Is Credit Card Fatigue Becoming A Problem For Points Hobbyists?

For me, it comes down to a balance between effort and how much my time is worth. Sure, it's nice to get a free flight or upgrade once in a while, but I'm not going to spend hours researching the most lucrative balance transfer that yields me 1.5 cents per mile instead of 1.4 cents per mile. I'll probably just book the flight that seems like a reasonably good deal and call it a day.

It is definitely real for me. I am keeping my Amex Bonvoy card because I am good with the dining credits and the free night a year pays for the card.

Otherwise my only other true premium cards at this point is the Venture X and United Club Card. I basically use the Venture X for all purchases (2 points per dollar) is just easier for me to process and the card pays for itself with the travel credit and annual 10k. I fly United pretty exclusively for domestic travel for work so I value the lounges.

I do not need 40 dollar Saks 5th Ave socks and I live in a pretty rural location so most of the credits on these coupon cards are fairly useless.

"... people having a simpler stranger..."

I think having a simple strategy is better 😉

This is exactly where I’m at. The “couponization” has made it too hard to keep track- I have to book a trip or 2 through capital one, then I need to have my Amex in UberEats, remember to pay for gas, etc. I find that I’m not getting full value on a lot of cards, and will be downgrading/canceling several this year (being careful that I don’t lose points balances!!)

US credit cards have screwed up points programs for everyone. Now, everything about points redemptions is framed around credit cards.

They make huge money selling points to credit card companies, the devaluations are based about how many points come from credit cards etc.

AFKLM make there points available to any card that wants them and pivoted their strategy to target credit card points.

I do wonder if these ultra complicated high fee cards are an effort to price out churners? If you have 1 or 2 of these it’s not as bad, but when you have 5 or 6 the fatigue gets rough. The question will be how much of their spend and card fees are driven by that segment relative to others. Is this a concentrated effort to reduce the size of their premium book and focus on profitability?

Good post, Ben. The fatigue is definitely real. I switched my strategy over to Wells Fargo Autograph Signature for bonus categories and Venture for 2x everyday spend. It’s not the best powerhouse combo but for less than $200 in annual fees it’s solid.

Venture X really is the best if you can get approved for it, though.

I couldn't agree more! As you pointed out, the "cost" of the card is not only the annual fee but all the mental bandwidth it takes to keep track of everything. While the cost keeps increasing, the chances of getting a substantial benefit keeps decreasing. While lounge access is easy, receiving upgrades or award seats at a decent redemption rarely happens. I suspect for many, like me, accumulating points is very addictive. Paying cash for the benefits we hope to but rarely receive, is difficult. But when I truly look at the cost/benefit, paying for those perks I want is probably the best way to go.

I totally hear this Ben- feel like I've got some decisions to make this summer and early next year as cards come up for renewal. Really need to figure out what I truly get the most value from relative to both fee and the "work" involved.

I have credit card fatigue. I have 19 credit cards and I just want to simplify and downsize to about 4. But you have to keep the cards for a certain amount of time or the bank will put you on their "naughty list" or "bad customer" list.

Most cards ($99AF or lower) are pretty simple to manage. It's the premium lounge access $999AF coupon books that are starting to require a CPA to keep track. I wouldn't keep more than 1 of those.

Great blog, Ben. Spot on. It seemed like forever where the most difficult task was assigning and using the Amex Plat airline fee credits. Then that card became a coupon book with split credits. Now every other card is following (Capital One and Citi will follow), and it's a ridiculous task to keep track of all the credits in order to maximize the value of the annual fees. It definitely feels like a chore rather than anything else. That is why the Reserve changes were such a bummer - it was the absolute easiest card to use and keep track of, so these changes really sting in that regard (especially losing the 3x on ANY travel).

I was way into expending of my cc collection during covid and the immediate period of revenge travel after it and get all sorts of designs (one of my most fav was the floral Amex Plat) and perks with the cards. But lately, I have closed a lot of cards and simplified my card rotation to just a single premium card with priority pass that lets me take guests (it covers me, my partner and our child), some other handy travel perks and also offers satisfactory points accrual and transfers. Alongside that I have 2 other cc on rotation for daily use, a cobranded Marriott Bonvoy card that has some great dining benefits and a few free nights every year depending on total expenditure, the other is a travel focused semi premium card that has good dining and shopping benefits and has the best accrual and balance transfer rates out of all my cards.

I do still have a few other cards but they don’t see much light of the day except in times of convenience or emergency

Note that my cards are mainly from Asian and European banks so my experience might differ greatly from the majority of people on this site.

Yeah, that’s why my daily expenses go to BofA visa. I then redeem points for cash. Cleared about $1k since January.

I have AmEx Platinum and Sapphire Reserve, mostly for access to clubs. Hoping to consolidate on one this year.

Streamlined during COVID and its tremendously helped simplify my life. Daily goes on an AMEX EDP, AA Exec Card for travel and lounge access, Marriott for hotels since I travel weekly, and Alaska BofA for the yearly $99 companion fare. Done.

My strategy is to sign up for a card if the welcome bonus makes sense, and renew only if the *easily usable* (i.e., annual or 2x per year) credits and benefits make sense. This is rarely the case for premium cards though CSR was an outlier between the travel credit and the 10x on Lyft. Gonna be a close call with the update.

I still have a decent number of cards, but as said elsewhere in the comments it's the premium high(er) fee cards that are a pain to use. The $100~ AF hotel cards and the no AF cards are a non-issue. But to hell with trying to max value on the Amex Gold or Platinum. It isn't worth it, and while I've enjoyed the Gold ever since the PRG makeover all of the changes since and hiked annual fees have tanked the value proposition. At this point I'm keeping it open until I can redeem the MR for a splurge ANA trip, and then it's gone. I'll still hang on to my Delta Reserve and Delta Platinum as long as the BOGO ticket exists though, because at least with those the value proposition is clear and worthwhile. Beyond those two, the VentureX is the only premium card I'll keep for the foreseeable future.

