I love credit cards so much! v6.0 - 2023 (see first page for add'l details)

[calypso726]

1. After analysis, Air Miles cards are not a good value.
. . . they used to be a super deal
. . . airlines and card companies got wise
2. We use a card
. . . with no annual fee
. . . with 2% cash rewards on any and all purchases.
3. Do a Google to find it.
4. For Amazon, they have a 5% rewards card.

This blanket statement may well be true for you and your preferred method of using credit card rewards. However, for many/most of us on this thread, it couldn’t be further from the truth of what works for us. Those of us who have been on this thread for a long time know that there is no wrong way to participate in this hobby. What works for one person and their goals simply may not work for another. I will use myself as an example, comparing what works for you and why it won’t work for me, to illustrate the point for those who may be newer to this hobby.

If I spend $10,000 in Amazon purchases over one year with the 5x Amazon card, I’d earn 50k points worth $500. If I spent $50,000 in one year with a 2x card I would have earned 100,000 points worth $1,000. So I have $1500. Sounds great right? Maybe for someone with different travel goals this is perfect. Not. For. Me. I play this game mostly to experience a higher end more luxurious style vacation and pay as little out of pocket for the experience. My best was 2019 with a $57,000 vacation flying first class on Emirates to the Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa in Dubai and ending in Overwater bungalows at the Conrad Rangali in the Maldives. Booking that was all points and miles and about $235 or so out of pocket. I would not have used $1500 in cash back points and $55,500 in cash to experience that. Haven’t topped that one yet. So maybe it’s an outlier.

Let’s go with the one I am on right now. Business class flights using American Airline miles and Air France miles which would have cost a little over $12,000 to get from Miami to Tahiti. Three nights in Hilton accommodations Moorea that would have been about $2,700 and 3 nights in Bora Bora that would have been about $6,500 and one night in Tahiti that would have been about $400 all booked with Hilton points. Food and transfers are going to run me about $1,000 or more which could be covered by that cash back from an Amazon card and a 2x card but is likely to be hit with foreign transaction fees on top. Fortunately, I can also wipe those out with Hilton Aspire cards and the benefits they come with as well as the points for these stays are something I can make full use of each year. Nonetheless, I would not have paid over $20k to take this trip and cash back cards at 2x or 5x would do me no good.

This is why I, and many others here use sign up bonuses from cards, be they airline, hotel or variable points cards throughout the year to amass points and miles. Many of us also maximize the spending categories of said cards, use shopping portals and purchase no fee gift cards to build up the points stash. For most of us, a cash back card or two alone will not suffice for our travel goals.

I do at least one fully travel hacked trip a year using all points and miles, sometimes more and mitigate the out of pocket costs of my other trips with this hobby. I hope this helps shed some light on why blanket statements don’t apply to all who “love their credit cards” and this hobby.

Cheers! All the way from Bora Bora

 

[emilymad]

Just remember you'll have to clear immigration in CLT upon landing from FRA and even with Global Entry (if you have it) that seems like a mighty short layover since boarding is usually 30 min prior to takeoff and IIRC AA is pretty keen to depart on time. I'm risk adverse and not sure I'd chance it but if they sell it, then I guess it's over the legal connection time.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. It is a 1 hour layover going to FRA but coming home it is about 3 hours in CLT which with GE I think should be enough time. Or is 3 hours not enough in CLT?

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

This blanket statement may well be true for you and your preferred method of using credit card rewards. However, for many/most of us on thread, it couldn’t be further from the truth of what works for us. Those of us who have been on this thread for a long time know that there is no wrong way to participate in this hobby. What works for one person and their goals simply may not work for another. I will use myself as an example, comparing what works for you and why it won’t work for me, to illustrate the point for those who may be newer to this hobby.

