American Express Platinum Card
Want to take luxurious travel to the next level? Sign up for the American Express Platinum Card using my referral link and receive a bonus of up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, valued at up to $1,600!
Traveled Out’s Take
Despite the high annual fee, and fierce competition in the credit card space for premium travel cards, it’s still hard to beat this card even if you hate coupon books. We do use these credits provided in their entirety, minus the Equinox credit, can state we come out net positive on the credits vs annual fee here.
High MR point valuations (.02CPP*), 21 transfer partners, extensive lounge network, and a sprinkle of loyalty status make this card solid for avid travelers.
American Express Gold Card
If you’re a big foodie, or even just a grocery person, this card has one of the best multipliers of any card in it’s top earning category.
Sign up for the American Express Platinum Card using my referral link and receive a bonus of up to 60,000 Membership Rewards points, valued at up to $1,200!
Traveled Out’s Take
Another high annual fee coupon book, however this card is my second highest point driver for my set-up. If you can actually get value from credits you receive from this card you’re definitely coming out net positive with a massive bank of points potentially.
High MR return on top spend category (4x), High MR point valuations (.02CPP*), 21 transfer partners, and up to $524 in credit value, however we place this at $424 considering the hotel credit is not good ROI.
American Express Business Blue Plus Card
An absolute staple to the Amex trifecta, or a great catch-all card to any card set up. There are very few comparable cards that earn 2x back on all purchases.
Sign up for the American Express Platinum Card using my referral link and receive a bonus of up to 15,000 Membership Rewards points, valued at up to $300!
Traveled Out’s Take
This card is, arguably, the most powerful catch-all card considering the Amex point ecosystem is the most robust. This card grants access to transfer-partner benefits and the Amex MR ecosystem.
High MR point valuations (.02CPP*) and 21 transfer partners make this card potentially a necessity for your set-up with US based purchases (careful of foreign transaction fees here!).
American Express Delta Gold Card
If you’re a big Delta flyer, and not a flyer with companion bookings, this is definitely the card to get if either flying Delta frequently or see yourself transferring any reward points to Delta.
Sign up for the American Express Platinum Card using my referral link and receive a bonus of up to 50,000 Delta SkyMiles points, valued at up to $600, plus a $0 annual fee for the first year!
Traveled Out’s Take
A niche card that we use for, mostly, European or Japan flights as KLM is a partner and you can use Delta portal to book these flights for and receive free checked + carry-on bags, as well as the 15% reduction of points needed for booking. We use this when moving Amex points to Delta for deal flights.
Honestly, not a good point to talk about here other than the above mentioned However, there is a $100 Delta Stays credit to use on booking stays/hotels to offset the $150 annual fee.
Bilt Mastercard
Points back AND waived transaction fees on rent? You heard that right. The biggest budget spend item you have is mostly likely rent, so grab 1x points on rent and save on transaction fees!
Sign up for the Bilt Mastercard using my referral link and save big on rent!
Traveled Out’s Take
This is the only card we’ve found that waives transaction fees on rent payments while simultaneously earning points on rent payments. Rent is usually the biggest bill we find clients have to pay. This card just makes sense!
Very high reward point valuations (.0205CPP*), 16 transfer partners, interest on points once you reach a certain tier, and can be a decent card for dining, especially with the Rent Day bonus point boosts. Oh, and did we mention there’s no annual fee?
Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards
Looking to earn 3% – 5.25% cashback on online purchases, gas, dining or travel? 2% – 3.5% on grocery and wholesale, or 1% – 1.75% on other purchases? There’s more than just those for the top spend category, but these are the most notable highlights.
Apply now for up to a $200 bonus offer!
Traveled Out’s Take
We earn 5.25% on online purchases as our choice category. Remember that custom computer you just built? Yeah, 5.25% cash back on the purchase definitely helps soften the sticker-shock of that shiny graphics card with full RGB you bought.
No annual fee and a card that provides gap-fill for categories of spend you typically don’t receive high cashback in makes this card incredibly hard to beat. A note that in order to receive maximum cashback as described you’ll need a minimum of $100,000 in an account with BoA to be eligible. Just be mindful of the $2,500 quarterly earnings cap!
Chase Ink Business Preferred
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Traveled Out’s Take
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Amazon Prime Visa Card
It’s hard to beat same-day, one-day, and two-day shipping Amazon usually offers with purchases with Prime. If you have Prime, and spend a lot with Amazon, or even just want to build a Chase relationship before applying to other Chase cards, this 5% cashback is another beast of an earner and a good place to start.
Apply now for a $100 bonus offer!
Traveled Out’s Take
We order a lot on Amazon, and by a lot we mean way too much. But, getting prescriptions, pet food (hello Fido!) and more with incredible delivery speed this a mainstay to offset the quarterly cashback earnings we almost always max out on with the BoA CCR card online purchases category.
This card has no annual fee, except for the Prime subscription. However, there is a lesser version of this card that you do not need a Prime subscription for to receive cashback with Amazon purchases.