My Credit Card Annual Fee Costs
I am going to be completely honest with you guys, I was afraid to write this post. I didn’t want to really look into what I was spending on annual fees. Don’t get me wrong I had an idea but the figures came in quite a bit higher than I had anticipated. I wanted to take some time and share with you the cards I paid an annual fee on, why I paid it and whether or not I plan to pay it again in the future.
I have updated this post with my 2021 numbers which you can now compare to my 2020 & 2019 figures below it.
Annual Fees Paid In 2021
Here is a list of my credit card annual fee costs for 2021. I’ll give a brief rundown on them as a whole below and also if I plan on any changes in 2022.
- World of Hyatt Card – $95 x 2 – $190
- Citi Premier – $95 X 2 – $190
- Amex Business Gold – $295 X 2 – $590
- Amex Everyday Preferred – $95
- Sapphire Preferred – $95
- IHG Mastercard – $49 x 2 – $98
- Schwab Platinum – $550 X 2 – $1100
- Chase Ink Plus – $95
- US Bank Flexperks Visa – $49
- Amex Surpass – $95
- Amex Gold – $250
- Amex Green – $150
- IHG Premier – $89
- Hilton Business Card – $95
- Delta Reserve – $550
- Alaska – $75
- Quest – $250
A total of $4056 for 2021 which is a substantial jump from the $3091 in 2020 and $3086 in 2019. We are going the wrong way here people!
I am planning on getting rid of a lot of the higher fee cards in 2022. We upgraded my wife’s Amex Gold to a Platinum because of the outstanding offer she got but will likely downgrade it back to Gold again. I plan on getting rid of one, if not both, Charles Schwab Platinums. I guess it will depend if we are still cashing out points on our quest to $15K or not.
One of the Business Golds was upgraded to a Platinum as well, and I have since added a second. Maybe 2022 will actually continue this upwards trend after all. The Quest card will be a closure since we don’t fly United enough to maximize the perks. I am hopeful for a retention offer on the Delta Reserve but if not that will be a downgrade or closure. In a perfect world I would sign up for the Reserve Business to replace it but I continue to get the pop-up so we’ll see there. The Amex Green and Alaska card are toast as is my wife’s Citi Premier, we only need one of those. The rest are pretty much long term keepers to me.
Credit Card Annual Fee Costs: Annual Fees Paid In 2020
Here is a list of the cards I paid an annual fee on in 2020. I’ll give a brief rundown on them as a whole below and also if I plan on any changes in 2021.
- Amex Aspire – $450
- World of Hyatt Card – $95 x 2 – $190
- Citi Premier – $95
- Amex Business Gold – $295
- Amex Everyday Preferred – $95
- Sapphire Reserve – $550
- Sapphire Preferred – $95
- IHG Mastercard – $49 x 2 – $98
- Schwab Platinum – $550
- Chase Ink Plus – $95
- US Bank Flexperks Visa – $49
- Amex Surpass – $95
- Amex Gold – $250
- IHG Premier – $89
- Hilton Business Card – $95
If you are keeping score at home that is a total of $3,091 in annual fees for 2020. To be honest, I thought I would improve upon my 2019 numbers but I actually spent slightly more in 2020. That is after downgrading an Aspire and closing an Amex Platinum card. But I did add a new Platinum card into the mix and upgraded to the Sapphire Reserve for Pay Yourself Back so they mostly offset.
I plan on downgrading the Sapphire Reserve when the annual fee comes due, unless they continue these grocery spending offers. The Amex Business Gold will be rip for closure too unless the Best Buy gift card game comes back. I have no other real use for the card without that option. My wife’s Sapphire Preferred will also likely be downgraded to a Freedom Flex or closed as well.
Credit Card Annual Fee Costs: Annual Fees Paid In 2019
I will run through them one by one and share my thoughts on each card. Let’s start from most expensive to least expensive.
American Express Platinum – $550
This is actually my wife’s Amex Platinum. She had the old Mercedes Benz card which moved over to the regular Platinum. I had planned on downgrading the card to the American Express Gold or American Express Green card but she got a decent retention offer on it so we kept it one more year. I was also eager to keep her off the Amex naughty list since I was stuck on it, I am no longer though!
American Express Aspire Card – $450 x 2 = $900
I have called the Aspire card the best perks card in the business. It is one of the few premium cards to pay you to carry it in value year after year. The value has dipped some with recent changes but it is still a net positive for us. I plan on keeping them both in 2020 although I am kicking around downgrading my wife’s card to the American Express Surpass. That way I could earn the free night from the $15K in spend instead of paying for it and I would hope for an upgrade offer down the road.
Delta Platinum Business Card – $195 x 2 = $390
My wife and I both have the Delta Business Platinum card and took advantage of it when the welcome offer was at it’s peak. I have never tried to use the companion pass that comes with these cards and I was considering keeping one or both to try to get value out of it. But with the changes to the Delta cards upcoming this one went from their best card to the worst card in the Delta lineup. I don’t plan on paying the new, increased $250 annual fee.