If I spend $10,000 in Amazon purchases over one year with the 5x Amazon card, I’d earn 50k points worth $500. If I spent $50,000 in one year with a 2x card I would have earned 100,000 points worth $1,000. So I have $1500. Sounds great right? Maybe for someone with different travel goals this is perfect. Not. For. Me. I play this game mostly to experience a higher end more luxurious style vacation and pay as little out of pocket for the experience. My best was 2019 with a $57,000 vacation flying first class on Emirates to the Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa in Dubai and ending in Overwater bungalows at the Conrad Rangali in the Maldives. Booking that was all points and miles and about $235 or so out of pocket. I would not have used $1500 in cash back points and $55,500 in cash to experience that. Haven’t topped that one yet. So maybe it’s an outlier.

Let’s go with the one I am on right now. Business class flights using American Airline miles and Air France miles which would have cost a little over $12,000 to get from Miami to Tahiti. Three nights in Hilton accommodations Moorea that wild have been about $2,700 and 3 nights in Bora Bora that would have been about $6,500 and one night in Tahiti that would have been about $400 all booked with Hilton points. Food and transfers are going to run me about $1,000 or more which could be covered by that cash back from an Amazon card and a 2x card but Is likely be hit with foreign transaction fees on top. Fortunately, I can also wipe those out with Hilton Aspire cards and the benefits they come with as well as the points for these stays are something I can make full use of each year. Nonetheless, I would not have paid over $20k to take this trip and cash back cards at 2x or 5x would do me no good.

This is why I, and many others here use sign up bonuses from cards, be they airline, hotel or variable points cards throughout the year to amass points and miles. Many of us also maximize the spending categories of said cards, use shopping portals and purchase no fee gift cards to build up the points stash. For most of us, a cash back card or two alone will not suffice for our travel goals.

I do at least one fully travel hacked trip a year using all points and miles, sometimes more and mitigate the out of pocket costs of my other trips with this hobby. I hope this helps shed some light on why blanket statements don’t apply to all who “love their credit cards” and this hobby.

Cheers! All the way from Bora Bora

View attachment 766188

So well put! And what a lovely photo. Hope you're having a great trip

 

[djmeredith]

Warning to anyone who keeps their card records on Excel on a Mac system. I installed the latest update this week and realized last night that my credit card Excel spreadsheet had been "corrupted." After Googling, it appears this is not an uncommon problem with previous updates, and nothing can be done to repair it. So, I have no records of my churning which began in 2020. I am going to try to recreate as much as possible, but I am dreading the time and effort this will take.

My AmEx Gold is coming up for renewal next week after the first year. I don't need the card because the benefits are not important to me. My other AmEx cards are the personal Plat, Aspire, and Hilton biz. Should I just cancel after the 1 year mark or is there a PC recommended?

 

[afan]

Warning to anyone who keeps their card records on Excel on a Mac system. I installed the latest update this week and realized last night that my credit card Excel spreadsheet had been "corrupted." After Googling, it appears this is not an uncommon problem with previous updates, and nothing can be done to repair it. So, I have no records of my churning which began in 2020. I am going to try to recreate as much as possible, but I am dreading the time and effort this will take.

My AmEx Gold is coming up for renewal next week after the first year. I don't need the card because the benefits are not important to me. My other AmEx cards are the personal Plat, Aspire, and Hilton biz. Should I just cancel after the 1 year mark or is there a PC recommended?

This is a good reminder to back up your stuff, whether it's files, photos, emails etc. Either on an external drive, the cloud or both.

That totally sucks. I've had spreadsheets get messed up opening them from one drive on different devices, which you are supposed to be able to do easily. Now I can't open one on my phone or tablet without a warning of some sort and it'll mess the spreadsheet up if I continue. Totally defeats the purpose. Thankfully it was only my sub spend sheet so it was easy to fix and retype my charges.

Have you tried restoring an old version or restoring you mac to before the update so you could save the spreadsheet elsewhere and potentially the excel version to avoid when it updates? I'm a PC person so not sure if this is a thing with Macs or not but would be something I would consider.

 

[georgina]

Sorry, I wasn't clear. It is a 1 hour layover going to FRA but coming home it is about 3 hours in CLT which with GE I think should be enough time. Or is 3 hours not enough in CLT?

