Maximizing Your Credit Cards – Military Edition

One of the lesser known perks for Active Duty Military members (Including Guard and Reserve on active orders of 30 days or more) is the ability to have fee-free credit cards, some of which have exceptional benefits. Below you will learn which cards I currently possess, which cards waive their fees for Active Duty, what the benefits of each card are, and real life examples of how I use each of those benefits. I discuss rewards points in further detail below, which is a critical component to this entire operation.

I’m an avid traveler, and most of these credit cards and the benefits associated are geared toward travel. I don’t want to deter you from not utilizing these FREE benefits though. There are a TON of ways to use these benefits throughout the year, or you can save some of them for future use, even if you don’t travel. After all, there are NO fees, so any way you use them is still no cost to you. Overall, I save well over $1,000 annually without paying the high annual fees of these cards, and I’m going to show you how.

Not all credit card companies are created equal, and some give better perks to military than others. Take American Express (Amex); they waive all fees for all of their personal credit cards across the board (They DO NOT waive annual fees for business cards). Chase also waives all annual fees for their personal cards, but also doesn’t waive them for business cards. Capital One doesn’t waive any of their fees unless you already had the card before joining the military. There is extensive research on this topic at several other sites, so I won’t waste any more of your time on this one.

Another important piece is how many cards you can have at a time before you receive instant declines upon applying for new ones. Take Chase for instance; they have a 5/24 rule that states if you have opened five personal credits cards in the past 24 months (This doesn’t include business cards), you cannot open another card with them, including business cards. But if you’re at 4/24 (Meaning you’ve opened 4 personal cards in the last 24 months), you can open as many business cards as you’d like. Amex states that you can only have five credit cards open with them at a time, HOWEVER, the Platinum, Gold, and Green Cards are considered charge cards and not credit cards, so they don’t count against the five open credit cards.

Short answer: No. BUT, you will need to make money in a business-like way that isn’t your current job. I own a photography company, A2I Photography, that I use for applying for business cards. Everyone can use their own social security number as a business as a Sole Proprietor. You don’t need to go out and make a legitimate LLC to be approved for business credit cards. If you sell items on Facebook Marketplace, Etsy, etc., for a profit, you are a Sole Proprietor business owner. This information will become important to the Chase Ink card mentioned below and how important it is to gaining rewards points. Additionally, there is no limit to some of the Chase business cards in how many you can have. I’ve seen some people have five Chase Ink Business Cash cards attached to their business.

One of the key points to all of this is building rewards points for travel. These points can get you to anywhere in the world if you play your cards right. I recommend going to 10x Travel to learn more about this. SUBs give a large amount of rewards points for a certain spend amount within a specific timeframe. For example, I was just recently approved for the Chase Ink Business Cash card, and their SUB is to spend $6,000 within the first three months to receive 75,000 rewards points. This is a 12.5 point per dollar earning, which you won’t find for any other regular earning spend. This makes SUBs extremely valuable to the points game, and why you’ll see some people applying for so many cards.

Business cards don’t show up on your credit. And the jury is still out on whether your credit will be hurt enough to not play the game of rewards. I lost about 15 points on my credit score on my seventh application due to the number of inquiries. I was already over an 800 credit score, so to me it didn’t make enough of a difference for me to stop. If you have poor credit, maybe it becomes a factor, but I don’t feel it hurts your overall creditworthiness enough to not partake in the world of rewards and benefits from free credit cards.

In the section below you will see exactly how I maximize usage of each of these cards, and in some cases justify paying for an annual fee that wasn’t waived. Disclaimer: The application links lead to a referral link, which gives me referral points for my personal benefit.

Annual Fee Waived for Active Duty Military: YES
Benefits: This one has a long list!
Airport Lounge Access: You will receive access to the premier Centurion Lounges and several others! I use these nearly every time I travel. Most airports have some type of lounge that the Platinum Card will get you into with free food, drinks including alcoholic, charging stations, showers (when available), etc. The is a premier benefit of this card!
Fine Hotels Credit $200 Credit: When booked through Amex Travel, you can choose among their Fine Hotels & Resorts or The Hotel Collection and receive a $200 credit. I’ve used this in Nashville to receive a $370 per night five star hotel for $170 after the credit. Plus you get several other perks like $100 towards drinks and food at on site bars and restaurants, 4pm checkout, free breakfast for two people, complimentary room upgrade, and noon checkin.
Airline Incidentals $200 Credit: This one has a trick to it…technically it’s for things like baggage fees and in flight purchases, but with United you can use their United Travel Bank and add $100 two separate times to the bank. It will trigger the credit both times and you’ll end up with $200 to use for airline ticket purchases.
Digital Entertainment $240 Credit: You can receive $20 per month toward the Disney Suite, Wall Street Journal, Sirius XM Radio, Peacock, or The NY Times. I use it for Disney+, Hulu with No Ads, and ESPN+, which comes in around $25 a month. So I’m paying around $5 a month for access to all three.
Walmart Plus Membership Credit: The Platinum Card pays for a monthly membership to Walmart Plus, valued at $13 a month, which I use every month.
Uber Cash $15 Credit: Every month, you’ll receive $15 in your Uber account to use (The Gold card adds an additional $10 a month). These expire at the end of the each month, so it’s important to use them. I use them for Uber Eats…my kids and I will select a place to order from and then pick it up to avoid using extra costs on delivery.
Saks Fifth Avenue $100 Credit: You will receive a $50 credit for each half of the year. Simply purchase an item from Saks Fifth Ave (NOT Saks Off Fifth) and you’ll receive a credit in your account. I usually buy either a North Face hoodie or a T-shirt. Items can be pricey, but it’s free money so I find ways. I have a lot of North Face hoodies! Most recent purchase: Joseph Joseph Bamboo Chopping Block – $45 ($8.81 out of pocket after taxes and shipping)
There are a lot of other ones I don’t really use, but they are also worth a ton! This card is well worth the fee, but we get it FREE!!

