Start here.

PointBagel is built for people running a multi-card points strategy. If you're earlier in the journey, the tool will still work, but you'll get more out of it later. This page is the honest version of where to start and when to come back.

Honestly, this might not be the right time yet

PointBagel earns its keep when you have multiple cards across multiple programs and the math starts to get unwieldy. With one or two cards on a single issuer, a spreadsheet (or just your memory) is plenty.

Two things to avoid: applying for cards faster than you can use them, and paying annual fees for cards whose benefits you don't actually use. The rewards space punishes both.

When PointBagel earns its keep

If any of these match, you're ready to get value from the tool.

• You hold 3+ cards across 2+ issuers
• You earn 100K+ points per year or have balances in 2+ rewards programs
• Your annual fees total $200+ and you want to know whether each one still pencils
• You can't keep track of statement credits and category caps in your head anymore
• You want one place to see what your points are worth in dollars across every program

Glossary

The terms you'll see across our pages, defined plainly. None of these are hard once you see them used in context a few times.

CPP (cents per point)

What one point is worth in dollars when you redeem it. Those same 100,000 Chase points are about $1,000 as cash (1 cent per point), or $2,000+ if you transfer them to an airline or hotel - which takes a card like a Sapphire or Ink Preferred. So your CPP depends on how you redeem and which cards you hold. We publish min / typical / max benchmarks for every program.

Welcome offer (also: welcome bonus, sign-up bonus, SUB)

The points you earn for opening a new card and hitting a spending requirement in the first few months. Often the single largest pile of points you can earn on a card, sometimes worth more than 12 months of regular earning.

Transfer partner

An airline or hotel loyalty program your bank's points can move to. Chase Ultimate Rewards transfers to United, Hyatt, and 12 other partners; Amex Membership Rewards transfers to Delta, Air Canada, and 17 others. Each partnership has a ratio (usually 1:1) and a minimum transfer amount.

Sweet spot

A redemption where transferred points buy disproportionately more value than the dollar price. A flight that costs $4,500 cash but 75,000 points is a sweet spot. Sweet spots are how power users get 4-8¢ per point instead of the 1-2¢ that cash-back gets you.

Annual fee ROI

Whether a card's annual fee is paid back by the benefits and rewards you actually use. An $895 card that gives you a $600 hotel credit, a $200 airline credit, lounge access you use twice a year, and 5x earning on flights can easily clear the fee. An $895 card whose credits you never touch is just $895 you paid the issuer.

Earning cap (also: category cap)

A spending limit where a card's bonus earning stops. Amex Gold earns 4x on groceries, but only on the first $25K per year. Spend $30K on groceries and the last $5K earns 1x, not 4x. This matters enormously when you spend heavily in a bonused category.

Multiplier / bonus category

Higher earning rates on specific spending types. 3x on dining means $1 spent at a restaurant earns 3 points instead of the base 1x. Many cards rotate which categories get the multiplier (Chase Freedom Flex's quarterly 5x categories, for example).

Issuer eligibility rule

A constraint each issuer puts on how often you can open their cards or earn their welcome bonuses. Chase, Amex, Capital One, and Bank of America each have different shapes of rule. Knowing them means not wasting credit pulls on applications that will be denied or bonuses you can no longer earn.

What to do first

If you're just getting started, the highest-value thing you can do is learn before you apply. Specifically:

1. 01Pick one card with a strong welcome offer and use it for everything for at least 6 months. Learn how the program works before adding a second.
2. 02Read r/CreditCards, r/awardtravel, and a few points-and-miles newsletters before applying for card #2. Most early mistakes come from applying for cards before understanding what the points buy.
3. 03Track your spending by category for a month. Once you know where your money goes, picking a second card stops being a guess.
4. 04Play with our free calculators on /tools. They have no signup and show how the math works without committing to anything.

Free tools you can use right now

We publish calculators that don't require signup. Play with them to see how points math works without committing to anything.