Difference between revisions of "Optimize credit card rewards on your purchases"

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{{DISPLAYTITLE:{{Title|optimize rewards}} (2018)}}
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:{{Title|optimize rewards}} (2021)}}
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{{#seo:|description=Increase the rewards from your credit card spending by using cards that earn the best reward rates on bonus categories, like restaurants, travel, groceries, and gas.}}
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{{seo|description=Increase the rewards from your credit card spending by using cards that earn the best reward rates on bonus categories, like restaurants, travel, groceries, and gas.}}
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{{Page|article|Card Strategies}}  
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{{Page|article|Earn Points|Card Strategies}}  
  
 
{{ImageX|ChooseCard.jpg|full}}  
 
{{ImageX|ChooseCard.jpg|full}}  
  
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The easiest way to earn free travel is to get a credit card that earns rewards points on your purchases; and then use that card, rather than cash or check, whenever you can. Over the course of a year, you’ll effortlessly earn thousands of points you can use for free flights and hotel rooms. By simply choosing the right {{Link|general purpose|general-purpose rewards card}}, you should be earning at least 2% in rewards, on all your credit card spending.  
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The most straightforward way to earn free travel is to get a credit card that offers a great reward rate on your purchases and use that card, rather than cash or check, whenever you can. Over the course of a year, you’ll effortlessly earn thousands of points you can use for free flights and hotel rooms. By simply choosing the right {{Link|general purpose|general purpose rewards card}}, you should be earning at least 2% in rewards.  
  
 
However, you can do even better. Many credit cards offer higher-than-normal reward rates for spending within certain categories. For example, one card may give bonus rewards for purchases from gas stations and supermarkets, while another card may give bonuses on travel and restaurants.  
 
However, you can do even better. Many credit cards offer higher-than-normal reward rates for spending within certain categories. For example, one card may give bonus rewards for purchases from gas stations and supermarkets, while another card may give bonuses on travel and restaurants.  
  
 
<blockquote>
 
<blockquote>
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By using different cards for different types of purchases, you can earn more reward points (or cash back) on your spending—with rewards rates as high as 10%!
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By using different cards for different types of purchases, you can earn more reward points (or cashback) on your spending—with rewards rates as high as 10%!
 
</blockquote>  
 
</blockquote>  
  
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Unless you have problems with credit, you don’t need to worry about getting a handful of new credit cards, just to earn more rewards. Getting a few additional cards won’t trash your credit score—it may just improve it. For more information, and general tips, see our {{Link|Credit Cards 101}} article.
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Unless you have problems with credit, you don’t need to worry about getting a handful of new credit cards. Getting a few additional cards won’t trash your credit score—it may just improve it. For more information and general tips, see our {{Link|Credit Cards 101}} article.
  
 
{{TOC}}
 
{{TOC}}
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*[[#Using different cards, for different purchases, is a bit of hassle|Using different cards, for different purchases, is a bit of hassle]]
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*[[#Using different cards for different purchases isn't for everyone|Using different cards for different purchases isn't for everyone]]
 
*[[#Tips for getting reward cards for different spending categories|Tips]]
 
*[[#Tips for getting reward cards for different spending categories|Tips]]
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*[[#What type of points to focus on?|What type of points to focus on?]]
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*[[#The best cards for increasing your rewards|The best cards for increasing your rewards]]
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*[[#The best cards for earning bonus rewards|The best cards for earning bonus rewards]]
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*[[#Best options for each category|Best options for each category]]
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*[[#Reward Combos|Reward Combos]]
 
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*[[#Increasing your reward rate with gift cards (advanced)|Increasing your reward rate with gift cards (advanced)]]
 
 
{{/TOC}}
 
{{/TOC}}
  
 
{{Main|article}}
 
{{Main|article}}
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=== Using different cards, for different purchases, is a bit of hassle ===
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=== Using different cards for different purchases isn't for everyone ===
  
 
<ul class="bulletlist">
 
<ul class="bulletlist">
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<li>'''To be fair, optimizing your rewards, by using different credit cards, makes your life more complicated'''. It is simpler to carry around a single general-purpose reward card, and use it for all your purchases; than it is to get, carry, and choose from a collection of different reward cards.</li>  
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<li>'''Optimizing your rewards, by using different credit cards for different purchases, makes life more complicated'''. It is simpler to just carry around a single card and use it for all your purchases, rather than getting, carrying, and choosing from a collection of different credit cards.</li>  
  
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<li>'''Not everyone wants to bother, and we don’t blame them'''.</li>  
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<li>'''You can earn a lot more points by collecting signup bonuses, rather than optimizing your ongoing reward rates'''. Unless you have some means of spending a lot of money, the amount of extra reward points you can earn by using an optimized set of cards (over the course of a year) is often smaller than the signup bonus for just one or two cards. For example, if would be able to spend $20,000 per year in bonus categories, and you earned an average of an extra 3% using bonus category rewards, you would earn an extra $600 per year—about the same as one good signup bonus.</li>
  
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<li>'''However, many other people (and some of us) get immense satisfaction about getting the highest possible rewards from their spending''', and wouldn’t dream of “only” earning 2 - 2.5% on a purchase, when they could be earning 3 - 5%, or even more. It is not just the extra points—it is the extra sense of satisfaction from taking your game to the next level.</li>
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Furthermore, if you choose to focus on signup bonuses, most of your spending will be focused on meeting initial spending requirements and you'll have less opportunity to take advantage of optimized reward rates. {{Link|signup intro}}.
  
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<li>'''Within the “points hobby”, this is a famous source of tension between spouses'''—one spouse gets frustrated, when the other spouse doesn’t wind up using the “right” credit card for different purchases. Don’t let it bother you. If you or your spouse is not interested in having one more thing to think about, stick to a great general-purpose rewards card.</li>  
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Even more importantly, there is a limit to how many credit cards you can collect during any span of time. You’ll get more value by using those slots to get good signup bonuses (and ongoing travel benefits) rather than getting cards simply for their high reward rates. Ideally, concentrate on signup bonuses first and worry about optimizing your reward rates later.
 +
 
 +
<li>'''Not everyone wants to bother using a bunch of different cards for different purchases, and we don’t blame them'''.</li>
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<li>'''However, many other people (and some of us) get immense satisfaction about earning the highest possible rewards from their spending''' and wouldn’t dream of “only” earning 2 - 2.5% on a purchase, when they could be earning 3 - 5% or even more. It is not just the extra points—it is the extra sense of satisfaction from taking your game to the next level. If you are hardcore, you can often find ways to generate additional spending, so that you can meet the initial spending requirements for as many cards as you can, while still collecting bonus rewards with your best cards.</li>
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<li>'''Within the “points hobby”, this is a famous source of tension between spouses'''—one spouse gets frustrated when the other spouse doesn’t wind up using the “right” credit card for different purchases. Don’t let it bother you. If you or your spouse is not interested in having one more thing to worry about, stick to a great general purpose rewards card (or maybe a two-card strategy like the Chase Unlimited combo).</li>  
 
</ul>
 
</ul>
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If you want to maximize your rewards, build up a collection of cards, and use the right card for each purchase. If you are truly dedicated, you can build up a portfolio of more than a dozen cards, to absolutely maximize the rewards on all your purchases.
 
  
 
=== Tips for getting reward cards for different spending categories ===
 
=== Tips for getting reward cards for different spending categories ===
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<ul class="bulletlist">
 
<ul class="bulletlist">
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<li>'''There is no single card that earns great bonus rewards in every category'''. To optimize your rewards, you’ll need to get a set of cards, and use a different card for each category. However, you can typically get one card that is good for both travel and restaurants, and another card that is good for groceries and gas.</li>
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<li>'''There is no single card that earns great bonus rewards in every category'''. To optimize your rewards, you’ll need to get a set of cards and use a different card for each category. However, you can typically get one card that is good for both travel and restaurants and another card that is good for both groceries and gas.</li>
  
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<li>'''Focus on the cards that earn bonus rewards for the categories where you spend the most money'''. If you mostly go out to eat, a card that earns bonus rewards on restaurants is going to be more valuable than one that earns bonus rewards on groceries, and vise versa.</li>  
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<li>'''Focus on the cards that earn bonus rewards for the categories where you spend the most money'''. If you mostly go out to eat, a card that earns bonus rewards on restaurants is going to be more valuable than one that earns bonus rewards on groceries, and vice versa.</li>  
  
 
{{ImageX|Restaurant1.jpg}}
 
{{ImageX|Restaurant1.jpg}}
  
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<li>'''Don’t focus on the NUMBER of points earned, focus on the VALUE of the points'''. The value of different types of points and miles varies widely. On one end of the scale, credit card reward points (like Ultimate Rewards) are usually worth close-to, or more than, 2 cents each. On the other end of the scale, some hotel points, like Hilton's, are only worth .4-.5 cents each.</li>  
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<li>'''Don’t focus on the NUMBER of points earned, focus on the VALUE of the points'''. The value of different types of points and miles varies widely. On one end of the scale, credit card reward points (like Ultimate Rewards) are usually worth at least 1.5 cents each. On the other end of the scale, some hotel points, like Hilton's, are only worth .4-.5 cents each.</li>  
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As an example, the Hilton card’s 6x rewards on groceries sounds a lot better than the Amex’s Premier Reward’s 2x rewards. However, the Hilton points are worth around 2.7 cents per dollar, and the Membership Rewards points are worth around 3 cents per dollar. So, the 3x Membership Reward points is actually the more valuable reward rate. See more detail below.
 
