Basic Hobby Guidelines

We've designed this site to give you the facts as efficiently as possible. That said, below is a quick punch list about the basic guidelines for collecting points. Following them can get you thousands of dollars in free travel.

Here are the basic guidelines:

• Pay off your cards every month using auto pay.
  • If you are not in a financial position to do this, you should check out our article Am I Financially Ready For This Hobby? »
    
• The majority of your credit card spends should go towards a bonus on your latest new card.
  • The “cash back” on most bonus spends will net you about 20%. That makes 1.5% cash back seem like chasing pennies.
• Chasing sign-up bonuses means you’ll want a new card every 2-4 months. You’ll want to prioritize those cards accordingly.
• Only apply for cards with a bonus value of $500+
  • Since there will be a limit to the number of cards for which you can get approved, getting a "department store" card for a $50 discount is like throwing away $450 you could have gotten when opening a better card.
• Generally, apply for cards from banks that have more stringent approval rules.
  • Tier 1: Chase and Capital One
  • Tier 2: Barclays
  • Tier 3: Citi
  • Tier 4: Amex
• If you have a significant other, working together is ideal. Alternating “new cards,” referring each other for extra bonus points, and combining spends to meet bonus spends -- all are great strategies.
• Prioritize based on your specific travel goals: Do you want points for hotels vs. points for airlines? Or are you saving points for your ideal travel destination? Different point systems are better for certain goals. See our Best Card For series »
• Prioritize limited time bonus offers (especially on Amex since you can only get theirs "once in a lifetime"). Some offers are truly too good to pass up.
• Pull the trigger. People always ask us how we have so many points. It's because we apply for our next card right as we are finishing up another spend. If you spend months thinking about your next card, you'll miss out on thousands of dollars in bonuses each year. Points Navigator is designed to help you pick your next card quickly. And to avoid triggers that will get you declined.
• Our personalized suggestions tool automates these considerations for you.

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