Credit Card Bonanza

In 2022 I began diving into the credit card points game. What started as an endeavor to get a few free perks here and there soon became method for saving some serious cash. As of I’ve saved . Some may say it’s not worth the effort of carrying all the cards, but I think for most junior enlisted/junior officers in the military it is definitely worth it.

Here’s a quick break down of every credit card perk, and how much value I’ve redeemed from them to date ():

Amex Gold Card #1 (06/2022 - 06/2024)

Card Perk	Redeemed Value ($)
Intro Bonus
Uber
Grubhub
Total

Amex Platinum Card #1 (09/2022 - present)

Card Perk	Redeemed Value ($)
Intro Bonus
Uber
Hotel Credit
Airline Credit
Saks Fifth Ave
Airport Lounges
Total

Amex Platinum Card #2 (02/2024 - present)

Card Perk	Redeemed Value ($)
Intro Bonus
Uber
Hotel Credit
Airline Credit
Saks Fifth Ave
Total

Amex Platinum Card #3 (06/2024 - Present)

Card Perk	Redeemed Value ($)
Intro Bonus
Uber
Hotel Credit
Airline Credit
Saks Fifth Ave
Total

Amex Gold Card #2 (07/2024 - present)

Card Perk	Redeemed Value ($)
Uber
Grubhub
Resy Credit1
Dunkin Doughnuts1
Total

Amex Hilton Honors Aspire Card (08/2024 - Present)

Card Perk	Redeemed Value ($)
Free Hotel Night
Resort Credit
Airline Credit
Total

Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card (09/2024 - Present)

Card Perk	Redeemed Value ($)
Free Hotel Night
Dining Credit
Total

Chase Sapphire Reserve (09/2024 - Present)

Card Perk	Redeemed Value ($)
Travel Credit
Airport Lounges
Total

How It Started

Money makes money. And the money that money makes, makes money.
– Ben Franklin

In second grade I came across a children’s book called If You Made a Million, which is essentially about how money makes money. Since then, I’ve always been fascinated by compound interest, passive income, travel hacking, and any other ways to put a dollar to work.

Naturally, at some point I began looking into credit card “deals” to see if there were really any deals to be had. As someone who once received a paper plate award for “Most Likely to Cross a Desert for a Dollar”, I was certainly going into my research with a healthy amount of skepticism. I avoid subscription fees like the plague, so would I really find any top tier credit cards worth their annual fees?

Yes.

Military Benefits

While the perks afforded by the credit cards in this post are certainly decent if used optimally, the benefits of these cards goes from “hm, I guess these benefits really are worth the annual fee” to “gee whiz how is this possible” if you’re in the military; this is all because the annual fees for many credit cards are waived for military members. This is due to the Military Lending Act (MLA) and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA).

That’s right - active duty, or national guard and reserves on 30 day active duty orders (and their military spouses!) can open top tier credit cards such as the Amex Platinum, Amex Gold, Chase Sapphire Reserve, and the Chase Sapphire Preffered and pay no annual fees.

For example, after receiving my Amex Platinum Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve Card I received letters in the mail that said the following:

We approved your credit card account for benefits under the Military Lending Act (MLA) and Chase policy…We won’t charge you applicable fees, other than late fees and non-sufficient funds fees…We review your account annually to verify your eligibility for MLA benefits and will notify you of changes.
–Chase Military Servicing Team

…because your account is eligible for reief under either the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act or the Military Lending Act, we will continue to waive your Annual Membership Fee and any Additional Card Fees as long as your Account continues to qualify. Although these fees will be waived, the terms listed above are applicable and will display in future disclosures and your Cardmember Agreement.
–American Express Customer Care

But if there are no fees for military members…then why not get a ton of cards?

That’s a great question! And I can’t think of a good reason not to do just that. As of today (), I’ve had waived across all my cards.

Platinum Card Galore

Annual Benefits	1 Plat	2 Plats	3 Plats
Hotel Credit	$200	$400	$600
Airline Credit	$200	$400	$600
Digital Entertainment	$240	$480	$720
Uber Cash	$200	$400	$600
Saks Fifth Ave	$100	$200	$300

I don’t know why this is possible/allowed, but to my knowledge, there is no limit on the number of platinum cards and individual can have.

But why get more than one platinum card?

Good question - and there really isn’t any good reason to have more than one if you are paying the annual fees for them…but if you’re in the military you’re not. That means that you can receive every platinum card benefit times the number of platinum cards you have.

For me, the biggest reason to do this is the Uber Cash and the Airline Credit. I don’t Uber much, but Uber Cash can be used with Uber Eats as well, and if you order for pickup instead of delivery, it’s about the same price as ordering at the retaurant. This effectively makes the Uber Credit a dining credit.

