My current credit card portfolio that have annual fees are:
American Express Starwood Preferred Guest – $65
Barclay’s US Airways – $89
Chase United MileagePlus Explorer – $95
Chase Ink Bold – $95
Chase Sapphire Preferred – $95
Citi AAdvantage – $95
US Bank Flexperks – $49
I will be paying $583 in fees which I will gladly pay. Since the Sapphire Preferred and Ink Bold overlap, I am thinking of dropping the Ink Bold and signing up for the Ink Classic to maintain the free Lounge Club membership and the 5x bonus on office supply and telecommunications and 2x on gas and hotels.
Here’s why I don’t mind paying nearly $600 in fees:
American Express Starwood Preferred Guest for the airline transfer partners and if I spend over $30,000 I will earn Starwood gold, which after a little bit of research, is not much for a perk. However, the Sync offers after gift card churning more than pays for this $65 annual fee.
Barclay’s US Airways for the lounge passes and the $99 companion certificate.
Chase United MileagePlus Explorer for the extra 10,000 miles when I spend $25,000
Chase Ink Bold for the 5x categories. Sapphire Preferred for the 2x dining and travel as well as the 7% dividend. In addition, I like how both cards can transfer to the airlines and hotel programs.
Citi AAdvantage for the 10% back on redeemed miles, the reduced mileage awards, and more lounge passes
US Bank Flexperks for 2x on gas or supermarkets and 3,500 bonus points for spending $24,000 in a year.
For year 2 I will reevaluate my credit card portfolio and add a hotel card, likely the Chase Hyatt. Since my goal is to manufacture spend instead of App-O-Rama’s, I am looking at other cards that offer bonuses for large amounts of spending like the American Express Personal Rewards Gold or the Chase British Airways.
You make valid points but why not cancel them so you can reopen them for the bonus again for the non-Chase cards? By holding onto the Amex Starwood, you’re preventing yourself from churning it every 12 months.
Personally, I don’t like to open and cancel cards. Before opening cards, I research the programs for manufacture spending and then open the card.
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