Turn everyday spending into free first-class travel around the world. This post outlines my streamlined credit card strategy with a focus on generating maximum rewards with minimal effort.

Note: CashSnacks.com may receive credit card points if readers sign up for a card using links provided in this article.

Introduction to Building a Credit Card Strategy

If you’re currently struggling with the burden of high-interest consumer debt, please disregard everything that I’m about to say. I encourage you to exit this article, and do whatever you can to pay it down ASAP.

This post is about beating the credit card companies at their own game. You can’t do that while paying the egregious interest rates that they charge. To build bulletproof wealth, compound interest must work for you. Not against you. Refer back to the credit card commandments if you’d like to explore this further.

Now, for those of you without high-interest consumer debt. Let’s chat. Credit cards represent a useful tool in your financial optimization arsenal. The rewards they yield are low-hanging fruit.

For this reason, I make almost no cash purchases. Cash provides no subsequent benefits when spent. Alternatively, a properly structured rewards credit card provides points and perks that could markedly enhance your quality of life.

If you know that you’ll spend money on certain expenses anyway, you might as well derive some sort of benefit. Just make sure to pay your statement balance in full every month to avoid interest.

Post Outline

This post covers my personal credit card strategy in detail. I walk through the exact stack of credit cards that I carry in my wallet, providing commentary and rationale around each.

I’m not saying this is the best strategy. In fact, I know it’s not. I could likely squeeze another $5K-$10K of rewards out of additional cards if I decided to supercharge my game. However, the incremental benefits don’t justify the additional time and effort this would require in my life.

I’d rather spend that time figuring out how to generate greater income. Consequently, I choose to keep things simple. Make no mistake, this credit card strategy still yields significant benefits. It will improve your quality of life and save you money.

But recognize that you could take things a step further and reap greater rewards.

Quick Note on Introductory Sign-on Bonuses

All three of the cards mentioned below offer introductory sign-on bonuses. Under this structure, the card companies incentivize a customer to spend a fixed dollar amount over a certain time period. For example, “spend $3,000 in your first 3 months and get 50,000 bonus miles.” Securing the sign-on bonus is essential if you hope to receive maximum value from any card.

As a result, whenever you open a new card, place all purchases on this it, regardless of which spending category provides the most lucrative rewards. I recommend opening a single card at a time to avoid situations where you’re racing to hit multiple spend thresholds.

It’s equally important that you don’t let these introductory bonuses wreak havoc on your otherwise responsible spending habits. Don’t spend simply to hit the card company’s reward threshold. If you find yourself struggling to hit a minimum spend requirement, consider some of these tactics:

  • Place large group meals on your card and split the bill with friends after the fact
  • Buy gift cards to Amazon, grocers, drug stores or another venue that you know you’ll patronize in the near future
  • Prepay for a full year of service on monthly expenses such as gym memberships or digital subscriptions

Also, note that the bonus and reward information shared below is subject to constant change. It’s important for you to research the precise details of a card’s offering prior to opening a new one.

My Personal Credit Card Strategy

Credit Card #1 – Chase Sapphire Preferred

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is widely regarded as the gold standard of credit cards for those new to the travel rewards world. Cardholders can earn Chase Ultimate Rewards (CUR) points which can be redeemed for a wide array of items including cash, gift cards, etc.

But the CUR points shine when redeemed for travel. Each point is actually worth 1.25 points when redeemed through the Chase Travel Rewards portal, making them significantly more valuable.

Additionally, cardholders may transfer these points to a diverse set of partner airlines and hotel rewards programs. For example, you can covert 5,000 CUR points into 5,000 United Airlines miles almost instantaneously. This flexibility provides extreme value to savvy travelers. It allows the Chase Sapphire Preferred card to adapt to traveler’s specific needs at any moment.

How the Chase Sapphire Preferred Fits into My Credit Card Strategy

I reach for my Chase Sapphire Preferred card often. It earns 2x points on all travel and dining expenses. All other purchases yield a 1x point return.

Since a healthy portion of my discretionary income goes towards travel and dining, this works well. Even better, Chase defines the “Travel & Dining” category loosely. Think well beyond traditional airfare, hotels, and lavish dining experiences. Travel includes taxis/rideshare apps, buses, parking fees, and tolls among many others. Dining includes food delivery, bars, coffee shops, and more.

I initially assumed that I’d only earn 2x points on special occasions or vacations. After opening my Sapphire Preferred, I realized that many of my everyday expenses fall into Chase’s 2x category.

