Ten Credit Cards, One Strategy: Which Annual Fees Are Worth Paying
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What are the latest credit‑card news updates and how do they affect travelers?
Hey smart travel listener, how would you like a free $250 Amazon gift card?
We're giving away two of them and all you have to enter to win is take our listener survey.
And this year's survey is way shorter than last year, so do fill it out. Ah sure, just like me, you'll love to see it. We really want you to fill it out because your answers actually help us shape the show, what we cover, what we cut, and whether hot takes live to see another episode. Oh no, that would be sad if we cut them,
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That's nerdwallet.com slash travel survey. Thanks and good luck. Today we have a special guest coming into the studio who is actually a NerdWallet listener. And she has a bunch of credit card questions that might be applicable to a lot of other listeners out there. Welcome to a special in studio edition of Smart Travel from NerdWallet. A deep dive into the tips, tools, and tactics to maximize your travel dollars. I'm Megan Coyle.
And I am Sally French, and we are coming at you from a real video set. Yes, that means you can see our beautiful faces if you watch us on Spotify where you can see this video, not just listen to us like you might be doing everywhere else.
And we're the travel nerds ready to help you plan your next big trip or pick out your next credit card.
And we literally do that as after we get to the news, we are bringing in one of our most dedicated listeners.
But first our disclaimer, and that's that we'll talk about a few credit card companies that are nerdwallet partners in this episode, but that doesn't influence how we discuss them. The benefits, terms, and fees mentioned were accurate at the time of posting, but things can always change, and some offers may have expired by the time you're listening. For the latest details, check out the links in the episode description. How much slower
did you say that than I usually do? Oh
my gosh.
Probably half the speed. All right, speaking of speed, let's hop out of this video real quick. We're gonna hit the news and then we're gonna run right back here.
Starting with lots of Chase news this week, in 2027, the Sapphire Reserve for Business Card is doubling the credit for hotels booked within the Chase Edit collection. That's its like luxury hotel collection that you can book through Chase Travel. And the credits are going from up to $500 in value annually to $1,000 in value. Of course, that means
It is broken out into four different statement credits. It's not that the former $250 credit is now $500. No, no, no. It is four credits that are $250 each. So you would have to book four separate stays, and because the edit has a two-night minimum, that is eight nights spent at Edit hotels in order to actually get the full value of this credit. I will throw out there the other benefit of booking through the edit is that they throw on all these apps. Add on perks. Some of them are breakfast for two, they'll typically do a hotel credit, a room upgrade if available. So there are some real tangible benefits to booking through the edit.
And lots of these hotels also cost a lot of money. They're luxury hotels and they're giving you elite status type of perks. I would really expect to spend like easily a thousand dollars a night if you're booking some of the most expensive edit properties.
Yeah, in some of those maybe lower cost of living countries, you can find a hotel that is really, if you're lucky four or $500 a night. But yeah, Megan, I think you're right. All the hotels I'm seeing are minimum a thousand dollars a night, which means you were spending $8,000 by that metric to save a thousand. So whether this is really that good of a deal, I'll leave that to you.
And one last thing for card holders with the Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business, starting November 15th, there's a new cap on the amount of points you can earn on social media and search engine advertising.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What are the latest credit‑card news updates and how do they affect travelers?
0:00–10:30
2
How does Tiffany’s business and fitness spending shape her credit‑card needs?
10:30–17:45
3
Which no‑annual‑fee cards should I keep for everyday purchases?
17:45–23:26
4
How can I match my bonus categories to my real spending habits?
23:26–30:18
5
Are my co‑branded airline and hotel cards worth their annual fees?
30:18–37:25
6
When should I consider closing a card versus keeping it for credit score benefits?
37:25–44:22
7
What is the best strategy for consolidating ten cards into a simpler wallet?
44:22–50:19
8
What final recommendations do the hosts give for optimizing annual‑fee cards?
50:19–55:43
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Smart Travel: Upgrade Your Getaways
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