2023 I picked up a lot of credit card debt. 2 car accidents, both my fault, insurance wouldn't cover the first one because I was delivering food for Uber and was honest about that. Second one was my stupidity looking at the GPS. Both got fixed out of pocket. 9 K.
That and borrowing money for "free" to finance that first accident the whole year put me back 3 years.
however I'm very ambitious this year. Got an excellent new job and I anticipate paying, at the very least 20K off. Possibly more, however not paying interest - or minimizing it to a maximum, is a priority.
I added one BC card, after having no applications in the past 15 months, and before that it was years before I added any accounts. I'm not thrilled how that all went down, but I'll survive. Another BC account would be great to save a lot of interest but I'm hesitant.
I also want to close the accounts I don't need or want anymore. Home Depot card and US Bank platinum. 5 & 14.4k
I want to pay off my car, 1.4k now. And at least 75% of a personal loan (4.4k rn - Down to 1.1k).
my scores are 750 right now. I'd like to hit 800s again. FICO simulator suggests it's just right.
I knew nothing about credit card churning before the pandemic and grew up in a household that looked at credit cards as if they were the devil. I've since then just opened whatever offered the best deals because we could spend left and right (COVID checks, employer benefits, etc) so right now my CC's are all over the place.
I have AMEX MS Plat, AMEX Gold, US Bank Altitude Reserve, US Bank Altitude Go, BoA Cash Rewards, Barclays View Mastercard (ew), Citi Strata Premier, Citi Double Cash, UBS Infinite Visa (my new prized collection), Apple Card, AMEX Hilton Aspire, Chase United, Chase Hyatt, and 2 Chase Freedom Unlimited (one downgraded from CSP long time ago). I recently cancelled AMEX Bevy, AMEX Vanilla Plat, and a Barclays JetBlue card.
My strategy for 2024/2025 is focusing my card spends with few banks/products and also curtail on some manufactured spends. I will most likely cancel Barclays View card (despite not having a fee),Citi Strata Premier, AMEX Gold next year, and Chase United Explorer card. I will be funneling most of my spends into the UBS Infinite Visa and US BAR. I will most likely keep my AMEX MS Plat, open Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase United Club, and Chase Amazon card for continued lounge access plus travel benefits. I travel mostly to places that have United hubs and if there was a way to get Polaris access dometically, I would most likely cancel the other travel cards.
@deacon91 wrote:I knew nothing about credit card churning before the pandemic and grew up in a household that looked at credit cards as if they were the devil. I've since then just opened whatever offered the best deals because we could spend left and right (COVID checks, employer benefits, etc) so right now my CC's are all over the place.
I have AMEX MS Plat, AMEX Gold, US Bank Altitude Reserve, US Bank Altitude Go, BoA Cash Rewards, Barclays View Mastercard (ew), Citi Strata Premier, Citi Double Cash, UBS Infinite Visa (my new prized collection), Apple Card, AMEX Hilton Aspire, Chase United, Chase Hyatt, and 2 Chase Freedom Unlimited (one downgraded from CSP long time ago). I recently cancelled AMEX Bevy, AMEX Vanilla Plat, and a Barclays JetBlue card.
My strategy for 2024/2025 is focusing my card spends with few banks/products and also curtail on some manufactured spends. I will most likely cancel Barclays View card (despite not having a fee),Citi Strata Premier, AMEX Gold next year, and Chase United Explorer card. I will be funneling most of my spends into the UBS Infinite Visa and US BAR. I will most likely keep my AMEX MS Plat, open Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase United Club, and Chase Amazon card for continued lounge access plus travel benefits. I travel mostly to places that have United hubs and if there was a way to get Polaris access dometically, I would most likely cancel the other travel cards.
I stopped mentally adding up your Annual Fees after they reached $1500. I hope you make good use out of those $1500+ cards.
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Because of the AOD nerf.
I added the Alliant 2.5%
All extra spend above the 3% cap on AOD. 