From our experience last weekend, 3 hours in Charlotte with GE should be fine. When we landed Saturday they would not let anyone off the plane because customs was too backed up. When we did get off, the regular customs line was horrendous; there was NO ONE at the GE kiosks, but it was hard to find them. We had to cut through the line which snaked down the hallways. Then of course we were delayed until the next day, sigh.

 

[georgina]

Warning to anyone who keeps their card records on Excel on a Mac system. I installed the latest update this week and realized last night that my credit card Excel spreadsheet had been "corrupted." After Googling, it appears this is not an uncommon problem with previous updates, and nothing can be done to repair it. So, I have no records of my churning which began in 2020. I am going to try to recreate as much as possible, but I am dreading the time and effort this will take.

Bummer. Makes me feel a bit better about being old school and keeping my churning records on paper. DD laughs at me because I still keep a paper checking account ledger also. Plus I have a small notebook where I record all my monthly obligations. Makes it easier for me to plan when I have to move money around. Yeah, I’m old!

 

[tink1970]

Sorry, I wasn't clear. It is a 1 hour layover going to FRA but coming home it is about 3 hours in CLT which with GE I think should be enough time. Or is 3 hours not enough in CLT?

Oh, I totally misunderstood...three hours sounds good...I was thinking you only had an hour..and was like, eek, that's cutting it fine. Three, especially with GE, should be more than enough, barring unforeseen disasters (which are just that).

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Is the same true if you PC a MC Freedom Flex to a Visa CSR?

Has anyone on an annual basis swapped product changing a Freedom and a Freedom Flex to a CSR? Would chase get mad at me for doing this?

It should be the same since the opening date should follow…no idea changing annually but I would think as long as your paying the annual fee on the CSR it may be okay

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Bummer. Makes me feel a bit better about being old school and keeping my churning records on paper. DD laughs at me because I still keep a paper checking account ledger also. Plus I have a small notebook where I record all my monthly obligations. Makes it easier for me to plan when I have to move money around. Yeah, I’m old!

Lol..I’m right there with you on both items

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Earlier this week someone logged into my SW RR account and transferred out 106k RR points, the transaction said "Credit Card." Not sure what that means, but I noticed it right away (within like 30 minutes of it happening) and called SW. I got my info changed back (email address and address), and changed my account password. I also put in a case with them to investigate. I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this happening, is it likely that SW will be able to get my points back, or refund them to me? I have a flight I wanted to book for Nov. that opened up this morning but of course now I don't have enough points. They left approx 6k RR's. I honestly feel slightly lucky that they didn't cancel my flights I have scheduled for this weekend (family trip to Orlando). If that had happened I'm not sure what I would have done! But of course now I'm very paranoid and check constantly to make sure the flights are still there. Anyways, just hoping for some feedback to see what my chances are of getting the points returned. Also, make sure you have secure passwords and periodically check your accounts. Thank you!

I'm sorry this happened to you. It's so weird that the transaction said "credit card." Does that mean something? Hopefully you've double checked your chase card/logins to be sure all is well there.

And thank you for posting this. It prompted me to make my password more secure. I was using an old one bc I foolishly was like, "who wants my RR points?" I guess someone does.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

I'm sorry this happened to you. It's so weird that the transaction said "credit card." Does that mean something? Hopefully you've double checked your chase card/logins to be sure all is well there.

And thank you for posting this. It prompted me to make my password more secure. I was using an old one bc I foolishly was like, "who wants my RR points?" I guess someone does.

Might want to try a password manager. I love Bitwarden. It was a real life changer when i switched everything to a password manager and let it create secure password for me. Life is so much easier letting it fill in all my login details through the browser extension and phone app!

 

[magickingdomprincess]

Back in 2019, I had someone access my account somehow and they booked a ticket for themself using my points. The weird thing though was I could see her name and everything. I called them and was able to just cancel her flight to get my points back, but this sounds like a different situation.

I hope you can get it all sorted out. I would be so bummed!

Thank you!

