[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by David70

Why so many credit cards? I have a personal Amex Starwood (Sheraton, Westin, Etc), Costco Visa (because Amex isn't accepted so many places) and a work credit card. Can't see the reason why so many have far more credit cards or why I would ever get another one.

points/benefits. Does any of this tickle your fancy:

Just for Amex Plat, $450 annual fee in return you get:

1. $400 back in United Airline or Southwest tickets or Amazon gift cards back
2. Full reimbursement for Global Entry/TSA Precheck, good for 5 years
3. Full car rental insurance coverage
4. access to this and 5 others like it around the country: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/the-c...rtGhkTNpcETlgQ
5. $750 - $1000 worth of points back...literally redeemable for statement credit if you so choose.
6. concierge service
7. many other smaller fringe benefits...like other airport lounges, AMEX presale for tickets, etc.


These days if you do it right, there's a card for every purpose. The basic is owning a Chase Freedom and Discover IT for the rolling 5% categories.

All others are fee based and it's about getting more back than what you paid for, some of my benefits I've gotten thru various cards are:

1. Southwest companion pass (everytime I fly, my wife flys for free)
2. 6 nights stay at Marriott
3. redeeming $50 gift cards at Amazon for $45 worth of statement credit
4. 14 free domestic flights

And every single card that has a fee (aside from the Plat), it pays for itself every year.

[NemesisX]

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

points/benefits. Does any of this tickle your fancy:

Just for Amex Plat, $450 annual fee in return you get:

1. $400 back in United Airline tickets or Amazon gift cards back
2. Full reimbursement for Global Entry/TSA Precheck
3. Full car rental insurance coverage
4. access to this: http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-centurio...-san-francisco
5. $750 - $1000 worth of points back...literally redeemable for statement credit if you so choose.
6. concierge service


These days if you do it right, there's a card for every purpose. The basic is owning a Chase Freedom and Discover IT for the rolling 5% categories.

All others are fee based and it's about getting more back than what you paid for, some of my benefits I've gotten thru various cards are:

1. Southwest companion pass (everytime I fly, my wife flys for free)
2. 6 nights stay at Marriott
3. redeeming $50 gift cards at Amazon for $45 worth of statement credit
4. 14 free domestic flights

What's the break even point for the Amex platinum to make the annual fee back?

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by NemesisX

What's the break even point for the Amex platinum to make the annual fee back?

All that I mentioned, and only in the first year. You're already getting $400 of amazon gift cards or United or Southwest gift cards back. Then Global Entry costs $100, which is fully reimbursed when you pay for it with the card...so there's your basic breakeven there. Then every lounge visit for their yummy food and free drinks is just gravy on top (say you eat and drink $20-$30 worth every visit....). And that's before even counting the bonus sign up points between $500-$1000 depending on the promo you sign up for. If you're interested in a referral, let me know.


Unless they offer you a sweet retention bonus for year 2 and thereafter, you likely won't breakeven after that. You can possibly get a decent retention bonus with spending...

[John 070]

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

This is going to sound douchy, but we already have a dedicated watch forum and "what's on your wrist" thread.

Just curious what credit cards people are carrying on the forum...The context is that I'm always on the hunt for some credit card deals. So let me know why you have certain cards.

I have a ton of them, but my key ones are:

1. Amex Plat
2. Amex Everyday
3. Southwest Premier
3. Chase Marriott
4. Discover IT
5. Chase Freedom

Unfortunately I am carrying more (last year the TSA agent yelled at me, "What the h*** is in your pocket? You gotta put your George Costanza wallet through the xray!"

I am all about points. And I've noticed this trend--the best cards offer you your points as soon as the charge posts, and you can redeem anytime, down to a penny.

The rest, are old-school, where you need $20, or $25, etc. The idea is you're gonna get closed out or default or something and leave money on the table.

My go-to card was NavyFed with 1.5%, because it was legit, 1.5% instantly, redeemable instantly.

But I started making Citi Double my go to card @ 2%. But, it's driven by the statement, so 1% at statement time, 1% when the next statement generates and the last paid. I've questioned myself is this worth the extra 0.005%?

Even though Citi Costco is 2% at Costco, NavyFed has a 2% bonus through the end of the year, so that's 3.5%. But Costco offers 3% at restaurants, so that is my restaurant card.

PenFed is my 5% gas card. It automatically deducts the 5% on the statement, don't have to do anything. Only 1 time did I not get 5%, and that's because those ********* at the full serve in NJ code gas purchases as convenience, deliberately. Never went back.

I have this Tompkins Rist Amex (weird huh?) that gave me $150 to open and a bonus $100 after charging $1000--it's 0%, but I don't really use it due to only a 1% cash back redeemable in $10 blocks.

