We have a pretty good supply of credit cards we can use to earn points.  We always try to spend in the bonus categories on the cards that make the most sense.  (Note, when mentioning the number of points earned in each category, that is for each dollar spent.)  Here are some of our main categories that we spend money in:

Disney Gift Cards – We use a Chase Ink card to buy Target Gift Cards at Staples in order to Stack onto the Target 5% off.

Rotating Categories – The Chase Freedom Card offers 5 Ultimate Reward points in rotating categories throughout the year.  The categories change quarterly and usually include grocery stores, gas stations, Amazon.com, home improvement stores, and restaurants. We will always use this card for the quarterly category.  The best category that just got added was Costco for the rest of the year.

Groceries/Gas/Restaurants – We will use the American Express Hilton Surpass card to get 6 HHonors points for each dollar we spend in this category if we aren’t trying to meet a minimum spend.

Gift Cards – If we possible, we buy gift cards at office supply stores using our Chase Ink card to get 5 Ultimate Reward Points.  We can then use these cards at locations where we wouldn’t normally any sort of category bonus.  For example, we will buy Amazon gift cards at Staples using our Chase Ink card to get 5 Ultimate Reward Points.  Staples has other gift cards as well for locations that we tend to go to (Shell gas stations, Netflix, various restaurants).

Costco – Earning points at Costco was tricky in the past, since Costco only took American Express cards in store.    Now that they have switched to accepting Visa cards, it is only a problem for meeting minimum spending on American Express cards, since they can’t be used in the store.  Luckily, we discovered you can buy Costco cash cards at costco.com using any credit card you would like.

Sporting Events – We have season tickets to the Washington Capitals, so paying for those tickets is another great way to meet minimum spends.  I know there are cards that offer bonuses in this category, but we haven’t explored them yet.

Summer Camps – Up until recently, we were spending a lot of money on summer camps that the kids attended.  We could easily knock out a minimum spend (or two) for what we were paying for summer camps.  As the kids get older, they need these camps less.  I’m sure those expenses will get replaced with college costs, so there’s another chance. 😉

Everything else – If we don’t have a minimum spend we are trying to meet, we use the Chase Ultimate Freedom Card which gives us 1.5 Ultimate Reward points for each dollar we spend.  We usually transfer these to our United Mileageplus or our Hyatt Gold Passport accounts.

Do you have any suggestions for maximizing category spending?  Let us know in the comments!

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