These YouTubers have nearly 50 credit cards and millions of points—here are their tips for getting the most out of your cards

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Brian Jung has nearly 1 million American Express Membership Rewards points and 800,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points. For most new cardholders getting into the credit card rewards game, accumulating that many points might seem impossible. And for good reason: Jung is an expert in this space, and he knows how to get the most out his cards.

Jung makes a living as a YouTuber covering topics like credit cards, cryptocurrency and investing. He specializes in telling his more than 800,000 subscribers about his 15+ credit cards and the difference between the "Chase Trifecta" and the "American Express Trifecta."

"You should never be looking at credit cards as a way to earn a full-time income," Jung says. "At best, it's a side hustle. At worst, it's just free points, free cash and over time, it gives you the ability to do any type of free trip or travel you want to take."

Jung is one of many YouTubers who are providing their viewers with information on how to maximize their credit card rewards for travel and cash back. Dustin Waller, another YouTuber, who focuses mostly on credit cards, used his rewards to help fund monthly international vacations before Covid-19.

Waller and Jung suggest that people have a clear objective on what they want to do with their credit card rewards when they get started, whether that be covering the cost of a trip to Paris or getting enough cash back to purchase a gift for a friend or family member. For example, one of Jung's first goals for saving up points was to fund his parents' trip to South Korea, since they haven't been back to their home country since they moved to the U.S. over 25 years ago.

While most people likely won't be able to earn 1 million points on their credit cards with their everyday spending, and they might not want (or be able) to make regular international trips, both Jung and Waller believe that people can reap more from their credit cards, whatever their goals are, if they choose cards that match with their lifestyle. 

"I look for credit cards to compliment my lifestyle," Waller says. "If I did a lot of grocery shopping, I would make sure to get a card that works best for my grocery spend."

For Jung, running a YouTube channel and an e-commerce business means that he wants a card that earns rewards on travel and dining out as well as on business expenses. For spending on things like camera equipment and travel, Jung opts for The Business Platinum Card® from American Express. Terms apply.

For his personal expenses, however, he uses the Chase Freedom Flex® and the American Express® Gold Card. With the Chase Freedom Flex, Jung earns up to 5% cash back on $1,500 worth of purchases in rotating quarterly categories (then 1% thereafter), 5% cash back on travel booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® portal, 3% on dining at restaurants (including takeout and eligible delivery services) and drugstores and 1% on other purchases. 

Jung recommends that people looking to earn more points can get the most out of credit cards by cashing in on the generous sign-up bonuses. Currently, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is offering a welcome bonus of 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's over $900 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

"The easiest way to earn a lot of points is going to be getting welcome bonuses because they give you such a large sum of points in such a short period of time," Jung says. "No matter how much money you spend, even if you're a multimillionaire, that 3% to 5%, only adds up to be so much."

However, Waller warns that cardholders should be wary of overspending when trying to earn the welcome bonus.

"People get really captivated by these big sign-up bonuses so they overspend a little bit to earn the points," Waller says. "They put themselves in a position where they overspend and can't afford to pay the bill off in full. You're really negating any rewards you get because interest rates are so high on rewards credit cards."

Both Waller and Jung have more credit cards than the typical person. Waller and his wife currently have 35 active cards together. Jung has over 14 credit cards. However, neither use all of their cards on a regular basis. Jung has a rotation of four or five cards while Waller has a rotation of four to seven cards.

In order to keep track of his various cards and points, Waller uses two apps: MaxRewards and AwardWallet. Waller likes MaxRewards because it can help cardholders determine which card is best for spending on a specific purchase or at a particular store. (Disclosure: Waller sometimes receives ad compensation from MaxRewards for featuring the app in his YouTube videos.) He uses AwardWallet to track his total number of points across all his cards in one account.

Jung sets all of his cards on autopay so he never forgets to pay his bills on time, and he uses a Google spreadsheet and Notion to track how many points he has, when the annual fee is due and the rewards system on each card.

When it comes to managing more than 20 cards on his own, Waller emphasizes that having a lot of cards doesn't necessarily hurt your credit score: Waller himself has a credit score of around 825.

He recommends that people, regardless of how many cards they have, practice smart credit card usage by keeping their credit utilization ratio low (having higher lines of credit on multiple cards can actually decrease your credit utilization score if you keep your balances low!) and making their payments on time and in full.

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