A number of banks have their own points programs, and in some cases it’s possible maximize value by combining the benefits of multiple cards. For example, you can use one card to earn more points and another card to get the most value from those points.
This post has been updated in several ways since last publication: I’ve limited the issuers to those with transferable points (i.e. I removed Wells Fargo), I added a “which is best” section, I added the new Capital One Venture X card to the mix, and I updated details within each section to remove information that was out of date and/or to better explain the value of each combo.
In this post I’ve taken a look at card combos from Amex, Capital One, Chase, and Citi. I chose those banks because each offers multiple cards with different earning rates and points transferable to airline and hotel programs. That’s important because transferring points in order to book high value awards is the single best way to get outsized value from your rewards.
In each of the below cases, I believe that credit cards are better together. With the right cards, you can maximize point earnings and get the best value from your points.
So, without further ado, here are my favorite transferable points credit card combos…
Amex Membership Rewards
American Express Gold Card + Blue Business Plus
4X grocery, 4X dining, 3X airfare, and 2X everywhere else
| Card Name w Details & Review (no offer) |
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FM Mini Review: This card offers an awesome return on US supermarket and worldwide dining spend, putting it at or near the top-of-class in both categories. Dining credits and Uber / Uber Eats credits go a long way towards reducing the sting of this card's annual fee. $250 Annual Fee Earning rate: 3X points for flights booked with airlines or on amextravel.com ✦ 4x points at US Supermarkets (up to $25K in purchases, then 1x) ✦ 4x at restaurants worldwide ✦ 1X points on other purchases. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees) Card Info: Amex Pay Over Time Card issued by Amex. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: Up to $10 in statement credits monthly with participating dining partners (Goldbelly, Wine.com, Milk Bar, Shake Shack, Seamless/Grubhub, Cheesecake Factory) ✦ $10 monthly Uber or Uber Eats credit (use it or lose it each month) ✦ $100 hotel credit on qualifying charges on stays of 2 nights or longer, plus a room upgrade upon arrival, if available with The Hotel Collection at americanexpress.com/hc ✦ Enrollment required for select benefits. |
FM Mini Review: 2X rewards for all spend (up to $50K per year) with no annual fee makes this card a winner. Click here for our complete card review No Annual Fee Earning rate: 2X Membership Rewards points on all purchases, up to $50K spend per calendar year (then 1X thereafter). Terms apply. (Rates & Fees) Base: 2X (3.1%) Card Info: Amex Credit Card issued by Amex. This card imposes foreign transaction fees. |
Combo details: Amex automatically pools all of your Membership Rewards points together even if they were earned with different cards. Unfortunately, you can’t move points from one person to another, but you can transfer points to a friend’s airline or hotel program account if they are an authorized user (or employee) on one of your accounts.
Why this is a great combo: This combination delivers terrific earning potential (2X to 4X everywhere in the US!), plus the ability to transfer points to a wide variety of transfer partners (see: Amex Transfer Partners). Plus, Amex frequently offers transfer bonuses so that you can end up with even more miles. And, for those who can make good use of the Gold card’s $10 per month dining credits and $10 per month Uber / Uber Eats credits, the $250 annual fee is easy to justify.
On the other hand: The Gold card’s 4X grocery bonus is capped at $25K annual spend and is limited to stores within the US; and the Blue Business Plus card charges foreign transaction fees and limits the 2X bonus to $50K per year. In other words, this is not the best combo for those who spend big, or for those looking for great rewards on spend outside of the United States. Also note that Amex isn’t widely accepted outside of the United States and so you’ll want a back-up Visa or Mastercard when traveling.
Add-on: There are a number of great cards to consider adding onto this combo:
- Consider adding the Business Platinum Card in order to get fantastic perks, plus the ability to pay for certain flights with points at a value of approximately 1.5 cents per point.
- Also consider the Platinum Card for Schwab which has similar great perks to the Business Platinum and lets you cash out points for 1.05 cents each.
- The Amex Green Card is another interesting add-on option. The Green card would add 3X for all travel (not just airfare), $100 credit per year for CLEAR, and $100 credit per year for airport lounge access purchased through Lounge Buddy.
