Credit Cards - Intrest, Fees, and Bullshit

[Ken]

You should check into the Barclay arrival cards.  I'd be very surprised if the redemption value made up for having 10x the annual fee over 2 years.  It basically works out to 2.1% off every purchase if you just save your redemptions for travel stuff, plus bonuses.

The CSR fee looks high on the surface ($450) but you immediately get $300 of it as travel credit. It works out if you actually travel with the card, and "travel" includes bus, Metro, parking, Uber, etc.

So the $150 annual fee I'm actually paying is still worth it given I use the card for 98% of my spending and get an assload of points back.

Yup - if you travel, it absolutely covers itself. Lounge access, global access/pre check covered, etc.