You probably already know about this offer, but I just activated my 3 month trial of Marriott Gold Status from the CSR. If you stay 3 paid nights during the trial that extends your status to Feb 2026. Thought it’d be worth it especially since I also have 5 free nights from the Boundless welcome offer. Hoping to score an available upgrade during those nights 🙏🏼
@@jessetatum3935 It was the ecosystem diversity that have me using the gold right now. I also have a Savor One but my natural spending works well with the Golds credits so I went after the intro bonus. I may switch back, I may not.
My wife got the Venture X for the 2X Worldwide, where the Citi Double Cash and Amex Blue Business Plus get 2X only in the US. We flew back from Canada this week and have been in 15 countries this year (Barbados, Slovenia, Chile, Guatemala, etc.) and were tired of 1% catchall.
Loved the structure of this video! Really important to understand that not every card we apply for is going to be used consistently, and some may just have one specific purpose. Whatever the rationale, there is no one size fits all and appreciated the transparency on which Cards you use for what! Great video Spencer!
I appreciate that brotha! And you're 100% right. Most of my cards are added for the welcome offer and only a few of them are used on the daily, but that doesn't mean I don't find use for em in some small way. Thanks for the comment as always man!
You don't need the Costco card anymore. They have it all in the app now. I haven't carried the physical card in maybe a year now. It was a pet peeve of mine for years. Great video!
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial No, I mean the actual Costco membership card, not the credit card. I don't have the credit card as it doesn't really make sense for me. I mean that your membership is now in the Costco app, Open the app, click on "Account" on the bottom middle. You will see your face and a QR code to the right of it. That QR code is all you need to get into the store, activate the gas pump, and purchase at the checkout.
Better yet, everyone should adopt the Elan Financial Max Cash Preferred model. I like the non-rotating categories of both, but, even more so, I like the Max Cash Preferred, over the Cash+, because the it does not require reactivation of quarterly categories.
@@MattClausen I'm not sure what you mean. You referenced the Cash+ as a model that should be adopted by other issuers. I generally agree, but the Cash+ requires reactivation of quarterly categories while the Max Cash does not. I was just pointing out my preference as being a slight deviation from your preference.
Not dumb for banks, they get to advertise lots of categories while only needing to actually pay them out 1/4 of the year. But for consumers, totally agree, especially when you need to manually activate them, sigh
It looks like you have a pretty good setup of cards for this quarter! I really like that Citi duo that you have. Eventually, I would like to expand my number of Citi cards. I would like to add the Double Cash, the Strata Premier and the Rewards+ card to my setup and possibly another card that can be product changed into a second Custom Cash. I can definitely understand your proposal to downgrade your Venture X card to the Venture One. I'm planning to product change my Quicksilver to the Venture One card because I will have two Quicksilver cards with the Walmart Rewards card converting to the Quicksilver.
It's been pretty killer for me so far! The Citi Duo has been really solid for sure. The Rewards + is one I always forget about, but it's definitely worth considering when I'm ready to redeem a bunch of Citi points. I like where your head is at there. We'll see what I end up doing with my VX next year, but expect at least one video on the topic. Thanks for sharing your thoughts as always my man!
Actually, the Costco app a better option. I have the costco card, but never use it because it only pays out once per year and you need to go in-store to redeem it. The app gets you into the store, can be used at the pump as well. If you do have the Costco credit card, you will be prompted if you want to use it for the payment if you are checking out using the app.
Man I need to do a better job in spending here and there on my backup wallet cards. Definitely going to draw inspiration from how you're doing it. Nice video Spencer!
I do my best to make my backup wallet run as passively as possible, even if I have to sacrifice a few points here and there to do so. Thanks for watching as always my man!
Quick question. I'm looking to get the Citi duo hopefully next year once I hit 5/24. Might also look into 1 or. 2 Wells Fargo cards. Do you reccomend going with the same bank back to back for new CC's over the course of 3-6 months or switching it up? Or does it matter as long as that gap is large enough between applications? Great content as always!
my daily top 5 cards are 1. ccc groceries 5% since I recently Pcd my aa to another one 2. CF for gas 3. Prime for dining 4. CFU If i want UR pts 5. WFAC as my catch all card
I'd say 5 or below is pretty typical for me, mainly because I go for an Amex card or two for a welcome offer and as an existing customer with Amex I don't get hard pulled there. Also, those hard inquiries aren't all on just one credit report which helps too. But everyone is a bit different!
I am curious about something. Why don’t you use the BILT instead of the CSR for 3X on dining? I have CSP, BILT, and AMEX Gold but use BILT because of American Airlines miles before, now Alaska and Hyatt. What are your thoughts?