I am not sure anyone remembers, but I had a huge issue with AA with this happening to me. She had multiple flights booked, and had the same name is me. It took a long time and some higher ups to get it fixed, but it finally did. I would imagine SW can somehow fix this.

I vaguely remember this, your situation sounds very tricky to get fixed so I'm glad it finally got figured out!

I would try tweeting at SW to see if they can expedite things especially since you need to book a flight. SW Twitter team seems really on the ball and quick to help.

Great idea, I will try that. Thanks!

I'm sorry this happened to you. It's so weird that the transaction said "credit card." Does that mean something? Hopefully you've double checked your chase card/logins to be sure all is well there.

And thank you for posting this. It prompted me to make my password more secure. I was using an old one bc I foolishly was like, "who wants my RR points?" I guess someone does.

I have checked my cards and so far they're ok. I thought maybe they used it to buy something or pay off a bill? I really don't know, it's so strange. And I agree, it seems like a strange thing to hack, but when you think about it, someone could cause a lot of problems, especially if you have upcoming flights.

 

[magickingdomprincess]

Might want to try a password manager. I love Bitwarden. It was a real life changer when i switched everything to a password manager and let it create secure password for me. Life is so much easier letting it fill in all my login details through the browser extension and phone app!

Thank you for the suggestion, I will definitely look into that!

 

[KPK02090]

Like so many others, I'm jumping on the Japan bandwagon. It's the only place my family of 5 (DH, DD15, DS14, DS11) is in agreement on wanting to go to. So where do I start? I know NOTHING about Japan. We are most likely not going to do Disney while there. I'd love to do June 2024, otherwise April or June 2025. I have a pretty healthy stash of points in URs and MRs, some Hilton and Marriott. With 5 people I'm also assuming we'll have to fly economy. Are there books, websites, trip reports, vloggers that people would suggest reading/following to start figuring it all out? Any and all advice very welcome. Thanks so much!!!

 

[becauseimnew]

Warning to anyone who keeps their card records on Excel on a Mac system. I installed the latest update this week and realized last night that my credit card Excel spreadsheet had been "corrupted." After Googling, it appears this is not an uncommon problem with previous updates, and nothing can be done to repair it. So, I have no records of my churning which began in 2020. I am going to try to recreate as much as possible, but I am dreading the time and effort this will take.

My AmEx Gold is coming up for renewal next week after the first year. I don't need the card because the benefits are not important to me. My other AmEx cards are the personal Plat, Aspire, and Hilton biz. Should I just cancel after the 1 year mark or is there a PC recommended?

Oh no... that is terrible. I keep all my stuff on Google docs.

I would just close it, no point in downgrading to a green the benefits aren't great if you have a Plat.

 

[becauseimnew]

Like so many others, I'm jumping on the Japan bandwagon. It's the only place my family of 5 (DH, DD15, DS14, DS11) is in agreement on wanting to go to. So where do I start? I know NOTHING about Japan. We are most likely not going to do Disney while there. I'd love to do June 2024, otherwise April or June 2025. I have a pretty healthy stash of points in URs and MRs, some Hilton and Marriott. With 5 people I'm also assuming we'll have to fly economy. Are there books, websites, trip reports, vloggers that people would suggest reading/following to start figuring it all out? Any and all advice very welcome. Thanks so much!!!

Japan Airlines is going to be your go to airline. If you had AA miles that would be the best, it's 35K +$5.60 each way. The next best option would be to book JAL through British Airways, you'll pay about $200 in fees per ticket but you be able to get 5 tickets. If you fly from the west coast it's about 25K miles, central airports about 30K, not sure about east coast as I've never researched that. When I was doing research JAL did release 5 Business seats from some airports, I think SFO/LAX but I can't remember. Just start tracking flights on BA to get a good idea of what's available. We leave next weekend so I'll come back next month with hotel reviews. We got really lucky and booked everything in October, just as Japan was announcing their re-opening and prices were amazing, hotels prices have tripled.

If you plan to Visit Tokyo and Osaka I would look into flying in one city and out of the other to save on JR bullet train expenses. We have spent about $1,000 on trains/buses and that doesn't include the local transportation.

