Is a card's annual fee worth paying? Points Frog's credit card annual fee calculator answers by adding up what the card gives you that you would really use: statement credits, lounge visits, points and other perks. Then it subtracts the fee and one more cost that is easy to miss, the cash back a no-fee card would have paid on the same spending.
On the calculator's example household, which puts $23,757 a year on the card, a no-fee card paying 2% back would return $475. A fee card has to beat its fee plus that $475 before it pays for itself. On those terms, all six cards the calculator starts from come out ahead, by $220 to $1,131 a year. Card terms come from each issuer's site, checked October 18, 2026.
A worked example: the Amex Platinum
The example household spends $3,945 a year on dining, $6,224 on groceries, $682 on flights and $906 on hotels. Those are what the average US household spent in 2024, from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey. The calculator adds $12,000 of other purchases as an example.
The Amex Platinum has an $895 fee. Its credits have a face value of $3,024 a year, but the calculator counts $1,512 of them. Credits tied to one merchant, or paid out a month or a quarter at a time, start at half used. Four lounge visits at $79 each add $316. The points are worth $556 at Points Frog's value of 2.1 cents for Membership Rewards points.
That is $2,384 of value against $1,370 of cost: the $895 fee plus the $475 of cash back given up. The net is $1,014 a year. The card would still break even using only 17% of its credits.
| Card | Fee | Net a year | Points as 1¢ cash |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amex Platinum | $895 | +$1,014 | +$723 |
| Sapphire Reserve | $795 | +$1,131 | +$767 |
| Venture X | $395 | +$796 | +$336 |
| Strata Elite | $595 | +$338 | +$26 |
| Amex Gold | $325 | +$580 | −$32 |
| Sapphire Preferred | $95 | +$220 | −$113 |
The last column is for anyone who would take cash rather than book travel. At 1 cent a point, the Amex Gold and the Sapphire Preferred fall below zero.
What moves the answer
Credits come first, and only money you would spend anyway counts. A broad travel credit you use on any trip is worth close to its face value. A $25-a-month streaming credit is worth $300 a year only if you would pay for that service regardless. You can set each credit to the share you would really use.
Lounge visits count at $79 each, the price of a one-day pass to American's Admirals Club, checked October 18, 2026. At that price, a $395 fee takes 5 visits a year to cover on lounges alone, and an $895 fee takes 12. Delta no longer sells Sky Club day passes. If you would skip the lounge without the card, a visit may be worth nothing to you.
Spending covers a fee only through the extra the card earns. To find the spending you need, divide the fee by how much more the card returns than a no-fee card. A card that returns 2 percentage points more than a 2% card needs $4,750 a year of spending to cover a $95 fee, and $39,750 to cover $795. The Amex Platinum, Amex Gold and Sapphire Reserve earn 1 point a dollar outside their bonus categories. At 2 cents a point, that is about what the no-fee card pays, so everyday spending on them does little to cover the fee.
Point values decide a lot. Points Frog values Membership Rewards points at 2.1 cents, Ultimate Rewards points at 2 cents, Capital One miles at 1.8 cents and ThankYou points at 1.75 cents. Those are typical travel values, not a guaranteed cash payout. Cash rates are often 1 cent or less.
How the verdict works
The calculator calls a card worth it when the net is at least $50 or a tenth of the fee, whichever is more. Within that much of zero, either way, it calls the card borderline. The card roughly pays for itself, and the perks you can't price decide it. Below that, it is not worth it. The page also shows how many lounge visits, how much spending or what share of the credits would bring the net to zero.
What the estimate leaves to you
Hotel status, travel insurance and similar perks go in one "other perks" box, at whatever they are worth to you. The calculator starts it at zero. Issuers change fees, credits and earn rates often, so the page says to confirm the current terms on the issuer's site before you apply for, keep or cancel a card. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
Where the figures come from
Card terms are from American Express, Chase, Capital One and Citi, each checked October 18, 2026. The lounge pass price is from American Airlines, and the 2% benchmark is from Citi's Double Cash page, both checked the same day. Spending is from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey for 2024. Point values are Points Frog's estimates from its point value catalog, where the current figures carry the date October 13, 2026.
Use it on your own site
The calculator is free to embed on a blog or site with copy-and-paste code, with no ads or tracking. Here is how to embed it.
Source: American Express, Chase, Capital One, Citi and American Airlines, checked October 18, 2026; BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2024. Figures are educational estimates, not financial advice.