@imaximous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@imaximous wrote:
@Aim_High wrote:
@imaximous wrote:
Your math may be correct but that’s assuming OP uses the card for dining and nothing else, which I doubt is the case.
If they use the card for other expenses, redemption could be easily every month.
We don’t even know what other cards they have that could sway spending one way or the other.You missed my point though. I purposefully left out that other spend. It's irrelevant to the core question and a distraction to an accurate comparison. OP already acknowleged he has the DC and it's a daily driver, so I realize he isn't waiting seven months to get cash back since he doesn't use it for dining only.
The core question is whether he is better off putting dining out spend on Citi DC or Costco. The dining out spend is the only variable unit, not total spend, so dining out spend is all that matters to make an accurate comparison. So based on OP's data points, putting the dining out on the DC versus the Costco only affects the full 2% payout once every seven months, regardless of whatever other spend is there. And therefore, the "cost" of waiting to redeem dining spend for an extra 1% is 5 months, not 12 months. This is true regardless of how much other spending and redemption he is doing on the DC card.
The problem I see with your math is that you're trying to turn this scenario into exact science and it's not. You took total dining spend and divided it by 12 months to come up with your numbers. In a perfect world, that could make sense, but who spends the same amount every month eating out? Your math doesn't calculate spikes in spend, which is why having a flexible cashback structure may work out for some people. Besides, the difference between DC or Costco is only $25 - $30 per year based on $2.5k to $3k on dining.
Also if OP had said he also had a Premier card or another TYP card, I'd put even more value on the DC. Plus, you didn't know for sure that DC was a daily driver till after the posts were made.
There's no right or wrong choice. It's a question of preference and it seems like OP would rather get cashback quicker than wait for an annual rebate. So, considering other daily spend is absolutely relevant.
Lol. I think we're kind of looking for estimates anyway. The DC is a daily driver, used for other purposes and is probably generating cash back frequently. My analysis was strictly numbers, and other factors can come into play, things that are card specific. It is assumed that OP likes both cards because they are both referenced and that is left out of the equation. But who knows, the due dates between the two cards could be the deciding factor lol.
🥺 I re-read my post and it does look like I'm arguing, lol. Got a little carried away 🤗
We do look like we're agruing sometimes on My Fico. I don't mean to sound so either. I prefer to call it a healthy debate with our card peers who want to discuss credit cards. 
Yes, it is only $25 to $30 so it is splitting hairs. But that's what we do on here when we're trying to optimize spending or deciding whether a particular strategy is worthwhile.
I didn't care about whether OP used Double Cash card for daily driver in my original posting because as I explained, I don't find it very relevant to whether restaurant spend is better placed on one of the two listed cards. But no, I didn't know that.
I agree that dividing annual dining spend by 12 is only a best estimate, but that's what we all have to do when making these decisions. No it's not an exact science and "YMMV" as always. But having some (even loose) mathematical basis is better than generalizations like DC gives money back right away, which it doesn't.
Would putting restaurant spend complement and accelerate payout on Double Cash card, especially when used as a daily driver? Absolutely! But ... would putting restaurant spend on DC card expedite getting money back only from restaurant spending, which was OP's original question? Somewhat, but not the full 12 months that OP implied.
But yes, there are no "right" or "wrong" answers. I often put spend on non-optimal cards for various reasons, but it's a conscious choice. IMO, we are just helping OP (as well as our 'lurking' members who read these posts) to make their own analysis of how they place their spending and manage their various cards.
Cheers! 
@Anonymous wrote:
@imaximous wrote:🥺 I re-read my post and it does look like I'm arguing, lol. Got a little carried away 🤗
You're not the only one. I've reread some of mine before hitting the Post button and just decided to delete it altogether lol.
Same, but I've even deleted or heavily modified a few (AFTER) I posted. Lol 
If you leave a blank posting, the Mods will just delete it later for you when they review the threads.
I'm a maximalist when it comes to cash back, so I would run the numbers on interest -- i.e., if I got that cashback sooner, could I make up the 1% difference in interest earnings by not letting the bank hang onto it the whole year?
In OP's case, waiting up to a year on 3% would be more than worthwhile (in terms of interest) over getting 2% immediately. Let's go with their high-end estimate of $3,000 dining spend per year, and assume it is spent evenly at $250/month.
Costco Visa: You're making $7.50 cashback per month, but you have to wait the whole year to receive it. At 2.00% APY, this costs you about $1.11 in compounded interest loss (counting January of the next year), giving you a net of $88.89.
Double Cash: You're making $5 cashback per month, but you get it immediately, so the interest lost becomes interest earnings, for a net of $60.64.
So $88.89 (3%) vs. $60.64 (2%). Rough numbers (I'm not accounting for the 1-month wait on the DC, but the point is the same). As always it depends on your personal situation, maybe that money up front would do you more good than more money later, but you come out considerably on top using the Costco. In both cases, the amount of money ($60-90) is so small that the interest gain and loss is negligible.
(many edits on this post due to me constantly revising the calculations 
might still be off somewhere)