Sign-on Bonus, Fees & Added Perks

  • Earn 60,000 points after spending $4,000 within the first 3 months of opening the card
    • Worth $750 when redeemed through Chase’s portal or up to $1,200 if transferred to partner airlines per The Points Guy
  • Annual Fee: $95
  • Added Perks:
    • 5x points on Lyft rides, free deliveries on DoorDash, Peloton membership discounts, and more
    • Rental car and travel insurance
    • No foreign transaction fees

Card #2 – Capital One Venture Rewards

The Capital One Venture Rewards card provides strong value with appealing simplicity. It offers 2x miles on purchases in any category. This makes it the perfect complement to my Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

Like the Chase program, Venture miles can be converted into Amazon purchases, gift cards, cash back, etc. But again, the miles offer their maximum value when redeemed for travel-related expenses.

The miles may be used to book new trips through Capital One’s travel portal or transferred directly to more than a dozen partner airlines. Cardholders also have the unique option of applying miles to past travel expenses in the form of an expense “eraser.”

This is an incredibly flexible and seamless feature. Simply use the Capital One Venture Rewards card to make a travel-related purchase, and cover the purchase with miles in your Capital One account later. This effectively erases the miles from your statement balance.

These miles are worth one cent each when used retroactively. For instance, 10,000 Venture miles can offset $100 of any travel-related purchase you made in the past 90 days.

I place great value on the straightforward nature of this redemption option as a busy young professional. I’d rather spend less time optimizing credit card points and more time earning money or enjoying time with friends and family.

How the Capital One Venture Rewards Card Fits into My Credit Card Strategy

While I prefer Chase points over Capital One miles, I love the fact that my Venture card provides increased spending flexibility with the universal 2x mileage yield.

For me, this means that any purchase that doesn’t fall into Chase’s Travel & Dining category goes onto my Venture card. My thought process is simple. I’d rather earn 2x Capital One miles than 1x Chase points.

The areas that I find myself using the Venture card most often include: grocery stores, online shopping, clothing retailers, and drugstores.

Sign-on Bonus, Fees & Added Perks

  • Earn 60,000 miles after spending $3,000 within the first 3 months of opening the card
    • Worth a guaranteed $600 when used as a purchase eraser or up to $840 if transferred to partner airlines per The Points Guy
  • Annual Fee: $95
  • Additional Perks:
    • Extended warranty protection on products purchased with card
    • Reimbursement for Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check application fee (~$100 value)
    • Rental car and travel insurance
    • No foreign transaction fees

Card #3 – Barclays Uber Visa

The Barclays Uber Visa is a legacy card that is closed to new applicants at the time of this writing. For this reason, I’ll keep the overview brief. But I did want to include it in the interest of full transparency.

When the Uber Visa first launched, it offered lucrative cash back rewards for travel and dining with no annual fee. Ironically, spending in these categories provided more favorable rewards than Uber expenses.

This has since changed. The card now offers 5% back on Uber purchases and 3% back for travel and dining. Unfortunately, instead of pure cash back, the rewards now come in the form of “Uber Cash.” This drastically limits redemption options.

Even if it was open to new applicants, I wouldn’t recommend this card under the new rewards structure.

How the Barclays Uber Visa Card Fits into My Credit Card Strategy

I hardly ever reach for my Uber Visa under the new rewards structure. I use it for the occasional Uber or Uber Eats transaction to earn 5% back, but being forced to redeem for Uber Cash is frustrating.

The one place I consistently use the Uber Visa is to pay my monthly cell phone bill. It offers comprehensive cell phone insurance of up to $600 on devices included in your monthly bill.

Sign-on Bonus, Fees & Added Perks

  • Earn $100 of Uber Cash after spending $500 within the first 90 days of opening the card
  • Annual Fee: $0
  • Added Perks:
    • Cell phone insurance if you pay your monthly phone bill with the card
    • No foreign transaction fees

Key Takeaways on Credit Card Strategy

The credit card strategy outlined above is not the most optimal out there. You won’t be flying to Bali every week on a private jet for free. You won’t magically wake up in a penthouse hotel room in Dubai.

Some “travel hackers” might consider the approach too basic. But basic is beautiful. This stack of cards provides an easy, effective, and hassle-free foundation. And you can easily build a more complex plan off of this foundation or supplement it with my new cash rewards obsession: bank jumping.

The bottom line? This simple credit card plan has allowed me to generate attractive rewards with limited brain damage. Perhaps I’ll dive deeper down the rewards rabbit hole later in life. For now, I’d rather focus on “10x-ing” my income than “10x-ing” my points. To each their own.