Credit Cards in My Wallet - American Express, VISA, Master Card

I decided to review and clean up my wallet of Credit Cards. I only applied for some of them due to the signup bonuses and some turned out to be much better than I expected

My favorite card - AMEX Platinum charge card, due to the 15K referral bonus

Cards to Keep

AMEX Gold Rewards Card

• 20,000 Bonus Points after $500 spending within 3 months
• No annual fee for the first year. $150/year after (I may cancel after 1st year)
• 2 points per dollar for travel/grocery/drugstore/gas purchases
• BEST USE - Gas, Grocery, Travel - including some gift card purchases. e.g. I buy GC at SDM/Sobeys to double dip

The AMEX Platinum Card

• 60,000 AMEX Membership Rewards Points after $1,000 spending within 3 months. This is 10000 points more than the regular 50K MR after $1000 spending offer, and can be worth more during transfer bonus like 20-25% for Aeroplan, or 50% to British Airways Avios
• $699 Annual Fee ($499 effectively if you deduct the $200 credit) << Luckily I still only pay $399/year, for now
• 2 x $200 Annual Travel Credit (for first year only). Use $200 credit before end of this year and then again starting Jan 1, 2014. It's $200/year after the first year
• Access to AMEX lounges in Canadian airports, and Priority pass VIP for unlimited access to 600+ lounges when traveling
• Hotel: Starwood Gold, Club Carlson Gold
• Cathay Pacific Marco Polo Club Gold membership = OneWorld Sapphire elite
• 15000 AMEX MR Points PER REFERRAL <- I've earned way more than I could ever spend
• BEST USE - I use it where AMEX Personal Gold don't earn 2X points, as I get 1.25X point on this card

Capital One Aspire Travel World Master Card

• 2% return on Travel and 1.5% on cash back. I signed up with $350 worth of points.
• $120/year fee, effectively $20/year with 10000 anniversary points
• I use it where AMEX is not accepted

TD First Class Travel Infinite VISA

• $120/year fee, waived due to holding TD Select Service account
• I keep it only for the Expedia For TD service, where I can earn 4.5% return on bookings

TD Gold Elite VISA

• $99/year fee, waived due to holding TD Select Service account
• I keep it only for the free Deluxe TD Auto Club. I used it in 2011 to tow my car (200 km allowance) and several battery boosts!

Cards I plan to cancel upon renewal

I would cancel below cards, wait 3~6 months and re-apply for the welcome bonuses (churning)

AMEX Gold Rewards Card - Oct 2013

• Even earning 2X the points is not enough to justify the $150 fee.

Chase Marriott Premier VISA - Nov 2013

• I applied for the limited promotion of 50K Marriott points + 1 free night at Cat 1-4 hotels, 1st year fee waived.
• Anniversary bonus of 1 free night at a Cat 1 - 4 hotel <- this has lost its value since Marriott increased categories 5/16/2013
• You become Marriott Silver, but it doesn't have much benefits
• $120/year, waived for first year
• I redeemed the free night at $150/night hotel and used 30K points for NYC Manhattan hotel ($360/night)
• This card has NO Forex fee, so it does save you ~2.5% which is only significant if you spend a lot to recover the $120 fee
• BEST USE - 5X at Marriott hotels, 2X at Restaurants, and USA/International due to no Forex fee

CIBC Aerogold Infinite VISA - Cancelled

• I only got it for the 15000 Aeroplan bonus with no 1st year fee in Dec 2012
• $120/year

MBNA Smart Cash Master Card - Cancelled

• I only got it for the $100 gift card bonus
• No annual fee