Using 2 Boa cards that cover 95%+ of spending categories.

So much easier than dealing with Amex or Chase every other year for a new coupon book.

After I cancel my Amex Gold I’ll have two cards with an annual fee north of $100, Venture X and Hilton Aspire. No interest in dealing with the coupon book approach to gain minimal value.

Honestly, my main impediment to future credit cards is ridiculous and arbitrary limits such as Chase’s 5/24 rule. Were it based solely on my income and credit score, there would be no limit to the number of credit cards I could maintain and mentally juggle.

Excellent topic. I've gone for simple: premium travel card & 2X card. Premium travel card, just pick one & go with it. While the CSR has become a coupon book, there is huge value & Chase has wisely made some semi-annual as opposed to monthly. Amex' monthly approach to coupons induces fatigue. Even if the Platinum refresh offers similar value, Amex has lost me with the monthly approach. I'm set with the CSR & moving on.

The credit cards, particularly in the US, are the reason for the demise of the loyalty programs for everyone including outside the US.

Approved ! AMEX Platinum. You heard the man people. Swipe ! Swipe ! Swipe !

Very true. Most of us who don’t have cards in US are the ones who are at the short end of the stick when it comes to redemptions and loyalty status. We have no control over how the airlines and hotels value their programs and end up at the mercy of American banks

This might well be changing. Chase is updating its application rules & some have said it appears Chase *might* be adopting the Amex pop-up. Under the current system, if you're not eligible for a sign-up bonus, you will not be able to get that card at all. Under the new system, if you're not eligible for a SUB, it will allow you to get the card without the SUB. Some have asked whether this also affects 5/24. Data points will tell us. Let's hope.

Smart.

Figure out your current spending profile, then get cards to maximize spending in those places and make sure you are able to earn points that you can redeem. Then stick with it for the long term. Just because something new comes out or you can earn more points with a different strategy but only if you do a multitude of other things does not make is sensible for everyone. If I add in a new card or replace a card, it has to either integrate into my existing strategy or I have to change strategies.

Too often I see... "New card, look at all these benefits, get this new card!" "But I don't use these benefits, they're useless to me." "But all these benefits!"

Yep- I think any non-road warrior's analysis of travel rewards should now only include one premium ($400+) card.

You might find that, given your spending pattern, a two-card wallet will garner 90+ percent of total possible points (assuming you had the best earning card for each category). After that, each additional card achieves diminishing incremental benefit. Go with simplicity.

And, for most people, having only two or three cards will capture the lion's share of possible points. I see an article topic for Ben: the best two-card wallet, the best three-card wallet.

I am seriously thinking of ditching my Chase sapphire reserve after the AF hike. I usually travel business class so I haven’t used my priority pass benefit for a long time and I never used the other credits. Points are nice but you got to use them but I have a balance of half a million! I only transfer them to Hyatt and buy tickets in the Chase portal but it is a pain to use comparing to Travelocity or buying direct.

I've been thinking the exact same thing lately! Why do I continue to support these corporations when they constantly devalue and take away perks. I got the Venture X for the lounge access and now that they have taken away the ability to travel with my wife to the lounge we can just buy a day pass when needed. We'll stick with no fee cards such as Citi Double Cash or the 2x points card through our local credit union.

I say, leverage a select number of cards to meet some goals that matter to you. All I really care about is maintaining Hyatt Globalist with the Chase Hyatt cards and keeping Plat or above on American through spending on an AA Exec card. Then I keep a few Chase UR cards and transfer all the points to Hyatt. The rest is noise to me. Does it mean I sometimes have to stay at a hotel without free breakfast perks or a room upgrade? Fine, I'll skip breakfast and walk across the street to a bakery. Sometimes its better to pay as you go for the things you consume than hunt down every hack in the world and then conform your life to maximizing the return.

I already have CC fatigue before the new CSR revamp. Now that in addition to Amex cutting the 35% points rebate for the Biz Plat, I for sure will be going for a simplified strategy.
The monthly credit, even with my reminder app that auto-reset every month, is taking more mental bandwidth than I have to give.
It's also designed for you to beholden to use these vendors that you normally don't use. I have never used Doordash/UberEats before these credits, but now feels like I'm forced to use them once a month just so I don't leave a "credit" on the table.
Time to get these monkeys off my back!

This is why I think that you should can premium cards a year after opening, it's not worth the hassle. The SUB is the benefit anyways, everything else is icing, and I could probably do with less icing anyways.

Honestly, my credit card strategy has evolved to be fairly simple:

Churn 'em:
- One card at a time, something with a good signup bonus that can be downgraded to a card without an annual fee and keep boosting my points balance

Primary cards:
- Bilt Mastercard (no AF, pay rent, decent bonus cat on dining & travel)
- Amex Blue Business plus (2x points on everything until $50K)
- Delta Skymiles Reserve (as a diamond, I don't really have a choice), gets me into Centurion + SkyClub when traveling

Hold 'em and forget 'em:
- Venture X ($300 annual travel credit + 10,000 anniversary points covers AF), gets me into Capitol One lounges
- Hyatt Card (cat 1-4 certificate covers AF)
- IHG Card (free night certificate covers AF)

I cancelled the Amex Platinum back in September 2023 when Delta decided to upend its loyalty program, and it was the best decision I ever made. The coupon booklet of benefits was already a pain in the a** to manage, and I still have Centurion access via my Reserve card so nothing lost there.

