| Written by: Derrick Dye

2026 Credit Card Strategy

We've written about the couponification (if that's not a word, it should be) of credit cards over the years. If you're unfamiliar with all that, you're probably better off, but we'll outline all of the lowlights below. Sarah and I have absolutely had enough with the cards that tout their “coupon books” as a way to offset high annual fees. Sure, we still get value from many of them. But there are too many credits to track, and lots of them no longer make sense for our lifestyle. In deciding our 2026 credit card strategy, we plan to stick with cards that give us value greater than our annual fee—and eliminate those that don't. We'll update this monthly, so you see where we are with our challenge.

The Background of Coupon Books

Over the last few years, the points and miles landscape has become overrun with mid- to high-annual-fee cards with lots of coupons, err, credits, to help justify the fees. In some instances, these perks are great. In many cases, they are not. They are often duplicative, meant to cause breakage, are incredibly niche and hard to use, or all of the above. Here are examples of these cards and a main reason behind our 2026 credit card strategy to close cards that no longer give us value and/or take up too much mental bandwidth:

At some point, enough is enough. One person (or family) can only use so many hotel credits, Uber credits, Grubhub credits, etc. You reach a point that it is time to start trimming the fat and giving up “value” when it is not really value at all. In addition, you'll free up some mental bandwidth and not need to focus so much on monthly breakage. This is why Sarah and I are simplifying our card lineup in 2026.

2026 credit card strategy

2026 Credit Card Strategy: What We Are Closing & Opening

Even beginning this article is a relief for me, because it reminds me we are addressing the problem. Our 2026 card strategy includes aggressively ridding ourselves of cards that bring little to no value to us, especially those that bring less value than the annual fee. Having said that, remember:

Cards We're Closing in 2026

January 2026
  1. Derrick had an Amex Business Gold card that had an annual fee hit right at the new year. The annual fee of almost $400 did not justify the $20 monthly credit at office supply stores or Grubhub. Likewise, as we both work from home, we drive our vehicles minimally and do not make great use of the 4x categories (including gas stations). Luckily, Derrick received a targeted upgrade offer to an Amex Business Platinum for 120,0000 Membership Rewards after $7,500 spend. He accepted that offer and gladly paid the annual fee.
  2. Up next, Sarah also had an Amex Business Gold due for a renewal. We checked our handy article for the latest data points on retention offers, but unfortunately Sarah only received an offer of 10,000 Membership Rewards after $5,000 spend. She declined that offer and closed the card, for all the reasons stated above.
  3. Our third annual fee that came due in January was… drumroll … another Business Gold. Unfortunately, there was no upgrade offer available, and Derrick received the same retention offer as Sarah (10K Membership Rewards after $5,000 spend). Derrick declined the offer and closed the card.

Month total: 1 upgrade, 0 retention offers, 2 closures | Year total: 1 upgrade, 0 retention offers, 2 closures

Annual fees saved: $750 | Annual fees added: $550

Month total: $200 savings | Year total: $200 savings

February 2026
  1. Derrick had five (!!!) cards with annual fees come up for renewal this month. Up first, a Venture X card. While folks absolutely love this card, it doesn't have a long-term spot in Derrick's wallet. He has a Venture X Business card and a Venture card already, so this one got PC'd to a Quicksilver. He debated closing it entirely, but it is one of his oldest cards (upgraded from a Quicksilver several years ago).
  2. Up next, Derrick had a personal Amex Gold annual fee hit. Derrick has two of these and the $25K annual spend cap on 4x grocery earnings doesn't matter as much as it once did. As no retention offer was given, Derrick opted to close this card and lighten up his wallet.
  3. Up next was a slew of Bank of America cards and we will lump a few of these together. Derrick had a Bank of America Alaska Airlines personal and business card both come up for renewal. As he opened the Atmos Rewards Summit card last fall when it was released, neither of these cards were necessary. After receiving no retention offer, he elected to close both of these.
  4. Lastly, a Bank of American Premium Rewards Visa had its $95 annual fee charged. While the $100 annual airline credit technically makes this card a $5 moneymaker, Derrick ultimately decided that the mental bandwidth required for 5 bucks per year just isn't worth it. When no retention offer was available, Derrick closed this card.
  5. Up next, Sarah had a big month too! Sarah had 3 cards have annual fees hit in February. First, a Citi Strata Premier card had its $95 annual fee hit. You will regularly hear us say that the Strata Premier is the most underrated card on the market, and that is true. However, Sarah opened a Citi Strata Elite card last year and I have a Strata Premier, so this card was unnecessary at this time. Rather than closing it, we opted to downgrade it to a Custom Cash, which earns 5x ThankYou Points on up to $500 spend per month in your ToP category. As fuel is an option, we'll easily earn 2,500 TYP per month fueling up our 2 vehicles.
  6. Next was Sarah's Bank of American Alaska Airlines personal card. Like Derrick, Sarah also opened an Atmos Rewards Summit Card in 2025 and this old card is now obsolete. With no retention offer available, she closed this card.
  7. Lastly, Sarah's massive $895 annual fee came due on her Charles Schwab Amex Platinum card. While we do not like the changes that occurred to this card in 2025, we highly value the Charles Schwab relationship and the ability to cash out Amex points at 1.1 cents per point, up to 1,000,000 MRs per calendar year. Plus, we get a $100 statement credit as a “relationship bonus” for having some of our retirement accounts at Schwab. While the annual fee hurts quite a bit, and we do not get enough value from the coupons to justify the annual fee, the Schwab relationship justifies us keeping it for another year. There was no retention offer available, so we will try that again next year!

