Comment by ghaff
2 years ago
You need the right spending pattern and you need to manage the card rewards. When my travel went way down, I dropped a couple cards though I keep a pretty low-cost United cobranded card to basically keep me with some semblance of status. But things like airline club membership just weren't worth it any longer.
I agree completely and I didn’t even discuss the entire “churning” strategy where there is an entire cottage industry, a subreddit and a flowchart discussing how to get sign up bonuses and how to get the best return.
(I am not affiliated with this site in any way)
https://www.offeroptimist.com/
At some point the maintenance becomes too complex and people just either use the card or eat the fee.
They know exactly how many do this. The people who churn are just free advertising for them.
Is it worth it for someone who likes to travel, and wants to save for retirement and never wants to “work for a FAANG” (again) like in my case? I would say so.
Just from the cash savings of my card setup, I would say it’s worth $3500 that offsets the $2700 in annual fees.
Then take into account the points I earn from everyday spend is worth another $3000-$5000 depending on how I choose to redeem them (see r/awardtravel).
Then take into account sign up bonuses and churning, I’m planning on doing over the next year worth around $5000.
It’s the only way that I can balance our travel hobbies with my goals of maxing out my 401k including catch up contributions (I turn 50 this year), max out my HSA and not use it and “retire my wife” so she can enjoy her hobbies.
This hobby isn’t just for people with above average incomes. If you are steeped in the culture, you can lean more toward churning and legal manufactured spending
https://frequentmiler.com/manufactured-spending-complete-gui...
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