(Repost) Year-End Credit Card Checklist for 2024: Travel Credits, Spend Reset, Application Strategy & More

(Update 1/1/25: Reposting as a reminder that everything has now reset)

Year-end is a good time to take stock of our credit cards, and the benefits, requirements, or limits which expire/reset at the end of December.We’ll also examine which cards give you a quick double-dip credit when applying at year-end, and take a look at which cards might be worth applying for now.

I’ve been doing this write-up with updates each year for many years (2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015).There are always changes as cards and benefits evolve.I updated what came to mind; please let us know what we missed and we’ll update accordingly.

Calendar Year Spend Limits

Blue Business Plus and Blue Business Cash cards earn 2x/2% everywhere on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year.

(A report indicates this resets on January 1st, not the December statement close.)

Amex Gold card earns 4x points at US grocery stores up to $25,000 per calendar year. (Resets with December statement or December 31?)

Amex SimplyCash Plus (no longer available for signup) earns 5% at office/wireless and 3% on your chosen category, up to $50,000 per calendar year for each of those.This resets on January 1st each year.

Amex Everyday Preferred $6,000 limit on the 3x grocery store category per calendar year. (Resets with December statement or December 31?)

Amex Everyday $6,000 limit on the 2x grocery store category per calendar year. (Resets with December statement or December 31?)

Blue Cash Preferred $6,000 limit on the 6% grocery store category per calendar year. This resets January 1 each year, not on the December close date.

Blue Cash Everyday $6,000 limit on the 3% grocery store category per calendar year. This resets January 1 each year, not on the December close date.

The Old Blue Cash card does not reset with the calendar year, it goes with your card anniversary.

The INK Plus/Cash and the INK Preferred years do not reset with the calendar year, it goes with the card anniversary.

The FNBO Evergreen Business card gets 10,000 points on the card anniversary after spending $10,000 throughout the cardmember year.Again, this is not related to the calendar year.

Also, remember that the annual limits on points earned for credit card referrals by Chase (50,000-100,000 points, depending on the card) and AmEx (55k-100k/$550-$1k) will reset on January 1st.If you’re someone who does a lot of referrals, be sure to max out what you can t0 have those points post before December 31, and then start referring again on January 1st.

Q4 Categories: Chase Freedom, Discover, Citi Dividend, and U.S.

Bank Cash+ and a few other cards have quarterly categories.The current categories for Q4 will end on December 31.More details here.(The Citi Dividend card cashback limit is $300 annually, and resets in January.) Likewise, the quarterly $2,500 limit on the Bank of America Cash Rewards card will renew on January 1.

You have until December 31st to max out your I Bonds purchases which are limited to $10,000 each calendar year.

List of all deals ending on December 31st can be found on our Deals Calendar.

Calendar Year Spend Requirements

Amex Hilton Surpass gets a free weekend night with $15,000 in spend within the calendar year, and gets Diamond status with $40,000 in spend within the calendar year.

Amex Hilton Honors business card gets Diamond status with $40,000 in spend within the calendar year.

Amex Hilton Honors gets Gold status with $20,000 in spend within the calendar year.

Amex Hilton Aspire gets a second free night after $30,000 in spend and a third after $60,000 in spend within the calendar year.

(The first weekend night comes as a card benefit, and is based on card anniversary, not calendar year.The second and third free nights are based on spend and goes with the calendar year.)

Amex Platinum consumer and business cards – spend $75,000 or more during a calendar year and receive complimentary Centurion lounge access for up to two guests per visit.

Barclay Jetblue Plus card earns Mosaic status with $50,000 in spend per calendar year.

Chase British Airways card gets the Travel Together Ticket benefit when spending $30,000 in a calendar year.

Chase Hyatt card gets an additional night if you spend $15,000 in the past year.This one has now changed to go based on the calendar year.Finish up your spending now if you’re trying to get the additional night and begin your spending for next year on January 1st.

Chase Hyatt cards offer elite nights with spend: the Hyatt consumer card gets 2 nights for every $5,000 spent; this does not reset at all.

