💳 What’s in My Wallet for 2024

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I’ve said it many times, but credit cards are valuable financial tools for strategic spenders. And for me, there are three main reasons to have a card: spending, perks, and bonuses.

• Spending: Many cards offer bonus points tailored to specific spending categories. If you frequently spend in a particular category, aligning your card with that spending can maximize your rewards.
• Perks: Some cards have perks good enough to justify the high annual fees (even if you rarely use the card). For example, we rarely spend on the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, but the perks (free night, diamond status, airline/hotel credits) definitely outweigh the cost.
• Bonuses: While some cards may not be a long-term fit, an enticing welcome bonus may be worth considering. I typically look for a minimum of 75,000 to 100,000 points, but sometimes you can go even higher).

That said, tailoring your choices to your goals and priorities is crucial, so this post is merely a glimpse into how I’m thinking about what I’m doing this year. I’ll break it down into the four steps I use to have the right set of cards, focusing on personal cards. If there’s any interest, I may write something later about business cards.

Also, one important callout for this post: I’ll be 100% focused on earning points, so with a few exceptions, I’m not going to talk about Cash Back cards. However, I am including a few cards that are marketed as cash back cards (e.g., Citi Custom Cash℠ Card or Chase Freedom Flex®), but when paired with a points earning card from the same program (e.g., Citi Premier® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®) will either earn transferable points or can convert the cash back earned to transferable points.

Step 1: Align spending patterns with your existing cards

I ask myself, “What are my big spending categories, and what cards have I used for them?”

To figure out my spend, I use the Copilot app — it's been a game-changer for me. Since I used it to track everything in 2023, I know exactly how much I spend in each category, which I can plug into this tool I built to optimize many of the most popular cards. It breaks down the earning potential of many top points cards, making it easy for you to input your spending and see how adding a specific card can boost your points.

If you end up going through this process yourself, please keep in mind that just because you might find a card that earns more points per dollar in a given category, you may not spend enough in that category to make it worth it or even justify the annual fee. For example, I could get a card that earns 4x on streaming services, but given my spending habits (and the streaming credits I get from The Platinum Card® by American Express), it’d probably only result in an extra 1,000 points a year, so it’s not worth it for me.

Below, I’ll walk through all my major spending categories, my card pick for each, and some backup suggestions if I didn’t have my #1 pick.

Restaurants

For dining, I use the American Express® Gold Card, which earns 4x Membership Rewards® Points at restaurants worldwide on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1x, including Takeout and Delivery in the U.S. But some other compelling options are:

• Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card (4% cash back)
• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve (3x points on restaurants)
• Chase Freedom Flex and Chase Freedom Unlimited® (3% cash back on dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services)
• Bilt Mastercard® (3x points on dining if you use the card 5 times each statement period to earn points - more on rewards & benefits here)
• Citi Custom Cash (5% cash back on the first $500 spent in the top category each month, and 1% after that)

Grocery Stores & Supermarkets

I also use the Amex Gold at U.S. supermarkets since I can earn 4x points on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases (but we don’t hit that limit, so we’re good here), then 1x thereafter. If I weren’t using the Amex Gold, here are some other options:

• Capital One Savor (3% cash back at grocery stores)
• Citi Premier (3x at supermarkets)

Travel

I’m currently using Amex Platinum for 5x on flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel^® (on up to $500,000 per calendar year, which we never come close to, and 1x thereafter).

For all my non-flight travel, I'm using my Chase Sapphire Reserve for 3x points, but here are some backup travel cards:

• American Express® Green Card (3x on travel)
• Citi Premier (3x on air travel and hotels)

Also, here are some other options that give big bonuses when you spend in their travel portals:

• Capital One Venture X (10x on hotels and rental cars, and 5x on ​​flights booked through Capital One Travel)
• Chase Sapphire Reserve (10x on hotels and car rentals and 5x on air travel booked through Chase Travel℠)
• Chase Sapphire Preferred (5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel℠)
• Amex Platinum (5x on flights and prepaid hotels booked through AmexTravel.com) 

The reason I call out the travel portal is because there are some considerations.

When you book through a travel portal, you’re usually booking through an agency, meaning you have to deal with that agency to make changes. And if you're booking hotels in the portal, some hotel rates don't always accrue points. I’ve had some success, but the portal can create a few added problems if things go wrong that I often find isn’t worth the hassle.

However, I learned (via this article on The Points Guy) that while sometimes travel portals had a markup, there were almost as many times when the travel portal was 10%-20% cheaper (at least for Citi, Capital One, and Amex). So I’ll probably start checking their portals more frequently for expensive flights. 

Amazon

We use the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card (5% cash back), even if it means earning cash back instead of points.

Cell Phone Services

This category is mostly focused on business cards, so for most people, I would choose the card that gives you the best phone insurance. However, if you’re eligible for a business card, my picks are the Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (5x on the first $25,000 each year) and Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (3x on the first $150,000 each year).

