Good morning everyone, happy Friday! After I published How Much Did I Pay in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2020?, several readers asked if I could share how much value I received from each credit card in 2020. Today’s post is also a sequel to my 2019 post (I Paid $4,588 in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2019 – Was it Worth it?). All 24 of these credit cards were opened before January 1, 2020, and no sign up bonus is included. For simplicity, I did not include the value of miles or points earned from credit card spend, since that is somewhat subjective (and most of the miles and points were not spent in 2020). I counted all credits, reimbursements, retention offers, and referral bonuses at dollar face value. For hotel free night certificates, I have several from 2020 that expire in 2021 and 2022, so I am using a standard value of $100 for each hotel free night certificate.
I went through all of my credit card statements and online accounts to see which Credit Card Benefits I used in 2020 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 fee 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 sorted the credit cards alphabetically and split them up into 3 smaller groups. Here are some thoughts from the first group:
- The first 3 AMEX cards were big money makers due to the standard card benefit credits and the temporary pandemic benefits. It will be hard to beat these numbers in 2021.
- I never planned on keeping the American Express Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card long term and only signed up for the 70,000 Delta SkyMiles sign up bonus in 2019.
- In most years, we are easily able to use the $99 Alaska Airlines Companion Fare, but due to the pandemic and very cheap Alaska Airlines flight, we did not use the Companion Fare in 2020. I am hoping to use the Companion Fare this year.
- I’m glad Laura (LT) was able to get a $59 retention offer on her Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and a $100 referral bonus.
| Credit Card Name |
Credit Card Benefits |
CCB $ |
RO $ |
AF $ |
P / L |
| AMEX Business Platinum |
$400 Dell credit; $198 airline reimbursement; $160 wireless phone credit; $158 shipping credit; $96 AMEX Offers for Dell & AT&T |
$1,012 |
$200 |
$595 |
$617 |
| AMEX Gold |
$120 dining credit; $100 airline reimbursement; $60 AMEX Offer for Shop Small |
$280 |
$0 |
$250 |
$30 |
| AMEX Hilton Honors Aspire |
$250 airline reimbursement; $250 resort credit (used at restaurants); 1 Free Night Certificate (expires 7/2/22) (worth $100) |
$600 |
$0 |
$450 |
$150 |
| AMEX Platinum Delta SkyMiles |
Downgraded to no annual fee American Express Blue Delta SkyMiles Credit Card to avoid paying annual fee |
$0 |
$0 |
$250 |
$0 |
| Bank of America Alaska Airlines (LT) |
Alaska Airlines $99 Companion Fare expired in 2020 |
$0 |
$0 |
$75 |
-$75 |
| Capital One Venture Rewards (LT) |
$100 referral bonus |
$100 |
$59 |
$59 |
$100 |
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