The Hyatt business card gets 5 nights for every $10,000 spent; this resets with the calendar year.

Citi American Airlines AAdvantage Platinum Select card gets $125 flight discount certificate after spending $20,000 or more – this goes with the cardmember year (based on 12 billing statements), not based on calendar year.

American Express Cards

Airline Credit

Amex Platinum personal and Platinum business cards have an airline incidental credit of $200 each year (see what counts here).Unfortunately, gift cards no longer trigger the airline incidental credits.

With these cards, the airline credit is based on the calendar year, not on the statement closing.You can put the airline incidental charges anytime until December 31 and have it count toward the current year.It might have to actually post before year’s end, though; give a few days for that to happen.

The Amex airline credit is different than the others in this list in that you only get reimbursed for incidental spend on your designated airline.

Be sure to designate that before putting the charge on the card.

If you’re looking to apply, there is still time to do so and get the airline credit for the current year.The annual fee usually hits around a month after card approval – useful to keep in mind for maximizing the travel credits without annual fees and for triple-dipping.(For those applying in the final few days of the year, see this tip.)

Related: Opening a Schwab Brokerage, Checking, and Amex Platinum Credit Card before Year’s End

Platinum Hotel Credit

The Platinum personal card comes with a $200 annual hotel credit on select prepaid bookings with American Express Travel.Be sure to book before December 31st.

You don’t need to complete your travel by that date.

Platinum Uber Credit

The Platinum personal card also comes with a monthly $15 credit, remember that it gets increased to $35 during the month of December.

Platinum Saks Credit

The Platinum personal card also comes with a $50 Saks Fifth Avenue credit twice per year: one from January to June and one from July to December.Be sure to use that up before the end of December.They only charge you after the item ships, so give some leeway here.

Platinum Business Dell Credit

The business Platinum card comes with a $200 Dell credit twice per year: one from January to June and one from July to December.Be sure to use that up before the end of December (along with the Amex Offer at Dell which expires then).

Give some leeway for the charge to post by December 31.

AmEx Gold

The Amex Gold card comes with a $50 credit towards restaurants booked via Resy, twice per year: one from January to June and one from July to December.Be sure to use that up before the end of December.

Hilton Aspire

The Hilton Aspire card comes with a $200 resort credit twice per year.The credit goes based on the calendar year: once for January through June and once for July through December.

The card also comes with a $50 airline flight credit each quarter (goes by the calendar quarter).

The Hilton Surpass card also has a quarterly $50 credit purchases made directly with a property in the Hilton which goes based on the calendar quarter.

Amex Green

The Green personal card comes with an annual $189 CLEAR credit and annual $100 LoungeBuddy credit.These reset each calendar year, so you should be able to use the credit for this year anytime until December 31.

Amex Delta Cards

The AmEx Delta cards come with a statement credit for Delta Stays purchases.

This is on the personal and business card versions of the Gold, Platinum, and Reserve cards.Each card has a different Delta Stays credit amount of between $100 and $250 per year.This resets based on the calendar year (presumably with a December 31st cut off).

The Delta Gold card also has a $200 Delta flight credit after you spend $10,000 in purchases in a calendar year.

Other Credits

Bank of America

Premium Rewards

The Bank of America Premium Rewards card comes with $100 airline incidental credit (see what counts here).This resets based on the calendar year.

Finish up your statement credit with this one by December 31 (buying AA gift card or United Travel Bank credit is easiest), and start using your new credit on January 1.I’ll buy a gift card right away in case they close that loophole.(Note, the airline incidental meter seems to take a few days/weeks until it shows the reset.While it should be internally reset on January 1st, you might want to wait until you see it reset to zero for the avoidance of doubt.)

Premium Rewards Elite

The Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite Visa card comes with an annual $300 airline incidental credit and $150 lifestyle convenience credit (including streaming services, food delivery, fitness subscriptions and rideshare services).

These reset with the calendar year.

