What Credit Card rewards do you get for paying your maintenance fees?

[cbyrne1174]

The Wyndham credit card doesn't seem to have much value when I did the math, so I just use 2% cash back. My MF are going to be about $4200 a year on 742,000 points, which gives me back $84/year.

 

[Rolltydr]

The Wyndham credit card doesn't seem to have much value when I did the math, so I just use 2% cash back. My MF are going to be about $4200 a year on 742,000 points, which gives me back $84/year.

I do the same as you. About 3-4 years ago, Wyndham/Barclays reduced the value of their card. At that point, I shopped around and settled on the Citi Cashback card which pays 2% back for all charges, regardless of type. My mfs are about $5800/yr and I get over $116 back on 779k points.

 

[Mongoose]

For comparison. If you have HICV, the IHG premier card is the way to go. I get 10x points on MF's. So my $1900 yields 19,000. You can get rooms starting at 10,000 per night. It also goes towards elite status with IHG. On a similar topic we love our AMEX Gold for food and groceries its 4x the spend.

 

[cbyrne1174]

I do the same as you. About 3-4 years ago, Wyndham/Barclays reduced the value of their card. At that point, I shopped around and settled on the Citi Cashback card which pays 2% back for all charges, regardless of type. My mfs are about $5800/yr and I get over $116 back on 779k points.

That's the one I just got. My Capital One was downgraded to 1.5%

 

[rickandcindy23]

That's the one I just got. My Capital One was downgraded to 1.5%

The Venture card still gets 2% doesn't it?

 

[rickandcindy23]

Chase Sapphire Reserve is still our go-to card for maintenance fees and travel. I have some huge points built up and used much of the points we had for home improvement purchases at Lowe's and Home Depot, plus I paid us back for our groceries this past year. I still have over 600,000 points. When I pay Vistana next month, it will be more. I cannot seem to use the points for airfare through the Expedia Travel. The value is not where it used to be. Calling them is a nightmare of holding time. I transferred a bunch of our points to Southwest to use that way. So disappointing.

We have the old Amex that is now Bonvoy. I am considering the use of that card for our MF's next month. Hotel points are not really something we use much. I have to think this through.

 

[hjsweet2002]

We don't charge a lot so we use the Wyndham Barclay card. We use it for the highest end Wyndham hotels like the Grands and stays at Wyndham resorts when available. It has been very useful when driving to and from Wyndham resorts.

 

[HDiaz1]

Chase UR points. I use the Chase Ink BP which gives me 3X points on all travel. I agree with you, I also have the Wyndham cc but I never use it.

 

[paxsarah]

I too use the Chase Sapphire Reserve. However, since they upped their annual fee, I'm going to call and see if they'll give me a retention offer, otherwise I'll probably cancel it before it renews and get the Sapphire Preferred instead.

 

[cbyrne1174]

I also recently got the Amex Blue Cash preferred card. I almost never fly, only drive and rarely eat out. It gives me 6% back on groceries and 3% back on gas, so I am also able to save on more than just my maintenance fees. I also do have the 5% Walmart Card from Capital One, I just prefer to avoid Walmart for food when I can because it's usually to overpriced for what you get compared to Aldi. I think I'm going to go check out one of the Wilderness resorts next summer, so it's nice being able to get a little bit back on the cost of food and gas.

 

[ausman]

The Wyndham credit card doesn't seem to have much value when I did the math, so I just use 2% cash back. My MF are going to be about $4200 a year on 742,000 points, which gives me back $84/year.

I just switched to a Bank Of America Rewards card which gives 3% back . You nominate the category between:

Gas

Online Shopping

Dining

Travel

Drug Stores

Home Improvement and Furnishings

I have two of these cards and keep one permanently as Travel (timeshares are classed as travel) and alternate the other depending on purchases. Can nominate once a month.

Prior to that I used a Wells Fargo Amex which also gives 3% back on travel. Both types of cards are no fee cards

 

[Sandy VDH]

HGVC goes on the AMEX aspire, as paying MF triggers the $250 resort credit annual bonus. I was going to drop this card because I wasn't getting use out of the travel $250 annual bonus component, but since they added the $20 a month on Restaurants I figured I would get 11 months X $20 or $220 worth from that. If I get $130 worth of use out out of the $250 travel then it has paid for itself, and the rest becomes a bonus. I have used $70 so far for baggage, so it is likely going to happen. That along with the free night make into +ve territory on Benefits vs Annual fee.

