March 20, 2015

What's in My Wallet - March 2015 Edition

It's been awhile since I've posted about what's in my wallet.  I'm going to try and keep this up quarterly.  You can check out other posts here:

What's in My Wallet?  October 2014

What's in My Wallet?  April 2014

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.

1)  Amex Simply Cash Business Credit Card

I usually prefer to earn points and miles vs. cash back, but this offer is pretty hard to pass up given the strong bonus ($250 on $5,000 in spend so 5x cash back all with no annual fee) and bonus categories (5x on office supplies and cell/cable bills, 3x on a category of your choice - in my case restaurants).  This card is a keeper given the lack of an annual fee although I probably won't put a ton of spend on the card once receiving the signup bonus.

2)  Barclays US Airways Dividend Miles MasterCard

Given the merger with American and the fact that this card is going away (likely in April) as the merger progresses, I figured I'd pick up this card again (I've had it before a couple years back).  The sign-up bonus is really strong - 50,000 USAir miles after first purchase for an $89 annual fee.  These miles will become AA miles in April so you should definitely get this card before it goes away.  The card is still in my wallet due to a promotion Barclays is running offering 1.5x miles for the next few months.  After that, I'll stick it in a drawer.

3)  Chase Sapphire Preferred

All of my travel spend goes on the CSP.  Once I've hit the sign-up bonus on my Simply Cash Business card, I'll move back to the CSP for restaurant spend.

4)  Amex Starwood Preferred Guest

This card is perpetually in my wallet.  In fact, I just paid my taxes with the card.  Even though there is a ~2% fee to pay taxes with a credit card, it's a no brainer for me.  I would buy Starwood points all day long at 2%.  I am staying at The Phoenician Resort in May for 12,000 points a night.  The cash rate is >$500 per night.  If I was to "buy points" at $.02 that would be $240 per night...a huge discount versus the $500 cash rate.

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