I’m always thinking about what credit cards should be in my wallet at any given time. And more importantly, when I should use each card. If you don’t review what’s in your wallet at least a few times a year, you’re probably losing valuable points or miles earning opportunities.

My main overarching goal is always to maximize earning points and miles. For day-to-day spending, I almost always choose which credit card to use based on earning the most points possible for every transaction. For example, I pay for travel expenses with my Chase Sapphire Preferred card because it earns me more points in that category than any other card I own. By the same token, I use my American Express Gold card for all transactions in the dining category.

However, there are times when I need to change my credit card usage. In general, there are three reasons why I change which cards I use and thus which cards I carry in my wallet.

1. Spending on a new credit card in order to meet the minimum spending requirement for a sign-up bonus
2. Taking advantage of a special credit card promotion
3. Earning points or miles towards a specific goal

So with that being said, here are the credit cards currently in my wallet and when I use each.

My Wallet as of September 2019

American Express Gold Card

At the current moment, the American Express Gold card is my most used credit card. In a given month, the majority of my transactions can be grouped into dining and grocery purchases. And since this card earns 4x Membership Rewards (MR) points on both restaurants and groceries, it gets the most use of any card in my wallet.

I also use this card to take advantage of promotions called Amex Offers. These limited-time promotions earn either extra MR points or cash-back depending on the type of offer. As you can see below, some of these offers can be quite lucrative.

Amex Offers

For example, since I have no credit cards that earn extra points at Amazon, the Amex Offer got me to switch to using my Gold Card. Through the end of September I’ll earn 2 extra MR points on all Amazon purchases.

Another Amex Offer I received is for 500 extra MR points when I pay my cell phone bill. This offer can be used three times and expires in October. To take advantage of this offer, I updated the auto-payment information with my cell phone provider to charge my Gold Card. I’ll use this offer all three times to get a total of 1,500 bonus MR points.

Finally, you can see that I have an Amex Offer for 3,500 bonus MR points (!!!) for every $7,000 spent through November 21, 2019. That’s a lot of money to spend in the next few months, so I’m treating this offer as a “nice to have”. If I end up spending $7,000 on the card before the deadline, I’ll happily take the 3,500 bonus MR points. But because the spending requirement is so large and I’m not sure I can meet it, I will not move all my spending to this card. Instead, I’ll monitor my overall spending on a monthly basis. If I get close to meeting the spending requirement before the deadline, then I’ll change my card usage to get make sure I get the bonus points.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

I view Chase Ultimate Rewards as the most valuable points program, so all things being equal, I try to build points with Chase whenever possible. The Chase Sapphire Preferred card earns 2x Ultimate Rewards (UR) points on travel and dining expenses. So I use this card for all travel expenses as I don’t own a better earning card in this category. For dining, however, the Amex Gold card has become my go-to card. Even though I value Chase Ultimate Rewards points over American Express Membership Rewards points, I can’t pass up 4x MR points on dining. So this card mainly comes out of my wallet at any restaurant that doesn’t accept American Express.

United Explorer Card

The United Explorer card recently found its way back into my wallet due to a promotion running in August and September. It came at a perfect time as I was also looking for easy ways to increase my United MileagePlus balance. Prior to this promotion, I hadn’t used this card in five months.

To take advantage of the promotion, I’m using the United Explorer card for any purchases where I don’t receive extra points or miles. For example, purchases I make to play golf, go to the movies, or get my dog groomed don’t fall into any of my credit cards’ bonus categories. Thus I would only receive one point or mile for those purchases regardless of which card I used. But with this limited-time promotion, I’ll earn 2 United MileagePlus miles for every dollar spent through the end of September.

Hilton Honors Aspire Card

As I’m nearing my Hilton Honors points goal for an upcoming trip to Hawaii, I’ve been using this card less and less over the past few months. I keep this card in my wallet for stays at Hilton Hotels, since it earns 14x Hilton Honors (HH) points on purchases at any of Hilton’s 5,700+ properties. I also used the card occasionally for purchases that don’t fall into any bonus categories. However, that was happening much more frequently before the United promotion began and when earning HH points was more important to me.

Chase Freedom

My Chase Freedom card is in my wallet year round. This card earns a 5% return in rotating categories that change each quarter. Right now, Chase is paying 5% at gas stations and select streaming services on up to $1,500 in combined purchases. So I’ve made sure that all gas station purchases made between July 1 and September 30 are made on this card. Once the quarter ends, I’ll move gas station purchases back to my Costco Visa card.

Costco Anywhere Visa

The Costco Anywhere Visa card is always in my wallet even though I don’t use it all that much. For half the year, I use it to earn 4% on purchases at gas stations. The other half of the year, I use my Chase Freedom card since gas stations usually earn 5% during two of the four quarters. I also use this card at Costco where I get 2% cash-back.

Recently Dropped from my Wallet

CitiBusiness / AAdvantage Platinum Select

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, one reason to use a card is to meet the minimum spending requirement in order to earn a new card sign-up bonus. Earlier this summer, Citi was offering 70,000 bonus miles on the CitiBusiness / AAdvantage Platinum Select card. In August, I met the minimum spending requirement and once the bonus miles hit my account, I removed this card from my wallet. I’m keeping the card open for benefits like the free checked bags but I don’t plan on putting any day-to-day spending on the card.

Bottom Line

This composition of credit cards works for me at the current time. Remember that while this is currently my ideal wallet, a different set of credit cards may work better for you. I don’t foresee any changes to my wallet or credit card usage for the rest of the month. However, I do expect the credit card companies to announce holiday promotions soon. When that happens, I will review each one and change my spending habits to take advantage of those that make sense for me.