- For online purchases, it’s hard to beat the fee-free Rakuten Visa. All purchases made through the Rakuten online portal earn 3X when paid with this card (that’s in addition to the rewards earned from the portal). Plus, you can set up your account to earn Membership Rewards points rather than cash back. See this post for details: Rakuten (formerly Ebates) Visa with Membership Rewards. Everything you need to know.
See also: Complete Guide to Amex Membership Rewards
Capital One “Miles”
Venture X + SavorOne
10X hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel; 3x dining & entertainment; 3x grocery; 2x everywhere else; lounge access; cell phone protection; no foreign transaction fees.
| Card Name w Details & Review (no offer) |
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FM Mini Review: This card offers annual rebates that easily mitigate the fee for those who travel often. Authorized users are free and also get access to perks like Priority Pass, Capital One Lounges, Plaza Premium lounges, and more. The card earns 2 "miles" per dollar on most purchases just like the Capital One Venture Rewards card, which are worth exactly 1 cent each toward travel. This makes the return on most spend similar to a 2% cash back card (though in this case you must redeem your miles to offset travel in order to get 1 cent per mile). One huge advantage over cash back: Capital One allows transfering their "miles" to airline miles & hotel points. Click here for our complete card review $395 Annual Fee Earning rate: 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel ✦ 5x miles on flights booked via Capital One travel. ✦ 2X miles everywhere else. Card Info: Visa Infinite issued by CapOne. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: $300 annual credit for bookings made through Capital One Travel ✦ 10,000 bonus miles each year starting at first anniversary ✦ Up to $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® ✦ Capital One Lounge access ✦ Priority Pass membership w/ unlimited guests (lounges only) ✦ Plaza Premium lounge access ✦ Cell phone insurance ✦ Trip insurance ✦ Primary CDW coverage ✦ Redeem miles for travel at value of 1 cent per mile ✦ Convert "miles" to airline miles & hotel points |
No Annual Fee Earning rate: 3% on dining, entertainment, select streaming services, and purchases at grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart® and Target®) ✦ 8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment purchases ✦ 5% on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel (terms apply) ✦ 1% everywhere else Base: 1% Dine: 3% Grocery: 3% Other: 3% Card Info: Mastercard issued by CapOne. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: Complimentary Uber One membership statement credits through 11/14/2024 ✦ No foreign transaction fees |
Combo details: Even though the Venture X has a $395 annual fee, I consider this combo to free after rebates. Venture X offers $300 in annual travel credits plus 10K points each card anniversary to more than make up for the annual fee. The fee-free SavorOne, then, adds 3x grocery, dining, and entertainment to the already strong 2x everywhere earnings offered by Venture X. Capital One lets you move cash back to a “Miles” card so that the rewards then become transferable to partners. In this example, you can earn 3% cash back with the SavorOne card and move that cash back to the Venture X card to get better value when transferring to partners for high value awards. You can also freely move points to anyone, so you don’t need more than one Venture X card in the family to make this combo work.
Why this is a great combo: Very good earnings with a “free after rebate” annual fee. This is the only combo that offers the same great earnings internationally with no foreign transaction fees. The Venture X adds great features like cell phone protection, airport lounge access, and more.
On the other hand: The only way to get better than 1 cent per “Mile” value is by transferring to airline and hotel partners.
Variations:
- Swap Venture X for Venture Rewards: Lower the annual fee to $95 per year with the Venture Rewards card instead of Venture X. Both offer 2x everywhere earnings, no foreign transaction fees, and the ability to transfer to airline and hotel partners. The Venture Rewards card, though, does not offer annual rebates that make up for the annual fee.
- Swap Savor for SavorOne: The $95 Savor card is similar to the fee-free SavorOne in that it offers 3x grocery earnings, but it also offers 4x dining and entertainment (vs. SavorOne’s 3x). If you expect to spend around $10K or more on dining & entertainment annually, then it would be worth paying the annual fee for the Savor card.
