Review Updates - October 1, 2016

We updated several pages throughout the site, including "All About Credit Card Rewards" and "US Bank FlexPerks Credit Cards".  We are copying some highlights here.  For the full details please visit the reviews directly.

Best Rewards Credit Card Combos
Theoretically you need way too many cards to maximize rewards - one for gas, one for groceries, one for dining, one for airfare, one for hotels, one for general spending, and so on.  In real life, most of us can't manager that.  That is why here we will recommend the best two-card combos that will hand you much bigger rewards than a single card while still keeping things manageable.

• Fidelity Visa | Citi Double Cash + one category bonus cashback card: This combo is for people who love cash back!  ...
• Amex SPG + Amex Premier Rewards Gold | Citi ThankYou Premier: This powerful combo is for people who prefer miles/points to cashback.  ...
• Amex EveryDay Preferred + Chase Sapphire Reserve | Citi Prestige: We highly recommend this combo as an alternative to the previous one, for the simple reason that the two cards complement each other in the bonus categories almost too perfectly.  With 30 transactions per month, EDP offers highest return for groceries (4.5x, up to $6,000 spent each year) and gas (3x), while Sapphire Reserve covers travel & dining (3x).  So with this combo, you can easily cover the five most important bonus categories: grocery, gas, dining, airfare, and non-air travel, with only two cards - that is an incredible deal!  As for general spending, EDP returns higher rewards at 1.5x (=2.25%) and will be ideal for most purchases.  However, we recommend using Sapphire Reserve for items that may have price drop within 60 days such as electronics for the Price Protection benefit, and when traveling abroad for the waived foreign transaction fees and embedded EMV chip.  Finally, Citi Prestige is an great alternative to Sapphire Reserve, as it offers similar bonus categories: 3x on most travel (airfare, hotels, travel agents), and 2x on dining & entertainment, and similar and even better consumer protection like Citi Price Rewind and two years of Extended Warranty.
• Chase Freedom Unlimited + Chase Sapphire Reserve: Even though Chase Freedom Unlimited is branded as a cashback card, it actually earn UR points at 1.5x for all purchases without an annual fee.  Normally you won't be able to transfer UR points earned through Freedom Unlimited to frequent traveler miles/points since it is a lower tier UR product, limiting the value of a point at 1 cent.  However, the secret here is that if you have our recommended premium UR card Sapphire Reserve, you can transfer the UR points earned from Freedom Unlimited to Sapphire Reserve's account so all of sudden these points become transferable to miles/points or can be redeemed for travel on any airline through Chase at a fixed 1.5 cents per point.  This hugely increases the value of Freedom Unlimited, making it returning an impressive 2.25% cashback equivalent for general spending based on our current valuation of UR points.  Obviously, Sapphire Reserve will be the card to charge to for travel & dining (3x).  In addition, we recommend using Sapphire Reserve for foreign travel and items that may have price drop within 90 days.  Lastly, if you don't mind having three cards in your wallet, adding Chase Freedom, which returns 5x on quarterly rotating categories, will make amazing Chase UR triplets.  UR points earned through Freedom are also transferrable to frequent traveler miles/points when you have Sapphire Reserve, and then Freedom returns an incredible 7.5% on 5x categories.  Bear in mind there is a quarterly $1,500 spending cap for the 5x categories on Freedom, so if you do everything exactly right, you will be earning an extra 21,000 UR points a year (1,500 x 4 x (5 - 1.5) = 21,000) by adding this non-fee card to your wallet.  Of course, you still may replace Sapphire Reserve with Sapphire Preferred and the same trick works - points you accumulated from either Freedom or Freedom Unlimited can be transferred to Sapphire Preferred's account and they become transferrable to miles/points.

US Bank FlexPerks Credit Cards
​Currently, there are four FlexPerks cards: FlexPerks Select+ Amex, FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Signature, FlexPerks Gold Amex, FlexPerks Business Edge Travel Rewards Visa Signature.

FlexPerks Select+ American Express

• Annual Fee: none
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FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Signature

• Annual Fee: 1st year free, $49 thereafter (can be offset by redeeming 3,500 points)
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FlexPerks Gold American Express

• Annual Fee: $85 (can be offset by redeeming 5,000 points)
• Signup Bonus: 30,000 points after spending $2,000 within 4 months of new account opening.  Historical best bonus of this card: 30,000.
• Application Landing Page
• Rewards: 3x on dining, 2x on airlines and gas, 1x everywhere else (up to $180,000 spent annually).
• Best Use of FlexPerks points: The same as FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Signature, i.e., up to 2 cents per point when redeeming for airfare through US Bank, with a $25 incidental credit for each ticket booked this way.
• Amex CONNECT benefits: (1) Automatic Global Entry ($100) or TSA PreCheck ($85) credit, every five years.  (2) Complimentary Boingo Wi-Fi.  (3) 24/7 Lifestyle Concierge Service.  (4) Global Dining Program.  (5) Entertainment Access.  (6) VIP Experiences.  Please visit amexconnect.com/flexperksgold for details of the Amex CONNECT program. 
• Other Benefits: (1) No foreign transaction fees with an embedded EMV chip.  (2)  Complimentary Andrew Harper Travel Club membership.  (3) Discounts (up to 25%) and Emerald Club membership at National Car Rental.  (4) Discounts at BostonCoach limousine service. 
• History: this product was introduced in June 2016, replacing the old FlexPerks Travel Rewards Amex, with an increase of annual fees from $49 to $85.

FlexPerks BUSINESS Edge Travel Rewards Visa Signature
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The Math
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The Conclusion
As long as your spending on the bonus categories exceeds a certain percentage of your total spending, FlexPerks TR Visa or FlexPerks Gold Amex will beat a 2% cashback card such as Fidelity Visa.  For most consumers, FlexPerks Gold Amex is a better card than FlexPerks TR Visa.  US Bank FlexPerks Gold Amex is rated as one of the Best Credit Cards for Rewards.