Annual Fee Waived for Active Duty Military: YES
Benefits: A great card for building rewards points FAST!
Earn Rewards Points at 4x: When not actively pursing a SUB, this card is my go-to for most things! It earns 4x points at all restaurants and grocery stores. Who doesn’t need food with two growing boys!?
Uber Eats $10 Credit: Just like the Platinum Card, the Gold Card adds an additional $10 to your Uber account every month. Remember, they expire!
Dining $10 Credit: Every month you can purchase something from Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, Milk Bar, and select Shake Shack locations and earn a $10 credit. I use this one with Grubhub every month by either purchasing a sushi roll from Umami or a burrito bowl from Chipotle. After each is said and done, dinner is served for less than $5 of my own money!
Dunkin’ $7 Credit: The Gold Card recently added a $7 credit for Dunkin’ purchases through their app. All you need to do is add your Gold Card to your Dunkin’ app, make your purchase through the app with your Gold Card, and you’ll receive your credit on your card!
Resy $100 Credit: Resy, a restaurant reservation app, recently joined the team and is now offering $50 credits per half-year to Gold Card users (Jan-Jun & July-Dec). How to use it: Download the Resy app, make an account, check which restaurants are part of the Resy network, use your Gold Card at one of those restaurants, and receive your credit! You can make reservations through the app, but that part is not necessary to receive the credit. You just need to ensure the restaurant you’re at is part of the network and use your Gold Card at one of those restaurants.
While the benefits are not as extensive as the Platinum Card, for a FREE card this one is key to adding rewards points FAST!

Annual Fee Waived for Active Duty Military: YES
Benefits: A must have for Marriott lovers!
Automatic Platinum Elite Status: There are six total tiers to Marriott rewards, and Platinum is the third level. BUT, Platinum is the first level that offers some key benefits like Concierge access that gives free food and drinks at the nicer hotels, complimentary room upgrades, and points multipliers when you purchase rooms and items from Marriott hotels. If you go TDY and stay at a Marriott, this can be very useful. This benefit by itself makes this card worth getting!
Free Room at Up To 85,000 Points: After your one year anniversary of having the card, you’ll receive a free room rated at up to 85,000 points, with the option to use an additional 15,000 points of your own to make up the difference. Now, if you haven’t looked at what 85,000 can get you, it’s A LOT!! During non-peak months, this can get you into Ritz Carlton’s and the St. Regis top-of-the-line hotel stays for one night! I’ll be using mine at the Autograph Collection in Nashville, which is downtown right off Music Row.
Dining Credit $300: Every month you can dine at any restaurant and receive $25 in credits by simply purchasing it with the Bonvoy Brilliant card, and it doesn’t have to be all at once. I’ve used it to get a coffee for five days in a row, and used it on a single night out at a restaurant for more than just myself. It’s a free $25 a month!
25 Elite Night Credits: Elite Night Credits get to you the next rewards tier, and earn you lifetime rewards status. These add up over time and getting 25 of them for free is a nice perk!

Annual Fee Waived for Active Duty Military: YES
Benefits: This card is PACKED with perks!
Travel Credit $300: This benefit is…WOW!! It’s literally any purchase you make that has to do with travel: Parking meters, hotels, flights, rental cars, etc. All you have to do is make a purchase using this card in the travel category and you’ll receive a credit for that amount. FREE MONEY!!
10x Points on Hotels and Car Rentals: This is by far the best rewards earning rate for these categories. I use it often, especially for hotels not a Marriott.
Instacart Credit $15: You will receive a $15 credit every month when you use your CSR on the app. I use this by buying about four things from Aldi down the street or getting a case of ICE Waters from Sam’s Club delivered. Ended July 2024.
DoorDash Credit $5: Every month you’ll receive a DoorDash credit of $5. It doesn’t seem like much, but you can stack these ones up to $15. Once a quarter I’ll get a dinner from a local restaurant for pickup on Chase’s dime!
10x Points on Lyft Rides: I’ve always been an Uber rider, but once I learned about this perk I instantly made the switch. And even better, when you link your CSR to your BILT account, you earn an additional 2x points through BILT. I’ll be riding with Lyft for as long as they have this benefit!
Lounges, Hotels, and More: The CSR offers several lounge accesses and special hotel rates, but I haven’t had a chance to utilize them yet. Let me know if you have, I’d love to hear it!