- Make it fee free: You can cobble together a decent combo with no annual fees (and still have no foreign transaction fees). Use the SavorOne for 3x grocery, dining, and entertainment. Use the fee-free Quicksilver card to get 1.5x everywhere else. And then move cash back to the fee-free VentureOne Rewards card in order to transfer “Miles” to airline and hotel partners.
See also: Capital One “Miles” Complete Guide
Chase Ultimate Rewards
Sapphire Reserve + Ink Business Cash + Freedom Unlimited
Excellent point redemption value; lounge access; 10x hotels & car rentals booked through Chase; 5x airfare booked through Chase; 5X phone, internet, cable, office supplies; 3X travel & dining; 3x drug store; 2X gas, 1.5X everywhere else.
| Card Name w Details & Review (no offer) |
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FM Mini Review: Excellent all-around card for frequent traveler. Best when paired with no-fee Chase Freedom Flex, no-fee Freedom Unlimited & no-fee Chase Ink Cash Click here for our complete card review $550 Annual Fee Earning rate: 10X hotels & car rentals booked through Chase Travel℠ ✦ 10X Chase Dining ✦ 5X flights booked through Chase ✦ 3X Travel and Dining ✦ 10X Lyft (through March 2025) Card Info: Visa Infinite issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: $300 Annual Travel Credit ✦ Points worth 1.5 cents each towards travel when booked through the Chase Travel(SM) Portal✦ Transfer points to airline & hotel partners ✦ Primary auto rental collision damage waiver ✦ Priority Pass Select lounge access ✦ Up to $100 Global Entry fee credit ✦ $5 monthly DoorDash in-app credit through December 2024 ✦ Free DashPass through 2025 ✦ Earn 10X on Lyft spend✦ Free Lyft Pink All Access Memberhsip through December 2024 ✦ $15 monthly Instacart credit ✦ 12 months free Instacart+ See also: Chase Ultimate Rewards Complete Guide |
FM Mini Review: Great for 3x categories and 1.5X everywhere else. Excellent companion card to Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Business Preferred. Click here for our complete card review No Annual Fee Earning rate: 5x travel booked through Chase Travel℠ ✦ 5X Lyft through March 2025 ✦ 3x dining ✦ 3x drugstores ✦ 1.5X everywhere else Card Info: Visa Signature or Platinum issued by Chase. This card imposes foreign transaction fees. Noteworthy perks: Free DashPass for up to 3 months upon activation ✦ $10 quarterly Instacart credit ✦ 3 months free Instacart+ See also: Chase Ultimate Rewards Complete Guide |
FM Mini Review: This one should be in everyone's wallet. Incredible welcome bonus for a no-annual-fee card. Great card for 5X categories. Excellent companion card to Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Business Preferred. Click here for our complete card review No Annual Fee Earning rate: 5X office supplies and cellular/landline/cable (on up to $25,000 in total purchases in 5x categories annually) ✦ 2X on the first $25K in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each cardmember year ✦ 5X Lyft through March 2025 Card Info: Visa Signature Business issued by Chase. This card imposes foreign transaction fees. See also: Chase Ultimate Rewards Complete Guide |
Combo details: Many of Chase’s no-fee cards are advertised as cash back cards, but they actually earn Ultimate Rewards points. Once you have points in one of these accounts, you can move the points to your Sapphire Reserve account in order to make them more valuable. Chase even lets you move points to another person in the same household, so it makes sense for a couple to earn points across a variety of Ultimate Rewards card and then move all of those points to a single Sapphire Reserve account. The Sapphire Reserve card provides three ways to get great value from your points: 1) transfer to airline and hotel partners for high value awards; 2) Book travel through Chase at a value of 1.5 cents per points; and 3) Erase statement charges at 1.5 cents per point value against current Pay Yourself Back categories (see this post for details).