  
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<li>'''To determine whether a card is worthwhile, you need to compare the extra points you expect to earn, to the card’s annual fee'''. To figure out the value you can get from a card, you need to take the amount you expect to spend, and multiply it by the extra points that you will earn, above-and-beyond the points you would have earned by just using your general-purpose reward card; and then subtract out the annual fee you need to pay to use the card.</li>  
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<li>'''To determine whether a card is worthwhile, you need to determine whether the extra points you'll earn justifies the card’s annual fee'''. To figure out the value you expect to get from a card, you need to take the amount you expect to spend and multiply it by the extra points that you will earn, above-and-beyond the points you would have earned by just using your general purpose reward card. Then you need to subtract the card's annual fee.</li>  
  
 
{{Card|BlueCash}}
 
{{Card|BlueCash}}
  
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An example may make this clearer. The Amex Blue Preferred card offers an amazing 6% cash back on your first $6,000 worth of supermarket spending. If you spend $5,000 on groceries each year, you’ll earn $300 cash back. But the real added value of the card is lower. If you already have the Chase Unlimited combo, you could have used your Unlimited card to earn 7,500 Ultimate Rewards points on those same amount of purchases. If you value the Ultimate Reward points at {{Value|UR}} cents each, that works out to {{Value|UR|7500}}. The Blue Cash card only earns $170 in additional rewards. And, in order to earn those extra rewards, you’ll need to pay $95 per year, for the additional card.  
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An example may make this clearer. The Amex Blue Preferred Card offers an amazing 6% cash back on your first $6,000 worth of supermarket spending. If you spend $5,000 on groceries each year, you’ll earn $300 cash back. But the real added value of the card is lower. If you already have the Chase Unlimited combo, you could have used your Unlimited Card to earn 7,500 Ultimate Rewards points on the same $5,000 of groceries. If you value the Ultimate Rewards points at {{Value|UR}} cents each, that works out to {{Value|UR|7500}}. The Blue Preferred Card only earns $170 in extra rewards. And, to earn those extra rewards, you’ll need to pay the Blue Preferred Card's $95 annual fee.  
  
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The final net benefit works out to $75 per year, not the $300 you might earn in rewards. If you spend less on groceries, you will earn less in extra rewards. If you spend the full $6,000, you can earn slightly more.  
+
The final net benefit works out to $75 per year, not the $300 of expected rewards. If you spend less on groceries, you'll earn less. If you spend the full $6,000, you can earn slightly more.  
  
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When you are determining whether it makes sense to get a card for ongoing use, we recommend ignoring any waiver of the first-year’s annual fee . You are focusing on whether these cards make sense for the long run. The waived annual fee, is essentially just part of the signup bonus for the card, and doesn't affect the long term value proposition.
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When you are determining whether it makes sense to get a card for ongoing use, we recommend ignoring any waiver of the first-year’s annual fee. You are usually focusing on whether these cards make sense for the long run. The waived annual fee is essentially just part of the signup bonus for the card and doesn't affect the long-term value proposition.
  
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<li>'''If you are “collecting” signup bonuses, you should generally postpone signing up for cards that just earn higher reward rates'''. The easiest way to build up lots and lots of points and miles is by collecting signup bonuses for new credit cards. If you follow this strategy, much of your credit card spending will be directed towards meeting the Initial spending requirements of your new cards. As a result, you will have less spending leftover. to put on the cards that earn bonus reward rates; the amount of extra value you’ll get from these cards will be low; and it is less likely that you can justify any additional annual fees. {{Link|Signup Bonus Intro}}.</li>  
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<li>'''You only need to pay attention to bonus rewards that are better than 2% back'''. Because you should be earning 2% or more with your general purpose card, earning 2% on a bonus category is not valuable. Only pay attention to cards that have category bonuses worth 3% or more. Just remember that depending on the type of points, a card that only earns 2x points may be earning more than 3% in value.</li>  
  
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Even more importantly, there is a limit to how many credit cards you can collect during any span of time. You’ll get more value from focusing on good signup bonuses, rather than on increasing the rewards you earn directly from your spending. Concentrate on signup bonuses first, and worry about optimizing your reward rates later.
+
{{Card|DoubleCash}}
 +
</ul>
  
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<li>'''Small business credit cards expand your options for earning bonus rewards'''. If you have any type of small-business (even if you also have a full-time job and you haven’t made any money yet), you are eligible for small-business credit cards. Many of these cards offer bonus rewards on spending categories that aren’t often available from personal cards—such as purchases from office supply stores or telecom providers. Technically, you aren’t supposed to use these cards for personal expenses, but many people do with no problems. If you are eligible for these cards, and willing to use them for your spending, you’ll be able to increase the rewards even further. {{Link|Business Cards}}.</li>
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=== The best cards for increasing your rewards ===
  
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{{Card|InkPreferred}}
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Before you can determine which cards to get for different spending categories, you need to make some decisions about 1) which types of points to earn, 2) whether you are willing and able to use business cards, and 3) how much extra work you're willing to do.
  
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<li>'''You only need to pay attention to bonus rewards that are better than 2% back'''. Because you should be earning 2% or more with your general-purpose card, earning 2% on a bonus category is not particularly enticing. Only pay attention to cards that have category bonuses of 3% or more. Just remember, that depending on the type of points, a card that only earns 2x points, may be earning more than 3% in value.</li>
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<ul class="bulletlist">
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<li>'''The type of reward points you should earn depends on how you plan to use your points'''. We assign a "value" for each type of point based on a range of typical travelers. Depending on your plans and situation, these points can be much more valuable or much less valuable than our base values. {{Link|point values}}.</li>
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{{Card|DoubleCash}}
 
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</ul>
 
  
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=== What type of points to focus on? ===
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For example, if you don't have a lot of flexibility, it might be very hard to get good value by using Membership Rewards points to book frequent flyer tickets and they may only be worth 1 cent each. At the opposite extreme, if you have more flexibility and you highly value premium-cabin award redemptions, Membership Rewards points may be worth 3-4 cents each (or even more). </li>
  
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Before you can determine which cards to get for different spending categories, you need to make some decisions about which types of points to earn.
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Different people will want to follow different approaches towards earning rewards:
  
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We display a "value" for the reward rate of every card, but that is calculated from a "base" value per point. But, depending on your plans and situation, these points can be much more valuable, or much less valuable, than the base values we use. The "real" value per point differs for each person, depending on how they expect to use their points, how much they spend each year, and how many points they already have. {{Link|point values}}
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<ul class="checklist">
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<li>'''Standard approach'''. It is hard to go wrong with our normal points optimization approach, which primarily focuses on earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points, but also takes advantage of cards that earn cash-like points when good Ultimate Rewards options are not available. </li>
  
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<ul class="bulletlist">
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It aims to earn the highest possible reward rates, assuming that you plan to use the points on EASY redemptions (for a variety of travel purchases). It provides the upside of using your Ultimate Rewards points for frequent flyer tickets and serves as a good gateway to advanced travel reward strategies, but still provides excellent value even if you never find good frequent flyer award opportunities.  
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<li>'''It is hard to go wrong with cards that earn Ultimate Reward points'''. If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you can use your points (like cash) to purchase a broad range of travel through the Chase website at 1.5 cents per point. You can easily get more value by using your points with Hyatt award nights and less-expensive Southwest Airlines tickets. And you leave open the possibility of getting much more value per point by transferring your points to one of Ultimate Reward's airline partners to use for frequent flyer tickets. {{Link|Ultimate Rewards}}.</li>
 
  
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It is pretty safe to assume that you can easily get at least 1.5 - 2 cents in value from your Ultimate Reward points. As a result, if there is an Ultimate Rewards card that has good bonus category rates, it will generally earn more valuable rewards than other cards. The main obstacle is whether you are blocked from getting the Sapphire Reserve, or some of the other cards, by the Chase 5/24 rule. {{Link|Chase 5/24}}.
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<li>'''Optimized for frequent flyer tickets'''. If you have the skills and flexibility to get good value from your points by using them for frequent flyer tickets, you can earn higher rewards by including cards which earn Amex's Membership Rewards points and  Citibank's ThankYou points. {{Link|Transferable Points}}.</li>
  
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<li>'''If you highly value business and first class award tickets, and have the ability and the patience to build up large quantities of points and find available award space, you should always try to earn as many "transferable" points as you can'''. You'll typically get 3 - 10 cents per point when you use your points to book business and first class frequent flyer tickets, so flexible credit card points that can be transferred to multiple frequent flyer programs are much more valuable than cash-back-like cards.  {{Link|Transferable Points}}.</li>
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This is true, even if you are just using them for coach tickets. But if you highly value business and first-class award tickets and have the patience to build up large quantities of points, you should always try to earn as many "transferable" points as you can. You don't want to mess around with cards that earn cash-like points when you could be earning extremely valuable transferable reward points instead.  
  
 
{{Image|TransferPrograms.png|420}}
 
{{Image|TransferPrograms.png|420}}
  
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In general, you should go with whichever transferable point option earns you the most transferable points per dollar, as each of the programs has a decent set of airline partners. If you are planning to redeem for premium-cabin frequent flyer tickets, the ability to get good value from Ultimate Reward's other redemption options doesn't provide any added value. Membership Reward's larger number of airline partners, occasional transfer bonuses, easier points accumulation, and ability to purchase additional points (if necessary), makes it the better option.  
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For most people, the more of these points, the better. But everything else being equal, Membership Rewards points are somewhat better than Ultimate Rewards and ThankYou points. Membership Rewards' larger number of airline partners, occasional transfer bonuses, and easier points accumulation, usually makes it the best choice if you are going to use your points for frequent flyer tickets.  
  
