[l008com]

I'm looking for a credit card that gives me decent rewards.

I already have an AMEX card that gives me 5% on gas, cell bill and office supplies, and 1% on everything else. So I'm looking for a mastercard or visa, for everyplace that doesn't take amex. There is a fidelity card that gives you 1.5% cash back into a fidelity account. So far that is my likely choice. I have a GM card that gives me 5% cash back, but they now limit how much you can put into a new car. Most cars are only $1000 and I already have way more than that saved up, plus my last 3 cars have been mazda, acura, mazda. So that doesn't do me very good. If mazda had a card that would give me 3%+ back, that would be perfect. I'd be passing a LOT of money through that card and my lease payment would be watered waaaay down.

So basically, I'm wondering if anyone knows of any Mastercards or Visa cards that give more than 2%, and gives it in a way I can actually use it (cash, investments, or towards a car I'm actually going to buy).

Even the fidelity card, with its 1.5%, is still more than the 'everything else' rate on the amex. So if I don't find anything better, I'll just get that card, set up some investment account, and use the fidelity card for everything BUT gas and my cell phone bill.

[Kevin]

I know my ex used to get back tons of money from her Discover card being that she payed off the balance every month.

[RAILhead]

(even though, statistically, people spend 18% more when using credit as opposed to cash -- and if you were to quit overspending (in relation to cash), you could have up to 18% to invest in whatever you so choose, rather than a paltry 1% or 2%)

/just sayin', statistically speaking

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by RAILhead 

(even though, statistically, people spend 18% more when using credit as opposed to cash -- and if you were to quit overspending (in relation to cash), you could have up to 18% to invest in whatever you so choose, rather than a paltry 1% or 2%)

/just sayin', statistically speaking

That's crazy talk.

[l008com]

Yeah that is crazy talk. Also, Kevin, I already have an amex card, what I need is a visa/master card. Everyone takes visa/mastercard, not everyone takes discover/amex. Plus I've yet to see a discover card that gives more than what my amex is giving.

Here I'll focus this thread a little, the point is:

Anyone know any good Visa/Mastercard Rewards cards?

[Nodnarb]

I'd check out Chase's visa selection. I've got a Chase Freedom card, and i get something like 1% on everything and 3% on gas/food/etc. ... Don't know all the details off hand, but I'd check out their website.

[imitchellg5]

My mom and dad get air miles from Frontier with their Visas. It works out nicely, we get enough points to fly our best friends down twice a year. We put almost everything on them and pay them off every month. We even put the down payment on the Xterra on one (which was good for a ticket).

[SVass]

I used to get a real 1% plus a one year warranty extension and now I only get the warranty plus a price cut on purchases from certain merchants like Home Depot, Sears, or certain airlines from my Credit Union. sam

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by RAILhead 

(even though, statistically, people spend 18% more when using credit as opposed to cash -- and if you were to quit overspending (in relation to cash), you could have up to 18% to invest in whatever you so choose, rather than a paltry 1% or 2%)

/just sayin', statistically speaking

Yes. Statistically speaking.

But individuals can still be prudent users of credit cards without spending any more money than what statistics say.

My uncle and I are good examples of this. We both use rewards cards for just about everything. (I used to use my debit card everywhere, now it gets used when I don't have my credit card with me or for ATM withdrawals).

Both my uncle and I don't spend any more than we otherwise would if we were paying with cash. And I do take cash into stores where I know I would end up spending more than I would otherwise if I were using my cards... AND I leave my debit card and credit card home when I do this. (Because even with my debit card it's easy to go over the spending limit).

Neither of us has had to pay any interest or any late fees or any sort of fees. Ever. Not in the 40 years he's been using credit cards, and not in the 8 years I've been using them. And yes, I realize that we're both exceptions to the rule.

[cjrivera]

If you shop amazon.com a lot, their credit card isn't too bad.
$30 off your first purchase from them.
3% back on all purchases from Amazon & 1% from other places. (3 points per dollar spent at Amazon... after 2500 points you get a $25 gift certificate)

I usually buy my Macs from there. They usually have free shipping, no tax, $50-100 off their Macs through a mail in rebate, and if you buy a $1000 computer, you get another $25 GC back


I use a Shell card for gas purchases as you get 5% back on all gas purchases from them.

[macroy]

Credit Cards - Compare Credit Card Offers at CreditCards.com

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by l008com 

There is a fidelity card that gives you 1.5% cash back into a fidelity account. So far that is my likely choice.

I have this card. The way it works is through a points system (WorldPoints, to be specific). For every 5000 points earned, I can get a $75 direct deposit into an individual account I have with Fidelity. Supposedly the idea is to encourage people to invest the money, but cash back is cash back.

[l008com]

I found that chase card. So the way I'll probably do it is this:

Amex: 5% on Gas & Wireless (and office supplies but I don't buy much at all)
Chase: 3% on Food
Fidelity Visa: 1.5% on everything else.

Patrick, $1 = 1 point, $75 ÷ 5000 = 1.5% :-D

I checked out the amazon card, but I do more buying from NewEgg lately. My amex card is a small business card, it would be great if they added restaurants to the 5% category! Then I could forget about the chase card and just have an Amex and a visa.

Also Patrick, can you set up the Fidelity card to automatically deposit the $75 into your account, or do you have to log into the web site and manually 'redeem' your points every time like you do with the Discover cards?