Everything else MF wise I put on the CSR card and get UR points. Since it 3X for Travel (including most TS MFs payment) and then they offer 50% bump that is really 4.5X for most travel related items. But since they have been allowing Groceries and Dining to also quality for this bump, I have not paid for groceries and eating out yet this year. I had over 700,000 points that I had been saving up, so 100 points gets you $1.50 on the bumped up categories. I usually only use UR points to purchase travel via the portal, but with no flying anywhere for 18 months I was glad they offered groceries and meals at the 50% bump. I have book 2 airfares so far this year with the UR points as well. This card is just the most flexible of all the card choices out there. Love that about this card.

 

[r4rab]

HGVC goes on the AMEX aspire, as paying MF triggers the $250 resort credit annual bonus. I was going to drop this card because I wasn't getting use out of the travel $250 annual bonus component, but since they added the $20 a month on Restaurants I figured I would get 11 months X $20 or $220 worth from that. If I get $130 worth of use out out of the $250 travel then it has paid for itself, and the rest becomes a bonus. I have used $70 so far for baggage, so it is likely going to happen. That along with the free night make into +ve territory on Benefits vs Annual fee.

Everything else MF wise I put on the CSR card and get UR points. Since it 3X for Travel (including most TS MFs payment) and then they offer 50% bump that is really 4.5X for most travel related items. But since they have been allowing Groceries and Dining to also quality for this bump, I have not paid for groceries and eating out yet this year. I had over 700,000 points that I had been saving up, so 100 points gets you $1.50 on the bumped up categories. I usually only use UR points to purchase travel via the portal, but with no flying anywhere for 18 months I was glad they offered groceries and meals at the 50% bump. I have book 2 airfares so far this year with the UR points as well. This card is just the most flexible of all the card choices out there. Love that about this card.

Don't forget that the CSR card gives you $300 credit for travel purchases annually and MFs count as that. Also the $100 TSA credit every 4 years, Lyft bonuses (if that's your thing), Door Dash (have only used it for the $60 annual free credit), travel lounges and some other miscellaneous benefits (their trip delay and other insurances seem pretty good although I've never had need to use them. I find the Chase travel site to have cheaper air fares than the Amex rewards site (where I have a lot of points also) when comparing the same flights.

If you rent a car, this is definitely the card you want to put it on. While many/most cards have car rental insurance, it is secondary to your personal auto insurance. The CSR card has it as primary. I used to pay something like $20/rental to Amex for this. The Points Guy has some very good articles comparing various cards especially travel cards. While this one is expensive I find it very easy to get at least $300-$400 value out of it without even trying or performing any redemptions.

 

[Sandy VDH]

The Points Guy has some very good articles comparing various cards especially travel cards. While this one is expensive I find it very easy to get at least $300-$400 value out of it without even trying or performing any redemptions.

I love my CSR card, I would consider getting rid of my HH Aspire, but NEVER my CSR.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I love my CSR card, I would consider getting rid of my HH Aspire, but NEVER my CSR.

I agree with that. I have the Aspire card and think it's very expensive for the little value I get from it, especially lately with the lack of travel and use of hotels. It's crazy expensive to keep that one. I love CSR. Wyndham MF's on that one are a big plus.

 

[cbyrne1174]

I love my CSR card, I would consider getting rid of my HH Aspire, but NEVER my CSR.

The Chase SR card is mainly if you frequently fly correct?

 

[Sandy VDH]

The Chase SR card is mainly if you frequently fly correct?

No it is very flexible and can be used for a number of different strategies. I use it to pay my MFs (and also travel and dining) which give me 3X points, and with the 50% bonus to book travel (or right now dining or groceries) I get back 4.5% which is definitely one of the better reimbursements around.

 

[VacationForever]

I just switched to a Bank Of America Rewards card which gives 3% back .

I have the BOA premium rewards and get an automatic 75% bump due to our relationship. 3.5 cents per dollar on all dining and travel, 2.6 cents per dollar on all other spendings.

