This is true, I have 12 cards and people look at me like I'm insane and have a tons of debt, even though they stay at a 0 balance. I sometimes just tell them it's a lifestyle lol
I just applied for the Amex gold and got approved today, it makes it my 5th card and I’ve been really smart with managing my payments on time ,this video helps a lot being able too see how you manage your cards !!
Great collection Spencer! It's definitely growing nicely since you first started. I agree that it's important to keep those older cards open to keep that AAoA high! Pretty important as you grow your portfolio - wondering how many credit cards it will take you before you start to downsize, or will you keep as many open as you can? We'll have to see 😄
Thank you brotha! Keeping those older accounts active is key. I definitely foresee myself downsizing in the future, but for at least the next couple of years I think SUBs are gonna continue to be the priority. We'll see though!
Awesome setup man. I like how diverse it is and gives you good exit strategies for cash back. Good point on cancelling too. I got so frustrated with my Venture X that I threw it in the blender yesterday.
I appreciate that!! It's gonna continue to grow over time, but I like to check up on it here and there to make sure my spending is allocated correctly. The CSR has been great!
Hahah I know how you feel! I have such a hard time passing up on Chase cards/points, but if you've been holding off on cards for a long time for the sake of the Savor One, it may be worth adding that one first. It's a tough decision though!
My oldest credit cards have no annual fees and are credit union cards which I keep active by charging something two or three times a year. Great video.
I think your credit card setup is incredible, so optimized for team travel but still with a lot of flexibility. And agree with your thoughts on downgrading or cancelling cards, though perhaps it's reasonable to cancel a no annual fee Amex card if it'll get you under the 4/5/6 total card rule and you want to get another Amex card that you get more value from. Also, love seeing Oden in the background, he looks so comfortable!
@@_jhxn No I'm referring to an Amex rule where you can only hold up to 5 personal or business Amex credit cards at once (excluding charge cards like the Amex Platinum). Though I've heard that the limit can be 4 for some people, and 6 for others.
Thanks so much Monty! That's a good point about the Amex 5 card rule. I was more speaking in generalities in this one as to not confuse anyone, but if I made a video specifically about downgrading and cancelling, that would definitely be something I noted. Thanks for that!!
I had to cancel my first card because it was with a horrible bank and served me no purpose. Luckily my second account was opened a couple months later, so it didn’t hurt my credit length by that much.
Unfortunately that happens sometimes! But it's great that you had another card opened right behind it. That'll help with that average age of accounts for sure!
Haha totally feel that- my parents & lots of people I tell that I have 11 Credit Cards think it's wild and that I'm being irresponsible haha. In reality though, if you make sure to pay your CC Statements on-time in full and have specific use cases for each of your cards (even if some of them are just to build the length of your credit history), then having a lot of Credit Cards can be a major tool, especially for Points & Miles enthusiasts like us! Great video Spencer!
Hahah it's the way it goes for us enthusiasts 🤣 I'm pretty sure when I tell them that it's actually a good thing for your credit score to have more cards, they think I'm crazy lol. As long as you're responsible though, this game can be really rewarding!
I have 12 cards right now. I think they all get spend every month other than one of my Hilton cards. Like you, cards like my Platinum and my Chase Preferred don't get used that much but I have a subscription or two on it (which also triggers a coupon). sure I will get to a point at some point where I will have cards that don't get used for months but not there yet.
That's a great note! I filmed this a while back and completely forgot about the 5x categories on my OG Freedom, so I'll likely be switching my grocery spend to that!
Flexing 💪 that Black Card😂 Great cards and setup Spencer! Agree 100%, keeping older cards open helps a lot with the average age of accounts. As always, great video and information brother!🫵
I’m getting to the point where I’m only using one card for one category. I’m def gonna take it slower this year and garden until 2025. I may open a Business Plat in the summer if I get an upgrade, but that’s probably about it unless a crazy offer comes out. You’ll have a centurion card sooner or later! 💪🏼 Love your content. - Ivan
Nobody has mentioned that the Amazon prime cards are now giving 6% cash back on certain eligible items (and there seems to he quite a bit eligible) on anything purchased with no rush shipping. A while back they added no rush shipping to combine more items into one box. The digital credits they sometimes gave you weren't worth it to me.. but 6%? I'm doing everything no rush right now!
Thanks for being the spokesperson of that!! That's definitely not bad if you're on team cashback. I also utilize those no rush shipping digital credits as much as I can!
