Our Credit Card Portfolio

Original post: 5/20/2018
Updated: 12/20/2019

For someone who enjoys traveling, the lucrative credit card sign-up bonuses in the US are amazing, especially when all you get for opening a credit card in Malaysia is a luggage bag. I was hoping to start building our credit card portfolio as soon as I moved to the US, however, I realized very quickly (when my Chase Freedom application was declined) that I wasn't gonna get approved for any credit cards without credit history. 
​

Myth: Opening multiple credit cards will hurt your credit score.
My credit score (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) has consistently hovered around the mid 700s despite all the activities.

​It took me a year to build my credit score from scratch and since then, I've added (and removed) a few credit cards in my purse and have gotten some values out of them. Thanks to credit card rewards, we've traveled to Cancun, Guatemala, Cape Town, etc. for almost free. If there are no changes to our plan, we will also be traveling to Iceland, Fiji, and New Zealand this year using credit card rewards.

Before I go down the list of all the credit cards I've had or still have, I'd like to clarify that we ALWAYS pay off our credit cards in full before the due date, and we DO NOT carry any credit card balance. For us, credit card is just a form of payment and a tool that allow us to travel cheaply, not a source of cash flow (even though our credit limits are pretty high).

The following is a list of my credit card portfolio, and the respective sign-up bonuses I received.
​
Note: Some offers are no longer available.

1.   xxx Credit Union Credit Card

When I first came to the US, my credit score was ZERO. After a failed attempt to get the Chase Freedom card, I decided to start building my credit with my first credit card from the credit union, which I used for the direct deposit of my salary. To be honest, I barely used this card at all because there was no/little benefit. 

  Sign-up bonus: None
  ​Min spend: None
​  Annual fee: None

​2.   Citi HiltonHonors Visa Signature

After building a decent credit score, I applied for the Citi Hilton credit card. The original intent wasn't for the Hilton points, it was my rookie mistake thinking that I would be able to transfer hubby's Citi ThankYou points to me by having any Citi credit card. Obviously didn't do my research beforehand. I decided to close this card when Hilton switched this card from Citi to Amex.

Sign-up bonus: 40,000 Hilton points
​Min spend: $1,000 within first 3 months
​​Annual fee: None

3. Citi ThankYou Preferred

Wasted another application on the same rookie mistake. This was before I knew about Chase's 5/24 rule. I didn't use this card at all for 2 years (didn't even bother getting the sign-up bonus) and was planning to keep this card just for credit history since it doesn't have annual fee, but Citibank decided to close my account due to lack of activity without any warning. =.=

Sign-up bonus: 15,000 ThankYou points
​Min spend: $1,000 within first 3 months
​​Annual fee: None

​4. Chase Hyatt

Applied for this card to get 2-free nights at an all-inclusive resort in Cancun. Totally worth it! We had an amazing time at Hyatt Ziva Cancun. I decided to keep this card for one extra year, paid $75 annual fee and used the free night certificate at the Hyatt Regency Tokyo before cancelling it. Unfortunately, the sign-up bonus of 2-free nights at ANY Hyatt hotels is no longer available.

Sign-up bonus: 2 free nights
​Min spend: $1,000 within first 3 months
​Annual fee: $75 (1st year waived)

5. Amex Delta Skymiles Gold

I received a targeted offer in mail for the Delta Amex card with a lower minimum spend and decided to jump on it. Was supposed to get a $50 statement credit but made a stupid mistake of using the wrong credit card to pay for a Delta ticket purchase and missed out on the credit. Received an additional referral bonus of 10K miles when my MIL applied for this card.

Sign-up bonus: 50,000 Delta Skymiles and $50 statement credit for Delta purchase within 3 months
​Min spend: $1,000 within first 3 months
​Annual fee: $95 (1st year waived)

6. Chase MileagePlus Club Card

This was also a targeted offer I received with the first year fee waived. This card didn't come with any bonus miles but I decided to apply for it mainly to have lounge access during our round-the-world trip in 2017. The United Club Membership provides access for 2-pax to all United Club and Star Alliance lounges worldwide (when traveling with Star Alliance partners).

