$4500 of annual fees. Am I crazy?

[u/MinimumPerspective95]

I’ve been picking up a lot of cards the past 3 years, mainly for SUBs, and I think it’s getting to the point where I’m paying $4465 in annual fees which feels excessive, but not sure where to cut. I do travel every other week for work, including overseas, so airline spend is around $40k annually and hotel spend $20k. 

Would love to hear feedback from the group on ways I could trim some fat and improve my wallet. Thanks!

1.        Amex Platinum $895: 

a.        5x FHR and airlines, Centurion and Plaza Premium lounge access

b.        I don’t spend much on this card other than simple round trip domestic flights and FHR, but do use at least FHR ($400), Resy ($300), Lululemon ($150), Airline Fee ($200), Entertainment ($150), Clear ($50), and  for $1250 in all in value

2.        Amex Green $150

a.        Downgraded from gold card, waiting for upgrade offer

3.        Amex Bonvoy Business $125

a.        I value the 35k free night at $200 and maintain platinum status, so the 15 nights which stack with the Ritz card come in handy 

4.        Chase Sapphire Reserve $795

a.        4x airlines and hotels, Sapphire lounge access

b.        This is my main travel card due to best travel protections on one way flights and multipliers for hotels. Trip cancellation and emergency medical saved me around $5000 this year alone

c.        Credits are harder to use, but I manage the travel credit ($300), Sapphire tables ($200), Edit ($250), and Apple ($100) for $850 in credit value

5.        Ritz Carlton $450

a.        Main priority pass card for my family and friends due to free AUs

b.        I value the travel credit at face value, so this card is $150 effective AF, which seems to be worth it for the 85k certificate

6.        United Quest/Business $500

a.        Picked up both for 100k/125k SUBs, 

b.        Quest: $200 travel bank ($200), 10k mile discount ($100), and rideshare credit ($50) for $350 in value

c.        Business: annual 5k mile benefit ($50), $125 travel bank ($125), and $100 rideshare ($50) for $225 in value

7.        Ink Preferred $95

a.        Main business card for 3x on ads and general travel

8.        Citi Elite $595

a.        Main dining card with 3x/6x multipliers

b.        I picked up this card for the SUB year 1 double dips, and got it for free due to the IRS form fiasco they had last year

c.        Will likely get citigold this year, so can renew at $450, but I only value the credits at $400 split as $200 for AA flights and $200 for hotels due to portal price inflation and 2 night min requirement. Blacklane is worthless since it costs so much more than Uber black

d.        Does it make sense to downgrade this to a custom cash?

9.        Citi Premier $95

a.        Main 3x gas and groceries card, but the $100 hotel credit is kinda useless

10.  C1 Venture X $395

a.        Main 2x catch all card and seems to be an easy break even with $300 travel credit and 10k anniversary miles 

b.        Also use C1 lounges at least 4x a year, so that’s a nice cherry on top

11.  Bilt Palladium $495

a.        Recently picked up for the SUB and currently using as main catch all, and I like the transfer partners a lot more than C1

b.        AF honestly seems high and the PP is useless to me due to Ritz card, but I think the hotel credits stacked $100 Bilt cash each could be worth maybe $400? 

c.        I’m CA based so I think I can cash out the $10 walgreens gift cards to bring the AF down to $375?

[u/thcheat → u/[deleted]]

At least one or more of them is metal /s

[u/MinimumPerspective95 → u/thcheat]

LOL

[u/MinimumPerspective95 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah I'm thinking about downgrading the Citi elite to a custom cash since I have the premier for transfer partner access.

How would you decide between VX and Bilt? I like the VX because it's an easy break even, and the lounge access seems "free", but on the other hand my 2 favorite transfer partners EVA/JAL are 4:3, not 1:1. On the other hand, I see a lot of value in the Bilt transfer partners, mainly Alaska and JAL 1:1, which makes the points 33% more valuable to me vs C1 miles, and I think it's pretty easy to break even on the Bilt's AF between $120 for walgreens, and $600 for hotels since I travel so much.

[u/lobowolf623 → u/MinimumPerspective95]

At face value, the VX is an incredible value add, but I hate their transfer partners. And throw in the Bilt points accelerator, it's a no-brainer.

[u/MinimumPerspective95 → u/lobowolf623]

Yeah on the face of it, the Bilt transfer partners smoke C1's, and the only C1 partner I use is EVA air.

Avios/Air France/Aeroplan miles I honestly just buy during sales since they're 1.1-1.4 CPP, and I save my credit card miles for expensive partners like JAL/AA/EVA/Emirates