[stretchwithme]

get a card that pays 1% back in cash and don't bother with points.

better yet, get a card that gives you 3% when you buy gas or 5% back when you buy stuff at a store you shop at anyway (Target does this, for example).

if you're clever, cash can be amazingly flexible. its easy to redeem and accepted in most places.

[bobf]

American Express Blue Cash is great if you spend more than about $9000/year on it. The first $6500 in a year provides cashback at 0.5% on everything, 1% on "everyday purchases" (gas, groceries, drugstore, etc). After that, cashback jumps to 1.5%/5%. On average, people spend 15-18% on "everyday purchases", so that makes average cashback 2.025% after the first $6500 -- slightly better than a straight 2% cashback card, which are rare these days. To do the math:

- Regular 1% card: $9000 at 1% = $90

- Amex Blue Cash: $5525 at 0.5%, $975 at 1.25% (for the first $6500), then $2125 at 1.5%, $375 at 5% = $90.44 (the splits assume the average spending habits of 15% on "everyday purchases")

[stretchwithme]

seems complicated enough

is there an annual fee?

[bobf]

No.

[stretchwithme]

Yeah, I think I would come out ahead with that deal.

They do have a calculator to help you figure it out.

  https://www295.americanexpress.com/cards/loyalty.do?page=bluecash.maximize.new

[hugh3]

Yeah. I figure that at some point you've gotta make a decision: are you going to devote serious effort to chasing down frequent flyer miles and other rewards points or not? There are rewards for doing so, but you can also drive yourself crazy chasing after every last mile and wind up doing stupid things (like the people who deliberately spend extra hours on planes flying indirect routes to their destinations just to build up the miles).

[stretchwithme]

absolutely. time and dignity are valuable commodities.