Points enthusiasts seek optimal credit card strategies
19 posts across 4 communities in the last 30 days; 84% from r/CreditCards.
“Don't let a perfect redemption get in the way of a good redemption. Don't let a good redemption get in the way of a redemption you will actually use. If you're happy with what you booked then that is awesome. Don't listen to anyone else who says otherwise. Congrats OP!”
“Why is this way more correct? How does this method of modeling have more predictive or explanatory power than the other way? Suppose you already have a card that gives 3% back on groceries, and you're deciding whether or not the BCP makes sense for you based on your spend. Which…”
“It has been a relatively quiet launch for this card in terms of excitement on this sub (i get it's a somewhat niche product, but still a great earner)! I am curious what users of this card have to say in terms of feedback on it. Do rewards post quickly and reliably at 3%? Is the…”
Users are actively discussing and sharing their favorite methods for maximizing points accumulation with credit cards, including specific deals and tax considerations.
SOURCES (34)
“Don’t turn on auto redemptions and don’t spend points on dumb shit like loot boxes. Don’t gamble on options like a regard. Uh, yes we need MORE people doing that.”
“Huh. I thought I did enough I found a bunch of products maximizing the redemption of points/miles but I couldn't find anything that helps automate the optimization of earning points.”
“I have a spreadsheet for my 30+ cards, which helps, but for the MC transit credit, I simply put all my MCs in a rubber band in a pocket in my purse and, since it's only a single day (or two day if the weather is nice and I'm not running late) commute, I use the top one each day and then place it with my other cards after my last swipe of the day (NJT bus) at the bottom of the stack is a visa with 5% transit rewards and that stays in the pocket for transit until the next month! For $30, t”
“I have recently decided that I want to become a better credit card user. Since I've had one, I've been pretty oblivious to points, how to accrue them, how best to spend them, etc. For example, I spent an absurd amount of chase points to buy an iPad a few years back, because I thought to myself, "hey, free iPad" ... I now see the errors in my ways. In my credit profile below, you can see that I have a lot of overlap in my cards. I find myself using my amex for social purchases (”
“Tbf wholesale stores are pretty much always excluded categories from points ecosystems”
“P2 and I typically stay at 3* properties, with the occasional 2* and 4* sprinkled in when we aren't just using Airbnbs instead (now that we have a kid). We have Bonvoy Boundless (got the 5 FNCs), and IHG Premier and World of Hyatt are in our sights. Consider a pair of cards so you can stack 2 FNCs for a meaningful hotel run. Absent elevated SUBs, I think IHG Premier offers the best bang for the buck. If you are spending actual money for hotels, I recommend Wells Fargo Autograph Journey for t”
“MaxRewards has a decent free tier, but if you want something you can host yourself you're probably stuck building a Notion database that pulls in balances manually.”
“Everything that isn't my mortgage, which is paid by Bilt. So points on everything.”
“It's funny how that works right? My "favorite" card is not my best card. But I just love it.”
Damn, and here I was just churning points, guess I've been lacking 😖 /s
“Bank account deposit for the win and then autopay statement balance. You get to keep your money for longer and earn 1/10 of a cent. Let's gooooo”
“I had Claude create a spreadsheet for tracking everything. It did a great job.”
“Wow that's almost 50 in gift cards in 2 weeks. I tried the games, but turned out I just got addicted to them so I stopped.”
“Very true, and I am glad you say this… I should mention this. I shouldn’t go out of my way to spend more points for something I can get for less. On that same vein, I shouldn’t go out of my way and spend money I dont have just to get points…. Credit cards expect us to not redeem points. They always want to come out on top, and often do.”
“Don't let a perfect redemption get in the way of a good redemption. Don't let a good redemption get in the way of a redemption you will actually use. If you're happy with what you booked then that is awesome. Don't listen to anyone else who says otherwise. Congrats OP!”
“Pretty simple, when I know what exact ecosystem has the transfers I need. Now, I’m able to easily decide this because we have done a ton of points travel last 2 years, talking 4 round trip international business class trips per year to various countries and destinations. We are now pretty well stocked across Amex, Chase, and C1. Using dining as the primary example, I favor Gold most times but if I feel like I need to boost Chase points because I’ve depleted my United miles, I’ll shift.”
“Why is this way more correct? How does this method of modeling have more predictive or explanatory power than the other way? Suppose you already have a card that gives 3% back on groceries, and you're deciding whether or not the BCP makes sense for you based on your spend. Which answers the question in an obvious way: "The BCP earns an effective 4.5% on groceries". "The BCP gives $300/year in total cash back, minus the $95 annual fee". (By the way, the reason a lot of peo”
Here's a post of mine from 3 years back on 10+ benefits to having more than 1 credit card. https://old.reddit.com/r/CreditCards/comments/12k9o8n/10_reasons_to_have_1_credit_card/
“It has been a relatively quiet launch for this card in terms of excitement on this sub (i get it's a somewhat niche product, but still a great earner)! I am curious what users of this card have to say in terms of feedback on it. Do rewards post quickly and reliably at 3%? Is the issuer being Barclays a big problem or deterrent for you in terms of customer service or purchase protection? It is my top contender for next card I apply for, being the only 3% card with an actual sub has me eyeball”
“It always comes down to: don't spend more than you have/make. It doesn't matter how you split it up or dont. If you're putting that much mental work into it, you might need to check your budget.”
“I did pretty much the same thing, but I don't regret it. We have a steady stream of premium travel cards coming and going, so we had little to no use for the Prestige anymore.”
“I love this!! I’ve been standing at a checkout line using ChatGPT to tell me which card to use based on what store I’m at”
“monetization idea "if you had the Acme HONey credit card, you would save/get points +7% compared to your Umex Platon Card here at this shop/venue" then referral commission”
“Many threads on both these cards; there’s nothing secret about them. Also goal of this forum is to share knowledge for those of us looking to max points/cashback, not to tell people “this awesome card exists but I’m not going to tell you the details.””
“I think any of the venture cards work doesn’t necessarily have to be the venture x, but that is the best for travel”
“The annoying part is I was approved for it but then got other cards and when I went back I couldn’t get it”
“You could try using the template on Doctor of Credit. The bank account SUB sheet is also very useful IMO. https://www.doctorofcredit.com/tools-credit-card-bank-bonus-spreadsheet-tracking-information/”
“Thanks again. I assume $500 is how much you spent on the ones that tracked? How much did you spend on the ones that didn't track? Or in general roughly what is the success rate - 50%?”
“I'd like to be able to take advantage of SUBs long term by churning through credit cards without loosing track of expenses and deadlines. I'll likely plan to use a spreadsheet to track all my cards but how are others managing this? Are there better ways to do this? submitted by /u/--flapjack [link] [comments]”