Anonymous wrote:Dh and I are very HHI, almost exclusively from investment income. We have never paid much attention to credit card reward programs. I primarily use discover and he primarily uses a Costco card. Both pay 1% cash on everything with some things paying more.

We have never been loyal to an airline and typically fly 2-3 times per year, of which one is usually to the Caribbean and one to Europe although we’d like to travel more with the kids and go further. The last flight is usually intra us. We fly economy although in theory of love to fly business. We can afford it but I cannot reason spending that much on a flight for 5 of us. We also aren’t large people so we do in fact fit comfortably in economy.

Typical credit card spending is $15k-$25k per month. We often book flights last minute (30-60 days out) and just go with whomever is direct and out of National unless flying out of bwi or Dulles is significantly cheaper.

Stick with what we are doing or learn the miles games and if so where would I start?

If you are spending that much, you are leaving easy money on the table by not taking advantage of the miles game.
Miles are more valuable than cash back. Here is a simple example using your situation.
$15k per month x 12 = $180k
If your card gives you 1% cash back, you collect $1800
If you use a card that gives 1 point per dollar, you get 180k points. The base value is 1 cent per point and could redeem for the same cash back of $1800.
But here is the real value of using points. Round-trip business class tickets cost between 100k-150k points at most Airlines.
With your 180k points you would be able to buy a round-trip business class ticket (worth more than $5000) and more.

This is a simple example with a card that earns just 1X (most premium cards will give you more than 1X). There is nothing you need to do other than using that card. Is that worth it to you?

We spend about the same as you ($15k on average per month). We use one card: the Chase Sapphire Reserve. It earns 10x on hotels, 5x on flights, 3x on travel and dining, 1x on everything else. We average about 3x across these categories for a total of 540k points per year and we use it to pay our business class tickets plus more for our family of 4.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://thepointsguy.com/credit-cards/cash-back-vs-points-and-miles/

I don't know the details, but you could probably figure out some way that would save you money, by getting a different card, and even allocating your spending among different cards to maximize the benefits, then figuring out how best to use the points.

But you know why I don't know? Because I figure that I have enough money that doing all that work isn't worth my time, and I don't have nearly as much as you do. (I just use a points card and every 4-5 years pay for a large family trip with the points. I don't know if cash back would be better, but again, I prefer simplicity to maximizing reward value.) With a 1% back and $20,000 in spending, you're getting $200 a month. Say using points would bump that up to $300. Is it worth the effort? $400?

Different people have different preferences; some people enjoy the game.

Op here. The headache of managing this does not seem worth it to me for $100-$200 per month. My time has more value than that.

The game is all in the signup bonuses. Since February, DH and I have opened 4 credit cards and met the minimum spend for those cards with ordinary spending we would have done anyway. Balances paid in full each month. The signup bonuses for those 4 cards gave us enough points for 10 nights club level in nice hotels in Hawaii next year, the cash value of which is at least $9000. It’s fine if that’s not “worth it to you.” It’s worth it to me, for a little administrative time and money I would have spent anyway.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://thepointsguy.com/credit-cards/cash-back-vs-points-and-miles/

I don't know the details, but you could probably figure out some way that would save you money, by getting a different card, and even allocating your spending among different cards to maximize the benefits, then figuring out how best to use the points.

But you know why I don't know? Because I figure that I have enough money that doing all that work isn't worth my time, and I don't have nearly as much as you do. (I just use a points card and every 4-5 years pay for a large family trip with the points. I don't know if cash back would be better, but again, I prefer simplicity to maximizing reward value.) With a 1% back and $20,000 in spending, you're getting $200 a month. Say using points would bump that up to $300. Is it worth the effort? $400?

Different people have different preferences; some people enjoy the game.

Op here. The headache of managing this does not seem worth it to me for $100-$200 per month. My time has more value than that.

You don’t get it. There is no managing anything needed. I have 2 cards like you and I get ton of value out of them without having to manage anything.

I mean, on the one hand: you're right. But on the other hand, if people like OP who spend 30k/month on CCs all get a CSR and AmEx Platinum they will probably change the rules and make it less beneficial for people like me who spends 6-10k/month on credit cards, so she's welcome to think it's extremely difficult with no payoff. As you were, OP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://thepointsguy.com/credit-cards/cash-back-vs-points-and-miles/

I don't know the details, but you could probably figure out some way that would save you money, by getting a different card, and even allocating your spending among different cards to maximize the benefits, then figuring out how best to use the points.

But you know why I don't know? Because I figure that I have enough money that doing all that work isn't worth my time, and I don't have nearly as much as you do. (I just use a points card and every 4-5 years pay for a large family trip with the points. I don't know if cash back would be better, but again, I prefer simplicity to maximizing reward value.) With a 1% back and $20,000 in spending, you're getting $200 a month. Say using points would bump that up to $300. Is it worth the effort? $400?

Different people have different preferences; some people enjoy the game.

Op here. The headache of managing this does not seem worth it to me for $100-$200 per month. My time has more value than that.

You don’t get it. There is no managing anything needed. I have 2 cards like you and I get ton of value out of them without having to manage anything.

Anonymous wrote:No airlines nothing and no points. I'm straight cash back on all and no fees on anything.
There's something to be said to keep it simple.

I’m the one whose friend likes the AmEx Platinum. I told her for now I have to stick with citi double cash since I don’t have the mental capacity right now to make sure I’m using the full benefit of the AmEx platinum card. I know I will use the cash, even if you get more bang for your buck with travel rewards.

No airlines nothing and no points. I'm straight cash back on all and no fees on anything.
There's something to be said to keep it simple.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://thepointsguy.com/credit-cards/cash-back-vs-points-and-miles/

I don't know the details, but you could probably figure out some way that would save you money, by getting a different card, and even allocating your spending among different cards to maximize the benefits, then figuring out how best to use the points.

But you know why I don't know? Because I figure that I have enough money that doing all that work isn't worth my time, and I don't have nearly as much as you do. (I just use a points card and every 4-5 years pay for a large family trip with the points. I don't know if cash back would be better, but again, I prefer simplicity to maximizing reward value.) With a 1% back and $20,000 in spending, you're getting $200 a month. Say using points would bump that up to $300. Is it worth the effort? $400?

Different people have different preferences; some people enjoy the game.

Op here. The headache of managing this does not seem worth it to me for $100-$200 per month. My time has more value than that.

16:47 here. Here's a super simple way to do this:
Get the AmEx Platinum, and Chase Sapphire reserve. Between the two, they cover al the good frequent flyer programs. Your annual fee is about $1,100 total but you'll get nearly all that back by spending, as you get rebated.

Then put all airline tickets on AmEx to earn 5x miles. You have to buy on the airline's site (not Expedia) or AmEx's site. Everything else goes on Chase.

Easy: AmEx for airline tickets, Chase for everything else.