[dimmke]

I've also found that they have gotten a lot more restrictive with new card offers likely because of the massive influencer industry encouraging churning etc...

I try to keep it simple: I have the $95/year Chase Preferred. I definitely get way more than $95 every year in rewards. It's also helpful for auto converting currency when abroad (the fees add up like crazy if you let individual services do this for you.)

I'm currently in Paris on a flight I booked with points but I use this card basically exclusively for all my expenses (except ones that have to be paid with cash/bank acct)

I recently tried to get one of these higher tier cards like the Reserve just for the lounge access and even though I have near perfect credit and longtime customer they wouldn't give me the joining bonus. It's not worth it overall, especially with these changes.