Do you have a video that shows for example from this spend date to another date I earned 300k points then I used a partner site(whichever it is) to fly todubai and it covered 7 days in a top resort thanks!!!!!!!
Isn't it kinda redundant to have both the Venture X and the Sapphire Reserve? If your goal is to accumulate Chase points, carrying the Reserve and the Unlimited seems like it makes more sense than carrying the Reserve and the Venture X
Hi, I have the Chase sapphire preferred for two years now and I’m thinking about product changing it to the reserve within this month and I wanted to know if I hold the reserve for two years would I be able to downgraded to the flex, then reapply for the reserve and get the welcome bonus again?
Great video! Early on in the game, you would care about inactivity. I've had 2 co-branded Apple cards from Barclay's close for inactivity 2 years after I paid off the 12-month no-interest MacBooks. It's been so long; both have hit the 10-year age-out period. I used to do a lot of those no-interest deals. I prefer saving up, buying it on a point-earning card, and paying it off as soon as the transaction posts.
Thanks so much Chad! I agree with you though. I think earlier on you care more about inactivity, but that wanes over time when you have so many cards with a long history.
Thank you so much!! One of the side effects of more cards is a lower overall credit utilization, but the simple answer to your question is that sign up bonuses are the way to get the most points possible from the credit card game, so the more cards the better in that sense. There's more to it than that, but it basically all comes down to maximizing spend through welcome offers.
That's a great note! I filmed this a while back and completely forgot about the 5x categories on my OG Freedom, so I'll likely be switching my grocery spend to that!
@SpencerJohnsonOfficial , Build a 2 maybe 3 credit card set up for the "every person" that maximizes value with the least amount of effort/thought required. This mythical "every person" may or may not travel, they may or may not travel internationally, they may or may not fly and they may or may not travel with a second person.
C1 seems to be denying many high FICO applicants for the Venture X for "too many revolving accounts". I wonder if I should cancel unused no AF cards for this reason even though the usual teaching is not to. Maybe we seem less like a churner to C1 and maybe even keep out of Amex jail. I don't know whether C1's algorithm considers only active cards or closed cards too. Some banks really don't like churners.
Capital One is definitely inquiry/account sensitive with the VX. I wouldn't recommend closing cards for the sake of the VX as I'm pretty sure they don't care only about active accounts, but overall accounts in general. Even if not, I wouldn't say that the VX alone is worth all that effort, especially with them continuing to make negative changes to it, but that's just me.
I didn't discuss that actually! This will be the first year I pay for taxes being self employed, but I'd likely want to open a new card for those expenses. We'll see what I end up doing!
no offense but how hard would it have been to go into your car and get your card and why would you do a dumb thing like keeping it there let alone telling the world where it is?
No offense taken! One of the really beneficial things about credit cards is the fraud protection they have. Worst case scenario someone gets ahold of it, runs up a bunch of charges, I find out, report the card stolen and I’m not on the hook for the purchases since they used the banks money and not my own as would happen with a debit card. Hopefully that makes sense!
Hi everyone, has anyone booked a hotel through the hotel collection through the Chase Sapphire reserve and if so, is it worth getting because at the moment I have the preferred but plan on product changing it to the reserve once the Chase lounge opens up in my city
Re: your set up. It’s specific and a more spread out version of what most people do. You’re nabbing 4x and 5x where most people get 3x at best (and I should look in the mirror on that one). I suspect we in the credit card game spend a lot in very particular categories whereas most people don’t spend enough in one type of place to warrant anything beyond a 2% cashback card and a CSP/CSR.
That's a great observation! In reality, I'm usually spending towards a SUB effectively giving me something like 10-20x on all my purchases, but I've been holding off for a few months now so my other cards have started to become more of a necessity. Most people really don't need many cards at all though!
I appreciate the feedback! If it's ever too long, you can always skip to the parts you're interested in since I chapter all the videos. Thank you though!
💲 Download MaxRewards: maxrewards.app.link/spencer (Code: SPENCER)
This is true, I have 12 cards and people look at me like I'm insane and have a tons of debt, even though they stay at a 0 balance. I sometimes just tell them it's a lifestyle lol
Hahah right?! If you use em responsibly, it can be a very rewarding hobby for sure.
