And just like that, another year is in the books. Hard to believe how much fun and exciting 2020 was. In total, I did about 138 miles walking around my apartment in 2020 and I’ll hopefully do a few more this year!
In all seriousness, 2020 was an odd year that completely changed all of our lives. Additionally, 2020 had a fairly significant impact on my spending habits. With that, I made some significant changes to the credit cards that I carry and use on a daily basis. Therefore, I think it’s time to sit down and take inventory.
I like doing this from time to time for two reasons. First, I like to use this blog as a living journal that I can look back and see what I was doing in the past. Second, I like to help you better understand what credit cards I actually use and why.
See, I often find that other blogs tend to promote some terrible cards from time to time based on which issuer is paying the most for referrals. In fact, once those referrals dry up you’ll never hear about the card again because, frankly, it isn’t a good card. (TPG’s coverage of the BofA Premium Rewards Card). So, here’s what in my wallet to start 2021 and why.
Citi Double Cash
It might seem hard to believe, but in 2020 I put the vast majority of my annual spend on the Citi Double Cash card. The reason I used this card so much in 2020 is that it’s one of the most rewarding cards available for miscellaneous (everyday) spending. That’s because card holders earn 2% cash back on all purchases. Every time you swipe the Citi Double Cash card, you’ll be earning 2% cash back. That’s fantastic, especially considering the card lacks an annual fee.
Even better, card holders can actually convert Citi Cash Back into Citi ThankYou Rewards points. Since I value Citi ThankYou points at $0.015/each, you’ll actually be getting about $0.03 of value from every dollar spent on the Citi ThankYou card.
It’s the ability to convert cash back into ThankYou points that made this cad my number one used card by annual spend in 2020. I ended up paying all of my monthly rent on this card which allowed me to earn 2X points on rent! Sure, I paid a 3% card fee, but I personally get at least 3% of value back in the form of premium cabin flights in the future, so I think it’s a worthwhile sacrifice.
For 2021, I don’t plan on spending quite as much on this card as last year (I can’t pay rent on a card anymore), but I do plan to use this card for any miscellaneous spending in non-bonus categories. For example, I recently used this card to pay for an online class (we’ll see if the class is worthwhile!).
Citi Prestige
Another card that I actually used quite often in 2020 was the Citi Prestige card. Now, that might seem surprising as the Prestige card is marketed as a premium travel rewards card, but thankfully this card earns 5X ThankYou points on all dining. This category includes any takeout purchases ordered directly from a restaurant as well as most food delivery services.
While I didn’t get to use this card on travel in 2020, I did end up using this card quite a bit when paying for food. Additionally, Citi offered a few promotions in which card holders could earn 5X points on grocery store spending or online purchases to make up for the lack of travel.
For 2021, I’ll absolutely keep this card in my wallet. Yes, the card carries a hefty $495 annual fee, but that fee is partially offset by an automatic $250 travel credit. Therefore, the effective annual fee for this card is only $245. To recoup that value, you’ll only need to put $5,000 of annual spend toward 5X bonus categories (travel or dining) to earn $24,500 ThankYou points which are worth at least $245.
Furthermore, the Citi Prestige card offers a unique 4th Night Free benefit, valid up to 2X per year. If used properly, you can easily get more than $245 of value from that benefit alone. Therefore, once again, the Citi Prestige card has earned a spot in my wallet.
Chase Freedom Flex
Perhaps the card I’m most excited for in 2021 is my new Chase Freedom Flex card. The card just arrived the other day and I actually haven’t even swiped (tapped) the card yet. However, this card is fairly incredible in that it offers all of the benefits of the Chase Freedom Card (5% Cash Back Quarterly) plus 3% cash back at drug stores, 3% cash back on dining (including takeout/delivery), and 5% cash back on travel booked through Chase. The benefits offered by the Chase Freedom Flex card are impressive for any rewards card, but even more impressive is that the card lacks an annual fee.
If you are an existing Chase Freedom card holder, I’d quickly call up Chase and ask for a product change to the Chase Freedom Flex card. There isn’t any reason to carry the Chase Freedom card over the Flex version as both lack annual fees and the Flex version is far more rewarding.
Personally, I plan to use this card nearly exclusively at Walgreens and CVS. I actually do quite a bit of my “shopping” at these stores and until now I’ve been using my Citi Double Cash card. Going forward, I’ll use the Chase Freedom Flex card to earn 3% cash back on these purchases.
Lastly, as with the Citi cards I carry, I can convert Chase Freedom Flex cash back into Chase Ultimate Rewards to unlock even more value from this card.
Chase Freedom Unlimited
I actually opened the Chase Freedom Unlimited card back in mid-2020 as the sign-up offer included the opportunity to earn 5% cash back (5x Ultimate Rewards) on grocery store spend. This offer is limited to just 1 year or $12,000 of spend, but it’s still a great chance to earn up to 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points.
After the promotional period expires (mid-2021) I’m not sure what I’m going to do with this card. That’s because the benefits offered from the Chase Freedom card are nearly identical to the Chase Freedom Flex card. That is, the card earns 5% cash back on travel through Chase, 3% on dining, 3% at drugstores. However, this card earns 1.5% cash back on everyday spend where the Freedom Flex card only earns 1% (but offers the 5% quarterly bonuses).
Personally, while 1.5% cash back on everyday spending is great, I have the Citi Double Cash that earns 2% back. So, as I said earlier, I’m not sure what I’ll do with this card. Most likely I’ll end up putting it in my sock drawer next to my Bank of America card!
Chase Sapphire
That’s right, not Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve, this is just the plain vanilla Sapphire card. Honestly, it’s not even worth the keystrokes to discuss card benefits with this card. What is important however, is that by carrying this card, I have access to the Ultimate Rewards program and can convert my Freedom cash back into Ultimate Rewards points.
