Fine. Then I'll take "Queen of Annual Fees and Mistress of Ridiculous Redemptions."
I'm going to go ahead and quote the conversation starter from
@GlamMistress here for continued discussion along with my reply over here. I think it's a good topic especially in light of OMAAT's blog article.
Ok, I'm back to give my thoughts and perspective on this conversation starter which I think discussing would provide value and perspective to those of us who've been at this game a long time and to the newer folks for consideration down the line. I'm quoting my post from 2017 that was in response to another person who didn't see the value of holding multiple cards beyond meeting the spending bonus. While that post is over a year old, it still holds true. For me, having options is still the name of the game. I've always been an advocate of diversifying my portfolio. I think it was just a few weeks ago that I was on here kicking and screaming in my head over Chase's craptastic Expedia platform
that would not display flights to book with URs in first or business. So, I went ahead and booked them with Amex MRs on their glitchy but less frustrating travel platform. Then, when I decided to come in early for the Japan ABD and go to Tokyo to check out the robot restaurant, I thought I'd like to stay at the Park Hyatt that I've heard so much about. Little did I know it's over $1500 per night! Fortunately, the same room and nights were available on points so I used 60,000 UR points that instantly transferred to Hyatt and booked my stay.
The airline transfer partners that Chase and Amex have both hold value for me. Therefore, I am happy to earn in both currencies. There is no way I could accumulate the number of points I do with just one card. In 2017 we blew through 1.7 million points and miles. Below are our 2018 points and miles spending we did and we blew through another million and then some. For 2019 travel I will very likely surpass 2 million.
2018
March - DC to see cherry blossoms (2 nights at The Willard free IHG night certs)(AA first - 58,842 Amex MR after 50% rebate with Amex biz Plat)
April - Dapper Days at DLR (Delta first class 153,000 Sky Pesos)
May/June - Adventures by Disney China (Singapore Suites - 500,000 KrisFlyer miles transferred from 400,000 SPG points)
July - New York to see Harry Potter Play (2 nights at Hilton Times Square with free night certs from Aspire) (AA first class paid with various AA GCs from airline credits on various cards)
September - Hawaii (AA first class 89,812 MR after 50% rebate with Amex biz Plat)
September - DC to see Hamilton (2 nights at The Wilard free IHG night certs)(AA first paid with various AA GCs from airline credits on various cards)
December/Jan - Antarctica (AA business/first - 505,000 AA miles)
2019
January - NYC for Mickey True Original Exhibition (2 nights at Residence Inn Central Park with Marriott free night certs)(AA economy 24,362 Amex MR after 35% rebate with Amex biz Plat)
March - Dubai and Maldives (4 nights at Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa 240k Marriott points)(3 nights Conrad Rangali over-water bungalows 285k Hilton points and hopefully replacing 95k with a free night cert)(1 night Dubai Int'l airport hotel 12,888 UR points)(Emirates first class 300k Alaska miles via Marriott Flight/Night packages)(AA first flight to position for Emirates flight 68,775 Amex MR after 35% rebate with Amex biz Plat)(United flights in first to get back home from Emirates flight 72,696 Amex MR after 35% rebate with Amex biz Plat)
May - New Orleans (7 nights, but only staying 4 from Marriott nights and flights package 270,000 Marriott points)(AA flights in first paid with various AA GCs from airline credits on various cards)
June/July - Scotland (BA first class 125,000 Avios and Travel Together ticket)(2 nights Radisson Blu 140,000 Club Carlson points)(1 night at Holiday Inn Inverness 30,000 IHG points)(1 night at Hilton free night cert)
August - NYC Hamilton (haven't booked flight or hotel since I don;t know if we are going for 2 or 3 nights yet)
September/October - Adventures by Disney Japan (ANA first class with 240k
Virgin Atlantic miles from Amex MR w/30% bonus transfer so 185k Amex MR)(AA first to position at IAD for ANA flight 60,347 Amex MR after 35% rebate with Amex biz Plat)(1 night at Westin Dulles using free night cert from Marriott)(JAL business using 110K AA miles with 10% back benefit in case my return ANA dates don;t come through)(2 nights Park Hyatt Tokyo 60,000 UR points transferred to Hyatt)
Writing this has caused me to mourn the 50% back we used to get with the Amex business Platinum card again
But, I think it does illustrate how one or two cards will never be able to earn and replace the number of points we go through each year. The bonus categories boost the earning potential. I also have cards that bring me value that surpass the AF even though they may not necessarily be cards that I use for spend. I'd say my two main currencies are UR and MR with regards to spend. It does take some card shuffling to maximize each spending category but for me it is worth it.
When I say Ridiculous Redemptions, I was thinking more along the lines of flying from FL to SanFran to see Hamilton, flying to London for the weekend to see the Harry Potter play, flying to Scotland for a long weekend to see the Fairy Pools, flying to NYC for the weekend to see the Harry Potter play there, flying to DC for the weekend to see Hamilton again, flying to DC for the weekend because cherry blossoms, blowing half a million points on one flight to try out Singapore Suites etc.
(not really but 