Gas

I don’t personally worry about this category (since we have 2 EVs), but for those who do, the two best options are:

• Citi Premier (3x points)
• Citi Custom Cash (5% cash back on the first $500 in your top category)

The Wyndham Business Earner® Card will earn 8x points on qualifying gas purchases, which might be the best option if you’re willing/able to get a business card for gas.

Costco

There isn't a card that earns more than 2x points at Costco, so we use our Capital One Venture X. However, in a future post (and episode) on cash back, I’ll be talking about the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve, which can earn up to 4.5% cash back on Apple Pay and other mobile wallet purchases, which Costco accepts.

Other

For any other purchases, we use our Capital One Venture X to earn 2x points.

If you have a Citi Premier, then you can use the Citi® Double Cash Card to earn 2% back that can be converted to 2x points.

If you prefer Amex points, there isn’t a great personal option, but The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express earns 2x on all business purchases, up to $50,000 in spend per year (1x thereafter).

Finally, if you want to stick within the Chase ecosystem, the Chase Freedom Unlimited is your best bet, earning 1.5x transferable points on everything, as long as you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve or Ink Business Preferred.

Step 2: Audit my current cards to see if they still make sense

I ask myself, “What are all the cards in my wallet, and what is the reason I should keep using them?”

One major factor in this process is the annual fee for each card, which for some cards can be high enough to give you a lot of pause. One tool I love to help out here is the Premium Card Worksheet from the Frequent Miler team. It itemizes all the perks of most premium cards, giving their estimate of the value, and letting you adjust as needed to see if you’re getting a positive ROI.

So, here is every card we have and our takeaways:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve: Keeping it for 3x points on non-flight travel (and for the excellent rental car coverage).
• Chase Freedom Unlimited: Keeping this because it has no annual fee and I’ve had it forever, so it’s giving my credit score a boost.
• Chase Freedom Flex: This quarter, I’m using it for 5% on groceries, but since it has no annual fee, we’re keeping it and adapting its use to fit the quarterly bonuses.
• Amazon Prime Card: Keeping it for 5% on Amazon and Whole Foods.
• United Gateway℠ Card: We downgraded a previous United card to this no annual fee version, because it’s Amy’s longest-standing card and we want to maintain its long credit history.
• Amex Gold: This is the primary card we use for dining and grocery stores.
• Amex Platinum: While it has a high annual fee, we’re able to get enough value from the perks that it’s worth keeping. We use this to get 5x on all flights.
• Marriott Bonvoy American Express® Card: I didn’t mention this above, but I’m going to keep it because it earns 15 elite nights each year and I get enough value from the free night certificate to cover the annual fee. It’s also no longer available for new signups, but it’s pretty similar to the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card.
• Hilton Honors Aspire: With a free night certificate at any Hilton worldwide, Diamond status and the resort/airline credits, this card pays for itself.
• Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express: I haven’t used this card in years, but I’ve had it open since 2003, so I’m keeping it for the credit history.
• Capital One Venture X: This is our everything card and it gets a ton of usage. The $300 travel credit, plus the 10,000 points a year, make it a break-even on the annual fee, so it’s definitely staying in my wallet.
• Target RedCard™: I know it’s not technically a credit card, but we’re going to keep it for 5% off at Target.

Step 3: Adjust card portfolio

For any cards that didn’t make sense in Step 2, I ask myself, “What should I do with the card?”

Here are four options:

1. Do nothing. If there is no annual fee, consider keeping it because it helps with your credit score (length of credit history).
2. See if you can get a retention offer to offset the annual fee. In the past I’ve gotten everything from 30,000 points to a $550 annual fee waived. For some issuers you can use the live chat to ask for retention offers and for others you have to call in.
3. Downgrade the card. Many cards can be downgraded to a no annual fee option in their card family, which lets you keep the positive impact on your credit score without the cost. 
4. Cancel the card. This is a good last resort, but know that most card issuers really frown on canceling within the first year, so I suggest you let the annual fee post and then cancel in the 13th month. Most issuers give you 30 days after posting to get a refund.

Step 4: Look ahead to opportunities

Finally, I ask myself, “What cards might I want to add to my roster this year?”

This should go without saying, but anytime there is an exciting welcome bonus, I pay attention to it and assess it within the portfolio of cards. Aside from that, here are some cards I’m excited about for 2024:

Bilt Mastercard®

I regretted not having this card earlier, but it was the first new card I got this year, so let me tell you why.

First off, if I were a renter, I would have already had the Bilt Mastercard®, because you can earn up to 100,000 points a year paying rent, even if your landlord requires a check or a specific payment portal. The card also offers 3x dining and 2x travel if you use the card 5 times each statement period to earn points, but I had those categories covered at higher earning rates. You can read more about Bilt Rewards & Benefits here.

Now I’ve talked about how I think Bilt Rewards is one of the highest value point currencies, because they have the best transfer partners, including American Airlines (unique to Bilt), United, Air Canada, Air France/KLM, Hyatt, Turkish and more. But if I can earn more points on my spend elsewhere, then how much does that matter?

