Credit cards are the way we roll. We pay the balance off every month. The one we have used the most, well the company is switching over to MasterCard. The rewards won't be as good, so we will be closing that account. So my friends. Which card/company do you use and or prefer. I know some folks get in trouble with using cards. That's a separate discussion. Dave Ramsey says they are all a big no-no...don't care. I use a separate one for my business. It's tied to my local, convenient bank.

Their are numerous companies out there though, with lots of different type rewards..etc. Just curious what you think are the best deals. Thanks.

I like to travel overseas. So I use a Citi American Airlines card for personal and business use. I can earn about 950,000 miles in 4 years. Enough for round trip business class tickets to Europe for free!

Costco.




Earn $250 for normal shopping at Costco a year. Paid for honeymoon and part of wedding. Got $600 back that year. Probably should shift bills there for extra $$$.

Primary is the Apple Card. My First choice is the use the cell phone to pay (Apple Pay) second choice is to use the physical Apple card. There are some security features for both the phone pay and the physical Apple card, and the reward is 2% for using the phone to pay and 1% for using the card. If you are not an Apple user, then this option won't be easily available, or make sense.

Also in my wallet is the Costco Visa.

I use the Apple card funded by Goldman Sachs. No airline miles or other rewards, just cash back with each purchase. If you have a Apple device it's an option worth looking at. I put just about every bill I can on this card and I see $125~ month cash back.

Discover card 5% cashback on rotating categories. Delta AMEX for airmiles. Amazon Visa 5% back at Amazon.

Fidelity Visa. 2% cash back deposited into your Fidelity investment account.

I am not a fan of USAA but I get 2.5% back which I’ve never been able to beat.

Citi Diamond used to provide free insurance on rental cars if you used the card to rent. Not sure if they still do.

Capital One SAVOR One for groceries. 3% cash back.

Capital One QuickSilver for non-groceries, 1.5% cash back, and really great Virtual Card system as a fraud deterrent.

I travel and eat out a fair amount, thus I have two Chase cards. Sapphire Reserve for all travel and food purchases, Freedom Unlimited for all other purchases. Points accrued on the Unlimited card, I move every month over to the Sapphire card. Sapphire card used for air, hotel and vehicle rentals get additional insurance protections and other perks, along with increased point-purchasing abilty.

If the Chase structure seems a bit too much, Costco card with Citi is pretty compelling.

The rate on USAA was good and if you overpay your monthly bill, it rolls over to next month. So if my monthly bill is $200, and I pay 300, I'll owe $100 minimum the next month.

Tony.

quote:

Originally posted by NavyGuy:
I use the Apple card funded by Goldman Sachs. No airline miles or other rewards, just cash back with each purchase. If you have a Apple device it's an option worth looking at. I put just about every bill I can on this card and I see $125~ month cash back.

I was going to say this. The one thing I like is it's transparency: When it's payment time, it tells you what your costs will be for interest if you don't pay it 100%. So lets say I was running a little cash poor at the end of the month, and needed to leave 500 unpaid. It will tell me that is going to cost me 12 bucks or whatever.

quote:

Originally posted by sasquatch28:
Fidelity Visa. 2% cash back deposited into your Fidelity investment account.

I use the Fidelity Visa the most, but I have a Pen Fed credit union card that also gives me 2% cash back. I use a Chase Amazon card for 5% cash back on Amazon purchases.

Wells Fargo sucks.

We have Visa and MC via our CU, and I have my AmEx green card I've had since forever, but I use primarily my Apple Card--with Apple Pay whenever possible, which is now about half the time or better.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Costco.


Earn $250 for normal shopping at Costco a year. Paid for honeymoon and part of wedding. Got $600 back that year. Probably should shift bills there for extra $$$.

Costco Citicard is my goto card for the cash backs. I also have Amazon Chase for the 5% on Amazon purchases. I have AmEx for the percent back on groceries and whenever I make a dubious purchase, I use AmEx because they've always sided pretty easy with me on any disputes.

I would suggest to the OP to keep the card open. Your FICO score is based on the age of your accounts and percent usage of your credit card limits. I also make it a point to use all my cards to some degree every month. I do this by using each card for automatic payments such as streaming tv subscriptions or any regular monthly charges. This way, they don't think of closing the account on me.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Costco.


Earn $250 for normal shopping at Costco a year. Paid for honeymoon and part of wedding. Got $600 back that year. Probably should shift bills there for extra $$$.

Costco Citicard is my goto card for the cash backs. I also have Amazon Chase for the 5% on Amazon purchases. I have AmEx for the ....

Same, Amazon purchases made on Amazon card. I stopped using Amazon for the most part since COVID. I like the two day delivery, couldn't keep up with it, I still have something that was 2 day delivery that's going on two months. Three Amazon shipments, zero deliveries except the one that was shattered.

Great info folks. My credit score isn't a problem, so I'm not too concerned with closing one card. But thanks for that thought. The only COSTCO is a bit of a drive, but we may have to reconsider. All of your other comments and recommendations are much appreciated especially with your reasoning and explanations.

Citi Costco for Costco. Chase Amazon for Amazon. Chase IHG for places that don’t accept American Express and an American Express Platinum for everything else.

I stick with my credit union where I have been a member for 38 years. 2% cash back on every single use, no matter what it is for. A quick phone call or on-line visit and my credits are applied directly to my next billing.

Statement comes every month and gets paid every month. I use the credit card for most daily transactions so I only have to write one check each month instead of a dozen or more.

As a long-time credit union member with a good history I don't experience many problems. In 2018 I wanted to buy a new truck, called my CU office, they told me to just write a check and they would have the loan paperwork ready to fill in the blanks.

Literally, I have my own personalized coffee cup in the break room at my credit union. If I need a conference room to hold a meeting all it takes is a phone call to make sure the room is reserved for my use. Free safe deposit box.

People should do business with people, not corporate trade names.