Sign-up bonus: United Club Membership ($550 value) and other travel benefits
​Min spend: None
​Annual fee: $450 (1st year waived)

7. AMEX Starwood

I decided to apply for this card because I value Starpoints and I knew that the lucrative sign-up bonus may eventually go away with the SPG-Marriott merger (the Starpoints sign-up bonus is no longer available as of Apr 2018). I wished I had gotten the SPG referral bonus before it went away in April 2018. I decided to cancel this card in Sept 2018 before the annual fee was due.

Sign-up bonus: 30,000 Starpoints
​Min spend: $3,000 within first 3 months
​Annual fee: $95 (1st year waived)

8. Chase IHG Rewards Club Select (referral link)

This was another card with lucrative sign-up bonus that I applied for right before it discontinued in April 2018. I was planning for the both of us to apply for this card some time this year and use the sign-up bonuses for a trip later in the year but ended up only getting one for myself. I may keep this card for another year for the 1 uncapped anniversary free night.

Sign-up bonus: 60,000 IHG points + $50 statement credit
​Min spend: $1,000 within first 3 months
​Annual fee: $45 (1st year waived)

9. Chase IHG Rewards Club Premier (referral link)

This was the new IHG card introduced after the old one (above) was discontinued. I applied for it because we needed more IHG points for our New Zealand trip. I received the card just in time to use the 4th night free benefit for our hotel in Queenstown. Unlike the old card, the anniversary free night is limited to hotels up to 40K points per night. 

Sign-up bonus: 100,000 IHG points + $50 statement credit
​Min spend: $3,000 within first 3 months
​Annual fee: $89

10. Chase United MileagePlus Explorer

I received the offer for 50K United miles but the minimum spend was $3K. Since we weren't confident that we could meet the minimum spend within 3 months, I applied for the 40K one using hubby's referral link, and he will receive 10K referral bonus. So we would still get 50K miles but with a lower minimum  spend. 
Update (12/22/2019): We ended up spending $3K within 3 months and received an additional 10K miles after submitting a request to Chase via secure message.

Sign-up bonus: 50,000 United MileagePlus Miles
Min spend: $3,000 within first 3 months
Annual fee: $95 (1st year waived)

11. Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless (referral link)

I stumbled upon this offer when I was researching how to offset the new resort fee that was added to my existing hotel reservation in Hawaii (which I decide to cancel). This card doesn't usually waive the 1st year annual fee but this offer does. On top of that, the $250 statement credit is pretty good. I plan to use the 1 free night during our Hawaii trip.

Sign-up bonus: 1 free night worth 35,000 points + $250 statement credit
​Min spend: $2,000 within first 3 months
​Annual fee: $95 (1st year waived)

12. Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa Signature

This is one of the best offers this card. The $100 statement credit basically offsets the $75 annual fee. Even though Alaska Airlines doesn't fly to our home airport, there are a lot of sweet spots with their partner airlines (e.g. Cathay, JAL, AA). I was hoping to use Alaska miles to redeem for AA flights in the future but their partnership will probably end soon so it's time to start burning those Alaska miles.

Sign-up bonus: 40,000 Alaska Mileage Plan Miles + $100 statement credit
​Min spend: $2,000 within first 3 months
​Annual fee: $75

13. Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard

Since I was already above the 5/24 rule to be eligible for any Chase cards, I decided to diversify and applied for other cards. This was one easy way to get 60,000 American Airlines miles with only $1 spend, and $99 annual fee. I was absolutely bummed when I found the application link with the exact same offer but 1st year annual fee waived just 3 weeks after applying for the card.

Sign-up bonus: 60,000 American AAdvantage Miles
​Min spend: $1 within first 3 months
​Annual fee: $99

14. Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Mastercard

Since I already have 6 digits balances in United, Alaska, and Delta miles, I wanted to diversify and build up more AA miles. No concrete plans on how I want to use AA miles yet but OneWorld alliances provide a lot of award redemption options to fly to Penang. Shortly after I received the bonus miles, I booked a web special award deal from Huntsville to Seattle for 5,000/way/pax for one of our trips next year.

Sign-up bonus: 60,000 American AAdvantage Miles
​Min spend: $3,000 within first 3 months
​Annual fee: $99 (1st year waived)

15. Hilton Honors Aspire Amex

This was a terrific offer that lasted for only 10 hours. I was originally planning to apply for the Hilton Surpass to get the Priority Pass for my trips next year, but was very lucky to stumble upon this offer thanks to FrequentMiler. I decided to apply for it even though I won't receive the sign-up bonus because the perks that came with this card made it hard to pass up.

