My BEST 2-Credit Card Setup and Redemption Lessons

[@bradybrown5140]

Our setups are different (13 cards, team cashback) but I really like your unique takes + strategies. keep up the good content.

[@TheCreditFrog]

Thanks! Yeah, we’re all different, but it’s always fun to see wha other setups are out there to compare!

[@WhatsThePoints1]

Picking the Surpass over the Ritz is a testament to your focus on the game over blind loyalty to a brand, nice job

[@TheCreditFrog]

Absolutely! Value is value and Hilton has more of it! 😆

[@WhatsThePoints1]

@ guess there’s a reason Frequent Miler call it “getting Bonvoyed”

[@Strøhs21]

Great content as always, Stan! U.S. Bank for the win! The Altitude Reserve and Smartly (at 4% back) in my opinion would be the best two card setup at least right now.

[@TheCreditFrog]

Great core setup! I would say the same but can’t overlook the amazing benefits from hotel cards.

[@keyKEYAdventures]

loving the 2 card setup picks! mine too would consist of a hotel card. I need to grab the surpass once an elevated offer hits us! great video

[@TheCreditFrog]

Thanks Key! Yeah, I need to get me a Surpass too. Hopefully an offer will come out with an FNC. Love those!!

[@HowToCredit]

Awesome video my guy 🔥

[@TheCreditFrog]

Thank you!

[@paulsori2704]

Can't fault your logic. I have Hilton Gold for life as a Hilton Club Timeshare owner, so for me the 2 card setup is: 1) BILT (all my spend) platinum status gets be 12x dining, 4x travel, 2x everything else when holding out for travel bonus (Alaska, air France, air Canada, Emirates, and others) with AA, United and Hyatt hotel as transfer partners too. 2) Ritz Carlton with airport lounges (priority Pass and sapphire lounges), Marriott Gold (already have Hilton Gold for life), 85k night award, $300 airline incidentals (vs $200 amex platinum good with only one airline). These will be the only 2 cards in my wallet in 2025, with Amex Gold in my digital wallet for grocery spend. I have 18 other credit cards and am contemplating canceling most of them as I really think those are the only 3 cards I need - BILT and MR ecosystems only.

[@TheCreditFrog]

Very nice! The one thing I would say to Bilt is that you can hold out for a transfer bonus, but the one you want may never come. Of course, the same could be same for the Hilton transfer bonus that I talked about in the video, but at least that one has shown up more often than the ones from Bilt, none of which have repeated since the card first launched. Ritz Carlton is very powerful, but since you have Hilton Gold for life, that makes sense. I probably would have picked RC if I had lifetime Hilton Gold too!

[@jimmyjames6492]

Thanks for the info + video!

[@TheCreditFrog]

You’re welcome Jimmy James! 🎄

[@FrequentFlyer_MIA]

If only 2? CSP/CSR and RITZ for me. I use Hyatt, Marriott and Door Dash way too much in my daily life...since joining Dash Pass I saved 6752.00 in Dash Pass Fees over the years. The only US Bank card I have is my work related FAA issued Government Travel Charge Card I rock with AA Exec MC (Miami based), CSP, CFF, CFU, RITZ Carlton, Hyatt Card, AMEX Delta Plat/gold, Chase Southwest Priority I found that a stand alone Dragon Pass works for me in some key locations in SE Asia and parts of the Caribbean where I frequent most

[@TheCreditFrog]

Lots of great cards there! That’s great that you’ve gotten so much value out of DashPass. Definitely a lot of DoorDash orders hah! CSP is tough because it’s not the best earner card so in your case it’s almost like you have 2 benefits cards. Luckily, we aren’t limited to just 2 cards usually!

[@jameswilliams2984]

Stan, If you buy the Hilton Honors points at .5 cents per point and use the USBAR for the purchase, do you know if US Bank counts that as a travel purchase for the 3x back and the ability to use the 4.5% Real Time Rewards Redemption option? Or are the points sold through a third party?

[@TheCreditFrog]

I haven’t tried it myself, but it’s very likely it codes as a 1X purchase. The points come from a third-party.

[@alanwu3678]

Great video! I am trying to used my Amex credits before the end of the year. Can the Amex platinum $200 airline credit be used to get JetBlue flight credit or JetBlue flights?

[@TheCreditFrog]

Thanks! I'm not sure about that. You can certainly get airline incidentals covered if you're selected airline is JetBlue. There have been some data points reported that this credit triggers if the one-way flight amount is around $100 or less.

