Regarding CC airline points, fees, value, should I?

[BTDretire]

 I received an email from Madfientist about getting Credit Cards to accumulate points for airline miles.

If I get a card with a Fee ($95) and get my points, do I cancel it at the end of a year?
Are there any gotchas if you cancel after one year?
If I get a card in my wifes name can I use those points for me to fly?
In my short search it seems like a point is worth about $0.01 to $0.015 is that about right?
 How long can are points good for?
 If I get 80,000 points, is it possible to get two round trip flights from that?
I know it depends on the start point and destination, but to cheap flights.

It may be difficult for me to spend the amounts required for some cards, any hints
on how to to put money on a card you would not normally spend?

[mathlete]

I received an email from Madfientist about getting Credit Cards to accumulate points for airline miles.

If I get a card with a Fee ($95) and get my points, do I cancel it at the end of a year? If you want.
Are there any gotchas if you cancel after one year? It'll hurt your credit a bit, probably. You can also call the bank and ask them to downgrade you to a fee-free card if you want.
If I get a card in my wifes name can I use those points for me to fly? Typically. Just book the ticket under your name. Maybe some airlines have restrictions on this, but I've never had a problem.
In my short search it seems like a point is worth about $0.01 to $0.015 is that about right? Yeah, that's about right. High variance though. Some redemption are a great deal. Others, not so much.
 How long can are points good for? Depends upon the airline, but as long as you keep earning, you're usually good to go.
 If I get 80,000 points, is it possible to get two round trip flights from that? Depends. Search "<insert airline> redemption chart" for more info.
I know it depends on the start point and destination, but to cheap flights.

It may be difficult for me to spend the amounts required for some cards, any hints
on how to to put money on a card you would not normally spend?

If you're really worried about being able to hit the spend required to get the award points, I would think long and hard about it. You don't want to spend money that you wouldn't ordinarily spend just to get the points.

Since you asked for hints though, I do have a few.

-Funnel all recurring bills through the card
-Move up charitable donations. If you usually donate at the end of the year, just make your donation now, so that you can put it on the card.
-Buy gift cards to a place that you always shop at. Amazon is good for this, because you can immediately apply the gift cards to your account and forget about them. They'll just get used the next time you buy something on amazon.
-Apply for the card around the time of your car insurance renewal (if applicable). That's a good chunk of spending right there.

[BikeFanatic]

Plus one to above.
I also charge my natural gas bill, prepay. My utility allows up to 600 dollars in prepay with a credit card through Western union speed pay. The fee is only 2 to 4 dollars.  I also purchase gift cards to the local grocery store, that way I am not spending money in a way that is not normal for me.

[boarder42]

see my journal for some excellent ways to meet the minimum spend. - if you find it helpful i have links in my Sig line that represent the best deals for cards right now that i get referral credits for.

1. you can cancel the card whenever you want after you meet minimum spend and get your points - i'd wait a couple months to avoid claw back
2. canceling may ding your credit a bit but not significantly
3. You can book a rewards flight for anyone
4. points redemptions vary wildly in value -
5. most airlines points dont expire or can be kept from expiring by obtaining 1 point ever 1 - 2 years - there are many ways to get 1 point
6. 80k miles will get you alot of places in the US but check redemption charts

[herotomo69]

On point #1. I would suggest you wait the full year with most issuers. Since you already have the card and may have paid the annual fee, it would not hurt to keep it for the full year. Some issuers, especially AMEX have been know to claw back points if you cancel within the first year. And when the annual fee hits in 12 months, call them and ask for any retention offers. You would be surprised at some of the offers that effectively wipes out the fee.

To the OP, with a $95 fee and 80,000 points I am guessing you are looking at the Chase Ink Preferred? Which is $5000 in 3 months. If this is the case you can also transfer those points over to United or Southwest as well. Maybe get a Southwest or United card next to fill in any missing points needed for your flights. Or the $85 Case Sapphire Preferred for $4000 spend and 58000 points. That would make a total of 143,000 Chase points.

[DarkandStormy]

I received an email from Madfientist about getting Credit Cards to accumulate points for airline miles.

If I get a card with a Fee ($95) and get my points, do I cancel it at the end of a year? You can, or you can choose to keep it if you think the benefits of the card are worth the $95 fee.
Are there any gotchas if you cancel after one year? No, not really.  Your credit score may take a ding (~10 points perhaps - know your credit score and take a look at what would happen to your average age of credit, number of accounts, etc.)  You can only cancel after one year and typically the annual fee would occur on the statement of your 13th month, so day 366 would be good.  You could also downgrade to a non-AF card if possible.
If I get a card in my wifes name can I use those points for me to fly? Yes.
In my short search it seems like a point is worth about $0.01 to $0.015 is that about right? It varies depending on what card, points/miles, etc.  Some are a straight math function - like Southwest, I believe those miles are $0.015/point.
 Others can be less like hotels (typically $0.009/point) or more if you can find an off-peak flight - some value Chase points at nearly $0.02/point for that reason.
 How long can are points good for? It depends.  Flexible points, like Chase Ultimate Rewards never expire as long as you keep the account open.  Others, like hotel points or airline miles, expire after 2 years of inactivity on that specific account.
 If I get 80,000 points, is it possible to get two round trip flights from that? It depends on where you are going and when you are booking and if you want to fly economy, business, first class, etc.  Hard to say without knowing specifics.  But I would check out awardhacker.com and plug in your flights to see.
I know it depends on the start point and destination, but to cheap flights.

It may be difficult for me to spend the amounts required for some cards, any hints
on how to to put money on a card you would not normally spend?

Just be aware of your average monthly spend and if you can meet the $4k or $5k required in 3 months.  It sounds like you're in 2 player mode, so you can put all your shared spend on that one card. 

You could also offer to use the card to pay for your wife's items and have her pay you back.  You could pay your home insurance or property taxes with that card.  You could offer to pay for a group meal out (if you go out to eat at all) and have everyone pay you back - same thing if you have a Costco membership, take a friend/family member and pay for the whole order and then have them pay you back.  If you have medical bills pay those and then reimburse yourself if you have an HSA.  If you have any big items coming up - home repairs, new furniture, new appliance, etc. put it on your card.

There are various ways to "manufacture spend" without costing yourself a lot of money but they often aren't worth the effort.  I would say, another thing you could do if you get to the end of the intro period is to pay for gift cards to the local grocery store you always go to or to Costco or something like that - it's prepaying your groceries a bit, but it hits the minimum spend needed.  If you can afford to prepay your groceries that's not a bad way to meet the spend needed.

[ketchup]

In my short search it seems like a point is worth about $0.01 to $0.015 is that about right?

I keep a spreadsheet of our points redemptions.  This was 2017.

Your redemption values will vary a lot. 

For me, from this spreadsheet, in 2017, Chase UR points were worth an average of 2.3c (though this is inflated due to the one stupid-good Hyatt redemption), SPG points were worth an average of 4c, Merrill+ points were worth 1.6c, and Avianca miles were worth 1.7c (and counting conversions: Southwest points were worth 1.6c, and Marriott points were worth 0.9c).

[BTDretire]

I had to look up SPG to see what it is and how you used it in Kalamazoo :-)
 I was born and raised there, just 3 miles from where the Sheraton is.
 Although that site was a wooded lot when I was a kid. :-)

[boarder42]

just dont get an SPG card now - they frequently are worth 35k in bonuses and are only at 25k now.

[ketchup]

just dont get an SPG card now - they frequently are worth 35k in bonuses and are only at 25k now.

Definitely.  I got both personal and business SPG cards last year; they jump to 35k about twice a year it seems.