I'm in an interesting situation with my World of Hyatt Card. I basically got it to get Discoverist status.

That being said, with AA and Hyatt's new partnership, I get Discoverist for "free" when I reach 100K Loyalty Points. For me, this renders the card pretty useless. I know someone will say "but you get a free night award every year". That is true, but they are piling up in my award tab. I like Hyatt for the money + points redemptions because I can get unattainable rooms (cash wise) for good deals. I am also not too interested in anything higher than Discoverist.

As of right now I am leaning towards cutting it up.

Amusing title. Are you trying to troll us given that pushing a literal cornucopia of cards is your raison d'être?

There is an opportunity cost to the mental bandwidth required to keep track of all of these - it feels a lot like work.

I think a better strategy for anyone who doesn't particularly enjoy monitoring and maximising lots of different credit cards is to have:

1) A single premium credit card, which best suits your travel patterns and highest spending categories.

2) A single cashback card for all other spending. I know this view is likely heresy to OMAAT readers, but I always argue that cashback is the ultimate points currency - it buys you any flight on any airline - and that flexibility is incredibly valuable.

3) A third card which changes every few months based on whoever has a good sign-up bonus

Any more than that is really tiresome to track.

Amen.

Same same same. I was willing to play the credit coupon game with my AMEX Plat, but now I've got to do it with two $800 AF cards! CSR was so easy to manage before this update. Additionally I've got 8 hotel credits in a given year to use. Strategy will be to close a few cards during the next year.

Could not agree more! As a holder of the CSR, Amex Plat, Cap One, and Citi Strata cards, it's starting to become very tiring to balance all of the random credits and perks. Not to mention, the increased awareness of the points game (you could argue that it's good or bad) via social media has made good redemptions nearly impossible. I was recently interested in a specific cabin on a specific airline...most everything was booked a year out already. I get the argument for flexibility in this hobby, but it is starting to feel like work.

I am thinking of getting rid of nearly all of these cards, in favor of cashback cards. At what point is cash the most flexible and realistic currency? If I can get the route I want, on the carrier and cabin that I want with cash, perhaps it is worth more than the 20 hours it takes me on random points sites to check for availability.

I get that you can still get those homerun 10x redemptions, but those are starting to feel more like unicorns. Perhaps we've gone full circle, and cash again is (still) king...

Ben - Sounds like you need a "Best 2/3 card wallet for most people" or "Best credit card combination <$100 AF" post.

I def have this fatigue. One of the main reasons why I got rid of the Amex Platinum. With the proposed changes on the Chase SR, my plan at this point is to likely keep it for one more year (renew in Jan) and see if I can get the benefit from it, while using the UR points for more travel. After that, maybe I'll apply for the other sapphire. It does seem to be easier to use.

Even when it comes to the hotel cards with free nights (I hold Hyatt, Marriott, and IHG) I often find myself scrambling near the expiration date to use them.

Nothing beats a single card that gives you 2% back on everything. And cash instead of devaluing currently gets 4-5% interest in a money market account!

Even if you're a savvy consumer and willing to put time and effort into this hobby, you still can't deal with multiple coupon books that overlap a great deal. This coupon-book approach is how the card issuers make you carry their own premium cards only, and no one else's. There isn't much room to further increase fees and add more coupons. This business is getting close to a dead end.

I use the reminders on my iPhone and they come up every month or quarter but I hate it as well.

Yes, yes it is. For me though, it’s also access to FHR, access to IAP, access to UR transfer partners (although CSP may be adequate now without 1.5x to fall back on with reserve), primary rental car insurance with CSR.

Makes it harder for me to cut ties, where I would a lot faster if it was just the coupon book

The problem seems clear to me. We the customers want simple offerings that save us money. The card issuers want complicated offerings that cause us to spend more than we want to.

Are you aware that the state of Israel is advertising on your site, justifying their attack on Iran?

Honestly… managing myself and player 2 is getting exhausting. The coupons really give me less keeper cards. Capital One Venture X, Aspire, and Hyatt are really my only keeper cards that have annual fees.

After a couple decades of AX Plat, I finally dumped it a couple months ago. Just wasn’t interested in chasing all the benefits to try to justify the high annual fee.

Over the last year I’ve simplified from 3 premier cards down to one (Citi Prestige), and from multiple hotel and airline cards to none. I usually pay for business class so don’t need the free checked bags benefit.

The only other card I’ve kept is the Chase Sapphire Preferred for the included primary auto rental coverage. I rent nearly every month, so it pays for itself many times over.

So from 12+ cards which carried annual fees down to 2. Much happier.

I definitely have credit card fatigue managing both my and my husband’s cards. I just got rid of the Bonvoy Brilliant (sorry Marriott, your devaluations are too much). Will keep the Aspire and Amex Gold (groceries and restaurants are a big expense), and husband has CSR and Amex Platinum. I think we can maximize the new CSR without much effort as we use DoorDash frequently, already subscribe to Apple Music/TV+, and the $300 credit helps, but the AU fee increase stings.

Very timely. The CSR (outrageous) fee increase has motivated me to purge half of my cards. Brutal but necessary. Spending thousands of $$ for something like credit cards is absurd. They should be paying us to use them.

Had this exact conversation with my spouse yesterday, Ben you are spot on with the mood of points hobbyists. I have the JPM Reserve (CSR with United Club thrown in), MS Platinum (free platinum card from Morgan Stanley), the Venture X, and the Ritz-Carlton card. It is a chore to maximize them all and I'm increasingly questioning the effort. We need to collectively push back and start canceling these cards. Chase was the straw. However, I do believe we need to wait and see what the upcoming Platinum card changes are - would be nice if they added more bonus categories and made the card actually usable for spend. If they add 3x on travel to the Platinum Card, that would kill the CSR.

