Here's What Happens When You Have Too Many Credit Card Points

For most people, having too many credit card points isn't an issue. If anything, many consumers look for ways to earn more rewards so they can pay for all their vacations in points.

But there are also those who find themselves with more points than they know what to do with. For example, if you own a business and put all of its expenses on your credit cards, you could end up with millions of points. Most credit card companies don't put a cap on the number of points you can earn.

So, is this no big deal, or could it come back to bite you? There are a couple of issues that can come up when you have too many credit card points, which is why you should probably make some changes.

You could have trouble using your credit card points

When you have a huge number of points, it can actually be hard to figure out how to use them. Now, this depends on the type of credit card points you have. Some are redeemable as cash back, in which case you always have a way to use them.

Some types of points are more limited, though. This is especially true with travel rewards credit cards. Many of these earn points that can only be used for certain types of travel spending. For example, if you have 500,000 points on a hotel credit card, but you don't plan to stay there anytime soon, then you may not have any redemption options.

In this situation, double check all the ways you can redeem your points. You might find that the rewards program offers some other options you didn't know about. Going forward, it's also a good idea to consider switching to a credit card with rewards you can use more easily. Cash back credit cards work well, or you could look at a more flexible travel card.

You might lose track of them

If your points are spread across several credit cards, you may forget about some of them. With most rewards credit cards, points don't expire as long as your card remains open, but there are still ways this could be problematic.

For one, points don't do you any good if you forget about them. The whole purpose is to save money with them, so it doesn't benefit you to not use them. And there are ways you could lose access to your points. If you close the credit card without realizing you still had points left, then you'll lose them. Or, if you don't use the card, the card issuer may cancel it due to inactivity.

To make sure you're not missing any points, gather all your credit cards and log into your account for each one. If you're having trouble keeping track of everything, think about simplifying things by only using one or two cards from now on.

It's not the worst problem to have, but you should still work on it

As far as financial problems go, having too many credit card points is pretty low on the list. You really only need to figure out a way to redeem them, and that might involve getting a lot of cash back or booking a nice vacation for yourself.

However, this could be a sign that you're not making the best use of your rewards cards. Hoarding points, whether intentional or not, is a waste. You only save money with points when you use them, and it's better to do this ASAP. If you wait around, it's possible your points could go through a dreaded devaluation, where something changes in the rewards program that makes them worth less.

If you have trouble using your points, shop around for a new credit card. Finding the right card will make it easy to redeem your rewards, and that's how it should be.