No Annual Fee
Benefits: If you rent your home or apartment, this card is a must! And mortgage payments are also in the works.
Earns Points Through Rent: I live in an apartment and paying rent without earning points is A LOT of points lost. Now I don’t have to worry about it because this card allows you to use a routing and checking account number to mimic a checking account and earn points by paying your rent.
Double Points on “Rent Day” (1st of the Month): The BILT Card usually gives 3x points at restaurants, but on the first of the month it gives 6x points! Be sure to use this perk often.

Annual Fee Waived for Active Duty Military: NO
Benefits: Enough to justify the $400 annual fee.
Travel Credit Through Capital One Travel $300: If you purchase travel through Capital One Travel, you’ll receive a credit of up $300 annually. When you go into Capitol One Travel, you can search for hotels, flights, rental cars, etc. through their portal. Once you select your purchase, it will deduct from your $300 credit immediately. This is a change from the previous process, where you would purchase the travel on your credit card and later be reimbursed via a statement credit.
2x Rewards Points on All Purchases: This is a big selling point for me. There aren’t many cards on the market that give 2x points on all purchases. The only other one I know of is the Amex Blue Business Plus card. In those times where you run out of gift cards from your Chase Ink Business Cash card, this 2x points return is essential.
Anniversary Points Bonus of 10,000 Points: Every year on your card opening anniversary you’ll 10,000 rewards points. At a 10:1 ratio, this would equate to $100 worth of points. However, there are a lot of ways to get better returns for your points, making the $400 annual fee a deal for this card.
Capital One Lounges: Capital One has its own set of airport lounges around the world, giving you another option when you hit those long layovers.
Cellphone Insurance: There are several cards that offer cellphone insurance when you pay your cellphone bill with that card, but I chose to use the Venture X Card for no other reason than it happened to be the one I pay my bill with. REAL WORLD USAGE: My son’s iPhone 8 Plus stopped working out of the blue. It wouldn’t turn on or charge at all. In order to file a claim with Capitol One you have to receive an estimate from an Apple approved repair facility, which you can find at Apple.com. I chose a Best Buy, so I set up an appointment to have it looked at and they stated it was a hardware issue and needed a full unit replacement. You can find full unit replacement costs at Apple.com. The full replacement cost for an 8 Plus is $399. You have to go to the replacement website and fill out your claim, including all the necessary paperwork such as proof of payment with that card for your cellphone bill, proof that this phone was on the bill, the IMEI (which can be found inscribed on the SIM card tray), and the estimate. Within five days, I received an approval for the amount of $377, which is the $399+tax-$50 deductible. The funds will reach my bank account within 1-3 business days. This was one of the simplest claims I’ve ever completed! Moral of the story, don’t pay for insurance through your cellphone company. Use one of the credit cards you already get at no cost or an annual cost worth paying, like this Venture X card. For a list of cards that offer cellphone insurance click here.

Annual Fee Waived for Active Duty Military: NO
Benefits: Not as extensive as the Bonvoy Brilliant, but enough to make up for annual fee.
Free Night at Up To 35,000 Points: While not the upper tier of the Brilliant card, 35,000 points will get you a pretty good mid-tier hotel. I’m staying at the Renaissance near Dallas for this rate, which is a great mid-tier hotel.
15 Elite Night Credits: When coupled with the 25 credits from the Bonvoy Brilliant, this gets me 40 nights closer to the next rewards tier without even trying.
7% Discount on Rooms: This card will automatically discount rooms when you purchase them through the Marriott site/app with the card added to your wallet.

No Annual Fee
Benefits: Takes a little more discipline, but worth it! And it’s a business card, so it doesn’t count against your card limits.
5x Points at Office Supply Stores: The key here is that Office Max and Office Depot periodically have sales for fee free Visa and Mastercard gift cards. Since this card gets 5x rewards points at office supply stores, you can purchase these gift cards in droves and then use them in places you typically don’t get high returns from. For example, I don’t have a credit card that gives anything more than 2x points at sporting goods stores. So if I need to purchase new cleats for my son, I would usually use the Venture X card at 2x points. However, now that I have this card I stack up on Visa or Mastercard gift cards and use those, essentially earning 5x the points on the purchase instead. I also make a lot of purchases on Amazon, and you can use this same method for Amazon gift cards. Now my points grow at a much faster rate! Remember, this doesn’t pay off if you have to pay the activation fee for the gift cards.
0% Interest for First 12 Months: During the SUB period, you may be making larger purchases to ensure you get your spend for the SUB. Having a 0% interest rate during that period can be extremely helpful.
You Can Get Multiples of This Card: You can keep applying for this card and stacking SUBs if you can justify it to the Chase representative. It works better with a higher revenue business.