Right now I essentially only use the JPM Reserve and Venture X cards. The loss of 3x on travel from CSR/JMPR is a huge deal and I likely will just shift more spend to the Venture X card. Could use my BILT card for 2x, but more effort to track 5 purchases (I own my home), and I am reluctant to spin up a new ecosystem for 3x on travel with Wells Fargo Autograph.

Would use my Robinhood 3% card for everything except for the fact that I am going for international business redemptions as my goal.

Having a similar moment - this may cause me to cancel 5-10 cards.

I, too, have credit card fatigue, and as the fees increase, so does the fatigue. My strategy will be to reduce the number of credit cards in my wallet and simplify my life.

lol unless your money market account is getting you 15% returns (or you are making *terrible/lazy* point transfers/redemptions) that's a huge exaggeration. And 2% for cashback every day spend is not competitive at all -- 2% is the new baseline for *points* every day spend, so with pure cashback you'd be wanting at least 3.5% average.

Also, was the last time transferrable points were significantly devalued?? Unless you're referring to cards that earn specific currencies like SkyMiles, in which case disregard my whole message.

Yes, the expensive AF card situation is annoying, but -- at least for semi-frequent travelers -- we are still a long way from being better off with cashback cards.

Yes. Please.

Yes, definitely feel the fatigue. Strongly considering downgrading from CSR to CSP when it comes up for renewal at the higher $795 ($495 if you include the $300 credit).

And???? Israel is taking out Iran’s nuclear program for the entire Western world. Quit complaining…

CSR had that $300 travel credit (the only decent credit it has) back when its AF was $450!

Sounds like you hit the nail on the head. One irony is that Chase already has a simple premium card for people who don’t want a bunch of complicated coupon cutting but they’re changing it substantially for the worse. Of course I’m referring to the CSR. Both the new business and personal versions are annoying, intentionally convoluted, expensive, and time consuming - and those are if you belong to the subset of people who might even make the card work.

I want a card - personal or business - that offers good value and has bonus categories I can readily use. One that has flexible usage points for either direct cash out at a solid value or transfer to decent partners. Ideally this card would have good lounge access. Of course I’m pretty much describing the CSR again, whether by intent or coincidence. I’m willing to pay a premium price for this card and a smart bank would try to find ways to draw me into their infrastructure through this card. In the case of Chase and the enhanced CSR, Chase is actually pushing people who, while not rich, do a lot of business and personal finance away from the bank rather than finding ways to entice us.

My partner and I are already somewhat fatigued.

We have mostly switched to a two-card solution (Citi Premier + Venture X) for most spend. Groceries, gas, hotels, and dining on the Premier for 3X points, and everything else on the Venture X for 2X points.

One free night cert from a CC will expire unused next week because our travel patterns over the last year didn't allow for a decent redemption. If I don't get use out of that cert next year, it's hard to justify keeping the card.

I'm barely keeping up with the rotating 5X categories on my OG Freedom card, because of the quarterly category churn.

Downgraded from CSR to CSP last year.

Couple all that with dwindling premium Star Alliance seat availability to Asia, and the hobby is more work and less fun than years past.

I was getting tired of all the complexities before CSR announced it's dropping a key factor in my spend, tours and ship travel at 3X. I'm wondering if the new premium Alaska card will take up the slack with 3X on foreign spend, and the CSP will work for the rest. Then I can start backing out of Chase. Too many fee increases at once, with perks that don't benefit me. It was fun for a while, but the miles just don't pile up after the SUBs.

I’ve had it since before covid. Would be an easier pill to swallow if they also increased the credit. Although categories like transit, parking and uber are going away, I don’t have a problem getting the credit back though air and hotel purchases.

@Dan
Israel cannot permanently end Iran's nuclear program without invading and occupying Iran permanently. Unfortunately, the "secret" to building nukes has been public knowledge for nations for decades, and while destroying existing nuclear infrastructure in Iran might delay Iran's construction of nuclear weapons, it won't prevent it. Iran has the institutional knowledge, and even if you magically assassinated every nuclear physicist in Iran there's plenty of nuclear powers who would help Iran out under the table. Netanyahu and Trump are trying to "solve" a problem of their own making that arose when Netanyahu got Trump to pull out of JCPOA, despite the disagreement of France, the UK, and heck, even a former Israeli Prime Minister, among many others.

Before Covid we had trimmed out most incentive/coupon cards. Now we're mainly Chase Sapphire Preferred, Freedom Unlimited, Southwest cards for companion pass, Capital One Venture X (that might change in Feb), then whatever bonus we want with a card cancel or downgrade a year later. It was too much trying to keep track of things before and even now it's not entirely clear when we've used perks and haven't (WN upgraded boarding for example). After the Capital One announced lounge access changes I had started wondering if it was finally time to get the CSR again but these changes will probably keep it out of my wallet. If Amex Plat changes aren't too extreme that MIGHT be the card for me but to put a for back into the coupon world will require a lot out of me. But then the banks want someone who gets the card and forgets to use the perks; with so many people now not carrying revolving debt that and the AF are the only ways they'll make money on the product

True churners just sign up, get the bonus and try to get any other ongoing benefits, then cancel the card after a year. The ongoing benefits always pale in comparison to the sign up bonus.

This started at least three or four years ago for me with the AMEX Platinum. The AF was rising, the lounges were always crowded and unkempt and the benefits were becoming more and more "couponized." I cancelled it and have never regretted it. The VX is the highest AF card I have now and while it's 2X on everything is great the transfer partners, especially with hotels are mediocre. If and when the AF goes up I will seriously consider dropping it as well.

