We may receive a commission when you use our links. Monkey Miles is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com and CardRatings. This relationship may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Monkey Miles is also a Senior Advisor to Bilt Rewards. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Credit Card Draft? Where do I sign up?
I got an email from Dan, who founded PWAC, asking if I’d like to be a part of a Mock Credit Card draft. It’d amount to 5 “experts” selecting credit cards as if we were drafting cards to form the best 5 card wallet. LOVE IT. Miles and I were stoked to be a part of the draft, and we immediately pulled out this picture for inspiration.
After we were properly inspired we took a look at the groundrules Dan laid out:
- Chase 5/24 is not a factor, nor any other Amex once per lifetime or Citi 24 month rules
- Assume you have no other cards or points
- Signup bonuses DO matter, but if a card fluctuates between good and bad signup bonuses and it’s currently at a low point, feel free to make the argument for it at a higher bonus with your pick
- You can’t pick a card that is not currently open to new applicants (Ink Plus / AT&T Access More / etc)
- No prepaid cards
- Cards issued by foreign banks are fine as long as they’re available to the general (US) public
INTERESTING! What oh what would we choose for our wallet? And how would the order dictate our strategy? Who were we competing against? We had questions.
The 5 experts:
- Dan, Ian, and Sam from Points with a Crew
- Me and Miles
- Richard Kerr from Award Travel 101 and TPG
Dan used random.org to determine the order and WE WON!
- Miles / Zach (Miles the Monkey)
- Dan Miller (PWaC)
- Richard Kerr (Award Travel 101)
- Ian Snyder (PWaC contributor and Points Miles Life)
- Sam Doyon (PWaC contributor)
He also structured the draft to snake, meaning I would get the 1st pick, 10, 11, and then 20, 21.
How did I strategize?
I’m not married, don’t have kids, have a very flexible schedule, and want to travel as much and in as many incredible cabins as possible. At this current stage in my life I’m pretty open to paying any annual fee as long as the value of the card exceeds it. With those factors in mind, along with the one’s Dan laid out, I put together a basic strategy:
- Try to Team cards
- Put A premium Ultimate Rewards card with a no fee card that has great bonus categories
- Get a Premium Amex paired with a lower fee card with great bonus categories
- Pick off outstanding co-brand cards with great sign ups bonuses and ongoing benefits that justify the fee and provide continued value
- I’m not a cash back guy at this point. People swear by it, but I love points transferred to partners for crazy travel.
Dan has the full text of the draft if you’d like to see the whole shebang ( trash talking included), but I was very pleased with the wallet I was able to create.
Here are the results:
Me and Miles
- CSR
- Freedom
- Amex Bis Plat
- Everyday Preferred
- Aviator Red
Sam
- Amex Plat
- Amex Biz Blue
- IHG
- Chase BA
- Amtrak
Dan
- Chase Sapphire Preferred
- Ink Cash
- Spark Biz
- Amex Ameriprise Plat
- SPG Biz
Richard
- Amex Biz Centurion ( BLACK CARD BABY!)
- BofA Asiana
- Amex Biz Gold
- Citi Premier
- Barclay Arrival
Ian
- Ink Biz Pref
- Freedom Unlimited
- Alliant Visa
- Citi Prestige
- SPG Personal
Overall:
I couldn’t have been happier with the 5 I got, but I thought Dan had a great collection of cards, and I would have been really happy with what he put together. Going first was a large advantage not only in being able to snag the CSR, but also have times when I could clip off 2 cards at a time. I thought Richard really swung for the fence with his Black Amex, and I loved the BofA Asiana play – two cards that really get very little airplay on the blogs. Would love to do it again, and it’s definitely worth reading through the text of the draft to see how everyone approached their selections.
OHHHHHHHH. PWAC was on CBS again this week. Super Shout Out, very cool, and you can watch it here.
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
$300 Chase Travel℠ Credit + Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- $300 Chase Travel℠ Credit + Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- That’s worth $750 when redeemed through Chase Travel℠. Plus, get up to $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel℠ purchases within your first year
- 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, 2027.
- $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.