One card rarely wins every category. The combos calculator looks at how you spend and finds the best card, pair or trio to cover it, including the cards you already have. For each type of purchase, it puts the spending on the card that earns the most from it.
Run the calculator
Enter your spending
Under Your spending, fill in what you spend each month. The Monthly total adds it up. Use a row's breakdown button to enter by sub-category. Clear empties every row and Defaults brings back the suggested spending.
Add the cards you already have (optional)
Under Cards you already have, pick the cards in your wallet, up to 8. They stay in every combo, and each result shows how much more it earns than your cards do today.
Choose what to find
Under Find my best, pick how many new cards to add. See the choices below.
Press Find best combos
The results are ranked by Net annual rewards, best first. After you change something, the button reads Update results.
How many cards to add
Only appears once you've added cards. No new cards: we split your spending across the cards you already have, so you see what they earn today.
The one card that earns the most on all of your spending (the results call it the best single).
Two cards that work as a team (the best pair). With cards you already have, it's your cards plus two new ones.
Three cards (the best trio). This only appears when you pick one of the filters on the page that narrows the list of cards enough.
How the best split is found
We cut each spending row into small pieces. Each piece goes to the card whose yearly total rises the most by taking it, counting the card's and foreign transaction fees. Then we try moving pieces between cards and keep any move that earns more. A card is never given spending its network can't take, and spending no card in the combo can take is left out.
Each result shows Rewards, Annual fees and, when there is foreign spending, Foreign transaction fees. Net is the rewards minus the fees. Points are valued at the best redemption in each card's program. Welcome bonuses and a waived first-year fee are left out, because the calculator ranks the cards you would keep using. Only personal cards are included.
Groceries
$7,200 a year
$600 a month
Gas
$4,800 a year
$400 a month
Everything else
$12,000 a year
$1,000 a month
Example Card A
3% on groceries, 1.5% on everything else
$0 annual fee
Example Card B
5% on gas, 1% on everything else
$120 annual fee
Groceries
3% of $7,200
$216
Gas
1.5% of $4,800
$72
Everything else
1.5% of $12,000
$180
Rewards
216 + 72 + 180
$468
Annual fees
$0
Net annual rewards
$468
Example cards with round numbers, not real cards. Real cards have caps, step-downs and other rules that the calculator applies for you. A card's own page shows its current rates and fees.
Find your best pair
Enter your monthly spending and see which cards earn the most together.