In May of 2021 I had disclosed that I only had two daily driver cards. Now, a year later, in May of 2022, let us once again talk about cards I use.
Daily Driver – What is in my Wallet?
U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve credit card continues to have a strong grip on my wallet. I consider it to be just as good as it was when I reviewed it in 2017. I consider this to be 4.5% cashback card everywhere mobile wallet is accepted. Manufactured spending on this card can lead to shutdown. Side remark: Since Samsung S21 series, LoopPay (MST) technology has been discontinued.
Paceline Visa Credit Card has rewards that you simply cannot ignore. If you elevate your heart rate for at least 150 minutes, it gives 5% cashback on groceries, drug stores and pharmacies, as well as few other things, and gives 3% cashback everywhere else. Manufactured spending on this card (see Miles per Day) may lead to shutdown. I suggest you check external reviews (Doctor of Credit | Frequent Miler) of this card.
American Express Gold Charge Card typically has 4x on restaurants and supermarket but currently there is a 20% cashback promotion on restaurants (up to $250 a in the first year).
American Express Business Blue Plus Credit Card earns 2x Membership Rewards. It is my backup card and I tend to use it when all other cards in my wallet fail or earn less than 2%.
cards I am meeting minimum spend requirement of also tend to find a spot on my wallet. If you are chasing points, its important to get periodically get new signup bonuses. After all, signup bonus will typically be a faster and easier way to get large chunk of points over other methods, for example spending on usual bonus categories. You can look at my intermediate guide to selecting your next credit card for help on finding your next card.
existing cards with attractive limited time promotional offers also tend to find space in my wallet. For example, when American Express Platinum card had 10x (back then I valued it at 12.5% cashback) promotion, it was my daily driver card on groceries. There are also various cards with rotating categories (check out this post from Doctor of Credit). Did you know Vantage West Credit Union has a credit card with rotating category and is available for everyone in the US?
Occasional Cards
I could go through the “best credit card for grocery, fitness, restaurant, travel, etc” list but thankfully Doctor of Credit already has a comprehensive list so I will just refer you to that.
However, for the heck of it I will mention a few credit cards I use:
Amazon Store Card is my preferred card on Amazon. Yes, I prefer this post from Upgrade the Points post from Upgrade the Points store card over American Express Business card which I will likely cancel next year (I recently had a retention offer on it).
Rakuten Credit Card is another card I love. It gives additional 3% cashback for purchases made through Rakuten (previously Ebates) portal. Rakuten is considered to be the best shopping portal out there and it helps that points I earn through the portal can turn into Membership Rewards!
Citi Prestige Credit Card is my preferred card for airline booking as it earns 5x Thank You points. If you can help it, I highly recommend using cards with travel insurance/protection to book your trips. Side note: in fact it is in your benefit to put monthly phone bills on cards that provide phone insurances (see this post from Upgrade the Points). Further, it is also in your benefit to buy expensive items (like electronics) on cards that extend warranty (see this post from Upgrade the Points).
Citi Custom Cash is a solid card 5% card for spending up to $500/month in a single category.
Hilton Aspire Credit Card is my go-to for booking stays with Hilton. If I am booking other hotels, I may choose to use their dedicated card (should I have one) or go for cards that give bonus points on hotel stays, ex 3x on Citi Prestige.
Schwab and Fidelity Debit Cards are something I carry while travelling. They reimburse ATM fees worldwide.
Limited time promotional offers from various cards such that of wireless credit from Business Platinum card is also attractive to me. Some small but huge discount offer (ex 20% off Whole Food and 10% off Walmart) from the likes of Albert can also be somewhat worthwhile. Obviously there are also debit cards like that of OnJuno that provide 5% (or boosted to 10% for limited time) cashback on various brands.
Occasional Crypto Debit Cards
All existing crypto credit cards (including that of BlockFi and Gemini) are trash as they have weak signup bonus as well as mediocre category bonus. On the contrary, crypto debit cards can occasionally be good. You can read my old and dated overview of various crypto debit cards here, but here is a current situation of two crypto cards I continue to recommend:
Coinbase 4% debit card is a must have. You don’t need to buy or stake shit tokens to get 4% reward. I do not see this card lasting very long.
Fold bitcoin debit card is still my #2 for recommendation of crypto cards simply because you don’t need to buy or stake shit tokens. You can check out my detailed review here but be warned that they may not be as MS friendly as they once were and that their new reward structure discourages this card from being a daily driver. If you want to try this card out, I would recommend you start with a free version. In fact, I will likely downgrade to the free version on renewal.
I’m Thinking About Getting These Cards
Here are a few cards I am thinking about adding to my daily driver list. They currently aren’t on the list because I don’t have it (and I may not have it because I have not been approved for one….yet).
Citi Double Cash credit card is a card no longer have but I plan to product change to this card soon. This will likely replace blue plus in my wallet.
Venture X credit card 2x is something I have applied for and failed to get. When I get approved, this will likely replace blue plus in my wallet.
Upgrade 2.2% credit card is something I have already been denied for but I plan to try again in the future, especially because of the $500 signup bonus. When I get approved, this will likely replace blue plus in my wallet.
Closing Thoughts
Year after year, Altitude Reserve is still number won.