I definitely could! I just consider both to be mainly used for Hyatt stays but I also utilize Chase points through the portal for some domestic flights so I generally need more of those than Bilt points. Plus I've never flown Alaska so I don't care for their points much as of right now. Good question tho!
Thanks for being here early Evan! 🥉 I do have to pay a 3% transaction fee through my rental portal when using a credit card, but that 3% fee is small in comparison to the 15-30% ROS I normally get for welcome offers. I only use it if I absolutely need to, but it's one of those methods that can be well implemented at times.
I like the strategy to have an “in person” and “online” catch all card What do you use for Apple Pay? I feel I rarely ever use my physical venture X since almost all my miscellaneous spend is online or Apple Pay/tap to pay
It's helped me utilize my CFU more so I've liked the strategy so far! And I just use whatever card will give me the highest ROS through Apple Pay. I generally pay with the physical card still though.
Are you earning a reasonable profit from the welcome bonuses if your paying probably a 3% transaction fee on rent to meet your minimum spend requirements?
Plenty! I only use that when absolutely necessary, not for every card. But for example, say I put $3k of rent on a card that's gonna give me 120k points... a 3% fee would cost me an extra $90, but I'll be netting a minimum of $1,200 for the offer (more like $2,400 if it's a transferrable currency). So if the option is to either use rent for the bonus or not get the card at all, I'll choose the former.
Depends on your situation and the venture x im sure offers a lot more than just that. Points are worth more than simple cash back. A lot of points can be transfereed out and you can get a lot more when booking a ticket or hotel. Plus they have many other benefits. I have the equivalent with the reserve and I get doordash lounge access and many other perks like tsa check pass
@@abesentertrainmentreviews7532 Citi double and venture both earn points. According to his stated category for use of venture X he’s getting the same return as the Citi double for a much higher price to own. The only difference is that if he uses the 2 main venture X credits he’s earning $5
Not quite sure if I'm following, but I was talking about redeeming your Prime Visa points through a bank account rather than through Prime itself in order to max the 5% category everytime you checkout while still getting the cashback in a different location.
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial i did mean that part, so essentially I would use them at traditional reward points instead of pay for Amazon products using the cash back option?
@@ricardo.vargas.28 I'll give an example that should help. Let's say you have 5,000 Amazon points to redeem ($50 worth of cashback). With the Prime Visa, you have the option to add that at checkout on Amazon, effectively giving you a $50 discount. However, you could also cash the $50 out to your bank account instead and not use it as a discount. In doing so, let's say you have a $100 Amazon order, you'll now get $5 back on that purchase rather than just $2.50 if you applied the $50 as a discount. Hopefully that helps!
🎁 Survey + chance at $100: spencerjohnsonofficial.com/survey
➡ Note: Giveaway expires a week from today (9/9/24) at midnight CST (night of 9/16/24)
If you can’t pay your card before end of the month. DONT USE THEM. You will never be able to retire
facts
You probably already know about this offer, but I just activated my 3 month trial of Marriott Gold Status from the CSR. If you stay 3 paid nights during the trial that extends your status to Feb 2026.
Thought it’d be worth it especially since I also have 5 free nights from the Boundless welcome offer. Hoping to score an available upgrade during those nights 🙏🏼
I actually just signed up for it after filming this video since I'll be redeeming my 5 free nights with Marriott soon. Thanks for the heads up!!
Looks like a nice set-up. Im down to just the Amex Gold and Venture X for simplicity.
Nice setup. Do you feel the gold is a better alternative than the savor one? Or do you like being able to access Amex partners?
I appreciate you! And that's a solid duo for sure. Simplicity is super nice.
@@jessetatum3935 It was the ecosystem diversity that have me using the gold right now. I also have a Savor One but my natural spending works well with the Golds credits so I went after the intro bonus. I may switch back, I may not.
My wife got the Venture X for the 2X Worldwide, where the Citi Double Cash and Amex Blue Business Plus get 2X only in the US. We flew back from Canada this week and have been in 15 countries this year (Barbados, Slovenia, Chile, Guatemala, etc.) and were tired of 1% catchall.
Loved the structure of this video! Really important to understand that not every card we apply for is going to be used consistently, and some may just have one specific purpose. Whatever the rationale, there is no one size fits all and appreciated the transparency on which Cards you use for what! Great video Spencer!
I appreciate that brotha! And you're 100% right. Most of my cards are added for the welcome offer and only a few of them are used on the daily, but that doesn't mean I don't find use for em in some small way. Thanks for the comment as always man!
You don't need the Costco card anymore. They have it all in the app now. I haven't carried the physical card in maybe a year now. It was a pet peeve of mine for years. Great video!
Apple and Google charges extra for merchants on top of the already high credit card transaction fee so it makes all the prices in the store go up.
