The world of premium travel credit cards is larger than ever. Chase has been competing in the space with its Sapphire Reserve card, while Capital One has also put out some solid offerings such as the Venture card.
There’s one card name, however, that’s been nearly synonymous with travel since its inception: the Amex Platinum. But while this card has a storied history, how does it stand up compared to today’s premium travel credit cards? (more…)
The first question I usually get asked when I begin regaling (or annoying) people with my tales of traveling around the world for free is “Are you rich?”. As soon as the chuckle escapes my lips, the person immediately follows up with “Well, is your wife rich?”.
Again, I chuckle, and then begin explaining that I use frequent flyer miles to travel. Question three is usually “how many freakin’ credit cards do you have?”.
As I enter my second full-fledged year in the the frequent flyer mile game, and prepare for my summer App-o-rama, I figured now was as good a time as any to take stock of the cards I have.
I’ll reveal which cards I prefer to use to maximize my points, and then ultimately decide which ones are worth keeping based on the anniversary bonus they offer and the annual fee they charge.
Hopefully, this will help prove useful for the many of you out there who are facing many of the same decisions of closing or keeping open accounts and also deciding which cards you should add to your stable.
I’ll list the cards in chronological order of the date I got them.
Without giving away the answer, I will tell you to settle in and get comfortable, because the number is quite large.
Sooo….how many cards do I have?
1. Citi/AAdvantage Visa
See Best Current Deals page for further breakdown of this card, how to get both the Citi/AA Visa and Amex at the same time, which I highly recommend doing, and the application links for these cards
Signup bonus: 75k when I got it, 50k now
Date approved: July 29, 2011
What I use it for: Nothing after meeting the minimum spend and getting the signup bonus.
Annual fee: $85
Anniversary bonus: Nothing
Odds of keeping it open after 1 year: 25%. If I call in to cancel and they over me a great retention bonus (7,000 AA miles or more, an $85 statement credit, etc) than I’ll keep it open. If not, thanks for the signup bonus but this card is history!
2. Alaska Airlines Visa
Signup bonus: 40k when I got it, 25k now
Date approved: August 8, 2011
What I use it for: Nothing after making the first purchase and getting the signup bonus.
Annual fee: $75 (not waived the first year)
Anniversary bonus: $99 companion pass.
Odds of keeping it open after 1 year: 0%. If I made good use of the companion pass than this card might be worth keeping open. However, I didn’t use the companion pass this past year, so I’m assuming I won’t make use of it this upcoming year either. Plus, you can “churn” this card and get the signup bonus again, so if I’m going to pay the fee, I might as well get the extra 25,000 as a bonus again!
3. Chase Sapphire Preferred
Signup bonus: 50k when I got it, 40k now
Date approved: August 22, 2011
What I use it for: Almost all my everyday spending. I especially focus on using it for travel and dining, which earns me 2x. Since I live abroad, I use this card all the time because it has no foreign transaction fee.
Annual fee: $95 (waived the first year)
Anniversary bonus: 7% bonus on all points earned, including the signup bonus.
Odds of keeping it open after 1 year: 100%. This is my favorite card and my go-to for almost all of my spending. I love that it has no foreign transaction fee and also that it gives me 2x for travel and dining. I almost always transfer my Chase UR points to United miles, which I love. The 7% bonus is nice too, although I wouldn’t consider just that enough to keep the card open. I’ll keep it open because I love the everyday earning potential!
What I use it for: Occasionally, and sporadically, for groceries because it offers 2x on groceries and gas. However, I don’t even usually use it for airfare, which it offers 3x on, because I’d rather the 2x Chase points (for travel by using the Sapphire) than the 3x Amex points.
Annual fee: $175 (waived the first year)
Anniversary bonus: None.
Odds of keeping it open after 1 year: 0%. The 3x on airfare and 2x on gas and groceries could be lucrative for some people but I don’t really put much value Amex points because they don’t offer good transfer partners. I’d rather use my Sapphire for 2x on travel and my Ink Bold for 2x on gas and build up a nice point balance through Chase and then transfer those points to United. The $175 is too high a fee to justify the extra points I’d get for spending on groceries.
