A change of home means I need to review my credit card portfolio

For most of the past 20 years, I’ve been splitting my time between Los Angeles and the UK and going back and forth across the Atlantic multiple times a year. Going forward, however, that’s no longer going to be the case.

For reasons that have nothing to do with the miles and points world, I’m now spending considerably less time in the United States than ever before (I may not set foot in the United States this year), and that change means that it’s time to take a closer look at my credit card collection to make sure that (a) I’m not paying for cards and benefits that I’m no longer able to use and (b) that I’m not missing anything from my portfolio that may be useful in the world I now find myself in.

The foreign transaction fee cards

From a cost point of view, the obvious place to start are the cards which would charge me a foreign transaction fee if I was to use them outside of the US as, clearly, they’re not going to be seeing the light of day very often.

In this group I have cards like the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, the Amex EveryDay® Credit Card, the Citi® Double Cash Credit Card, as well as all of my Chase Freedom cards, but fortunately for me, none of these cards charges an annual fee so there’s no pressing need for me to get rid of any of them.

The Business® Plus Credit Card and the Citi® Double Cash Credit Card can both continue to sit in the background and pay for any US Dollar spending that I still need to make (and which would otherwise earn me less than 2% back if charged to another credit card), I’ll use the Freedom cards when I have a low-value Chase Travel purchase to make (to keep the accounts active), and the Amex EveryDay® Credit Card can sit in my sock drawer waiting for a moment where it may be of use (I just have to make sure to use it every now and again to prevent the account from going dormant and then being closed down).

The high annual fee cards

Continuing with the cost review exercise, the next set of cards to look at are the cards which charge an annual fee of over £100, and thanks to a lot of card culling in recent years, this is a relatively small group.

In fact, I now hold just three credit cards which charge me more than $95/year.

There’s the Ritz-Carlton™ Credit Card, the World of Hyatt Business credit card and, of course, the Platinum Card® from American Express.

Keeping hold of the Ritz-Carlton card ($450 annual fee) is a no brainer as I use up the card’s $300 travel credit every year, and the annual free night certificate that the card gives me (valid for standard room bookings costing up to 85,000 Bonvoy points/night) easily covers the rest of the annual fee.

Moreover, just because I’m not spending much time in the US any more doesn’t mean that I’ll be using this card any less – it doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees, it, offers excellent travel protections, and it’s a useful card to have if I need to boost my Marriott Bonvoy balance (which now that Hyatt is nuking its award chart may happen more often than it has done in recent years).

Keeping the World of Hyatt Business credit card is also a relatively straightforward decision to make as although it costs me $195/year to hold, I get $100/year back in Hyatt stay credits and I get a lot of value out of the ability to earn elite night credits from the spending I put on the card as well as from the Hyatt Leverage program membership which the card guarantees (I can’t remember the last time I booked a Hyatt cash rate that wasn’t my Hyatt Leverage rate).

Things, however, are not that straightforward when it comes to the consumer Platinum Card.

The Platinum Card comes with an eye-watering $895 annual fee and while a lot of that fee can be earned back through various rebates coupons that this card offers, I haven’t failed to notice that a lot of these coupons are valid for spending in the United States only.

This could be a problem.

The monthly Uber credits (worth up to $200/year – terms apply) are only usable for bookings made in the US, so they’re not going to be of much use to me.

The CLEAR Plus credit (worth up to $209/year – terms apply) isn’t of much help as CLEAR isn’t a program that’s used outside of the United States (and I haven’t really used it in the US anyway).

The $100/quarter Resy credit (terms apply) was quite easy to use in Los Angeles, but with Resy no longer operating outside of the US, this isn’t a credit out of which I’m going to get much use.

There are Lululemon locations all around the world, but unfortunately, the $75/quarter Lululemon credit that the Platinum Card offers (terms apply) is restricted to US retail stores only, so unless I make a trip back to LA, that’s another credit that’s going to go unused.

There are other credits that the Platinum Card offers that I will also not be able to maximise (e.g. credits for Walmart+, Saks, Equinox, and Oura Ring) but as these weren’t credits I was really using anyway, not having access to them isn’t going to be a major loss.

Nevertheless, the credits that I have been using and to which I will now not have much meaningful access, add up to over $1,100/year and to make matters worse, that number doesn’t include any of the Amex offers that help keep costs down.

