What's In My Wallet

The card everything else has to beat.

Why I opened it. It earns 2x as a base, and Bilt Cash activates accelerators on top of that. In practice my everyday spend earns around 3x in transferable points, which is a genuinely high number for uncategorised spending. That makes the annual fee easy arithmetic rather than a leap of faith.

How it actually gets used. Most of it. I hold Bilt points at about 2.2¢ because of where they transfer, which is higher than I value most currencies, so 3x Bilt is the bar. If another card in the wallet cannot beat that on a given purchase, the purchase goes here.

The part people miss: Bilt is the only transferable currency that reaches Alaska. Not Chase, not Amex, not Citi, not Capital One. Alaska is one of the hardest mileage balances to build from ordinary spending, and this is the only door into it that does not involve flying them. That alone would keep the card in my wallet.

What would make me drop it. If the accelerators stop landing me near 3x. The base rate alone would not justify the fee, and the whole case for this card is the multiplier.

Travel, dining when Bilt is not winning, and the protections.

Why I opened it. Transfer partners and travel protection. I value Ultimate Rewards for where they go, not for what the portal pays. The trip protections are the kind of thing you only appreciate once, and once is enough.

How it actually gets used. Travel, and dining when Bilt is not earning 3x on it. The $300 travel credit is the easiest money in the wallet because it applies to almost anything. On the Norwegian Fjords trip it knocked a $456 positioning flight down to $156 out of pocket, which is exactly the sort of dead cash it exists to absorb.

What would make me drop it. If the semiannual credits stop lining up with places I actually spend. A credit split into two halves you have to remember twice is worth less than the number printed on it.

Seen working in: Norwegian Fjords by Sea · Paris & the Swiss Alps

A product change, kept for the ecosystem rather than the card.

Why I opened it. This was a Sapphire Preferred that I product-changed rather than closed. Downgrading keeps the account history and keeps the points inside Chase, where the Reserve can still move them to transfer partners. Closing would have thrown both away.

How it actually gets used. Selectively. It is part of the Chase ecosystem more than it is a card I reach for.

A $95 card doing three specific jobs.

Why I opened it. Cheap to hold, 3x on gas, and access to Citi transfer partners, which are a different set from Chase and Amex. The annual hotel credit covers most of the fee on its own.

How it actually gets used. Gas, mostly. Occasionally the Citi portal when the math works. On the Central Europe trip the $100 hotel credit was what made a portal booking worth doing at all: 74,760 ThankYou points and a $115.97 co-pay against a $928.30 rate, with the credit taking a chunk off the original bill.

The bigger reason I hold it, though: Citi is the only bank currency that transfers to American AAdvantage. Chase, Amex, Capital One and Bilt all reach nothing at American. Bilt used to and lost it in 2024. If you want AA miles without flying American or putting everything on a co-brand card, a premium Citi card is the door, and this is the cheap one.

What would make me drop it. If the hotel credit goes. Then this becomes a card I would have to think about, which is not something a $95 card should require. The American transfer route would still keep it in the wallet, though.

Seen working in: 10 Days in Central Europe

The grocery and dining card for the household.

Why I opened it. Groceries and dining earning, and Membership Rewards as a second transferable currency. Having more than one flexible currency matters more than it sounds like it should, because the program you need is not always the one your points are sitting in.

How it actually gets used. Groceries, and household dining spend that Bilt is not already beating.

What would make me drop it. If the monthly credits keep fragmenting into vendors I do not use. A coupon book is only worth its face value if you were going to spend there anyway.

No annual fee, 2x on everything, and it changed what I use.

Why I opened it. A 50,000 point welcome offer for $6,000 of spend over four months, an interest-free stretch, and no annual fee. I finished the spend requirement. Even without the bonus it would have been worth opening for a no-fee card that earns 2x transferable points on anything.

How it actually gets used. Uncategorised spend, where it competes directly with Bilt and the Venture X. A no-fee 2x in a currency I actually use is a hard thing to argue with.

What would make me drop it. Nothing. It costs nothing to keep, so it stays.

Held for the partner award chart, not for the airline.

Why I opened it. Alaska prices partner awards on a fixed chart that is often far below what the operating airline charges for the same seat. That is the entire case. I opened it for a 100,000 point welcome offer and moved up from the Ascent, and I have not regretted it.

How it actually gets used. The partner chart, and travel where its foreign-transaction treatment matters. The return leg of the Paris trip flew on American, booked with Alaska miles, and came out around 5.98¢ per point after fees. Book the partner, not the issuer.

What would make me drop it. If the partner award chart gets repriced to match what the operating carriers charge.

Seen working in: Paris & the Swiss Alps

Cancelling in October, and not because it was a bad card.

Why I opened it. The cheaper way into Alaska’s partner award chart, which is the only reason to hold an Alaska card at all. It did that job well for the price for two years.

Why it's going. Already decided, because the Summit does the same job better. The only reason it is still open is a retention offer: last October Bank of America put $175 on the card for $1,500 of spend inside three months, and I am letting the full twelve months run from that offer before closing. So, October. Paying two Alaska fees for a few months to keep the $175 and a clean relationship with the issuer is a fine trade.

The card I am least sure about, and I am not going to pretend otherwise.

Why I opened it. It was the family catch-all for a long time, and it was good at that. A high travel credit against a mid-range fee, plus a portal that reaches hotels no loyalty program covers well.

How it actually gets used. It shows up across nearly every trip report. The Grand Hotel Suisse Majestic on Lake Geneva and several Central Europe stays went on it, because those are properties where the cash rate is high and no program transfers usefully.

What would make me drop it. Honestly, I am working that out now. Bilt at 3x and a no-fee 2x business card have taken most of the spend that used to land here, and a catch-all card that is no longer catching much has to justify its fee on the credits alone. That is a different conversation than the one I had when I opened it.

Seen working in: Paris & the Swiss Alps · 10 Days in Central Europe

Opened for the bonus. Honest about what it is now.

Why I opened it. A welcome offer in American AAdvantage miles, which is a currency you cannot build any other way from ordinary spending.

How it actually gets used. Very little, now that the bonus is earned. It is not a card I reach for, and I am not going to dress that up.

No fee, so it sits there.

Why I opened it. Useful bonus categories and no annual fee.

How it actually gets used. Barely. It is not part of the current strategy. It costs nothing to keep, which is the only reason it is still in the wallet rather than closed.

What would make me drop it. Nothing, because there is nothing to save by closing it.