The fact that I have a spreadsheet to keep track of credits and benefits is probably indicative of the work that needs to go into this anymore, and I don't even have that many cards.

Makes me wonder if this is the pendulum reaching the end of its arc before it swings back. All the major players have now introduced/redesigned (or in the process of) their premium cards, upping fees and adding credits. I wonder if that creates a market opportunity for a mid-range card, in today's terms, that is more similar to where premium cards were 7-10 years ago. Solid point earning and a few status/credits that are actually useful.

In addition to the work needed, I wonder, too, if people will tire of the challenges of redeeming points. For those of us in the hobby with flexible schedules, there is a lot of value still. But if you were enticed into the game with promises for first-class airfare at peak travel season to an overwater villa, only to find it's impossible to do for most people, then dissatisfaction with the whole game will quickly build. Maybe a premium card that truly opens up more/better options for redeeming points could be another evolution.

I'd just be grateful for the amazingly bonkers generous cards you have in the US vs everywhere else!!

Definitely tired of jumping through hoops like this. When booking hotels for my most recent vacation, I found myself comparing prices across (i) individual hotel websites, (ii) hotel group websites, (iii) Amex portal, (iv) Citi portal, and (v) Capital One portal. The room availability and prices were usually different for every one of these options.

It's an easy call for me to declare adding Chase to the mix, with it's huge new AF on the Reserve, is a bridge too far. No chance I will be renewing when my AF goes up.

I’m not sure what it is exactly, but the sapphire changes are a real gut punch.

The CSP was my first travel card when I started in 2014, and I’ve had the CSR since it came out. Minus Covid, it’s been an amazing decade of inexpensive travel around the world with my family.

But I can’t even figure out how I would use this card. I guess 4x on hotels and primary insurance on rental cars? Will probably swap for the United club card which is much more compelling than previously.

I've only kept a pair of Marriott cards for the FNAs (essentially it's two free nights per year for $190) and that's a legacy of the merger. But those cards /might/ get used twice a year; they exist for a single, identifiable, and easily redeemed benefit.

Just for clarification, is Israel advertising directly? Or are they advertising via e.g. Google and it's just showing up here?

Credit cards can be for spending or perks and these companies are overplaying their hand.

Chase took a great setup for spending and nuked it. The CSR/CFU setup used to be a great hybrid points/cashback option. If a deal emerged great, I'd be happy to transfer points. If not, the 1.5cc made for fair redemptions. Jumping through a few hoops for the chance at a great reward is part of the joy of the hobby. Now that you need a spread sheet to see if you have a chance of breaking even is going to turn all but the most die hard of fans off. Unless you only redeem for unicorns, there are many simple cashback alternatives that work far better (WF, BOA, Cap One). And if all those companies follow suit, a 2% cashback setup is not so bad.

Yeah. MOST of the lower-fee cards (sub-$99/$150) have only a small number of "benefits", and there's usually one with a clear value proposition that's used to sell the card (e.g. a free night at a hotel).

Don't forget the TI on flights. That's really what pays for the card for me.

I was talking about this with some family in-laws at Father's Day. I wonder how many of us might pay $49/yr or $99/yr to have an "AI"* or something similar optimize on travel. I could probably describe my (mildly nuts) mental flow on travel planning, but if I could just let a "robot" log into all of those accounts (even if I have to go through the CAPTCHAs) and have it spit out the best option(s), that would be nice.

To be clear, I book my hotels direct 99% of the time...but Hyatt Globalist throwing out resort/destination fees sure makes for some nice lock-in. Flights, on the other hand...well, there the problem I have is that the airline's idea of the "best flights" is almost always nowhere near my ideal.

*Quotes because the term is misused so often.

I think it might be worth doing a series - at least, considering what the best combos are based on "free agent" travel vs being loyal to one airline or another. Heck, I think it might even be worth offering a paid consult for optimizing/simplifying wallets.

(It might also be worth doing a more brutal "IGNORE THESE COUPONS/IF YOU HAVE A, IGNORE B" series.)

CC fatigue is definitely real, but combined with how hard it is becoming these days to actually redeem points for max value, that’s why so many of us are starting to wonder if it’s all even worth it.

That's easy.

There are basically two options:

(1) Team Citi (Premier + DoubleCash +/- Custom Cash), which gets you 3x on the big categories, 2x on everything else, plus or minus 5x on something with the Custom Cash, or
(2) Team Capital One (Spark + Venture or Venture X), which gets you 3x on some things, 2x on everything else.

Both let you transfer points if you want to play that game, or just cash them out literally (Citi) or effectively (Cap1). Both can be had for a single $95 annual fee (again either literally - Premier/Venture, or effectively - Venture X, depending on how you value points/credit).

The problem there is it would end the blog, lol.

I agree. I keep it simple. One high end card for travel and rewards points(Amex platinum) and one cheaper hotel visa card for nights/ status. There is plenty of room in my wallet for cash with only 2 cards

Reading today about the Chase Reserve adding a dining deal with the restaurants only in big cities, I am feeling the fatigue too. This adds to a list of too many perks on the CR I just don't have any need for and the new annual fee of $795 it's just too much. Going to cancel my CR before the annual fee this year and go back to the Chase Sapphire instead.

I am adopting the "Fewer Cards Concept".. Why?? Well primarily because of what the airlines have done. Two years ago I could get a one way LAX to pretty much anywhere in Europe Business class for 80 to 100K Miles. Today, as we all know that same flight can range anywhere from 200K upwards of 350 - 400K.

