Card Spend Optimizer
Which card should each dollar ride on?
Enter a month of spending by category, tick the cards you hold or are weighing up, and this tool routes each category to the card with the highest earn rate recorded for it in the card directory. The rates are the directory's own recorded figures, read from issuer pages on the check dates printed with each card. Portal-only, rotating and single-brand rates are never counted in the math; they are listed per card, with the reason, under the results.
The tool opens on a labelled worked example: $1,950 a month of spend across three cards. Your entries save in this browser on this device, and the reset button brings the example back.
Worked example loaded: $1,950 a month of spend and three cards. Change any figure or card and the routing updates.
Your monthly spend
Enter what a typical month looks like. Leave a category at 0 if you do not spend there. Amounts are in US dollars.
Supermarkets and grocery stores, including online grocery orders where a card records them.
Restaurants, takeout and delivery.
Gas stations and EV charging, where a card records them together.
Flights, hotels and other travel bought directly. Portal-only bonuses are listed as not counted, per card.
Everything else. Spend in lanes this tool does not model, such as streaming or drugstores, earns the card's recorded base rate here.
Total spend entered: $1,950 a month, $23,400 a year.
Cards to route across
Tick the cards you hold, or the ones you are weighing up. Every card in the directory is listed. Open a profile to read the full recorded facts before you act on any number here.
Put each category on its best-rate card
Best means the highest earn rate recorded in the directory for that category, on everyday spend. It does not mean most valuable: a point in one program is not worth a point in another, and cash back is money. Value the points a routing would earn against a real booking in the Cash or Points Calculator before you treat any total here as a plan.
| Category | Your spend | Best-rate card | Recorded rate | Earns a month | Earns a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Groceries | $600 a month | American Express Gold Card | 4X | 2,400 points | 28,800 points |
| Dining | $300 a month | American Express Gold Card | 4X | 1,200 points | 14,400 points |
| Gas | $150 a month | Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card | 3X | 450 points | 5,400 points |
| Travel | $400 a month | American Express Gold Card | 3X | 1,200 points | 14,400 points |
| Other purchases | $500 a month | Wells Fargo Active Cash Card | 2% | $10 cash back | $120 cash back |
What the routing earns, currency by currency
Totals are never added across currencies. Each card below earns in its own currency, so each total stands on its own line, the same way the directory prints it.
American Express Gold Card
Takes: groceries, dining, travel.
4,800 points a month
57,600 points a year, in American Express Membership Rewards points.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card
Takes: gas.
450 points a month
5,400 points a year, in Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Wells Fargo Active Cash Card
Takes: other purchases.
$10 cash back a month
$120 cash back a year, in Cash rewards.
Or put everything on one card
The same spend, run through each ticked card alone. One card is simpler to run; the table shows what the simplicity costs or earns against the routing above, in each card's own currency.
| Card | Currency | Earns a month | Earns a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card | Chase Ultimate Rewards points | 4,450 points | 53,400 points |
| American Express Gold Card | American Express Membership Rewards points | 5,450 points | 65,400 points |
| Wells Fargo Active Cash Card | Cash rewards | $39 cash back | $468 cash back |
Every ticked card, every category
| Card | Groceries | Dining | Gas | Travel | Other purchases |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card | 3X recorded | 3X recorded | 3X recorded | 2X recorded | 1X recorded |
| American Express Gold Card | 4X recorded | 4X recorded | 1X recorded | 3X recorded | 1X recorded |
| Wells Fargo Active Cash Card | 2% recorded | 2% recorded | 2% recorded | 2% recorded | 2% recorded |
The recorded rates behind these numbers
Every rate above is read from the earn rates printed in the card directory, which were read from each issuer's own card page on the check date shown. Nothing is estimated and no generic rate is assumed: where the recorded data states no category rate, the card's recorded base rate is used and the line says so.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card
Earn rates checked 2026-10-22 against the Chase official Sapphire Preferred card page.
- Groceries: counted at 3X. Recorded as: “3x points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)” Online grocery purchases only, with the exclusions in the recorded rate.
- Dining: counted at 3X. Recorded as: “3x points on dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services”
- Gas: counted at 3X. Recorded as: “3x points on gas and EV charging”
- Travel: counted at 2X. Recorded as: “2x points on all other travel purchases”
- Other purchases: counted at 1X (the card's recorded base rate; no separate category rate is recorded). Recorded as: “1x points on other purchases (base rate on the issuer page)”
Recorded rates this tool does not count for this card
- “5x points on travel purchased through Chase Travel” Only for travel bought through the Chase Travel portal. This tool prices everyday spend, so travel uses the recorded 2x rate for other travel purchases.
- “3x points on vacation homes booked with top brands” Only for vacation homes booked with specific brands, not a general travel rate.
- “3x points on select streaming services” Streaming is not one of the five spend categories in this tool; streaming spend entered under Other purchases earns the 1x base rate here.
American Express Gold Card
Earn rates checked 2026-10-22 against the American Express official Gold Card page.
