Originally Posted by
LWT3
On a side note, while $5 is enough to keep a card active, it seems pointless to work so hard to minimize your use of one card. If you were to use it to make an actual, real-life purchase you intended to make anyway like a tank of gas or one trip to the grocery store, would it really kill you to give up a few points on one of your other cards?
I have a simple (for me) plan. I have every long-kept card registered in a
Rewards Network airline dining program (I belong to several of them). I typically use it for a less expensive dine. I don't sweat not earning something on the card because I earn much more from the dining program anyway on a qualified dine than I do from the card itself, no matter which card it is (unless it's a card where I'm working on the signup bonus minimum spend, that is).
For those that don't want to use a dining program, a similar approach might be to use the card for a smaller purchase at an airline shopping portal. You'll still earn the miles (maybe even a bonus) from the shopping portal itself, and again in some cases that may be more than you would have earned from another card anyway.