That's not a card I personally have but it still seems to be a popular option for gas purchases at least! Thanks for watching this one!!
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial No, I mean the actual Costco membership card, not the credit card. I don't have the credit card as it doesn't really make sense for me. I mean that your membership is now in the Costco app, Open the app, click on "Account" on the bottom middle. You will see your face and a QR code to the right of it. That QR code is all you need to get into the store, activate the gas pump, and purchase at the checkout.
@@TechYodaSV Ohhh I gotcha hahah. Thanks for claridying that!
Rotating category cards are dumb. Everyone should adopt the US Bank Cash+ model
Better yet, everyone should adopt the Elan Financial Max Cash Preferred model. I like the non-rotating categories of both, but, even more so, I like the Max Cash Preferred, over the Cash+, because the it does not require reactivation of quarterly categories.
@@ProfessorX-RUclips eh. I mean Wells adopting that card program I doubt they’d require quarterly reactivation. But. Sure.
@@MattClausen I'm not sure what you mean. You referenced the Cash+ as a model that should be adopted by other issuers. I generally agree, but the Cash+ requires reactivation of quarterly categories while the Max Cash does not. I was just pointing out my preference as being a slight deviation from your preference.
Not dumb for banks, they get to advertise lots of categories while only needing to actually pay them out 1/4 of the year. But for consumers, totally agree, especially when you need to manually activate them, sigh
I wouldn't be mad about that. Gonna be talking about that card next week funny enough. I'd love to see travel cards implement similar models.
Great setup with maximizing points/miles on spend as always great video Spencer! Also shoutout the flow keep it growing looks great!
I appreciate you a ton Billy! I'm glad to hear you like the hair as well. That means a lot!
Seems like having the Sapphire Reserve AND the Venture X is sort of redundant. And with Amex Gold not sure why you need the Bilt Card for dining.
"Help out my OCD," nice!!!
Looking forward to update on your plans regarding product change to Ritz card! I am currently pondering it as well.
Thanks for the info + video!
Thank you Jimmy!!
It looks like you have a pretty good setup of cards for this quarter! I really like that Citi duo that you have. Eventually, I would like to expand my number of Citi cards. I would like to add the Double Cash, the Strata Premier and the Rewards+ card to my setup and possibly another card that can be product changed into a second Custom Cash. I can definitely understand your proposal to downgrade your Venture X card to the Venture One. I'm planning to product change my Quicksilver to the Venture One card because I will have two Quicksilver cards with the Walmart Rewards card converting to the Quicksilver.
It's been pretty killer for me so far! The Citi Duo has been really solid for sure. The Rewards + is one I always forget about, but it's definitely worth considering when I'm ready to redeem a bunch of Citi points. I like where your head is at there. We'll see what I end up doing with my VX next year, but expect at least one video on the topic. Thanks for sharing your thoughts as always my man!
Citi saves on plastic and metal so they can give you better earning cards. 😂😂😂
Hahaha you may be onto something here 🤣 I'll take the higher earning rates all day.
You should get the Citi Costco card. No annual fee, 4% on gas and you can use it to get into Costco. You can leave your membership card at home.
Actually, the Costco app a better option. I have the costco card, but never use it because it only pays out once per year and you need to go in-store to redeem it. The app gets you into the store, can be used at the pump as well. If you do have the Costco credit card, you will be prompted if you want to use it for the payment if you are checking out using the app.
@@Ben..E Thanks. I’ll check it out.
I may have to one day! I just don't have a Costco close enough to reliably get gas from so that's why it hasn't been one I've added.
Just here for algorithm engagement
I appreciate you a ton!!
Man I need to do a better job in spending here and there on my backup wallet cards. Definitely going to draw inspiration from how you're doing it. Nice video Spencer!
I do my best to make my backup wallet run as passively as possible, even if I have to sacrifice a few points here and there to do so. Thanks for watching as always my man!
Quick question. I'm looking to get the Citi duo hopefully next year once I hit 5/24. Might also look into 1 or. 2 Wells Fargo cards. Do you reccomend going with the same bank back to back for new CC's over the course of 3-6 months or switching it up? Or does it matter as long as that gap is large enough between applications? Great content as always!
Spencer, the burner question is, where did you find that big ass wallet for your back ups?
Solid video. For everybody filling out the survey - they best response is More Odin! LOL
Thank you Chad! And next week's video has some more Odin in it, so I hope you enjoy 😉
Check into US Bank Cards
my daily top 5 cards are
1. ccc groceries 5% since I recently Pcd my aa to another one
2. CF for gas
3. Prime for dining
4. CFU If i want UR pts
5. WFAC as my catch all card
Love it dude. You're gonna like next week's video a lot.
