Staying Organized and Best Free Tools
Travel Freely: Keep Track of Card Sign Up Dates, Bonus Deadlines, and 5/24
Travel Freely
We think the free online app, Travel Freely (that's my affiliate code for it), is the easiest way to track your credit cards. This is essentially an interactive smart spreadsheet. You input when you open a new card and it will track cards, bonus deadlines, annual fee due dates, and your 5/24 status. You can use one account to track both you and your partner's personal and business cards.
Travel Freely will send you automated reminders about bonus deadlines and when your annual fee is coming due. You'll get a reminder and some suggestions for downgrading the card in case you are no longer finding value in it.
You don't input any sensitive information into Travel Freely, just the date you signed up for a card and what the signup bonus was.
Travel Freely was the first app to bring this functionality to card tracking, and even as additional apps have been released — notably by big players like The Points Guy and 10x Travel — I specifically recommend Travel Freely because:
- Travel Freely commits to only showing the best available offers (like me).
- Travel Freely doesn't require you to link your bank accounts to find your card information, so it's inherently secure.
Free interactive tracker that automatically monitors bonus deadlines, annual fees, and 5/24 status — for you and your partner.
- Tracks personal + business cards in one place
- Auto-calculates your 5/24 status
- Email reminders for bonus deadlines and annual fees
- When you're in the app, Travel Freely always shows you the best offers out there (like me!)
- No sensitive info needed — just sign-up dates and bonus amounts
Alternative Option: Spreadsheet
If you want to track your cards with a spreadsheet, here is a sample credit card tracking spreadsheet you can use. This is very basic and you could probably whip something up that's even better! I've also seen some people buy some great trackers on Etsy.
A Google Sheets template you can copy and customize. Manual but flexible — best if you already love spreadsheets and want full control.
Calendar Reminders
If you use a spreadsheet, you'll want to remind yourself of deadlines. After you've been approved for a card, you should figure out when you have to complete your minimum spending (let's say it is 3 months) and then put a reminder on your calendar for 2 weeks before then to make sure you've completed it.
You should also set up reminders to check to make sure you've received bonus points and to evaluate cards after 11 months.
If you use Travel Freely, you'll get those reminders automatically.
Set this 2 weeks before your minimum spend deadline to make sure you're on track.
Confirm the welcome bonus actually hit your account. If not, call the bank.
Decide whether to keep, downgrade, or close the card before the annual fee posts.
Track when each card "ages off" your 5/24 count so you know when you're eligible for Chase again.
