Credit card fees

A W. P. Carey finance expert shares how to calculate the trade-off between a credit card's perks and fees.

In this story published June 9, 2025, on WalletHub:

Most credit card points value can be converted into equivalent cents. These valuations (which keep changing) are provided by many websites on the internet or internet forums. For example, Chase points (which I use) is worth roughly 2.05 cents per point as of today. It gives me bonus points on travel and dining, premium travel protections, useful annual hotel credit, and anniversary bonus points.

Since I know the valuation and my own expected usage based on travel and dining and purchases, I can calculate my expected points, convert the points into $ using the valuation and compare it against the $95 annual fee to see if it is worth it for me. Cardholders can earn up to 60,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. This is the standard bonus on some cards, and this also makes it attractive to pay the fees.

– Sreedhar Bharath, Richard C. Kraemer professor of finance