Updated at 1pm PT on 12/16/21: I forgot to include the value of my Hilton Free Night Certificate from my American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card.  That increased the total another $200 and the info is updated below.

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Good morning everyone.  If you haven’t already, please read my post from yesterday (How Much Did I Pay in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2021?).  In today’s post, I will share how much value I received from each credit card in 2021.  Today’s post is also a sequel to my 2020 post (I Paid $3,820 in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2020 – Was it Worth it?) and my 2019 post (I Paid $4,588 in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2019 – Was it Worth it?).

These 26 credit cards were opened before January 1, 2021, with the exception of my Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card which I opened in July 2021.  For simplicity, I did not include the value of miles or points earned from credit card spend, since that is somewhat subjective.  I counted all credits, reimbursements, retention offers, and referral bonuses at dollar face value (with airline miles and hotel points at conservative values between 0.5 CPP and 1 CPP).  For hotel free night certificates, I used a standard value of $100, with the exception of the Marriott 50K Free Night Certificate which I valued at $200.

I went through all of my credit card statements and online accounts to see which Credit Card Benefits I used in 2021 and those values are summed up in the CCB $ column.  If I received a retention offer, that is listed in the RO $ column.  I listed the credit card annual fees in the AF $ column.  Lastly, I used this formula to calculate the Profit or Loss (P / L column) for each credit card: CCB $ + RO $ – AF $ = P / L

I grouped the credit cards by issuer, sorted them by highest profit at the top, and then split them up into 3 smaller groups (LT = Laura’s card).  Here are my thoughts from the first group:

• The retention offer on my American Express Business Platinum Card propelled that card to the top of the charts.  It was already a money maker, but the retention offer was the icing on the cake.
• I was very diligent about using all Airline, CLEAR, Dell, Hilton Resort, Restaurant, Uber, and Wireless credits on all my AMEX cards this year.
• I can easily get more than $100 value from the Alaska Airlines Companion Fares with trips to Hawaii or New York, or expensive last minute travel.
• I’ve gotten so much value out of the Barclays Wyndham Rewards Earner Business Credit Card thanks to Vacasa vacation rentals.
• Laura loves her Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card so much, I don’t think she could ever give it up (even though I tell her the card is not worth the $59 annual fee).

Credit Card Name	Credit Card Benefits	CCB $	RO $	AF $	P / L
AMEX Business Platinum	$300 Dell credit, $200 Airline Fee credit, $169 CLEAR credit, $30 Wireless credit, and $25 Staples AMEX Offer	$724	$595	$595	$724
AMEX Hilton Honors Aspire	$250 Hilton Resort credit, $250 Airline Fee credit, $200 Restaurant credit, and $200 value from Hilton Free Night Certificate	$900	$0	$450	$450
AMEX Delta Gold Business	$90 Wireless credit and I closed this credit card to avoid paying the $99 annual fee	$90	$0	$99	$90
AMEX Gold	$100 Airline Fee credit, $100 Dining credit, $100 Uber credit, and $25 1-800-FLOWERS AMEX Offer	$325	$0	$250	$75
Bank of America Alaska Airlines (LT)	$100 value from the Alaska Airlines Companion Fare	$100	$0	$75	$25
Bank of America Alaska Airlines Business	$100 value from the Alaska Airlines Companion Fare	$100	$0	$75	$25
Barclays Wyndham Rewards Earner Business	15,000 Wyndham Rewards anniversary points ($150) and 13,500 points from the 10% cardmember discount on award stays ($135)	$285	$0	$95	$190
Capital One Venture Rewards (LT)	None (Laura’s go to credit card for everyday spending)	$0	$0	$59	-$59

Here are my thoughts from the second group:

• I’m not sure I should include the 100K point sign up bonus on my Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card, but I included it anyway.
• I received a few referral bonuses from reader’s who used my credit card links (thank you!)
• 2 retention offers were not as generous as the AMEX Business Platinum, but they helped offset the annual fees.
• I was able to use all my free night certificates before they expired and at decent properties (read Track Hotel Free Night Certificates & Credit Card Annual Fees with my Spreadsheet).

