wanderlust7
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2015
- Messages
- 4,828
Curious how in-the-weeds you all get with maximizing spend. (I know I'm way more intense than your average Joe, but, for this thread, I'm probably middle of the road.)
When you have an MSR, do you just go ahead and put all spend there until it's hit? Or, do you only put your lower-return spend (items where you would only be getting 2% anyway) and continue to do your higher earn spend on those cards?
My particular use case is a DCL balance. I have the RedCard and a CIC, so I can get Disney GCs at a minimum of 9.5% return but it does require the hassle of buying the VGC and paying off the red card balance $200 a time at customer service. I'm 3 minutes from both a Staples and a Target, so not a huge commute, but still special trips that need to be taken.
OR, I can just put the balance on a card that'll only earn 1% but moves me towards spend.
It would save me a ton of trips to Target if I just put the DCL charge on this card. But, it also feels like I should only put things that would be 2, 3, or even 5% towards this spend and save Disney expenses, with the 9.5% floor, for the RedCard/CIC combo.
Also, it's an AmEx, so I can't split the difference and use this card at Staples to buy the VGC to keep some of that return.
Thoughts?
I often have more than 1 MSR card, so I'll see which has the better category. If there's an Amex or Chase offer that's more than 5%, I would use it even if it's not on a MSR card. DH doesn't like switching cards, so usually he's using the Hyatt for elite nights and FNC.
I like my armchair churning, so I wouldn't do the Staples/Target, but I do the online Disney GC deals when they come up. I think it depends on how high you put that pain factor (I put it high lol).