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial absolutely! I've gotten so much great value from them for my travels, especially in Spain 🙏🏻
I just applied for the Amex gold and got approved today, it makes it my 5th card and I’ve been really smart with managing my payments on time ,this video helps a lot being able too see how you manage your cards !!
Thanks for the advice on paying streaming services on cards to keep them active. I made that change last night.
Great video! I have a lot of cards too (28)! I enjoyed seeing how you manage and use your cards! Thank you for all the tips and info!
Great collection Spencer! It's definitely growing nicely since you first started. I agree that it's important to keep those older cards open to keep that AAoA high! Pretty important as you grow your portfolio - wondering how many credit cards it will take you before you start to downsize, or will you keep as many open as you can? We'll have to see 😄
Thank you brotha! Keeping those older accounts active is key. I definitely foresee myself downsizing in the future, but for at least the next couple of years I think SUBs are gonna continue to be the priority. We'll see though!
Love that amazon reload idea. Thank you.
Sometimes I hate having so many cards but I do get good value from (most) of them. You have a good cc haul 💥
Haha I know exactly how you feel. The value is hard to pass up on though! Thanks for watching my man!
Another awesome video!
Dude, thanks so much for the super! That means a lot 🙏🏼
Awesome setup man. I like how diverse it is and gives you good exit strategies for cash back. Good point on cancelling too. I got so frustrated with my Venture X that I threw it in the blender yesterday.
I really appreciate that! The Venture X is definitely becoming more and more of an annoying card, so I don't blame you lol.
Very well organized collection of cards across your spend. I love my CSR.
I appreciate that!! It's gonna continue to grow over time, but I like to check up on it here and there to make sure my spending is allocated correctly. The CSR has been great!
When its been a 4 months and I haven't applied for a new card I start to get anxious.. 😅
Speaking of which I'm torn between the Savor and the CFU right now.... I want the C1 miles but the Chase points look really juicy...
Hahah I know how you feel! I have such a hard time passing up on Chase cards/points, but if you've been holding off on cards for a long time for the sake of the Savor One, it may be worth adding that one first. It's a tough decision though!
My oldest credit cards have no annual fees and are credit union cards which I keep active by charging something two or three times a year. Great video.
That's the way to do it in my opinion! Thanks so much for watching!
I like your setup! Someone at work was doing same and I like the idea. I’m going to do same each one has different purposes.
I think your credit card setup is incredible, so optimized for team travel but still with a lot of flexibility. And agree with your thoughts on downgrading or cancelling cards, though perhaps it's reasonable to cancel a no annual fee Amex card if it'll get you under the 4/5/6 total card rule and you want to get another Amex card that you get more value from. Also, love seeing Oden in the background, he looks so comfortable!
Wait so canceling my Amex blue brings under the 5/24 rule ?
@@_jhxn No I'm referring to an Amex rule where you can only hold up to 5 personal or business Amex credit cards at once (excluding charge cards like the Amex Platinum). Though I've heard that the limit can be 4 for some people, and 6 for others.
@@MontyTheCardNerd ohh okay thank you
Thanks so much Monty! That's a good point about the Amex 5 card rule. I was more speaking in generalities in this one as to not confuse anyone, but if I made a video specifically about downgrading and cancelling, that would definitely be something I noted. Thanks for that!!
Lol, I also rotate a 2.99 iCloud storage subscription onto lesser used cards 😂
Hahah I love to see it.
I cancel 2 cards there are old. I just transfer lines of credit from them to new credit card before canceling. My score only went down 10 percent
I had to cancel my first card because it was with a horrible bank and served me no purpose. Luckily my second account was opened a couple months later, so it didn’t hurt my credit length by that much.
Unfortunately that happens sometimes! But it's great that you had another card opened right behind it. That'll help with that average age of accounts for sure!
How do you get your chase cards to work with max rewards? Mine Havnt synced in months
Haha totally feel that- my parents & lots of people I tell that I have 11 Credit Cards think it's wild and that I'm being irresponsible haha. In reality though, if you make sure to pay your CC Statements on-time in full and have specific use cases for each of your cards (even if some of them are just to build the length of your credit history), then having a lot of Credit Cards can be a major tool, especially for Points & Miles enthusiasts like us! Great video Spencer!
Hahah it's the way it goes for us enthusiasts 🤣 I'm pretty sure when I tell them that it's actually a good thing for your credit score to have more cards, they think I'm crazy lol. As long as you're responsible though, this game can be really rewarding!