I wish we would have flown into Hiroshima, then moved east to Osaka, Kyoto, then Tokyo. There are also a lot of beautiful beaches that we are missing out, but we prioritized theme parks and Mt Fuji.
I joined a Japan Travel Planning group on Facebook, I've gotten the most recent information from there, with Japan being closed for so long the bloggers haven't updated their information.
I watch YouTube videos, you'll find recent information on there, I just search Japan 2023 and find recent videos.
Jakes On a Plane on Instagram, he travels all over Japan, you can see other less popular places.
Instagram and TikTok will have the most recent information, lots of good suggestions.

This is how much we have spent so far on our 18 days trip, 2 adults and 2 teen girls.

Detail	Airline Miles	Chase URs	Hilton	Cash
AA Flight SWO to KIX	240,000			22.40
KIX to Kyoto - HARUKA JR tickets				52.00
Mimaru Suites Kyoto Shijo - 4 nights		41,404		0.00
Private Kyoto Tour - Chase Travel Portal		24,128		0.00
The Park Front Hotel at Universal Studios Japan - 3 nights		36,553		0.00
Universal Studios Park tickets				680.00
Shinkansen to Hiroshima				291.00
KIRO Hiroshima by THE SHARE HOTELS - 1 night		11,212		0.00
Shinkansen to Tokyo				450.00
Disney Tickets				648.00
Hilton Tokyo Bay - 2 nights			63,000	0.00
Hilton Tokyo Bay 3 nights			91,000	0.00
Hilton Tokyo Bay 1 night cash
Mimaru Tokyo Asakusa 5 nights		74,326		0.00
Hotel JAL City Haneda Tokyo West Wing 1 night		7,263
Hotel JAL City Haneda Tokyo West Wing 1 night		7,263
BA Flight HND to DFW *Amex 30% Transfer Bonus 371K	260,000			1,343.00
Mt Fuji Hut				435.00
Team Labs Planet				81.00
Bus to and from Mount Fuji				191.00
Trip Insurance				204.00
AA Flight DFW to SWO	15,000			11.20
Train/local transportation				22.00
Total	515,000	202,149	154,000	$4,430.60

Happy to answer any planning questions. I'll be back with a trip report in July.

 

[punkin]

Japan Airlines is going to be your go to airline. If you had AA miles that would be the best, it's 35K +$5.60 each way. The next best option would be to book JAL through British Airways, you'll pay about $200 in fees per ticket but you be able to get 5 tickets. If you fly from the west coast it's about 25K miles, central airports about 30K, not sure about east coast as I've never researched that. When I was doing research JAL did release 5 Business seats from some airports, I think SFO/LAX but I can't remember. Just start tracking flights on BA to get a good idea of what's available. We leave next weekend so I'll come back next month with hotel reviews. We got really lucky and booked everything in October, just as Japan was announcing their re-opening and prices were amazing, hotels prices have tripled.

If you plan to Visit Tokyo and Osaka I would look into flying in one city and out of the other to save on JR bullet train expenses. We have spent about $1,000 on trains/buses and that doesn't include the local transportation.

I wish we would have flown into Hiroshima, then moved east to Osaka, Kyoto, then Tokyo. There is also a lot of beautiful beaches that we a missing out, but we prioritized theme parks and Mt Fuji.
I joined a Japan Travel Planning group on Facebook, I've gotten the most recent information from there, with Japan being closed for so long the bloggers haven't updated their information.
I watch YouTube videos, you'll find recent information on there, I just search Japan 2023 and find recent videos.
Jakes On a Plane on Instagram, he travels all over Japan so you can see other less popular places.
Instagram and TikTok will have the most recent information, lots of good suggestions.

This is how much we have spent so far on our 18 days trip, 2 adults and 2 teen girls.

