Which Card Should You Use For That Purchase? 10xTravel+ Tells You Instantly

10xTravel was founded with the goal of helping our community achieve their travel dreams using points and miles. Our free tool, My10x, is an all-in-one platform for your entire award travel strategy. But now, we’re excited to announce an even more powerful resource for our award travel community: a 10xTravel+ subscription which is now a premium version of My10x.

The new 10xTravel+ tier is available for $10 per month and includes a suite of incredible features to help you maximize your points and miles strategy. And, one of the best features available with this premium subscription is our best card by category, which is designed to help you determine which of your credit cards is the best card for each spending category.

With this new tool, you can instantly maximize the points you earn across all of your cards and save up for your next trip faster.

Personalized Recommendations Based on Your Actual Wallet

The best card by category tool available with a 10xTravel+ subscription addresses one of the core organizational problems of earning credit card points: determining which card to use on which expenses.

This tool looks at the specific cards in your wallet (once you either enter them manually or link your accounts in the My Wallet section of your My10x account) and tells you which card is the best for spending in each category.

Whereas “best card” list articles will inform you of some of the best cards for each spending category that you could sign up for, the best card by category helps you maximize your earnings in each category using the cards that are currently in your wallet, making it tailored to your own cards.

The Problem With Generic “Best Card” Lists

For most award travelers, the best resource for finding the best credit cards for each spending category are online articles with titles like Best Credit Cards for Gas. And these articles are, in fact, fantastic resources if you want to sign up for a new credit card that gets good rewards on gas (or in some other category).

But, what if you don’t have any of the cards on that list and you can’t currently sign up for any new cards? Or, what if you have several of the credit cards on the list? How will you know which one earns better rewards in a certain category?

The best card by category tool solves those problems and more, taking all the hassle out of choosing the right card to use in each category.

The Multi-Card Holder’s Daily Dilemma

Oftentimes, when you go to make a purchase (such as a fill at the gas pump), it can be difficult to recall which of your credit cards earns the best rewards on gas, especially if you have five or more cards. In these cases, many consumers may simply choose the card most readily available in their wallet. Unfortunately, this could mean that you aren’t maximizing your rewards and you’re leaving points on the table.

These mental calculations can become even more complicated if you have a card with rotating bonus categories or spending limits for certain bonus categories. Luckily, the best card by category tool can immediately alleviate any need to make these mental calculations.

How Much Are You Leaving on the Table?

By not properly allocating your spending across your credit cards, you could potentially be leaving a lot of value on the table.

For example, let’s say that you had the American Express® Gold Card, which earns 4X points on groceries (up to $25,000 in annual purchases, 1X thereafter) and that you spent $12,000 on groceries annually. If you forgot to use your Amex Gold Card on these purchases and instead used a card that only earned 1X points on groceries, you would be missing out on 36,000 points annually.

When redeemed through the AmexTravel.com travel portal, these points would be worth a total of $360. However, if you were to redeem those points through Amex’s transfer partners, you could potentially get significantly more value than that.

As you can see, by failing to optimally use your credit cards’ spending bonuses, you could be missing out on hundreds or even thousands of dollars every year in value.

What the Best Cards by Category Tool Actually Does

In order to use the best card by category tool, you’ll need to upgrade to a 10xTravel+ subscription and enter your credit cards in the My Wallet section of your account (either manually or by linking your bank accounts).

To view your best cards by category, you can then navigate to the My Best Cards section where you’ll find a list of spending categories and the card in your wallet that offers the best rewards in that category.

You can also filter your cards by category to quickly see the best card to use for each category.

How Recommendations Update With Your Wallet

The best card by category tool automatically updates as you add new cards to your My Wallet. For instance, if you added a new best card for gas, that card would automatically appear in the Gas category in the My Best Cards section.

Likewise, if you close a credit card account and remove that card from your My Wallet section, then that card will also be removed from the My Best Cards section and the next-best card will replace that card in each spending category.

Which Spending Categories Are Covered

The categories currently included in this section are dining, groceries, gas, travel, airfare, hotels (general), hotels (brand specific), car rental, entertainment, shopping, utilities, home improvements, health and transit.

Want to Know if There’s an Even Better Card for You?

One of the best ways that you can use the 10xTravel+ best card by category tool is to use it to identify gaps in your credit card strategy. Not only can you see the categories in which you’re currently earning good spending bonuses, but you can also see which categories where you’re only earning 1X points.

For example, if you notice that you don’t have any credit cards that earn more than 1X points on dining, then you may want to start looking for a new card with good dining rewards.

You can also find excellent guidance on what your next credit card should be by using the My Next Card tool in your My10x account. This section includes several credit card recommendations based on your current cards, points balances, credit score and other factors.