- Groceries: counted at 4X. Recorded as: “4X points at U.S. supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X”
- Dining: counted at 4X. Recorded as: “4X Membership Rewards points at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery in the U.S., on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X”
- Gas: counted at 1X (the card's recorded base rate; no separate category rate is recorded). Recorded as: “1X points on other purchases”
- Travel: counted at 3X. Recorded as: “3X points on flights booked directly with airlines or through Amex Travel”
- Other purchases: counted at 1X (the card's recorded base rate; no separate category rate is recorded). Recorded as: “1X points on other purchases”
Recorded rates this tool does not count for this card
- “5X points on prepaid hotels booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App” Only for prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel; travel is counted at the recorded 3X flights rate.
- “2X points on prepaid car rentals booked through Amex Travel and on cruises booked and paid through AmexTravel.com” Only for prepaid rentals and cruises booked through Amex Travel.
Wells Fargo Active Cash Card
Earn rates checked 2026-10-22 against the Wells Fargo official Active Cash card page.
- Groceries: counted at 2% (the card's recorded base rate; no separate category rate is recorded). Recorded as: “Unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases, with no categories to activate or track”
- Dining: counted at 2% (the card's recorded base rate; no separate category rate is recorded). Recorded as: “Unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases, with no categories to activate or track”
- Gas: counted at 2% (the card's recorded base rate; no separate category rate is recorded). Recorded as: “Unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases, with no categories to activate or track”
- Travel: counted at 2% (the card's recorded base rate; no separate category rate is recorded). Recorded as: “Unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases, with no categories to activate or track”
- Other purchases: counted at 2% (the card's recorded base rate; no separate category rate is recorded). Recorded as: “Unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases, with no categories to activate or track”
How the routing works
For each category, the tool reads the earn rate recorded for every ticked card and puts the category on the card with the highest recorded rate. Spend in a lane the tool does not model, such as streaming, drugstores or entertainment, belongs in Other purchases, where it earns the card's recorded base rate, the rate the directory records for purchases with no category bonus. Where the recorded data states no category rate for a card, that base rate is what the tool uses, and the basis section under the results says so in those words.
Three kinds of recorded rates never enter the math. Portal rates pay only when a booking runs through the issuer's travel portal, so travel is priced at the recorded direct-booking rate. Rotating quarterly categories are not a standing rate for any fixed category. Single-brand and merchant-program rates, such as one hotel chain's own card or one entertainment storefront, describe one seller, not a category. Each excluded rate is printed per card under the results, quoted in full, with its reason.
Rate is not value
A higher earn rate is not automatically worth more. Five points in a program whose awards price high can return less than three points in one whose awards price low, and cash back is money with no award chart between you and it. This tool answers one question only: which card earns most, at what recorded rate, on the spend in front of you. What those earnings buy is a separate question, answered booking by booking in the Cash or Points Calculator, against the doors each currency opens on its program hub. The earning style question behind it, points vs cash back, compares what the same spend returns under each style at the redemption rates issuers publish.
Fees sit outside this tool on purpose
The routing compares earn rates only. A card that wins three categories and charges an annual fee may still return less than a no-fee card that wins two, once the fee is priced in. Each card's annual fee is printed beside its name in the picker and in full on its directory profile, next to its welcome offer and foreign transaction fee. Read the routing and the fee together before you change how you spend.
Common questions about the optimizer
Where do the earn rates in this tool come from?
From the earn rates printed in the card directory on this site, which were read from each issuer's own card page on the check date shown with each card. Every rate in the results quotes the recorded wording it was read from, under "The recorded rates behind these numbers". No rate is estimated, and no generic rate is assumed for any card.
Why is a portal rate not counted for travel?
Several cards record a higher rate for travel bought through the issuer's own travel portal. That rate is real, but it only applies when the booking runs through that portal, so this tool prices travel at the recorded rate for travel bought directly and lists each portal rate, per card, under the rates it does not count. If you do book through a portal, the profile for that card prints the portal rate in full.
Why are the totals never added together?
Each card earns in its own currency, and a point in one program is not worth a point in another. Adding them would print a single impressive number that means nothing. Each total stands on its own line in its own currency. To judge what a total is worth, run a real booking through the Cash or Points Calculator.
What happens when a card has an annual cap on a bonus rate?
Where the recorded rate states an annual cap and the rate after the cap, the tool applies both to your annualised spend: spend up to the cap earns the bonus rate and spend past it earns the recorded post-cap rate, spread across the year. The results name each cap that binds at your figures. Where a recorded cap has no stated post-cap rate, the tool shows the cap in the quoted wording and does not guess.
Does the best-rate card change if my spend changes?
It can. Caps bind at higher spend, and a card that wins a small category may lose it once its cap is passed. Change any figure and the routing, the totals and the single-card table all recompute on the same recorded rates.
Is this a recommendation to apply for a card?
No. This site publishes no card recommendations and carries no affiliate links. The tool routes spend across cards you pick, using recorded earn rates only. Annual fees, welcome offers and the rest of each card's recorded facts are on its directory profile, and whether a card suits you is a decision the earn rate alone cannot make.
Sources, limits, and next steps
Rates: the earn rates recorded in the card directory, read from each issuer's own card page on the check date printed with each card there and repeated under the results here. Method: BestUsePoints Method v1.0, printed in full on the methodology page. This tool gives educational arithmetic, not financial advice, and it publishes no card ranking: the routing follows your own card picks and your own spend.
- Totals are per currency and are never summed across currencies.
- Portal, rotating, single-brand and up to rates are excluded from the math and listed per card.
- Recorded annual caps with a recorded post-cap rate are applied to annualised spend.