Credit Card Discussion 2015: Best Reward, 0 Intro APR, Balance Transfers

[BMW F22]

Wondering if I should apply for the Chase Sapphire card. Currently offering 50k points after spending $4k in first 3 months. Thinking of putting all the charges for my upcoming trip on there to get the points. There is a $95 annual fee after the first year. Anyone here have the card and would like to chime in on the negatives/positives?

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by BMW F22

Wondering if I should apply for the Chase Sapphire card. Currently offering 50k points after spending $4k in first 3 months. Thinking of putting all the charges for my upcoming trip on there to get the points. There is a $95 annual fee after the first year. Anyone here have the card and would like to chime in on the negatives/positives?

I've heard good things about it, my buddy's got one and raves about it.

$95/year is nothing if you use the card for pretty much everything you buy. The cost savings you get from the points would offset the $95 annual fee.

[BMW F22]

Originally Posted by fecurtis

I've heard good things about it, my buddy's got one and raves about it.

$95/year is nothing if you use the card for pretty much everything you buy. The cost savings you get from the points would offset the $95 annual fee.

thanks. Applied and for approved last night. This will be my main card going forward.

[dreamingat30fps]

I got the capital one spark for my business I love it 2% cash back on everything so I can use it with all our suppliers. I also like their website and I think the fee is only like $50 or something like that.

[///F80M3]

Credit cards are great if u know how to manage. I'm only 24 and I should enter the 800's this year. I have two cars under my name and +$100k in total credit line which is a great achievement for me. After seeing friends and family repeatedly get denied due to poor credit I made it a goal of mine to have excellent credit when I was 18 so I stuck with it.

My favorite cards are chase sapphire and amex blue cash preferred.

Also, creditcardforum.com has been a huge help through the years.

[Beartato]

I've had the same cards for years. One is a USAA Cash Rewards MC and the other is a Visa issued by a local bank with no rewards program. My primary is the USAA card, with the local bank card being used only for online purchases. I pay both statement balances every month, works well. I want to retire the local bank card and get one with a rewards program but I'm lazy.

[BMW F22]

I have some cards that I don't use. Some of them I have had for years; some I have had for 1-2 (for various bonuses). How would it affect my credit if I were to close some of the inactive ones? Looking to buy a house in the next year or two and don't want it to have a negative impact.

[KingOfJericho]

Originally Posted by BMW F22

I have some cards that I don't use. Some of them I have had for years; some I have had for 1-2 (for various bonuses). How would it affect my credit if I were to close some of the inactive ones? Looking to buy a house in the next year or two and don't want it to have a negative impact.

The rule of thumb is to keep the one with the longest history and churn around the others for bonuses as you see fit. If it's with a major bank, you can ask them to change the type of card you have while maintaining the history.

[BMW F22]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

The rule of thumb is to keep the one with the longest history and churn around the others for bonuses as you see fit. If it's with a major bank, you can ask them to change the type of card you have while maintaining the history.

Yeah I have done that with Chase. I would like to close a couple but not sure how it will affect my score (if any).

[TXSTYLE]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

I got the capital one spark for my business I love it 2% cash back on everything so I can use it with all our suppliers. I also like their website and I think the fee is only like $50 or something like that.

I have had this card for @ 4yrs now. Love the card so much I decided to open an additional regular bank account with them. I really dislike ALL the "big banks" even though I've had a Chase checking & savings for over 2 decades.
Cap One is as close to my Credit Union in terms of great customer service and solid returns on your money.

[KingOfJericho]

As far as cards go, I think the best bang for your buck is the Amex Everyday Preferred. 3x at supermarkets, 2x on travel including gas, 1x on everything else - BUT - when you hit 30 swipes in a month, you get an additional 50% on all points earned that month (I've always hit it, easily). That's 4.5x at supermarkets, 3x on gas/travel, and 1.5x on everything else. I combine it with my Amex Platinum card and get perks out the wazoo. Killer combo, IMHO.

I've also never paid them a penny in interest and have 140k points.

[TXSTYLE]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

As far as cards go, I think the best bang for your buck is the Amex Everyday Preferred. 3x at supermarkets, 2x on travel including gas, 1x on everything else - BUT - when you hit 30 swipes in a month, you get an additional 50% on all points earned that month (I've always hit it, easily). That's 4.5x at supermarkets, 3x on gas/travel, and 1.5x on everything else. I combine it with my Amex Platinum card and get perks out the wazoo. Killer combo, IMHO.

I've also never paid them a penny in interest and have 140k points.

Agreed. I have the Everyday and Blue Everyday. I will say that the Citi Double Cash Rewards will give Amex a run for it's $.

[BMW F22]

I think you guys are forgetting that Amex isn't accepted everywhere, especially overseas.

[KingOfJericho]

Originally Posted by BMW F22

I think you guys are forgetting that Amex isn't accepted everywhere, especially overseas.

