Best Amex for mid-level spend...?

[greenfrog86]

Hi - long time listener, first time caller here...

Have been looking through the forums and overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge being shared, however had a few questions I'm hoping someone can help me with...

I try to put all of my monthly spend through a CC and currently have a number of cards linked to QFF. Annual spend is around 30k.

Not sure if QFF is best for me as I don't take that many flights per year, and they are often not the best deal when buying flights - I take one or two personal OS trips per year, with no airline loyalty (cheaper is good).

As my income is pretty good but not stellar, I'm looking for options that a) I'm eligible for and b) won't cost me the earth.

First question - after looking at some of the comments here I'm considering changing to Amex MR...
What are your thoughts on this given that my spend is probably around 30k per year? It sounds like it would be more flexible to have MR points accumulate and transfer them to someone like Singapore when a flight is required...

Second question - if I change to a card that earns MR points, what would be best for my level of spend?

I can't find any comments on the green Amex charge card (other than when it's free with other Amex products) but I'm wondering if this card would be best for my spend? Seems to be $80AF + $80 Ascent fee. Other option is the Gold Ascent CC (paying 80 to get 1:1 points) - does anyone know if this is still available?
Gold Ascent doesn't seem to appear on the main page but you can still find it hidden away in the website... Are Amex just not actively promoting it any more?
I know the Plat CC is a pretty good deal, but I'm sure there are other people out there like me who just can't justify the AF for the amount of spend and travel that I do...

Hopefully there are other people out there that would find answers/advice on the above useful as well - not all of us can get a Plat Charge or Ultimate card so hoping for some 'mid-spend' advice to get the most out of CC spend and the occasional air travel.

Thanks to everyone who posts here - this forum really does have a wealth of information and some great advice

 

[JohnK]

I have a Gold Amex credit card that is fee free (as long as spend is >$9,000 pa) for life and I have it linked to Ascent which costs $80 pa. My annual spend on credit card is $24,000-$30,000. The plan is to use the MR points on Singapore Airlines or Virgin Atlantic awards to SE Asia.

I cannot justify spending the money for a Rewards Maximiser or Platinum credit card.

I also have a Qantas Amex Premium card which I use for Qantas spend only (for the 1 bonus point per $1) and at the moment I have the annual fee waived on it. If Amex decides to stop waiving the fee I will be getting rid of this card.