Milepoint member Dangjr213 asks the question, “What is your primary credit card?” The most popular strategy, according to the responses, is to spread the spend across different cards depending on what the purchase is going to be. I do the same thing. But are we really maximizing our return on investment this way?

Obviously when you spend on the card that offers the most points, you’ll get more overall points. At the same time, spreading the spend means you’re not getting as many points in your preferred program, whether it be points, miles or cash back. So should you continue to spread your spend around or concentrate it on one card? I created two charts to compare the differences. The example credit cards are the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Costco American Express.

Both cards offer 1% cash back on everyday spend and 2% cash back on travel and dining. The only difference is that the Costco card offers 3% cash back on gas. Note that Costco only accepts American Express, debit cards and cash.

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