Shhh….don’t tell Dave Ramsey this but I applied for a new credit card recently because it came with a fairly good sign up promo and when I got the card and setup the app on my iPhone, I was shocked to see it came with a credit line of $50,000!
I’ve written about my strategy with credit cards before here. Last year, I charged $95,000 on two credit cards and earned points for free airfare and hotel stays as well as earning higher status on the same.
Airline Miles
Presently I have at least 500k airline miles which, in theory, is good for at least a dozen flights but I tend to use the miles for upgrades to business class when I fly. It’s not fun sitting in economy on an 8 to 10 hour flight from the U.S. to Europe or a 17 hour flight to Australia.
Hotel Points
I also have at least a quarter million points for hotel stays including several free night stays as part of having the credit cards. I often stay for free, get free breakfast as part of my status and access to private lounges that usually feature free food and booze. It is nice to have the hotel manager bend over backwards to make sure we are comfortable when we arrive 😉
It’s a Game, Learn The Rules or You’ll Lose
From my personal perspective, the annual fees for the cards pay for themselves if you use them prudently and pay them off each and every month and NEVER carry a balance. This brings me to my must follow rules for playing the credit card points game.
- NEVER EVER carry a balance on any credit card. If you don’t have sufficient funds to fully pay your credit card off each month then don’t play this game, it’s game over for you and time to move onto something else.
- See Rule #1
Most credit cards now charge upwards of 25% to 30% interest and there is no way to escape that hell hole if you are carrying a balance unless you win the lottery.
I am actually so paranoid about paying the credit card off each month that I often overpay just to be sure. I setup a weekly payment to each credit card to ensure that I never miss the minimum payment due. I do this with zero percent balance transfer cards too.
Years ago, the bank claimed they never received a monthly payment I sent and I was hit with all sorts of late fees, hike in interest rates and loss of some points, never again!
I just spent the better part of the day switching all my payable recurring expenses over to my new card. This included my internet, cell phone, electricity, insurance, streaming services, etc. I buy most things online at Amazon so I now switched that to my new card too. I will now also pay one of my rental property condo fees via credit card. In a few months, I’ll have points to add to my stockpile which I will deplete later this year.
The rules of this new card require me to spend $6000 within the first 6 months to get my bonus points which it’ll be easy to do as my operating expenses are at least $1500/month.
Future Travel
My wife and I will be traveling to Europe at least twice this year and various places domestically and we are looking at exploring some South American countries for retirement or remote working for a year so we’ll be making full use of the points on this card but please don’t tell Dave Ramsey!
Share The Wealth
What do you think? Do you play the credit card points game? Let me know in the comments below but be sure not to tell Dave Ramsey!