Of course, you can also learn more about which credit cards might be best for you by reading our 10xTravel blog articles and by communicating with other award travel enthusiasts through our new 10xTravel+ Travel Community feature of 10xTravel+.

How Best Cards by Category Fits Into the Broader 10xTravel+ Toolkit

The new best card by category tool is just one of several valuable features that are available with a 10xTravel+ subscription. And, when used in combination, these tools can help you organize your points and miles strategy and bring it to the next level.

One of the other features available with 10xTravel+ is the credit and benefit tracker tool, which allows you to keep track of the different benefits available with your credit cards and maximize the value of those benefits. A 10xTravel+ subscription also includes improved redemption tracking features as well as even more award alerts to help you find high-value redemptions.

As mentioned above, 10xTravel+ members also have access to an exclusive Private Community where members can discuss past redemptions, credit cards, airline products, hotels and anything else in the world of award travel.

With the extra points you’ll earn with the best card by category tool as well as the benefits you’ll receive from all of these other tools listed above, you’ll be able to justify the $10 per month cost of 10xTravel+ several times over.

Does the Optimization Actually Pay for Itself?

In the example from earlier in this article, we clearly demonstrated that a 10xTravel+ member could earn $360 in value annually by optimizing their grocery spending with the best card by category tool. This is equal to a monthly benefit of $30, which alone is enough to justify the monthly $10 subscription fee for 10xTravel+.

However, in all likelihood, this example is an oversimplification of how the best card by category tool could benefit you. Most of the time, the extra value you’ll get from the best card by category tool won’t be in a single category, but spread across several categories. So, in the following sections, we’ll look at a more realistic example of how this tool can help you earn extra points.

A Realistic Monthly Spending Example

For example, let’s say that you spend the following monthly amounts in the following categories:

• Groceries: $800
• Gas: $200
• Dining: $300
• Travel: $200
• Transit: $60

Realistically, as mentioned above, the best card by category won’t just benefit you in a single category, but will deliver incremental benefits in several categories. So, for the sake of this example, let’s conservatively estimate that this tool would help you earn 50% more points on groceries, 50% more points on gas, 100% more points on dining, 50% more points on travel and 100% more points on transit. This is a reasonable estimate for someone with three to five credit cards that optimizes their spending using the best card by category tool.

The following table shows how many more points you’d earn in each category every month:

In the example above, which we believe to be a conservative one, the 10xTravel+ member would earn an additional 1,060 points per month. These points would be worth a minimum of $10.60 and, if those points were flexible travel rewards such as Capital One Miles or Chase Ultimate Rewards points, they could be worth considerably more.

So, as you can see, even in this conservative estimate, the best card by category tool alone can make up for the $10 monthly cost of a 10xTravel+ subscription. Then, when you consider the several other tools included in the 10xTravel+ suite, this subscription’s value proposition is clear.

Who Gets the Most Out of Best Cards by Category

Of course, not all cardholders will benefit equally from the best card by category tool. If you have only a few credit cards and you’re able to effectively keep track of each card’s spending bonuses, then the best card by category tool may not be as useful for you. However, even in this case, this tool can provide a clear and organized spending strategy for you to refer to.

The members that benefit most from the best card by category tool are those who have many credit cards or who aren’t particularly organized. In these cases, this tool can provide a clear spending strategy that can earn them hundreds if not thousands of dollars in additional points annually.

How to Start Using Best Cards by Category

In order to start using the best card by category tool, you’ll need to first sign up for a My10x account and then add your cards to the My Wallet section. If you have a free My10x account, you’ll be able to access the My Best Cards page, but you won’t actually be able to view your best cards by category.

To actually view your best cards by category, you’ll need to upgrade to a premium 10xTravel+ subscription. You can find the link to upgrade either on the homepage of your My10x account or under the Services section on the menu on the left-hand side of the screen.

Maximize Every Purchase With the Cards Already in Your Wallet

Hopefully, by using the resources that we here at 10xTravel provide, you’ve already applied for some great credit cards that help you earn excellent rewards in several categories. However, by signing up for 10xTravel+ and gaining access to the best cards by category tool, you can maximize the value that you get out of these cards and save up for your next trip even quicker.

Then, using the other tools provided with a 10xTravel+ subscription, you can track all of the points you earn, find high-value redemptions through increased award alerts, track your redemptions and share your redemptions with other members of the community. These capabilities are far more extensive than those available with a free My10x account or with a competitor service (such as Travel Freely).

All in all, joining 10xTravel+ is guaranteed to help you extract more value from your credit card strategy and become more connected with the award travel community.