The 30 Credit Cards In My Wallet Right Now (2024)

Maximizing credit cards is one of the best ways to elevate your travel. This can include getting the credit cards with the best welcome bonuses, using the right credit cards for your everyday spending, maximizing credit card bonus categories, and taking advantage of other credit card perks.

There are a lot of misconceptions about the impact that applying for credit cards can have on your credit score. I have over two dozen credit cards, and my credit score is excellent.

In this post I wanted to first share a brief intro regarding how applying for credit cards impacts your credit score, then I’ll talk about what goes into my credit card decision making process, and then I’ll share the cards I have open.

How credit cards impact your credit score

There are a lot of misconceptions about how credit scores work, in particular people thinking that applying for credit cards hurts your credit score. That’s generally not true, and in many cases applying for cards can even help your credit score in the long run.

The beginners guide on the blog has a section about credit cards and credit scores, and should provide some insights on that. For context, I have a lot of credit cards, and my credit score is almost perfect, in the top couple of percent nationwide.

For those of you not familiar, here’s what factors into your credit score:

• 35% of your score is your payment history (the percentage of payments you’ve made on-time)
• 30% of your score is your credit utilization (how much credit you’re using compared to your total limits)
• 15% of your score is your credit age (the average age of your open accounts)
• 10% of your score is the types of credit you use (how many different types of requests for credit you have)
• 10% of your score is your requests for new credit (how many times you’ve applied for credit)

What’s most important is that you pay your bills on time, don’t utilize too much of your credit (meaning you want to ideally use 20% or less of your total available credit, and/or pay your credit card bills early), and keep some cards long term, which will help increase your average age of accounts.

The only metric that’s lowered by applying for cards is your requests for new credit, but that makes up just 10% of your score. Furthermore, credit inquiries typically fall off your report after 24 months.

Closing credit cards that are no longer working for you potentially doesn’t harm your credit much either, though alternatively you can also often downgrade credit cards instead.

What I look for in credit cards

For me, there are three things I look for when applying for credit cards:

• Credit cards that offer a big welcome bonus— often the introductory bonuses on cards arecompelling, and enough reason to pick up a new card
• Credit cards that offer a generous return on everyday spending— there are some cards you have because they help you maximize the points you earn, either for everyday spending or for specific spending categories
• Credit cards that offer ongoing perks that more than justify the annual fee — some cards are worth holding onto even if you don’t plan on putting much spending on them, because they offer things like elite status, annual free nights, etc.

The 30 credit cards that I have right now

Now let me share what cards I have at the moment. I have 30 open credit cards right now — so far this year I’ve canceled one card and have applied for two cards, so I now have the most cards I’ve had in quite some time.

Below are the credit cards that I have, broken down by issuer.

My nine American Express cards

• The Platinum Card® from American Express (review) — this card has a $695 annual fee (Rates & Fees), and offers many perks that help offset it, including Amex Centurion Lounge access, Hilton and Marriott hotel status, a $240 annual digital entertainment credit, a $200 annual airline fee credit, a $200 annual Uber credit, a $200 annual hotel credit (min 2-night stay required for Hotel Collection, 1 night for Fine Hotels & Resorts), an up to $189 annual CLEAR Plus credit, a $100 annual Saks credit, and more (Enrollment is required for select benefits)
• Business Platinum Card® from American Express(review) — this card has a $695 annual fee (Rates & Fees), and offers perks to help offset that; I grabbed this card when I received a great targeted offer
• American Express® Business Gold Card (review) — this card has a $375 annual fee (Rates & Fees), and has a solid rewards structure; I opened this card account when I received a great targeted offer
• American Express® Green Card(review) — this card has a $150 annual fee (Rates & Fees), and offers all kinds of great perks, including 3x points on dining and travel, an up to $189 annual CLEAR Plus credit, and a up to $100 annual LoungeBuddy credit (Enrollment required)
• Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express (review) — this card has a $95 annual fee, and offers 3x points at US supermarkets (on up to $6,000 of spending per year, then 1x) and 2x points at US gas stations, plus a 50% points bonus when you make at least 30 transactions per billing cycle
• Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card (review) — this card has a $125 annual fee (Rates & Fees), and offers an anniversary free night certificate on your account anniversary every year valid at a property costing up to 35,000 points per night, plus 15 elite nights per year, which more than justify the annual fee
• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (review) — this card has a $650 annual fee (Rates & Fees), and offers benefits that more than justify the annual fee, including Platinum Elite status, up to $300 in statement credits per calendar year (up to $25 per month) for eligible purchases at restaurants worldwide.), plus an anniversary free night valid at a property costing up to 85,000 points per night
• Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card (review) — this $550 annual fee card offers incredible perks, including Hilton Honors Diamond status for as long as you have the card, an annual free night certificate, a $250 Hilton resort credit every cardmember year, and a $250 airline fee credit every calendar year
• The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (review) — this card has a $0 annual fee (Rates & Fees), and I consider it to be one of the most rewarding business cards out there, given that it offers 2x Membership Rewards points on the first $50,000 spent every calendar year (then 1x)

See this post for the best credit cards for earning Amex points, and this post for my American Express card strategy.