Sign-up bonus: 150,000 Hilton points (unfortunately I wasn't eligible for the sign-up bonus)
​Min spend: $4,000 within first 3 months
​Annual fee: $450 (1st year waived)

And of course, I can't leave hubby out of this 'game'. These are the cards he had/has in his wallet:​

Chase Sapphire Preferred
Sign-up bonus: 50,000 Ultimate Rewards
Min spend: $4,000 within first 3 months
Annual fee: $95 (1st year waived)

Citi ThankYou Premier​
​Sign-up bonus: 50,000 ThankYou Rewards
Min spend: $3,000 within first 3 months
Annual fee: $95 (1st year waived)

Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select
Sign-up bonus: 40,000 AAdvantage Miles
Min spend: $2,000 within first 3 months
Annual fee: $95 (1st year waived)

Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa Signature
Sign-up bonus: 30,000 Alaska Mileage Plan Miles, $100 Statement Credit
Min spend: $1,000 within first 3 months
Annual fee: $75

Chase United MileagePlus Explorer (referral link)
Sign-up bonus: 50,000 United MileagePlus Miles
Min spend: $3,000 within first 3 months
Annual fee: $95 (1st year waived)

Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard
Sign-up bonus: 60,000 AAdvantage Miles
Min spend: $1 within first 3 months
Annual fee: $95

SPG Amex
Sign-up bonus: 75,000 Marriott Points
Min spend: $3,000 within first 3 months
Annual fee: $95 (1st year waived)

Amex Delta Skymiles Gold
Sign-up bonus: 60,000 Delta Skymiles, $50 statement credit
Min spend: $2,000 within first 3 months
Annual fee: $95 (1st year waived)

I don't disagree that travel hacking with credit cards can be confusing, and I've made my fair share of mistakes. I've also spent a lot of time reading various resources (e.g. The Points Guy, Travel is Free, etc) to learn and find the best available credit card deals that suit our needs. It can be frustrating trying to keep up with all the changes (and devaluation) but the benefits definitely outweigh the efforts. Here's a quick summary of how we keep up with the Card-ashians. =P

What's our card opening strategy?
ChooseFI has a good post on the Chase Gauntlet, but the strategy is not for us because Southwest doesn't fly from our home airport and I currently prefer international travels over domestic travels. Our strategy is to apply for credit cards based on our specific travel plans and needs, or to take advantage of lucrative offers before they discontinue. We also diversify the various points and miles we earn. If you haven't noticed, I've been inclined towards cards without annual fees or with fees waived for the first year. Even for those with annual fees, they were offset by statement credits. 
 
How does frugal people like us meet the minimum spend?
​Apart from mortgage, car loan, and utility bills, we pretty much put every expenses on our credit cards. Even so, we barely spend anywhere close to $3,000 within 3 months. Besides, we don't do any manufactured spend, so we rely solely on our organic spending (i.e. we don't intentionally spend more just to meet the minimum spend).  We time our credit card application when we have big expenses coming up (e.g. we applied for the Chase Sapphire Preferred and SPG Amex when we had to spend $8K to replace our HVAC system). I also intentionally look for cards with lower minimum spend of $1-2K, which are more manageable.

Do we keep all these cards opened?
​Answer is, mostly not. We keep most of our cards open for about a year and either cancel or downgrade them before the annual fee kicks in. That means I do need to keep track of all the minimum spend, when we opened/closed a card, and track if we are over or under the 5/24 limit. And yes, I do have a spreadsheet to keep track of all these (I have a spreadsheet for everything...lol!). =P

Are you leaving money on the table?
In the past, I've always wondered why aren't there more people taking advantage of these amazing credit card perks in the US and I've also tried introducing them to friends and family. However, I've learnt that not everybody has the patience and willingness to explore the rabbit hole of travel hacking. I also wouldn't encourage anyone who can't pay off their credit cards in full every month to get into any of these. For those who are interested to learn more, there are plenty of resources and information online. I'm also happy to share what I know to those who are willing to learn more. =)

Related post: ​Lounge Hopping for Free with United Club Card