Well once I saw what Bilt kept doing every month last year on Rent Day (the 1st the month), I decided I needed to get a Bilt Mastercard®. First, every Rent Day, points are doubled (up to 10,000 bonus points each month), which means you get 6x on dining, 4x on travel, and 2x on everything else. If I could time some major purchases and date nights right, that could help increase my earning. But the real reason I finally signed up was because they kept doing so many ridiculous Rent Day Promotions. 

For example, on January 1st, they offered 75-150% transfer bonuses to Air France, Virgin Atlantic, and IHG. That means that if you wanted to move 50k points to Air France, any Bilt member would end up with 87.5k Air France miles (75% bonus), but Bilt Platinum members would get the full 150% bonus and end up with 125k Air France miles. If I could optimize these bonuses where I end up getting 2.5x as many points, that’d make the earning rates on the Bilt Mastercard® the best in the market.

Now there’s no guarantee they’ll keep these insane transfer bonuses all year, but they’ve done at least half a dozen of them already and just yesterday Bilt announced that they raised $200m, so I want to take advantage of it while I can. My 2024 goal is to make sure I manage to spend enough to get Bilt Platinum status, so the next time they have a monster bonus, I can participate. 

If you want to join me on that goal, this is my personal referral link for the Bilt Card. 

Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card

The next card I’m looking at this year is the Delta SkyMiles Platinum.

This card offers a few enticing perks, including a big welcome bonus (through a target mailing offer), free checked bags, a companion certificate, and a 15% discount on award bookings.

While Delta points might not top the charts in terms of value, the combination of these benefits and a few already planned Delta trips this year is why I’m considering the card. However, please note you only start receiving the annual companion certificate after your first cardmember year.

Capital One Savor

Every time I research cards, I can't help but think that the Capital One Savor is such a great card and find myself wanting it.

While marketed as a cash-back card, its true potential shines when paired with the Venture or Venture X because it can earn 4% cash back on dining, entertainment & popular streaming services, 3% back at grocery stores and for most of this year 10% on Uber and Uber Eats.

That said, I have most of those categories covered and just don’t spend enough on Uber to make that perk worth it (not to mention it’s set to expire towards the end of the year). However, if you have the Venture or Venture X and like the simplicity of earning points in one program I think it’s a fantastic card.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card

I didn’t requalify for Marriott Platinum this year, so the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant is on my radar, because it includes Platinum status as a perk. It has a high annual fee, but if we end up having a longer stay at a Marriott this year, the free breakfast perk (combined with the free night certificate) might make up for the annual fee. Also, I can lock in Bonvoy Platinum for life with 3 more years of Platinum, so that could help justify the cost as well.

Citi

While I talk about Citi a lot, I don’t have any Citi cards. It’s not that they don’t have a good lineup. In fact you could have a stellar 3-card Citi lineup: 

• Citi Strata Premier: 3% cash back on restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, air travel and hotels
• Citi Custom Cash: 5% cash back on the first $500 spent in your top spending category
• Citi Double Cash: 2% cash back on everything else

That trifecta is a powerful combination, but I just happen to have cards to cover all those categories except Gas and we only have EVs. Not to mention, Citi doesn’t currently have any unique transfer partners except Thai Airways, which doesn’t have a compelling award chart.

So I’ll keep tabs on Citi and could change my mind if they introduce a new card to take the spot of the now-retired Citi Prestige or launch some new transfer partners.

Wells Fargo Autograph℠ Card

Wells Fargo might not be on your radar, but the Wells Fargo Autograph has piqued my interest, solely because they’ve announced that they’ll be adding transfer partners this year. They’ve shared no specifics, but if they have a compelling list of partners that transfer 1:1, this could quickly become one of the top cards, given that it currently earns 3x on dining, travel, gas, transit, streaming, and cell phone services. 

There are also whispers of another new and more premium card, rumored to be the Autograph Journey. If it comes with better earnings than the regular autograph and/or offers a huge welcome bonus (like the Venture X and Sapphire Reserve did when they launched), it could be a great new option for 2024.

💭 Parting Thoughts

Preparing for this post was a really great way to force myself to go through this process and even left me considering a few new options. Whether this is your first time thinking about your credit card portfolio or you’re a seasoned pro, I hope it was valuable to you. 

If you want to support the show when you’re looking at new cards this year, I’d really appreciate you using the links above or the ones you can find on our Cards Page. That said if you find a better bonus somewhere else, please go there and get the most points you can. Also, if you click some of the links above and they don’t look like they’re any type of partner or referral link, don’t worry, many of them aren’t. I am sharing all the cards that were top of mind, including many that we have no affiliation with. I’ll always try to do my best to share whatever I think is best, whether they help my business or not.

Finally, we want to hear from you. If you have any unique strategies or insights, please share them with us. Send your thoughts to ​podcast@chrishutchins.com​.​