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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. Â 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 5/24Â 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
IanÂ
- 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. Â 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
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card went through a major refresh in 2026 adding new bonus categories, travel protections, statement credits, and remains one of the best travel starter cards in the market. It earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott. Note that Hyatt is now a 4:3 transfer partner
Welcome Offer
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account openingÂ
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Earn
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travelâ„
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on gas and EV charging
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on vacation homes at top brands
- Cardmembers will earn 3x points on vacation homes at these top brands: Airbnb, Vrbo, Plu Guide, HomeAway, Homestay.com and Vacasa.
- 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)
- 2x on all other travel
- 1x on everyday purchases
- 5x points on Lyft rides Earn 5x total points on eligible Lyft rides including ride share, bike and scooter rides and subscription and membership products through September 30, 2027.
- 5x total points on Peloton equipment Earn 5x total points on eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 through December 31, 2027.
Benefits and Credits
- $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travelâ„
- NEW: $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit Cardmembers will receive one statement credit of up to $120 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to the card.
- NEW: Complimentary Apple TV subscription for one year
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders
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:Â
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.Â
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is great 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: Chase Ink Business Cash® , Chase Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into the Sapphire Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee remains quite low at $95 a year and if you use the $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travelâ„ you’ll wipe out that annual fee every year. It has great bonus categories and other useful statement credits to enhance your travel.
One thing that is a bummer is Chase lowered the transfer ratio to World of Hyatt from 1:1 to 4:3.Â
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