Rewards credit cards can be a valuable tool if you know how to use them wisely. After all, cards in this niche let you get something back for each dollar you spend, whether it’s cash, flexible rewards points, or travel rewards points for flights or hotels. If you are able to pay your balance in full each month—and if you don’t use the pursuit of rewards as an excuse to overspend—you can theoretically “get something for nothing” by using a credit card for purchases instead of debit card or cash.
Still, spend a few hours on Reddit or TikTok and you’ll find a range of tips to help you gamify your card. For example, you may hear that making payments at certain times of the month can help you improve your credit score twice as fast, or that any number of complicated steps can help create more credit card rewards out of thin air.
While there are plenty of reputable and proven ways to maximize credit card rewards, many popular credit card hacks are nothing more than a waste of time. Here are seven hacks you should definitely avoid.
This post originally appeared at TIME.