My 10 Credit Cards Setup for 2027

The last few years I have been accumulating Qatar Avios in the hope that I'll book Qatar Q-Suites from Atlanta to Dhaka. However, global politics, lack of travel opportunities and limited saver level award availability meant I have approximately 200K Avios sitting in my Qatar account without any immediate use.

On the other hand, just in 2026, I have booked 20 hotel nights with points. In 2025, I booked 16 hotel nights.

So, the trend is clear. I use my points predominantly on hotels, not flights.

Although it makes sense for me to lean into hotel redemptions next year, I still wanted to keep my business class flight option open.

So, the solution was to earn enough transferable points that can transfer to either Qatar Avios or Hilton Honors.

Daily Points Earners

My primary goal is to select cards that are monster points earners. Secondary goal is to have at least one card with perks, such as hotel status and airport lounge.

Let's start with cards that I'll use for my daily spend:

American Express Gold - Dining, Grocery, Flights

Wells Fargo Autograph - Gas

Capital One Savor One - Entertainment

Citi Custom Cash - Drugstores

Rakuten Card - Online Rakuten Shopping

American Express Blue Business Plus - Everything Else

All these cards earn transferable currencies that can be converted to Qatar Avios 1:1. Similarly, they can also be turned into Hilton Honors points, although it takes two steps.

American Express directly transfers to Hilton at 1:2. With a transfer bonus, it can go as high as 1:2.6 or 1:2.8, or even 1:3.

However, for Wells Fargo, Capital One, and Citi points, they can be redeemed as cash back. Then the cash can be used to purchase Hilton points at 1:2.

So, let's look at the rate of Hilton Honors points earned with the same cards.

Perks Credit Cards

There are primarily two perks I value in credit cards:

Lounge Access

Hotel Status

I don't care much about domestic US lounges, but it's important to have Priority Pass for international lounge access. These lounges are much nicer, with great ambiance and food. Luckily, most international airports that I transit through - Atlanta, Dhaka, Istanbul, Doha, Abu Dhabi - have at least one Priority Pass lounge.

On the hotel front, I love hotel statuses! As I mentioned previously, I have spent at least 40 nights in hotels over the past two years. More than two-thirds of the time I was upgraded to a better room with views and got free breakfast or food credits.

In my experience, unlike flights where status doesn't make a material difference, hotel status can single-handedly transform your experience. For someone like me who values rooms with good views, I always enjoy paying for rooms with parking views, and get upgraded to corner rooms with ocean or city views.

Now, what are the perk cards I am taking with me into 2027?

Capital One Venture X - Priority Pass and Capital One Lounges

American Express Hilton Aspire - Diamond Status, 1 Free Night Certificate (FNC)

These are premium travel cards, so I need to use credits to offset their high annual fees.

Closing Thoughts

The setup will cost me $2,600 in annual fees, or -$340 if I factor in credits earned.

I will earn 582K Hilton Honors or 192K Qatar Avios points. That's enough for roughly 11 hotel nights or two 15+ hour business class Q-Suites flights from Atlanta to Dhaka.