5. Barclays USAirways Mastercard #1
Signup bonus: 40k
Date approved: September 25, 2011
What I use it for: Nothing after the first purchase to get my signup bonus and once every 6 months to adhere to the terms and conditions.
Annual fee: $89 (waived the first year)
Anniversary bonus: 10k USAirway miles
Odds of keeping it open after 1 year: 100%. The 10k USAirways miles are worth over $89 for me so this is a no-brainer. I’ll whip it out every 6 months and use it once just to make sure I’m abiding by the terms and conditions, but other than that, it’ll collect dust on the shelf.
6. American Express Hilton HHonors
Signup bonus: 60k when I applied, 40k now
Date approved: November 9, 2011
What I use it for: Nothing after meeting the minimum spend and getting the signup bonus.
Annual fee: $0
Anniversary bonus: None.
Odds of keeping it open after 1 year: 75%. Normally, this would be 100%, as it never really makes sense to close a card with no annual fee. However, it is being reported that some people have had success getting this card and the signup bonus again after closing their original card. If that is the case, I may close this card so that I’m eligible to get the bonus again. If not, then I’ll just leave it open indefinitely.
7. Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Visa
If you apply for this card, the application page will show a 50k signup bonus. Many people have reported that Chase will honor the 70k offer if you ask them to “bump the bonus” through a secure message after applying.
Signup bonus: 70k + 1 free night in a category 1-4
Date approved: November 9, 2011
What I use it for: Nothing after making the first purchase and getting the signup bonus.
Annual fee: $85 (waived for the first year)
Anniversary bonus: 1 free night at a category 1-5 each year.
Odds of keeping it open after 1 year: 65%. This one will be a tough decision. If used right, the one free night can easily be worth up to $150, which more than makes up for the annual fee. However, I usually prefer to stay at locally run boutique hotels and hostels when I go on vacation. If I needed to “go out of my way” to use the free night, then it wouldn’t be worth it.
Odds are that I’ll keep this open, not only for the free night but also because keeping cards open helps your credit score and having this card open will give me more leverage with Chase when trying to get other Chase credit cards…Ok, basically I just talked myself in to keeping it open!
8. Chase Ink Bold Business (old version)
Signup bonus: 50k
Date approved: November 9, 2011
What I use it for: Nothing after making the minimum spend and earning the signup bonus.
Annual fee: $95 (waived for the first year)
Anniversary bonus: None.
Odds of keeping it open after 1 year: 0%. Now that I have the new Chase Ink Bold card (which is much better), there is no point at all for me to keep this card open.
9. Citi Thank You Premier
Signup bonus: 50k
Date approved: November 9, 2011
What I use it for: Nothing after making the minimum spend and earning the signup bonus.
Annual fee: $125 (waived for the first year)
Anniversary bonus: 1% on all Citi TY points earned through purchases (does not include the signup bonus)
Odds of keeping it open after 1 year: 0%. There are a few reasons I won’t be keeping this card open; the $125 is super high for a card of this (low) caliber, the anniversary bonus is of little value since I don’t put any spend on this card, and Citi TY points are not that valuable compared to Chase UR points.
Lastly, I had to fight tooth and nail with Citi not only to get this card, but also for them to credit me with the signup bonus (think 10+ emails and even snail mail letters) so needless to say, I’m not a fan of their company or their customer service.
10. Barclays USAirways Mastercard #2
This is the exact same card as #4.
Signup bonus: 40k
Date approved: April 3, 2012
What I use it for: Nothing after the first purchase to get my signup bonus and once every 6 months to adhere to the terms and conditions.
Annual fee: $89 (waived the first year)
Anniversary bonus: 10k USAirway miles
Odds of keeping it open after 1 year: 100%. The 10k USAirways miles are worth over $89 for me so this is a no-brainer. I’ll whip it out every 6 months and use it once just to make sure I’m abiding by the terms and conditions, but other than that, it’ll collect dust on the shelf.
