Updated 2024 Credit Card Strategy

Welcome to the wonderful world of points! Credit cards can be an effective way to travel for free and be rewarded for the money you’re already spending.

If you don’t have a good credit card strategy (or worse no credit cards at all), then you’re likely missing out on a lot of benefits and are subsidizing everyone else’s benefits.

But I Like To Use Cash and a Debit Card

Have you ever seen businesses that "don’t accept Amex” or ones that charge you 3% for using a credit card? It’s because when you use a credit card, banks charge businesses a transaction fee between 1% to 3.5%.

Businesses can either pass the direct cost to you, price it into their products, or choose not to accept credit cards.

Since you’re already paying these premiums, you might as well take advantage of the benefits that credit cards have to offer.

Not to mention, credit cards are safer to carry around than your debit card. It's a lot harder for a bank to stop someone from liquidating your bank account if your debit card information gets stolen than your credit card.

I don't carry around my debit card anymore. I just have it on Apple Pay, and use that when I need to withdraw cash from a Chase ATM.

A Few Ground Rules

Before we dive into leveling up your credit card game here are a couple of ground rules:

• Always pay your credit card off in full
• Keep your credit card spending below your checking account balance

By following these rules, you’ll protect yourself from insane ~24% interest rates on purchases and having credit card debt work against your wealth creation.

If you're already in credit card debt and can't pay off your credit cards in full, save this post for later. You're better off focusing on paying off all your credit card debt before adding more cards into the mix.

Okay, now we're ready to hack your way through credit cards and the world of points!

Noob Level (Bad Credit Cards)

My least favorite credit cards are the ones that the stores try to convince you to sign up for at the register.

I’ve NEVER come across an offer that’s actually good for long-term use. Although a 20% discount might be tempting, there are many better options.

Don’t sign up impulsively for these credit cards.

You want to be intentional about the credit cards you acquire so that each of them serves a purpose. Also, don't let your parents do this either.

I'm looking at you Marshall's and Macy's.

Easy Mode (1 Great Card, No Annual Fee)

If you only want one credit card, the best no fuss option is the Chase Freedom Unlimited. Chase Ultimate Reward Points are the most flexible and offer some of the best redemptions. You can redeem Chase Points for cash back, travel, or transfer to partners like Hyatt (my favorite option).

The Chase Freedom Unlimited has a $200 sign up bonus, 5% back on gas in year 1, 3% on dining and drug stores, and 1.5% back on all other purchases with no annual fee.

You’re literally getting free money with this card after spending $500 on it in the first 3 months.

This was my first credit card, and it sets a really high benchmark for an entry-level card.

At a minimum, you should have the Chase Freedom Unlimited card in your pocket. It’s an excellent credit card to dip your toes into the world of points.

Hard Mode (2-3 Cards, 1 with an Annual Fee)

Okay, we're getting into multiple credit cards here and where you begin to use different cards for different purposes.

The 2nd credit card I got was Chase Freedom Flex which has 5% rotating categories every quarter. The bonus categories change between things like groceries, restaurants, gas stations, PayPal, streaming services, wholesale clubs, and phone services.

This card has no annual fee and provides a similar $200 sign-up bonus as Chase Freedom Unlimited.

To complete the Trifecta, the last card you'll need is the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred knocks it out of the park when it comes to bang for buck. It has a $95 annual fee which is easily offset by the 75,000 point sign-up bonus and the annual $50 hotel credit.

This is probably my favorite card, because it unlocks the Chase Transfer Portal to Travel Partners such as Hyatt, further boosting your point's redemption value.

For example, if you were to redeem your points to "pay yourself back" you would get about 1.25 cents per point. However, if you were to transfer to Hyatt, each of those points is now worth around 2 cents per point, making 75,000 points worth around $1,500 of Hyatt stays!

Hyatt has great properties all around the world. The one we stayed at in Da Nang was only 15,000 points a night too.

There are also many other benefits with the Chase Sapphire Preferred like the new 10% annual point bonus. You can learn more here!

If you stopped here in your credit card journey, you'd be ahead of 95% of the population. Although, there's more for those who wish to put in the work to unlock even greater benefits.

Although, it won't feel like work if you enjoy hacking your way to free travel and great perks!

Legendary Mode (3+ Credit Cards & Business Credit Cards)

We're entering a new level here. Business Credit Cards and referring your spouse and family.

Business Credit Cards often have even higher sign up bonuses, but usually at a higher spend threshold to unlock them.

Recently, Kelly referred me to the Business Ink Preferred which is essentially the same card as the Chase Sapphire Preferred but comes with a 100,000 point sign on bonus after $8,000 of spend in 3 months.

Because Kelly referred me, she'll get a 40,000 point bonus after I get my card which means we will have netted 140,000 Chase points or almost ~$2,800 worth of Hyatt Points or $1750 of flights through the Chase Travel Portal.

It's also easier to open a business card than most people expect. You don't need an LLC or anything fancy. And more things count as "having a business" than you may realize such as:

• Sellers who sell goods on sites Facebook Marketplace, eBay, Mercari, & Etsy
• Freelancers, writers and other creatives
• Rideshare and delivery drivers
• Independent contractors, consultants, tutors

So here's what you can do:

1. Use your first and last name as the business name, otherwise Chase might ask for business verification
2. Select "sole proprietorship" as your business type
3. Use your SSN if you don't have an EIN
4. And you can estimate a revenue number such as $1K a month

Kelly has an Etsy Shop and Joseph and I have our Eklipse Pickleball Business so we just filled in the information and estimated revenue numbers (which aren't very big if you're wondering).

Once you're approved, then comes the work hitting the minimum spend. Usually, I just start piling everything I can onto the credit card. I'll pay for group dinners and ask to my mom and brother to use my card too. $8,000 of spend is really doable when you have a team helping you spend money!

And the last step is to refer your friends and family to credit cards you already have. Chances are that they're going to open on anyways and use a random link. They might as well use yours so that you can get a little bonus too.

It all adds up, and remember to pay your credit card off every month!

Pro Tips to Help You Level Up

• Meeting the Minimum Spend for Sign-Up Bonuses - One thing you can do is add your card to your family's or significant other's Apple Pay. This is a great way to give you a little spending boost.
• Set Up Automatic Payments - Both Chase and Amex have automatic payment options, so set those up to pay off your card in full before the due date each month!
• Annual Fee Reduction - Did you know you can call your credit card company, ask for the retention department, and ask for them to reduce your annual fee? All you have to do is call, request customer retention, and ask about what offers they have to help you keep the card for another year.
• Chase 5/24 Rule - Chase has a rule that you can't qualify for their cards if you have opened 5 or more personal credit cards across all banks in the last 24 months. You'll want to take this rule into account when deciding which cards to apply for.
• Share the Points Love - Most credit cards offer reward bonuses for referring others to sign up for their cards. Just make sure they use your referral link when applying so that you can enjoy the referral bonus points :)

Now Go Forth and Collect Points :)

There's no shortage of opportunities to hack your way to free travel through credit cards and points. It really doesn't take too much time and effort either once you get started.

Feel free to reach out with any questions and let me know what credit cards you signing up for next!