I got more than $1,200 out of my credit cards in 2024 with minimal effort. Here’s how

Written by

Ana Staples,

Edited by

Published on December 10, 2024 | 6 min read

Bankrate is always editorially independent. While we adhere to strict , this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for . The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of the offers mentioned may have expired. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Our is to ensure everything we publish is objective, accurate and trustworthy.

Images by Hunter Newton; Illustration by Bankrate

Photo illustration showing Bankrate credit cards writer Ana Staples

I’m going to be honest with you: for a credit card journalist, I’m a very lazy cardholder. Don’t get me wrong: I love my card rewards. But I also try to get the most out of my cards by doing the bare minimum.

There are plenty of credit card users who go through a dozen or more steps to maximize their rewards, including some of my own colleagues. They look for the best point transfer options. They get on the phone multiple times to organize the booking they need. I admire them. I think that’s amazing. I also think it could never be me.

Still, I’ve been able to extract over $1,200 in value out of my credit cards this year. And I’m only counting the cash back I’ve earned and travel rewards I’ve redeemed, meaning I’m not including the potential value of points and miles still in my accounts.

Here’s how I’ve achieved that — and how you can maximize your cards with minimal effort.

$392 in cash back for food and entertainment

I got the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card in March. I quickly earned the intro bonus, which at the time was $200 for spending $500 in the first three months. Fast forward to December, I’ve earned $292 more with the Savor.

This cash back card makes earning rewards easy. It offers:

8 percent cash back on Capital One Entertainment purchases
5 percent cash back on hotels and rental cars booked using Capital One Travel
Unlimited 3 percent cash back on dining, entertainment, popular streaming subscriptions and grocery store purchases (excluding superstores like Walmart and Target)
1 percent cash back on all other purchases

I use this card for all my food and entertainment purchases. The Savor made me realize how underappreciated the entertainment category is. It’s not something I often spend money on, but when I do, they tend to be larger expenses. For instance, I recently bought a ticket to see My Chemical Romance in Seattle for over $400 (and I consider myself lucky, considering dynamic pricing). That’s more than my monthly grocery budget.

Whatever I earn on the Savor, I convert into miles with the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. That boosts my travel rewards significantly.

A lazy card nerd’s hack

The Savor is a perfect card to pay for your friends with. Ask to cover the bill and let your friends Venmo you back. This is a no-brainer when eating out but can be especially beneficial when paying for entertainment purchases. As an example, my friends and I are planning to see the Nutcracker ballet during the holidays. If we bought tickets separately, I’d pay $116. But I paid for nine people. That’s a $1,044 transaction — and $31 in cash back.

$320 in travel rewards (and a round-trip to Germany)

Speaking of the Venture X, this is another card that makes earning rewards easy. It offers 2X miles on all purchases, and I use it for all the spending outside of the bonus categories on my other cards.

I’ve earned close to 51,000 miles on the card this year. That includes the 10,000-mile anniversary bonus the Venture X pays out annually. As I mentioned, we’re not going to count this into my calculations. Instead, we’re looking only at what I’ve redeemed.

And my redemption was a round-trip ticket to Berlin. The cost through Capital One Travel was $715 for basic economy. I used the $300 annual travel credit to cover a part of the booking and 41,500 miles for the rest. If we factor in the card’s $395 annual fee, we get $320 in pure value.

Besides, I love the Venture X benefits. I use TSA PreCheck every time I fly, and I’ve never spent more than 10 minutes in an airport security line with it. I also like taking advantage of the complimentary Priority Pass when I can.

A lazy card nerd’s hack

You don’t need to use the issuer’s portal or transfer your miles to redeem them. I only use the portal when I haven’t spent the $300 credit yet. Otherwise, I book travel wherever I find a good deal and use my Capital One miles to get reimbursed. The redemption rate is the same as for portal bookings (1 cent per mile).

$150 from Amazon and bookstore purchases

The Affinity Cash Rewards Visa Signature credit card is a humble credit union card that offers outstanding rewards. It has quite a list of bonus categories, but I use it to earn 5 percent cash back on up to $1,000 per month in purchases made at Amazon, as well as on all purchases made at bookstores.

Previously, I earned between $200 and $300 per year on these purchases. This year, my total is around $150. While this doesn’t sound exciting, I’m pleased — it just shows I’ve cut my Amazon spending significantly. Now I mainly shop for essentials there: pet food and litter, cleaning supplies and other basics. I do still spend more than I should at bookstores, but that’s a conversation for another day. Either way, that was an incredibly easy $150 to earn.

A lazy card nerd’s hack

The rewards from this card go straight into my savings account. Nothing like beefing up your emergency fund by simply doing your normal shopping.

$347 and a hotel stay in Paris

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is my designated hotel card. I collect points on it to redeem them for hotel bookings through Chase Travel^SM. The card offers an annual $50 credit on such bookings, as well as a 25 percent value boost for points (1.25 cents per point) when booking travel through the issuer’s portal.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers:

5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel (excluding hotel purchases that qualify for the $50 annual hotel credit)
5X total points on Lyft rides (2X on general travel and 3X-point bonus, offer ends March 31, 2025)
5X total points on Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 (maximum of 25,000 total points; offer ends March 31, 2025)
3X points on dining (including eligible delivery services), select streaming services and online grocery purchases (excluding Walmart, Target and wholesale clubs)
2X points on other travel
1X points on other purchases

I use it for any non-reward travel purchases — think public transportation, Lyft rides, parking and more. I also pay with the Chase Sapphire Preferred instead of the Capital One Savor at restaurants when I think I have enough Capital One miles for another trip.

A look at my rewards this year has also revealed that I spent over $830 on online grocery purchases. How embarrassing, considering I live within a five-minute walk from a supermarket. This earned me 2,500 points, so I’m trying not to be too upset with myself.

Overall, I’ve earned 22,137 points with the Chase Sapphire Preferred so far this year. Combined with my earnings from 2023, I had $392 worth of rewards to redeem through the portal.

My friend and I called Chase to pool our points so we could pay for a hotel together. With that, I was able to book us a four-star hotel in Paris for six nights in May 2025. After the rewards and the $50 Chase Travel hotel credit, my share was $618. Only $618 to spend a week living behind the Luxembourg Garden. I love credit cards.

That brings the total value the Chase Sapphire Preferred provided to me this year to $442 — or $347 if we subtract the $95 annual fee.

A lazy card nerd’s hack

Almost half of my Ultimate Rewards earnings came from a referral bonus. My friend was going to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred, and I gladly jumped on the opportunity to provide my referral link. I got 10,000 points, my friend got the card, everybody won. Sharing is caring.

The bottom line

I rarely go an extra mile to earn extra miles. Overly complicated point redemptions don’t excite me. Yet even as I keep it simple, I get what I consider excellent value out of my cards. My cards help me travel the world and add to my savings, all without much effort on my part. If you haven’t been doing the same because credit card rewards seem like a lot of work, consider this your sign to reconsider.