Most people are doing credit card points wrong. They’re optimizing for the wrong thing, chasing sign-up bonuses like they’re collecting Pokémon cards, and then wondering why they can’t afford that first class ticket to London they say on TikTok.
The game changed. Cards are cutting benefits, devaluing points faster than your startup’s pre-revenue valuation, and banking on you not actually doing the math. So if you’re a high earner who travels and spends real money, here’s a couple quick tips.
Find Out if You’re Trapped Already
Most guides ask: “Which card has the best rewards?”
Wrong question.
The right question: “Am I already trapped in an ecosystem?”
If you’ve been collecting Chase points for three years, jumping to Amex means starting from zero. Points don’t transfer between banks (with rare exceptions). You’re essentially asking: do I divorce my current system or double down?
Pick your prison carefully. Chase, Amex, or Citi. That’s it. Don’t spread yourself thin across all three unless you’re spending $500k+ annually and have a spreadsheet addiction.
Where You Actually Spend Matters More Than The Sign-Up Bonus
Credit card categories aren’t random. They’re designed around spending patterns. Here’s the fast filter:
You eat out 10+ times a month: Amex Gold (4x on restaurants) or Chase Sapphire (3x on dining). If half your expenses are meals and coffee, this is non-negotiable.
You travel every month for work: Chase Sapphire or Amex Platinum. Both give 5x or more on flights booked direct. If you’re spending $10k+ annually on flights, that’s 50,000 points right there.
Your biggest expense is rent (and your landlord takes cards): Get a 2% cash back card. Most “bonus category” cards give 1x on rent. Don’t pay a 2.5% processing fee to earn 1% back. Math doesn’t work.
You grocery shop like you’re feeding a family (or meal prep obsessively): Amex Gold (4x groceries) or Amex Blue Cash Preferred (6% groceries, but it’s cash back not points).
The real take away: get 3-4x points on your top two spending categories, 1.5x on everything else minimum. If a card gives you 5x on something you spend $200/year on, who cares.
My Quick Advice
If you earn $60-120k and like Europe: Chase Sapphire Preferred. Annual fee is $95. It’s the Honda Civic of travel cards. Boring, reliable, gets you where you need to go. Currently offering 75,000 points for $5,000 spend in 3 months. That’s basically one round-trip international flight if you book smart.
If you earn $120k+ and want to feel fancy: Amex Platinum. Annual fee is $695 (yes, really). This is for people who spend $50k+ annually on the card and actually use the airport lounge access. If you’re not doing both, you’re paying $695 to flex.
If this all sounds exhausting: Get a 2% cash back card and call it a day. Fidelity, Citi Double Cash, whatever. You’ll sleep better.
Think In Decades, Not About Single Splurges
Here’s where everyone screws up: they try to figure it all out for one big spend.
You’re going to put a healthy $10,000 downpayment on a car – they take credit cards, you’re like, oh snap, I can make a ton of points on this. If you optimize INCREDIBLY, you get maybe 30,000 points, probably closer to like 15,000. Congrats, that’s one short flight or $150 cash back. You feel clever for about 10 minutes.
The actual game is accumulating 200,000-300,000 points over a few years years of normal spending. That’s when you unlock the good stuff: business class to Asia, a week at a premium hotel.
Do the math: if you spend $60,000 annually across rent, groceries, gas, subscriptions, and business expenses, and you’re getting 2-3x points on key categories, you’re looking at 120,000-180,000 points per year. In three years, you’re playing with half a million points. Now we’re talking.
The sign-up bonus isn’t the prize. It’s the appetizer.
The Redemption Game Is Where Fortunes Are Made (Or Lost)
This is the part that separates tourists from travelers.
45,000 points can be:
- $450 cash back (the boring option)
- $600-675 in Chase travel portal bookings (better)
- 4 nights at a Hyatt that costs $300/night (best, if you find the right property)
The spread between worst and best use case can be 2-3x. This is why you see unhinged Reddit threads about “transferring points to obscure airline partners for a $12,000 flight using 80,000 points.”
Most of that is noise. Here’s what actually matters: transfer your points to hotel partners for high-cost stays, or use them for international business class when cash prices are insane. Don’t waste points on $200 domestic flights you can expense anyway.
And for the love of god, don’t let points expire. They’re depreciating assets.
The Contrarian Take: Maybe Just Take The Cash
If you’re reading this and thinking “I don’t want homework,” that’s fair.
A good 2% cash back card on $60,000 annual spend is $1,200/year. It’s not sexy. It won’t get you lounge access. But it’s $1,200 you can use for literally anything without checking a transfer partner chart at 11pm.
Points cards require active management. If you’re not going to put in the hours, cash back is the move. There’s no shame in admitting you have better things to do than optimize for 0.3 cents per point.
What To Do Now
- Look at your last 12 months of credit card spending. What’s the total? Be honest.
- Are you over $40k annually? Points cards might make sense.
- Pick ONE ecosystem. Chase if you want simplicity. Amex if you want premium perks and spend big. Citi if you’re willing to bet on the underdog (they’re improving, allegedly, not my favorite).
- Get the intro bonus card in that ecosystem, hit the minimum spend naturally, then switch to optimizing daily spend.
- Actively try to use the points every time you’re traveling. They’re losing value while you wait for the “perfect” trip.
The real secret? Most people overthink the earning and underutilize the spending. The best credit card strategy is the one you’ll actually execute.