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All other things being equal, given a choice, our preference for these types of points is Membership Rewards, Ultimate Rewards, and then ThankYou points.
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Of course, depending on the airlines you are likely to fly, you might wind up with slightly different preferences. Most importantly, if you want to frequently use your points for domestic Delta flights, you'll want to prioritize Membership Rewards points, and if you want to frequently use your points for domestic United flights, you'll want to prioritize Ultimate Rewards points. 
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<li>'''Cash Only'''. Some people might prefer focusing strictly on cashback cards or cards that earn cash-like points (which can be used for a very wide variety of travel purchases). For these people, each type of transferable reward point is only worth its cash-out value.</li>
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</ul>
  
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<li>'''If there is no good Ultimate Rewards option, you don't expect to use your points for premium-cabin award tickets, or you simply can't justify paying annual fees, you are usually best off with cash-back cards'''. It is hard to find opportunities to get good value from economy-class frequent flyer tickets. When airfares are high, award space is usually not available. When airfares are low, you would not be getting much value from your points. You are better off earning cash-like points that you can use to subsidize a very broad range of travel purchases, without needing to worry about finding award space, or sticking to the mainstream airlines and hotel chains.</li>  
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<li>'''Small business credit cards expand your options for earning bonus rewards'''. If you have any type of small business (even if you also have a full-time job and you haven’t made any money yet), you are eligible for small-business credit cards. Many of these cards offer bonus rewards on spending categories that aren’t often available from personal cards—such as purchases from office supply stores or telecom providers. Technically, you aren’t supposed to use these cards for personal expenses, but many people do, with no problems. If you are eligible for these cards, and willing to use them for your spending, you’ll be able to boost your rewards. {{Link|Business Cards}}.</li>  
  
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<li>'''If you don't want to hassle with savings up huge quantities of points, and trying to find the relatively rare opportunities to get good value from frequent flyer tickets, Membership Rewards and ThankYou points are worth considerably less than our base values'''. For most trips, you can only expect to get 1 - 1.25 cents per point from Membership Reward or ThankYou points, so value them accordingly. Your opportunity to get more (on coach tickets) will require patience, flexibility, and/or luck.</li>
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{{Card|InkPreferred}}
  
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<li>'''If you've decided to make the Amex BUSINESS Platinum card part of your core credit card collection, Membership Rewards cards become a more attractive option''' (for people who don't expect to redeem for premium-cabin seats). You can use your points at 1.54 cents each to purchase airfare on your favorite airline. {{Link|Membership Rewards}}.</li>  
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<li>'''Some cards are primarily attractive for people who are willing to make an extra effort to optimize their reward rate'''. For example, the Amex Gold Card has a high annual fee, but a great reward rate (4x Membership Rewards points) on groceries. For most people, their natural grocery store purchases aren't likely to be high enough to justify the annual fee. But if you are willing to purchase gift cards from the grocery store and then use those gift cards at other merchants (or otherwise "liquidate" them), you can earn enough extra points to make this card very worthwhile.</li>
  
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{{Card|PlatinumBiz}}
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{{Image|GiftCardRack2.jpg|360}}
  
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Similarly, you can earn fantastic reward rates from rotating category cards, such as the Chase Freedom Card. But you'll need to register for a changing set of reward categories each calendar quarter. And for many quarters, you are likely to have to shift purchases around or take advantage of gift cards to maximize the earning potential of the card.
 
</ul>
 
</ul>
  
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=== The best cards for earning bonus rewards ===
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{{Box}}
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'''If you've decided to make the Amex BUSINESS Platinum Card part of your core credit card collection, Membership Rewards points can be cashed-out at higher values'''. You can use your points at 1.54 cents each to buy airfare on your favorite airline or for any business or first-class ticket. This makes cards that earn Membership Rewards more valuable for people who are normally interested in our standard or cash-only approaches to earning points. {{Link|Membership Rewards}}.{{/Box}}
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==== Standard approach ====
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Our standard approach to optimizing rewards focuses on earning Ultimate Rewards points (when possible) and earning cash-like points when there are no good Ultimate Rewards options.
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{{List|Card}}
 +
{{CardItem|UnlimitedCombo}}
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Start with the {{Card|FreedomUnlimited|only}} and {{Card|SapphireReserve|only}} or {{Card|SapphirePreferred|only}} combination to earn 3x Ultimate Rewards points ({{Value|UR|3}}%) on '''restaurants''' and '''drugstores''', 5x Ultimate Rewards points ({{Value|UR|5}}%) on '''travel bought through the Chase website''', 2 or 3x Ultimate Rewards points ({{Value|UR|2}}-{{Value|UR|3}}%) on '''other travel''', and 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points ({{Value|UR|1.5}}%) on your '''everyday purchases'''. The Sapphire Preferred throws in 3x Ultimate Reward points ({{Value|UR|3}}%) on '''Streaming and Online Grocery Services''' and the Sapphire Reserve offers 10x points on hotels and car rentals purchased through Chase. The Freedom Unlimited has no annual fee. The annual fee on the Sapphire Preferred is $95 and it comes with a $50 hotel credit as long as you pay (likely slightly overpriced rates) through Chase. The annual fee on Sapphire Reserve is $550, but an automatic $300 travel credit and a $60 per year DoorDash credit, drops the effective annual fee to $130-250.
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{{CardItem|Bluecash}}
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Add the {{Card|Bluecash|only}} for 6% on your first $6,000 of '''grocery''' store spending, 6% on '''streaming services''' and 3% on '''gas'''. It is almost always your best option for groceries, even with its $95 annual fee.
  
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'''The following cards are our normal recommendations for earning bonus rewards on different categories''' (in a rough priority order, which works for many people). You might already have one or two of these cards, based on their other benefits.  
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{{CardItem|Bilt}}
 +
If you pay '''rent''' and your landlord doesn't take credit cards or charges a credit card fee, you can earn up to 50,000 points per year using the {{Card|Bilt|only}}. Even better, these points can be transferred to Hyatt and a number of great airline partners. If you wind up getting this card and you like the airline partners better than the ones in the Ultimate Rewards program, you may also want to use it to earn 3x Bilt points ({{Value|UR|3}}%) on your dining purchases. No annual fee.  
  
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If you want to see some other options for each category, which might work better for your individual circumstances, make sure to view our “Best Options” guides.  
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{{CardItem|Altitude}}
 +
Most people can substantially boost their rewards by using the {{Card|Altitude|only}} to earn 4.5% on all purchases they make with Apple Pay, Google Pay or other '''mobile wallets'''. Once this card is added to your wallet, use it as often as you can, except when you can earn even more from one of your other cards. If you have one of many Samsung phones from the past few years, you can use the Altitude Reserve through your Samsung wallet at any credit card swipe machine. If you have a non-Samsung Android phone, consider getting a Samsung Gear 3 watch to do the same thing. Unfortunately, if you want this card, you need to have an existing relationship with U.S. Bank and not many other recently acquired credit cards. $400 annual fee, but an automatic $325 travel and restaurant credit drops the effective annual fee to $75.
  
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Also, Doctor of Credit has good set of [//www.doctorofcredit.com/credit-card-reference-pages/#Category_Spending_Bonuses reference pages], and Frequent Miler has a [//frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/best-card-category-bonuses/ webpage] that provide relatively up-to-date information on the options for different bonus categories.  
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{{CardItem|AmazonStore}}
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If you are one of the many people who spends a significant amount at Amazon, you should probably get one of the cards that offers 5% on '''Amazon purchases''' with no annual fee. Your best option is probably the {{Card|affinitycu|only}}, if you can get approved for it. It provides a rotating set of 5% categories on top of its 5% reward rate on Bookstores, including Amazon. Otherwise, we recommend the {{Card|AmazonStore|only}} because it doesn't take up a Chase or Amex Slot, is eligible for most of Amazon's cardholder promotions, and like the Chase and Amex cards, also earns 5% at Whole Foods (if you buy most of your groceries at Whole Foods, you may not need to bother with the Amex Blue Preferred).  
  
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{{List|card}}
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Depending on your shopping habits, you might consider the {{Card|Walmart|only}} for 5% back on '''Walmart.com''' purchases and the [//www.target.com/redcard/about Target Debit Card] for 5% back on '''Target''' purchases.  
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{{CardItem|SapphireReserve}}
 
−
'''<big>1.</big> If you have the Sapphire Reserve card, it is usually the best option for restaurant and travel spending'''. If you are using the Chase Unlimited combination for your everyday spending, or you are getting the Sapphire Reserve for its valuable travel benefits, you will want to use it for your travel and restaurant purchases. as well. It earns the highest possible reward rate for these categories: 3x Ultimate Reward points, valued at {{Value|UR|3}} cents per dollar.
 
−
<br/>{{Link|Travel Spending}}.
 
−
<br/>{{Link|Restaurant Spending}}.
 
  
−
{{CardItem|Altitude}}  
+
{{CardItem|BOACash}}
−
'''<big>2.</big> Get the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve card to earn 4.5% on every payment with mobile wallets, such as Apple Pay'''. Everyone can use the Altitude Reserve card to boost their rewards at many brick and mortar businesses, on purchases made through apps on your phone, and at an ever-increasing number of online stores. If you have many Samsung devices, you can earn bonus rewards from any business that uses a credit card swipe machine.
+
If you can move enough money to Bank of America and/or Merrill Lynch to qualify for Platinum Honors status, you should get the {{Card|BOACash|only}} to boost your rewards on '''online shopping'''. It earns up to 5.25% on up to $2,500 of purchases each quarter. Ideally, you would sign up for a different Bank of America card, collect a more valuable signup offer, wait a year, and then convert it to the Cash Rewards card.
−
<br/>{{Link|store spending}}.  
 