Delta Personal Platinum Card – $195
I was targeted for the Delta Personal Platinum card with a no lifetime offer. It even bypassed the Amex popup when I was still on the naughty list. The thinking on 2020 is the same as above. With the increase in fee I don’t plan on holding it. If I was chasing Delta status via spend I would probably still keep it, but you guys know my thoughts on status.
Avianca Vuela Visa Card – $149
I grabbed the Avianca Vuela Visa with the increased 60,000 mile offer (ends today). Even though I kind of despise LifeMiles I had planned to use them for Lufthansa flights or United domestic travel. I burned most of the miles for our upcoming trip to Hawaii so it was well worth the $149 annual fee up front. The card earns 2X at grocery stores and gas stations but since LifeMiles are a transfer partner or every major currency you can do better elsewhere. I plan on closing this one in 2020.
World of Hyatt – $95 x 2 – $190
The World of Hyatt credit card is one of my favorite cards and one that both myself and my wife carry. The value you can get from it is pretty great with the anniversary night and the free night after $15,000 in spend each cardmember year. The elite night credits are a nice plus for anyone after Hyatt status too. All of that plus a rewarding earning structure make this a long term keeper.
American Express Surpass – $95
As much as I love the Aspire card the American Express Surpass card is probably my favorite Hilton card. You get valuable Gold status which will get you free breakfast if you don’t have the Aspire. You can also earn a free night after $15,000 in spend like the World of Hyatt credit card. But the plus here is that the card earns 6X on US supermarkets which is a real points earner. I plan on keeping this card long term as well.
American Express Everyday Preferred – $95
The Amex Everyday Preferred offers the best return on US supermarket spend out there at 4.5X per dollar. You have to jump through a few hoops to get there by making 30 transactions in a month which can be tiresome at times. And the earning rate is capped at $6,000 per year but that is more than enough for most people. This card is a toss up for me right now. If we downgrade my wife’s Amex Platinum to the American Express Gold card I probably won’t have much use for it anymore. If she gets a retention offer then we will keep it one more year regardless.
Bank Of America Premium Rewards – $95
The BOA Premium Rewards card can be a great earner for anyone with Platinum banking status at BOA. Well, that isn’t me so the card doesn’t get a ton of use. I grabbed it for the juicy $500 welcome offer and to give it a spin. If you keep it long term the airline credit ($100) pretty much offsets the annual fee but I think this one is ripe for a closure in 2020.
Citi Premier – $95
To be honest I kept this card open and paid the second annual fee so I wouldn’t reset my 24 month clock. I know a downgrade would have been possible but that appears to be somewhat YMMV on whether or not it resets the clock. For $95 I thought it was worth it. The other reason I kept it open is because of the change with the Citi Double Cash card. You need a premium card to make the cash back transferable ThankYou points. Those two reasons made it worth paying the annual fee to me.
Ink Plus – $95
I don’t even attempt to get the fee waived for the Chase Ink Plus because I think the value is so great that I happily pay the fee. Plus who needs eyes on their account 😂. It is no longer available and the closest thing to it is the fee free Chase Ink Business Cash. This continues to be my favorite card and I will keep for as long as they keep it around.
Bank of America Virgin Atlantic – $90
I have professed my love for Virgin Atlantic miles many time over. And I try to grab this card whenever there is an increased offer. I jumped on it when it went to 60,000 miles after $2,000 in spend. This is actually a decent card for non bonus spend earning 1.5X on everything and you get a 7,500 mile bonus after spending $15,000 and $25,000 in an anniversary year. That is over 2 miles per dollar if you spend exactly $25,000 each year.
Flexperks Visa – $49
This is my oldest card. I signed up for the Northwest Airlines card many many years ago and was product changed to this after the Delta merger. So I keep it and pay the annual fee since it is my oldest card. I also received an offer on the Amex FlexPerks card a few years back that the annual fee is waived every year on that card as long as I keep the Visa version. I don’t really use either even though they are decent cards…maybe one day I will get back into Flexperks.
IHG – $49 X 2 = $98
My wife and I both keep these cards, and will long term, because it is essentially a weekend stay somewhere for $100. It isn’t as good as it used to be but there is still a lot of value there. Unfortunately this card is no longer available and has been replaced by the IHG Premier Rewards credit card.
Credit Card Annual Fee Costs: Final Thoughts
If you are keeping track at home that is a whopping $3086 in annual fees. As you can see travel isn’t completely free even if you are using points. I think this is probably the most I have ever spent on annual fees within a year. The three Delta Platinum cards are the main culprit. I plan on cutting my fees to under $2000 in 2020 (or at least I hope to). But who knows what 2020 will bring at this point. Maybe Capital One will finally release that premium card that has been rumored or Chase will release a mid tier card like the American Express Gold card to tempt me. Come on Chase we need a grocery bonus on ONE of your Ultimate Rewards cards…you can do it!
Share how much you spend on annual fees in the comments section…if you dare to add them up that is.
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I spent $2,446 in Annual CC Fees.
