Each week, I fly via United and will hit Premier Exec level for next year.
I also check into hotels where the promotions are going on. Mostly Marriot, Hyatt, or SPG.

I also charge all my expenses on a 1% cash back credit card.

Am I optimizing what I can earn? Is there anything I'm missing?

Thanks

You could probably do better than 1% cashback.

If you want pure cashback, the Costco card, Fidelity AMEX/VISA, and others can give you more than 1%.

However, since you fly United, have you thought of getting a United card? Or maybe a hotel card to earn points? If you redeem miles/points for > 1 cent in value you are "earning" more than you are now.

oops, I meant 2%. I use the Fidelity AMEX.

I prefer not to get the united or hotel credit card since all of them have an annual fee and my business travels tend to be off and on.

Costco Amex, cashback annually:

3-4% on gas
3% on restaurants
2% hotels, rental cars, airfares

Amex Blue Cash. 5% cashback on gas, groceries, pharmacy after you hit $6500 spend for the year. You can buy hotel/airline/restaurant giftcards at the grocery store and get the 5%. Even ebay/Paypal cards I have been told.

Free Hilton Amex gives 6 HH points per dollar on Hilton spend and some other categories. Worth around 3+%. $75 a year Hilton Surpass Amex gives 9 HH points per dollar and Diamond if you hit $40K for the calendar year.

There is some 3% cashback card for all airfare out there. Not sure which.

If you have someone to travel with, the WN Companion Pass is well worth shooting for. I am looking at 5+% value on specific CC spend.

Do you rent a car each week? If so, Q2 2011 Car Rental Bonus Promos! There's a whole section in post #1 on car agency promotions for United and Marriott.

The Marriott Rewards promos all come from Hertz. The United MP promos run the gambit from Alamo to Thrifty.

The Continental section includes:Since CO OP miles will be merged with United MP miles (and are currently transferable between accounts) you could rack up some major miles between now and June 30. Keep in mind, if your company's car rental discount code disallows for the earning of FF miles this is all moot. But if not, the CO promotion only requires a coupon code which will not affect the rate you get with the Avis AWD code.

I wouldn't let an annual fee dissuade you. For one thing, often an annual fee is waived the first year. And simply getting the signup bonus, keeping the card for one year, and canceling is well worth it...especially lately, the large signup bonuses more than make up for the annual fee.

Depending on the particular card and your individual needs, the annual fee can even be worth it on an ongoing basis. For example, the SPG Amex which I think is more valuable than the annual fee. Also for me, a card like the Chase Priority Club Rewards or BA Visa, with no FOREX fees, have more than paid for their annual fees due to our international trips.

Lots of other little partner bonuses - sign up for Netflix, DirecTV/DISH signups, etc.

The OP's Fidelity card is also f/x-free.

True, but it's an AMEX, which doesn't work all that well abroad depending on the country.

Also, for some of the cards, like the Priority Club, the annual fee ($49) is easily outweighed by the annual benefits if you can use them, such as a free hotel night.

If you're not a member of MyPoints, you can earn 5 points by simply clicking on the e-mail and not buying anything. Of course, you can earn more points for registrations and buying stuff online.

You can redeem 5,200 MyPoints for 2,500 United Mileage Plus miles. So 1 MyPoint is worth roughly 0.5 miles.

I listen to music while clicking on the MyPoints messages.

If you're interested in signing up for MyPoints, send me a PM as I have an enrollment referral offer that's better than what MyPoints is currently offering on their site.