Thank you for sharing your thoughts Martin. For whatever it's worth, reward cards offer a way for people with fiscal discipline to get money out of card issuers, where usually it's the other way around. Yes, merchants who accept credit cards cover that cost, but they pay just the same with non-reward cards (I know because my wife accepts credit cards in her small business). So using a reward card takes at least some of the excess profit away from card issuers. In your shoes, given that it sounds like you and your wife are very disciplined, I'd have used reward cards rather than cash (where possible), and made sure to not spend a penny more as a result. Then, even if it's not enough for a trip to Hawaii, the rewards might be enough to cover a trip to see the grandkids, and possibly enough left over to bring them some cool gifts. And if it wouldn't be enough for that every year, maybe once every two to three?