  
−
'''The Altitude Reserve is also a great option for travel purchases, for anyone who doesn't have the Sapphire Reserve or Citi Prestige cards'''. If you can't (or don't want to) get the Sapphire Reserve card, are not interested in the {{Card|CitiPrestige|only}}, or don't want to accumulate any additional ThankYou points, the Altitude Reserve makes a great option for travel spending. It earns 4.5% on a broad range of travel purchases. $400 annual fee, but an automatic $325 travel credit brings the effective annual cost down to $75. {{Link|Premium Cards}}
+
{{CardItem|SamsClub}}
 +
If you spend a lot on gas, you might consider getting a card just for '''gas''' purchases—you can boost your rewards to 4 or 5%. There are {{Link|Gas spending|several options}} that have no annual fee.
  
−
{{CardItem|BlueCash}}
+
{{CardItem|CitiCash}}
−
'''<big>3.</big> Get the Amex Blue Preferred card (or the Amex EveryDay Preferred card) to earn the highest rewards for groceries (and gas)'''.  The best simple option for these categories is the Amex Blue Preferred card, which earns 6% cash-back on groceries, and 3% on gas. $95 annual fee.  
+
If you are willing to do some extra work, you can use a Citi Custom Cash Card for up to your first $500 of grocery or dining spend each month (or travel, drugstore, fitness, or home improvement in months you spend a lot on those categories) and earn 5x ThankYou points, rather than your normal category bonus.
  
−
However, if you are willing to deal with more complexity, you can earn even higher rewards with the {{Card|EveryDayPreferred|only}}. When you make more than 30 purchases in a month, you’ll earn a 50% reward bonus, which works out to 4.5x Membership Reward points on groceries, and 3x points on Gas, valued at {{Value|MR|4.5}} cents and {{Value|MR|3}} cents per dollar. It has the same $95 annual fee as the Blue Preferred card. There are a number of {{Link|30 charges|tricks}} to make sure that you qualify each month. Or you can stick with the lower rates on the Blue card, and avoid needing to worry about it.
+
{{/List|Card}}
  
−
{{Link|grocery spending}}.  
+
{{Box|Use your travel credits}}
−
<br/>{{Link|gas spending}}.
+
'''If you aren't expecting to travel, you can use some card's travel credits to offset other types of purchases'''. The Sapphire Reserve's travel credit will automatically offset grocery and gas spending, the Citi Prestige Card's will automatically offset restaurant and grocery spending during all of 2021, and the Altitude Reserve Card's will now automatically offset restaurant spending. Make sure to use these cards enough to take advantage of the entire credit amount.  
 +
{{/Box}}  
  
−
{{CardItem|Uber}}
+
If you are willing and able to get business cards, you can further increase your reward earning potential.
−
'''<big>4.</big> If you don't have the Sapphire Reserve card, get the Uber card to earn great rewards on restaurant spending'''. It earns 4% cash back, with no annual fee. {{Link|restaurant spending}}.
 
  
 +
{{List|Card}}
 
{{CardItem|InkPreferred}}
 
{{CardItem|InkPreferred}}
−
'''<big>5.</big> If you have a business, get a small business card that earns good rewards for office supplies, telecommunications, and/or advertising services'''. Your best options are one of the {{Card|Inkpreferred|only}}, {{Card|inkcash|only}}, the {{Card|fnbobiz|only}}, or the {{Card|SimplyCashBiz|only}}. You are likely to be still be able to get one of these, even if your business is very small, or hasn't made any money yet. {{Link|business cards}}
+
If you are not willing to pay for the enhanced benefits of the Sapphire Reserve card, such as airport lounge access and the ability to "cash out" your points at 1.5 cents each (rather than 1.25 cents), the Ink Preferred card can be a better rewards option than the Sapphire Preferred. It has the same annual fee, but comes with a much higher signup bonus, 3x Ultimate Rewards points on all non-Chase '''travel''' purchases (rather than 2x), plus bonus rewards on '''shipping''', '''telecommunication services''', and '''online advertising'''. It also doesn't take up one of your Chase 5/24 slots, but can't be freely converted to a Sapphire Reserve if you change your mind.
 +
 
 +
{{CardItem|InkCash}}
 +
You can earn 5x Ultimate Rewards points ({{Value|UR|5}}%) at '''office supply stores''' and on '''telecommunications services''' with the {{Card|InkCash|only}}, with no annual fee (and a generous signup bonus). You also get 2x Ultimate Rewards ({{Value|UR|2}}%) on gas, which is better than the Amex Blue Preferred, but not as good as the best of the specialized gas cards.  
 +
{{/List|Card}}
  
−
{{CardItem|Freedom}}
+
==== Optimized for frequent flyer tickets ====
−
'''<big>6.</big> If you have one of the Chase Sapphire cards (or the Ink Preferred), get the Chase Freedom card as well, and take advantage of its rotating categories'''. The Freedom card normally earns 5% cash back on a set of rotating categories. However, if you have a Sapphire or Ink Preferred card as well, it earn 5x Ultimate Rewards points (that can be transferred to airline and hotel partners) instead, bringing the value up to {{Value|UR|5}} cents per dollar. While this card offers an amazing reward rate, it is limited to $1,500 in spending each quarter, within a specific schedule of categories defined by Chase. If you love getting 5%+ rewards, and can deal with the rotating category system, you can get the {{Card|discover|only}}, as well. It works similarly but “only” earns the stated 5%, except during the first year, when your rewards are doubled.
 
−
<br/>{{Link|rotating category}}.
 
  
−
{{CardItem|att}}
+
If you are willing and able to get good value from using your reward points for frequent flyer tickets, you can increase the value of your rewards by including cards that earn Membership Rewards and/or ThankYou points.  
−
'''<big>7.</big> Consider getting one or more cards that earns extra reward for your retail purchases'''. The {{Card|BlueCash|only}} earns 3% back at department stores, the {{Card|att|only}} earns either {{Value|TY|2}} cents or {{Value|TY|3}} cents per dollar at online retailers, and the {{Card|cashplus|only}} (and to a lesser extent the {{Card|Vantage|only}}, {{Card|HuntingtonVoice|only}}, and {{Card|Synovus|only}}) let you earn 5% back at your choice of different categories of stores (up to maximum of $2,000 spend per quarter). There are also rotating category cards, and individual merchant cards, that can be worthwhile for the right folks.
 
−
<br/>{{Link|store spending}}.
 
  
−
{{CardItem|cashplus}}
+
{{List|Card}}
−
'''<big>8.</big> Fill out your “quiver” with cards that optimize other categories'''.  Besides the main bonus categories discussed above, there are specific cards that earn good bonus rewards in other categories and/or earn somewhat higher rates in specific categories that were already covered.  
+
{{CardItem|DoubleCash}}
 +
Start with the {{Card|DoubleCash|only}}. When combined with a Citi Premier (or Prestige) Card, it earns 2x ThankYou points on '''everyday purchases'''.
  
−
For example, while the Sapphire Reserve and Citi Prestige cards offer the best rates on a broad set of travel purchases, the American Express Platinum card earns a higher rate on airfare. If you buy enough airplane tickets, it may be worthwhile to use the Platinum card for airfare purchases, and one of the other cards for your other travel purchases. 
+
Alternatively, if you can take good advantage of Capital One's 1:1 airline partners, get the {{Card|Venture|only}}. Like the Double Cash card, it earns 2x points on all spending. Capital One has a better selection of airline partners, but you only get 1:1 transfers with some of them.  
−
<br/>{{Link|uncommon categories}}
 
  
−
{{/List|card}}
+
{{CardItem|CitiPremier}}
 +
If you want to keep things simple, get the {{Card|CitiPremier|only}}. For just a $95 annual fee, you'll earn 3x ThankYou points on '''airfare''', '''hotels''', '''restaurants''', '''groceries''', and '''gas''', and be able to transfer all your points to frequent flyer programs. If you aren't collecting signup bonuses, it has the added benefit of focusing your reward earning in a single program. However, if you are collecting signup bonuses, you'll wind up with points in all the major programs anyway.
  
−
{{Box|Earning More Value from Many Chase and Citibank Cards}}
+
If you prefer to focus on Capital One points, you could get the {{Card|SavorOne|only}} instead and earn 3x Capital One points on '''restaurants''', '''groceries''', and '''entertainment'''. You would then want to look at an additional option for travel and gas.
−
<ul class="bulletlist">
+
 
−
<li>Some Chase and Citibank cards earn less-flexible reward points, which can only be redeemed for 1 cent each, on things like gift cards.</li>
+
{{CardItem|CitiRewards}}
 +
The  {{Card|CitiRewards|only}} gives you a '''10% rebate''' on the first 100,000 ThankYou points you redeem each year, boosting the value from the Double Cash, Premier Card, and discontinued Prestige Card.  
  
−
<li>However, if you combine these cards with one of Chase’s or Citibank’s premium cards, you can redeem these points for full value—transferring them to airline or hotel programs, or getting a higher-than-normal value when you use them to purchase travel through the credit card company’s travel portal.</li>
+
{{CardItem|Bilt}}
 +
If you pay '''rent''' and your landlord doesn't take credit cards or charges a credit card fee, you can earn up to 50,000 points per year using the {{Card|Bilt|only}}. Even better, these points can be transferred to Hyatt and a number of great airline partners. If you wind up getting this card and you like the airline partners better than the ones in the Ultimate Rewards program, you may also want to use it to earn 3x Bilt points ({{Value|UR|3}}%) on your dining purchases. No annual fee.  
  
