The Best Friends of your wallet

In the first part of the series, I had tried to put all miles and point currencies on the same footing with direct cashback. In the second part, I had tried to put forth all the cards which are worthy of our attention. In the final part, I have compared the rewards from various cards to determine the best card in every category .

The results are summarized in the table below. Note that I have converted hotel points/airline miles to the values calculated in the first part. As always, please leave your feedback and let me know if I am missing anything.

Comparison

Category	Best Card	Best Airline Card	Best Hotel Card	Best Other Card
TRAVEL
Airfare	Travelocity Amex (10%)	Airline Co-branded card (3-5%)	SPG Amex (2.1%)	Amex PR Gold Card (6%)
Hotel	Travelocity Amex (10%)	Fidelity Aeroplan Amex (3%)	Hotel Co-branded card (5-10%)	Chase Freedom (5%1), Costco Amex (2%)
Car Rental	Travelocity Amex (10%)	Fidelity Aeroplan Amex (3%)	SPG Amex (2.1%)	Chase Freedom (5%1), Costco Amex (2%)
EVERYDAY Purchase
Grocery and Drugstore	Amex Blue Cash (5%2 )	Fidelity Aeroplan Amex (3%)	Hilton HHonors Amex (3%)	Amex PR Gold Card (4%)
Gas	Amex Blue Cash (5%2 )	Fidelity Aeroplan Amex (3%)	Hilton HHonors Amex (3%)	Amex PR Gold Card (4%)
Restaurant	Citi Forward (5%)	Fidelity Aeroplan Amex (3%)	SPG Amex (2.1%)	Travelocity Amex (4%)
Occasional Purchase
Clothing	Store Cards (~5%)	Fidelity Aeroplan Amex (3%)	SPG Amex (2.1%)	Chase Freedom (5%1)
Utilities	Hilton HHonors Amex (3%)	Fidelity Aeroplan Amex (3%)	Hilton HHonors Amex (3%)	Amex PR Gold Card (2%)
Home Improvement	Store Cards (~5%)	Fidelity Aeroplan Amex (3%)	SPG Amex (2.1%)	Amex PR Gold Card (2%)
UNCATEGORIZED	Fidelity Aeroplan Amex (3%)	Fidelity Aeroplan Amex (3%)	SPG Amex (2.1%)	Amex PR Gold Card (2%)

1 Chase Freedom offers 5% cashback upto $1500 in purchases in rotating categories;

2 The high cashback categories of Amex Blue Cash kick in only after exceeding $6500 in yearly spending.

The Nomad’s Analysis

A few cards appear over and over again in the table – 1) The Fidelity American Express: This card earns 2 points per $. Each point can either be converted 1:1 cash deposited to a Fidelity Account or 1:1 transferred to Aeroplan. 2) Travelocity American Express: Gary from ‘View From The Wing’ outlined the advantages of this great card if you can book via Travelocity. 3) American Express Premier Rewards (PR) Gold Card: This is an insanely valuable card if you spend a lot on airfare. See Lucky’s post to know why. 4) Starwood Preferred Guest American Express: Unroadwarriorhas blogged about why this is a great card 5) Hilton American Express (no fee) version is a good card for everyday purchases.

However, as you can see all these high-earning cards are American Express cards which are not accepted by all merchants. Hence, it is good to have a backup VISA/Mastercard. Good options include the Capital One Venture (2% cashback that can be redeemed on travel), Chase Freedom (when it has 5% cashback in relevant categories), Chase British Airways Visa (1.25 BA miles on all purchases), Fidelity Visa (1.5 points per $ upto $15000), instead of 2 points on the Amex version and each point can be transferred 1:1 into Aeroplan miles.

Let me know if I am missing anything in my analysis.

So what do I keep in my wallet?

I normally keep the Starwood American Express for all purchases and United Mileage Plus Visa for all vendors who do not accept American Express. I also carry the HHonors Amex to pay for gas and utilities and Chase Freedom when they have 5% on some relevant category. I am planning to get the Travelocity American Express and the Fidelity Visa card that earns 1.5 Aeroplan miles per dollar.

What cards do you carry in your wallet? Let us know. And if you are not sure about my analysis, go through the details where many more cards have been considered and evaluated.

Details of the analysis

Travel (10 cents per $)

Airfare (10 cents per $)

Highest payout: Travelocity American Express

Best Cash-back Rewards Credit card: Chase Freedom (5% for three months in a year), Discover More (5% for 3 months in a year), American Express True Earnings Card From Costco,Chase BP Visa (2% throughout the year)

Best Airline Credit Card: The best payout is by the co-branded card of the airline you are traveling on, Fidelity Aeroplan American Express (2 miles per $)

Best Hotel Affinity Card: Starwood American Express (1 point per $=2.1 cents per $)

Best Other Rewards Card: American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card (3 points per $=6 cents $), Travelocity American Express (5 points per $=10 cents per $)

Hotel (10 cents per $)

Highest payout: Travelocity American Express

Best Cash-back Rewards Credit card: Chase Freedom (5% for three months in a year), Discover More (5% for 3 months in a year), American Express True Earnings Card From Costco, Chase BP Visa (2% throughout the year)

Best Airline Credit Card: Fidelity Aeroplan American Express (2 miles per $)

Best Hotel Affinity Card: Best Rewards is by the hotel co-branded card for the hotel you are staying in.

