What Credit Cards Do I Use for Travel Rewards? 17 Cards!

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Published on February 19, 2021 by

Sharing the credit cards that I have “in my wallet” for earning travel rewards and perks. And yes, I really have 17 credit cards currently open for travel benefits. I’ll also share my “strategy” as to why I have all these cards. Some credit cards might make sense for me, but not for you.

1 Chase Sapphire Reserve
Spend: 3X points travel & dining at restaurants & 1 point on all other purchases
$550 annual fee
Benefits: $300 annual travel credit,
Doordash Credits
Dash Pass
Global Entry
Priority Pass Lounge Access
The Travel insurance and rental car insurance is a nice perk too!

2 World of Hyatt
$95 Annual Fee
Free night every year… and another free night after $15K spend. And 2 elite nights after every $5k
Discoverist status for as long as you have the card
Five elite qualifying nights towards status every year
Promotion where you got 10 elite night credits last year
Double elite nights this year
And reduced globalist threshold to 30 nights

3 United Mileageplus Explorer
PQD Waiver
25% back as a statement credit on purchases of food, beverages
United Club passes

4 Another United Card that earns PQM
Probably going to close this one soon

5 Marriott Bonvoy Boundless
Free night every year

6 Freedom (recently cancelled)
No fee… but tracking all the 5x points categories every quarter is a hassle

Chase Business
7 Ink Business Plus
5X on Office Supply, Cell Phone, Internet

8 Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Business Credit Card
Originally got it for the extra elite nights…
I keep it for the annual free night

American Express

9 Platinum
I’ve had a few variants of this to get different sign-up bonuses
$550 annual fee
$200 annual airline fee credit (harder to use now) , $200 annual Uber credit (Uber Eats),, $100 Global Entry credit.
$100 Saks Fifth Avenue credit, $50 Jan-June and $50 July-December
$100 Home Depot Credit
$100 Best Buy Credits
$30 monthly paypal credit through June
Last Year (streaming credits)
Lounge access is American Express’ awesome Centurion lounges {my favorite perk]
Hilton Gold Status
Rental Car Status

10 Blue Cash
No annual fee — to bank my MR points.

11 Bonvoy Amex Card
This used to be the SPG card… I keep it for the Marriott free night.

12 Delta Skymiles Gold
First Checked Bag Free
Priority Boarding

13 Hilton Ascend (ocgirl)
So that we have Hilton points to stay at Hiltons
If I stayed alot of Hilton’s I would get the Surpass that gives Diamond status… but Hilton is my least favorite of the big 3.

Citi:
14 Citi Thank You Preferred
To bank my Thank You points from previous sign-up offers from more premium cards
I had the Prestige when we were staying at really expensive hotels.. The 4th night free perk was amazing at first.

15 CitiBusiness / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Mastercard
Free checked bag… Priority Boarding
Capital One:
Venture
100K Signup bonus

16 Discover
For the occasional promotion

JCB Card
Used to have… just for the perks of having it.. Lots of deals in Hawaii.

17 B&H Payboo
Pays the sales tax

Charles Schwab Debit Card
No account maintenance fee
No ATM fees
No International Withdrawal Fees

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