−
<li>Most often, the credit card company will advertise these cards as x% cash-back cards. But, the real earning rate can be significantly higher.</li>
+
{{CardItem|Altitude}}
 +
Some people may want to earn 4.5% by using the {{Card|Altitude|only}} for '''mobile wallet purchases'''. If you value Membership Rewards or ThankYou points at less than 2.25 cents each, earning 4.5% in cash-like points is better than earning 2x points with the Double Cash Card (or Blue Business Plus Card).  
  
−
<li>For example, the points you earn from the Chase Freedom card are usually worth 1 cent each, but if you have a Sapphire or Ink Reserve card, you can convert them to 1 frequent flyer mile instead. Or, the points you earn from online purchases with the Citibank AT&T Access card are normally worth 2 cents per dollar, but if you have the Citi Premier or Prestige card, you can get use your points to get 2 airline miles instead.</li>
+
{{CardItem|AmazonStore}}
−
</ul>
+
You may prefer 5% on Amazon from one of the cards that offers 5% on '''Amazon purchases''' over 2x points from your everyday card. Your best option is probably the {{Card|affinitycu|only}}, if you can get approved for it. It provides a rotating set of 5% categories on top of its 5% reward rate on Bookstores, including Amazon. Otherwise, we recommend the {{Card|AmazonStore|only}} because it doesn't take up a Chase or Amex Slot, is eligible for most of Amazon's cardholder promotions, and like the Chase and Amex cards, also earns 5% at Whole Foods (if you buy most of your groceries at Whole Foods, you may not need to bother with the Amex Blue Preferred).  
−
{{/Box}}
 
  
−
=== Reward Combos ===
+
Depending on your shopping habits, you might also consider the {{Card|Walmart|only}} for 5% back on '''Walmart.com''' purchases and the [//www.target.com/redcard/about Target Debit Card] for 5% back on '''Target''' purchases.
  
−
If you want to concentrate the types of points you earn, you can put together collections of cards in the same family.  
+
{{CardItem|BOACash}}
 +
If you can move enough money to Bank of America and/or Merrill Lynch to qualify for Platinum Honors status, you might prefer the 5.25% from {{Card|BOACash|only}} (on up to $2,500) of '''online purchases''' to 2x transferable points.  
  
−
{{List|Label}}
+
{{CardItem|CitiCash}}
 +
If you are willing to do some extra work, you can use a Citi Custom Cash Card for up to your first $500 of grocery or dining spend each month (or travel, drugstore, fitness, or home improvement in months you spend a lot on those categories) and earn 5x ThankYou points, rather than your normal category bonus. 
  
−
{{Label|Ultimate Rewards}}
+
{{CardItem|Rakuten}}
−
Start with the '''{{Link|general purpose|Chase Unlimited combo}}''':
+
If you can't maximize your rewards on the BOA Cash card (or you are hitting the quartly caps), you can earn 3x Membership Rewards points on at least '''some of your online purchases''' with the {{Card|Rakuten|only}}. It only works for online purchases made through the Rakuten (eBates) shopping portal.
  
−
<ul class="bulletlist">
+
{{CardItem|Freedom}}
−
*3x on Restaurants.
+
Adding the {{Card|Freedom|only}} will let you earn 3x Ultimate Rewards points on '''drugstores''', 5x Ultimate Rewards points on your first $1,500 of spending in a '''rotating set of categories''' each quarter, and 5x Ultimate Rewards points on '''travel bought through Chase'''. It also gives you the option if earning 3x Ultimate Rewards points (rather than 3x ThankYou points) on '''restaurants'''. But to transfer the points to frequent flyer or hotel programs, you'll need to pay the annual fee for a Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve card each year.  
−
*3x on Travel.
+
{{/List|Card}}
−
*1.5x on everything else.
 
−
</ul>
 
  
−
Add some combination of the following three cards to bump up the Ultimate Reward points you earn.
+
If you can add business cards into the mix, many people will want to switch over to primarily Membership Rewards points.
  
−
<ul class="bulletlist">
+
{{List|Card}}
−
*5x on a rotating set of categories with the '''{{Card|Freedom|only}}''' (Capped at $1,500 per quarter).
+
{{CardItem|BlueBiz}}
−
*5x on office supply stores and telecommunication services with the '''{{Card|InkCash|only}}''' or 3x with the '''{{Card|InkPreferred|only}}'''.
+
Most people would prefer to earn 2x Membership Rewards points with the {{Card|BlueBiz|only}} over 2x ThankYou points with the Double Cash Card. However, note that the 2x rate is capped at $50,000 per copy of the card per year and that Amex cards aren't accepted at all merchants.  
−
*3x on Advertising purchases (in select media) with the '''{{Card|InkPreferred|only}}'''.
 
−
*2x on Gas with the '''{{Card|InkCash|only}}'''.
 
−
</ul>
 
  
−
There are no Ultimate Reward cards that provide bonus rewards for Groceries. Your best bet is to combine it with a the '''{{Card|BlueCash|only}}''' for 6% back on groceries, and 3% back on gas.  
+
{{CardItem|GreenCard}}
 +
If you don't want to split your points between two different programs and you don't want the Citi Presige Card for its other benefits, you can augment the Blue for Business Card with the {{Card|GreenCard|only}} and the {{Card|EverydayPreferred|only}} to earn 3x points on '''travel''' and '''restaurants''' and up to 4.5x points on '''groceries''' and '''gas'''.  The annual fees for both cards total about $250.  
  
−
{{Label|Membership Rewards (Personal Cards)}}
+
{{CardItem|InkCash}}
−
Start with the '''{{Card|EverydayPreferred|only}}''' (and make sure to make 30 transactions per month.  
+
For '''office supply stores''', '''telecommunication services''', and other '''business-oriented categories''', you would follow the same recommendations as our standard strategy. Remember that if you get the Ink Cash Card, you will need the Ink Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, or Sapphire Preferred Card to take full advantage of any points you'd earn.  
 +
{{/List|Card}}
  
 +
{{Box|Earning More Value from Many Chase and Citibank Cards}}
 
<ul class="bulletlist">
 
<ul class="bulletlist">
−
*4.5x on Groceries (Capped at $6,000 per year).
+
<li>Some Chase and Citibank cards earn less-flexible versions of their reward points, which can only be redeemed for 1 cent each on things like gift cards.</li>  
−
*3x on Gas.
 
−
*1.5x on everything else.
 
−
</ul>
 
  
−
5x on Airfare and pre-paid hotels booked through Amex Travel, if you have a version of the '''{{Card|PlatinumCard|only}}''' (for it's signup bonus and/or ongoing benefits).  
+
<li>However, if you combine these cards with one of Chase’s or Citibank’s premium cards, you can redeem these points for full value—transferring them to airline or hotel programs or getting a higher-than-normal value when you use them to purchase travel through the credit card company’s travel portal.</li>
  
−
If you are a Morgan Stanley client, get the '''{{Card|MorganStanley|only}}''' for 2x on Restaurants, 2x on Car Rentals, and 2x on Department Stores. Consider setting up a Morgan Stanley [//www.morganstanley.com/what-we-do/wealth-management/access-investing/goals Access Account] with $5,000 to qualify for this card.
+
<li>Most often, the credit card company will advertise these cards as x% cash-back cards, but the real earning rate can be significantly higher.</li>
  
−
For Restaurants and other travel expenses your options are:
+
<li>For example, the points you earn from the Chase Freedom Card are usually worth 1 cent each, but if you have a Sapphire or Ink Reserve Card, you can convert them to 1 frequent flyer mile instead. Or the points you earn from purchases with the Citibank Double Cash Card are normally worth 2 cents per dollar, but if you have the Citi Premier (or Prestige) Card, you can get use your points to get 2 airline miles instead.</li>
 +
</ul>
 +
{{/Box}}
  
−
<ul class="bulletlist">
+
==== Cash only approach ====
−
*4% on Restaurants, and 3% on Travel with the '''{{Card|Uber|only}}'''.
 
−
*4.5% on Travel and Digital Wallet purchases with the '''{{Card|Altitude|only}}'''. You could one of the other cards to increase your rewards on restaurant spending.
 
−
*3x Ultimate Reward points on Restaurants and Travel with the '''{{Card|SapphireReserve|only}}'''. You could always cash out at the equivalent of 4.5%, or easily use your points for Hyatt hotels or Southwest Airline tickets for more.
 
−
*2x Membership Reward points on Restaurants and 2-3x on Airfare with the '''{{Card|PremierRewards|only}}''' or '''Ameriprise Gold Card'''. But, both have high annual fees.
 
−
</ul>
 
  
−
You can bump up your rewards with the '''{{Card|GoldBiz|only}}'''.
+
If you want to stick with cashback (and other cash-like points), you might want to make a few adjustments to the standard approach described above. If you are still interested in the extra benefits of the Sapphire Reserve Card, you could stick with the '''Chase Unlimited combo'''. Even if you are simply cashing out your points through "pay yourself back" or via paying for travel on the Chase website, you'll earn 4.5% on all your travel, dining, and drugstore purchases, 7.5% on travel purchased through Chase, and 2.25% on everything else.  
  
−
<ul class="bulletlist">
+
If the Sapphire Reserve isn't worth its annual fee...
−
*3x on one of: shipping, advertising (in select media), computer purchases, airfare
 
−
*2x on the other categories
 
−
</ul>
 
  
−
{{Label|Cash}}
+
{{List|Card}}
−
Start with one of '''{{Link|cash back}}''' for 2-3% on any non-bonus category purchases OR use the '''{{Link|general purpose|Chase Unlimited Combo}}''' for a minimum of 2.25% back on non-bonus categories and 4.5% back on Restaurants and Travel.
+
{{CardItem|Alliant}}
 +
Get the best '''{{Link|general purpose|general purpose card}}''' you can.  That could be the {{Card|Alliant|only}}, one of the no-annual-fee 2% cards, or the {{Card|BOAUnlimited|only}} or {{Card|BOAPremium|only}} (if you qualify for Bank of America's Platinum Honors status).  
  