 

[jules54]

Great info all. I assume CSR is Chase Sapphire Rewards correct? It’s time for a new credit card for me. Cancelled the Capitol One Savory as it paid 4% on dining out. Covid took care of that. The card itself was very cool made of some type of metal composite. Unfortunately not cool enough to cover the annual fee. Made some money the last few years, but now time to move on. Been using my Chase Ink for years for Wyndham fees 2%(points) and 5% on Cable,Cell Phone, Streaming type services.
Thought about trying the Wyndham Rewards Card did the math and Wyndham Maintenance fees pay between 4-6% and other Wyndham Hotels, gas. We travel a lot needing nightly stays between resorts which use as low as 7,500 miles for free stays. A lot of Wyndham resorts are on the list some very reasonable like Avenue Plaza 15,000 pts per nite for 1 bedroom free with points. With bonus points for new users on the regular no yearly fee card I would get 130,000 pts the first year. With the Earner plus with 75.00 annual fee I would get 190,000 which would cover yearly fee with about 100.00 more remaining.
Does anyone use this card? Only makes sense if you pay Wyndhams Fees, and travel.

 

[jules54]

Oh no now I’m going have to go down the credit card Points research rabbit hole......help meeeeee

 

[spackler]

I know the Barclays Wyndham credit cards aren't usually the first choice around here but the signup bonuses have gone up:

[Expired] Barclays Wyndham Cards: Up To 90,000 Points [Last Day] - Doctor Of Credit

Barclays is offering increased bonuses on the Wyndham cards of up to 90,000 points

www.doctorofcredit.com

Up to 8x points for spending at Wyndham properties...not sure if that includes maintenance fees, however.

 

[jwalk03]

Great info all. I assume CSR is Chase Sapphire Rewards correct? It’s time for a new credit card for me. Cancelled the Capitol One Savory as it paid 4% on dining out. Covid took care of that. The card itself was very cool made of some type of metal composite. Unfortunately not cool enough to cover the annual fee. Made some money the last few years, but now time to move on. Been using my Chase Ink for years for Wyndham fees 2%(points) and 5% on Cable,Cell Phone, Streaming type services.
Thought about trying the Wyndham Rewards Card did the math and Wyndham Maintenance fees pay between 4-6% and other Wyndham Hotels, gas. We travel a lot needing nightly stays between resorts which use as low as 7,500 miles for free stays. A lot of Wyndham resorts are on the list some very reasonable like Avenue Plaza 15,000 pts per nite for 1 bedroom free with points. With bonus points for new users on the regular no yearly fee card I would get 130,000 pts the first year. With the Earner plus with 75.00 annual fee I would get 190,000 which would cover yearly fee with about 100.00 more remaining.
Does anyone use this card? Only makes sense if you pay Wyndhams Fees, and travel.

CSR is Chase Sapphire Reserve. It’s a $550 annual fee but has a ton of great benefits so if you use it right it’s pretty easy to make-up the large annual fee.

As mentioned it provides PRIMARY rental car coverage so it’s always the best choice for a car rental. (The Sapphire Preferred card also provides primary coverage and only has a $95 annual fee.)

The sign-up bonus is almost always higher on the Preferred than the Reserve card. My wife just got a Preferred Card and got 100,000 UR points sign-up bonus. The offer for Reserve was only 50k UR points.

 

[paxsarah]

It’s a $550 annual fee but has a ton of great benefits so if you use it right it’s pretty easy to make-up the large annual fee.

Basically, the $300 travel credit (MFs count) makes it effectively a $250 annual fee for the Reserve. If you’re a big traveler, I think it’s pretty easy to make that up. That said, I did just cancel mine before my anniversary date to apply for the Preferred and its 100k bonus. Our traveling is pretty modest compared to some (we don’t fly a lot) so the Preferred should be the sweet spot for us.

 

[rickandcindy23]

We have been able to use the lounges lately, which has been great. The CSR comes with that lounge benefit. There was a great lounge at LAX. It was actually the Alaska lounge.

We ate in SFO at a couple of restaurants for free. That was nice.

Before Covid, we were having a great time visiting the lounges, then they started limiting guests. Now it seems almost back to normal. We will see.

 

[TheHolleys87]

Basically, the $300 travel credit (MFs count) makes it effectively a $250 annual fee for the Reserve. If you’re a big traveler, I think it’s pretty easy to make that up. That said, I did just cancel mine before my anniversary date to apply for the Preferred and its 100k bonus. Our traveling is pretty modest compared to some (we don’t fly a lot) so the Preferred should be the sweet spot for us.

So you dropped the Reserve and were then able to get the Preferred and the bonus? We have the Reserve; it’s in DH’s name and we just dropped me as an authorized user to save that fee. I wonder whether they’d give me the Preferred and the bonus if I applied.