I have Citi Premier because it gives 5% groceries as a bonus, on top of the 1%. BUT, this is limited to $25, aka $500 in purchases. We don't eat that much (family of 3) so that's more than a month.

Discover is 5% on something, so I carry it, right now home center stores and Amazon.

Amex Blue is a backup grocery (once Citi runs out) as it's 3%.

Note, I will never pay any annual fee, so none of my cards have one. Also, unless I have 0%, I will never carry a balance on any card.

I think 5% is out there just for the asking on gas, and 1.5% to 2.0% on everything else, so why not?

I remember someone on this forum saying, I use debit cards and cannot be bothered with getting $200/yr. on x or y. To each his own. You saw how I posted sears gave me $30 + $30 + etc. I'll take free tools. It did stop, however, now I have 53 cents of points....

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

All that I mentioned, and only in the first year. You're already getting $400 of amazon gift cards or United or Southwest gift cards back. Then Global Entry costs $100, which is fully reimbursed when you pay for it with the card...so there's your basic breakeven there. Then every lounge visit for their yummy food and free drinks is just gravy on top (say you eat and drink $20-$30 worth every visit....). And that's before even counting the bonus sign up points between $500-$1000 depending on the promo you sign up for. If you're interested in a referral, let me know.


Unless they offer you a sweet retention bonus for year 2 and thereafter, you likely won't breakeven after that. You can possibly get a decent retention bonus with spending...

Wait wait wait...how are you getting $400 of amazon gift cards??? I know how to get $200 in amazon gift cards (in lieu of the $200 airline credit) but how are you getting $400?!?!

EDIT: Isn't it only $400 for the first year? Since the $200 credit is per calendar year, your first year (unless you receive the card on Jan 1), you can use the $200 credit twice.

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by fecurtis

Wait wait wait...how are you getting $400 of amazon gift cards??? I know how to get $200 in amazon gift cards (in lieu of the $200 airline credit) but how are you getting $400?!?!

EDIT: Isn't it only $400 for the first year? Since the $200 credit is per calendar year, your first year (unless you receive the card on Jan 1), you can use the $200 credit twice.

bingo...it's the view of owning the card only for the first year. So for me, come January, I redeem for another $200 before my annual fee anniversary. Now there has been examples of pretty sweet retention bonuses for year two to potentially offset the $450 annual fee down to like $150...but you need to justify a $150 annual fee in lounge visits and other benefits.

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

bingo...it's the view of owning the card only for the first year. So for me, come January, I redeem for another $200 before my annual fee anniversary. Now there has been examples of pretty sweet retention bonuses for year two to potentially offset the $450 annual fee down to like $150...but you need to justify a $150 annual fee in lounge visits and other benefits.

Pretty easy to use $150 worth of benefits if you travel enough. The upgrades and perks you get are well worth it.

Plus there's the intangible benefit you get from the concierge which I use from time to time to varying degrees of success (namely reservations for hard to get in places). I'm sure if I called myself pretending to be someone from the AmEx concierge desk I could probably have the same success rate.

[mbanks21]

I use two primary cards, Amex Blue for 6% at grocery store, 3% on gas, and Capital One Quicksilver for 1.5% cash back on everything else

[David70]

Originally Posted by John 070

Even though Citi Costco is 2% at Costco, NavyFed has a 2% bonus through the end of the year, so that's 3.5%. But Costco offers 3% at restaurants, so that is my restaurant card.

PenFed is my 5% gas card. It automatically deducts the 5% on the statement, don't have to do anything. Only 1 time did I not get 5%, and that's because those ********* at the full serve in NJ code gas purchases as convenience, deliberately. Never went back.

I just got rid of my Penfed for the Costco. With Costco at 4% for gas, 3% at restaurants, 2% at Costco and 1% everywhere else, I decided the extra 1% on gas that I lost on Penfed wasn't worth the hassle of carrying another card and paying the bill, I figure about $20-$30 a year (.

Primary is Amex Starwood and I figure the benefit at roughly 2%-3% on hotels with them, especially when we normally end up booking enough nights on points to get another free.

I agree on getting a lot of the cards for the promotional first year but after that most of them aren't worth it to me unless you are spending a lot of money specifically with them (hotel card, airline card, etc.), which I don't do because of my company card.

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by fecurtis

Pretty easy to use $150 worth of benefits if you travel enough. The upgrades and perks you get are well worth it.

Plus there's the intangible benefit you get from the concierge which I use from time to time to varying degrees of success (namely reservations for hard to get in places). I'm sure if I called myself pretending to be someone from the AmEx concierge desk I could probably have the same success rate.

Yes, but they have the schedules of when to call in, and some places have reserved seating for Plat concierge requests due to volume.

Basically there's a few restaurants here in SF where you have to stay up at midnight to book the following week's reservation. Why stay up when you can get AMEX to do it for you?

