Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
OK for the sake of argument, you have great credit and ALWAYS pay off your credit card balances on time.
Would it be better to just put all your spending on one credit card, or have multiple cards where you put targeted spending to maximize the reward points/cash back? For example some cards, pay better on gas. Others on dining.
The reason I ask is that for years I predominantly used one credit card because it gets 1.5 points per dollar on everything. It's a Capital One Signature (had it for a long time).
The last few years I got a Marriott Premier card that did 2X Marriott points for dining and 5x points spent at Marriott family of hotels so I put all my dining on that card. Recently I upgraded the card to a Premier Plus where the 2X points are for all spending categories and 6X on Marriott spending. It has an annual fee of $95 but a perk is that it gives a free night stay which we typically use while visiting family. We like the Marriott hotels so we make use of the points and lately I just put all my spending on it.
I'm looking at doing the Capital One Savor card in the future because they give 4x points on dining and entertaining. Plus that $500 bonus! The only issue I have is with the annual fee so I probably will cancel it once I get close to renewal. I would actually do better switching to the Savor One card after a year. It only has 3% cash back on the same categories but without an annual fee.
For simplicity, it's probably better use the least amount of cards so I don't need to keep track huh?
i use the chase trinity .. the chase unlimited , the freedom and the sapphire reserve . each card has perks the others don't . at the end of the month i transfer all my points to my sapphire reserve card where i can get the most bang for the buck .
ha ha ha , i told my wife as of january all spending at the drug store has 5% back on one of our chase cards ... do you think that is the one she used ?????
Targeted spending to maximize rewards / cash back and cancel all the cards that require annual fees. Too many free cards out there to have to pay to use them.
Targeted spending to maximize rewards / cash back and cancel all the cards that require annual fees. Too many free cards out there to have to pay to use them.
That’s a little too simplistic. Depending on your spending habits, cards with annual fees can offer benefits that more than offset those fees. For example, if you travel and stay at Hilton properties, the AMEX Hilton Aspire ($250 airline credit + $250 Hilton resort credit + 1 Free Weekend night) is a no-brainer, even with its $450 annual fee. The Delta Amex Platinum ($195 Annual Fee) is another one, with its annual companion ticket (which we routinely redeem for $400-$550 RT tickets between NY and LA). My Citi Prestige card 4th Night Free benefit saved me over $2000 in hotel spend in 2018, more than offsetting its $495 Annual Fee, and there’s also a $250 annual airline credit on top of that.
My wife and I spend over $2k/year in credit card fees, but we get thousands more back in benefits from them.
Delta says I got $550+ of value from my $95 AmEx Gold card this year. I'd put the net value somewhere around $300 because I value the 'free' checked bag but am indifferent to priority boarding that they give a cash value to. In October, I product changed to the Delta Skymiles Platinum after sitting down and determining that I would indeed get the $195 worth of value out of it every year- we're a two person household in an area where airfares are expensive and the annual certificate BOGO main cabin fare is a $400+ saving alone that we will use given our normal travel patterns.
My inclination is to pick mostly a Chase or Amex sandbox to play inside and then work bonus categories with Ultimate Rewards or Member Rewards and then add an additional Master Card or Visa if you pick AmEx (better foreign acceptance) or specialty card that suits your lifestyle needs if you pick Chase.
Targeted spending to maximize rewards / cash back and cancel all the cards that require annual fees. Too many free cards out there to have to pay to use them.
That is horrible advice to just dole out. Depending upon age of account cancelling/closing a CC can mean a huge hit on one's credit score. Older the account greater the damage.
Targeted spending to maximize rewards / cash back and cancel all the cards that require annual fees. Too many free cards out there to have to pay to use them.
nonsense .... my chase sapphire reserve has returned thousands in dollars in points and perks.my free 2% back card cant come close to what i get .
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