[@DJNYC23]

Hi Stan! Thank you again for your videos. Besides taking advantage of SUBs, do you have any tips on which card(s) to use for high spend? Tuition hits every 6 months or so for at least $35k. Side note, the uni does't charge a fee to pay w/ cc. Not a fan of BOA.

[@TheCreditFrog]

For a $35k expense, the C1VX Business and Amex Platinum Business are two great cards for that. If you're looking for a good catch-all card, aside from BofA, US Bank has their new Smartly credit card that can get you between 2-4% cash back depending on how much assets you have with them.

[@alanwu3678]

Really enjoy your videos! We are from Los Angeles, US and will be going to Tokyo in January. I was wondering if we need adaptors for charging our iPhones and laptops when we are in Tokyo. Thank you.

[@TheCreditFrog]

Hi Alan! Awesome, have a great time! So, no you don't need any adaptors. We brought only our Apple chargers and that's all we needed. In general, as long as your charger says 100-240V, 50-60Hz, everything should work great! It's just a matter of if the prongs fit, and Japan uses the same as the US, except for the grounding port.

[@alanwu3678]

@@TheCreditFrog Thank you always for your quick and helpful response.

[@kabihog5789]

Hi Stan…I wanted to know your opinion on a couple of things 1) Is buying airline / hotel points would that code as travel? 2) If you don’t have an Airline/Hotel credit card..what card would you use to buy points?

[@TheCreditFrog]

So, unfortunately, no, points purchases count as an other category so the best thing to do would be to put it on your 2%/2X equivalent catch-all card or on a card you're working on for the welcome offer.

[@kabihog5789]

Thank you Sir for your time….and congratulations on your huge honeymoon redemption…looking forward to your next post.

[@thejokerspeaks]

If I had to choose 2 cards for business + personal, I would probably go for the Venture X Business and the Alaska Business, looking for some kind of rewards debit card for personal. If I could do 2 personal too, USBAR and Hilton Aspire. I wouldn't care about the grocery category because of the USBAR, and going over $15K on the Surpass would annoy me. Aspire would give me more benefits, and $30K would be a reasonable goal for a 2nd free night (even if I had to top it off with an accidental business expense).

[@TheCreditFrog]

Definitely a great setup for you since you have some BIG spend. I mean, if you can get to $30k on the Aspire, you can certainly get to $15k on the Surpass, or maybe even $40k for the Diamond too? It's true though, Aspire with 2nd FNC would probably be the better deal in that situation. USBAR solves all problems but now it's not open to new applicants which makes me a sad panda.

[@Gangrenous_Hank]

If you truly value simplicity transferable currencies are terrible. Maybe you’re different but I have to plan my vacations a year in advance and it’s hard or impossible to change it so points redemptions are sometimes hard to find or the good redemptions cut my time in half. Having the usbar, csr, cash back, and cobranded cards are always better for people like me because I get guaranteed value I can use whenever I want.

[@TheCreditFrog]

Yes, they can be very hard to deal with, but if you're willing to learn the game, they can be much more profitable than cash back! It's just not so simple, and there's definitely a time commitment. It's always nice to get guaranteed value, like what you mentioned in your setup, and I'm the same way!

[@ryanarnold4790]

Good logic on surpass… it’s gonna be my catch all in 2025.

[@TheCreditFrog]

An excellent choice! Especially if you make it to at least $15k by the end of the year!

[@k.f.y.4332]

Pretty good idea, but too bad the USBAR card is discontinued so for the ones who don't have it can't use that route.

[@TheCreditFrog]

Yeah, still sad about that 😢

[@sonpham4298]

Could you still PC from for example cash+ to USBar? I did that (before they discontinued) and even managed to get my 50K SUB! crazy. First bank i seen do this.

[@pinakmiku4999]

@@sonpham4298Nope you can’t do that anymore. Some people including me were able to product change within a week right after it was discontinued. They closed that route after a week of discontinuation. I only converted my cash + to reserve but regret not converting my connect to reserve too. I woukd have got SUB for that too and later downgraded one reserve card.

[@TheCreditFrog]

@@sonpham4298 I don't think PC's are open anymore either!

[@tendercrispbacon]

Rocking the bilt and pnc cash unlimited as a broke person with good credit 😅 that's my 2 card

[@TheCreditFrog]

You do what you gotta do! Still great setup with good multipliers! 👍

[@soapa4279]

First!

[@TheCreditFrog]

Congrats! You are first!! 🥇