What I use it for: Nothing after the first purchase to get my signup bonus. However, if I were to purchase United tickets, I would use this card to get the 3x on United purchases.
Annual fee: $95 (waived the first year)
Anniversary bonus: 2 free United Club lounge passes each year.
Odds of keeping it open after 1 year: 60%. I’m completely on the fence about this one. The lounge passes are nice (and $100 retail value) but I debate how much I actually value them. Sure, its nice to have lounge access for a day, but I normally wouldn’t pay $50 for that privilege.
However, the card does also offer a free checked bag ($50 value) on United flights and like the Marriott above, gives me leverage with Chase when I go to apply for other cards. Those two reasons will probably be enough to push it over to the “keep” side, but I’m glad I have a while to decide!
12. Chase Southwest Rapids Reward Business card
Signup bonus: 50k
Date approved: April 3, 2012
What I use it for: Nothing after the first purchase to get my signup bonus.
Odds of keeping it open after 1 year: 60%. I know I sound like a broken record, but I’m slightly leaning towards keeping this open just to have leverage with Chase. The 3,000 points aren’t enough to justify the annual fee (although it’s close), so what I’ll most likely do is keep this card open for the time being.
When I go to apply for other Chase cards, they may say I have too many accounts open with them, and that time, I’ll happily give up my Southwest account in order to get a new card and the signup bonus.
13. Chase Ink Bold Business (new card)
This card is no longer available. The Ink Plus is still available.
Signup bonus: 50k
Date approved: April 23, 2012
What I use it for: Cable, cellphone, and internet bill (5x points), gas (2x) and gift cards from office supply stores (5x) that help me earn a TON of Chase UR points. I also flip-flop the Ink Bold and the Sapphire Preferred for everyday spend items that don’t fall in those categories.
Annual fee: $95 (waived the first year)
Anniversary bonus: None.
Odds of keeping it open after 1 year: 100%. I absolutely LOVE this card. The fact that I can buy gift cards at office supply stores for all types of products and get 5x for them is amazing and keeps the points continually rolling in.
The only downside to this card is the high minimum spend in the beginning (although there are tons of ways to make it easier than you think), so now that I’ve hit that, I’ll keep using the awesome earning power of this card for years to come!
Recap
As do I! If it’s a good bonus, I’m there!
If you’ve been tallying the cards up mentally, you’ll see that I currently have a total of 13 cards. Many people ask me how I manage to have all those cards and not get confused, but if you break it down, you’ll see that I have:
2 that I use for everyday spending (Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Ink Bold)
1 that I pull out very occasionally (Amex Personal Rewards Gold)
10 that basically go unused after making the minimum spend
In reality, I’m not juggling 13 cards, but really only 2. Most of the time I’ll carry one of them and my wife will have the other. Pretty simple.
People also always ask me how I keep track of all of them and how I know when to cancel them.
I employ a simple system that even a caveman could understand; I use a really basic Excel spreadsheet (feel free to EPoP Credit Card Tracking Template) which lists when I need to cancel each card.
Additionally, if you do App-o-Ramas it is easier to keep track of your cancellation dates because a bunch of the cards fall on the same day! Yet another perk of the AoR!
Lastly, here is the breakdown of which cards I will and won’t keep after the 1st year and pay the annual fee for:
4 On the Fence- Chase Southwest, Chase United Explorer, Chase Marriott, Amex Hilton
5 Definitely Closing- Citi Thank You Premier, Chase Ink Bold (old), Amex PRG, Citi/AA Visa, Alaska Airlines Visa
As you can see, having a large amount of open accounts doesn’t have to be scary or difficult to manage. Pick a few cards that you prefer to use for everyday spending and then supplement them with cards that you’ll use for the signup bonus and then close after a year.
That way, it only takes a tiny bit of brain power and small amount of organization to keep you on top over everything.
Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuer Affiliate Program.
