TL;DR
- Your credit score, above a certain number is a vanity metric and WAY better to get a card every few months
- A portfolio of credit cards offers 100%+ returns in benefits and features versus time spent and annual fees
- Three main categories I keep:
- Ultra-premium: $500+ in annual fees, but awesome benefits
- Hotel cards: Free night justifies the annual cost. Getting $200-500 a night hotels for $49-$95
- No-fee: Good for credit longevity and opportunistic perks
- Return on time is >$500/hour given most of these cards take under 5 minutes to apply and have huge sign on bonuses
- All of the above assumes you have no problems paying off the balance in full each month.
What’s in my wallet
Churning credit cards is profitable, but it does create cognitive load and stress. Below are the keepers that I find worth having in my wallet year after year. The hotel cards worked great for up to 1 kid, but we’ll have to see if they continue make sense with a family of 4.
| Category | Card | Annual Fee | Why I keep it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ultra Premium | American Express Platinum (my referral link, as of 3/14/21 and amazing 75k + 10x on key categories) | $550 | – Amex Lounge – Priority Pass – Delta Lounge – 5x earnings -$200 Uber credit – $200 Airline fee credit – $100 Saks Lots of amazing short term bonuses during COVID phase to keep loyalty too: – $100 best buy – $100 Home Depot – $30/month for 6 months on paypal purchases – $20 off cell bills etc. |
| Hotel Cards | Marriott Bonvoy Amex (no longer available – Chase Bonvoy Boundless is close) | $95 | – 1 free night up to 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points |
| Hotel Cards | World of Hyatt Credit Card | $95 | – 1 free night at Hyatt Category 1-4 |
| Hotel Cards | IHG Rewards Club Select Mastercard (now: IHG Rewards Club Premier Card – $89) | $49 | – Free night for up to 40,000 IHG points |
| No-fee | Amazon Prime Reward Visa Signature Card | $0 | – 5% back on all Amazon / Wholefoods purchases |
| No-fee | Chase Freedom | $0 | – rotating 5x categories including gas, amazon, paypal, etc |
| Other | Chase Ink Business | $95 | – enables 1:1 points transfers to frequent flier programs. Star Alliance for business class is our plan. it worked great on our honeymoon and we hope to do it again when the kids are older! |
This is a post i aspire to update over time. Let’s see!