Why not use the Freedom or Freedom Flex for groceries this quarter?
can you link to the backup wallet? where can I get one of those?
I have 12 cards right now. I think they all get spend every month other than one of my Hilton cards. Like you, cards like my Platinum and my Chase Preferred don't get used that much but I have a subscription or two on it (which also triggers a coupon). sure I will get to a point at some point where I will have cards that don't get used for months but not there yet.
Great video. But there’s no way you’re making the gold card worth the annual fee now that’s it taken a back seat to your sapphire reserved?
If ur low on Chase pts, y not use OG Freedom for groceries this quarter?
That's a great note! I filmed this a while back and completely forgot about the 5x categories on my OG Freedom, so I'll likely be switching my grocery spend to that!
Flexing 💪 that Black Card😂 Great cards and setup Spencer! Agree 100%, keeping older cards open helps a lot with the average age of accounts. As always, great video and information brother!🫵
Hahah I'll always do it if I have the chance! 🤣 Thanks so much for the comment Cesar!
I’m getting to the point where I’m only using one card for one category. I’m def gonna take it slower this year and garden until 2025. I may open a Business Plat in the summer if I get an upgrade, but that’s probably about it unless a crazy offer comes out.
You’ll have a centurion card sooner or later! 💪🏼
Love your content.
- Ivan
Nobody has mentioned that the Amazon prime cards are now giving 6% cash back on certain eligible items (and there seems to he quite a bit eligible) on anything purchased with no rush shipping.
A while back they added no rush shipping to combine more items into one box. The digital credits they sometimes gave you weren't worth it to me.. but 6%? I'm doing everything no rush right now!
Thanks for being the spokesperson of that!! That's definitely not bad if you're on team cashback. I also utilize those no rush shipping digital credits as much as I can!
Do you have a video that shows for example from this spend date to another date I earned 300k points then I used a partner site(whichever it is) to fly todubai and it covered 7 days in a top resort thanks!!!!!!!
about your Centurion card: didn't you say it's also a dead card?
It's not mine! But yes it's a dead card of a subscriber of mine.
Which backup wallet do you use?
Isn't it kinda redundant to have both the Venture X and the Sapphire Reserve? If your goal is to accumulate Chase points, carrying the Reserve and the Unlimited seems like it makes more sense than carrying the Reserve and the Venture X
Hi, I have the Chase sapphire preferred for two years now and I’m thinking about product changing it to the reserve within this month and I wanted to know if I hold the reserve for two years would I be able to downgraded to the flex, then reapply for the reserve and get the welcome bonus again?
Great video! Early on in the game, you would care about inactivity. I've had 2 co-branded Apple cards from Barclay's close for inactivity 2 years after I paid off the 12-month no-interest MacBooks. It's been so long; both have hit the 10-year age-out period. I used to do a lot of those no-interest deals. I prefer saving up, buying it on a point-earning card, and paying it off as soon as the transaction posts.
Thanks so much Chad! I agree with you though. I think earlier on you care more about inactivity, but that wanes over time when you have so many cards with a long history.
Solid setup for sure. I noticed you don’t have any credit one cards though, missing out on big value
I appreciate that man! Credit One is up next 😉
For anyone else reading this: this is a joke, plz don't get credit one cards 🤣
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial 😂😂😂
Thanks for the info + video!
Thanks for being here as always man! 👊🏼
Love your content. Why do you need backup credit cards? Is it purely for lowering your credit utilization or something am I missing?
Thank you so much!! One of the side effects of more cards is a lower overall credit utilization, but the simple answer to your question is that sign up bonuses are the way to get the most points possible from the credit card game, so the more cards the better in that sense. There's more to it than that, but it basically all comes down to maximizing spend through welcome offers.
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial That makes sense.
If you are low in Chase, why for this Quarter you are not using your OG in Groceries currently at 5x
That's a great note! I filmed this a while back and completely forgot about the 5x categories on my OG Freedom, so I'll likely be switching my grocery spend to that!
@SpencerJohnsonOfficial , Build a 2 maybe 3 credit card set up for the "every person" that maximizes value with the least amount of effort/thought required.
This mythical "every person" may or may not travel, they may or may not travel internationally, they may or may not fly and they may or may not travel with a second person.
Do it yourself
You do a great job on RUclips ❤
Thanks so much Vicki!
Great tips, thank you.
Thank you for watching Jamie!
