Decided to add up my credit card fees annually. I know it's a lot because we have a lot of cards. How much? $1420 for the year. Yowsa. How'd it breakdown?
The alaska cards we get a companion fare and I used both already this year for $1000 tickets to hawaii. So $95 for $1000 coupon. Win. Plus a free checked luggage when traveling.
Sapphire preferred gives a $50 hotel credit plus 1.5 points for travel booked through their website. So $45 for the bonus 50% travel credit? Keep.
Chase Ink - $95 is maybe a lot for an occasional use card. I mostly keep it to charge all my business expenses on it and keep it straight. But it also gives better earnings in travel and business expenses.
Charles Schwab Amex Platinum with the $695 price tag. This is for DH alone but we get $200 credit from Charles Schwab for having accounts with them. Annually these are the savings I use
$200 Hotel Credit
$200 Airline Credit
$189 Clear
$100 saks
$240 digital credit - NYT, WSJ, Sirius,
$180 walmart+ - use for free paramount plus
$200 Uber ($15/month plus $35 in december)
So $1509 in credits for the year means it's a keep. I did drop the extra card which was an extra $175. Still debating on that one. I have $60 in pending american express offers statement credit so we'll see if it works.
Amex Gold I got when I downgraded my Amex Platinum and switched it to DH getting the amex platinum. $250 is really steep and I'm not sure it's worth it.
$120 year ($10 a month) Dining Credit
$200 Uber ($15/month plus $35 in december)
Even with the $320, I only kept it because when I tried to cancel they gave me $125 bonus to stay, so it became $125 annual fee. I also made $71 in Amex Offers with the gold card which helped offset the costs.
Finally the marriot chase card for $95. This one I'm also not sure but disneysteve swears by it. And $95 for 1 night in a hotel seemed like a no brainer to try it out. Just got it and we'll see how it goes.
I've settled into a routine of credit cards.
I've been rolling in the bonuses this year with Amazon CC and Costco CC. Those plus the points i've gotten on chase since my daily CC is Chase Freedom card where you get 1.5% back on everything and 3% on eating out.
What credit cards do you like?
December 7th, 2023 at 02:01 am 1701914468
Our cards in Aust don't do offers like these so I'm not sure how they all work...thats why I am asking questions
December 7th, 2023 at 05:35 pm 1701970524
The sapphire and ink credit cards I'm also on the fence about it. But it appears to be working for booking for travel and transferring to travel partners. I keep reading about the chase trifecta so I keep both but sometimes I wonder if it's not better to cancel the sapphire.
The Marriot has a bonus night every year so I'm going to try and use it. $95 for a hotel room a year seems pretty reasonable.
December 7th, 2023 at 07:58 pm 1701979128
December 8th, 2023 at 06:12 am 1702015967
December 9th, 2023 at 08:04 am 1702109057
December 10th, 2023 at 12:44 am 1702169093
December 11th, 2023 at 02:40 pm 1702305635
December 12th, 2023 at 03:16 am 1702350993
The Alaska I typically get $1000 ticket (christmas to hawaii) for $121 taxes and fees plus $95 annual fee. Thus why DH and I each get a ticket. It pays for more than itself. Even a $500 ticket would be worth it.
I'm thinking the amex gold is on the bubble. But for $125 I can definitely use that at shake shack so it's a keeper for now. The amex platinum again we do get back the credits for the cost.
The ones i'm on the fence are really the sapphire or ink plus the marriott. But we have been using the marriott more and more.
December 14th, 2023 at 03:15 pm 1702566947
December 14th, 2023 at 04:42 pm 1702572123
I think that's been explained pretty clearly. Those cards provide perks that are worth way more than the annual fee. For example, the Marriott card is $95/year but includes a one-night stay that would cost as much as $250 or more so we get a nice getaway trip for only $95.
December 31st, 2023 at 07:39 pm 1704051599
My income has always been such that I've felt that I could afford EITHER travel or pets, but not both, and my choice has ALWAYS been pets. I only wish there were credit cards that offered "pet perks." I just googled "best credit cards for pet owners," but what they list are general rewards cards, nothing that actually has a benefit for pet-related expenses.