Detail	Airline Miles	Chase URs	Hilton	Cash
AA Flight SWO to KIX	240,000			22.40
KIX to Kyoto - HARUKA JR tickets				52.00
Mimaru Suites Kyoto Shijo - 4 nights		41,404		0.00
Private Kyoto Tour - Chase Travel Portal		24,128		0.00
The Park Front Hotel at Universal Studios Japan - 3 nights		36,553		0.00
Universal Studios Park tickets				680.00
Shinkansen to Hiroshima				291.00
KIRO Hiroshima by THE SHARE HOTELS - 1 night		11,212		0.00
Shinkansen to Hiroshima				450.00
Disney Tickets				648.00
Hilton Tokyo Bay - 2 nights			63,000	0.00
Hilton Tokyo Bay 3 nights			91,000	0.00
Hilton Tokyo Bay 1 night cash
Mimaru Tokyo Asakusa 5 nights		74,326		0.00
Hotel JAL City Haneda Tokyo West Wing 1 night		7,263
Hotel JAL City Haneda Tokyo West Wing 1 night		7,263
BA Flight HND to DFW *Amex 30% Transfer Bonus 371K	260,000			1,343.00
Mt Fuji Hut				435.00
Team Labs Planet				81.00
Bus to and from Mount Fuji				191.00
Trip Insurance				204.00
AA Flight DFW to SWO	15,000			11.20
Train/local transportation				22.00
Total	515,000	202,149	154,000	$4,430.60

Happy to answer any planning questions. I'll be back with a trip report in July.

This is so helpful!

 

[KPK02090]

Japan Airlines is going to be your go to airline. If you had AA miles that would be the best, it's 35K +$5.60 each way. The next best option would be to book JAL through British Airways, you'll pay about $200 in fees per ticket but you be able to get 5 tickets. If you fly from the west coast it's about 25K miles, central airports about 30K, not sure about east coast as I've never researched that. When I was doing research JAL did release 5 Business seats from some airports, I think SFO/LAX but I can't remember. Just start tracking flights on BA to get a good idea of what's available. We leave next weekend so I'll come back next month with hotel reviews. We got really lucky and booked everything in October, just as Japan was announcing their re-opening and prices were amazing, hotels prices have tripled.

If you plan to Visit Tokyo and Osaka I would look into flying in one city and out of the other to save on JR bullet train expenses. We have spent about $1,000 on trains/buses and that doesn't include the local transportation.

I wish we would have flown into Hiroshima, then moved east to Osaka, Kyoto, then Tokyo. There is also a lot of beautiful beaches that we a missing out, but we prioritized theme parks and Mt Fuji.
I joined a Japan Travel Planning group on Facebook, I've gotten the most recent information from there, with Japan being closed for so long the bloggers haven't updated their information.
I watch YouTube videos, you'll find recent information on there, I just search Japan 2023 and find recent videos.
Jakes On a Plane on Instagram, he travels all over Japan so you can see other less popular places.
Instagram and TikTok will have the most recent information, lots of good suggestions.

This is how much we have spent so far on our 18 days trip, 2 adults and 2 teen girls.

Detail	Airline Miles	Chase URs	Hilton	Cash
AA Flight SWO to KIX	240,000			22.40
KIX to Kyoto - HARUKA JR tickets				52.00
Mimaru Suites Kyoto Shijo - 4 nights		41,404		0.00
Private Kyoto Tour - Chase Travel Portal		24,128		0.00
The Park Front Hotel at Universal Studios Japan - 3 nights		36,553		0.00
Universal Studios Park tickets				680.00
Shinkansen to Hiroshima				291.00
KIRO Hiroshima by THE SHARE HOTELS - 1 night		11,212		0.00
Shinkansen to Hiroshima				450.00
Disney Tickets				648.00
Hilton Tokyo Bay - 2 nights			63,000	0.00
Hilton Tokyo Bay 3 nights			91,000	0.00
Hilton Tokyo Bay 1 night cash
Mimaru Tokyo Asakusa 5 nights		74,326		0.00
Hotel JAL City Haneda Tokyo West Wing 1 night		7,263
Hotel JAL City Haneda Tokyo West Wing 1 night		7,263
BA Flight HND to DFW *Amex 30% Transfer Bonus 371K	260,000			1,343.00
Mt Fuji Hut				435.00
Team Labs Planet				81.00
Bus to and from Mount Fuji				191.00
Trip Insurance				204.00
AA Flight DFW to SWO	15,000			11.20
Train/local transportation				22.00
Total	515,000	202,149	154,000	$4,430.60

Happy to answer any planning questions. I'll be back with a trip report in July.

