So, what are the credit card(s) that will save an average spender ($25k/yr on the cards) the most money? There are a gazillion different credit cards out there that one can get, so I'm wondering if anyone in mustacheland can help me improve on my system. Here's what I currently use:
- Chase freedom and Discover cards that each have revolving 5% cash back categories and no annual fees. I try to just put my 5% back purchases on these, but obviously the Chase Visa is required for those places that don't take Discover.
- Discover Escape card - has an annual fee ($60) but gives 2% back on everything. So I put non-5% back stuff on it. Also, it gives you primary insurance coverage when renting a car. The only caveat is that the money back has to be taken as a discount off travel purchases; not a problem assuming you spend 2% of your credit card spending on travel. Also, they give you $10/month for 25 months when you start provided you make a purchase every month.
I'm aware of a Bank of America card that gives 3% off gas, then 2% off something else and 1% off everything else. So it would be worth an additional 1% off gas for me compared to the discover escape card. This would be worth like $25/yr to me, but for that it's not really worth adding another card.
Also, I know Chase Sapphire can be gamed for $500 off travel when you sign up and spend $3k with them; but long term, it wouldn't beat the 2% on the Escape card.
I fly once to twice a year, but on a wide variety of airlines, so long term I don't think I would get much benefit from the airline focused reward cards. I know there are a few cards that give you $100-250 if you're flying their airline, but those are kind of like one-time scams (unless you're flying the airline more than once a year).
Thoughts? My apologies if this has been covered somewhere else on the site, but after a little searching on the side I haven't seen a comprehensive post about the best stable of credit cards; more just offhanded comments liking a particular card (chase sapphire, etc) which, by my calculations, are worse than my current arsenal of cards.
