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How many credit cards should I have is something we ask ourselves quite often. According to the Guiness Book of World Records, the most extensive collection of active credit cards was 1,497. I don’t think any of us need that many.

How many credit cards should I have?

This answer widely depends on multiple factors such as your budget, credit score and what you plan to use them for. If you are Travel Hacking, this question becomes even harder to answer. The easiest way to get miles/points is the use of credit card sign up bonuses and daily use. Unfortunately, it isn’t one card fits all to get the most points. Most have strong categories or items that you purchase for bonus points and a flat point amount for other things. To get the best bang for the buck, I split my spend between four different cards.

Below is the list of credit cards I feel like I need to have, with most of my flights being to Las Vegas, Orlando, and Cancun. Now does this answer the question of “How many credit cards should I have?”. I’m not sure, but I think you will find the information helpful in making your credit card decisions.

Credit Card List

1.) Chase Ink

This card is no longer available in the form we use, but they do offer the Chase Ink Preferred. The version I have allows for 5x Ultimate Rewards points on my cable/cell phone bill along with purchases at office supply stores. I like to pick up gift cards for the 5x Ultimate Rewards points for stores my wife or I go to often such as Starbucks, Lowes or Target. They provide other benefits such as 2x Ultimate Rewards Points on gas. You receive 1 point on all other purchases

The Chase Ink Preferred only does 3x Ultimate Rewards points on cable/cell bill and office supply stores. Another perk we enjoy is the cell phone insurance through their card if you pay for your cellular bill with this card.

2.) Chase Freedom Unlimited card

This is one of the two default cards we usually use. This allows for 1.5x points for all purchases. Worst case, you can cash these out and its a 1.5% cash back card. But since we have the Chase Freedom Unlimited card , we can transfer the Ultimate Rewards Points to that account and converts those into miles giving us about 3% back on all purchases for travel through Southwest, Hyatt, United, and other programs.

3.) MGM Mlife Card through the First Bankcard

This is due to my loyalty to MGM casinos. Each purchase for gas and groceries is 2 points in loyalty and 2 points in credit at one of their casinos. We are fortunate that our Walmart counts as groceries. This is what allows me to maintain my higher than average rewards/loyalty status at MGM and provides better deals through their program for free nights and food comp credits. I only use this card for gas and groceries.

4.) Paypal through Synchrony Bank

This is my other default card. This is a simple and plain 2% cashback card. When all else fails, this cash back covers those items that come up on travel such as taxis and food on the trips. With this being 2% on everything with no annual fee, it will beat most of the cards that offer only one point per dollar.

How Many Credit Cards Should I Have? – Conclusion

Keep in mind; values change for what airline and hotels are worth. As flights get cheaper at times, the number of miles it may take may not. My general rule of thumb is if you do not get at least two percent value per dollar or some ancillary benefit like additional warranty, don’t overlook a simple cash back card at times.

As I have mentioned before, my favorite key to travel hacking for free flights and reduced travel is the Chase Ultimate Rewards Program. Below is a recommendation of the best credit card options. They all compliment each other, but you do not need one of each to use Ultimate Rewards to earn free flights. As long as you have one card that has an annual fee, Chase allows you transfer to their travel partners and use their chase travel portal. Without the annual fee cards, they are just considered a cash back card.

Joni and I use two cards as our preferred credit card choices for the majority of our travel and to help us earn free flights. They are the Chase Ink Business Plus (Chase Ink Preferred is the new version) and our Chase Freedom Unlimited cards. I have included referral links if anyone is interested as they will give you free points. Either we or a friend of ours will get referral points if you use these links throughout the article. If you are looking to get a new credit card to help with travel hacking we would appreciate your support and help all of us earn free flights.

Chase Ink Preferred (Small Business)

This is the card that Joni and I use the most. We have one of the older styles that has a higher point value that is no longer on the market. This is the new version that we would be using if that other one was not available. I have friends and family that have any kind of small business.

One of the biggest benefits is that you receive three points per dollar spent on travel, shipping, internet, cable bills, cell phone, and social media advertising. In addition you earn one point per dollar on all other purchases. Now days almost everyone has a cell phone bill or a cable or satellite TV bill. For a couple friends, that have to ship out items such as leggings or purses, this could be a huge money maker for them. Another benefit is if you pay for your cell phone and cell bill with this card, it offers you protection against theft or damage. If your phone gets run over by a cement truck? It’s covered!

Keep in mind, 3 ultimate reward points is a minimum of 3.75 cents in travel and could be up to 7 cents depending on the travel partner. Another one of the benefits I use often is that it provides additional car rental insurance. I often rent cars on my trips to Las Vegas which are considered business trips due to my sports collection side business. This gives primary car rental insurance instead of having to use my personal auto policy or the expensive car insurance the rental companies sell.

What does this mean for free flights?

With this card there is an 80,000 ultimate rewards point sign up bonus if you use the link listed below and spend $5,000 in three months!!! Yes that amount is a large dollar amount but most people spend that in typical bills and purchases without even realizing it. We currently use our card for cell phone bills, car insurance, TV and internet bills along with groceries and gas. This allowed us to hit this dollar amount along with some minor home repairs those first couple months.