Best Other Rewards Card: Travelocity American Express (5 points per $=10 cents per $), Blue Sky Preferred (2 points per $=2.66 cents per $)

Car Rental (10 cents per $)

Highest payout: Travelocity American Express

Best Cash-back Rewards Credit card: Chase Freedom (5% for three months in a year), Discover More (5% for 3 months in a year), American Express True Earnings Card From Costco, Chase BP Visa (2% throughout the year)

Best Airline Credit Card: Fidelity Aeroplan American Express (2 miles per $)

Best Hotel Affinity Card: Starwood American Express (1 point per $=2.1 cents per $)

Best Other Rewards Card: Travelocity American Express (5 points per $=10 cents per $), Blue Sky Preferred (2 points per $=2.66 cents per $)

Everyday Purchases

Grocery and Drugstore (5 cents per $)

Highest payout: American Express Blue Cash

Best Cash-back Rewards Credit card: American Express Blue Cash (5% after your total yearly spending exceeds 6500$), Chase Freedom (5% for three months in a year), Discover More (5% for 3 months in a year)

Best Airline Credit Card: Asiana American Express (3 miles per $ at select stores ); United Mileage Plus Select visa (2 miles per $), Fidelity Aeroplan American Express (2 miles per $)

Best Hotel Affinity Card: Hilton HHonors American Express (3 cents per $)

Best Other Rewards Card: American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card (2 points per $=4 cents $), Travelocity American Express (2 points per $=4 cents per $)

Gas (5 cents per $)

Highest payout: American Express Blue Cash

Best Cash-back Rewards Credit card: American Express Blue Cash (5% after your total yearly spending exceeds 6500$), Chase Freedom (5% for three months in a year), Discover More (5% for 3 months in a year), Chase BP Visa if buying from BP (5%).

Best Airline Credit Card: United Mileage Plus Select visa (2 miles per $), Fidelity Aeroplan American Express (2 miles per $)

Best Hotel Affinity Card: Hilton HHonors American Express (3 cents per $)

Best Other Rewards Card: American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card (2 points per $=4 cents $), Travelocity American Express (2 points per $=4 cents per $)

Restaurant (5 cents per $)

Highest payout: Citi Forward Visa

Best Cash-back Rewards Credit card: Chase Freedom (5% for three months in a year), Discover More (5% for 3 months in a year).

Best Airline Credit Card: United Mileage Plus Select Visa (2 miles per $), Fidelity Aeroplan American Express (2 miles per $)

Best Hotel Affinity Card: Starwood Amex (1 point (2.1 cents) per $), Marriott Rewards Premier Visa (2 points (1.8 cents) per $), Priority Club Visa (2 points (1.2 cents) per $), Choice Visa (2 points=1.6 cents per $), Hyatt Visa (1point=1.3cents per $)

Best Other Rewards Card: Citi Forward Visa (5 Thank You points per $), Travelocity American Express (2 points per $=4 cents per $)

Occasional Purchases

Clothing (~5 cents per $)

Highest payout: Store credit cards like Macy’s card

Best Cash-back Rewards Credit card: Chase Freedom (5% for three months in a year), Discover More (5% for 3 months in a year).

Best Airline Credit Card: Fidelity Aeroplan American Express (2 miles per $)

Best Hotel Affinity Card: Starwood American Express (1 point per $=2.1 cents per $)

Best Other Rewards Card: American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card (1 points per $=2 cents $), Travelocity American Express (1 points per $=2 cents per $)

Utilities (3.6 cents per $)

Highest payout: Hilton HHonors American Express

Best Cash-back Rewards Credit card: Fidelity American Express (2%)

Best Airline Credit Card: Fidelity Aeroplan American Express (2 miles per $)

Best Hotel Affinity Card: Hilton HHonors American Express (3 cents per $)

Best Other Rewards Card: American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card (1 points per $=2 cents $), Travelocity American Express (1 points per $=2 cents per $)

Home Improvement (2.6 cents per $)

Highest payout: Starwood American Express, Store Cards

Best Cash-back Rewards Credit card: Chase Freedom (5% for three months in a year), Discover More (5% for 3 months in a year).

Best Airline Credit Card: United Mileage Plus Select Visa (2 miles per $), Fidelity Aeroplan American Express (2 miles per $)

Best Hotel Affinity Card: Starwood American Express (1 point per $=2.1 cents per $)

Best Other Rewards Card: American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card (1 points per $=2 cents $), Travelocity American Express (1 points per $=2 cents per $), Priceline Visa (2 points$=2 cents per $), Discover Escape (2 cents per $), Capital One Venture Rewards (2 cents per $)

Caveats: Most of these credit cards have annual fees which might offset any benefit. I have not taken into account that aspect. Some also have good signup bonuses and renewal bonuses that offset the annual fees. These would be taken up in a different post.

– The Nomad

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