My solution is pretty simple, I am using cards from Chase where my points go to Ultimate rewards. Then, I simply create an account with airlines affiliated with United like Singapore Kris Flyer and transfer ultimate rewards to KrisFlyer and pretty much the same route united would fly for 350K, I transfer 95K ultimate rewards to Kris Flyer.

Remember the days of 80K one way business on UA??

I'm feeling it. My spreadsheets are getting very complex and if you see it your jaw would drop. This is just too much work now and the fun of this game is no longer fun. I'm looking to drop my csr because that card is now a full time job.
Clearly cc are willing to do this because they are retaining enough people that are willing to put up with the work. Things won't change until there is a big drop off to a card. I'm hoping csr will be that tipping point so that they start competing without all the work.

Yes! Looking for 1 damn hotel in 1 city takes days unless you just don't care about the best price or using the credits.

I’m waiting for the shoe to drop on the CSP. The 2x travel is better than the CSR.

I’d move spending to VX, but keep the Chase Ink UR Rewards for 1.5x overall.

Until Hyatt drops them or becomes another Marriott. Then I’m gone.

I’m waiting for the shoe to drop on the CSP. The 2x travel is better than the CSR.

I’d move spending to VX, but keep the Chase Ink UR Rewards for 1.5x overall.

Until Hyatt drops them or becomes another Marriott. Then I’m gone.

Definitely getting fatigue. The coupon book strategy only works for a fraction of people, typically younger people in major cities, or constant travelers. I'd like a reasonably priced card with a small number of lounge visits and decent points earning. Otherwise cash back cards are increasingly the way to go.

Half the reason it's no longer fun is the complexity; the other half is that you can't count on anything not to change, ruining your carefully made strategy.

I have US, Canadian and South African credit cards and have to juggle exchange rates as well to see where I get the most points per US dollar equivalent. Luckily I am quite good at mental arithmetic but it's fatiguing all right.

All of my credit cards are free/no annual fees. My strategy: I pay most bills with a Fidelty 3% cash back credit card. For AA flights, I charge to a Citibank AAdvantage card for the 'double' LP's. And for rental cars, I charge to my Capital One Venture card for the rental car insurance. I am EXP as well as BA Gold, so I get Flagship lounge access even on AA domestic flights. Reasonably simple.

The only card left with a simple and reasonable fee structure is CapitalOne Venture X. Let's see how long even that one lasts...

If people who promote this for a living are feeling fatigue, then the average consumer must be downright overwhelmed.

This is why I've always looked at card value to be based on what I'll get with points - whether welcome offer, bonus categories, or everyday spend. The credits are there to change behavior and cause breakage.

Up until this week, the CSR was one of the simpler cards - 3x all travel and a credit that automatically came off the statement. And now it's one of the most complex around. Enough!

CSR made it a point that their AF was to attract high income affluent individuals. So, why don't the airlines just have flights strictly for the elite and all the others just have economy flights. Problem solved for the airline companies. That's what they're trying to say anyway.

I’m wondering the same thing. Premium cards, premium hotels and premium flights are no longer reasonably attainable for beginners in this hobby.

I’ve been using the Amex platinum for flights. 5x points and much better coverage. Plus you get status at hertz, Marriott, and Hilton vs ihg with chase. I’ve been considering cutting the Amex, but now I think the new CSR is the one to go.

Tristan,

I agree with you. I'm personally doing the C1 Savor/Venture combination, with a Citi AA card just to boost my hotel portal LP (I'm EP in that program). 3% back on food-related purchases with the Savor + 2x miles (and many times that with shopping offers) with the Venture is perfectly fine for my needs. It's also significantly less expensive and work-intensive than all of those "premium" cards. (Since when is coupon-clipping premium?)

I just realized tonight that I have two IHG cards. One business and one personal. For whatever reason I had totally forgot I have two different ones. To me this is a sign I have too many credit cards. I'm probably going to go through and start closing cards that offer duplicative or minimal benefits. I will start ditching more AF cards. I'm tired of the frequent couponing. The door dash credits where when you actually look at the prices in the restaurant you discovery you are being charged way more so its really not a credit at all. Frankly the most annoying thing is finding award redemptions. Its become more and more difficult to redeem these points. If I can not redeem these points then they become WORTHLESS. Can't find plane seats unless I want to fly economy or pay such an absurd amount of points there is little to no value. Hotels playing games where they black out redemption availability but they will still take your money. It just gets exhausting. years ago it was fun and much easier but now everybody and their cousin is trying to get in on the game and the return investment has completely tanked.

CC companies are willing to do this because they know bloggers will keep pushing their cards on people who don't know better and think they can just redeem points for whatever flight they want whenever they feel like it. Its very misleading to the average consumer.

With award availability becoming very difficult to come by, chasing points feels more and more futile. Switching to a cash back card feels the right move.

Yup.

Canceling the CSR when my fee hits in February.

Will cancel Amex Gold next summer (I'm on a retention bonus)

I'll keep the united card because the math is simple with free checked bags. I'll keep bilt because it's free points on rent. Them I'll probably do a cashback card as a daily driver

I’d argue that had always been the case pre-CSR’s launch in 2016.

Premium credit cards was for the frequent traveler and/or those who value customer service and is willing to pay. Think American Express commercials in the 80s.

No one was trying to maximize return they got out of the card in the style of bringing 10 friends into the Lounge.

Folks who frequently travel and have that kind of dinning/shopping lifestyle can continue to benefit from a premium credit cards. Most other folks will be better off just holding own or two solid mid-tier travel or cashback cards.

