Isn’t it funny how we’ll side-eye Netflix over a $2 price increase, but somehow let a credit card quietly charge us $500, $700, even $895 a year without asking nearly as many questions? This episode is about why we give those increases so much more grace, and whether we should.

Once you’ve convinced yourself you’re the kind of person who knows how to “maximize the benefits,” the annual fee can start feeling less like spending and more like proof that you’re good at money. So this week, we’re asking those cards to prove themselves.

We discuss: 

• why we scrutinize unused gym memberships but let credit cards ride on decisions we made years ago
• the difference between a perk being worth $600 on paper and being worth $600 to YOU
• how rewards programs turn into a part-time job of credits, portals, transfer partners, expiration dates, and rules
• why some of the fanciest benefits only make sense if your actual life matches the customer they were designed for
• what credit card companies know about breakage, unused rewards, and why making every benefit easy to redeem is not exactly the business model
• how nostalgia, status, and the feeling of being “financially savvy” can keep you paying for a card long after it stops fitting your life
• and the 3 choices you actually have before the annual fee renews

Links:

• Episode 5 - Credit Card Points hacking…is it worth it?
• Episode 180 - Decoding Consumerism with Dr. Marcus Collins
• Episode 32 - What’s new with credit 

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