Month total: 0 upgrades, 0 retention offers, 7 closures, 1 card open | Year total: 1 upgrade, 0 retention offers, 9 closures, 1 open

Annual fees saved: $1,195 | Annual fees added: $0

Month total: $1,195 savings | Year total: $1,395 savings

March 2026
  1. Sarah's Ritz Carlton card annual fee posted. We're keeping this one for 2 reasons: 1) Sarah wants it for one more year for Lifetime status, as she explained here, and 2) it is our go-to card for travel insurance and other perks.

Annual fees saved: $0 | Annual fees added: $0

Month total: $0 savings | Year total: $1,395 savings

April 2026
  1. Sarah's Citi AAdvantage Business card annual fee posted. We're keeping this to have access to the AA Business account perks, namely this benefit.
  2. Sarah's Marriott Bonvoy Business $125 fee hit. We are keeping it for only this year, as Sarah is very close to Lifetime Platinum status.

Annual fees saved: $0 | Annual fees added: $0

Month total: $0 savings | Year total: $1,395 savings

May 2026
  1. Derrick's annual fee hit on the Business Platinum upgraded in January 2026 (#1 card that month). As the 120K upgrade bonus was received in January, we need to keep this one open until next year.
  2. Derrick's Wells Fargo Autograph Journey $95 annual fee hit this month. As the $50 airline credit is easy to use, and we've received over $100 in other shopping offers (mostly on hotels), we're keeping this card for another year. Plus, it keeps the Wells Fargo currency available for earning and redeeming.
  3. Derrick's Amex Everyday Preferred's $95 annual fee posted. Luckily, there was a retention offer for 10,000 MRs after $2,000 spend. Keeping this one open for another year!

Annual fees saved: $0 | Annual fees added: $0

Month total: $0 savings | Year total: $1,395

Cards We've Opened in 2026

January 2026
  1. After compiling the (mostly) verified details of the Bilt cards, Derrick outlined the math behind these new cards as everyday spend cards. Now that we know those details to be true, the value proposition of 3.33x on all everyday spend, plus an unheard-of signup bonus of 50,000 Bilt Rewards, led Sarah and Derrick to each open a new Bilt Palladium card. As existing Bilt 1.0 cardholders, this was a virtually seamless process for us and did not incur a hard pull.

Month total: 2 cards open | Year total: 2 cards open

Annual fees added: $990 | Year total: $990

February 2026

We opened no new cards this month, as we're working through 2 welcome offers on the Bilt Palladium cards!

March 2026
  1. Sarah was targeted for a no lifetime language (NLL) 250,000 Business Platinum for one of our LLCs. This offer is just too good to pass up, so she opened it. We will take as many of these as we can get, as the welcome offer is worth a minimum of $2,750.
  2. Sarah was also targeted for a NLL Hilton Surpass. This welcome offer was 130,000 Hilton points and a Free Night Certificate after $3,000 spend in 3 months. We'll tack on $15,000 in spend in 2026 and earn a 2nd Free Night Certificate. These valuable certs are good for a standard room at almost any Hilton hotel in the world and are worth up to 250,000 points.
  3. Derrick was targeted for a NLL Hilton Aspire. The welcome offer was 175,000 Hilton points. Again, we take all the NLLs we can get, as these bonuses all easily outweigh the annual fees.

Month total: 3 cards open | Year total: 5 cards open

Annual fees added: $1,595 | Year total: $2,585

April 2026

We opened no new cards this month, as we're still working on a NLL Business Platinum and a FNC on Sarah's Hilton Surpass.

Month total: 0 cards open | Year total: 5 cards open

Annual fees added: $0 | Year total: $2,585

May 2026

We opened no new cards this month, for the 2nd month in a row.

Month total: 0 cards open | Year total: 5 cards open

Annual fees added: $0 | Year total: $2,585

Total Progress – May 2026

Through May 2026, we have upgraded 1 card, opened 5 cards, closed 9 cards, and received 1 retention offer. Thus far for 2026, our net annual fees have increased by $1,190. We stayed steady this month, with no change in cards or annual fees. Let's see what next month brings!

2026 Credit Card Strategy: ToP Thoughts

Our plan for 2026 is to simplify our credit card strategy and close cards that no longer bring us enough value to justify the annual fee. With the rise of so many high-annual fee coupon books, the desire to do this has never been greater for us. While you should do this each and every year, and for every card in your wallet, I do think annual fees approaching $1,000 will make more and more people reevaluate every card in their wallet. What about you? Are you changing your 2026 credit card strategy? Hopefully our outline of what we do all year will help you plan ahead. Come over to our Facebook group, and let us know your thoughts.