3 Reasons I’m Using 1 Credit Card for Everything

After having over 100 credit cards, millions of points and miles, and thousands of dollars in cash-back, I find myself exhausted trying to figure out each little strategy to earn even more credit card rewards. This hobby can be taxing, but it’s so worth it for the travel memories you make. I could never fully walk away from it, but I’ve found the most sustainable way to earn rewards without insanity: pick 1 card and stick with it.

For now and in the foreseeable future, I’m putting all of my purchases on the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card, even if it’s not necessarily the most efficient points-earning strategy.

Here are a few reasons I find this strategy to be the best, along with the 1 caveat to this approach.

Why You Should Earn Credit Card Rewards

I’ve been collecting points and miles for over 12 years now and have experimented with several different strategies. As a college student, I focused on cash-back credit cards along with applying for the occasional credit card to earn a welcome bonus offer. As a broke recent grad, I leaned heavily into the Costco Anywhere Visa^® Card by Citi to continue earning cash-back.

As my career and financial picture have progressed, I started veering toward travel rewards as my preferred credit card rewards currency.

I eventually expanded into the multicard strategy, where I had a specific card for nearly every purchase I made to maximize each purchase to the fullest. Moreover, I had my spouse also tuned into making each purchase count. I even doubled down by opening a travel consultancy where I helped clients book flights and used my credit card to purchase the flights — all in the name of earning more rewards.

However, collecting points and miles like this takes a high level of organization. You likely earn heaps of points in 1 area and a few points here and there in others. When you add in the laundry list of logins and passwords associated with these accounts, it can feel like a jumbled mess.

1. You Stack 1 Transferrable Points Currency

By earning 1 transferrable points currency (like Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards), you can keep most of your rewards in 1 place while having the flexibility to transfer them as you need. Plus, you can harbor your points from inevitable devaluation.

By using 1 card, your points balance go up much faster than spreading your spending across multiple cards, even at the expense of not maximizing each card for its spending categories. For example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card only gives bonus points on dining and travel. So for my groceries and dining, I could use the American Express^® Gold Card. But again, I would be forcing myself to triple my annual fee spend and have to keep track of 2 different cards and rewards with different transfer partners.

The ease of earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points on 1 card that can be transferred around well is a great value proposition for me.

2. Financial Peace and Organization

Amid inflation and stagnant wages, nearly everyone is stressed out over money. I’m guilty of it. But as much as I enjoy earning points and miles, it’s not worth the extra mental load for me any longer. I’d much rather have streamlined finances than add complexity to earn more rewards. Sometimes simpler is better.

At one point, I managed 6 credit cards to ensure I maximized every purchase. It turned into a part-time job to keep track of everything. Now, with broader financial goals like purchasing real estate, I don’t have the mental capacity to keep track of multiple credit cards.

However, I won’t ever go full Dave Ramsey by eliminating credit cards from my financial life. I can understand the argument for it, but credit cards offer too many rewards and protections that I find valuable, especially as a traveler.

I’m putting everything on 1 card to keep things simple, focus on building my net worth, and enjoy the rewards I earn along the way.

3. Minimize Annual Fees

Credit card annual fees are simply part of the game and should be accounted for when analyzing a card’s potential value. It can be quite easy to earn enough rewards to justify the annual fee, but the annual fee is still money out of your pocket regardless.

I’ve spent thousands in annual fees in some years. Yes, I’ve always managed to get the value back plus some, but I’m simply growing tired of handing over money to credit card companies just to have a card.

In 2018, I had The Platinum Card^® from American Express for my travel consulting business to earn 5x Membership Rewards^® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with AmexTravel.com (up to $500,000 per year), along with a few other credit cards. I spent thousands of dollars in annual fees yet confidently used the cards to their maximum potential.

But now I’m trying to simplify my finances to focus more on purchasing assets like stocks and real estate, I’m less OK with spending a significant amount on annual fees.

However, I see the value of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card solely for its travel insurance. I still travel regularly, and a single travel slipup like a flight cancellation could easily cost hundreds of dollars. So the combination of its benefits, including Ultimate Rewards value, travel insurance, $50 hotel credit, DoorDash subscription (the partnership is extended until 2027!), and no foreign transaction fees make the $95 fee an easier expense to swallow.

Caveat: Don’t Stop Looking for a New Card or Welcome Bonus Offer

I’ve been sold on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card for a few years now, but that doesn’t mean I’m forever loyal to it. Credit card issuers regularly tweak their offerings and introduce new cards. So yes, I love my Chase Sapphire Preferred card, but if the right card came along to give me a better single-card welcome offer, I would make the jump.

For example, when the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card launched this year, I considered switching. However, Chase’s transfer partners better align with my travel needs.

However, if a welcome bonus offer is too good to pass up, I can justify getting a new card to earn the welcome offer. I recently applied for the Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles Premier Visa Signature^® Credit Card, as did my girlfriend, as we’re saving up the miles for our next trip.

All told, I’m leaning heavily into the Chase Sapphire Preferred card but won’t stop looking at other possibilities for a sole primary credit card for my expenses.

Final Thoughts

Earning points and miles is extremely fun. You can find all sorts of ways to earn credit card rewards and use them to take incredible trips. I’ve been doing it for over a decade and I owe much of what I have to the credit card game.

However, I’m now looking at it in a much simpler view, and that’s OK. There’s no one right way to approach your finances or earn credit card rewards. The key is to figure out how credit card rewards fit into your larger goals.

If that means you’re solely using cash back to help pay down debt, great! If you’re earning rewards so you can earn free rental cars because you enjoy road-tripping, there’s nothing wrong with that either. Either find or design a strategy that works for you and go for it.