How the audit is scored

Worth My Fee is paid by its users and by no one else: no affiliate links, no issuer relationships, ever. Every number below comes from the same code that produces your report, and the catalog it scores against is 49 cards and 141 credits, each with a citation to the issuer's own page and an as-of date; 35 values the issuer states ambiguously are marked unverified in the catalog and scored conservatively.

1. Evidence, not intentions

Each credit is matched against 12 months of your real transactions (through Plaid) by statement string and by Plaid's category for the charge. A hotel brand counts only on a travel-coded charge; a phrase like "resort" never counts on a ski shop; portal-only credits (The Edit, Amex Travel, Capital One Travel, Citi Travel, Delta Stays) count as used only when the charge posts under the portal's own statement string — a direct stay at the same chain makes the credit reachable, never used. Money movement (transfers, interest, fees) is never evidence and never earns points. Refunds are netted against the charge they reverse; an issuer's statement credit posted under a merchant's name is left alone.

2. Short history is scaled carefully, or not at all

• Under 30 days of history nothing is scaled and no keep-or-cancel call is made.
• Evidence is scaled to a year only when it recurs (matches in at least 2 calendar months) and never by more than 4×; a card is judged at its own pace only after 90 days on that card.
• Every card is provisional on its own span until a full year is in, and provisional verdicts are excluded from the guarantee arithmetic.

3. Conservative point values

Points are valued at what a normal cardholder reliably gets, below enthusiast "maximizer" figures; the opportunity-cost floor is a no-fee 2% cash-back card, so earning below it is worth nothing incremental. Per-card exceptions (the Sapphire Reserve's 1:1 Hyatt transfer) are stated in the catalog.

4. Status, lounges, and the portal trap

Card-granted elite status is valued by ladder rung against what you already hold on your own (including tiers a membership implies, such as IHG Diamond from InterContinental Royal Ambassador); status never stacks across cards. Lounge access is valued once per observed flight day across the portfolio, credited to the cheapest card whose network covers it, with pricier networks keeping only their premium over it. Conflict rules:

• Portal hotel bookings void elite-status recognition — This credit only works on prepaid bookings made through the card’s travel portal, which makes the portal — not the hotel — the merchant of record. Major hotel programs treat these as third-party bookings: elite benefits are not honored at check-in (upgrades, breakfast, late checkout), and the stay earns no points. If you hold hotel status, redeeming this credit typically costs more per stay than the credit returns. Sources: Marriott Bonvoy Terms § 2.1.e — stays booked through third-party online travel channels are not eligible for points or elite benefits; Hilton Honors Terms — third-party/prepaid bookings are ineligible rates for points and elite benefits; IHG One Rewards Membership Terms — non-qualifying rates include stays booked through third parties; World of Hyatt Terms — eligible rates exclude third-party bookings
• Portal hotel bookings don’t count toward status requalification — Because the portal is the merchant of record, these stays post no elite qualifying nights. If you are actively requalifying for status, every stay routed through the portal to capture this credit is a night that doesn’t count — and a shortfall at year-end can cost an entire tier, worth far more than the credit. Fires independently of current status, so it also catches users mid-pursuit of their first tier. Sources: Marriott Bonvoy Terms § 2.1.e — ineligible stays earn no elite night credit; Hilton Honors Terms — ineligible rates earn no tier credit toward status; IHG One Rewards Membership Terms — non-qualifying stays do not count toward tier status

5. The guarantee

A paid audit must find at least three times its price in fees you can stop paying (firm cancel or downgrade verdicts) plus credits your spending already qualifies for that were landing on other cards. Portal-only credits are shown separately and never count. The same function computes the number on your report and the refund decision; inside 30 days of the first charge, an audit below the threshold is refunded on request without argument, once per person.

Known limitations: /known-issues. Sample audit: /demo. Aggregate results, once enough portfolios exist: /stats.