Next card ideas?

[CBartowski]

Hey Folks

Super general thought: I've honestly been wanting a change/new card in the ol' arsenel but can't really commit to something (CS Plat will be in the future, once I use the 200$ credit from the vanilla. 

Current set up: Amex Gold, Amex Plat, Amex HH No AF, debit card for smaller purchases. I tend to travel a ton for work and each month for reserve duty that is reimbursed. 

Gold: Restaurants, groceries

Plat: Airfare, extraneous (usually unnecessary purchases) 

HH: Gas when its not a 5% with CF

CF: Category spend

CSR: Hotels, extraneous travel spend (parking, hotels, airbnb, when AMEX isnt accepted for food)

I am fairly certain I am over 5/24 though I am receiving mailers for MB cards and other Chase offers. 

Anyone see any holes that can be filled? I am HH Diamond (the hard way, you haters) and MB Gold trying for Platinum (yet it feels futile). 

TIA

[JNA1]

It looks like you have no card for utility bills spend or normal everyday/general spend. I currently use the BBVA ClearPoints card for 3% on all my monthly bills. The utilities category on the BBVA card is very broad. This category is going to yield more than $420 for us for the year, and I have all my utilities and bills set to auto pay, so I don't even have to carry the card if I don't want to. I'm eventually going to get the US Bank Cash + card because you can set the two 5% categories to utilities and cell phone bill. The other hole seems to be general spend (retail, household supplies, online shopping, etc.) I use 2% PayPal Mastercard for that purpose, and it is typically my largest spend card at around $18K yearly, so I estimate I'll earn $350 this year with it.

[CBartowski]

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@JNA1 wrote:
It looks like you have no card for utility bills spend or normal everyday/general spend. I currently use the BBVA ClearPoints card for 3% on all my monthly bills. The utilities category on the BBVA card is very broad. This category is going to yield more than $420 for us for the year, and I have all my utilities and bills set to auto pay, so I don't even have to carry the card if I don't want to. I'm eventually going to get the US Bank Cash + card because you can set the two 5% categories to utilities and cell phone bill. The other hole seems to be general spend (retail, household supplies, online shopping, etc.) I use 2% PayPal Mastercard for that purpose, and it is typically my largest spend card at around $18K yearly, so I estimate I'll earn $350 this year with it.

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That's a good thought. I don't have too many utility bills but power bill gets pretty insane over the summer time. I'll have to check to see if I can pay those bills with CCs and not incur a fee. I've just been using bill pay through my bank(s).

To get the USB Cash + does one need to have a current account with them? Actually same question for the BBVA?

[Caught750]

BBVA can be geo restricted unless you get an invite mailer. US Bank is the better card (IMHO) with 5% back (still no AF) and it is neither geo or relationship restricted. The underwriting is tighter though. I love my Cash+ but don’t like BBVA (no real articulable reason).

[CBartowski]

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@Caught750 wrote:
BBVA can be geo restricted unless you get an invite mailer. US Bank is the better card (IMHO) with 5% back (still no AF) and it is neither geo or relationship restricted. The underwriting is tighter though. I love my Cash+ but don’t like BBVA (no real articulable reason).

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Good tip, thanks. Did some searching, looks like BBVA does do business out here. USB does seem to be a better card, my only question relates to the bredth of their "Utilities" category. I need to find some T&Cs that lists out what will and will not code.

[Caught750]

Also, there may be a fee to use it but if you can pay several months it will still win for sure. Mine won’t let me pay ahead so I play different games. I won’t get into that.

[JNA1]

US Bank on the surface looks better than BBVA, but when you consider BBVA’s bills and utilities category is much broader, the actual cash back in my case gained in a month is actually about the same at 3% than the Cash + earns because you can pay all household utilities, cable, internet, and cell phone service and misc recurring bills that all code as “Bills and Utilities”. The categories are much more narrow on the Cash + and even if you use the utilities category and either/or TV/internet OR cell phone bill, something gets left out. I ran the numbers all different ways, and the BBVA slightly edged it out in every scenario.
For instance, my monthly spend on Cash + using utilities and cell phone would be around $725 X 1.05% = $36.25/month. my average monthly spend that codes as bills and utilities is $1230 X 1.03% = $36.90.

With that said, my plan is eventually to get the Cash + and run the Eligible $725 through at 5% and the remaining $505 through BBVA at 3% for a total of $51.40/month. 👍

[Anonymous]

I agree with JNA1.

Have you thought about an everyday use card?

[Anonymous]

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@CBartowski wrote:

Hey Folks

Super general thought: I've honestly been wanting a change/new card in the ol' arsenel but can't really commit to something (CS Plat will be in the future, once I use the 200$ credit from the vanilla. 

Current set up: Amex Gold, Amex Plat, Amex HH No AF, debit card for smaller purchases. I tend to travel a ton for work and each month for reserve duty that is reimbursed. 

Gold: Restaurants, groceries

Plat: Airfare, extraneous (usually unnecessary purchases) 

HH: Gas when its not a 5% with CF

CF: Category spend

CSR: Hotels, extraneous travel spend (parking, hotels, airbnb, when AMEX isnt accepted for food)

I am fairly certain I am over 5/24 though I am receiving mailers for MB cards and other Chase offers. 

Anyone see any holes that can be filled? I am HH Diamond (the hard way, you haters) and MB Gold trying for Platinum (yet it feels futile). 

TIA

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Well since you like Amex and Chase reward cards as well as hilton and marriott my suggestions are 

The no annual fee Chase Ink Business Cash Card for 5x at office supply stores, internet, cable and phone services.  

The no annual fee American Express Blue Business Plus for 2x on all general spend up to $50,000.00

The $125 annual fee Marriott Bonvoy Business for the free night worth 35k points as well as 4x on gas and us shipping purchases.  

Also if you don't already use Rakuten I would consider joining and linking your Membership Rewards account to it.  That way if you buy something from say shoes.com or Land's End for example instead of getting 2% or 5% cashback (it varies daily) you would instead get 2x oe 5x mr points instead.  Also you could get the Rakuten Credit card for 3x MR points on purchases...again if you create your account to earn MR points instead of cashback.  

[CBartowski]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I agree with JNA1.

Have you thought about an everyday use card?

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I have and that has actually been the most challenging. I currently bounce between Citi DC, Plat, and Debit for non cat spend.