The information and associated card details on this page for the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, American Express Green Card, and Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card has been collected independently by OMAAT and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

My one Bank of America card

• Alaska Airlines Visa® Business card (review) — this card has a $95 annual fee for one cardmember ($70 for the company and $25 per card), and offers several valuable perks, including an annual companion certificate, a first checked bag free, 20% back on Alaska Airlines inflight purchases, and more

My two Barclays cards

• JetBlue Plus Card (review) — this card offers a 5,000 point bonus on the account anniversary each year, plus a 10% refund on JetBlue points redemptions, which to me justifies the $99 annual fee
• AAdvantage Aviator Business Mastercard (review) — I picked up this card recently when it was offering a big bonus, but I doubt I’ll keep this card in the long run

My four Capital One cards

• Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (review) (Rates & Fees) — this card has a $395 annual fee, but offers all kinds of amazing perks, including a $300 annual travel credit, 10,000 anniversary bonus miles, a Priority Pass membership, Plaza Premium lounge access, amazing authorized user perks, and much more
• Capital One Spark Cash Plus(review) (Rates & Fees) — this card has a $150 annual fee, and is currently my go-to card for everyday business spending, especially given that rewards can be converted into Capital One miles
• Capital One Spark Miles for Business (review) (Rates & Fees) — this card has a $95 annual fee (waived the first year), and offers 2x Spark miles per dollar spent, and Capital One miles can be transferred to airline partners
• Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card (review) (Rates & Fees) — this no annual fee card offers many great benefits, the most exciting of which is a complimentary Uber One membership and 10% cash back on Uber and Uber One through November 14, 2024

See this post for the best credit cards for earning Capital One miles, and this post for my Capital One card strategy.

My 11 Chase cards

• Chase Sapphire Reserve® (review) — this $550 annual fee card offers 3x points on dining and travel, a $300 annual travel credit, and lots of other great perks, including with DoorDash, Instacart, and Lyft
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (review) — this $95 annual fee card is the all around best business card, as it offers 3x points on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases every cardmember year on travel, shipping purchases, internet, cable, and phone services, and advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines; the card also offers a great cell phone protection benefit, rental car coverage, and more
• Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (review) — this no annual fee card offers 1.5x points on all purchases, so is one of the best cards for non-bonused business spending; points can be combined with Ultimate Rewards points earned on other cards
• Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (review) — this no annual fee card offers5x points on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases every cardmember year on office supply stores, and on cellular phone, landline, internet, and cable TV services, and 2x points on the first $25,000 spent at gas stations and restaurants; points can be combined with Ultimate Rewards points earned on other cards
• Chase Freedom FlexSM (review) — this no annual fee card offers5x points in rotating quarterly categories, andthese points can be combined with Ultimate Rewards points earned on other cards
• Chase Freedom Unlimited®(review) — this no annual fee card offers1.5x pointsin non-bonused categories, and these points can be combined with Ultimate Rewards points earned on other cards; I downgraded myChase Sapphire Preferred® Card (review) to this card in 2016
• British Airways Visa Signature® Card (review) — this $95 annual fee card is well worth it to me thanks to all the benefits it offers, like 10% off British Airways flights, up to $600 in reward flight statement credits, and more
• World of Hyatt Credit Card (review) — this $95 annual fee card is worth it for the five nights toward status annually, anniversary free night certificate, as well as the ability to put spending on the card to earn more elite nights and a second anniversary free night certificate
• World of Hyatt Business Credit Card (review) — this $199 annual fee card was recently introduced, and offers a big welcome bonus, up to $100 in Hyatt credits annually, and more
• IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (review) — this card offers all kinds of great perks, including an annual free night certificate valid at any IHG hotel retailing for up to 40,000 points per night, a fourth night free on award redemptions, and a lot more
• IHG® Rewards Club Select Credit Card— this cardoffers an annual free night certificatevalid at any IHG hotel retailing for up to 40,000 points per night, which more than justifies the card’s $49 annual fee; this card is no longer being issued

See this post for the best credit cards for earning Chase points, and this post for my Chase card strategy.

My three Citi cards

• Citi Double Cash® Card (review) — this no annual fee card offers 1% cash back when you make a purchase and 1% cash back when you pay for that purchase in the form of ThankYou points
• Citi Prestige® Card (review) — this card has a $495 annual fee but offers lots of great perks, including a $250 annual travel credit,5x points on dining and airfare, and more; I’m seriously considering downgrading this card to theCiti Premier®Card(review)
• Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (review) — this $595 annual fee card offers an Admirals Club membership for the primary member; authorized users each get Admirals Club access as well

See this post for the best credit cards for earning Citi points, and this post for my Citi card strategy.

Bottom line

Hopefully the above is an interesting rundown of the credit cards I have. I’d like to think that almost all of these credit cards serve a purpose as part of my long-term credit card strategy, either because they offer an excellent rewards structure, or because they offer perks that make the cards worth holding onto.

There are a few cards that I plan on canceling at their account renewal, though I’ll deal with those situations as they arise. As you can see, my credit score is also excellent in spite of how many credit cards I have, which should hopefully put some of you at ease who are considering applying for new cards.

How many credit cards do you have right now?

The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: American Express® Business Gold Card (Rates & Fees), The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (Rates & Fees), The Business Platinum® Card from American Express (Rates & Fees), The Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees), Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (Rates & Fees), Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card (Rates & Fees), and American Express® Green Card (Rates & Fees).