Most of the Amex offers that we see published are only valid for purchases/bookings made or originating in the United States/North America, so they’re another source of savings to which I’m (mostly) going to have to wave goodbye.

It’s also worth noting that benefits like Priority Pass Select membership and access to Centurion lounges are not really important to me (I already get PP membership through my Ritz-Carlton card + there are just a handful of Centurion Lounges outside of the Americas) and as I never really flew with Delta while I was spending more time in the US, the Delta Sky Club visits that the Platinum Card offers aren’t about to become more interesting.

Right now, things aren’t looking good for the Platinum Card, but with all of that negativity out of the way, I should probably take a look at which of the cards benefits/coupons I’ll still be able to use.

On the coupon front we have the $600 hotel credit ($300 every 6 months) out of which I should still be able to get value.

And there’s also the $200 airline fee credit which, even though it’s limited to US airlines, may still be usable even if I’m not flying to/from/within the United States.

Annoyingly, I chose United Airlines as my airline fee credit airline this year as I was planning to buy $200 of Travel Bank credits for future use, but Amex put an end to that option before I got around to buying the credits.

As far as the card’s benefits go (terms apply to all), having access to the Fine Hotels & Resorts program will continue to be useful, the Global Entry credit (once per four years) will still get used (I just used it), I’ll continue to enjoy earning 5 points/dollar on flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel (on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year – terms apply), and now that my travels will be focusing more on Europe and Asia, I’ll probably start getting some use out of the Leaders Club Sterling Status (from The Leading Hotels of the World) that the Platinum Card bestows upon cardholders.

So where does all of that leave me?

Well, based on what I’ve said above, it’s not particularly easy to justify holding the Platinum Card anymore and it looks like it would probably be prudent to downgrade to a less expensive card.

But there is one other important thing that I need to consider – Amex’s link to the Avios programs.

A reason not to dump the Platinum Card

Historically, I’ve done quite a bit of flying within Europe, and going forward, the amount of European travel Joanna and I do will almost certainly increase – there are a lot of amazing places that we have yet to visit or to which we’d love to return.

During peak seasons, however, flying within Europe on popular routes can be expensive. Very, very expensive. But over the past few years, Joanna and I have been able to ignore most of the ridiculous cash fares and use Avios to get to where we want to visit.

Yes, we’ve often had to plan and book many months in advance (often 11 months in advance), but the savings have been significant, and this has made Avios the most useful currency that we collect. By far.

A lot of the Avios we use come from flights with various OneWorld airlines, but a very significant percentage have been generated by converting the Amex points earned from the Platinum Card (almost exclusively at a rate of 5 points/dollar) into British Airways Avios.

Every dollar that I spend on airfare with the Platinum Card earns me at least 5 Avios (thanks to the 1:1 ratio that’s in place for transfers from Amex to BA/Iberia/Aer Lingus), and because I only convert Amex points to Avios when there’s a transfer bonus running (we usually see a 30% bonus published in July/August each year), I actually earn 6.5 Avios per dollar that I put on the Platinum Card.

These Avios add up quickly and they are a big part of why I’ve found the Platinum Card so useful and why I’m a little reluctant to give it up.

I could, of course, downgrade the Platinum Card to the American Express® Green Card and greatly reduce the annual fee I have to pay (the Green card comes with a $150 annual fee – terms apply) and still earn Amex points which I could convert to Avios whenever a transfer bonus comes around, but there are trade-offs that needs to be considered.

The Green card earns 3 point/dollar on most travel spending (terms apply), so the most I can expect to effectively earn when using the Green card to pay for airfare is 3.9 Avios/dollar (assuming a 30% transfer bonus is in effect) and that’s 40% less than what I’m getting with the Platinum Card.

Also, when I pay for airfare with the Platinum Card, I’m covered by the card’s (mostly) excellent travel protections*, while booking with the Green card would give me a lot less cover. That’s not ideal.

When it comes to the fate of my Platinum Card, I’m still not confident that I know what the correct course of action is, but because the decision isn’t clear cut, I’m inclined to keep the card for one more year just to see exactly how much value it is still giving me.

I’ll reassess the situation this time next year when it’s time to pay the annual fee again.

*Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.

Should I add any cards?

There are a lot of US-issued credit cards that can be put to great use outside of the United States, so I’ve been wondering if there are any cards that I don’t currently hold which would improve my collection.

