book two award stays back-to-back with a personal and business card to get 4 nights for the price of 2 award nights. Ridiculous value, so it got gutted.

More recently, the Citi Prestige credit card offered 1.6 cents back when buying American Airlines flights. If you had an old Citi Forward card, that meant 8% back on dining. They quickly gutted the Citi Forward. But the Citi Prestige card still meant 4.8% back on travel and 3.2% back on dining by itself, but they’ve lowered that to 1.25 cents per point. And of course there was the wonderful Admirals Club access (with guests), but that benefit is going away too.

Granted, there’s no ancillary benefit that I see as unsustainable with the Chase Sapphire Reserve (like the Admirals Club access afforded by the Citi Prestige), so maybe I’m wrong. Priority Pass membership really isn’t that useful unless you live in the Northwest (and have access to Alaska Airlines Board Rooms) or travel internationally, so I don’t think most cardholders will use it that much. But a 100k bonus is quite tempting, especially for a relatively low minimum spend requirement.