So I'm big on the credit card points game and trying to maximize the value I get from my expenditures. I'm interested to hear tips and advice from other credit card point chasers. I currently have 8 credit cards but only really use four of them which I'll detail below:
90% of spend is on the Chase trifecta:
-Chase Sapphire Reserve: 3x on travel and dining, 10x on Lyft
-Chase Freedom: 5x on rotating quarterly categories (gas, groceries, dept stores)
-Chase Freedom Unlimited: 1.5x on anything that doesn't fall in the categories above
While CSR has a $550 fee, the $300 travel credit and $60 DoorDash credit take it down to $190 out of pocket. And then the 50% bonus on points you get when redeeming it for travel in the Chase travel portal and transferring points from Freedom and Freedom Unlimited to the CSR make it well worth the cost. And then the added perks of the CSR like trip cancellation/interruption insurance and primary car rental insurance make it a terrific card. I spend a lot on travel and dining so I break even on the card pretty fast.
I also have the Amex Platinum for use of Delta SkyClub and Centurion Lounges along with gold status at Marriott and Hilton properties. It has a $550 fee as well but quickly comes down to $50 with $100 Saks 5th Ave credit, $200 Uber/UberEats credit, and $200 airline fees/incidentals credit. $50 is well worth it to me just for the lounges. Don't really put too much spend on the card, just hold it for the perks. Prefer the earning and flexibility of points on CSR.
How about you guys? What cards do you guys hold and use?
Magnises
Capital One. What’s in your wallet?
Do you really need 8 credit cards?
The other 4 are old cards I used but never closed out because they don't have any annual fees. So might as well keep them open to help the credit score
not sure WSO is the place to talk about credit cards. I’d check out reddit
IN my wallet? Fidelity Retirement Rewards (used to be AmEx now Visa) and my Corporate AmEx.
Fidelity gives me 2% cash back on everything into an IRA as after tax contributions that I sweep into a Roth annually. (It used to go direct back when I was eligible) and has no fee. I might be able to make a little more in benefits if I was willing to play the game, but I just don't have the mental bandwidth. There is no thought required with the Fidelity card, it just does everything except the annual Roth sweep automatically. A fun fact is that their big game now is custody, not AM.
The corporate AmEx is an obvious reason.
I've got a couple others, but I never use them. That reminds me, I need to put a charge on one of them soon or they'll close it.
Cut my Chase Sapphire Reserve ahead of my renewal next month. I have a feeling the rest of 2020 will be limited in opportunity to accumulate points (normally I get a decent chunk from dining, which is not happening), and definitely limited in ways to spend on travel
Otherwise it is Chase Freedom on rotating quarter, Amex Blue Cash for groceries (3%), Bank of American Cash Rewards (3%) for online purchases, USBank Cash Visa for utilities and phone bills (5%), Freedom Unlimited for anything else. Only carry the Chase and Amex cards out with me as the rest are just at-home use.
I'm not a big fan of points because their value can be adjusted... That's what happened for the most part with airlines over the last few years. With that said some people like status you can get with airlines or whatever, so to each their own. I go mostly with no fee cash back cards and just apply that to my balance once a year.
Amex Cash Every Day - No Fee. 3% Grocery/2% Gas/1% all else. Use this for groceries only
Costco Card - 4% Gas, 3% Restaurants & Travel, which I use for those three types of purchases. Believe its like $60 a yr. I shop at Costco a bit and think its great since I drive quite a bit for work.
Citi Double Cash - No fee. 1% when you buy, 1% when you pay. I always pay it in full so 2% across everything. Use this on everything else, which is mostly Amazon, Online Purchases, Department Stores, Medical bills, etc
This way, in theory, I'm always getting at least 2%. I switched to these when I got tired of cancelling paid cards and its worked well.
An old, but relevant post: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/credit-cards-for-incoming-ib-ana…
What would you guys recommend for an incoming FT IB analyst?
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