Originally Posted by
MDtR-Chicago
So now our optimized plan is:
PenFed Platinum Rewards -- 5% on gas
Citi Forward -- 5% on restaurants, movies, book/record stores
Chase Freedom Plus -- 3.75% on grocery stores, gym membership, pet stores/vet, telecom (cell phones), Internet access, and drug stores
Discover Card -- for each quarter's 5% promotion
Everything else is split between an always-2% Orchard Bank card and a Southwest rewards card. (WN credits are the only ones I value close to 2%.)
For foreign travel, I start with a Capital One card with no transaction fee (yields 1% cash back) until it's full, then put the excess on the PenFed card (1.25% cash back minus 1% transaction fee = 0.25% cash back).
My optimized rewards plan is very similar to MDtR-Chicago's:
Citi Platinum Amex - 5% gas, grocery, drugstore; 3% everything else
Citi Forward - 5% restaurant, movie theater, book store
Chase Freedom Plus - 3.75% utilities, satellite TV/internet, telecom, pet supply/veterinarian, local transit, department store
Discover More - 5% quarterly bonuses
Capital One NoHassle Rewards - 0% foreign currency exchange
Amex JetBlue Business - OPEN discounts, no expiration for JetBlue frequent flyer points
Ameriprise World Elite - Priority Pass lounge access
I also have a Bank of America USAirways card, but I would like to convert that into something else since I don't fly USAir any more. This card will be on the chopping block if I can't either convert it or downgrade it to a no annual fee version. I'm currently waiting to see if the rumored transition to Barclays pans out.