Why this is a great combo: With points worth 1.5 cents each towards travel or via Pay Yourself Back, you’ll earn at least 2.25 cents in travel per dollar spent with your Freedom Unlimited card’s 1.5x everywhere feature. Better, you’ll also earn 7.5 cents per dollar spent on the Freedom Unlimited card on travel booked through Chase, 4.5 cents in travel per dollar spent at drug stores and for dining; 4.5 cents in travel per dollar spent on travel & dining with your Sapphire Reserve card; and 7.5 cents in travel per dollar on phone, internet, cable, and office supplies with your Ink Business Cash card. And while 1.5 cents per point is good value, you can often get even better value by transferring points to high value partners. See: Chase Transfer Partners. Also note that the Sapphire Reserve offers best in class automatic travel protections. See: Ultra-Premium Credit Card Travel Insurance.
On the other hand:
- The Sapphire Reserve card is expensive. At $550 per year, the $300 annual travel rebate only goes a bit over half way towards rebating the card’s fee.
- The Freedom Unlimited and Ink Business Cash cards charge foreign exchange fees, so you’ll want to use your Sapphire Reserve card when traveling outside of the US.
- This is the only program in this round-up that doesn’t offer a standard category bonus at grocery stores. If you spend a lot at grocery stores, you may do better with Amex, Capital One, or Citi.
Add-on: Consider adding the no-fee Chase Freedom Flex card which offers rotating 5X categories.
Variation: You can lower annual fees down to $95 per year total by replacing the Sapphire Reserve with either the Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred. Both offer the ability to transfer points to travel hotel and airline partners. With these cards, though, you’ll only get 1.25 cents per point value when paying for travel through Chase or through Pay Yourself Back. Also, while they still have good travel protections, Sapphire Reserve has better.
Special note: Since the Chase Sapphire Preferred card often has a better welcome bonus than the Sapphire Reserve, it can make sense to sign up for the Preferred and upgrade to the Reserve card after a year.
See also: Complete Guide to Chase Ultimate Rewards
Citi ThankYou Rewards
ThankYou Premier + Double Cash + Custom Cash + Rewards+
3X grocery, dining, gas stations, flights, hotels, and travel agencies; 5X monthly on $500 spend; 2X everywhere else; 10% rewards rebate
| Card Name w Details & Review (no offer) |
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FM Mini Review: Very strong earnings for spend. Excellent bonus categories. Points transferable to select airlines. Recommend pairing this card with Citi Double Cash and Citi Rewards+. Sadly, this travel card doesn't provide any travel protections. Click here for our complete card review $95 Annual Fee Earning rate: 3X grocery ✦ 3X dining ✦ 3X gas stations ✦ 3X flights, hotels, travel agencies Card Info: Mastercard World Elite issued by Citi. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: Transfer points to airline partners ✦ $100 Annual Hotel Savings Benefit See also: Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide |
FM Mini Review: The fact that you can get 10% Points Back when you redeem, up to the first 100,000 points redeemed per year, makes this a great choice to pool with ThankYou Premier, Prestige, and/or Double Cash Click here for our complete card review No Annual Fee Earning rate: 5x on travel booked through Citi Travel℠ Portal through June 30 2024 (excludes air travel) ✦ 2X at supermarkets and gas stations on up to $6,000 per year ✦ Round up to nearest 10 TY points on all purchases Card Info: Mastercard World issued by Citi. This card imposes foreign transaction fees. Noteworthy perks: Round up to the nearest 10 points on all purchases with no cap. ✦ Get 10% Points Back when you redeem, up to the first 100,000 points redeemed per year. See also: Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide |
FM Mini Review: 2X rewards for all spend with no annual fee makes this card a winner. Earn 2X everywhere and redeem for the equivalent of 2% cash back or 2X ThankYou points. Pair with the Premier or Prestige card to make points transferrable to airlines. Click here for our complete card review No Annual Fee Earning rate: 2% cash back everywhere (1% cash back for each purchase + 1% when paying your credit card bill for that purchase). ✦ For a limited time: Earn 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals, and attractions booked on Citi Travel portal through 12/31/24. Base: 2X (2.9%) Card Info: Mastercard World Elite issued by Citi. This card imposes foreign transaction fees. Noteworthy perks: 1X when you make a purchase + 1X when you pay for those purchases See also: Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide |
FM Mini Review: This is a great card to have and hold for a single category where you spend no more than $500 per month as it represents an excellent return without rotating categories to track. No Annual Fee Earning rate: 5x on purchases in your top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent, 1x thereafter. Eligible categories: Restaurants, Gas Stations, Grocery Stores, Select Travel, Select Transit, Select Streaming Services, Drugstores, Home Improvement Stores, Fitness Clubs and Live Entertainment. ✦ 1x on all other purchases Base: 1X (1.45%) Travel: 5X (7.25%) Dine: 5X (7.25%) Gas: 5X (7.25%) Grocery: 5X (7.25%) Other: 5X (7.25%) Card Info: Mastercard issued by Citi. This card imposes foreign transaction fees. See also: Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide |
Combo details: Citi lets you pool ThankYou points together so that you can get the best possible value for your points. You can also transfer points to anyone, but those points must then be used within 90 days or else they’ll expire.
