Yes, it's true, playing the points game with fancy travel credit cards like the Amex Platinum or the Chase Sapphire Reserved can absolutely be worth it. I've heard of travel influencers getting 10x the value from their points. But to be honest, I just don't have the patience or flexibility for it.

And yet… we still get a lot of value from these cards. Let me explain.

Disclaimer

This is neither an ad nor paid content. Everything below is based on points we earned through everyday spending, not one-time welcome bonuses. We put our normal household expenses on these cards and paid them off in full every month. That's kind of my whole point: you don't need to churn cards or optimize like a spreadsheet wizard to get value.

Also, this is not financial advice, and I'm not telling you to sign up for anything. I'm simply sharing our experience because what travel influencers show you isn't the norm. You don't need to be maximizing transfer partners at 2 a.m. or chasing mistake fares. You can get meaningful value from these cards while being lazy as hell, like me.

Annual fees

My husband and I carry three travel credit cards, and combined, we pay close to $2,000 a year in annual fees.

Steep. I know. It physically pains me every time those fees hit.

But while the upfront cost feels like a lot, we actually get about double that back in value, plus some genuinely great travel perks, by using the cards in very simple ways.

Let me break down a few of our recent trips.

Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Otemachi

In 2025, we celebrated my husband's birthday with a trip to Japan and stayed one night at the Four Seasons Tokyo at Otemachi at a steep discount.

Here's the breakdown:

Points redeemed toward the room: $1,232.24
Statement credit (a benefit we receive twice a year): $300.00
Free breakfast for two (in-room, as requested): $140.00
Hotel credit used at the spa: $100.00

We also got early check-in (noon) and late checkout (4 p.m.), though I'm not assigning a dollar value to those since it's subjective.

The St. Regis, twice

We stayed at The St. Regis toward the end of 2025 and again in early 2026.

Stay #1

We used a free night certificate earned through one of our cards.

Room value: $1,034.57
Free breakfast for two: $90.00

Stay #2

Points redeemed toward the room: $283.36
Statement credit (a benefit we receive twice a year): $300.00
Free breakfast for two: $90.00
Hotel credit used at the bar: $100.00

Total savings

Add it all up:

Total value received: $3,670.17
Annual fees across all three cards: $1,930.00
Net positive: $1,740.17

And that's without optimizing. Without obsessing. Without playing the game.

One more thing I'm not factoring in: yes, you could redeem those points for cash instead. But cash back doesn't get you early check-in, late checkout, free breakfast, or spa credits. Those perks are exclusive to travel redemptions and for frequent travelers, that's often where the real value lives.

Additionally, to be fair, yes, we chose expensive hotels. If we wouldn't have stayed there otherwise, you could argue it's not true "savings." But it's value we wouldn't have accessed without the cards, for travel we'd do anyway. That said, if you don't travel at least a few times a year, these cards probably don't make sense for you.

What I’m not even counting

There are additional benefits I haven't included here, because, again, lazy:

$300 annually at Lululemon
$200 airline credit
Lounge access
Trip protections
Rental car insurance

A full accounting would push the value even higher.

The bottom line

If you do nothing else but use these cards for free hotel stays, statement credits, and included perks, there's still a clear way to come out ahead.

You don't need to be a travel influencer. You don't need to maximize every redemption. You just need to use the core benefits intentionally.

Again, this is not financial advice nor a sales pitch, but evidence that there's a way to get real value from these cards, on your own terms, even if you're the laziest person in the room (like me!).

How we still get value from our premium credit cards without obsessing over points