$25000 spent on a frequent flyer credit card vs. a cash back card
| Grocery | Gas | Drugstore | All other purchases |
Annual Fee |
Fee to obtain ticket | Total cashback (totalmiles plus cash cost of "free" domestic flight) | |
| The Spend | $5200 | $3000 | $1000 | $16,800 | |||
| American Express Blue Cash (5% on groceries, gas, pharmacy; 1.5% on everything else after you spend $6500 annually) | $260 | $150 | $50 | $252 | $0 | $0 | $712 |
| Chase Freedom (3% back on your top three of 15 possible spending categories) |
$156 | $90 | $30 | $168 | $0 | $0 | $444 |
| Airline credit card (miles earned) | 5200 | 3000 | 1000 | 16,800 | up to $100 | up to $50 | (25,000 plus $150 in fees) |
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