@Anonymous wrote:
@ptatohed wrote:I stopped mentally adding up your Annual Fees after they reached $1500. I hope you make good use out of those $1500+ cards.
@ptatohed Let me help keep you up at night staring at the ceiling. $2750 or $2854
Lol. I don't even have the AMEX Platinum or Gold cards and I just added my AFs up to $2,962. 
And I know some of our members have even higher fees. I do get a LOT of perks and credits back, though. I'm not sure how many of those will be open in 5-10 years but even the SUBs on those high-earning cards can be quite lucrative. I have a ton of various travel rewards credits saved up for future travel. If you just focus on the fees, it definitely would keep you up if they weren't offset in overall value.
@Aim_High wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@ptatohed wrote:I stopped mentally adding up your Annual Fees after they reached $1500. I hope you make good use out of those $1500+ cards.
@ptatohed Let me help keep you up at night staring at the ceiling. $2750 or $2854
Lol. I don't even have the AMEX Platinum or Gold cards and I just added my AFs up to $2,962.
How valuable is the Bonvoy Brilliant? Especially after the first year.
It's kinda a limited use card so might not be enough for me to make use of it with my current spending habits, but I've been debating it.
@Gregory1776 wrote:How valuable is the Bonvoy Brilliant? Especially after the first year.
It's kinda a limited use card so might not be enough for me to make use of it with my current spending habits, but I've been debating it.
With any card, @Gregory1776, it's always YMMV. For me, the value on my AMEX Bonvoy Brilliant card is hands-down outstanding. I would say the caveats on the value, though, would be:
- Do you dine out or use dining pickup for at least $25 each month?
- Would you enjoy a free annual night in a $500 to $1000 a night hotel room?
- Do you stay in hotels or motels at least a few times a year?
- Would you be willing to consider focusing on the Marriott brand for stays?
I'm an enthusiast for the Bonvoy Brilliant card and you may have seen some of my posts. Even with the $650 a year fee, I think it's an outstanding value. I get my full value back (and more) from just two things; anything above that is extra:
- $300 annual restaurant credits at up to $25 per month. Can be in more than one sitting. (See my link here.)
- Free annual night worth up to 85K Bonvoy points. These are very nice rooms. Marriott has 'dynamic pricing' so rooms vary based on location and demand. You'll find 85K or higher nights in larger cities or in-demand locations. The last two years, DW and I stayed at expensive rooms that would have cost us $750 or more per night. If you look, you'll find great values. (You can also find 85K rooms that would cost $400 to $500 in cash; still, a good value when added into the restaurant credit.) One room that we got was an ocean view room at an all-inclusive resort in San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico.
Automatic Platinum status is great. One perk that starts at that level is access to the M-Club lounge with complimentary breakfast and evening hors d'oeuvres and beverages. The credits towards the full breakfast buffet on a week-long stay at a beach property for DW and myself were worth $400 alone. Platinum status includes other perks such as late checkout up to 4pm and earning 50% bonus on points from stays and spend. I use this often on my business travels.
The Bonvoy Brilliant reimburses TSA Global Entry membership which includes TSA Precheck, $100 every four years so an average of $25 per year.
The Bonvoy Brilliant has access to AMEX OFFERS similar to other AMEX cards which can add value based on your usage of them.
Since I love the card, I've referred several friends and coworkers to it who were approved. Two were recently approved and I had 40K in Marriott Bonvoy points added to my account. 
At about 8/10 cpp, that's $320 in hotel stays.
The rewards earning structure on the card can allow you to accrue a lot of Bonvoy points quickly. At Marriott, it earns 6x points which at a rough value of 8/10 cpp is worth about 4.8% return. That's in addition to the 50% bonus you receive at Marriott by the Platinum status.
Marriott has the largest "footprint" of any global hotel chain and they have hotels at many various price-points.
You can read more of my reviews of the card here and at the links within that posting.
