Export or estimate your yearly category spend. Separate groceries, fuel, travel, utilities, online purchases and excluded categories.
Apply earn rates and caps. Stop earning once each monthly or annual cap is reached.
Value points conservatively. Use the redemption you will actually make, not the highest theoretical airline or hotel value.
Subtract fees and friction. Include annual fee, taxes, redemption charges and lost discounts.
Check behavioural risk. If the card encourages extra spending to hit milestones, count that as a cost, not a benefit.
Decision rule: choose the card that produces the highest net value from spending you were already going to make.