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial Ty can’t wait to see it
How many hard inquiries do you typically have a year? I’m at 6 with 6 new cards in 9 months
I'd say 5 or below is pretty typical for me, mainly because I go for an Amex card or two for a welcome offer and as an existing customer with Amex I don't get hard pulled there. Also, those hard inquiries aren't all on just one credit report which helps too. But everyone is a bit different!
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial thank you! There’s so many cards I want.
Love these type of videos. Thanks!
Dude, you're awesome. Your support truly means a ton to me! I'm glad you enjoy these types of videos and I hope this one doesn't disappoint!
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial 👍🏻
I need the link to that big backup wallet 😂
came here to say this lol
RJ Financial has the link for it! I wanna make sure I give him the credit/Amazon sales 😆
I am curious about something. Why don’t you use the BILT instead of the CSR for 3X on dining? I have CSP, BILT, and AMEX Gold but use BILT because of American Airlines miles before, now Alaska and Hyatt. What are your thoughts?
I definitely could! I just consider both to be mainly used for Hyatt stays but I also utilize Chase points through the portal for some domestic flights so I generally need more of those than Bilt points. Plus I've never flown Alaska so I don't care for their points much as of right now. Good question tho!
Thanks for sharing as usual
Absolutely! Thank you for the comment!
Good video Spencer…. The citi duo is next on my list.
Thank you Jon! It's a great combo in my experience.
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial yea I definitely have it on my radar.
How are you hitting speding bonuses by paying rent with other credit cards without paying CC fees?
Thanks for being here early Evan! 🥉 I do have to pay a 3% transaction fee through my rental portal when using a credit card, but that 3% fee is small in comparison to the 15-30% ROS I normally get for welcome offers. I only use it if I absolutely need to, but it's one of those methods that can be well implemented at times.
I like the strategy to have an “in person” and “online” catch all card
What do you use for Apple Pay? I feel I rarely ever use my physical venture X since almost all my miscellaneous spend is online or Apple Pay/tap to pay
It's helped me utilize my CFU more so I've liked the strategy so far! And I just use whatever card will give me the highest ROS through Apple Pay. I generally pay with the physical card still though.
have you experienced any fraud with the bilt mastercard???
What is the backup wallet card holder called?
Are you earning a reasonable profit from the welcome bonuses if your paying probably a 3% transaction fee on rent to meet your minimum spend requirements?
Plenty! I only use that when absolutely necessary, not for every card. But for example, say I put $3k of rent on a card that's gonna give me 120k points... a 3% fee would cost me an extra $90, but I'll be netting a minimum of $1,200 for the offer (more like $2,400 if it's a transferrable currency). So if the option is to either use rent for the bonus or not get the card at all, I'll choose the former.
If you’re only using the 2X on the venture X wouldn’t it make better sense cost wise to use the Citi double cash since it’s free instead of $395?
Depends on your situation and the venture x im sure offers a lot more than just that. Points are worth more than simple cash back. A lot of points can be transfereed out and you can get a lot more when booking a ticket or hotel. Plus they have many other benefits. I have the equivalent with the reserve and I get doordash lounge access and many other perks like tsa check pass
Purchase protections on the VX
@@abesentertrainmentreviews7532 Citi double and venture both earn points. According to his stated category for use of venture X he’s getting the same return as the Citi double for a much higher price to own. The only difference is that if he uses the 2 main venture X credits he’s earning $5
I mainly use the Venture X for its benefits. The earning category is just a nice added bonus.
I got replacement freedom flex and it is also flat.
Awesome! Thanks for the data point 👊🏼
Wait why wouldnt you just let the Chase Prime Visa stack up points?
Not quite sure if I'm following, but I was talking about redeeming your Prime Visa points through a bank account rather than through Prime itself in order to max the 5% category everytime you checkout while still getting the cashback in a different location.
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial i did mean that part, so essentially I would use them at traditional reward points instead of pay for Amazon products using the cash back option?
@@ricardo.vargas.28 I'll give an example that should help. Let's say you have 5,000 Amazon points to redeem ($50 worth of cashback). With the Prime Visa, you have the option to add that at checkout on Amazon, effectively giving you a $50 discount. However, you could also cash the $50 out to your bank account instead and not use it as a discount. In doing so, let's say you have a $100 Amazon order, you'll now get $5 back on that purchase rather than just $2.50 if you applied the $50 as a discount. Hopefully that helps!
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial okay yes that makes perfect sense. Thank you!
Hi spencer🤝💪👍✋❤🙏🏻
Hey Pablo! Thanks for being here so early! 🥈
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial 🙏🏻✋👍💪🤝❤
😊
He really can't be stopped 👑
Amex is gonna black ball you dude!
Hahah just wait a couple weeks. That video topic will definitely get me on their blacklist 🤣