Credit Card Strategy in 2022

Tommy

Just a Millennial living in the real world...

Editor’s Note: This page contains references to products that I use and may receive compensation when you click on those links.

Happy New Year everyone! With the new year, it’s time to re-evaluate my credit card strategy for 2022, which I wanted to share. I opened up two charge cards in 2021, the AMEX Platinum and the AMEX Gold as the sign-up bonuses were the highest they have ever been to create the AMEX Dyad. The AMEX Dyad is a powerful combo, earning wise, that competes with the Chase Trifecta, but I found out that it is harder to redeem points than with Chase, which I will explain more below.

My credit card strategy going into 2022 is to use the Chase Trifecta as much as possible to build up more Chase Ultimate Rewards, use the AMEX Gold on groceries to earn 4x points, and the Hilton Honors Aspire on Hilton stays. I just received a bunch of AMEX membership points through the sign-up bonuses with the AMEX Platinum and AMEX Gold cards last year. Since the Points Game is ever-changing and more devaluation has happened recently, I think it’s best to earn transferrable points like AMEX and Chase. So for 2022, I will keep the Chase Trifecta and the AMEX Dyad until there are further updates to the game. I will keep all of my other cards open as well to help out with my length of credit history.

Chase Trifecta

The Chase Trifecta has been a staple of mine since 2019 as it earns me a lot of points every year so this is one strategy that I will be keeping. The annual fee will be raised for the first time for me from $450 to $550, but the $300 travel credit reduces the annual fee down to $250.

The Chase Trifecta with the Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR) earns:

10x points on Lyfts through March 2022.
10x points on every dollar spent on hotels and car rentals booked through Chase Travel.
10x points on dining booked through Chase Dining.
5x points on travel booked through Chase Travel.
5x points on rotating categories up to $1,500 spent.
3x points on every dollar spent on dining and travel.
3x points on pharmacies.
1.5x points on everything else.

Perks & Benefits include:

1.5 CPP for travel redemption through the Chase Travel Portal.
$300 annual travel credit.
Priority Pass Select Membership including a $28-$30 food & drink credit to Priority Pass Restaurants.
TSA Pre-Check/Global Entry credit every 4 years.
Numerous travel benefits including primary rental car Collision/Damage Waiver, Trip Delay Insurance, Trip Cancellation Insurance, Purchase Protection, and much more.

The earning potential and perks & benefits easily outweigh the cost of the annual fee for me. The 1.5 CPP redemption for travel through the Chase Travel Portal has become more valuable for me as it is easier to redeem than AMEX Membership Rewards. Plus a hidden perk is that redeeming rewards through the Chase Travel Portal allows you to earn elite status and its perks on fares. AMEX does not allow this when booking through their portal so Chase definitely has the edge over them. Finally, I worked with Chase reps recently to book my Peru trip and I think their customer service has greatly improved over the years. However, it is still not as good as AMEX though.

AMEX Dyad

The AMEX Dyad is also a great combo that I plan on keeping. I will just not focus on it as much as the Chase Trifecta since I have a bunch of points that I earned through sign-up bonuses last year. The combined annual fees are $945, but there are a ton of perks & benefits.

The AMEX Dyad earns:

5x points for flights booked with the airline or through AMEX travel.
5x points on prepaid hotels booked through AMEX travel.
4x points on dining.
4x points on groceries.
3x points on airfare.
1x point on everything else.

Perks & Benefits include:

$200 airline incidental fee credits.
$200 Uber/Uber Eats credits for AMEX Platinum.
$120 Uber/Uber Eats credits for AMEX Gold.
$120 Dining credits (Grubhub, Seamless, Shake Shack, Ruth Chris) for AMEX Gold.
$100 Saks Fifth Avenue credit.
$240 Entertainment credit to be used for Audible, Peacock, NYTimes, or SiriusXM.
$200 Hotel credit when booking through the AMEX Fine Hotels & Resorts or Hotel Collection.
$155 Walmart+ credit.
$300 Equinox credit.
$179 Clear Membership credit.
TSA Pre-Check/Global Entry credit every 4 years.
Access to Centurion Lounges.
Priority Pass Select Membership without restaurants.
Marriott Bonvoy Gold Status.
Hilton Honors Gold Status.
Premium Rental Car Status: Avis Preferred, Hertz Gold Plus, and National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive.
Numerous travel benefits including cell phone insurance, secondary rental car CDW (can upgrade to primary by paying a flat fee), trip delay insurance, etc.

So yes, a lot of credits and a lot of benefits. It’s not a bad thing, but it is a lot harder to redeem and not everyone will be able to use them unless you live in a big city. And that is what AMEX is banking on. The AMEX Dyad is better suited for business travelers or people who travel often.

Also, AMEX is a lot harder to redeem for award travel as it is best to transfer points to transfer partners and you have to do more research with limited award space on flights. But you can also redeem for 1 cent per point (CPP) for airfare, 0.7 CPP for hotels, and 0.6 CPP for cash. But the CSR allows me to redeem points for 1.5 CPP on travel and 1.0 CPP on cash. So I actually really like the CSR’s redemption value using the Chase travel portal over AMEX due to the simplicity. This is becoming more and more valuable with changes to the Points Game and the devaluations of loyalty programs.

Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card

The Hilton Honors Aspire is still one of the best credit cards on the market and is the only credit card where the annual credits outweigh the $450 annual fee. You earn 14x points for every dollar spent on Hilton hotel bookings, 7x points for every dollar spent on restaurants/car rentals/flights, and 3x points on every dollar spent. Benefits include $250 in Hilton Resort credits every calendar year, $250 in airline incidental credits every calendar year, a free weekend night with Hilton every card anniversary year, automatic Hilton Diamond Status, Priority Pass Select membership, and numerous other travel/retail benefits. This credit card is a no brainer for Hilton stays and will remain a keeper card in my wallet.

Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard

I plan on downgrading this credit card to the AAdvantage MileUp card as the MileUp card has no annual fee and I still get 2x points on American Airlines purchases plus grocery stores.

In the past, I used this card for the benefits only and I didn’t really use it on everyday spending after the first year due to the average earnings rates when compared to the Chase Trifecta and the AMEX Dyad. The only times I used this card on everyday spending was when I received an offer for 3x bonus points on spending to increase my American Airlines miles. The early boarding perk was great so I can get a good spot for my carry-on luggage. But the free checked bag for you and a companion is where the card really shines since checking bags are about $30/bag. But now I can get the fee reimbursed using the AMEX Platinum card or the Hilton Honors Aspire. Also, I usually never check a bag as I like pack lightly. Overall, this card is good if you fly American Airlines often as you can definitely benefit from the early boarding and checked bags and you don’t have an AMEX card where it reimburses you for Airline Incidentals.

Bottom Line

I plan on focusing on the Chase Trifecta for everyday spending to start rebuilding my Chase Ultimate Rewards this year. The transferrable points and being able to redeem them for a minimum of 1.5 CPP is great value. It’s also easy to redeem them too, which definitely has it’s own perk.

The Hilton Honors Aspire card pays for itself with the annual credits and free weekend night award and I plan on continuing to use that card on Hilton stays. I use the AMEX Dyad if I decide to pay for airfare in cash and I will use the AMEX Gold for groceries this year.

Overall, the upfront fees are costly, but I will eventually come out ahead utilizing this strategy and I would recommend using the Chase Trifecta or the AMEX Dyad.

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