We use the "Chase Universe". We had stacked up 750,000 points just before the pandemic. Our high end Chase Sapphire Reserve ($550 fee per year), was giving 50% bonus on points when used for travel through their portal. Because travel stopped, they applied that bonus toward groceries and dining out. We went 6 months without paying a dime for groceries, and more than a year eating/drinking out for free. (750,000 points is over 10 grand in statement credits) Here's my "strategy" which I typed up for some relatives a few years ago...
FIRST, my wife has a BOA (Bank of America) 3-2-1 card for personal groceries, etc. that gives us this cash back scenario: (We get a check for about $300-$400 each year).
1% = everything except... / 2% = grocery / 3% = all online shopping
Then…
Chase Sapphire Reserve: costs $550per year. We get a $300 travel credit which brings the net to $250 per year but we also get (got) the following:
100,000 point signup. ($1,500 worth of airline tickets if used through their portal) We get 1 point for most purchases but 3 points for any meal, entertainment or travel related purchases. THEN...we use the Chase Travel portal to buy plane tickets. We get a 50% bonus for doing so. So right out of the gate, our 500,000 accumulated points will buy us $7,500 worth of tickets. It doesn't end there. We use Southwest Airlines, which is the ONLY airline that has an out of whack point system. Usually 1 point = 1 penny. With them it's 1.6 cents per point so we get 60% bump up vs. 50% by doing so. We end up using less than 20,000 points to get a $300 ticket.
Chase Freedom Card - Now called "Flex", choice of "unlimited" that gives 1.5% for everything, or "freedom flex" that gives you 1% for most things, with a rotating quarterly 5% bonus.
This Freedom Flex is our "go to" card. Very simple. EVERY non travel related expense in our house and 2 businesses goes on here. We THEN transfer the points to the Sapphire because we get the 50% bonus when we use sapphire points via the travel portal. This card also has quarterly bonuses. usually things like gas, groceries, Amazon, Walmart etc. and the bonuses will be 5 points vs. 1 point which translates to 7.5 points through the portal
I also use Chase Ink Bold, and I still get one every other year when sign up bonuses come on. They give 5 points for cell, cable, etc. anything tech related (even netflix). I sign up, get the 50K-100K signup bonuses (worth $750-$1,500 via Sapphire transfer/travel portal), then put all my tech stuff on it, then kill the card a few months later to clean up my open accounts and get ready for the next "kill".
To supplement, I get Capital One cards every so often. My wife and I each got a Cap One card, just this past Christmas, each having a 50,000 signup bonuses. One for cash/account credit, one for gift cards. Plus I signed up for Amazon's Amex at the same time which gave us $100 credit on my Amazon account. So just for signing up for 3 cards, I netted a little over $1,100 just in time for Christmas. I did have to put 3K in 3 months on each of the Cap One cards. (These minimums for the signup bonus are about all the evidence I need that every human being that's interested in getting an edge should own SOME TYPE of business)
We’ve gone as long as 5 years without paying out of pocket for plane tickets. Now that we’ve semi retired and aren’t spending 10K a month it's going a little slower but it’s still a great return for the little bit of time spent organizing.
