At the start of the year, our goal was to focus our spending on cards with specific milestone bonuses—things like earning a free night on the Hilton Surpass with $15K in purchases or getting a $200 Delta flight credit after spending $10K on the Delta Gold Business Card. But like most good plans, ours hit a few detours. We ended up picking up several new cards with big welcome offers, which threw our original strategy off balance.
With that in mind, here’s a look at where our credit card spending has gone so far in 2025—broken down by the role each card played. From milestone bonuses to everyday workhorses, here’s what’s been earning its keep.
Cards We’re Using to Hit Milestone Rewards
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card
- Amount Spent: $10,000
- Goal: Spend $15,000 for a free night certificate
- Notes: This card is a workhorse in Sharon’s wallet. It earns elevated points at supermarkets, gas stations, and for online purchases, but more importantly, the free night after $15K makes it an easy winner in our rotation.
Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card
- Amount Spent: $9,500
- Goal: Spend $10,000 to earn a $200 Delta credit
- Notes: Just shy of the finish line here. I’ve been pushing expenses to this card since the $200 flight credit essentially acts as a 2% rebate. Once we hit the threshold, it’ll go back in the drawer.
Bilt Mastercard
- Amount Spent: $2,000
- Goal: Spend $10,000 annually for Silver status (and Rent Day perks)
- Notes: Last year, I was all-in on Bilt to earn the additional bonuses on transfers, provided I had status. Now that I’ve transferred my points to partners, it’s been downgraded to secondary status. Still, it’s a solid card when the Rent Day promotions are strong.
World of Hyatt Credit Card
- Amount Spent: $1,000
- Goal: Spend $15,000 for a Category 1–4 free night
- Notes: We’re far from the goal, but I may aim to hit it near the end of the year. That way, I can combine the bonus night with the card’s annual free night for a two-night stay.
Sign-Up Bonuses
Sign-up bonuses remain one of the best ways to accumulate a large number of points quickly. I’m behind on some of the spending bonus thresholds because I signed up for more cards than I had planned. These are the cards we’ve used primarily to meet new cardmember spending requirements:
American Express® Gold Card
- Amount Spent: $7,000
- Reason: Sign-up bonus spending requirement
- Notes: After years of avoiding the Gold Card’s steep annual fee, we finally added it this year thanks to a targeted bonus. The dining and grocery bonuses didn’t hurt either.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- Amount Spent: $5,500
- Reason: Sign-up bonus spending requirement
- Notes: With the 100,000-point offer back on the table earlier this year, it was an easy decision.
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card
- Amount Spent: $4,500
- Reason: Sign-up bonus spending requirement
- Notes: We grabbed this card before the new changes took effect. The bonus provided a Companion Pass for the rest of 2025, though I’m still unsure whether the Plus card has long-term value.
Everyday Spending
After prioritizing threshold bonuses and sign-up offers, there’s still everyday spending that needs to go somewhere. In 2025, we’ve focused on cards that earn strong base rewards or provide flexible value, even outside of promotions.
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
- Amount Spent: $3,800
- Why: 2X miles on everything, with easy travel redemptions
- Notes: It’s still one of the best flat-rate cards out there. With lounge access, $300 travel credit, and anniversary bonus miles, this card more than earns its keep—even if we’re not booking through the Capital One portal. Plus, I use my Venture X to pay our cell phone bill, combining 2X rewards with solid insurance coverage. That combo makes it an easy keeper for one of our recurring monthly expenses.
Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® Card
- Amount Spent: $2,000
- Why: 2% cash back deposited directly into our Fidelity account
- Notes: This is our go-to card when we want simple cash back instead of points.
Citi® Double Cash® Card
- Amount Spent: $2,000
- Why: 2% back (1% when you buy, 1% when you pay)
- Notes: An old favorite that’s still solid. Now that it earns ThankYou Points, it’s occasionally worth pairing with Citi transfer partners, but we usually treat it as a 2X Thank You points card.
Also Used for 5% Categories or Rebates
Some cards we only pull out for specific situations—whether it’s rotating quarterly categories or rebates that make a card temporarily valuable.
Discover
- Amount Spent: $2,500
- Why: 5% cash back in rotating categories
- Notes: We’ve had Discover for years. It’s great for gas stations, restaurants, or Amazon, depending on the quarter. You just have to remember to activate the categories every few months.
The Platinum Card® from American Express
- Amount Spent: $2,000
- Why: Used to trigger travel credits and book airfare
- Notes: Not a card we use for everyday purchases, but we use it to earn the 5X points on airfare.
Final Thought
Even with the best intentions to stay laser-focused on milestone bonuses, real-life spending (and tempting new card offers) always manages to shake things up. Looking at where we’ve put our money so far this year helped us regroup, reevaluate which goals we’re still on track to hit, and decide what’s worth pushing for in the second half of 2025. Whether it’s maximizing a single card’s perks or diversifying for long-term value, this kind of mid-year check-in is always worth the effort.
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