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Credit Cards = FRIENDS 🙂
Yes, I view credit cards, and how they work in my wallet, like the cast of “Friends.”
Why? One of the biggest mistakes I see people consistently make when it comes to credit cards is they use the wrong cards!!!. So….thinking of your credit cards like the cast of Friends solves this problem.
You wallet should be comprised of two kinds of cards:
- Main Cast
- Supporting Cast
Using each of these different kinds of cards to achieve your travel goals properly will help you earn more and better points, get more value from your cards, and ultimately having you spend more time flying in like this:
Etihad Apartment booked with American Miles
Don’t forget we keep a spreadsheet of all the best offers on cards whether we make a commission or not! We only publish the best offers.
Table of Contents
Friends has its main cast of characters:
These characters are in every single episode. You love them, you tune every week to see them, and you build a relationship with them over time.
- Ross
- Rachel
- Phoebe
- Joey
- Chandler
Friends also has its supporting cast of characters
These characters pop in for some comedic relief, or stir up some drama. You may love them, you may hate them, but they serve a very specific purpose and they aren’t overly used. Rather than have a deep relationship with them, they’re more of an acquaintance.
- Janice
- Gunther
- Jack and Judy Geller
- Mike Hannigan
- Mr Heckles
- Mr Treeger
Your wallet should mirror Friends with its own main and supporting cast
Main Cast of Credit Cards
Your wallet should have its own main cast, the cornerstones of your wallet. These are credit cards that you use every single day and on the vast majority of your purchases. The only time you aren’t using these cards is when you’re hitting a minimum spend on a new card, or strategically using a supporting cast card mentioned below. They should have the following qualities:
- They earn transferrable points
- These points can be transferred into partner programs
- They earn category bonuses
- You should have cards that earn bonus points on categories where you spend the most
- Gas, Supermarkets, Dining, Etc
- They have benefits that are more valuable than the annual fee
- Tally up the credits and benefits and they should be worth more than the annual fee costs you
- They team with other cards in the program
- For instance, The Chase Sapphire Preferred® and the Chase Freedom Unlimited® can combine points. Same goes for Capital One cards, Citi cards, and Amex cards.
The best programs for Main Cast are as follows:
- American Express Membership Rewards
- Bilt Rewards
- Capital One Miles
- Chase Ultimate Rewards
- Citi Thank You
As you can see below…they have a TON of transfer partners
Here’s a list of my favorite Main Cast credit cards ( My Ross and Rachels )
Personally I think if you have 2 or 3 of these across the different programs you’re doing great. If you rotate these, or hit new offers when they are all time high, great…but make sure you always have 2 or 3 to achieve a minimum 2x blended points per dollar.
What you’re looking to do is earn points that can be transferred into as many partner programs as possible so when it comes time to redeem, you’re able to generate points in the program with award space to your destination.
My top:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred®
- Pair it with Chase Freedom Unlimited® or Chase Freedom Flex (SM)
- Bilt Rewards Mastercard®
- Best for Renters – Earn points and pay your rent without any transaction fees ( i’m an investor and advisor )
- Capital One Venture X
- This pairs nicely with the Capital One Savor
- American Express Gold®
- You could sub in The Platinum Card® from American Express
- Citi Premier® Card
- Pair this with the Citi® Double Cash Card
American Express
- American Express® Green Card
- American Express® Gold Card
- The Platinum Card® from American Express
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
- American Express® Business Gold Card
- The Blue Business Plus® Credit Card from American Express
Bilt Rewards Master Card
Capital One
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One Venture X Business Credit Card
- Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business
- Capital One Savor Rewards
- Needs Venture Rewards, Venture X, Venture X Business, or Spark Miles to transfer
- Capital One Spark Cash Plus
- Needs Venture Rewards, Venture X, Venture X Business, or Spark Miles to transfer
Chase
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- Chase Freedom Flex(SM)
- Needs CSP, CSR, or CIP to transfer
- Chase Freedom Unlimited®
- Needs CSP, CSR, or CIP to transfer
- Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
- Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
- Needs CSP, CSR, or CIP to transfer
- Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
- Needs CSP, CSR, or CIP to transfer
Citi
- Citi Premier® Card
- Citi(R) Double Cash Card
- Needs Citi Premier or Citi Presitge to transfer
- Citi Custom Cash(SM) Card
- Needs Citi Premier or Citi Presitge to transfer
I transferred Chase points to Hyatt to stay at the Alila Villas Bali
Here’s a list of my favorite Supporting Cast Cards ( My Gunther and Janices’)
The only time I really pivot spend to a supporting cast card is when I’m hitting minimum spend on a welcome offer/bonus, or if I’m spending on the airline, hotel, etc that the card is associated with point wise.
I also move these around a lot depending on what I think I may do travel wise in the year. If I don’t think I’ll fly American much, I’ll either downgrade or cancel the card ( always try to move your credit line within the bank to another card). Same goes for hotel cards if I don’t think I can use the benefits, I’ll look elsewhere. However, hotel cards often include free nights and since I travel so much I’ll usually make use of them and keep the card cause they often outweigh annual fee cost.
The point I’m trying to make: use these strategically, and rotate them based on the value they serve you. Don’t silo your points into a single airline or hotel currency.
You want to use these cards for the following reasons:
- Elite status, or boosts for elite status
- Free annual night certificates at the hotel chain of your choice
- Perks
- Free Bags
- In flight discounts
My top picks ( I’d say most people can get by with 2 or 3 of these )
This is going to be different for every person, and it will depend on the airline you love most, the hotel you prefer, etc. A lot of people go for the Southwest Companion Pass when it’s a perk, but this is what my wife and I currently hold:
- Barclay Aviator Red Business ( currently unvail )
- IHG® One Rewards Premier Credit Card
- IHG® One Rewards Select Credit Card ( retired )
- I keep this because it offers an annual 40k night + 10% back up to 100k points on Reward bookings
- Marriott Bonvoy(TM) Business Card from American Express
- Ritz Carlton Card
- You can upgrade a Chase Marriott card after a year to this card
- Hilton Honors Aspire Credit card from American Express
- Alaska Airlines Business Card
American Express
-
- HIlton
- Delta
- Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card
- Gold Delta SkyMiles(R) Business Credit Card from American Express
- Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Business Credit Card from American Express
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card
- Marriott
Bank of America
- Alaska Airlines
Barclay
-
- Barclay Aviator Red
- Barclay Aviator Red Business ( currently unvail )
Capital One
-
- I don’t really like any of the non-main cast Capital One cards
Chase
-
- Aeroplan
- Hyatt Perks
- IHG Perks
- IHG® One Rewards Premier Credit Card
- IHG® One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
- IHG® One Rewards Traveler Credit Card
- Marriott Perks
- Ritz Carlton Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful® Credit Card
- Southwest Perks
- United Perks
- Citi
Overall – you don’t need 25+ cards like me
You wallet should be a weapon with its sights set on incredible, aspirational travel. Curating your wallet to achieve your goals is paramount in turning those dreams into reality, and one of the easiest ways to understand how to organize your wallet and allocated your spend is separating them into two categories: Main Cast and Supporting Cast.
If you do this, keep some cards long term, rotate cards in and out depending on if they give you value…you’re way ahead of the game. I think keeping a few main and a few supporting and maybe adding or substracting 2 of 3 every year will unlock one or two big trips every 18 months to help you unlock your bucket list.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 60k points after $4k spend in 3 months
- Worth $750 in Chase Travel℠ and way more if you maximize transfer partners
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.