Rotating category fatigue

[Yankee2]

I'm getting to the point I'm getting tired of the every three month switch of cards for my rotating caterories (Flex and Discover)

Over the years I've aquired cards that have decent rewards that are constant with no limits.

Am I the only one?

[Kforce]

---

@Yankee2 wrote:

I'm getting to the point I'm getting tired of the every three month switch of cards for my rotating caterories (Flex and Discover)

Over the years I've aquired cards that have decent rewards that are constant with no limits.

Am I the only one?

---

No

However I don't think we are a large number in this forum

All my spend is split between two 3% non-category, no limit, no fuss, cashback every month cards.   Closed all my 5% cards,

[Horseshoez]

The whole rotating category thing has never appealed to me; never had one of those cards, and never plan to apply for one.

[Yankee2]

To give more info, I had only one 1% card for years and then got Discover.  At that time, it was 2% dining. Later on it switched to the rotating categories. (not sure why or when...)

Since then I've gotten....

AMEX BCP- 6% grocery and streaming, 3% gas.

BofA- 3% online

Capital One Savor (grandfathered) no AF 4% dining, 3% grocery

Citi Bank DC- 2% everything

Citi Bank CC- 5% categories, gas, grocery or dining

It's getting to the point that the credit card companies are making the rotating categories obsolete. (my wife would LOVE that....)

My Discover is at the age I would hate to get rid of it since it's my 2nd oldest card, (14 years)  but I'm a breath away of at least ditching the Flex (it's my highest CL) just to be done with the every 3 month switch-a-ru.... 

[Taurus22]

My need for Discover has been reduced the past few years, like you mentioned, due to my other dedicated category cards......however, my recent realization has made it invaluable and may be something you may want to consider.

Discover and Chase FF both have PayPal category. If that continues, that makes at least one quarter of the year (with each card) a dedicated 5% Anything Online with PayPal Key.  I have a lot of dedicated categories covered with 5%, but for those things I can't....this fills a very unique gap. Some examples:

Insurance Payments online  5%

Medical Payments online  5%

Travel/Hotel arrangements online  5%

Movie Theatre tickets prebuy online  5%

Ticketmaster/Stubhub, etc.   5%

Guns/Ammunition online  5%

New Tires online (Tire Rack, etc.)  5%

Auto Parts bought online   5%

This is why I added Chase FF to my Goal card list. Between Discover and Chase, that's 2 alternating quarters with $1500 of non-category spend I can cover @ 5%.  Just got my PayPal Key this past week.  Just wanted to bring that to your attention, if you weren't already using it.   It kills that BoA 3% Online category....

[Anonymous]

I don't use the 5% rotating cards much anymore, but not because I'm tired of switching, just that they don't often fall into categories I spend in.

[Ficoproblems247]

It can be cumbersome. At least Disco is consistent about their categories. The cards out there that you can chose your 5% categories are nice too, like USB Cash+ and Elan MCP. That way you can keep your categories the same year round, or switch it up just for a quarter if you feel your spend is heading in a different direction for that amount of time. 

[NRB525]

I use the Freedom categories the most, though some quarters can't max them out. The UR points are much more than 5% to me. I also set my two Cash+ to get regular 5%, and that adds up fast. 

I don't use my Discover at all for 5%. It seems to always conflict with other points cards Id rather use.  

[Anonymous]

I recently converted Freedom Flex to Freedom unlimited.

Now I have AMEX BCP for 6% groceries and 3% gas, Chase Freedom Unlimited for 3% dining and drugstores, and Citi DC for 2% everything else.

In addition, I can use Chasee Freedom Unlimited for 1.5% cash back on anything, should Citi DC not work at some store.

This covers all my categories. I am not interested in quarterly rotation cards. 

[longtimelurker]

I use FF and Discover some (hardly ever Citi Div).   I don't find it that fatiguing, but think that some people are over enthuastic about them!  Forgetting the potentially higher value of UR, if you max out every quarter, you get $300.   Put the same on a flat 2% and you get $120.

So a fairly unlikely maximum gain of $180 a year, and this ignores that for some quarters: a) you won't max out and b) you may have cards that pay more than 2%.

Discover first year is worthwhile though.