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The regular Autograph card is the best card for hotels (3x) and gas (3x) with no annual fee. It's also not AmEx, which helps in certain other countries where [frequently] only Visa or MasterCard are accepted. It's best for hotels for people who don't want to be locked into a certain hotel group, and who also don't want to book hotels non-directly. Non-direct hotel bookings have jacked prices, so multipliers that seem to be higher than 3x actually aren't truly higher than 3x (when booking non-direct). The Journey card only helps if you want the higher multiplier on direct untied hotel spend (4x vs. 3x) -- basically, if your hotel spend is high enough to surpass the effective $50 annual fee, then go for Journey card; otherwise, stick with the regular Autograph card.
The Active Cash, Autograph, and now the Autograph Journey really seem like WF is simply taking the best aspects of BOA, Chase, and Citi cards and adding a bit of their own flair on them. I'm certainly not mad at it. If they can add better travel partners, this could be a really nice travel card.
I'll happily be getting this card. No one else is doing 5x on hotels unlimited. 4x on airfare is great since I mostly book Southwest. Obviously can't book Southwest in the Capital One travel portal so no good for my venture. X. 0 I've never cared about Chase cards because the earning sucks to me. I'll earn way more points with my gold card and my Wells Fargo setup then a Chase setup.
@@yurig2530 freedom flex requires a good 5x category and ink card means I have to constantly go to office supply stores to earn 5x. I'd rather have 3x on gas all year than 5x for one quarter
Imo the Citi Premier is better than the CSP or the new Autograph Journey. Citi has solid airline transfer partners, even though hotel partners are lacking. But you shouldn't be transferring points over to hotels anyways (for the most part). The Premier has way better earning rates overall and isn't mentioned enough as an option. Maybe they don't have travel protections or whatever, but then again my primary for having CC's isn't for insurance protections 🤷♂️
@@shawn.credit Citi's cards are strong, I think the general overarching complaint about Citi is their awful customer service and their wonky user interface which is why most people don't bother with them.
🏇The Autograph Journey/Autograph duo seems like a good pair for people that want a low-cost card setup. With those two cards you've got every major category covered with either 3, 4, or 5 points, except groceries. More transfer partners are expected to be added to the program, but it also offers a simple 1-cent per point cashback setup for people that don't want to go that route.
I think the card is kind of odd, ignoring insurance you are paying a $45 EAF for an extra 2x hotel and 1x air travel both when booked direct. Nice I guess if you spend enough to make it pay but compared to the basic autograph you lose, streaming, gas, transit, mobile phone as categories. It’s not clear the journey is a better card esp if some of your travel spend is via OTA. What they need to do A) get at least one transfer partner where it is easy to get outsized value on domestic travel B) remove travel from the base autograph and add grocery
🐎 interesting card with good multipliers and bonus for an EAF of $45. Isn’t it strange that they would launch it without having their full list of transfer partners in place? It could be really appealing if they added AA and Hyatt for example but right now if feels incomplete.
1) The multipliers is very solid. The transfer partners are not great. However, they do cover all 3 airline alliances which is beneficial. 2) Unpopular opinion, it fairs well in the current landscape. 5x on hotels plus double that pints when redeeming at Choice. Unpopular because choice isn’t everyone’s first….choice. In Europe, it’s always been a hidden gem and highly undervalued by American consumers like myself at first. 3) I feel it won’t make a dent but it’ll be a gateway into expending into premium cards. Oh and 🎠
🐎i have a feeling its a touch too good to be true, especially when paired with the rest of the WF family. Possibly see a pull back on the percentages like the Uber Card, or shuffle of benefits like VX. As a former Uber Card holder and current VX holder, both have made me wary.
Great video Sebby! I always appreciate when you go into business analytics. It totally separates you from the other credit card points and miles videos that are just straight up card analysis. Keep it coming! Congrats in advance for 300k!
They have British airways as a transfer partner which is part of the same alliance so you can just book AA flights with them and usually at a better rate that going direct to AA as well.
@@fluffywarhampsterbut it’s also super hit or miss. I tried for a million hours trying to make Avios actually work for our flights like our AA miles would. I wouldn’t put them into even close to the same category. It’s like when people say you can fly delta through Virgin Atlantic.
@@fluffywarhampster Obviously you haven't done your studies... When redeeming miles, AA mileage will beat Avios any day with less miles & taxes for the same code shared flight you're trying to book.
Great info, and I am impressed with WF pushing ahead with their cards, but to be honest I am not looking to increase my management of ecosystems in 2024. You're correct in stating that better has to be significantly better not marginally better. WF should increase it's relationship with Bilt and build on that and the partnerships Bilt is pursuing. 2024 also seem to be the year when I I can get another Chase bonus on 3 of their cards. Sorry WF, but the only card I am going to get from you beyond the Bilt, is the Choice Hotel card.
It's because bilt is not actually a wells fargo credit card. It's only issued by wells fargo (partnered) bilt had the same exact benefits before wells partnership. difference was, it was a invite only card at the time. So wells have nothing to do with bilt in the regard of transfer opportunities because its 2 separate companies.
🏇🐴🐎 I currently have the WF autograph and am struggling to see how that card fits with the new Journey. 1. Are the rewards on the autograph transferable to the journey? 2. The categories seem to overlap quite a bit with better multipliers on the journey. The only advantage that the autograph has are 3x on gas and 3x on streaming. Is that your understanding as well?
