Wells Fargo cash rewards tied into main account and pay off monthly to avoid interest, etc. I have earned a considerable amount of cash rewards and now use it for everything we purchase. They also gave me two cards-one for me and one for the wife.

I have been with Wells Fargo for 30 years and they are a great bank. Every institute has had breaches in security and dishonest employees. Didn't Chase have a huge breach years ago? Wells Fargo with the number of locations and FDIC coverage makes it a great bank to deal with. The portfolio management account (PMA) has multiple benefits including many free services.

Now travel vs cash rewards? The only way I would do a travel rewards card is if I had to travel for work and received reimbursement from employer. Those miles add up quick and you can take your family on vacations with it. If you do not get reimbursed then I believe there are better options out there. I used to have United Airlines card and received a ton of miles with use. The problem is the airlines are so overpriced-you will be wasting the majority of your miles to purchase fairs. I found that when I book through Orbitz vacation packages with airfare, hotel, and car rental-nothing even comes close to the pricing(trust me I have tried). With the hundreds and thousands saved through Orbitz packages it only made sense for to me to ditch the travel cards. I ended up trading all my airline miles for magazine subscriptions. Stick with the cash back cards