Credit Card Name	Credit Card Benefits	CCB $	RO $	AF $	P / L
Chase Sapphire Preferred	100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points from the sign up bonus ($1,000)	$1,000	$0	$95	$905
Chase Ink Plus	40,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points from 2 referrals ($400) and $5 TurboTax Chase Offer	$405	$0	$95	$310
Chase Southwest Airlines Priority (LT)	30,000 Southwest Airlines Points from 3 referrals ($300), 7,500 Southwest Airlines anniversary points ($75), and $75 Southwest Airline credit	$450	$0	$149	$301
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless (LT)	40,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points from 1 referral ($200) and $100 value from the Marriott 35K Free Night Certificate	$300	$0	$95	$205
Chase IHG Rewards Premier	$100 value from the IHG 40K Free Night Certificate and 16,000 IHG Points from the Fourth Night Free discount ($80)	$180	$90	$89	$181
Chase Sapphire Reserve	$60 DoorDash credit, $13 various Chase Offers, and I downgraded to the no annual fee Chase Freedom Flex Credit Card to avoid paying $550 annual fee	$73	$0	$550	$73
Chase JPMorgan Ritz Carlton	$300 Airline Travel credit, $200 value from Marriott 50K Free Night Certificate, and $10 Ritz Carlton Chase Offer	$510	$0	$450	$60
Chase World of Hyatt (LT)	$100 value from the Hyatt 15K Free Night Certificate and 5,000 Hyatt Points from 1 referral ($50)	$150	$0	$95	$55
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Business	$100 value from the Marriott 35K Free Night Certificate	$100	$50	$99	$51
Chase IHG Rewards Select	$100 value from the IHG 40K Free Night Certificate	$100	$0	$49	$51
Chase IHG Rewards Premier (LT)	$100 value from the IHG 40K Free Night Certificate	$100	$0	$89	$11

Last but not least, here are my thoughts from the third group:

• I don’t really get much value out of having 3 Citi AT&T Access More Credit Cards.  I spent a little more than $10,000 on each credit card in order to get the 10,000 bonus Citi ThankYou Points, but I also have to pay the $95 annual fee, so I barely come out ahead.  Maybe I will try to product change one of these cards to a Citi Dividend Credit Card or a Citi Custom Cash Credit Card.
• I hate paying the $95 annual fee on the Citi Premier Credit Card, but I feel like I am forced to pay the annual fee in order to be able to transfer points to travel partners.
• The US Bank Altitude Reserve Credit Card is my go to credit card for ApplePay purchases and gets a lot of use when I travel.
• The 2 Radisson Rewards credit cards are pretty boring, but I keep paying the annual fees to get the 40,000 Radisson Rewards Points every anniversary.  Every few years, I can redeem a chunk of points at a nice Radisson property.

Credit Card Name	Credit Card Benefits	CCB $	RO $	AF $	P / L
Citi AT&T Access More 1	10,000 Citi ThankYou Points anniversary bonus after spending $10,000 in a cardmember year ($100)	$100	$0	$95	$5
Citi AT&T Access More 2	10,000 Citi ThankYou Points anniversary bonus after spending $10,000 in a cardmember year ($100)	$100	$0	$95	$5
Citi AT&T Access More 3	10,000 Citi ThankYou Points anniversary bonus after spending $10,000 in a cardmember year ($100)	$100	$0	$95	$5
Citi Premier	Only kept for the ability to transfer Citi ThankYou Points to transfer partners ($50)	$50	$0	$95	-$45
US Bank Altitude Reserve	$325 Travel credit and 10 Gogo WiFi Passes ($40)	$365	$75	$400	$40
US Bank Radisson Rewards Business	40,000 Radisson Rewards anniversary points ($100)	$100	$0	$60	$40
US Bank Radisson Rewards Premier	40,000 Radisson Rewards anniversary points ($100)	$100	$0	$75	$25

After crunching the numbers, I paid a total of $3,009 in annual fees in 2021, but I received a total of $6,807 in credit card benefits for a grand total profit of $3,798 ($6,807 – $3,009 = $3,798).  I know a profit of $3,598 is not the same as having an extra $3,598 in my bank account, but I should be able to use my airline miles, hotel points, free night certificates, and credit card rewards to get even more value when I travel in 2022.  If you have any questions about any of the credit cards listed above, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!