This is awesome! What fabulous information! Thank you!!
Can’t wait to read the trip reports!
I guarantee I’ll have more planning questions!

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

This blanket statement may well be true for you and your preferred method of using credit card rewards. However, for many/most of us on this thread, it couldn’t be further from the truth of what works for us. Those of us who have been on this thread for a long time know that there is no wrong way to participate in this hobby. What works for one person and their goals simply may not work for another. I will use myself as an example, comparing what works for you and why it won’t work for me, to illustrate the point for those who may be newer to this hobby.

If I spend $10,000 in Amazon purchases over one year with the 5x Amazon card, I’d earn 50k points worth $500. If I spent $50,000 in one year with a 2x card I would have earned 100,000 points worth $1,000. So I have $1500. Sounds great right? Maybe for someone with different travel goals this is perfect. Not. For. Me. I play this game mostly to experience a higher end more luxurious style vacation and pay as little out of pocket for the experience. My best was 2019 with a $57,000 vacation flying first class on Emirates to the Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa in Dubai and ending in Overwater bungalows at the Conrad Rangali in the Maldives. Booking that was all points and miles and about $235 or so out of pocket. I would not have used $1500 in cash back points and $55,500 in cash to experience that. Haven’t topped that one yet. So maybe it’s an outlier.

Let’s go with the one I am on right now. Business class flights using American Airline miles and Air France miles which would have cost a little over $12,000 to get from Miami to Tahiti. Three nights in Hilton accommodations Moorea that would have been about $2,700 and 3 nights in Bora Bora that would have been about $6,500 and one night in Tahiti that would have been about $400 all booked with Hilton points. Food and transfers are going to run me about $1,000 or more which could be covered by that cash back from an Amazon card and a 2x card but is likely to be hit with foreign transaction fees on top. Fortunately, I can also wipe those out with Hilton Aspire cards and the benefits they come with as well as the points for these stays are something I can make full use of each year. Nonetheless, I would not have paid over $20k to take this trip and cash back cards at 2x or 5x would do me no good.

This is why I, and many others here use sign up bonuses from cards, be they airline, hotel or variable points cards throughout the year to amass points and miles. Many of us also maximize the spending categories of said cards, use shopping portals and purchase no fee gift cards to build up the points stash. For most of us, a cash back card or two alone will not suffice for our travel goals.

I do at least one fully travel hacked trip a year using all points and miles, sometimes more and mitigate the out of pocket costs of my other trips with this hobby. I hope this helps shed some light on why blanket statements don’t apply to all who “love their credit cards” and this hobby.

Cheers! All the way from Bora Bora

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So well said and a big DITTO from me. A cash back card does nothing for me--I get so much more value out of using MRs/URs for airline seats. We mostly focus on First/Business airline seats since we travel so much, but I'm also a big Hilton Aspire fan (DD and I both have the card) and we love using our FN rewards for golf places in PHX to go visit DD and Hilton points for stays at the London Paddington when leaving London. I'd have to look back on the exact numbers, but my best redemption by far was 4 people RT from SFO/LAX to Japan in 2019 on ANA and JAL--6 legs in first and 2 in business. The cost for the tickets would have been over $58,000 if I'd used cash. Instead, I paid in miles (via BA and VS) and maybe $800-1200(?) in cash for all four of us. We still talk about that trip. First class on ANA and JAL was an experience in itself. My (special needs) son and husband were the only 2 passengers in First on the way back on ANA and they had 3 flight attendants to themselves. My son kept saying "This is awesome, Dad" over and over. ROFL. Priceless!