Over the last few years, more and more of our conversations with friends and family have started with travel questions. “How did you plan that trip?” “How do you travel so much without spending a fortune?” “Can you help me use points to book a trip?” “Is this credit card a good option for me?”…
Travel Protections by Credit Card and Network: What They Really Cover Most people think about credit cards in terms of points, cash back, lounge access, or annual fees. But one of the most overlooked parts of a travel credit card is the protection it may provide when something goes wrong. A delayed flight. A bag…
Most people think about credit card benefits by card name. Chase Sapphire Preferred. Capital One Venture X. Amex Platinum. Citi Strata Premier. Airline cards. Hotel cards. Cash-back cards. That makes sense, because the bank or issuer usually does the marketing. But there is another layer of benefits that many people overlook: the benefits that come…
Dining and groceries are two of the easiest everyday spending categories to use for rewards. They are also two of the places where a lot of real household spending happens. That is why this decision matters. If you are trying to earn more points, cash back, or travel value without making your life more complicated,…
A good points strategy should not start with a credit card. It should start with the trip you actually want to take. That might sound obvious, but a lot of people get this backwards. They collect points, chase offers, open cards, earn rewards, and then eventually wonder what they are supposed to do with everything…
Updated June 16, 2026: The 150,000-point Chase Sapphire Reserve offer has ended. We refreshed this article to reflect the current 100,000-point Reserve offer, the limited-time 100,000-point Sapphire Preferred offer, and how we would think about applying now versus waiting for a better Reserve bonus later. The Chase Sapphire Reserve is still one of the most…
There are a lot of great resources out there that go very deep into credit cards and all the ways to maximize points. We read them.We follow many of them.And sometimes, we even use the strategies they recommend. But over time, we’ve learned something important: There is no single credit card strategy that works for…
Why We’ll Almost Always Pay a Credit Card Annual Fee in the First Year Credit card annual fees scare a lot of people — and that makes sense. A $395, $550, or $695 charge hitting your statement feels very real, very fast. But the first year of a credit card is an entirely different decision…
Dining is one of the most reliable — and often most rewarding — everyday spending categories. Most people eat out, grab coffee, order takeout, or stop for a quick bite while traveling. That makes dining one of the simplest places to earn rewards without changing habits, chasing complicated offers, or forcing spending that does not…
