Best Credit Card?

[Truth]

I'm in the market for a new Credit Card and want to solicit input on which cards people feel are the best out there today...

FWIW, I have excellent credit and pay my balance off in full each month. Most of my expenses arise from restaurants, various household bills that I auto-pay, and occasional travelling. Regarding travel, I am not fully convinced that "travel rewards" cards actually provide a greater benefit than simply getting cash-back and finding my own travel deal -- I'd like to be persuaded otherwise though...

Pyschologically, I lean towards "no annual fee" but I am open to paying yearly fees if the rewards / cashback of the particular card are such that they produce a greater overall benefit to other no-fee reward cards.

FWIW, the "Amex Blue Cash" card has recently caught my eye...

Any suggestions?

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I'm in the market for a new Credit Card and want to solicit input on which cards people feel are the best out there today...

FWIW, I have excellent credit and pay my balance off in full each month. Most of my expenses arise from restaurants, various household bills that I auto-pay, and occasional travelling. Regarding travel, I am not fully convinced that "travel rewards" cards actually provide a greater benefit than simply getting cash-back and finding my own travel deal -- I'd like to be persuaded otherwise though...

Pyschologically, I lean towards "no annual fee" but I am open to paying yearly fees if the rewards / cashback of the particular card are such that they produce a greater overall benefit to other no-fee reward cards.

FWIW, the "Amex Blue Cash" card has recently caught my eye...

Any suggestions?

Do you have a Costco membership? They offer an Amex Costco card that pays excellent cash back rewards. Their business Amex card is even better - I get 5% back on gas, 3% back on restaurants and 2% back on travel (hotels, etc.) adn 1% back on everything else. The non-business card is 3% back on gas. One limitation is that it is an annual payoff, in the form of a coupon that can either be used at Costco or redeemed for cash at Costco.

I also have a Shell Mastercard that gives me 5% rebate on Shell purchases and 1% on everything else on the following months statement, so the payoff is very quick and automatic - it is deducted from that next month's payoff. It is through Citi. My Chase Rewards MC is 3% on any gas purchase and 1% on anything else, and like the Citi card the credit is put on the following month's statement.

I'm using the Amex more and more for the higher payoff, eventhough it is a longer wait - maybe I'll get a new LCD TV next March when I get this year's rebate(I got a $50 rebate two weeks ago for this year's rebate - I got the card in late November.)

Hope this helps.

[Fish80]

I'm in the market for a new Credit Card and want to solicit input on which cards people feel are the best out there today...

FWIW, I have excellent credit and pay my balance off in full each month. Most of my expenses arise from restaurants, various household bills that I auto-pay, and occasional travelling. Regarding travel, I am not fully convinced that "travel rewards" cards actually provide a greater benefit than simply getting cash-back and finding my own travel deal -- I'd like to be persuaded otherwise though...

Pyschologically, I lean towards "no annual fee" but I am open to paying yearly fees if the rewards / cashback of the particular card are such that they produce a greater overall benefit to other no-fee reward cards.

FWIW, the "Amex Blue Cash" card has recently caught my eye...

Any suggestions?

Truth, my personal favorite is a Fidelity master card that puts award money in my 529 college savings plan. If you have kids, it's a nice way to accumulate a little extra toward college.

The award is 2% of each dollar charged.

I don't pay much attention to their other features, since like you I'm just paying it off every month.

[Pacer]

Check out http://www.cardtrak.com/

You can search by features that you want and find the perfect card for you.

[Channing]

similar topic - how big is the credit hit if you cancel a card? I have a card that I really don't use anymore, and I just keep active so I dont take the hit. If I otherwise have very strong credit, is there really a downside to eliminating the card?

[Bluedog]

similar topic - how big is the credit hit if you cancel a card? I have a card that I really don't use anymore, and I just keep active so I dont take the hit. If I otherwise have very strong credit, is there really a downside to eliminating the card?

It will ding your credit score, especially if it's one of your oldest cards. If it's a newer card, it won't hurt it as much. Eventually, though, it won't have that large of an impact, and if you have otherwise good credit, it's not terrible. If it's by far your oldest and highest limit card, though, might be wise to keep it open keep since it has the most credit history.

I personally have the Chase Freedom card, which gives me 3% back three categories among grocery, gas, restaurants, merchandise, utilities, gym, etc (15 categories in all) and 1% back in everything else. If I wait until I have accumulate $200, they mail me a check for $250. I can also get gifts/other rewards instead, but I always go for the cash. It also has no annual fee. I like it a lot. I also pay it back every month on time so I have no idea the APR or anything like that. I find the AMEX/Discover might have marginally better rewards (up to 5%), but I wanted to stick with Visa since I find it's accepted more widely.

[Windsor]

similar topic - how big is the credit hit if you cancel a card? I have a card that I really don't use anymore, and I just keep active so I dont take the hit. If I otherwise have very strong credit, is there really a downside to eliminating the card?

There is a small hit when you close it (makes no sense to me...but FICOs are calculated by a super double secret formula known only to three people)

The issuers are getting quicker to close inactive accounts...my sage advice would be to keep all the cards you have and use them at least every few months

[Jeffrey]

I personally have the Chase Freedom card, which gives me 3% back three categories among grocery, gas, restaurants, merchandise, utilities, gym, etc (15 categories in all) and 1% back in everything else. If I wait until I have accumulate $200, they mail me a check for $250. I can also get gifts/other rewards instead, but I always go for the cash. It also has no annual fee. I like it a lot. I also pay it back every month on time so I have no idea the APR or anything like that. I find the AMEX/Discover might have marginally better rewards (up to 5%), but I wanted to stick with Visa since I find it's accepted more widely.

I use, and like, the same program but have a MasterCard as opposed to a Visa. I also cash out at the $250-for-$200 level.