Best review and analysis since this blah card was introduced. Passing even though I have Wells accounts with minimum or no balances for when I need to visit a branch in person. AMEX Platinum and Gold along with Citi Costco for the win.
Sebastian, What is nice about the new card from WF is you don’t have to use a travel portal to get those points. Unlike chase and Capone and Amex. WF is letting you book directly with an airline to get the 5x points.
I was thinking the same thing. Huge win, IMHO. I churned my CSP, but there's no way I can justify keeping it given the hoops you have to jump through for that 5x.
If I just applied for the Bilt card recently about a month ago? If I apply for it, would I have any issues not getting an approval? [I have good credit]
I recently got the bilt card and already have the basic autograph card. I just wonder to get the ability to combine the points from both cards. Im kinda interested in the premium autograph card but hoping for more benefits a lil more comparable to venture x
🐎 I wish they broadened what counts as travel for the 3X multiplier but I'll pick it up. The 5X on hotels is great if you don't already have a co-branded hotel card. I can see them adding transfer partners like Virgin, Singapore, Emirates, Qantas, and Aeroplan in the future.
I can't understand the argument for preferring a $145 annual fee with a $100 airline credit. There's no upside & only potential downside to that. Assuming that you always use the credit, it works out exactly the same. But if there is ever a year where you don't use the credit, then you just lost an additional $50.
It is an interesting offering. They have more work to do on the partners. I'm really intrigued by the ability to have the regular Autograph transfer as well. On the business side, I think they see Bilt as an access point to a young demographic with money. I have a C1 cafe next to my workplace that has a bunch of lingering sales associates cross selling after giving you discounted coffee. Same basic principle, but they have some more work to do. The experiences piece mentioned in the release is the key point. Build loyalty with an affluent demographic through "access" opportunities. The travel points are just a part of the story.
Earn multipliers are nice. Will wait to see what other transfer partners they add. Nothing exciting about the card. It's a card I might get just because I have all the 'good' cards already.
Also I have no problem with these transfer partners. Most of us are already in chase, amex, capital one, etc. these partners are good to pool points together since since they aren't unique to wells Fargo
I'm excited for the card. I already use the AF + AC combo for cashback, so this card is a nice SUB to get and some multipliers. I called my banker and scheduled the Mar 9 in branch office application time, I'll keep you posted how that goes. Overall, If I keep this card, close it, or wait for the Autograph Beyond card at some point, I'm happy with the cashback. $95 isn't too bad even if I keep my cashback set up going, just gotta see how often I can spend on hotels and airlines to make it worth it.
With the breakup with BILT and AA, this has shot my confidence in Autograph getting AA as a partner. My speculation is AA will just continue/focus with Citi on the AA cards. I do love my existing Autograph card that I use for multiple categories. Not too excited about the Journey so I wont be getting it. We'll see what the Beyond provides.
🐎I am recent subscriber circa '22 and I have followed your advice. I travel a lot and try to max my options for travel amenities--lounge access, points, travel credits etc. I just got approved for the autograph journey but based on your video what's the actual benefit of keeping it? or should I mange it for a year and maybe WF would add more benefits by the next annual fee?
🐴 How many takes did you need for the cool coupon book spin toss? 😀 This seems like a me-too card that will appeal to beginners but elicit yawns from savvy card users. This should help the stock a little bit in the short term, but baring compelling upgrades, this card will likely get lost in a sea of similar cards from issuers with better reputations
To me, the main benefit of this card vs CSP is that you can book direct with hotels to earn their loyalty points/status AND the 5x on hotels with the card.
Capital one Savor one still a better card than this. Plus a no annual fee and 0% card with a land you only need to spend $500 in 3 months to get a $200 bonus. To get $600 and spend $4000 with no 0 percent interest is not worth it for me. Benefits are mid.
All of the no annual fee WF cards have $600 cell phone protection. It is a welcome strategy to have the same kind of coverage with a higher cap for this $95 AF card.
🐴Agreed, I won't apply for this. As they build out the ecosystem of cards, I'll be curious to see how it maps. Hopefully this is a v1 that they build on for transfer and card pairings.
I hope Wells is planning to improve the online/mobile banking interface so that pending credit card transactions no longer disappear from the "pending" section a few hours after swiping. With lingering concerns around their reputational integrity, it doesn't vibe well for transactions to fall in to a void and then suddenly hard post a few days later. I quit using my Autograph due to it.
Appreciate your perspectives on the profit opportunity Wells Fargo has. I agree that they won't move the needle enough with the card in its current form, but a couple of big-hitter transfer partners may change that. The multipliers are really strong for a $95 card so that will draw interest.
Travel partners are def packing but it has great earning categories. Wondering if (and hoping) Chase takes this into account whenever they refresh the CSP
I was intrigued by your chart of Chase asset classes. Do you know where I can see this for other banks? Do you know how US Bank ranks in prime vs super prime vs subprime?
The card seems okay, but not enough benefit for me to stop using my amex business trifecta. I'd rather stay with what I have. I'm pretty happy with my current EAF's. Basically all depends on if they add AA as a transfer partner. If yes, then I'll apply, if no then I will stick with what I have.
Kinda curious why you'd like to see a $145af/100 credit? I'd understand if it was the equivalent of $100 in points, so you could use them for outsized value, but what am I missing here? Would you expect a larger bonus?