And there’s no limit to how many you have. This picture (right) is of all the credit cards of a military member who’s been at the credit card game for awhile.²

Most Amex Platinum holders don’t use most or any of their “Airline Credit” because it can typically only be applied to incidentals such as choosing a seat, checked bags, in-flight snacks, etc. But a little known fact is that you can also use this credit towards the United Travel Bank (ie a pool of money tied to your United account to use whenever you want). Therefore, for every platinum card you have, you can receive $200/year towards flying United.

How to Open More Platinum Cards

Unfortunately, you can’t simply call Amex and ask for ten more Platinum cards. After your first Platinum card, you get more by upgrading lower tier cards in the same “family” to Platinum, ie the Green and Gold card. Once you hold either of these cards for a year, you can call the number on the back of the card and ask to upgrade the card to Platinum. The card number doesn’t change, but you do get shipped a new platinum card to replace your Gold or Green card. After upgrading, you can immediately open a new Gold or Green to replace the one you just upgraded to Platinum.

Rinse and repeat next year.

What I Would Do Differently

If I could start my credit card journey over again, I’d do a couple things differently. If you’re just beginning to explore high-end credit cards, I’d consider these tips to maximize benefits.

Open Chase Cards First

Chase is a bit pickier than some other credit card companies about who they can open their cards. Specifically, they have their 5/24 rule which means they won’t let you open a card if you’ve opened 5 credit cards in the past 24 months. This delayed me from getting my Sapphire Reserve card, which was unfortunate because that card gives you $300 straight up for travel each year. So grab any Chase card before moving on to others.

Amex Cards: Green then Gold then Platinum

For American Express cards, that order you open them matters if you want to receive the intro bonus for each card (which you really do). This article explains it thoroughly, but the TLDR is that if you open a top tier card and receive the intro bonus, you cannot receive the intro bonus for lower tier cards in that card’s “family”.

Example 1: You open the Platinum card. You will not receive the intro bonus if you open the Gold card or Green card in the future.

Example 2: You open the Amex Gold card. You can still receive the intro bonus for the Platinum card if you get it later since it is a higher tier card, but you will not receive an intro bonus if you open a Green card.

If you’re completely sold out on getting tons of credit cards, I’d check out this article written by an Air Force vet who’s been at the credit card game longer than me.

Referral Links

If you found any information on this page helpful and have decided to get any of the credit cards I mentioned, I would greatly appreciate it if you would consider using one of the below refferal links to apply for your card! By using my links, I (and for some of the cards, yourself included) will receive a referral point bonus. I enjoy finding ways to travel cheaply and sharing that information with others; this page was not created for profit. I will be converting any points I receive from referrals to cash and donating 100% to a charity for children in Rwanda. Using these links as a card applicant is no different than the ordinary application links and will not affect your application in any way. Thanks!

American Express Platinum Card

• Massive welcome point bonus
• The Global Lounge Collection
• $200 Hotel Credit
• $240 Digital Entertainment Credit
• $200 Uber Cash
• $200 Airline Fee credit
• $100 Saks Fifth Avenue Credit
• $155 Walmart+ Credit
• $189 CLEAR Plus Credit
• 1x Points on Other Purchases
• and more

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American Express Gold Card

• Massive welcome bonus
• $120 Uber Cash
• $120 Dining Credit
• 4x Points at Restaurants
• 4x Points on Groceries
• 1x Points on Other Purchases
• and more

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American Express Green Card

• The original Amex Travel Card
• Large welcome point bonus
• 3x points on Travel
• 3x points on Transit
• 3x points on Dining
• 1x points on Other Purchases
• $189 CLEAR Plus Credit

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American Express Bonvoy Brilliant Card

• Annual Free Night
• Platinum Elite Status
• $25 Dining Credit / Month
• Marriot

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Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card

• Diamond Status (Highest)
• Annual Free Night
• $400 Hilton Resort Credit
• $200 Flight Credit / Year
• 14x points on Hotels and Resorts
• 7x points on Select Travel
• 7x points on Dining
• 3x points on Other Purchases

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Chase Sapphire Reserve Card

• Massive welcome point bonus
• $300 Travel Credit / Year
• Airport Lounge Access
• Global Entry or TSA PreCheck Fee
• 10x points on Hotels & Car Rentals
• 3x points on Dining purchases
• Travel Protection/Insurance
• and more

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Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

• Massive welcome point bonus
• $50 Chase Travel Hotel Credit
• 5x points on Hotels & Car Rentals Purchased through Chase Travel
• 3x points on Dining purchases
• and more

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1. This perk was added to the Gold Card in August 2024 ↩︎ ↩︎²

2. The 32 Credit Cards I Have Right Now ↩︎