Hi, I'm new here and having some serious FOMO issues here with what seems like a lot of opportunities to do better than what I'm currently doing, and just don't know where to start. We are DVC owners in Colorado and make 1-2 trips a year down to WDW, but we try to travel somewhere else occasionally as well. We have a large family of 7 and I hate baggage fees so I generally try to take Southwest Airlines anywhere we go.
I'd previously been an advocate of doing debit only on most of my electronic transactions, eschewing the "borrowing" of money, and condemning the often high CC merchant/interchange fees that went to the "evil" VISA/MC/banks. I'm coming around though, as I've finally recognized the protections that using a CC provides over direct bank debit, as well as the perks/benefits I was missing out on. For the past six months to a year then, I've been trying to use my Costco Visa as often as possible to maximize my cashback rewards with them, along with the extended warranty I get when buying electronics, etc.
I don't think I've applied for a CC within the past two years, but I do have quite a few different credit cards, including 2 that have balances (I know, I know). My credit score is pretty good, around 800.
My current CCs include:
My credit union (not debit, an actual CC): 4k balance, no use
My other credit union (not debit, an actual CC): no balance, no use
1st national bank: 8k balance, no use
Chase Disney VISA: no balance, use when we go to WDW, then pay off within a month or two
Citi Costco VISA: no balance (but I use it a lot - 2-3K per month, and pay off every month)
Citi Double Cash Mastercard: no balance, no use
USAA CC: no balance, no use
My wife has a few more in her name alone, none with balances:
BofA, no balance, no use
Home Depot: no balance, no use
Citi Diamond MC: no balance, no use
After listing all of those, I can't believe I have so many open credit cards lol. I think it's a result of some pay-down strategies I used from a few years ago (I used to have a lot of CC debt) and I read somewhere it was good for your credit score to have unused credit, so I've left them open. Regardless, I know that's not the point of this thread, so I'll move on, but if you think I should close some, let me know.
So, I could use some recommendations on how to best maximize my monthly/yearly spend in order to get some travel rewards/perks/benefits OR if it's more valuable to not go for travel perks but for cash rewards or something...I just don't know, but I wanted to show up and start a conversation. I've read the stickied threads at the start of the post and tried to answer all the questions! I didn't list any credit cards with their opening dates as I don't believe I've acquired any of them in the last 24 months.
We don't stay in hotels very often so I don't think a hotel rewards program is right for me. We fly 2-4 times a year, fly out of DIA, where they have Southwest. I have like 5k points in SW RR.
Please let me know if I'm missing anything in terms of info to provide to help influence a recommendation on how I might best maximize my CC churn! All the best!
Fellow DVC member.....You could look at Chase UR earning cards or Chase SW cards since you fly them... you and your wife should each open a card individually and not add each other as authorized users to keep your x/24 count down for Chase.
