Best HNW Credit Cards

In a recent credit card discussion on the Long Angle forum, members explained why they use their favorite cards. The conversation covered both optimization and behavior, emphasizing that the "best" card is the one that best fits their lifestyle.

Cards frequently recommended by our community include the Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite, BILT 2.0, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Amex Platinum, and Capital One Venture X.

The broader discussion moved on to card strategies, which can generally be grouped into three buckets based on goals:

1. Maximum simplicity: One primary card used for almost everything. This setup shines when travel is light, your schedule is full, and you don’t want another “project”.

2. Value without complexity: A two card setup. One for travel and dining, one for everything else. This is the sweet spot for most people.

3. Optimization: A points ecosystem built around bonuses, transfers, and redemptions. This works best if you enjoy the process and seek the specific travel experiences that points can unlock.

Read our blog article for a much deeper dive: Best Credit Cards: How High-Net-Worth Households Optimize Their Card Strategies.

We polled 260 high-net-worth Long Angle members on how they book international vacation flights. Results show a divide between those prioritizing simplicity and those seeking value through optimization.

Over half of respondents primarily use cash or card on airline and aggregator sites. While this is the most direct path, it suggests that many might be missing out on the benefits of more sophisticated strategies.

Point Transfers: moving flexible card points 1:1 to airline partners allows you to redeem for higher value than credit card portals, especially when paired with transfer bonuses.

Credit Card Portals: act as travel engines with redemption rates around 1–1.5 cents per point. You frequently earn 5x–10x bonus points by booking through the portal, while still earning airline miles.

Airline Miles: best for travelers loyal to a specific hub or using miles for upgrades to business class. This is often a secondary method as most don’t accumulate enough miles to cover every trip.

Travel Agents: They handle all optimization and "heavy lifting," provide 24/7 advocacy, and offer VIP perks like room upgrades and resort credits.

Long Angle Management’s CEO Matt Shechtman posted on LinkedIn this week addressing the “private credit crisis” surrounding Blue Owl Capital. Here’s a summary:

According to financial media, Blue Owl Capital is the "canary in the coal mine" for a private credit bubble. The panic started in Fall 2025 after two fraud cases (Tricolor, First Brands) hit headlines. Total losses to private credit were just 0.05% of the $3T market, yet pessimism spread. 

In the wake of the fears of a “Private Credit Bubble”, Blue Owl’s private credit funds faced redemptions exceeding their 5% cap, leading them to transition to an orderly wind-down of the OBDC II fund (a private, unlisted BDC). To do so, they sold $1.4B in loans at around par pricing to institutional buyers. Naysayers claim ¼ of the loans were cherry-picked and sold to a subsidiary, while the rest of the portfolio is trash. 

The market agrees: OWL is down 30% YTD and 52% over the last year. However, to believe current prices are accurate, credit defaults would need to hit about 9-11%. For context, the Great Financial Crisis was only 6-8%.

Credit markets tell a different story: spreads are at 7-year lows and defaults remain near historical averages. You can't have OWL (and other asset managers) stock pricing mirroring a depression while the S&P sits at record highs and credit spreads are at 7-year lows.

One of these markets is wrong. 

So Matt is calling it now: it’s not a systemic crisis, but hysteria amplified by isolated fraud and AI-fueled software overhang. Could it become a crisis if Software is truly replaced by AI? Absolutely. In which case, equity markets will be the main contagion while credit aims to recoup capital on heightened defaults.

Read Matt’s full LinkedIn post, which goes in much greater detail.

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Chris Bendtsen

Insights Lead, Long Angle

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