Yeah it won't work as your only card but I have a Chase Sapphire Preferred and Citi ThankYou Premier for overseas travel.

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

Yeah it won't work as your only card but I have a Chase Sapphire Preferred and Citi ThankYou Premier for overseas travel.

I've got some ancient Capital One CC that I use solely for international travel. Capital One charges no international transaction fees.

For everything else, it goes on the AmEx Everyday card.

[KingOfJericho]

Originally Posted by fecurtis

I've got some ancient Capital One CC that I use solely for international travel. Capital One charges no international transaction fees.

For everything else, it goes on the AmEx Everyday card.

Yeah, I get travel insurance and no foreign trans costs on the Chase Sapphire Pref. Same with the Amex Plat, making the combo pretty nice.

[koreez88]

I've had (and still have) quite a lot of plastic:

AmEx Costco card - main card, used for gas (3%), restaurants and travel (2%), Costco and all other purchases (1%).

Citi Double Cash - main card, which is a joint account that I'm sharing with my wife that covers all our mutual expenses (groceries, restaurants, etc)

US Bank Cash+ - rotating categories, it used to give 5% back on restaurants for about 6 months but now it's only 2%. I don't use this much anymore.

Chase Amazon - all Amazon purchases

Chase Freedom - rotating categories, I use it when it gives 5% on gas and restaurants

Discover It - rotating categories, I use it when it gives 5% on gas and restaurants

AmEx Blue Cash Everyday - opened it mainly for my wife that uses it for shopping and other random individual purchases

Wells Fargo Credit - oldest card, I only use it when bank sends me a closure warning lol


AmEx Costco is going to be replaced with Citi Costco Visa card soon and the rewards are spectacular:

[John 070]

Seems like Costco citi visa is coming in June, and it's better in every way over the Amex it replaces...4/3/2%.....2% at Costco (USA, Canada already uses Master)

[gary88]

Originally Posted by ///F80M3

Credit cards are great if u know how to manage. I'm only 24 and I should enter the 800's this year. I have two cars under my name and +$100k in total credit line which is a great achievement for me. After seeing friends and family repeatedly get denied due to poor credit I made it a goal of mine to have excellent credit when I was 18 so I stuck with it.

My favorite cards are chase sapphire and amex blue cash preferred.

Also, creditcardforum.com has been a huge help through the years.

+1 for the BCP, with the cash back I basically get a week of free groceries every month. I love how Amex lets you see your credit score whenever you want now too.

[QUiKSR20]

Im new to the whole " Use the Credit Cards to your advantage " Ive had good credit and a well paying job for some time now.. We just bought a house last year and Ive mostly used my debit card for everything up until this point..

At work recently I have a colleague who is big into " Using the cards to your advantage " So we went over a bunch of perks and reasons why if your good with your money ( which I am ) you can work the system good and how theres not much of a reason to use a your debit card with 0 rewards.

So far I have signed up for the AMEX Blue Cash Preferred ( 3% Gas / 6% Groceries ) it had a $75 yearly fee but they pay for the first two years if you do $2000 or something in the first month. We only use this card for gas & groceries and have made $150 off it so far this year.

My wife got the Citi Double Cash and has been enjoying that, One major perk is the price match.. Say you buy a SSD Computer Hard Drive for $125, You put it in their site with a copy of the transaction and if that goes down in the next 30 days or so you get the diff.. We have made $200 off this feature so far.. We also did a new front door on our house for $3000, So we charged it and made 1% on the initial purchase, And 1% when we paid it off 10 days later.

Thats $60 for free instantly, Just a way to use to your advantage...... Im sure these companys are banking on the people that are not good with money but if you are good they can be worked over pretty good.

Im new to the whole process but have been enjoying the benefits, its like a game to see how much free money / stuff I can get.

[M_Six]

Geez, I may need to look around. We've been using a Chase/Amazon VISA for over a decade and just collect the Amazon points. We pay it off every month, so the rate doesn't matter to us. The points end up buying us stuff we use anyway, so it works out. I've thought about switching to an airline points card, but we don't fly all that often so if didn't seem worth the hassle.

[QUiKSR20]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Geez, I may need to look around. We've been using a Chase/Amazon VISA for over a decade and just collect the Amazon points. We pay it off every month, so the rate doesn't matter to us. The points end up buying us stuff we use anyway, so it works out. I've thought about switching to an airline points card, but we don't fly all that often so if didn't seem worth the hassle.

If you have a family or spend alot on groceries & gas the Amex Blue Cash Preferred is hard to beat - https://www.nerdwallet.com/card-deta...holder-reviews 6% cash back on groceries, 3% on gas, 1% on everything else.

Also the Citi Double Cash has some awesome benefits, 1% on purchase 1% on payment cash back + Price Match..
https://www.nerdwallet.com/card-deta...holder-reviews

The AMEX has a yearly fee but I believe if you do x amount in the first month they give you like $150 or so back which makes it free for the first two years.