On November 8th, I posted the cards that were in my wallet all based on the continuing gravy train of INK Bold, Vanilla Reload, and Bluebird. Because of us darn bloggers (as at least some of my readers think) the game plan has changed, and so has what I’m packin’ now.

Thank goodness I checked on my Citi Forward card and the continuation of my 5 points per dollar on restaurant spend. That bonus ended for me in July (when I switched to Ink) and I instinctively put it back in my wallet. A call to Citi confirmed the 5 points was over for me and the Forward card is now back out of my wallet. I’ll replace it for two Ultimate Rewards points on dining with my Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

UPDATE: I redouble checked with TY Points (thanks guy) and I am still on five points per dollar for restaurants. It takes a village sometimes.

While I was on the phone with Citi, I checked on my long dormant Citi Preferred card to double check on the category bonus there as well. Nothing on the Citi Preferred so that one is still gathering dust.

My SPG card stays in the wallet for non-category bonus spending and I’ve still got my INK Bold card in my leather lover for gas stations… although I haven’t figured out my next move yet on gift cards and  prepaid cards, so don’t know yet what will happen with that whole ball of confusion. I’ll be checking with my blogging brethren for how they are going to play the game now and also looking for reader suggestions.

The Amex Blue Cash Preferred card remains the family card of choice for groceries with 6% cash back. I haven’t used a cash back card in so long… I don’t even know where it will be credited… or how?

Bluebird will be paying my bills for me as I got my $5K from a Vanilla on before the fiasco and still have a few more Vanillas in the safe deposit box for next month’s refill. As of this date, I don’t know if I will be playing the Hilton 6 points per dollar play with reload cards at drugstores. I value Hilton points at .5 cents each and have a boat-load at present. I’d personally rather have an extra SPG point which I value at 2.5 cents +.

Netspend, Amex Prepaid, and Amex by Target are sitting on the sidelines until I get some reports back from the experts. Unlike some of our unhappy brethren that think we steal from one another, bloggers typically openly share info among ourselves. Then again, many think we are in a secret society with a flag, an initiation ceremony, a secret handshake, and all that stuff. Do you know the handshake?

If Howie gets the links in correctly, as I know he will, another post will be done, another day will have gone by, and the next deal will be right around the corner. If it is too good to be true, it probably is for each individual deal, but the game itself still shows some amazing results!