If you have a credit card with a high annual fee, it may just provide value and help you on your next vacation! Photo by: Evan Berman

Often when people search for a credit card, they look for one with no annual fee. After all, why should you pay for the right to have a credit card when so many are free? I’ve discussed how I have 8 credit cards, several of which have annual fees of over $100 per year. Here’s what I pay and how I get more value than the fee paid.

Summary of Fees and Value

AmEx Platinum

Let’s start off with the most expensive one. With a $695 Annual Fee, you might immediately cast this card aside. But hear me out, it’s easy to get well more than that in value. Here’s how:

• $200 in annual Uber credits
• $200 in airline credits (check out this article for how I use them for United flights)
• $200 in Fine Hotels & Resorts Credits
• $189 in CLEAR credits
• $100 Fee Credit for Global Entry (Once every 5 years)

This does not account for the best lounge access of any card, allowing me to save hundreds each year at the airport on food and drink.

Chase Sapphire Reserve

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is the most expensive of the Chase cards. The Annual Fee is $550, which may likewise trigger a visceral reaction. Don’t worry, it’s easy to get well more than that in value! Here’s how:

• $300 travel credit (can be used for anything from parking and rideshare to hotels and airfare)
• $60 annual DoorDash credits
• $180 in annual Instacart credits

Additionally, this is the best card for earning Chase Ultimate Rewards Points. With 10x earning on Lyft and 3x on both travel and dining, it is easy to rack up many points. Why does this matter? Because I use these almost exclusively for Hyatt points. This is invaluable as I redeem these points for award nights when travelling.

Capital One Venture X

The Venture X is a relatively new card, released in late 2021. It’s annual fee is $395, well more than the $95 annual fee of the Venture card, which has been around much longer. That being said, it is easy to get well more than $400 in value per year with no effort whatsoever:

• $300 annually in travel credits (must book on Capital One Travel Portal)
• 10,000 Miles each year upon renewal of the card ($100 in value if using for cash or well more than that if transferring to partners)

AmEx Gold

At $250, the Annual Fee for the AmEx Gold card is less than the others on this list but still well more than most want to pay. Here’s how I get more than that in value:

• $120 annually in Uber credits ($10 per month)
• $120 in dining credits ($10 per month). Note that this is only valid at certain places– Cheesecake Factory and Shake Shack among others

Summary

I hope that this article shows that the annual fee might not always provide the true story. You should always weigh the annual fee and the value that you can get from the cards. Just because you have sticker shock from the high annual fee does not mean that you should remove the possibility of getting that card.

Evan