@longtimelurker wrote:I think the only issue with multiple AF cards is that some people (including me!) don't re-evaluate as they gain more cards.
So, my first AF card makes sense because I am going to put $X on it, and get $Y in rewards, which is way more than the AF. And the same is true of my next card, that gets $Z spend, and gives back more than it's AF. But as I get more and more cards, both with and without AF, it turns out that I am only putting $X/3 on the first card and $Z/4 on the second, and the reduction in rewards now makes the card worth less than the AF.
So, providing you care enough, it's worth doing a cost-benefit look at your cards every so often.
I would recommend going through your cards every six months to make sure you are still happy with them. This way you will have time to prepare if you decide you do not wish to renew an AF card, by looking for alternative cards/ great signup offers that may take its place. There is nothing more that I hate than having some fee renew on a service I was planning to cancel.
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@clocktick wrote:Right now the cards I have an AF with are:
BCP - I did the mah and it easily pays for itself so I feel like I don't even pay an AF
CSP - My go to card and combine the points with the Freedom 5% back
Chase United - I exclusively fly with them, whether international or domestic, and the AF is worth if for the free checked bags for my passenger and me
Citi Reserve - Kept it for Gold Status but undecided if I'm going to keep it yet another year when the AF is up in April
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Chase Ink - got it for the points last year and will cancel before the AF at the one year mark
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Got rid of at the one year mark before AF hit:
BofA Virgin Atlantic - Got it for the points and converted them to Hilton points
BofA Hawaiian Air - had 2 of these cards simultaneously for the points and also converted them to HHH points
Amex Gold - Got it for MR points
Edited to add - got rid of Amex Surpass too in favor of the Citi Reserve
I use the them until they're no good to me/not worth it anymore and then I dump them! When the AF outweights the benefit, for me, is when they get dumped.
Just curious why are you going to cancel the Chase Ink? My plan is to get the chase ink for the bonus and then cancel the CSP before AF. I find the Ink categories more valuable with the ink. Also with the Ink being a biz card it will not report on my CR and impact my util each month and some other perks.
@mum4519 wrote:Everyone has great points.
The BCP will easily pay for itself with it being my primary card.
The SW Visa will as well with the 6k anniversary bonus negating the AF. Being that I fly SW every year, it makes sense for me to carry two AF cards.
Have you considered picking up another card? The BCP is great for its categories, but there are other cards that will give you a better return for the non-category spend. If you simply want cash back there are some non-AF cards you can get, which will provide a better return on general spend.
@Open123 wrote:
@red259 wrote:Just curious why are you going to cancel the Chase Ink? My plan is to get the chase ink for the bonus and then cancel the CSP before AF. I find the Ink categories more valuable with the ink. Also with the Ink being a biz card it will not report on my CR and impact my util each month and some other perks.
Right, the way I did it is to pay for the Ink Plus (fee is a business write off) to confer transferability to all UR points, downgrade CSP to Sapphire for the 2X dining, and use the Freedom's 5%.
The Ink Plus 5X Office and Telecom is extremely valuable.
I was going to cancel the CSP after the first year, but I did not realize the downgraded CS also has the x2 on restaurant spend as well. So now my game plan is just downgrade it! Much much better idea!
