Trimming Cards

[nyancat]

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@onstar wrote:

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@nyancat wrote:

2 cents was easy pickings, frankly - if you can't get two cents a mile out of them you're not trying hard enough. 3-4 is pretty easy to accomplish if you're flexible about where you're going and when you're going. Amex has other transfer partners if Delta isn't to your liking. If you can't get 2.4% out of the ED (2 cents/pt) then, quite frankly, you're not trying hard enough. Granted, some people don't want rewards they have to try... I've had a HORRIBLE time getting my mother into this game. I got her all excited when she had enough miles for a flight she wanted and she HATED playing the availability game...

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I'm more like your mother than you in that respect. Typically, when I'm flying somewhere, the schedule is #1. I have like a 4 hour window for departure time and the same for arrival time. Even if that wasn't the case ... I'm not sure how you get  2%+ back for domestic flights. I've redeemed ~87,500 SkyMiiles in the past two years. One RT ticket cost 27,500 miles, the other two RT tickets cost 30,000 miles each. The 27,500 mile ticket would have cost about $300 if I paid cash (1.1 cents per mile). The 30,000 mile tickets would have cost $400 if I paid cash (1.33 cents per mile). But the 30,000 tickets would have been around $300 if I flew another airline, and to me, THIS should be the real baseline, meaning the miles are worth about 1 cent per mile.

Am I doing something wrong with my redemptions?

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1. I live in a remote area where prices are more expensive but mileage requirements are the same.

2. I never once said "domestic flights" - domestic flights are usually an exceptionally poor value in most rewards programmes (Avios being the exception).

[TheGardner]

Tried again, no div number and different email denied

No HP so no loss

[onstar]

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@nyancat wrote:
Okay, getting serious here I'm shocked at the people saying to get rid of the Everyday.

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@nyancat wrote:

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@onstar wrote:

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@nyancat wrote:

2 cents was easy pickings, frankly - if you can't get two cents a mile out of them you're not trying hard enough. 3-4 is pretty easy to accomplish if you're flexible about where you're going and when you're going. Amex has other transfer partners if Delta isn't to your liking. If you can't get 2.4% out of the ED (2 cents/pt) then, quite frankly, you're not trying hard enough. Granted, some people don't want rewards they have to try... I've had a HORRIBLE time getting my mother into this game. I got her all excited when she had enough miles for a flight she wanted and she HATED playing the availability game...

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I'm more like your mother than you in that respect. Typically, when I'm flying somewhere, the schedule is #1. I have like a 4 hour window for departure time and the same for arrival time. Even if that wasn't the case ... I'm not sure how you get  2%+ back for domestic flights. I've redeemed ~87,500 SkyMiiles in the past two years. One RT ticket cost 27,500 miles, the other two RT tickets cost 30,000 miles each. The 27,500 mile ticket would have cost about $300 if I paid cash (1.1 cents per mile). The 30,000 mile tickets would have cost $400 if I paid cash (1.33 cents per mile). But the 30,000 tickets would have been around $300 if I flew another airline, and to me, THIS should be the real baseline, meaning the miles are worth about 1 cent per mile.

Am I doing something wrong with my redemptions?

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1. I live in a remote area where prices are more expensive but mileage requirements are the same.

2. I never once said "domestic flights" - domestic flights are usually an exceptionally poor value in most rewards programmes (Avios being the exception).

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1. 80.7% of the U.S. population live in urban areas. 19.3% live in rural areas.

2. 79% of the U.S. population did not travel internationlly in the past 2 years. 21% did not travel internationally.

Obviously the ED can be good for some people. But your scenario is more the exception than the rule, so you shouldn't be shocked as you wrote earlier.

[Anonymous]

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@DigitalArk wrote:

I am thinking to trim some no AF cards in my signature. I spend most on groceries and gas, so I am keeping BCP.

Besides that, I am also keeping CSP, Freedom, USAA cards (joint accounts). Then the rest are subject to trim. 

I am not sure which ones should go...still thinking about it...What would you do? 

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As with some of the others, I would get rid of the ED. I don't travel much, so it doesn't matter to me, but you should evaluate the arguments and determine what its value is to you. If you value it at more than 2c per mile, you should probably get rid of the DC and Fidelity Amex, since they are getting lower amounts as a general card. 

I don't really mind you keeping both the DC and Fidelity Amex, depending on how you use them. The Fidelity gets you those wonderful Amex bonuses, while the DC is accepted in more locations. You could get rid of one of them without any real drawback, however.

I can't really see what your first three cards are, but I would gess you could get rid of a couple of them with no issues.

I generally prefer the Discover IT to the Freedom, as it has more breadth to its categories. If you're going to insist on keeping the Freedom, you should evaluate whether you're getting anything out of the Discover card. 

[Anonymous]

Trimming is gross.

Sock drawer.

[Anonymous]

I'm definitely in the cash back camp as well. If you aren't into redemption gymnastics I say cut the points cards before the cash back.

If your PIF discipline is good DC is a fantastic catch-all card.