Good morning everyone! For the past few years, I’ve shared a year-end recap of the total credit card annual fees I paid and whether the benefits were worth it. In my most recent post from December 2024 (I Paid $5,341 in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2024 – Was it Worth it?), I calculated a net profit of $15,914, factoring in $5,341 in annual fees and $360 in retention offers.
I didn’t mind jumping through many hoops to maximize those card benefits last year, but with a baby girl arriving in early August, my wife and I recently decided it’s time to simplify our lives. That means cutting back on complexity and costs by reducing the total annual fees we’ll pay in 2025. In this post, I’ll break down our credit cards into four categories: cards we have already closed, cards we plan to close later this year, cards we will downgrade, and cards with annual fees we will keep. Let’s get started..
Cards We Have Already Closed
| Credit Card Name | Annual Fee | Notes |
| Laura’s AMEX Gold | $325 | Closed card in February |
| Barclays JetBlue Plus | $99 | Closed card in March |
| Bank of America Air France / KLM | $89 | Closed card in March |
We didn’t receive any retention offers on these cards. While the AMEX Gold Card includes a variety of coupons / credits, it simply wasn’t worth the effort to maximize them this year. Continue reading
