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Throw in a regular Freedom and an Ink Cash, gift cards, etc. and you can do even better, though at some point keeping track of it all starts having its own cost.

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Haha yeah, my combo is:

5X rotating bonus categories on Freedom.

5X airfare on Amex Platinum.

3X travel and dining on Sapphire Reserve.

1.5X non-bonusable spend on Freedom Unlimited.

I haven't averaged my return but its, uh, high :) I feel better about the time spent since its sort of a hobby.

I think you can do a little better if you replace your Freedom Unlimited with a Capital One Venture card and get 2x on everything else.

So if you earn 1.5 UR per dollar with the Freedom Unlimited then use their Combine Points feature to move it to the Sapphire Reserve's UR balance, each one becomes worth 1.5c towards travel, netting 2.25% :) or transferable to Korean, Singapore, United, BA, Hyatt or a couple of less interesting other options.

There are also PQD waivers for United (sorry :-)) for spend on Chase's co-branded cards. I get a United Club membership anyway so that card works for me. My travel patterns are such that I get decent status on qualifying miles but dollars are iffy.

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