CC Pursuing lost it's fun

[Wavester64]

I recall several years ago when I found MyFico, my credit, to put it bluntly, was crap.
I learned a lot on here, my credit got better and better, I started to get the cards
I desired and I was saving money. Lately, the good CCs are few and far between.
Businesses charging 3%-4% for using a CC kills the CB you would have earned using any
CC. Annual FEEs going up all over. CC benefits getting NERFed all the time, Cards closing
or adding stupid fees to use their CC when it was FREE before (I am looking at you SoFi )
I dunno. Maybe it's just me, but to me CC Pursuing lost it's fun.

[BrutalBodyShots]

Even if those trends weren't true, the "game" IMO loses its luster over time regardless. All of the negative points you made just speed up the process for many.

[Wavester64]

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@BrutalBodyShots wrote:

Even if those trends weren't true, the "game" IMO loses its luster over time regardless. All of the negative points you made just speed up the process for many.

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Well put 👍 Though if there was steady influx of new cards giving good deals and business not hitting the consumer with CC fees, the luster would still be strong 

[Realist]

It starts to get boring if you do it long enough, and you choose not to evolve with it.

Acquire enough credit, and it becomes as plentiful as the air around you.  Having more credit doesn't really do anything more for you - business credit and business opportunities aside.

CC welcome bonuses are still valuable, as you can earn still earn a weeks worth of hotel stays, or travel to locations on a single offer alone.  You can stack multiple cards, and multiple offers to accumulate a significant number of weeks and months of free hotel stays, as well as multiple free airline trips.  However, the caveat to this, is that these offers are typically either a one and done deal, or a once per 24-48 month timeframe.  You can extend and amplify these results if you incorporate a P2 into the equation.   Additionally, unless you plan to use cash for every transaction, it just makes sense to have a daily driver or two.  How you choose to receive your payout is up to you, whether points for hotels, flights, or just cash back.  I prefer free hotel stays personally - with free breakfast.

In an advanced situation like this, where having too much credit is just a whatever, and securing welcome offers that are becoming sparce because you've used up most offers, what do you do next?  That was the point where I had reached, where I had to formulate a solution that elevated the stay and travel game.  Granted it wasn't FREE any longer, but it did provide for premium stays and travel on the cheap and affordable side - in place of free.  That revelation, I will keep close to my chest, but when you arrive at this point, I hope you too can find something that work well for your situation.  The free welcome bonus signup game isn't dead for me, but it's been replaced - evolved, and now serves as a supplement to a new strategy moving forward.

There's still fun in the game, and things to look forward to.  Although like anything in life, the more mature and knowledgable you become within the activity, the more you have to modify or elevate the experience - as your own personal experience and knowledge grows.

[Thomas_Thumb]

Not for me.

I never really participated in the CC game. In the now distant past I did relish getting FF mileage rewards and accumulating points for hotel stays (could even convert points to cash). Back in the day I travelled all the time. Returned "home" every other weekend. Spent 300 days in hotels/motels one year.

Now I have zero interest in free hotel stays and primarily limit travel to visiting family and friends. No travel cards for me.

Not happy about the surprise fees for CC use at many "upscale" restaurants. Where possible I use CCs for insurance premiums, property taxes, utility bills, subscriptions, home improvements: (new deck, windows, garage doors furnace, water heater, A/C and furniture), appliances and recreational transportation (such as ebikes) where there is no surcharge for CC use.

JC Penney extracted a fee on a recent CC in store purchase. I won't be shopping there again.

There should be a category of no frills CCs with minimal swipe fees where merchants won't up charge. I don't like the push toward debit cards which shift fraud risk to the user - imo.

[SeanA]

I feel ya, in a sense. What you say is true, but that can also make the search more fun - since you have to hunt a little harder, and you can really put your skills to use. 

[crystal626]

Yeah, I'm there too. 

[TrapLine]

Pretty well captured my path without the travel. In fact, I have been slowly closing cards over the last five years focusing on those cards that actually fit my spend. Further, the credit card charges for usage is a turn off and living in the outback limits my saying I will just not go there any more (understand that) but there are limitations to it.

[hdporter]

The thrill of applying and being approved for new cards diminish about my 6th card in (about 35 years ago).

Since then the exercise has been all about utility (and no more cc's with $25 subs      I still realize a tremendous satisfaction from acquiring a card that has a large payback!

[disdreamin]

Recently I've found fewer cards I am tempted by as the sign up bonuses aren't as easy to come by as they used to be and card benefits keep being adjusted in ways that aren't a good fit for me. I am still keeping an eye out for good offers (for me), but increasing annual fees, credit vendor card usage fees, and lack of card benefits that suit my lifestyle and spending habits have me considering closing quite a few cards in the not too distant future.