How about Bank of America premium rewards—use the cash back as you wish including buying points on sale for strategic redemptions

Same. I decided a few months back to switch to the Bank of America premium rewards elite card and just be done with it. Chasing the 12 cpp unicorns isn’t fun anymore. Yeah, the lounge access is nice, but if I have to wait to get in what’s the point?

Ok Elon.

Not too long ago, there were a lot of credit cards you could watch for and they’re high annual fees. Now there’s not anything left what is the benefit of these high annual fees a jump through the hoops hard to use coupon book. That’s a very hard pass for a whole bunch of people.

Thought provoking post, I can only imagine how challenging it is for Lucky to ensure he's getting value on all the cards in his portfolio. Even tho it's his job

With only nine transferable (VX, CSP, Amex plat, ink) hotel and airline cards combined it's still a PIA with the Platinum being the biggest nuisance. I've spent hours on the Saks site to end up with some socks, a beanie and a belt.

The surpass with it's $50 quarterly credits is also a bit of a bit of a pain but I plan on keeping it as I stay at enough Hilton properties.

It's a shame that Chase is following Amexs coupon book strategy, the CSR is not appealing at all to me even worse than Amex. VX on the other hand pays for itself with little effort and will be my keeper for PP.

I find hotel credit cards with annual free night certs to generally be worth holding on to and are easy to cover the cost of the AF.

Airline cards are bit more tricky for me. I get value from my United mileage explorer from the comped checked bag fees and the lounge passes are aight.

I need to drop my AA card from Barclays as I'm not flying them much and opening up the opportunity for another sub.

So the new strategy is to drop the AA card, the CSP(I should be eligible for a new sub) and downgrade the Platinum to everyday. I need to get back to churning, keep one card that gives me lounge access and hotel cards where I realize great value.

I think if you really considred a simplier strategy based on your lifestyle between you and Ford then you would probably be in a similar position to what most of the readers and average people do. I have a few cards and I do divide certain purchase categories - four cards and then there is one or two I have not used in a long time and that's more diverse than many. A lot of people stick to three at most.

Low or No annual fee cash back cards for me. I don't have to worry about points, credits and transfer. I put the cashback money in a high yield interest saving account .

Ben--this is an excellent question. My wife and I have somewhere around 30 cards--all of which I can identify a reason for having if nothing more than not to ding my credit score by canceling it. But, having said that, most we get a tangible,, and often signiticant, benefit out of.

But I'm with you. The banks have made the game progressively more tiring.

I think this is an excellent topic to explore more over the next few months. And I'll read the comments too!

Of course, it may just be I'm getting old! 🙂

And that one recently took a major AU hit a couple weeks ago. Simplest structure is actually Robinhood Gold. 3% cash back on everything, $50 AF (easily cancelled out with 4% on cash in brokerage account).

Benefits are far easier to keep track of in Australia where they are far fewer, as are compelling options for cards. Even so, I have an Amex Platinum, and I know I'll never clip some of the coupons, and I don't chase them. What I do though, is ignore them when I'm evaluating the value the card offers. To take your example, I wouldn't bother chasing the Saks credit unless there was something that I actually wanted. I don't feel cheated if I can't, or don't want to take advantage of a benefit as long as there are enough I'm interested in to make the card worthwhile.

I find 'What does this card give me that I want?' a more useful question than 'How can I use all the benefits that this card offers?' If I suddenly find an unexpected use for a benefit, that's a bonus.

the "refresh" of the CSR brought this front and center to my mind.
I do my best to try and keep up with the credits but the math becomes increasingly difficult when I begin to factor in my time.

I actually think the every 6 month credits are the worst to remember and use and make it so frustrating. While I enjoy the SUB game personally, I think I'm going to start cancelling more and more cards after a year if the math doesn't really make sense.
Cash is king baby!

@Ben --> This is the part of the "Miles & Points" world which hI've never quite understood. Yes, one wants to diversify "currencies" to protect yourself from the massive devaluations that some airlines, but just how many currencies does one need to have before they are spread over so many banks/airlines/hotels that the numbers in each account as so small as to be nearly worthless, versus focusing on just two or three and watch the miles add up.

This is why, for example, I don't want a Capital One card, or a Bilt, or...I have Amex MR, Chase UP and Citi TYP points already -- each in the six figures. The same is true with airline miles (though AS, AA, and BA are the only ones in six figures), and with hotels.

As for churning credit cards, doesn't your FICO score look at the length of your account? Doesn't churning shorten the overall length or your credit history? I'd love to cancel some cards, but of those several are $0AF so there's no need, really. The others I haven't cancelled out of concern re: length of credit history.

The only card that I might want to add to my portfolio is the refreshed Chase Sapphire Reserve (having the Preferred card blocked me from getting the Reserve until now), but that all depends upon the final details of points and credits and if I can make that work. Otherwise, I think I'm all set.

What does Pakistani International Airlines have to do with this? 😉

There is one (1) Resy restaurant near me that I go to regularly (generally once a month). Put politely, I tip the staff extra because when the bill comes you'd swear I was a poker dealer. Mind you, having a large chunk of the respective bills go "Poof!" is nice, but it's absurd.

Then there's the Uber/Lyft credit - okay, cool, I've diverted a single (usually <$20) ride over to your card and switched back to my default behavior.

My comment elsewhere is perhaps WLOG - there's an opening for someone to design an "AI" to manage all of this stuff for folks who are carrying all of these cards to optimize all of the coupons.

Usually people will downgrade to a no AF card. So the credit history length stays intact.

