Best Credit Card Question

[jeffrey]

OK, I know this topic has come up a lot in the past, but I'm putting together some information so I want to make sure nothing has changed. I'm looking for what all of you consider to be the best credit cards out there and which cards you use for what purchases (for those of you who carry multiple cards). Plus if you had to get a new card that you currently don't have, which one would you choose and why?

[lorraineb]

The card that I use most of the time for general shopping is the Costco Amex card. I originally got it for being able to use it at the Costco gas pumps where I get 3% discount plus the Costco gas is almost always 10 - 15 cents cheaper than other gas stations in the area.

[Petunia 100]

I have an American Express Blue card. It pays 3% back on groceries, 2% on gas, and 1% on everything else. However, my regular grocery store does not accept American Express. I do occasionally use it for groceries if I happen to pick up a few things at a different grocery store. Mostly, I use it for my gas, unless Chase Freedom is paying 5% (see below).

I have a Chase Freedom Visa which pays 1% on everything, and 5% on specific categories, which change every quarter. When they are paying 5% back on gas, I take advantage. Unless it is a bonus category, I don't use this card.

The card I use the most is my Wells Fargo Home Rewards card. It pays 1% on everything, in the form of mortgage principal reduction (must have a Wells Fargo Home Mortgage).

[scfr]

AmEx Blue Cash Preferred 6% cash back at supermarkets (up to $6K per year). Use a grocery store gift card purchased with the AmEx to pay for gas.
Target Red Card 5% at-register discount.

[kork13]

I use a few different cards, optimized for the things I spend money on most frequently. None of my cards charge fees, simply because in most cases I find that the cards' benefits are not worth the added expense of an annual fee.
- Pentagon FCU Rewards Visa: 5% on gas, 3% on groceries, 1% everything else. Used for gas & groceries, nothing else.
- Amazon Visa: 3% on Amazon.com purchases, 2% on gas, drug store, and restaurants, 1% else. Mostly for Amazon.com shopping (obviously), and otherwise I use this when eating out.
- Discover More: 5% on rotating categories. I only use this card if it's one of the bonus categories, or if I want to use some of my cash back balance while shopping on Amazon.com (a partnership that I'm quite happy with).
- Capital One Cash Visa: effectively 1.5% cash back on everything (1% of monthly charges + .5% yearly "bonus" of total annual charges). I use this as my default credit card.
- I also have USAA's Rewards MasterCard, but it only gives a flat 1% so I almost never use it. I simply maintain it because it's my oldest credit card account, and they don't charge any fees on the card.

The only cards I would consider getting right now would be either:
- Chase Freedom Visa, to give myself more "5% bonus category" options in addition to the Discover card.
- Pentagon FCU Defender AmEx (**Note: This card is only available to Active/Guard/Reserve/Veteran military members), to replace the Capital One Cash Visa as my primary credit card. The cash back amount is the same (1.5% on everything), but the PenFed Defender card gives you the full 1.5% as an automatic monthly statement credit, vs. the year-long delay in getting the extra .5% cash back from CapOne. I think when I get my annual "bonus" credited in October, I'll probably stop using the CapOne card and get this PenFed Defender. A side benefit of this card (though it's not a factor for me personally) is the low APR (6.99% for 5 years, then 9.99% after).

[kv968]

I have an American Express Blue card. It pays 3% back on groceries, 2% on gas, and 1% on everything else. However, my regular grocery store does not accept American Express.

Bank of America offers a Visa card (accepted practically everywhere) that has a similar payout (3% on gas, 2% on groceries and then 1% on everything else) and you get an extra 10% on the redeemed rewards if you have a BOA account and have the money deposited there. Plus you can get a $100 sign-up bonus if you spend $500 in the first 3 months.

Might be something to look at, especially for gas, when Chase isn't offering their 5%. Although that's coming up in the next quarter for them.

[feh]

I only want to have 1 credit card. I don't want to have multiple bills, nor think about using different cards for different purchases.

To that end, I use Priceline Rewards. 2% back on everything.

[disneysteve]

My reply got zapped yesterday.

We use a Marriott Rewards Premier Visa as our main card. 5% on Marriott purchase, 2% on dining, rental cars, and airfare, and 1% on everything else. There is an annual fee but we get a "free" hotel stay every year on the account anniversary that more than makes up for the fee. We also get Silver Elite status which gets us some other perks.

We have a Chase Freedom card and Discover cards that we use for the rotating 5% bonuses.

[Petunia 100]

Bank of America offers a Visa card (accepted practically everywhere) that has a similar payout (3% on gas, 2% on groceries and then 1% on everything else) and you get an extra 10% on the redeemed rewards if you have a BOA account and have the money deposited there. Plus you can get a $100 sign-up bonus if you spend $500 in the first 3 months.

