Dentaltown September 2021 - 74

Aim for a wide range of rewards
So, how do you move from being the doctor who earns $1,200 a year
cash back to one who earns multiples of that? I hear from doctors who say
they have a miles card and have amassed hundreds of thousands of airline
miles on a single carrier. Well, that's not diversifi cation!
Dentists in the know will have several cards: some miles, some points and
some cash-back. Some cards offer higher bonuses if used at certain stores,
and we play these offers to juice our points earnings. I have a card that gives
a cash-back bonus of 5% at offi ce supply stores. I buy Amazon gift cards
from a store like Offi ce Depot and then use those for my online Amazon
purchases, effectively doubling that basic 2% cash back-bonus. Some cards
and airlines have online shopping portals, links to online vendors, that offer
sizeable points bonuses and here you can greatly increase your points haul.
Do this frequently and you'll move from the " ho-hum " single card dentist
to a points-earning monster!
Smart dentists switch cards depending on what we need: A future
vacation means getting more airline or hotel miles, for example. Always
earn and burn; don't hoard miles or points. Airlines and hotels can devalue
their miles at any time, so tomorrow's value is never a sure thing. You can
bet that during the COVID-19 travel shutdown, all of my purchases were
going to a straight cash-back card!
Perks, points and payments
Here's the rub: It's not a sin to apply for and hold many cards. The juice is in the squeeze. Card companies
offer huge sign-up bonuses for new cards. Some will even let you apply for and receive multiples of their cards,
each with a bonus. For example, I recently signed up for an American Express card that offered 100,000
points, which I could transfer to airline partners or redeem for a $1,000 statement credit. That's $1,000 for
just opening a card and charging practice expenses that I have to pay anyway! For a particularly good offer,
you could apply for separate cards for you and your spouse, doubling the reward.
In addition to the bonus, many cards offer useful extra perks such as free car rental insurance, warranty
on purchased items, free nights at hotels and airline credits. After I collect the bonus, I cancel the card before
any card fee is due. I started a thread on Dentaltown's forums on which many dentists have swapped credit
card advice, and there are plenty of other sources to get news. I treat getting a new card like shopping for fruit
at a farmer's market: I select the juiciest offers that will earn me tens of thousands of points with little effort.
The idea that having multiple cards hurts your credit score is overblown. A lot goes into a credit score,
only part of which is open card accounts. Age, payment history and credit utilization are factors that will have
a big impact on scores. I get new cards a couple of times a year and watch my credit score carefully. This has
never affected my credit score more than a few points, and the effect disappears in 6-12 months. A missed
payment will hurt more than opening a new card! Young dentists with very little credit history should be
conservative playing this game.
74 SEPTEMBER 2021 // dentaltown.com

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Dentaltown September 2021

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