Additionally, you can’t actually apply for this card from Chase’s website. Instead, to get this card you have to call Chase and have them product change you to it. In my case, I product changed my Chase Sapphire Reserve card into this standard Sapphire product. I did this to maintain access to the Ultimate Rewards program while avoiding paying either a $95 or $550 annual fee.
American Express Platinum
As I wrote a few days ago, this is my absolutely favorite card in my wallet today. That’s because in 2021, Amex is actually going to pay me to carry this card. See, in 2021 I’ll pay Amex my $550 annual fee, but in return I’ll get $200 of Amex Travel credits, $200 in Airline of Choice credits, $200 in Uber credits, $180 in Pay Pal credits, and $100 in Saks credits. In total, that’s $880 of value that I’ll “get back” from this card.
Another thing that makes the Platinum card so rewarding is access to “Amex Offers.” If you’re not familiar, Amex Offers are like coupons you can clip to your card. When you make a qualifying purchase, Amex will reward you. Recently, these offers have become extremely generous. For example, right now Amex is offering a $100 credit for a $100 purchase with Dell, 2X $50 credits for $50 purchases at Home Depot, and 2X $50 credits for $50 purchases at Best Buy.
Now, as with all of these credits, they are only valuable if it’s spending you’d actually do otherwise. However, in this case, in normal course I’ll end up spending at least $200 in various electronics and $100 on purchases at Home Depot this year. So for me, I’ll count that as another $300 of value back from the Platinum card.
Lastly, none of this takes into account the actual benefits offered by the Platinum card. Sure, those benefits (lounge access) might be limited in 2021, but the above credits should more than make up for it.
American Express Gold
Another American Express card that I think is worth carrying is the Amex Gold card. The benefits offered by this card are great, and frankly, if you only want a single rewards card in your pocket, this could be it. However, I keep this card open for one simple reason; groceries. Currently, the American Express Gold card offers 4X Membership Rewards points on all grocery store spending.
I plan to spend a lot more on groceries in 2021 than I did in 2020 or 2019, so this year, I absolutely plan on tapping this card at the grocery store (once my Freedom Unlimited bonus expires). Beyond groceries, I don’t think I’ll use this card at all.
Ok, I get it, that sounds ridiculous to pay a $250 annual fee for a single bonus category, but here’s the math. $250 annual fee, less the $120 dining credits (easily maximized), less the $100 Airline of Choice benefit (harder to maximize) equals a $30 effective annual fee. With that, you only need to earn 3,000 Membership Rewards points to offset the effective annual fee. That’s only $750 of grocery store spend (4X points) to recoup the fee. If you count the effective annual fee as $130 (no airline credit), that’s still only 13,000 points or $3,250 of annual grocery spend.
As you can see, if you spend any money on groceries, the Gold card can be worthwhile. That’s not to say it’s the best card for all grocery store spending, just the type that I do; YMMV.
Chase United Explorer
I know so little about this card I actually had to go dig it up to remember the name on the front. Bottom line, this card sits in a drawer until 1x a year I get it out, buy a pack of gum to keep it ‘active,’ and put it back. I keep the United Explorer card open for one reason, United Club Passes. Each year I get two passes and they always seem to come in handy when I’m in desperate need of raw vegetables and a beer at the airport. Next!
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless
My goodness that name is still terrible. Who at Marriott Corp thought, “yes, Bonvoy, that’s it!” What in the world was so wrong with Marriott Rewards. I really hope the advisory firm that came up with that name is no longer in business.
Anyway, this card is similar to the Chase Explorer Mileage United Plus card card in that I don’t ever use it. Instead, it sits, I pay the annual fee, and I get a free night at a Marriott hotel. Again, this free night always seems to come in handy when I have a last minute hotel booking for a friend’s wedding (remember those).
Bank of America Travel Rewards
This is my first ever credit card account. I opened this account as a secured college credit card and it came with a whopping $500 credit limit. No, that’s not a typo. $500, and wow that was a lot of money. I still remember going in a few times a month and paying off my weekly meals to make sure “I had good credit.”
Anyway, to be brutally honest, this is a card and a rewards program that I don’t pay enough attention to. If you’re a BofA Preferred Rewards member (aka have a lot of money with BofA), this card and their other cards can actually be very rewarding. However, I do not have a lot of money (could end the sentence here) with BofA and I don’t get much value from this card.
Maybe in 2021 I’ll spend a bit more time researching the BofA ecosystem…. seems unlikely.
What’s Actually In My Wallet
Now that you know all of my card accounts, you might be wondering, “ok, but what cards do you carry with you daily?” And that’s a great question, because, no, I don’t carry around 10 credit cards daily. In fact, right now, I’m only carrying 4 cards daily. Those cards are the Chase Freedom Flex, Chase Freedom Unlimited, Citi Double Cash, and Citi Prestige cards. I carry those cards because they are the ones I use the most when I’m outside of my home, which is rare these days…
All of my other cards get some use, but most are used for online purchases that I make while I’m home. If I start traveling again I’ll need to adjust the cards I actually carry in my wallet, but to start 2021 my current lineup if perfect.
Final Thoughts
There you have it, those are the cards that I actually have open and use. I hope this is helpful for anyone looking to open or close a credit card in 2021. Also, it’s worth noting that these are the best cards for me and my individual needs. I personally get a ton of value from flexible credit card currencies.
However, points are often difficult and time consuming to maximize, so many might just prefer to earn cash back, etc. Basically, don’t assume these are “the best” credit cards out there. In fact, I’m sure even I could get more value by looking at other available cards, but for now, these work for me.