Be sure to use up your credits from this year now, and begin using next year’s credits after the new year begins. It can also make sense to apply now and try for a triple dip on the card benefits.

Barclay JetBlue

The Barclay JetBlue Plus card gets $100 calendar year credit for JetBlue Vacations bookings.

Capital One Venture X

The Capital One Venture X personal card offers a $300 credit for bookings made on Capital One Travel.This renews each cardmember year, it’s not based on the calendar year.Same on the Venture X Business card.

Chase Cards

Southwest

Earning 135,000 Southwest points earns you the Southwest Companion Pass.Credit cardholders only need to earn 125,000 miles.

The best way to time yourself is to earn the miles at the beginning of the calendar year since Companion Pass continues for the next entire calendar year.For example, if you earn 125,000 Southwest miles during January 2024, you’ll have the Companion Pass for the rest of 2024 and the entire 2025.

The easiest strategy to earn the Companion Pass has always been by getting a credit card signup bonus on the Southwest credit card.In our case, you’ll want to apply sometime in the next couple of months, taking care to ensure NOT to meet the spend requirement until after January 1st.(Technically, you can meet the spend requirement during December, so long as the statement won’t close until after the 1st.) The signup bonus points on the two cards will post after you complete the spend in early 2024, and you’ll have a Companion Pass for nearly two years.

The signup bonuses being offered now aren’t the greatest – the personal cards are offering 50,000 points and the business version has an 80,000 point offer.

Or you can earn points by referring friends to the Southwest card, doing category spend, shopping portal spend, or an actual flight.Again, be careful with the timing on ALL points earned.

Many of us are not eligible for any of the Southwest cards at all due to the 5/24 rule, or because you’re a current Southwest cardholder of any version or because you got a bonus within the past 24 months.

$75 Southwest Priority Credit

The new Southwest Priority card comes with a $75 annual Southwest travel credit which runs on the cardmember year, not the calendar year.No need to use it up now, specifically.

Sapphire Reserve

The Chase Sapphire Reserve card comes with a $300 travel credit (see what counts here).This is based on the cardmember year for all cardmembers; there’s no specific need to use this now.

And if you’re applying for a new CSR card, there’s no special reason to apply before year’s end.

Whenever you apply, you’ll get just one travel credit during the first year (you can squeeze a second credit in right after the year renews).

Sapphire Preferred

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card comes with a $50 annual hotel credit via the Chase travel portal.This resets based on the cardmember year, not the calendar year.

Ritz-Carlton

The Chase Ritz-Carlton card offers up to $300 reimbursements for airline incidental charges (see what counts here).Chase counts the benefit based on the calendar year, not cardmember year.(It goes based on the actual calendar year, not based on your statements.) Use the credits before December 31 and begin using next year’s credit on January 1.

IHG Cards

The Chase IHG card gets a free night each year.

This does not reset with the calendar year, it goes with your card anniversary.

IHG cards also have spending thresholds of $10,000, $20,000, or $40,000 to earn Gold/Diamond status for the following year and to earn 10,000 bonus points (and on the Premier $100 credit).These spend requirements go by the calendar year.

The IHG Premier personal and business cards get $25 in United TravelBank credit twice per year: one $25 United TravelBank gets deposited around January 5, and another $25 around July 5.Requires registration first.

Hyatt

The Chase Hyatt cards get a free night each year.These do not reset with the calendar year, it goes with your card anniversary.

The Hyatt Business card gets $100 in Hyatt credits each year.This is based on card anniversary.

Chase Hyatt cards offer elite nights with spend: the Hyatt consumer card gets 2 nights for every $5,000 spent; this does not reset at all.The Hyatt business card gets 5 nights for every $10,000 spent; this resets with the calendar year.

United Quest

The United Quest card gets up to $125 in statement credits as reimbursement for United purchases.This goes based on the card anniversary year, not calendar year.The card also offers up to 10,000 miles back for award flight bookings.

Again, this goes with the cardmember year, not calendar year.