−
Get the '''{{Card|Altitude|only}}''' to earn 4.5% on Travel and Digital Wallet Purchases. This provides less incremental value if you are already getting 3x Ultimate Rewards on travel from the Sapphire Reserve card.
+
{{CardItem|Altitude}}
 +
Use the {{Card|Altitude|only}} for your '''travel''' purchases, as well as for '''mobile wallet''' purchases.  
  
−
Augment your rewards with one or more of the following cards:
+
{{CardItem|AltitudeGo}}
 +
If you find that you can't use your Altitude Reserve Card at many of the restaurants you visit, consider getting the {{Card|AltitudeGo|only}} to earn 4% back on those '''restaurants'''.
 +
{{/List|Card}}
  
−
<ul class="bulletlist">
+
Alternatively...
−
*4% back on Restaurants with the '''{{Card|Uber|only}}''' (if you aren't using the Chase Sapphire card).
+
{{List|Card}}
−
*6% back on Groceries (capped at $6,000 per year), 3% back at Department Stores, and 3% back on Gas with the '''{{Card|BlueCash|only}}'''.
+
{{CardItem|Fairwinds}}
−
*5% on Amazon with the '''{{Card|Amazon|only}}'''.
+
If you spend enough to justify the $249 annual fee, get the little-known {{Card|Fairwinds|only}}. It earns 5x points on '''travel''', 3x points on '''restaurants''', and 2x points '''everywhere else'''. But points are worth 1.5 cents each when used to buy travel through the CURewards website, giving you a reward rate of 7.5% on travel, 4.5% on restaurants, and 3% everywhere else.  
−
*5% back on rotating set of categories (10% in the first year) with the '''{{Card|Discover|only}}''' or '''{{Card|Freedom|only}}''' (the Freedom card earns a minimum of 7.5% back if you are using the Chase Unlimited combo).
+
{{/List|Card}}
−
*3-5% on your choice of additional categories, with one or more '''{{Link|Uncommon Categories|"pick your category" cards}}'''.
 
−
*5% back on office supply, telecommunications, and other business expenses with the '''{{Card|fnbobiz|only}}''' or '''{{Card|simplycashbiz|only}}'''.
 
−
*5% back on Gas with one of '''{{Link|Gas Spending|several cards}}''', if getting a card for the extra 2% (or extra .5% at Gas Stations that accept mobile wallet payments) is worth it.
 
  
−
</ul>
+
Regardless of which of these three approaches you take for your everyday, travel and restaurant purchases, you'd follow the other recommendations of the standard approach, getting the {{Card|BlueCash|only}} for '''groceries''', '''streaming services''', and maybe gas; the {{Card|Bilt|only}} for '''rent''' you can't pay with other cards, the {{Card|Altitude|only}} for '''mobile wallet payments''', one of the Amazon cards for '''Amazon''', the {{Card|BOACash|only}} for '''online shopping''', potentially the {{Card|Freedom|only}} for '''drugstores''', '''travel purchased through Chase''', and a '''set of rotating categories''' and/or the {{Card|CitiCash|only}} for a boost on one category of your choice per month, and possibly a card for '''gas''', '''Walmart.com''', and '''Target'''.
  
−
{{/List|Logo}}
+
Then if you are willing and able to get business cards, you might add on:
  
−
=== Increasing your reward rate with gift cards (advanced) ===
+
{{List|Card}}
 +
{{CardItem|InkCash}}
 +
The {{Card|InkCash|only}} earns 5x Ultimate Rewards back on '''office supplies''' and '''wireless telephone services'''.
 +
{{/List|Card}}
  
−
'''The best reward rates differ wildly between categories'''. For example, the best regular reward rate for department stores is 3 cents per dollar, and the best reward rate for restaurants is about 6 cents per dollar, but it is possible to earn up to about 8 cents per dollar at grocery stores, and 9 cents per dollar at Office supply stores.
+
=== Best options for each category ===
  
−
Furthermore, since most of the cards with the highest reward rates have annual fees, or other restrictions, the rates you can get with your actual collection of cards may be different.  
+
If you want to see some other options for each category, make sure to view our “Best Options” guides.  
  
−
{{ImageX|GiftCardRack2.jpg|360}}
+
<center>
 +
{{Tile|general purpose|General Purpose}}
 +
{{Tile|travel spending|Travel}}
 +
{{Tile|restaurant spending|Restaurants}}
 +
{{Tile|grocery spending|Groceries}}
 +
{{Tile|gas spending|Gas}}
 +
{{Tile|store spending|Retail Shopping}}
 +
{{Tile|uncommon categories|Other...}}
 +
</center>
  
−
'''One way to increase the rewards from your spending is to buy gift cards at a merchant where you earn high reward rates, and then use the gift cards at a merchant that offers lower reward rates'''. For example, if you can get 10 cents per dollar for gift cards at Office supply stores, you'll earn higher rewards by using those gift cards, rather than one of your other credit cards, whenever you can. Of course, buying, activating, carrying, and using gift cards requires extra effort.
+
Also, Doctor of Credit has good set of [//www.doctorofcredit.com/credit-card-reference-pages/#Category_Spending_Bonuses reference pages] that provides relatively up-to-date information on the options for different bonus categories.
  
 
{{/Main|article}}  
 
{{/Main|article}}  

Latest revision as of 18:11, 21 September 2021

  Easily Earn Points for Free Travel, Credit Card Reference

ChooseCard.jpg

The most straightforward way to earn free travel is to get a credit card that offers a great reward rate on your purchases and use that card, rather than cash or check, whenever you can. Over the course of a year, you’ll effortlessly earn thousands of points you can use for free flights and hotel rooms. By simply choosing the right general purpose rewards card, you should be earning at least 2% in rewards.

However, you can do even better. Many credit cards offer higher-than-normal reward rates for spending within certain categories. For example, one card may give bonus rewards for purchases from gas stations and supermarkets, while another card may give bonuses on travel and restaurants.

By using different cards for different types of purchases, you can earn more reward points (or cashback) on your spending—with rewards rates as high as 10%!

Unless you have problems with credit, you don’t need to worry about getting a handful of new credit cards. Getting a few additional cards won’t trash your credit score—it may just improve it. For more information and general tips, see our Credit Cards 101 article.


Jump to


Using different cards for different purchases isn't for everyone

  • Optimizing your rewards, by using different credit cards for different purchases, makes life more complicated. It is simpler to just carry around a single card and use it for all your purchases, rather than getting, carrying, and choosing from a collection of different credit cards.
  • You can earn a lot more points by collecting signup bonuses, rather than optimizing your ongoing reward rates. Unless you have some means of spending a lot of money, the amount of extra reward points you can earn by using an optimized set of cards (over the course of a year) is often smaller than the signup bonus for just one or two cards. For example, if would be able to spend $20,000 per year in bonus categories, and you earned an average of an extra 3% using bonus category rewards, you would earn an extra $600 per year—about the same as one good signup bonus.

    • Furthermore, if you choose to focus on signup bonuses, most of your spending will be focused on meeting initial spending requirements and you'll have less opportunity to take advantage of optimized reward rates. Credit Card Signup Bonuses: The Easiest Path to Free Airplane Tickets and Hotel Nights.

    Even more importantly, there is a limit to how many credit cards you can collect during any span of time. You’ll get more value by using those slots to get good signup bonuses (and ongoing travel benefits) rather than getting cards simply for their high reward rates. Ideally, concentrate on signup bonuses first and worry about optimizing your reward rates later.

  • Not everyone wants to bother using a bunch of different cards for different purchases, and we don’t blame them.
  • However, many other people (and some of us) get immense satisfaction about earning the highest possible rewards from their spending and wouldn’t dream of “only” earning 2 - 2.5% on a purchase, when they could be earning 3 - 5% or even more. It is not just the extra points—it is the extra sense of satisfaction from taking your game to the next level. If you are hardcore, you can often find ways to generate additional spending, so that you can meet the initial spending requirements for as many cards as you can, while still collecting bonus rewards with your best cards.
  • Within the “points hobby”, this is a famous source of tension between spouses—one spouse gets frustrated when the other spouse doesn’t wind up using the “right” credit card for different purchases. Don’t let it bother you. If you or your spouse is not interested in having one more thing to worry about, stick to a great general purpose rewards card (or maybe a two-card strategy like the Chase Unlimited combo).

Tips for getting reward cards for different spending categories

The right set of cards to get, and the order to get them, depends on your individual circumstances.

  • There is no single card that earns great bonus rewards in every category. To optimize your rewards, you’ll need to get a set of cards and use a different card for each category. However, you can typically get one card that is good for both travel and restaurants and another card that is good for both groceries and gas.
  • Focus on the cards that earn bonus rewards for the categories where you spend the most money. If you mostly go out to eat, a card that earns bonus rewards on restaurants is going to be more valuable than one that earns bonus rewards on groceries, and vice versa.
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  • Don’t focus on the NUMBER of points earned, focus on the VALUE of the points. The value of different types of points and miles varies widely. On one end of the scale, credit card reward points (like Ultimate Rewards) are usually worth at least 1.5 cents each. On the other end of the scale, some hotel points, like Hilton's, are only worth .4-.5 cents each.
  • To determine whether a card is worthwhile, you need to determine whether the extra points you'll earn justifies the card’s annual fee. To figure out the value you expect to get from a card, you need to take the amount you expect to spend and multiply it by the extra points that you will earn, above-and-beyond the points you would have earned by just using your general purpose reward card. Then you need to subtract the card's annual fee.

