My "strategy" has evolved over the past two years. It's certainly not something i thought of at first, but it really works for me now.

I started by accumulating a lot of miles and points, mostly thru credit card bonuses and a few bank/investment promos. My miles/points portfolio is now approaching 1 M and all of my recent air travel and most of my recent hotel stays were paid for by miles and points. So, I now have more than enough miles and points for my foreseeable travel needs.

I have never focused much of credit card spend because I am single and I have a simple lifestyle. But now I am saving considerable $$ using cash back. The AMEX Blue Cash preferred gives me 6% back for much of my basic needs (food and gas and certain key gift cards) and my next card will be a 2% cash back on other categories.

If I ever need miles and points again in the future, I will just readjust my strategy a bit. But for now with 1M in my travel portfolio, my focus will be almost totally on cash back.

So, while in the short term, one may have to choose to focus on travel rewards versus cash back, over time, one can have both.