Keep in mind 80,000 ultimate rewards points is equivalent to $800 in immediate cash back when the points post. $1,000 in travel through Chase travel, this is enough for almost two round trip tickets to Hawaii from Chicago (45,000 points each through United depending on the days). If Hawaii isn’t your thing, how about five round trip tickets to Cancun from Chicago on Southwest Airlines? Yep! Free flights! Keep in mind, this card does have a $95.00 annual fee. For us, this is a keeper for years to come! Here is where you can apply for the Chase Ink Preferred Card.

Chase Freedom Unlimited (Personal Card)

This is our second Chase card that Joni and I use. This one is a ‘no brainer’ card for us to use. A lot of cards say, “you get 2 points for this, or 3 points for that”. This is our, ummm, I am having a brain fart and don’t know what to use card. This one always gets you 1.5 points on every purchase. As cash back its 1.5 cents per dollar, towards travel its 1.875 cents per dollar, or 1.5 miles/points in other travel programs such as Southwest Airlines, United or Hyatt (my favorite transfer partners).

The sign up bonus using my link for the Chase Freedom Unlimited card allows you to get $150 in cash back (15,000 points) if you spend $500 in three months. This is a no annual fee card, so there is no cost to having this account. This one has little risk so if you are just starting out and trying to figure out this Travel Hacking and how to earn free flights… this is a good choice.

Chase Freedom (Personal Card)

One of the cards we are considering and would be getting possibly in the future is the Chase Freedom card. Chase does have a limitation of only accepting applications from people who have signed up for five cards or less in 24 months. Since I had to experiment with what were the best cards when I first started out, I can’t apply for this card quite yet due to this limitation. After waiting the 2 years, this will be one of the next ones I will be applying for. One of the benefits of this card is the rotating categories. Every quarter you get a specific category where will allow you 5 cents (5 ultimate rewards points) per dollar on purchases up to $1500 and 1 cent (1 ultimate rewards point) per dollar on all other purchases. Some of the categories they have used over the last couple years are Amazon, gas, groceries, and Walmart purchases. This is a quick way people get their point totals to add up for travel. After all if Walmart is the category for the quarter then, $100 in Walmart grocery purchases is 500 points towards travel and free flights.

The sign up bonus allows you to get $150 in cash back (15,000 points) if you spend $500 in three months. This is a no annual fee card, so there is no cost to having this account. If you would link the Chase Freedom Unlimited card this link will help a friend who pays for travel as she works her way to the 2020 Para-Olympics in Tokyo for Taekwondo.

Chase Sapphire Preferred/Sapphire Reserve (Personal Card – Annual Fee Card)

If you are not eligible for the Chase Ink Preferred card due to not having a small business, this might be the card for you. If you want the ability to transfer points to partners or to use credits towards Chase Travel portal then you need to use of of these next two options. Each card has different level of benefits. The biggest difference is determining if the annual fee difference between the two is makes one a better choice over the other.

Chase Sapphire Preferred gives you 2 points per dollar on travel and restaurants and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. Joni and I go out to eat often so this would be a good way for us to earn points if we did not have the Chase Ink card instead. The auto insurance for car rentals just like on the Chase Ink card is a perk of this card. This card will give you 1.25 cents credit per point in the Chase Travel Portal. The annual fee is $95.

Chase Sapphire Reserve

The Chase Sapphire Reserve gives you 3 points per dollar on travel and restaurants and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. This card includes a $300 travel credit each year which can equal free flights! This card gives you 1.5 cents credit per point in the Chase Travel Portal. Keep in mind that the annual fee is $450 a year. But if you travel a lot each year, the $300 travel credit each year technically drops the card down to $150. At that point you have to determine if the benefits of the better redemption through Chase Travel, the extra points per dollar on travel and restaurants make up the difference. There are some other benefits like lounge access at airports and a $100 credit towards Global Entry (TSA Pre-Check) that may make it worth the difference. We have two friends who use this card. One travels a lot of taekwondo and other is hoping to be traveling all over soon!

If you would link a Chase Sapphire Reserve card considering using this link which will allow you to get 50,000 points in free travel if you spend $4,000 in three months. 50,000 points is worth $500 in cash back, $750 in Chase Travel Portal credit, or enough points to fly solo to Hawaii with free flights!

We recommend Chase for Travel and free flights

Chase bank has been a large part of my key to free flights, or nearly free travel over the last two years. Our round-trip airfare for three to Hawaii which we got basically for free, was due to the sign up bonus and a couple months of spending on the card. Joni and Cheyenne’s hotel for the week at taekwondo nationals this past summer was covered by making normal purchases on these cards. Multiple trips to Vegas and Cancun are all due to transfers from these cards to Southwest Airlines. For the person just starting out, this is the biggest recommendation I could give. Get to know Chase as they have so many of the greatest opportunities.

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