How much spend do you maintain on your good cards?

[PointLager]

Hi guys,

How much spend is good to maintain on cards in order to keep issuers happy? 

My first priority is meeting minimum spend and the second priority is collecting whatever points/cashback is most valuable.  However, this year I will have quite a bit of new cards and feel somewhat obligated to throw some spend at each issuer.  

Portfolio:

Amex:

PRG  (once I meet rest of new cards min spend this will be getting a lot of my spend to try to go for the $30k annual spend. i will need to decide if i should focus on PRG's 15k MR bonus or on the BA companion ticket at $30k spend)

MB Plat (met min spend, using this card for a lot of my heavier spending due to minimal effect on my utilization)

Delta Gold 6k  (met spend, sock drawer)

Delta Plat 5k (waiting for new card, will be getting sock-drawered after i meet $1k spend)

SPG 5k  (still working on min spend)

- will collapse the delta card limits into SPG once my year is up; got them mainly for signup bonuses

BofA

Travel Rewards 1.5k (keeping for age of account only)

Alaska Air 5k (no min spend; i don't see myself using this card much, but need to see how much to put on the card to keep BofA happy enough for potential CLIs or future approvals)

Fidelity 2.5k

- will probably not use the FIdelity card much (but curious how much is enough to just keep it active and maybe get auto-CLIs); this is the card that I want to use later on when i won't be traveling as much so it's a long term keeper, especially without AF.  

- will probably collapse Alaska Air in year 2 as the earn rate isn't the greatest

Chase

CSP 5k  (met min spend, use it for eating out and cabs)

BA (pending approval.... 5k)

- if approved for BA, going to see if I am able to maintain the $30k spend for companion ticket and at year 2 either BA or CSP is getting shut down

Barclays

Arrival World 5k

- i really like this card so want to keep it.  it's my only World MasterCard

- Not sure how much spend i want to put on this card after meeting minimum;  my SPG will prob take my non-category spend; so i am curious how much to maintain on this card in order to get auto-CLIs from Barclays

I know that with Amex I will be fine with getting higher limits, especially after closing Delta cards, but what do you guys think would be minimum that i should be spending with Chase or Barclays to ensure I can grow these limits to five figures? I usually payoff my balances before the statement is cut so keeping util down isn't a problem.  I just want to avoid their thinking "you're not using the card enough so we won't give you CLIs"

Thanks for any input!

[Stralem]

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@PointLager wrote:

Hi guys,

How much spend is good to maintain on cards in order to keep issuers happy?

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Who gives a sh*t about the issuers and their feelings? You are their customer, and are under no obligation to make them happy.

Spend your money however you want to spend it.

[longtimelurker]

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@Stralem wrote:

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@PointLager wrote:

Hi guys,

How much spend is good to maintain on cards in order to keep issuers happy?

---

Who gives a sh*t about the issuers and their feelings? You are their customer, and are under no obligation to make them happy.

Spend your money however you want to spend it.

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I assume OP means to keep them happy enough to meet OP's needs (keep cards open, give CLIs etc)

[PointLager]

yup. that was it.  thanks @longtimelurker

 enough spend to keep cards active enough (by issuers' definition) to warrant me future CLIs (and get targeted offers, if possible).  But i am mainly interested in CLIs. 

[longtimelurker]

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@PointLager wrote:

@Anonymous. that was it.  thanks @longtimelurker

 enough spend to keep cards active enough (by issuers' definition) to warrant me future CLIs (and get targeted offers, if possible).  But i am mainly interested in CLIs. 

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I don't get the focus on this forum on CLIs (unless you really need them because you have to pay off a card several times a month).  Generally getting a new card gives far more value.

In your case, assuming you get the BA card, you should focus on meeting the $30K spend on one or both cards (I would use manufactured spending, but not for everyone) rather than putting amounts on the other cards in the hope of possibly increasing chances for a CLI (which, again, has NO obvious value, unlike a BA companion ticket or 15K MR).

[Stralem]

Even then, no one could give a satisfactory answer.

Besides, aside from meeting minimums for sign-up bonuses, and on the opposite extreme, buying a pack of gum every five months to keep a tradeline active, I don't think pure spend gets you very far.

[Cdnewmanpac]

This sort of scattershot approach may be feasible for those with higher incomes, but for many of us with more modest incomes, I question the value of spreading spend across so many cards and systems. The reason to keep a lender "happy" is to get something of value from them in the future. If the only thing of value they offer is higher credit limits or keeping the card open, that seems like little value. Every dollar you spend on b of a will make achieving the 30k spend on prg or BA harder. Every dollar spent on the platinum directly hurts your prg goals without offering any value (prg has same impact on utilization as plat). 

Personally, ive chosen to focus on UR points, so the bulk of my spend goes to csp or ink plus. I use hyatt for hyatt stays only, united for united tickets and car rentals only. Usaa for balance transfer only.  Costco Amex for Costco only (or backup if csp doesn't work). I use discover once a year to amuse myself, hilton for increasingly rare hilton stays. I only run about 35k/year through credit cards and find the dilution of juggling multiple systems to significantly reduce the value of that spend. Chase keeps raising the limits on my hyatt and united cards even with minimal use. Amex has granted every request I've ever made despite limited spend.

[PointLager]

thanks for putting it into perspective, guys.

[longtimelurker]

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@Cdnewmanpac wrote:

This sort of scattershot approach may be feasible for those with higher incomes, but for many of us with more modest incomes, I question the value of spreading spend across so many cards and systems. The reason to keep a lender "happy" is to get something of value from them in the future. If the only thing of value they offer is higher credit limits or keeping the card open, that seems like little value. Every dollar you spend on b of a will make achieving the 30k spend on prg or BA harder. Every dollar spent on the platinum directly hurts your prg goals without offering any value (prg has same impact on utilization as plat). 

Personally, ive chosen to focus on UR points, so the bulk of my spend goes to csp or ink plus. I use hyatt for hyatt stays only, united for united tickets and car rentals only. Usaa for balance transfer only.  Costco Amex for Costco only (or backup if csp doesn't work). I use discover once a year to amuse myself, hilton for increasingly rare hilton stays. I only run about 35k/year through credit cards and find the dilution of juggling multiple systems to significantly reduce the value of that spend. Chase keeps raising the limits on my hyatt and united cards even with minimal use. Amex has granted every request I've ever made despite limited spend.

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Broadly agree, except for the danger of "all eggs in one basket".  UR has seem some major devaluations with some of the partners, for example.   But this is probably better than the alternative of ending up with points spread all over several programs, without enough in any to get a reasonable reward.

The other alternative is to go purely cash back, as there spreading it out doesn't matter so much.  But if you want "aspirational" travel rewards, cash back doesn't work.