Citi

Prestige

The Citi Prestige card comes with a $250 travel credit (see what counts here).The year resets on January 1st.Be sure to give a few days leeway for the charges to go from pending to settled.

If you have a Prestige card, use up the credit now, there’s only a few weeks remaining.The Prestige card is not available for new cardmember signups at this time.

Premier

The Citi Premier card offers $100 credit on hotel bookings $500+ booked through their travel portal.

This resets each calendar year.

Rewards+

The Citi Rewards+ card comes with a 10% rebate on redemptions, up to 10,000 bonus points per year.This is now based on the calendar year of December 31st.Be sure to max out your 100,000 points redemption by December 31st to get the full 10k bonus.

Expedia+ Voyager

Those who have the Citi Expedia+ Voyager card get $100 annual credit toward airline incidentals on qualified airlines, Wi-Fi carriers, or for the Global Entry application fee.This credit resets each calendar year; be sure to use it up before your December statement closes as any purchases on your January statement will count toward next year’s benefit.

AAdvantage Platinum Select

The Citi American Airlines AAdvantage Platinum Select card gets $125 American Airlines Flight Discount certificate after spending $20,000 or more during your credit cardmembership year (every 12 months from the billing cycle after your anniversary month through the billing cycle of your next anniversary month).

AAdvantage Executive

The Citi AAdvantage Executive card comes with $120 benefit for Avis and Budget rentals.

This benefit resets each calendar year.

Citigold

Those with Citigold relationship status with Citibank get an annual credit of either $200 or $400 toward subscriptions for Amazon prime, Spotify, Hulu, TSApre/GE, and Costco membership.This credit renews at the end of the calendar year.Be sure to use up your allotment before December 30th.

US Bank Altitude Reserve

The US Bank Altitude Reserve card comes with a $325 annual travel and dining credit.In this case, the travel credit goes based on the cardmember year, not the calendar year.

No specific reason to use this now.

Wells Fargo Autograph Journey

The Wells Fargo Autograph Journey card gets an annual $50 statement credit applied to your account when your card is used for your first airline purchase of at least $50.Airline purchases include purchases made at retailers whose merchant category code is airline and air carriers.

This $50 credit is based on the cardmember year, not the calendar year.For the first year, the credit is available at account opening.After that, the 12-month annual airline credit period begins the first day of the month after your annual fee is assessed, then renews every 12 months after that.

For example, if your annual fee is assessed on November 10th, your annual airline credit period will begin on December 1st.

Smaller Banks

CNB Crystal

The CNB Crystal card offers a $350 annual incidental charges (see what counts here).CNB counts this based on the calendar year.Any spend until December 31 will count as part of the current year, and January 1 begins the next year.Be sure to complete your spend before December 31.

Give a few days for the charge to settle before year’s end (though it reportedly works on the last day too).

HSBC Premier

The HSBC Premier World Elite comes with $120 annual Lyft credit which is based on the calendar year.Be sure to use these up before December 31.

PenFed Pathfinder

The PenFed Pathfinder comes with $100 annual air travel ancillary credit (see what counts here).The credit is based on the calendar year, be sure to use yours before the year is up.

Also check out these useful posts:

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Frequently Asked Questions

Certainly. Unlike personal loans, you won't face any penalties for settling your balance ahead of schedule. However, it's crucial to keep in mind that if your credit card comes with a 0% introductory offer, it's essential to clear your balance completely before the 0% promotion expires and interest charges apply.

However, you can include additional cardholders, each with their own card. While sharing the single credit limit, the primary cardholder remains responsible for settling the debt.

Potentially, yes. Credit card APRs are typically variable, allowing lenders to change rates, impacting your monthly payments. Additionally, be mindful that introductory 0% offers can lead to higher interest rates once they expire. So, it's wise to clear your balance before that happens, if feasible.

Indeed, credit builder cards exist for those with less-than-ideal credit scores. These cards offer lower credit limits (typically £150 to £1,200) and higher interest rates. Responsible use, including full and on-time payments, can gradually boost your creditworthiness, potentially opening doors to better credit card offers down the line.