Credit Card Top Tips
Don't do any of this unless you pay your cards off in full every month
Open up 2-3 new cards a year to pay for your daily expenses
Never add authorized users, everyone gets their own cards to get their own intro bonuses
Only use points to transfer to airlines for business class flights
Subscribe to The Points Guy and Slickdeals alerts to learn about the best introductory offers
Make sure you will use all of the benefits of high-fee cards, otherwise downgrade them after you get the introductory bonus
The Sapphire Protocol is: Open Preferred ➡️ Downgrade to Freedom ➡️ Open Reserve
You already spend 3k on credit cards over the course of 3 months on groceries, gas, and everything else. Once a year you probably spend 3k on your homeowners insurance and car insurance. The annual fee for an au pair is 10k. Daycare is over 2k per month for most people. Why not open up a few new credit cards for those purchases and get the intro bonuses?
I'm looking for: At least a $700 intro bonus, but generally I go for bonuses that have a value of $1000 or more. I find these card bonus offers mainly on The Points Guy or Slickdeals. The best intro bonus I ever got was 5 free nights at the St. Regis - a value of $4000 by spending 6k on the card to get the bonus. I had my own butler, and they gifted me a glass sculpture as a parting gift. FOR FREE.
The answer to my most frequently asked question, "Won't this affect my credit score?" is : No, it has not affected my credit score at all, and I've been doing this for years. This is because all of my cards are paid off in full every month. I do not recommend doing this unless you are able to pay your cards off in full every month.
If you are married, EACH OF YOU gets your own card, no adding an authorized user. You each want your own intro bonuses.
Amex Platinum
Fee: $695/year
Offset by:
$200 Uber Credit
$200 Streaming Credit
$200 Fine Hotels and Resorts Credit
$200 Airline Fee Credit
$100 Sak's credit
I also get at least $100 from Amex Offers every year.
I also use the Centurion Lounges every month when I travel.
So I pay $695 but get $1000 or more worth of stuff I would already be buying every year.
A good intro bonus is 100k points.
Chase Sapphire Reserve
Fee: $550/year
Offset by:
$300 Travel Credit
$180 Instacart Credit
$60 Doordash Credit
I use this card mainly for travel insurance. They will cover my food, hotel, and incidentals if my flight is delayed or cancelled.
They also offer primary rental car insurance.
I also get about $75 worth of Chase Offers every year.
The Sapphire Lounge at LGA is ELITE. You can get free mini-facials there.
So I pay $550 but get $615 worth of stuff plus insurance every year.
A good intro bonus is 100k points.
Amex Gold
Fee: $250/ year
Offset by:
$120 Uber Credit
$120 Grubhub Credit
I also get at least $50 from Amex Offers every year.
So I pay $250 but get $290 or more worth of stuff I would already be buying every year.
This is also the card I use at the grocery store because grocery stores get you 4x points.
If you don't normally use Uber (or UberEats) or order Grubhub, I would get this card for a year, and then downgrade or cancel.
A good intro bonus is 90k points.
Marriott Bonvoy, IHG, etc.
Fee: 95/year each
Offset by:
One free night at most of their hotels, plus status that gets you food, upgrades, etc. The IHG card allows you to get every 4th night free when booking with points.
I also probably get $30 worth off offers on each card every year.
So I pay $95 but get $250 or more for a night at a hotel, plus offers.
A good intro bonus is 150k points.
The best Marriott bonus is 5 free nights, and I HIGHLY recommend you jump on this when it comes around. This includes the Ritz Carlton, St. Regis, etc.
Venture X
Fee: $395/year
Offset by:
$300 Travel Credit
$100 in Points Every Year
The Venture X Lounge in Denver is phenomenal.
This card has less benefit than others, but since it doesn't cost me anything and I am in Denver frequently, I keep it.
A good intro bonus is 100k points.
Chase Freedom
Fee: None!
This card is what you downgrade your Chase Sapphire Preferred card to so that you can open up a Chase Sapphire Reserve card and get that bonus.
I use this card for the 5% Quarterly Cash Back categories, up to $300 per year.
This is especially good when the 5% cash back is at grocery stores, where I buy many discounted gift cards.
I haven't seen good intro bonuses lately.
United Cards
Fee: None the first year, then $95/year
Offset by:
Free Checked Bags
2 Lounge Passes
I have this card for the intro bonus and will likely cancel before the fee hits next year.
A good intro bonus is 70k points.
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Fee: $95/year
Offset by:
$50 Hotel Credit
$40 Instacart
You cannot have a Chase Sapphire Reserve at the same time as a Chase Sapphire Preferred, so the protocol for this card is: Open the Preferred to get the intro bonus. Downgrade this card to a Chase Freedom when a good Chase Sapphire Reserve offer is available, and open up one of those.
A good intro bonus is 75k points.