Annual Fee: $95 Hard Credits: $95 Variable Credits/Conservative Value: $0

As an important premium travel card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is a keeper card forever since it allows Sarah to transfer our Chase points to various airline and hotel partners. Using these points we can get free hotel stays and business class flights. Outside of that main benefit, the card also comes with an annual $50 hotel credit when booking through the Chase Travel Portal. While we typically stay at Hyatts, sometimes for where we need to go there isn't a Hyatt hotel there or with availability, so the credit comes in handy. The card also has a quarterly $15 Instacart credit until the end of July 2024, giving another $45 in credits for this year. We usually just do Instacart pickup at our regular grocery store to avoid any delivery fees and save a little bit on our groceries. Combining these two credits gives us basically a free card on top of the ability to transfer and travel protections. 

Annual Fee: $95 Hard Credits: $0 Variable Credits/Conservative Value: $180

I've mentioned the Hyatt hotel chain quite a lot in my blog posts, so it's no surprise that I hold the personal World of Hyatt credit card in my wallet. This card is also a keeper card since each year I receive a free Category 1-4 Night award at its anniversary. The cheapest Hyatt hotel can almost go as low as $60 when looking at Category 1 hotels, but of course I try to redeem at more expensive Cateogry 4 hotels. In 2023, I redeemed my award at the Hyatt Centric Arlington, where the running rate was $240. I conservative estimate of a $180 value, still cedes the $95 annual fee. Other benefits I value are 5 qualifying nights for status automatically added to my account each year to help me qualify for Globalist, the ability to spend $15,000 per year to get 6 more qualifying nights and then another free Category 1-4 Night award, and the 4x earning rate on Hyatt purchases. 

Annual Fee: $99 Hard Credits: $99 Variable Credits/Conservative Value: $70

This is the first card in the line-up that is NOT a keeper card. The annual fee is $99, but it is actually waived in the first year, hence the $99 equal hard credit back. Next year at the card anniversary, I will likely close this card since the $99 will not be worth it. Since this is a business card, closing this card will not affect my credit score. 

I got this card to get 60,000 AA miles to build my stash since American Airlines is the only domestic airline that is not transfer partners with any of the major credit card companies. The card also comes with free checked bags ($35/one way) which is useful to have on some flights. However, since I mainly fly United, there is limited use planned this year. 

Annual Fee: $99 Hard Credits: $99 Variable Credits/Conservative Value: $0

To build up our AA miles bank, we both got this card for their bonuses. Like the business version, the annual fee is waived in the first year and we will likely cancel after that. Since both these cards have similar benefits to the business version, we won't count any of the credits/benefits. 

Annual Fee: $199 Hard Credits: $100 Variable Credits/Conservative Value: $200

Of course I hold the other World of Hyatt credit card as well - the business version. This card served me well in 2023 to reach Globalist status. While I may not need its help as much in 2024, I decided to keep this card for another year after a small internal debate. 

The card provides two $50 credits per year on Hyatt purchases, which is easy to get since I stay at Hyatts a lot. Last year, I spent $50,000 on the card (with the help of paying and getting reimbursed on several large purchases) which gave me 25 qualifying nights for status and the opportunity for 20,000 points rebate for the remainder of the year. I hit that 20,000 points rebate, which is worth at least $200, but likely more. The card also lets me gift Discoverist status to 5 people, letting them get 2pm late checkout and 2 free water bottles daily. I will likely cancel this card next year since then I requalify for opening the card again and receiving the sign-up bonus. 

Annual Fee: $250 Hard Credits: $225 Variable Credits/Conservative Value: $240

This card was on the chopping block to get downgraded in 2023, but after calling for a retention offer, Chase granted Sarah a $100 statement credit to keep the card for another year. I don't anticipate a similar offer this year, so this card will likely be downgraded to the no annual fee United Gateway version. 

