Notes

Credit Cards

One of the joys of being an adult is being able to go into debt. This doesn't have to be a negative thing, of course – by using credit cards responsibly and paying them off, you can reap the benefits of multiple lines of credit without any of the downsides. Over the past few months, I've began to fall into the world of credit cards (accompanied by too much scrolling on r/creditcards) and I thought I would share what I've learned along the way.

My Current Cards

Card
Limit
Benefits
American Express Gold
N/A
4x points on dining, groceries, 3x on flights, 1x on everything else. 90k point SUB.
American Express Green
N/A
3x points on travel, dining, transit, 1x points on everything else. Annual CLEAR credit. 40k point SUB.
CapitolOne SavorOne
$3,000
10% back on Uber, 3% back on dining, entertainment, groceries, popular streaming services, 1% back on everything else.
Discover it
$1,500
5% back on rotating catagories, 2x rewards first year (effectively 10% back).
Chase icon
Chase Freedom Rise
$500
1.5% back.

Card Wishlist

Card
IS
AF
Benefits
Apple Card
$0
3% cashback at Apple, 2% with Apple Pay, 1% with physical card
Delta SkyMiles Platinum
$350
2x miles on Delta flights, 1x everywhere else
CapitolOne Venture X
$395
10x miles on hotels and rental cars, 5x on flights, 2x on everything else, ability to convert SavorOne cashback to miles

Discover it Past & Predicted Categories

Discover's Categories seem to follow a fairly regular pattern each year. Here are the past five years of categories broken down by quarter:

Yr
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
2024
Restaurants and Drug Stores
Gas Stations, Transit, Home Improvement
Groceries and Walmart
Prediction: Amazon + ???
2023
Grocery Stores, Drug Stores, Select Streaming Services
Resturants and Wholesale Clubs
Gas Stations and Digital Wallets
Amazon and Target
2022
Grocery Stores, Fitness Clubs, Gym Memberships
Gas Stations and Target
Resturants and PayPal
Amazon.com and Digital Wallets
2021
Grocery Stores, Walgreens, CVS
Gas Stations, Wholesale Clubs, Select Streaming Services
Resturants and PayPal
Amazon, Walmart, Target
2020
Grocery Stores, Walgreens, CVS
Gas Stations, Uber, Lyft, Wholesale Clubs
Resturants and PayPal
Amazon, Walmart, Target