Current Strategy: What Spend I Put on Which Credit Card to Earn the Best Rewards?

I work full time and can't travel the world every year.  I don't run my own business, so I don't have an extreme amount of spending.  And, while I like to get the most rewards for my spend, I balance it with efficiency.  So, while others might have more complicated systems, here's what works for me at present.

I use a three tier system, following a simple hierarchy:

1) Hotel stays go on the associated branded Amex credit card

Starwood or Marriott stays go on the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express card (the card currently has a special 35,000 SPG point sign-up bonus) allowing me to earn 5 SPG points per $1 of spend at SPG properties.  The card also gives you 5 nights and 2 stays of credit each year toward SPG elite status.

Hilton (or Conrad, Waldorf, Curio Collection, Doubletree, Hilton Garden Inn, etc) go on the Hilton Honors Surpass American Express card, yielding 12 Hilton Honors points per $1 of spend at associated properties.  In addition to the current 75,000 point sign-up bonus, the card also provides automatic Hilton Honors Gold status and a 500 point bonus for online bookings through Hilton.com paid for with the card.

If I book a stay through American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts in order to get the $100 property credit per stay, free full breakfast, and guaranteed 4pm late checkout, the stay must be charged to an American Express.  The SPG Amex is my default for such stays (it doesn't have to go on the Amex Platinum) unless I'm at a Hilton, in which case I use the Hilton Surpass Amex.

Both cards have annual fees under $100 and the first year is waived.  The expense is nominal, given the extra points earnings I generate from the 20+ stays per loyalty program each year.  Keep in mind, your credit card and points earning strategies need to be aligned with your hotel and airline loyalty focus.  So, for background, I fly United Airlines exclusively since I live in a hub and most of my hotel stays are either Starwood (SPG Platinum), Hilton (Honors Diamond VIP) or American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts (through Amex Platinum Travel) properties.  If your loyalty to travel providers is different, you'll want to customize this first tier of your spending strategy appropriately.

2) Quarterly 5% cash back bonus category spend goes on the Chase Freedom Visa card

Source: Chase.com

Each quarter, the Chase Freedom Visa card offers 2-4 categories of spend that receive 5% cash back. Since
I also have the Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa (see next item), the Chase Freedom 5% cash back translates to 5 Chase Ultimate Rewards points per $1.  Since Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred 1:1 into points for select travel partners (like Marriott, United, Hyatt), those become valuable 5x bonus categories.

For Q1 2017, the Chase Freedom 5% bonus categories are gas stations and local commuter transportation (Uber, subways, etc).

3) All other spend goes onto the Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa card.

This is a great every day card, and I even use it for airfare in lieu of the Chase United Visa or the Amex Platinum (which gives you 3 Membership Rewards points per $1 for air travel).  The primary reason is that the Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa not only gives 2 points per $1 for travel and dining, but it also covers trip delay reimbursement provided the airfare was purchased with the card (other spend can be on other cards).  So, not only do I get 2 points per $1 which transfer 1:1 to United, Marriott, Hyatt, etc. but they will reimburse up to $500 of expenses incurred if your flight is delayed more than 12 hours, requiring a hotel stay, meals, etc.  And if you have to cancel a trip due to severe weather or illness, pre-paid expenses up to $10,000 are reimbursed provided the situation is covered by their policy.

Non-travel and dining spend generates 1 Chase Ultimate Rewards point per $1, which isn't huge, but still provides solid flexibility since you can transfer the points to the other travel partners at a healthy 1:1 ratio.  By having this card, I can also transfer any points earned from my Chase Freedom card (above) into Chase Ultimate Rewards points that transfer to the travel partners 1:1 as well.


A final note:

To be fair, there are some other cards with higher fees or higher bonuses per $1 of spend for some specialized circumstances, but there's a point at which simplicity wins and out of pocket annual fees should be minimized.

So, that's what's in my wallet and how I direct my spending to specific cards right now.  What's your approach?