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    An example may make this clearer. The Amex Blue Preferred Card offers an amazing 6% cash back on your first $6,000 worth of supermarket spending. If you spend $5,000 on groceries each year, you’ll earn $300 cash back. But the real added value of the card is lower. If you already have the Chase Unlimited combo, you could have used your Unlimited Card to earn 7,500 Ultimate Rewards points on the same $5,000 of groceries. If you value the Ultimate Rewards points at 1.7 cents each, that works out to $130. The Blue Preferred Card only earns $170 in extra rewards. And, to earn those extra rewards, you’ll need to pay the Blue Preferred Card's $95 annual fee.

    The final net benefit works out to $75 per year, not the $300 of expected rewards. If you spend less on groceries, you'll earn less. If you spend the full $6,000, you can earn slightly more.

    When you are determining whether it makes sense to get a card for ongoing use, we recommend ignoring any waiver of the first-year’s annual fee. You are usually focusing on whether these cards make sense for the long run. The waived annual fee is essentially just part of the signup bonus for the card and doesn't affect the long-term value proposition.

  • You only need to pay attention to bonus rewards that are better than 2% back. Because you should be earning 2% or more with your general purpose card, earning 2% on a bonus category is not valuable. Only pay attention to cards that have category bonuses worth 3% or more. Just remember that depending on the type of points, a card that only earns 2x points may be earning more than 3% in value.

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The best cards for increasing your rewards

Before you can determine which cards to get for different spending categories, you need to make some decisions about 1) which types of points to earn, 2) whether you are willing and able to use business cards, and 3) how much extra work you're willing to do.

  • The type of reward points you should earn depends on how you plan to use your points. We assign a "value" for each type of point based on a range of typical travelers. Depending on your plans and situation, these points can be much more valuable or much less valuable than our base values. How Much are Points Worth?.
    • For example, if you don't have a lot of flexibility, it might be very hard to get good value by using Membership Rewards points to book frequent flyer tickets and they may only be worth 1 cent each. At the opposite extreme, if you have more flexibility and you highly value premium-cabin award redemptions, Membership Rewards points may be worth 3-4 cents each (or even more).

    Different people will want to follow different approaches towards earning rewards:

    • Standard approach. It is hard to go wrong with our normal points optimization approach, which primarily focuses on earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points, but also takes advantage of cards that earn cash-like points when good Ultimate Rewards options are not available.

      • It aims to earn the highest possible reward rates, assuming that you plan to use the points on EASY redemptions (for a variety of travel purchases). It provides the upside of using your Ultimate Rewards points for frequent flyer tickets and serves as a good gateway to advanced travel reward strategies, but still provides excellent value even if you never find good frequent flyer award opportunities.

    • Optimized for frequent flyer tickets. If you have the skills and flexibility to get good value from your points by using them for frequent flyer tickets, you can earn higher rewards by including cards which earn Amex's Membership Rewards points and Citibank's ThankYou points. Introduction to 'Transferable' Reward Points.

      • This is true, even if you are just using them for coach tickets. But if you highly value business and first-class award tickets and have the patience to build up large quantities of points, you should always try to earn as many "transferable" points as you can. You don't want to mess around with cards that earn cash-like points when you could be earning extremely valuable transferable reward points instead.

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      For most people, the more of these points, the better. But everything else being equal, Membership Rewards points are somewhat better than Ultimate Rewards and ThankYou points. Membership Rewards' larger number of airline partners, occasional transfer bonuses, and easier points accumulation, usually makes it the best choice if you are going to use your points for frequent flyer tickets.

      Of course, depending on the airlines you are likely to fly, you might wind up with slightly different preferences. Most importantly, if you want to frequently use your points for domestic Delta flights, you'll want to prioritize Membership Rewards points, and if you want to frequently use your points for domestic United flights, you'll want to prioritize Ultimate Rewards points.

    • Cash Only. Some people might prefer focusing strictly on cashback cards or cards that earn cash-like points (which can be used for a very wide variety of travel purchases). For these people, each type of transferable reward point is only worth its cash-out value.
  • Small business credit cards expand your options for earning bonus rewards. If you have any type of small business (even if you also have a full-time job and you haven’t made any money yet), you are eligible for small-business credit cards. Many of these cards offer bonus rewards on spending categories that aren’t often available from personal cards—such as purchases from office supply stores or telecom providers. Technically, you aren’t supposed to use these cards for personal expenses, but many people do, with no problems. If you are eligible for these cards, and willing to use them for your spending, you’ll be able to boost your rewards. Unlock Extra Reward Points with Business Credit Cards.

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  • Some cards are primarily attractive for people who are willing to make an extra effort to optimize their reward rate. For example, the Amex Gold Card has a high annual fee, but a great reward rate (4x Membership Rewards points) on groceries. For most people, their natural grocery store purchases aren't likely to be high enough to justify the annual fee. But if you are willing to purchase gift cards from the grocery store and then use those gift cards at other merchants (or otherwise "liquidate" them), you can earn enough extra points to make this card very worthwhile.
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    Similarly, you can earn fantastic reward rates from rotating category cards, such as the Chase Freedom Card. But you'll need to register for a changing set of reward categories each calendar quarter. And for many quarters, you are likely to have to shift purchases around or take advantage of gift cards to maximize the earning potential of the card.

If you've decided to make the Amex BUSINESS Platinum Card part of your core credit card collection, Membership Rewards points can be cashed-out at higher values. You can use your points at 1.54 cents each to buy airfare on your favorite airline or for any business or first-class ticket. This makes cards that earn Membership Rewards more valuable for people who are normally interested in our standard or cash-only approaches to earning points. Membership Rewards Guide.

Standard approach

Our standard approach to optimizing rewards focuses on earning Ultimate Rewards points (when possible) and earning cash-like points when there are no good Ultimate Rewards options.

Start with the Freedom Unlimited Card and Sapphire Reserve Card or Sapphire Preferred Card combination to earn 3x Ultimate Rewards points (5.1%) on restaurants and drugstores, 5x Ultimate Rewards points (8.5%) on travel bought through the Chase website, 2 or 3x Ultimate Rewards points (3.4-5.1%) on other travel, and 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points (2.55%) on your everyday purchases. The Sapphire Preferred throws in 3x Ultimate Reward points (5.1%) on Streaming and Online Grocery Services and the Sapphire Reserve offers 10x points on hotels and car rentals purchased through Chase. The Freedom Unlimited has no annual fee. The annual fee on the Sapphire Preferred is $95 and it comes with a $50 hotel credit as long as you pay (likely slightly overpriced rates) through Chase. The annual fee on Sapphire Reserve is $550, but an automatic $300 travel credit and a $60 per year DoorDash credit, drops the effective annual fee to $130-250.

Add the Blue Cash Preferred Card for 6% on your first $6,000 of grocery store spending, 6% on streaming services and 3% on gas. It is almost always your best option for groceries, even with its $95 annual fee.

If you pay rent and your landlord doesn't take credit cards or charges a credit card fee, you can earn up to 50,000 points per year using the Bilt Mastercard. Even better, these points can be transferred to Hyatt and a number of great airline partners. If you wind up getting this card and you like the airline partners better than the ones in the Ultimate Rewards program, you may also want to use it to earn 3x Bilt points (5.1%) on your dining purchases. No annual fee.

Most people can substantially boost their rewards by using the Altitude Reserve Card to earn 4.5% on all purchases they make with Apple Pay, Google Pay or other mobile wallets. Once this card is added to your wallet, use it as often as you can, except when you can earn even more from one of your other cards. If you have one of many Samsung phones from the past few years, you can use the Altitude Reserve through your Samsung wallet at any credit card swipe machine. If you have a non-Samsung Android phone, consider getting a Samsung Gear 3 watch to do the same thing. Unfortunately, if you want this card, you need to have an existing relationship with U.S. Bank and not many other recently acquired credit cards. $400 annual fee, but an automatic $325 travel and restaurant credit drops the effective annual fee to $75.

If you are one of the many people who spends a significant amount at Amazon, you should probably get one of the cards that offers 5% on Amazon purchases with no annual fee. Your best option is probably the Affinity Cash Rewards Card, if you can get approved for it. It provides a rotating set of 5% categories on top of its 5% reward rate on Bookstores, including Amazon. Otherwise, we recommend the Amazon Prime Store Card because it doesn't take up a Chase or Amex Slot, is eligible for most of Amazon's cardholder promotions, and like the Chase and Amex cards, also earns 5% at Whole Foods (if you buy most of your groceries at Whole Foods, you may not need to bother with the Amex Blue Preferred).

Depending on your shopping habits, you might consider the Capital One Walmart Card for 5% back on Walmart.com purchases and the Target Debit Card for 5% back on Target purchases.

If you can move enough money to Bank of America and/or Merrill Lynch to qualify for Platinum Honors status, you should get the BOA Cash Rewards Card to boost your rewards on online shopping. It earns up to 5.25% on up to $2,500 of purchases each quarter. Ideally, you would sign up for a different Bank of America card, collect a more valuable signup offer, wait a year, and then convert it to the Cash Rewards card.

If you spend a lot on gas, you might consider getting a card just for gas purchases—you can boost your rewards to 4 or 5%. There are several options that have no annual fee.

If you are willing to do some extra work, you can use a Citi Custom Cash Card for up to your first $500 of grocery or dining spend each month (or travel, drugstore, fitness, or home improvement in months you spend a lot on those categories) and earn 5x ThankYou points, rather than your normal category bonus.

