Last year,
I posted a recap of credit card annual fees paid across 2015. If you're interested, checkout my other 2016 year in review posts:
This year, I'm going to provide a recap of all cards acquired in 2016. There are 25 so grab a cup of coffee (or a cocktail) before you sit down to read this one.
Summary:
In total, we acquired 25 new cards generating 1,659,500 miles and points from sign-up bonuses. We paid $2,448 in annual fees but received $1,200 in travel credits. Since we spend more than $1,200 a year on travel, I value the credits as cash. That means we paid $1,248 out of pocket. That doesn't include another $800 in travel credits we'll receive in 2017 from annual fees paid in 2016.
If you include that, our out of pocket expense for nearly 1.7M miles and points was less than $450. If you add the $200 in flight discounts from the Ritz-Carlton Rewards card, our out of pocket expense is down to about $250.