Why this is a great combo: Excellent point earnings, especially for a combo with a total $95 annual fee. The Premier card costs $95 per year while the other cards are free. Free authorized user cards. 10% rewards rebate (up to 10K rebate per year) makes the $95 fee for this combo a no-brainer. Great rewards for tiny purchases with the Rewards+ card. The Custom Cash card adds a “customizable” 5x category to your wallet (see this post for details).
On the other hand: Other than the Rewards+ 10% rebate, Citi has discontinued options for getting better than 1 cent per point value other than transferring points to partners. Plus, Citi has dropped all significant travel and purchase protections from their cards, so you may want to invest in a different travel card if you travel often and rely on your credit card’s protections.
See also: Complete Guide to Citi ThankYou Rewards
Which is Best?
So, which combo is best? Actually, it’s impossible to answer that question without understanding who’s asking. Any one of these combos may be best for you depending upon your tolerance for annual fees, your spend patterns, and how you’re likely to use your rewards. Still, I promised to pick a favorite, so here goes…
By a hair, I think that the Capital One Venture X + SavorOne combo is best. I love this combo because it only requires holding 2 cards and it offers strong rewards in popular categories (3x grocery, dining, and entertainment); strong rewards on all other spend (2x); no foreign transaction fees; and ultra-premium card features (airport lounge access) all for “free after rebate” (spend $395, but get back $300 in travel credits and 10K points each year).
That said, I could easily and convincingly argue that any one of the other combos is best. It probably just depends on what mood I’m in when I’m choosing. If I’m feeling particularly excited by Hyatt awards, I’ll pick the Chase combo (since they’re the only one in this roundup that offers transfers to Hyatt). If I’m dreaming about all of the great ways to earn and burn Amex Membership Rewards points, I’ll pick the Amex combo. And if I want a single cheap combo ($95 total) that offers great point earning options along with 10% back on awards (thanks to Rewards+), I’ll pick Citi.
It’s also worth pointing out that it’s not necessary to pick a single bank’s combo. Personally, I have a combination of cards that earn Amex, Chase, and Citi points. I’d have Capital One “Miles” too if they hadn’t mysteriously shut down my account. If you go for multiple combos, though, its worth paying close attention to annual fees. Fees can add up quickly if you try to get (and keep) the best cards from each program. If you honestly get enough value from each one to justify the fee, that’s great, but I suspect many people get lazy and just keep paying annual fees regardless.
See also: Transferable Points Programs Compared: Amex vs Chase vs Citi vs Capital One vs Brex
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[…] Great Credit Card Combos: Most of the big banks have their own points program and under that program they offer various credit cards. If you’re looking to get the most points for your spending, check out these great credit card combos. […]
[…] way less complicated by sticking to a particular bank’s travel rewards credit cards you know: Awesome credit card combos w/ transferable points. With my family we prefer Chase. I do recognize that AmericanExpress has been giving away a crazy […]
[…] Awesome Credit Card Combos — interesting round-up from Frequent Miler. […]
I already have the Chase combo and the Citi combo, but I think the new Cap 1 combo beats them both. Why?
You’ve already mentioned how Citi has made some severe/stupid cutbacks. ‘nuf said.