Use your travel credits

If you aren't expecting to travel, you can use some card's travel credits to offset other types of purchases. The Sapphire Reserve's travel credit will automatically offset grocery and gas spending, the Citi Prestige Card's will automatically offset restaurant and grocery spending during all of 2021, and the Altitude Reserve Card's will now automatically offset restaurant spending. Make sure to use these cards enough to take advantage of the entire credit amount.

If you are willing and able to get business cards, you can further increase your reward earning potential.

If you are not willing to pay for the enhanced benefits of the Sapphire Reserve card, such as airport lounge access and the ability to "cash out" your points at 1.5 cents each (rather than 1.25 cents), the Ink Preferred card can be a better rewards option than the Sapphire Preferred. It has the same annual fee, but comes with a much higher signup bonus, 3x Ultimate Rewards points on all non-Chase travel purchases (rather than 2x), plus bonus rewards on shipping, telecommunication services, and online advertising. It also doesn't take up one of your Chase 5/24 slots, but can't be freely converted to a Sapphire Reserve if you change your mind.

You can earn 5x Ultimate Rewards points (8.5%) at office supply stores and on telecommunications services with the Ink Cash Card, with no annual fee (and a generous signup bonus). You also get 2x Ultimate Rewards (3.4%) on gas, which is better than the Amex Blue Preferred, but not as good as the best of the specialized gas cards.

Optimized for frequent flyer tickets

If you are willing and able to get good value from using your reward points for frequent flyer tickets, you can increase the value of your rewards by including cards that earn Membership Rewards and/or ThankYou points.

Start with the Citi Double Cash Card. When combined with a Citi Premier (or Prestige) Card, it earns 2x ThankYou points on everyday purchases.

Alternatively, if you can take good advantage of Capital One's 1:1 airline partners, get the Capital One Venture Card. Like the Double Cash card, it earns 2x points on all spending. Capital One has a better selection of airline partners, but you only get 1:1 transfers with some of them.

If you want to keep things simple, get the Citi Premier Card. For just a $95 annual fee, you'll earn 3x ThankYou points on airfare, hotels, restaurants, groceries, and gas, and be able to transfer all your points to frequent flyer programs. If you aren't collecting signup bonuses, it has the added benefit of focusing your reward earning in a single program. However, if you are collecting signup bonuses, you'll wind up with points in all the major programs anyway.

If you prefer to focus on Capital One points, you could get the Capital One SavorOne Card instead and earn 3x Capital One points on restaurants, groceries, and entertainment. You would then want to look at an additional option for travel and gas.

The Citi Rewards+ Card gives you a 10% rebate on the first 100,000 ThankYou points you redeem each year, boosting the value from the Double Cash, Premier Card, and discontinued Prestige Card.

If you pay rent and your landlord doesn't take credit cards or charges a credit card fee, you can earn up to 50,000 points per year using the Bilt Mastercard. Even better, these points can be transferred to Hyatt and a number of great airline partners. If you wind up getting this card and you like the airline partners better than the ones in the Ultimate Rewards program, you may also want to use it to earn 3x Bilt points (5.1%) on your dining purchases. No annual fee.

Some people may want to earn 4.5% by using the Altitude Reserve Card for mobile wallet purchases. If you value Membership Rewards or ThankYou points at less than 2.25 cents each, earning 4.5% in cash-like points is better than earning 2x points with the Double Cash Card (or Blue Business Plus Card).

You may prefer 5% on Amazon from one of the cards that offers 5% on Amazon purchases over 2x points from your everyday card. Your best option is probably the Affinity Cash Rewards Card, if you can get approved for it. It provides a rotating set of 5% categories on top of its 5% reward rate on Bookstores, including Amazon. Otherwise, we recommend the Amazon Prime Store Card because it doesn't take up a Chase or Amex Slot, is eligible for most of Amazon's cardholder promotions, and like the Chase and Amex cards, also earns 5% at Whole Foods (if you buy most of your groceries at Whole Foods, you may not need to bother with the Amex Blue Preferred).

Depending on your shopping habits, you might also consider the Capital One Walmart Card for 5% back on Walmart.com purchases and the Target Debit Card for 5% back on Target purchases.

If you can move enough money to Bank of America and/or Merrill Lynch to qualify for Platinum Honors status, you might prefer the 5.25% from BOA Cash Rewards Card (on up to $2,500) of online purchases to 2x transferable points.

If you are willing to do some extra work, you can use a Citi Custom Cash Card for up to your first $500 of grocery or dining spend each month (or travel, drugstore, fitness, or home improvement in months you spend a lot on those categories) and earn 5x ThankYou points, rather than your normal category bonus.

If you can't maximize your rewards on the BOA Cash card (or you are hitting the quartly caps), you can earn 3x Membership Rewards points on at least some of your online purchases with the Rakuten Cash Back Card. It only works for online purchases made through the Rakuten (eBates) shopping portal.

Adding the Freedom Flex Card will let you earn 3x Ultimate Rewards points on drugstores, 5x Ultimate Rewards points on your first $1,500 of spending in a rotating set of categories each quarter, and 5x Ultimate Rewards points on travel bought through Chase. It also gives you the option if earning 3x Ultimate Rewards points (rather than 3x ThankYou points) on restaurants. But to transfer the points to frequent flyer or hotel programs, you'll need to pay the annual fee for a Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve card each year.

If you can add business cards into the mix, many people will want to switch over to primarily Membership Rewards points.

Most people would prefer to earn 2x Membership Rewards points with the Blue Business Plus Card over 2x ThankYou points with the Double Cash Card. However, note that the 2x rate is capped at $50,000 per copy of the card per year and that Amex cards aren't accepted at all merchants.

If you don't want to split your points between two different programs and you don't want the Citi Presige Card for its other benefits, you can augment the Blue for Business Card with the Amex Green Card and the Everyday Preferred Card to earn 3x points on travel and restaurants and up to 4.5x points on groceries and gas. The annual fees for both cards total about $250.

For office supply stores, telecommunication services, and other business-oriented categories, you would follow the same recommendations as our standard strategy. Remember that if you get the Ink Cash Card, you will need the Ink Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, or Sapphire Preferred Card to take full advantage of any points you'd earn.

Earning More Value from Many Chase and Citibank Cards
  • Some Chase and Citibank cards earn less-flexible versions of their reward points, which can only be redeemed for 1 cent each on things like gift cards.
  • However, if you combine these cards with one of Chase’s or Citibank’s premium cards, you can redeem these points for full value—transferring them to airline or hotel programs or getting a higher-than-normal value when you use them to purchase travel through the credit card company’s travel portal.
  • Most often, the credit card company will advertise these cards as x% cash-back cards, but the real earning rate can be significantly higher.
  • For example, the points you earn from the Chase Freedom Card are usually worth 1 cent each, but if you have a Sapphire or Ink Reserve Card, you can convert them to 1 frequent flyer mile instead. Or the points you earn from purchases with the Citibank Double Cash Card are normally worth 2 cents per dollar, but if you have the Citi Premier (or Prestige) Card, you can get use your points to get 2 airline miles instead.

Cash only approach

If you want to stick with cashback (and other cash-like points), you might want to make a few adjustments to the standard approach described above. If you are still interested in the extra benefits of the Sapphire Reserve Card, you could stick with the Chase Unlimited combo. Even if you are simply cashing out your points through "pay yourself back" or via paying for travel on the Chase website, you'll earn 4.5% on all your travel, dining, and drugstore purchases, 7.5% on travel purchased through Chase, and 2.25% on everything else.

If the Sapphire Reserve isn't worth its annual fee...

Get the best general purpose card you can. That could be the Alliant Cashback Card, one of the no-annual-fee 2% cards, or the BOA Unlimited Cash Rewards Card or BOA Premium Rewards Card (if you qualify for Bank of America's Platinum Honors status).

Use the Altitude Reserve Card for your travel purchases, as well as for mobile wallet purchases.

If you find that you can't use your Altitude Reserve Card at many of the restaurants you visit, consider getting the Altitude Go Card to earn 4% back on those restaurants.

Alternatively...

If you spend enough to justify the $249 annual fee, get the little-known Fairwinds Visa Signature Card. It earns 5x points on travel, 3x points on restaurants, and 2x points everywhere else. But points are worth 1.5 cents each when used to buy travel through the CURewards website, giving you a reward rate of 7.5% on travel, 4.5% on restaurants, and 3% everywhere else.

Regardless of which of these three approaches you take for your everyday, travel and restaurant purchases, you'd follow the other recommendations of the standard approach, getting the Blue Cash Preferred Card for groceries, streaming services, and maybe gas; the Bilt Mastercard for rent you can't pay with other cards, the Altitude Reserve Card for mobile wallet payments, one of the Amazon cards for Amazon, the BOA Cash Rewards Card for online shopping, potentially the Freedom Flex Card for drugstores, travel purchased through Chase, and a set of rotating categories and/or the Citi Custom Cash Card for a boost on one category of your choice per month, and possibly a card for gas, Walmart.com, and Target.

Then if you are willing and able to get business cards, you might add on:

The Ink Cash Card earns 5x Ultimate Rewards back on office supplies and wireless telephone services.

Best options for each category

If you want to see some other options for each category, make sure to view our “Best Options” guides.

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General Purpose
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Travel
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Restaurants
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Groceries
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Gas
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Retail Shopping
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Other...

Also, Doctor of Credit has good set of reference pages that provides relatively up-to-date information on the options for different bonus categories.




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Credit Cards 101
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Get a Great General Purpose Reward Card and Use It for All of Your Spending
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Best Credit Cards for Travel Spending
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