As it stands, most of the cards I hold should serve me well as years of traveling between the US and Europe has meant that I naturally gravitated to cards that aren’t too US-centric.

The Citi Premier® Card has my grocery spending covered, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has my dining expenditure covered, the Ink Business Preferred® Card has my shipping and general travel spending covered, the Ink Business Plus® Card (no longer open to new applicants) has me covered at office supply stores and for any internet/phone spending, and I have various hotel co-branded cards that cover me for a lot of my travel.

But there is one area where I’m short.

What I’m missing is a card that will reward me well for general everyday spending that doesn’t trigger a spending bonus, and that makes a card like the Capital One Venture Rewards Card interesting.

With a $95 annual fee it isn’t expensive, and because it awards 2 miles/dollar on all purchases, it could cover me where my other cards let me down and it would open me up to earning Capital One miles (which I don’t currently earn).

The argument against getting a card for non-bonused spending is that, currently, most of my non-bonused spending goes on the World of Hyatt Credit Card and World of Hyatt Business Credit Card as the spending I put on those cards goes towards earning me valuable credits towards World of Hyatt Globalist status.

So yes, I could get a better effective rebate by using a card like the Venture Rewards card for my non-bonused spending, but I enjoy having top-tier Hyatt elite status and I’m not sure I would be able to retain it year after year without a little help from these cards.

Diverting spending from the Hyatt cards to a card like the Venture Rewards card may earn me a higher effective rebate but for the rest of the year, I’m going to stick with the weaker effective rebate + a boost towards World of Hyatt status (next year I may feel differently if Hyatt’s award chart changes prove to be apocalyptic).

So, is there anything else?

Well … possibly.

For the foreseeable future, most of my travels will take place outside of the United States and that means that the various hotel elite statuses will actually mean something at a lot of the properties at which I’ll be staying.

My World of Hyatt Globalist status is already taken care of and I hold Lifetime Titanium status with Marriott, so I’m very well covered if I stay at a Hyatt or Marriott Property.

When it comes to Hilton and IHG stays, however, I’m less well covered although I hold mid-tier Hilton Gold status through the Platinum Card and mid-tier IHG Platinum status through the IHG® Rewards Premier credit card.

As far as IHG stays go, I think I’m fine with Platinum elite status and even if I wasn’t, there isn’t a card that I could apply for that would boost me up to top-tier Diamond status anyway.

When it comes to Hilton, however, that’s a different story.

Hilton top-tier status is a benefit that comes with the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card (terms apply) and if I’m going to be traveling to Asia (where guests with top-tier elite status are usually very well looked after), that’s going to be nice to have.

The bad news is that the Aspire card comes with a high annual fee ($550) and that’s a little off putting.

The good news is that not only does the Aspire card offer cardholders Hilton Diamond status, but it also offers a number of benefits that can help a cardholder recoup some (or all) of that fee.

Specifically, there’s a $400 Hilton resort credit ($200 every 6 months – terms apply), there’s a $50/quarter flight credit (valid for bookings with all airlines – terms apply), there’s a $100 credit for qualifying charges at participating Waldorf Astoria and Conrad properties (2-night stay required – terms apply), and there’s an annual free night certificate which is uncapped and which can be used at most Hilton properties around the world (terms apply).

I’m reasonably sure that even if I don’t use all of these benefits, the benefits I use will still cover most (probably all) of the card’s annual fee, so I’m very likely to add the Aspire card to my collection. Probably not right now. But as soon as I have a trip booked where I’ll be staying at one or more Hilton properties, my no annual fee Hilton Honors American Express Card will be upgraded.

Bottom line

Whether you’ve had a change of circumstances or not, it’s a very good idea to review your credit card portfolio at least once a year to make sure that you’re not overpaying for cards that you don’t really use and to make sure that you’re not missing any cards that would be useful to have.

In my case, most of my cards are safe for now with only the consumer Platinum Card on probation until next year. As far as new cards go, I’ll almost certainly upgrade to the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card at some point this year just to add Hilton Honors top-tier status to my travel arsenal, and I’ll be keeping the Capital One Venture Rewards cards towards the front of my mind in case I decide that earning elite night credits through my World of Hyatt credit cards no longer serves a useful purpose.

Have I missed anything? What would you add to my portfolio? And what’s your all-purpose card when you travel outside the US?