Credit card advice - looking for new card

the BoA cash rewards card is one of the better ones out there. If you can qualify for some kind of a black card or premier card or something those are the only ones better, but you have to have a pretty high income for those

I have the Citi double cash card, it's 2% cash back, no annual fee. Might be what you're looking for.

Something different would be an American Express Card--they have a new one--AMEX Every Day Card that is free with rewards. I have one of their Blue cards.

Sallie Mae Mastercard. 5% cash back on grocery and gas (up to $250 in purchases per month) and 5% cash back on Amazon and bookstores (up to $750 in purchases per month).

Some other good ones:
- Citi Double Cash
- Discover It (decent quarterly 5% categories and free FICO score)
- American Express BlueCash Preferred (if you spend enough on groceries and gas, the annual fee will pay itself off fast)

The Chase Sapphire Preferred (and Chase Freedom) can be redeemed for ultimate reward points, which you can use to transfer to airlines, hotels, gift cards, etc. You can also get cash back, but you get a better value from transferring it to an airline parter or something. If you want cash back, I think you're better off getting a cash back card, not a point card. Also, the Sapphire Preferred's annual fee increased from $95 to $150.

The best way to determine which card to get is to "do the math." You need to balance the cost of the card, if any, against what you get based on what you typically purchase on credit.

Amex used to offer very limited choices, but their selection is now much greater. I've always gotten very good service from my Amex cards, especially when it comes to damage and warranty claims.

Well you asked for advice, so mine would be: don't open a third card. I see no reason to open another line of credit, and, to be honest, the fixation on 'rewards' is worrisome. But I don't know you and you really shouldn't take that personally.

I have the same opinion as mobilehaathi. If your only reason for a third card is the rewards then perhaps look at the other two and decide whether or not the rewards work for you now. If not, then get another card more suited towards your spending and cancel one of the other two. If you do need more credit then I would speak to one of the two creditors and ask for an increase. If you have to have a third card then the Citi double cash card is nice. I had no idea that the asshats at Sallie Mae offered credit cards but that sounds like a really good card.

I don't see the problem with having multiple cards if a certain card can be more beneficial for certain things you spend money on, as long as you can manage yourself and not get into debt.

I've got multiple cards because some are better than others for certain things.

Just be responsible and live within your means.

https://www.creditkarma.com/shop/creditcards

look at these..

yg17 said:

I have the Citi double cash card, it's 2% cash back, no annual fee. Might be what you're looking for.

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That's amazing because it looks like there is no reward cap on this card.

I have two cards, both through Chase. One came with my checking account at 18 and has a very high credit limit, but it uses the old mostly phased out rewards system. My other card is a Chase Rewards card with a lower limit, but a lot more ways to earn rewards. For about two years now it has replaced my debit card and I pay it off weekly (or sooner).

There are some tempting offers out there. I'd probably wait until a period of big purchases with an introductory promo (e.g. spend $1,000 first 3 months get $100 bonus cash back) to open another card though.

Another source

http://www.bankrate.com/credit-cards/rewards-cards.aspx

Tyler23 said:

I have, I qualify in the excellent credit category. Of those, the Blue cash everyday AmEx seems quite similar to the BoA Cash Rewards. The other doesn't seem to beneficial.

I've looked at Chase Freedom which might be a decent option to earn 5% cash back on rotating categories.

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also check your local credit union

I recommend the chase sapphire preferred and freedom combo best rewards program imo. I've traveled for free using UR points frequently

The Chase Sapphire card is quite good, but my favorite is the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard. Absurdly long name, but very, very good. It plays well with other cards, which is always good.

AngryRedTicTac said:

The Chase Sapphire card is quite good, but my favorite is the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard. Absurdly long name, but very, very good. It plays well with other cards, which is always good.

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I have this card too and I really like it. If they're still offering 40,000 points for signing up it's a great deal. I would have recommended it earlier but he wanted a no annual fee card.

Just got the Citi double cash back card as well as the Amex Everyday card. I already have a discover miles card, but the rotating categories are quite annoying having to sign up for every quarter (I know, not a big deal).

Diversifying your portfolio is a good thing. It can help your credit score tremendously. Obviously just be wise with your spending and utilize rewards to your benefit.

adk said:

I have this card too and I really like it. If they're still offering 40,000 points for signing up it's a great deal. I would have recommended it earlier but he wanted a no annual fee card.

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I had honestly forgotten that it had a yearly, it's waived the first year, and I've had good luck getting those waived in year two on cards I use heavily. I just got a friend to sign up, they are indeed still offering the 40k sign up bonus...

AngryRedTicTac said:

I had honestly forgotten that it had a yearly, it's waived the first year, and I've had good luck getting those waived in year two on cards I use heavily. I just got a friend to sign up, they are indeed still offering the 40k sign up bonus...

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Interesting. Do you call and request the waiver before the fee posts?

If you want a low interest rate, check out the Simmons Bank Visa Card, about 7%.

I have both the Blue Cash Preferred from American Express and the Chase Sapphire Preferred cards. I have to say, in my experience so far that they're both awesome cards.

The $75 fee on the Amex is easily recovered in almost no time. I use it most at Giant Eagle, especially when buying gift cards; Think Christmas time or large Amazon purchases! I calculated it out a while ago that the total I received in benefits from the whole shenanigan between the 6% statement credit for using the Amex at Giant Eagle plus the FuelPerks and it was around 12% off the purchase price of the item. Of course, that was before they changed the gift card program, so now it's lower. I bought $3k worth of Lowes gift cards when I replaced my washer and dryer and a few power tools - and had free fuel for quite some time! I did the same when I bought our new TV and Receiver for the theater.

The Sapphire card's First Fridays deal is awesome if you're a restaurant goer. We dine out a lot - I eat lunch out nearly every day at work (it's a social thing, I swear!). But on First Fridays we treat ourselves out to a fancy date night! 3x points at a high end restaurant really racks up (your balance and your point balance! lol). The Chase card is actually easier to use - it's perplexing how few places take Amex. The only thing that's annoying is if you have a second card with Chase, they both have the same card number. There's no way to tell who paid for what like with the Amex, which gives additional cardmembers completely different card numbers.

I always try to use the Amex for groceries and gas (6% and 3% back respectively), but the Chase for food and anything else. Online I always default to Amex, as I feel their security is top notch / better than Chase.

You should check out http://thepointsguy.com/ - it's a great tool for comparing card rewards.

And finally, my biggest pet peeve: People who don't understand credit will tell you not to use it. They'll never see the 800+ club. If you use it responsibly, you'll be rewarded for it. Screw it up, and you'll be punished. To get to 800+, you should have at least 3 revolving lines (according to sources on the internet) in your mix of credit lines. I didn't break 800 until a few months after opening my Chase Sapphire Preferred. My score dipped initially from the new line and hard pull, but has since rebounded higher than before - likely because of the lower utilization from having more available credit.

Anyway, enough ranting, eh? Which card are you leaning toward?

adk said:

Interesting. Do you call and request the waiver before the fee posts?

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Yep, just call and explain what a valuable customer you are, and how ready to cancel the card if they don't fix the problem. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. You just have to be careful with how your rewards work, you don't want to lose any goodies if you do have to cancel.