The Credit Cards I've Opened Over the Years

I started paying serious attention to U.S. credit cards around 2015. At first, the appeal was obvious: meet a spending requirement of a few thousand dollars and earn 50,000, 60,000, or sometimes 100,000 points. Over the next several years, our family opened a United Explorer, Chase Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve, Marriott cards, several Chase Ink cards, American Airlines cards, Amex Gold, SPG, and others. We closed some after a year or two. Some of the products themselves have since disappeared.

A decade later, I ask a different question. I used to wonder, “How big is the welcome bonus?” Now I ask, “Will we actually use this card’s benefits year after year?” A one-time 100,000-point bonus can be wonderful, but it says little about whether the card will still deserve a place in my wallet five years later. The cards that last are usually the ones that fit the way we already travel and spend.

Amex Platinum: The advertised value isn’t necessarily your value

The Amex Platinum is the clearest example. I once thought of it mainly as an airport lounge card. Today it feels more like a thick book of credits. Under the current Amex benefits, eligible prepaid hotel bookings through Amex Travel can receive up to $300 in statement credits in each half of the year, or $600 annually. Resy offers up to $100 each quarter, or $400 a year. Eligible digital entertainment can receive up to $25 a month, and lululemon up to $75 a quarter. There is also up to $200 in incidental fees with a selected airline, a Walmart+ benefit, and up to $120 a year toward an Uber One membership. Each benefit has its own terms; some require enrollment.

Individually, none of these credits needs to be remarkable. Together, they can be valuable if you would have made the purchases anyway. I refuse to count every advertised dollar at face value. If I buy a shirt solely because I have a $75 lululemon credit, that credit isn’t worth $75 to me. A hotel stay, dinner, airline incidental charge, or digital subscription that was already in our budget is much closer to real savings. The same Platinum card can be excellent value for one household and almost worthless for another. We have both a regular Platinum and a Morgan Stanley Platinum, but only because we can judge whether the benefits on each are naturally useful to us—not because more cards are inherently better.

Business cards: A credit only counts if you need the service

The Business Platinum and Business Gold feel less like traditional travel cards than ways for a small business to offset software and service costs. The Business Platinum offers up to $300 annually toward ChatGPT Business, an eligible $250 Adobe credit, and benefits involving Dell and other merchants. The Business Gold also has up to $300 annually toward ChatGPT Business, up to $20 a month in flexible business credits, plus Walmart+ and Squarespace benefits.

The gap between advertised value and personal value may be even wider here than with the consumer Platinum. If you would never subscribe to ChatGPT Business, a “$300 value” on a benefits page means little. If your business already pays for it, the credit comes much closer to saving $300. When I assess an annual fee, I first cross out every product or service I would never have bought. Only then do I add up what the card is worth to us.

Travel cards that have earned a lasting place

Some of the travel cards I like most aren’t the ones attracting the most attention. Hilton Surpass is relatively easy to understand: spend directly with Hilton and receive up to $50 in statement credits each quarter, up to $200 a year. Spend $15,000 in eligible purchases on the card in a calendar year and you can earn a Free Night Reward. The card also comes with Hilton Gold status. For someone who regularly stays with Hilton, those benefits are more straightforward than remembering a dozen small coupons. Hilton Surpass benefit details

Capital One Venture X follows another fairly simple formula: a $395 annual fee, a $300 annual travel credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, and 10,000 anniversary miles. If you already expect to book travel through that portal, the fee is easier to justify. Of course, the credit and miles are worth only what you can get from them. Venture X benefit details

I also keep a Bank of America Premium Rewards card. Its annual fee is $95, and it offers up to $100 a year in qualifying airline incidental statement credits. If those are expenses I would pay anyway, the math is uncomplicated. It is not, however, a blanket $100 discount on airfare: eligible airlines and purchases are limited by the terms. Bank of America benefit details

The Alaska/Atmos cards have had a distinct role for us as well, especially the Companion Fare. The eligible network has expanded to certain Alaska and Hawaiian flights within North America. I still check the fare, taxes, and conditions each time before treating it as a bargain. Alaska Airlines benefit announcement

Citi Strata Elite: Do the math again at year-end

More recently, Citi Strata Elite has caught my interest; my wife and I each have one. It follows the high-annual-fee, multiple-credit model. There is up to $300 a year off an eligible hotel booking of at least two nights through Citi Travel; up to $200 in annual Splurge Credits with selected merchants, including American Airlines and Best Buy; and up to $100 toward Blacklane in each half of the year, for $200 annually. It also includes Priority Pass and four Admirals Club passes per year. Citi Strata Elite benefit details

According to Citi’s Priority Pass terms, the primary cardholder and authorized users can access participating lounges, each with up to two guests. Priority Pass restaurants are excluded. But my decision to keep the card still comes back to the same question: did the credits save us money on things we actually wanted? Ordering a luxury car solely to redeem a $100 Blacklane credit doesn’t make that credit worth $100. If we already need an airport ride and its price is close to Uber or Lyft, the credit comes much closer to cash.

At the end of the year, I look at what we really redeemed—and what we used only because we couldn’t bear to let a credit expire. When the second list starts getting longer, it’s time to reconsider the card.

Sometimes one hard-to-replace feature is enough

Chase Ink Business Preferred is a good example. Its Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to partners such as United, Aeroplan, Flying Blue, Singapore Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Marriott, IHG, and Hyatt; I check the current transfer terms before moving points. More importantly for some trips, Chase describes primary collision coverage for qualifying business-purpose rental cars, with theft and collision coverage of up to $60,000 for most eligible vehicles. The business-use requirement and other terms matter. I would not assume the same protection applies to every personal vacation rental. When it does apply, that feature can be more useful to me than a handful of $20 coupons.

I have also kept an older Citi Prestige since opening it in 2020. It is no longer a standard new-application card. What keeps it interesting to me is the annual travel credit of up to $250 and its unusual complimentary fourth-night hotel benefit. Under Citi’s current Prestige terms, the fourth-night benefit requires an eligible four-night booking through Citi Travel and can be used at most twice per calendar year. An older card like this deserves a different decision from a card I could simply apply for again: once closed, I may not be able to get it back.

The question I ask when I review our cards

If I had to sum up the biggest change in my thinking, it’s that I no longer try to own the most cards. Over the years we’ve opened plenty—from Chase, Amex, Citi, Bank of America, and Capital One—and collected many welcome bonuses. At one point, even a single Sapphire Reserve bonus could be 100,000 points. But the interesting part isn’t a stack of plastic in a drawer. It’s knowing where each useful card fits: Platinum for certain hotel bookings, Surpass for Hilton spending, a card with the right credit for qualifying airline incidentals, Ink’s insurance for eligible business rentals, and the right points program when we need to transfer miles to an airline.

Credit cards are tools, not collectibles. At year-end, I no longer ask what a website says a card is worth. I open our statements and ask: If the bank discontinued this card next year, would I genuinely miss something useful? If the answer is yes, it has probably earned its place.

This article reflects our personal experience. Benefit amounts and terms were checked against issuer information as of October 1, 2026. Check the current terms for your own account before applying or using a benefit.