As for Chase, I’ve soured on them because of the combination of: no grocery bonus + the jump in the CSR’s huge af + Chase travel losing Expedia + the recent evisceration of Pay Yourself Back (come on Chase, how many points do you think I can redeem on dining?) + declining customer service.
Except for the occasional person who uses a LOT of the CSR’s benefits, IMHO the Cap 1 cards pencil out as the better choice.
TBH, Chase losing Expedia is a positive development..
Not even close. A number of hotels I stay at have now disappeared from Chase Travel. Making UR points that much less valuable.
I believe that this is out of date: “Also note that Citi has the only program that offers 1 to 1 transfers to Turkish Miles & Smiles.“, as Capital One reportedly also transfer 1:1 to Turkish ..
Good catch. Fixed. Thanks.
Sorry, but the Citi trifecta clearly beats all for regular spend by regular people. Someone charging a very modest $1500/month can easily pocket 50k TYP a year. Throw in 100k+ in sign up bonus? Citi has my vote for average Joes, and it’s not even close.
No need to say sorry. As I wrote in the post, “I could easily and convincingly argue that any one of the other combos is best.” Citi is extremely compelling. I just wish they hadn’t removed all of their travel and purchase protections.
Thanks for adding an Update Summary! 😀
Any data points on recent approvals for the Capital One Savor cards? Just wondering if Capital One relaxed approval standards for those cards, the way they seemed to open up approvals for the Venture X. I picked up a Venture X, and would love to add a Savor card this year–just worried I won’t get approved. (I fall into the group of people who wouldn’t ordinarily have expected to be approved for a Capital One card, but was instantly approved for a Venture X).
I haven’t heard, but that’s a great question. Anyone?
[…] Some things to consider if you get into it more: Awesome credit card combos. […]
I think a highly competitive cashback combo exists for people who can swing the Bank of America Platinum Honors Reward level (cheaper to qualify than Citigold). Each (no annual fee) Cash Rewards card opened with BofA allows the person to pick a category to earn 5.25% for up to $2500 spending each quarter (travel, dining, home improvement and furnishing, online, gas, or drug store). Then add a (no annual fee) Travel Rewards card for all other spending at unlimited 2.625% back (redeemable toward travel purchases). I don’t think that can be beat at the “average” valuation of most points and miles.
What about a US Bank Combo??
US Bank is an interesting case. Altitude Reserve points can be redeemed at 1.5 cents per point using the Real-Time Rewards on travel categories (though the only time I get Real-Time Rewards notification is when I ride Lyft), but other Altitude cards’ points cannot be pooled with Altitude Reserve points. Therefore there isn’t a strong case to be made for US Bank card combos when there are better and/or cheaper card combos available.
Re the AMEX Gold card, I’ve explained this several times to my wife, so I think it is worthwhile to explicitly say AMEX’s definition of “supermarket” does not equal “grocery.” I know people mention AMEX cards bonus on “groceries” informally or off handedly when writing/speaking, and maybe this doesn’t matter to most people, but I’ve learned the hard way that some grocery stores do not count as supermarkets for AMEX. Obviously everyone’s shopping habits differ. For myself, I frequent two local grocery stores that are not considered supermarkets; one that has better variety of fruits, vegetables, and middle eastern products than the standard Safeway/Lucky, and one Chinese grocery store. I would really encourage going by strict “supermarket” terminology when mentioning AMEX bonus categories.
I’d consider including:
[…] rate of return or transfer those “miles” to airline partners. While there are credit card combinations from other issuers that can offer greater returns, the Capital One Venture card likely appeals the […]
@Greg,
As another commenter pointed out, I think Bank of America with Preferred Rewards is a pretty strong program for those in the Platinum category or higher. Premium Rewards (PR) + (1 or more) Cash Rewards (CR) gives you a base of 2.625% (PR) with choice of 5.25% categories (CR), one $95 annual fee with a $100 airline credit, and earning cash back. I’ll also point out there this some confusion about the Preferred Rewards. You do not to keep cash in a checking account receiving 0% interest. You can move over stock/bonds/ETFs to Merrill and there are no requirement to make trades.
Cheers!
We can say in this case the best combo did not make the list. I moved majority of my spent here.