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by mbanks21

I use two primary cards, Amex Blue for 6% at grocery store, 3% on gas, and Capital One Quicksilver for 1.5% cash back on everything else

You're doing it wrong. There is now a 2% card

[mbanks21]

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

You're doing it wrong. There is now a 2% card

Lol I know I saw that one. I don't think it's worth changing though for maybe $50 a year extra.

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by mbanks21

Lol I know I saw that one. I don't think it's worth changing though for maybe $50 a year extra.

What's $50? I'm talking about the Citi 2% card. It's fee free. Don't cancel your Capital One card, just let it idle and do like 1 transaction every quarter on it. You never cancel revolving credit, just let it idle and fire it up every few months for some immaterial spending.

[mbanks21]

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

What's $50? I'm talking about the Citi 2% card. It's fee free. Don't cancel your Capital One card, just let it idle and do like 1 transaction every quarter on it. You never cancel revolving credit, just let it idle and fire it up every few months for some immaterial spending.

I was talking about the difference in earning between the cap 1 and the citi card. I don't spend enough to warrant the hassle of switching cards for an extra half percent. Not that I didn't contemplate when it came out

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by mbanks21

I was talking about the difference in earning between the cap 1 and the citi card. I don't spend enough to warrant the hassle of switching cards for an extra half percent. Not that I didn't contemplate when it came out

oh, so if you saw $50 laying on the ground right now, you would just turn your nose up and walk away?

Come on, applying for a card probably takes less time than sitting on the toilet every morning. Hell do it while sitting on the toilet....

[mbanks21]

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

oh, so if you saw $50 laying on the ground right now, you would just turn your nose up and walk away?

Come on, applying for a card probably takes less time than sitting on the toilet every morning. Hell do it while sitting on the toilet....

No but if you saw a quarter on the ground every day would you go out of your way to pick it up? Because that's $50 a year. Having a hit on your credit for opening a new card, having to change my auto drafts for insurance, cell phone, etc as well as cards on file for Amazon, xm, eBay, PayPal, etc then yes it's not worth it. $50 was a guess anyway could be less

[NY10]

Amex which is used almost for everything.

Chase private client debit card

Keep it clean and simple

[David70]

Originally Posted by NY10

Amex which is used almost for everything.

Chase private client debit card

Keep it clean and simple

I agree and prefer my Amex but too many places don't take it so I don't see carrying just an Amex to be practical.

I also don't find the idea of having 8-10 credit cards, applying for all of them, then carrying some number of them, figuring out which ones have the current best rebate percentages, occasionally using all of them to keep them active, then paying all of these bills (no matter how you set it up there is some time involved), then if my wallet is stolen or lost (or if my card information is stolen) dealing with all of these accounts and it being worth it to me.

Reality is there is money to be saved and depending on the deal I am probably missing out but I don't see all of this as being "free".

[GOLFFRR]

Plat Amex only credit card I have


mostly pay cash for everything, guess I'm old school

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by David70

I agree and prefer my Amex but too many places don't take it so I don't see carrying just an Amex to be practical.

I also don't find the idea of having 8-10 credit cards, applying for all of them, then carrying some number of them, figuring out which ones have the current best rebate percentages, occasionally using all of them to keep them active, then paying all of these bills (no matter how you set it up there is some time involved), then if my wallet is stolen or lost (or if my card information is stolen) dealing with all of these accounts and it being worth it to me.

Reality is there is money to be saved and depending on the deal I am probably missing out but I don't see all of this as being "free".

I get you on this. It does take some time in tracking where the best returns are...but it's much simpler than you'd think b/c most have a quarterly rotating categories, and others are permanent. So really, you just keep only the relevant cards in your wallet and think about swapping every 3 months.

At any given time, I don't carry more than 3 cards. Like today, I only have my AMEX Everyday (b/c I have to meet the spending threshold for new account sign up by next month) and my Chase Freedom (restaurants 5% this quarter). So my Plat, Marriott, Discover, Southwest cards are all sitting at home. The Discover will likely come out next quarter, and the Southwest and Marriott cards has been relegated to home and only used for purchasing Southwest/Marriott tickets/stays online (which I buy quite a bit now these days).

In terms of paying them all off, I have found out it's unwieldy with all the cards when you have inconsistent spending on them. So I just set up auto payments on all of them. Of course that requires you to keep liquid funds in your primary checking account, which you should have anyways if you were to play this game.

[fecurtis]

It should be noted, that technically the AmEx Platinum card isn't a credit card, it's a charge card. You gotta pay the balance off in full every month.

[KingOfJericho]

Originally Posted by GOLFFRR

Plat Amex only credit card I have


mostly pay cash for everything, guess I'm old school

I pay cash for almost nothing. Anything that will take a card, I use it. It gives an extra layer of protection, especially with larger purchases.