In line with your story here, the changes to the Chase card will not be worth it and I'm downgrading or product-swapping to something else. The fee is quite high and for the right person the benefits may outweigh that. But it's quite a challenge to use exactly precisely just how much of each month on each product to get the value. Now, we also have to think to ourselves-- would we buy X product if it were not for the credit? I mean, i don't personally use DoorDash so having a $10 credit is kinda useless. Sure I could order 'something' to use the credit, but that $10 won't go far and I'll end up paying three times the amount for something I likely don't need anyway.

I used to play the points game, but have largely pulled back and just focus on cash back cards instead. At least I have a predictable rate of what I'm getting versus the ever-devaluation of miles/points. It still works if you're willing to invest SIGNIFICANT amounts of time into planning and researching, taking odd flights, going on odd days, etc. It's certainly doable, but takes such an incredible amount of effort that quite frankly I find it easier to just pay for what I need/want/expect versus hope/wish/pray for an upgrade or anything. I've largely lost all brand loyalty as every one of the programs have become largely just junk.

Just my take.

Was it ever supposed to be fun? No offense to Ben or anyone who maximized the game back in the day but 99.5% of those in miles/points never had aspirations to just fly F internationally and come right back in another F product. For myself and the majority, I should think, it's always been about optimizing value for the trips we were going to/wanted to take anyways. I've maintained 7 cpm as a standard for my international redemptions and I don't plan on that changing. It's worth the outlay costs in AF and I know flexibility is crucial to seeing it continue.

The airlines and card issuers understand it's a delicate balance. Otherwise we'd see massive devaluations across the board. This is a huge revenue generator for card issuers in particular. The fact that some of the sweetest spots still exist isn't because these companies aren't hip to the redemption values. I personally worked with Virgin Atlantic at one point in my career and trust me, everything that goes out into the world for marketing purposes gets thoroughly vetted by legal and finance.

The bottom line is that this is a symbiotic relationship. And the pillars of YMMV and Earn & Burn still apply. Transferrable currencies have softened the importance of the latter but don't think you are one step ahead of corporations with gigantic profit imperatives and shareholder scrutiny. That's not a fight any of us are going to win.

That's a good perspective, it's definitely not worth wasting my time on the Saks credit.

When I first applied for the Platinum I was living in San Francisco and visiting amex lounges 15-20 times a year made the $500 AF feel like a solid value. At $700 while visiting the lounges ~5x a year I feel like I'm getting enough value to hold onto it.
Cheers!

Have the CSR, United Club card and Amex Plat. The airport lounges are a big reason, as well as some of the other mundane benefits like car rental insurance, etc. We travel quite a decent amount, (both business and pleasure) so do get some value out of the cards. Although lounges are getting super challenging to use, especially with a family trip. Amex has become almost completely useless in this respect.

I feel that Amex Plat has devolved to being of little value to me compared to the CSR, although that may change. I can't ever seem to use any Amex coupons, as they are all super meaningless in most cases.

I do like the CSR $300 travel credit still, and Priority Pass is awesome when traveling globally (well, mostly). Almost all other things on the CSR are meh, but I have tried to use the Edit, and can find some fun places to stay there, so that may work.

We do pay for my wife to have a CSR card, and the new second card fee is kind of crazy, so may cancel that. Will also be cancelling the Amex Plat. Will keep the United Club card for the time being, as we use UA mostly (EWR prisoner)

The game now is very competitive. The principal goal is award seats the rest is gravy. Competitiveness means points where the calendar opens first. Points such as Alaska or AA will lose out to cards that have earlier calendars. Ultimately it may get so competitive that for most a simple 2 card strategy with low annual fees is best. And super high end cards will not make sense for most

I have been in the game for quite a few years now. I am as well trying to keep it simple - work predominantly with transferable currency cards. I participate in Capital One, Chase and Amex systems. And just a few cards from each, so that I don't have to worry about credits, or setup things use the credits organically. To earn more points, I used the highest multipliers - such as 4x on dining and (Amex Gold, C1 Savor), 10x for prepaid hotels (C1, Chase).

Now I have a different problem (kind of). I have banked up over a million points across all the ecosystems I take part in. I have traveled lots since the pandemic, all in premium cabins. The travel that extensive and intense looses allure to me - I am not getting younger. So there are challenges on the other side of spectrum - how do you optimally exit the game.

Now I have a different

It seems like this year most of my cards, sapphire reserve, united club, and amex platinum have increased fees. They added more "value" but it's stuff I don't need and wouldn't have bought anyway. I just want lounge access and points and status that help me upgrade to first class without having to pay full price. I fly international long haul a lot and I don't want to be so uncomfortable that I lose interest in my travels. They used to be simple and help me with that. I don't care if I get $200 off on a $1000 a night hotel I would never stay in anyway. I'm canceling two of them this year. I'll keep amex for now. The other two used to be cheaper than amex but not anymore so why keep them? I'll go back to my old strategy of changing cards every 3-6 months to max out mile sign-on bonuses that I trade in for upgrades. The problem I see is that lines are getting too long at lounges.. Who wants to wait 20 minutes to get in when your flight boards in 30? Everyone is getting these cards now and it's made them less valuable to me. Im with you. Get rid of them and focus and what you want, savings on what luxury you're actually after!

Definitely have fatigue and even before the CSR "refresh" I was looking to purge 2-3 of my cards.

Was at a AMEX lounge today and the one was out the door within 3 minutes of opening. When I left a few hours later, there was HUGE line to get in, every seat was taken in the lounge.

It is not relaxing at all anymore. These credit card lounges sometimes are worse than just sitting at the gate.

The main goal for me is still to just fly business class on points whenever I cross a ocean.

Optimization is always an engineer's hobby but not not useful for 95% of people. Satisficing is the way to go but your business model relies on satisfiers falling short of engineering.