Might be something to look at, especially for gas, when Chase isn't offering their 5%. Although that's coming up in the next quarter for them.

Thanks for the tip.

[MonkeyMama]

Target Red Card - 5% off all Target purchases

Fidelity Retirement Rewards Card - 2% back on everything (may have to have Fidelity account to redeem, or is just easier/better rewards if you redeem to Fidelity account?)

Am Ex Blue Preferred - 6% back on groceries, 3% back on gas, 1% everything else

I'd also prefer to have one card too, but they just don't make great single rewards cards like they used to. It's definitely only in the past couple of years that we have ever had more than one credit card for the bulk of our purchases. (I've never had a departments store type credit card before, either, but we buy so many groceries at Target...)

Notes: Fidelity retirement card is a AmEx, which is not accepted by many places, so means we have to carry a Visa too.

**The AmEx Blue Preferred has a fee. I've absolutely never had a card with a fee. BUT, they offered us a sign-up bonus which covered two years of fees. I figured in two years time we will switch to an entirely different credit card - is about how our turnover seems to be on good rewards card. They get you hooked and then they lower their rewards. We change up our reward cards fairly often. {For this card, the rewards more than pay for itself anyway, but will cross that bridge if we have to}.

[disneysteve]

they just don't make great single rewards cards

I agree, and it also depends what rewards are most valuable to you. The Target card is a great deal, if you shop at Target a lot. My Marriott card is terrific for us because we travel a lot and like Marriotts, but for someone else it would be worthless.

And there are some things that I don't use a credit card for at all. I've posted in another thread about discount gift card sites. Just last week I bought a JoAnn Fabrics gift card for 16% off face value. There isn't a credit card around that would get me that kind of discount.

Carrying multiple cards is a bit of a pain but if it saves me money, I'm okay with that.

[Kircheis]

I rotate among 4 credit cards:

Amazon Visa - 3% cashback on Amazon purchases, 2% for restaurants, pharmacies, office stores

B of A Platinum Privileges Visa - 3% on gas, 2% on groceries, with 50% bonus if cashback is deposited into a B of A account

Chase United Airlines Mastercard - 2X miles for hotels, flights, no foreign exchange fee. There is an annual fee, but I use my miles to pay the fee.

Fidelity Am Ex - 2% cashback, any other purchases not covered by the cards above.

[kv968]

Am Ex Blue Preferred - 6% back on groceries, 3% back on gas, 1% everything else

I'd also prefer to have one card too, but they just don't make great single rewards cards like they used to. It's definitely only in the past couple of years that we have ever had more than one credit card for the bulk of our purchases. (I've never had a departments store type credit card before, either, but we buy so many groceries at Target...)

**The AmEx Blue Preferred has a fee. I've absolutely never had a card with a fee. BUT, they offered us a sign-up bonus which covered two years of fees. I figured in two years time we will switch to an entirely different credit card - is about how our turnover seems to be on good rewards card. They get you hooked and then they lower their rewards. We change up our reward cards fairly often. {For this card, the rewards more than pay for itself anyway, but will cross that bridge if we have to}.

I've noticed that it seems CC companies want to get out of the pure cash back play.

AmEx gives you "reward dollars" that can be applied to your balance, which isn't bad unless you don't really use it anymore and just want the check. I think I've seen some that only let you redeem in gift cards. And Capital One is constantly sending me offers to switch my cash rewards card over to their Venture Cards where you get miles instead of cash. I'd rather have the cash thank you very much.

Maybe its just me but things have definitely changed.

[Gailete]

Now that we have had all our credit cards paid off for awhile, we only use two. One that I charge business expenses, satellite, packing supplies, etc. like on line postage for my Sewing Pattern Store. It is an amazon card and gives me amazon reward points, and double I think when we purchase something from Amazon, but we rarely do since we usually get to shop there with reward points. We also use a discover card, that has bonus points depending on what month it is. This is the card I use when the debit card is temporarily strapped for cash and for my hubby to use. He always wants to write a check even when I have no prior knowledge that we might need to write a check for a several hundred dollar bill. He finally has it in his head that I keep nothing spare in the checking account as money in savings at least earns more interest. We use the Discover card as Amazon reward points, cash or a gift card to CVS. When we had some really tight years, I would turn in all reward points in October and use them towards Christmas gifts for my boys. Both cards get paid in full each month, so the rewards really are gifts. No need for mileage or hotel room gifts as we no longer travel. I think it is highly personal why a person would use a particular card or not.

[alternativegirl]

citicard business

I have one citi business card I am using (paying it off in full each month) and plan on cutting up the rest