I have had a LOT of charging the last few years, and I have done the same thing, 2 new cars, ($4k on one, $5k another max allowed), travel first class, bought a new townhouse, many appliances, moving costs, many repairs to the sold house, vet & Dr bills (some ER & surgeries), all food (remember when you thought it was ridiculous to pay for groceries with a CC, like WHO does that?), we eat out a lot, any utility that takes CCs, gift cards to pay bills in advance for aome that don’t, plus we pay for (and get reimbursed) for every bill, including visiting nurse twice a week for DSS GM, and the most I could manage was a bit over $60k in one year!! This year, will be maybe $55k.
And when I discuss this tactic, I am stared at like I must be crazy to spend so much. But we literally, except for travel and dining out, (and the new cars) are still pretty careful with our money, and I see those numbers dropping significantly now that the big items are all gone. In our case, we have been doing international travel in business and first class the last couple of years, and did 100k point sign up bonuses with Amex and British Air/Chase, so that we would have the points to use the free companion ticket that BA gives if you charge $30k/calendar year. You only pay VAT/fuel charges per ticket, about $2k/total for two tickets that would cost from $8k to $14k AFTER TAX, if purchased. At this point, we only want to fly business or first for international travel, so that reward rate is very high, like 25 to 45 %, but only if that is worth it for you, and it takes buying the ticket a year in advance, before the pricey seats disappear. So far we have made/scheduled4 trips like that.
But the catch is, you have to have the points to get that high level of travel, so that isn't very sustainable long term, once the bonuses are gone, as each trip is at least 100k points. It barely makes sense to pass up $600 in cash back for a free premium economy, except that none of the ticket values are taxed like cash back is.
