No, You Don't Need 30 (or Even 10) Credit Cards for Optimal Travel Rewards
A recent article on a travel rewards website was entitled “The 30 Credit Cards in My Wallet Right Now.” If you follow travel rewards websites, these articles are common. It would be easy to get the impression that this is a useful strategy for pursuing miles and points. However, this approach only makes sense for a very small subset of people whose job is to write about the fabulous trips they have taken with the miles and points they have accumulated using credit cards for their fabulous trips. Nice work if you can get it!
For the vast majority of credit card customers, using so many cards in the pursuit of travel rewards would not be very productive and, in fact, might be counterproductive. There are several issues.
- First, there is the simple burden of managing the cards – checking statements for accuracy, making monthly payments, and recordkeeping. Who has the time for that?
- A second issue with having so many cards is that the benefits often overlap so it is like paying for the same benefit multiple times. In fact, six of the cards held by the author of “30 Credit Cards” include a Priority Pass membership, a benefit that lets you use a large network of airport lounges when traveling.
- A third, and quite significant, issue is the enormous cost in annual fees for all those cards. The annual tab for “The 30 Credit Cards in My Wallet Right Now” is over $6000. In other words, you would need to generate more than $6000 in travel value to justify the fees you pay every year.
With the Travel Rewards Optimizer, our goal is to find a select (and small) number of credit cards that will turn your routine spending into free and discounted travel as quickly and efficiently as possible. Our plans typically recommend that you apply for three or so credit cards over the span of one year. After all, we believe you want more travel experiences rather than an impressive credit card collection.