In the meantime, Sarah was able to use the $125 credit on United flights pretty easily with just one trip. Like the AA card, this card also provides free checked bags when flying on United, saving $35/bag. It also provides two 5,000 mile anniversary awards each year after redeeming a flight with points, giving a total of 10,000 miles, at minimum equivalent to $100. So all in for this year the $100 retention offer + $125 United credit + $100 worth of United miles + $140 worth of checked bags (minimum) = $465 in value, trumping the $250 annual fee. 

Annual Fee: $250 Hard Credits: $240$325 Variable Credits/Conservative Value: $0

This is my only American Express card, and it is also a keeper because of the value I receive over paying the annual fee. Each month I receive $10 dining credit on select vendors and $10 Uber credit. I usually use the $10 dining credit on Grubhub and $10 Uber credit on Uber eats or Uber rides as needed. A twice a month treat to pick up food at a local restaurant helps with days we're too tired or busy to cook. I still net a -$10 value however, even from the credits. 

I get unquantifiable value from the card with the ability to hold my Membership Reward points to transfer out to travel partners. Since I've connected my Rakuten shopping portal to Amex, all my cashback gets transferred into Amex points, so I need a card to make sure my points don't expire. I've also been able to get several useful credits from Amex Offers, such as free Peacock TV for 3 months, meal plan credits, and every once in a while they offer bonus points on regular purchases, and even Amazon. In my second year of having the card, I was able to get a $200 retention credit, so I'm hoping to get something similar coming up on my fourth year of having the card. Finally, the base card earns 4x back on dining and groceries which is a huge earner. 

The reason the hard credits have been increased is because of the update with the Amex Gold in August. The card now provides a $50 semi-annual credit to Resy, so we used that for a restaurant this year. And we also receive $7 of Dunkin credits per month, for a total of $35 for the remainder of 2024. 

Annual Fee: $395 Hard Credits: $300 Variable Credits/Conservative Value: $200

Capital One basically pays me $5/year to keep this card. They provide a $300 travel credit on the Capital One Travel Porta and gift 10,000 miles each card anniversary, which is at minimum $100. So $400 in credits already beat the $395 annual fee. 

The credit card comes with a whole host of other benefits mentioned here. To quickly mention, you also get a $100 Global Entry/TSA Precheck credit every 4 years, access to Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, and Capital One Lounges, up to 4 authorized users that all get their own lounge access, and more. This is definitely one of the best premium travel credit cards out there and a good one to start with despite the several hundred dollar annual fee. 

Annual Fee: $550 Hard Credits: $540 Variable Credits/Conservative Value: $156

Also in the premium travel card blog post, the Chase Sapphire Reserve has been a great card to re-add to my collection this year. Although the $550 AF is steep, all the credits make up for most of the cost:

• $300 Travel credit

• $60 Doordash credit

• $180 Instacart credit

• $100 Global Entry/TSA Precheck credit

• $56/couple when using Priority Pass restaurants at airports 

However, with the Global Entry credit used and the Instacart credit going away, I'll likely downgrade this to the Preferred (after recouping another round of $300 credit - blog post about this to come). The travel insurance protections are nice to have, but I buy separate travel insurance anyways. 

Annual Fee: $695 Hard Credits: $920 Variable Credits/Conservative Value: $20

We got this card to obtain 250,000 points after spending $20,000. While there are many credits and benefits for the card, the below are the ones that helped us recoup the annual fee. 

• Dell - $400

• Airline Incidental - $400 (counting this twice since this credit is earned every calendar year)

• Phone Bill - $120

We also utilized the below credits, but would not have bought that product without the credit, so we're not counting them as valuable. 

• Clear - $199

Annual Fee: $150 Hard Credits: $0 Variable Credits/Conservative Value: $0

We just got this card for the $2,000 (or 200,000 points) bonus after spending $30,000. Plus to meet the minimum spend with the 2x on everything, we'll generate $600 which more than covers the annual fee. No other credits on this card.