I received $2,344.02 in bonuses, discounts, offers.
If I include the points/miles/cb I received from those CC spenditures, the credits become $4,415.16. This does not include all the free Hotel nights from AMEX BV (3), CHASE BV (2), CHASE HYATT(2), IHG & PREM (4). I have yet to use the Raddison PTS but I keep getting the 40K “free” night points.
I only counted the points/miles at .01 and I do know that UR, MRs, TY points are worth more. I try to use points all the Hotels above at a value greater than .01….This means that my annual credits can become north of $5k depending on how I use the pts/miles.
I will probably bring down my CC annual fees by $740 this year, I’m planning on cancelling some cards I will not need.
Two Sapphires, one Surpass, one Amex Gold, one Venture X, so $930 for us.
You plan on downgrading a Sapphire to Freedom etc. when the annual fees hit? Solid lineup there 🙂
was this updated for 2020?
yeah the section that says “Annual Fees Paid In 2020” is the updated section. Then you can compare it to the 2019 figures.
Wow, that is a lot of cards. I would downgrade the everyday preferred since you can put your groceries on the gold. Currently we pay $1,250 (CSR which renewed at $450, a new platinum, and the Amex gold). I love Chase and don’t really like Amex for points, so we will see how long I stick w MR points.
Not too shabby Young Jedi. Do you have a rough estimate on how much value you get from the $3,000+ AFs?
Are you trying to make me do math right now Grant? Haha
I would say the ones that are not tied to welcome offers come out to around $2000 in annual fees and I would estimate I got $3300 of value from them not including traditional points earning from the spend.
I like to make you do mental math 🙂
Keep up the good work on the podcast, I’m always available if you need a guest podcaster 🙂
But it hurts my head haha
Sounds like a plan – would love to have you on!
[…] just a few days ago, I saw that Mark from Miles to Memories also did a recap of his annual fees. He spent over $3000 on credit card annual fees this […]
Do you mind if I ask you who makes the wallet in the picture? The
colors are really nice.
It is a Bellroy knock off I got – made by IKEPOD. I have had it about a year and it has held up pretty well and you can get them for around $40. The colors are not quite that bright in person but it is a sharp wallet overall in my opinion.
This was a really interesting post to me. My wife and I are just a year into miles and points. I had signed up for several hotel cards three or four years ago just for some perks but we have added about 7 cards between us in the last six months. We are right at $1100 this year with Aspire, Delta Platinum, CSP *2 (Probably upgrade mine to Reserve in 2020), United Explorer *2 (Downgrade one to no annual fee in 2020), Hyatt, Bonvoy, IHG. Will add four or five cards each this year with most being on the American Express Membership Rewards side. One of us will get the Premium Bonvoy Card, And one will get an airline lounge card, once we determine which airline will be primary.
Glad you enjoyed it Tommy – I am predicting an uptick and annual fees for you in 2020 🙂
Avianca has waived my AF for the past two years. The first time they made it sound like they were doing me a favor. This year they pleaded for me to keep it open and use it as an emergency card if I wanted. I’ve had virtually no spend on this card. I really should cut it as I have too many cards open.
I have gotten to the point that I won’t keep a card I know I won’t use even if they waive the annual fee. Just not worth the hassle at this point.
No gift card credit really changed my calculations for some of the Amex cards. I’m debating whether to keep 2 aspire cards in the family, it was easy to “justify “ with the old airline credits. I really dislike expensive credits that expire within the year and the contortions I sometimes go through to use them! I’ll keep one aspire for the diamond, but $450 is no small amount of money to prepay in order to use the credits on the second card.
I can’t blame you there Kate and I think a lot of people are in the same boat/thinking the same thing.
$1,589. I think my AMEX Gold Card doesn’t survive next year. My other cards with AFs are: AMEX Business Platinum, Aspire, Chase SW Performance Business and Sapphire Preferred. Want to upgrade the CSP to CSR so something has to give.
They have really good retention offers on the Gold lately. Might make it worth keeping another year.
If you don’t spend a lot on grocery or at restaurants then the Gold is hard to justify for sure. My plan for my wife is to get her the CSP and then upgrade to the CSR after 1 year.
I’m confused: if you upgrade, don’t you miss out on the CSR signup bonus?
You can only get one or the other every 4 years and you can’t carry both so it really isn’t an issue. And there is no once per lifetime rule with Chase.
I’ve also been thinning out my annual fee cards – dropping Amex Platinum and most Citi cards last year. I’ll be dropping my Business Platinum as well in January. I think the Amex Gold is a strong performer for my wife and I – so we use that predominantly along with the Blue Business Plus that re sets tomorrow. I’ve got some of the hotel cards for the free nights there and the bonuses when we stay at the chains. I’ve got the Delta Reserve for airport lounges since we fly almost exclusively Delta and travel mostly out of MSP. I think I’ll keep close track of the annual fees next year and see what my total is!
Sounds like a good plan – with the Reserve getting Centurion access in 2020 no point in carrying that and the Platinum anymore.