First channel member to comment on the video
Hahah we're opening up new categories, I love it 🥈
C1 seems to be denying many high FICO applicants for the Venture X for "too many revolving accounts". I wonder if I should cancel unused no AF cards for this reason even though the usual teaching is not to. Maybe we seem less like a churner to C1 and maybe even keep out of Amex jail. I don't know whether C1's algorithm considers only active cards or closed cards too. Some banks really don't like churners.
Capital One is definitely inquiry/account sensitive with the VX. I wouldn't recommend closing cards for the sake of the VX as I'm pretty sure they don't care only about active accounts, but overall accounts in general. Even if not, I wouldn't say that the VX alone is worth all that effort, especially with them continuing to make negative changes to it, but that's just me.
Just opened my business card from chase. Can I pay my bills and mortgage with it? To reach my $6,000 goal.
I may have missed it, but do you put any tax spending on your cards? If so, which one and why?
I didn't discuss that actually! This will be the first year I pay for taxes being self employed, but I'd likely want to open a new card for those expenses. We'll see what I end up doing!
I have 10 too 😂, we need to fly or stay for free or close to that, but I only use 4
Those bonuses are awesome! And it sounds like we have the same rough breakdown of total cards we use regularly vs not.
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficialyup I agree, to many is hard to keep track off 😅
no offense but how hard would it have been to go into your car and get your card and why would you do a dumb thing like keeping it there let alone telling the world where it is?
No offense taken! One of the really beneficial things about credit cards is the fraud protection they have. Worst case scenario someone gets ahold of it, runs up a bunch of charges, I find out, report the card stolen and I’m not on the hook for the purchases since they used the banks money and not my own as would happen with a debit card. Hopefully that makes sense!
With 11 business cards, AX BBP is my catch-all. 7 AX reps told me there is no limit to the number of business cards I can have.
The BBP is a super solid card! I'm glad you've gotten so much value from it!
Average age of OPEN accounts goes into credit score. Closing younger accounts with hefty annual fees that no longer benefit you is good.
No idea how your head doesn't spin with all of that. Excellent work though.
How old are you?
23 until March!
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial so you started your journey at 20? Then it’s not too late for me!
That I did! It's never too late to get started!!@@randomaccount9212
Hi everyone, has anyone booked a hotel through the hotel collection through the Chase Sapphire reserve and if so, is it worth getting because at the moment I have the preferred but plan on product changing it to the reserve once the Chase lounge opens up in my city
I wish I could chime in on this, but I haven't booked any through the hotel collection since my upgrade. I hope others can help!
Third? Or second, if the other two tie.
Close!! Unfortunately they knocked you out of the top 3, but I bet you'll get it next time 👊🏼
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial 😯😮😲 Dislike! Unfollow! 😉
Hahah I completely understand 😉@@alolansandshrew1756
It's actually funny to reflect how abnormal it is to do what we do, even though most can.
I completely agree!
What card do you use for your MaxRewards subscription?
🔥🔥🔥
🫡
👍🏻
🫡
Re: your set up. It’s specific and a more spread out version of what most people do. You’re nabbing 4x and 5x where most people get 3x at best (and I should look in the mirror on that one). I suspect we in the credit card game spend a lot in very particular categories whereas most people don’t spend enough in one type of place to warrant anything beyond a 2% cashback card and a CSP/CSR.
That's a great observation! In reality, I'm usually spending towards a SUB effectively giving me something like 10-20x on all my purchases, but I've been holding off for a few months now so my other cards have started to become more of a necessity. Most people really don't need many cards at all though!
I don't get why you people have Soo many cards. Don't you want to close them from time to time to become re-eligible for the sign up bonuses ???
Lol😂 you new? Or trolling cause this is a funny question
@@Brianpeckin alright my dude. sorry I'm not part of the elitist club. Thanks for your reply, very informative and helpful I learned a lot.
Ewwww why would you have 10 credit cards? I just use cash for everything. Credit cards just equal credit card debt!
Hahah you know what, maybe you're right 😉 Not sure why this comment got held up for the last 3 weeks, but hey, at least I finally saw it lol
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial 🤙🏽 better late than never
third
I appreciate you being here early man! 🥉
first
Danggg nice work!! 👑
Too much talking to drag out the video. Should’ve been under 10 minutes.
I appreciate the feedback! If it's ever too long, you can always skip to the parts you're interested in since I chapter all the videos. Thank you though!