[l008com]

Oooh that chase card also gives 3% cash back on home improvement and hardware stores. Thats cool, I like to build things :-)

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by RAILhead 

(even though, statistically, people spend 18% more when using credit as opposed to cash -- and if you were to quit overspending (in relation to cash), you could have up to 18% to invest in whatever you so choose, rather than a paltry 1% or 2%)

/just sayin', statistically speaking

Actually, you could have up to 20% to invest — keep using the card and stop overspending!

[Patrick]

Right, see I didn't show the math in my post because I thought it was obvious.

I mentioned the 5000 to imply that you have to build up your points before you see any cash back. Supposedly there are cards nowadays that don't have this requirement, though I might be imagining things. In this day and age, it's not a ton of money anyway.

I do have to redeem the points manually. The first time, I had to provide a routing number or account number (was a while ago, I've forgotten) so they could do a direct deposit. The credit card is administered by a separate company, FIA Card Services, and they aren't set up do automatic transfers.

[l008com]

Originally Posted by Patrick 

Right, see I didn't show the math in my post because I thought it was obvious.

You seemed to be disagreeing with the 1.5%, which is why I worked it out

[Kvasir]

Before you apply for any given card, you might want to do some google searches to check out the card issuers record on security. Just a thought these days - Chase does not have a stellar record of safeguarding card holders' personal/indentity information. Not that other banks and companies don't have even worse records, but it is something to consider. Also read the fine print about liability and such too. In these days, when absolutely noone ever seems to actually check your signature (and often does not even require a signature), identity security with plastic consumerism is something to consider.

Also note that you want to maintain a balance in how many open revolving credit accounts you have showing on your credit record. Too many can reduce your credit score, while having a few (and ALWAYS paying on time, even if not clearing balances, do NOT pay late or miss payments) is good. Also keep your oldest card active, even if you stop using it, as creditors like to see a lengthy history of good standing with someone on your credit history.

P.S. One nice thing about Discover, is there online features. They have a very easy to use procedure for generating pseudo-card numbers for online purchases. The online store never actually has knowledge of your real Discover Card number, just a randomly generated pseudo-number that Discover's system can link back to your card when the charge request comes in to them from the seller.

[Uncle Skeleton]

Originally Posted by Kvasir 

Also note that you want to maintain a balance in how many open revolving credit accounts you have showing on your credit record. Too many can reduce your credit score

I agree with everything else you've said, but I think this is false. More open accounts will never lower your score; it may raise your score if you have any balances, by lowering your overall utilization.

Of course, if you're weak willed, then having too many open accounts can lower your score by tempting you to spend more than you can afford...

[Kvasir]

Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton 

I agree with everything else you've said, but I think this is false. More open accounts will never lower your score; it may raise your score if you have any balances, by lowering your overall utilization.

Of course, if you're weak willed, then having too many open accounts can lower your score by tempting you to spend more than you can afford...

On my credit score reports in the past, the analysis (from experian and transunion at least), explicitly stated that my credit score would be improved by reducing the amount of available revolving credit I had. I had several old cards that I no longer used, but had not actually written the companies to close the accounts. I wrote them and closed the accounts, and 6 months later re-checked my score. It had gone up by 13 and 15 points respectively (experian and transunion, that is).

Your FICO score does take into consideration not only your actual debt, but also your potential (and quickly attainable debt) debt in the form of the total amount of unused but available credit card debt.

P.S. and I have never had a bad credit score - closing those accounts was enough to bump me over 800, but I had zero credit problems/issues to my name (never have had any). Of course, experian now uses that VantageScore thing, which I have no idea how that one is computed, or how it relates to their old FICO formulations.

[Uncle Skeleton]

No one knows how any of them are computed, because the formula is their most tightly guarded trade secret, and is constantly being changed as well. A lot can change in 6 months, like old inquiries falling off. What service did you use to check your score?

[Patrick]

I wonder if that "pseudo card number" feature is common for card providers to offer these days. Mine has that as well.

[Dakal The Fifth]

This is all crazy talk.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Kvasir 

On my credit score reports in the past, the analysis (from experian and transunion at least), explicitly stated that my credit score would be improved by reducing the amount of available revolving credit I had. I had several old cards that I no longer used, but had not actually written the companies to close the accounts. I wrote them and closed the accounts, and 6 months later re-checked my score. It had gone up by 13 and 15 points respectively (experian and transunion, that is).

My wife's credit reports explicitely said that her credit score would be improved by higher credit limits (i.e. her credit used to credit limit was too high -> ergo higher limit will reduce the ratio.)

Honestly, what you say goes against EVERYTHING that I have heard about credit scores. Closing unused accounts is commonly labelled as a FICO score Myth:

5 Myths That Can Hurt Your FICO Score : A Penny Closer

4 credit-scoring myths - MSN Money

Common Credit Score Myths

I think you misinterpreted the credit report and your score went up due to other factors.

-t

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by cjrivera 

If you shop amazon.com a lot, their credit card isn't too bad.
$30 off your first purchase from them.

Actually the $30 is off of your first bill, whether or not it's at Amazon. I have an Amazon card that I have yet to use at Amazon, but I got $30 off my first bill, which was just three tanks of gas.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by turtle777 

My wife's credit reports explicitely said that her credit score would be improved by higher credit limits (i.e. her credit used to credit limit was too high -> ergo higher limit will reduce the ratio.)

Wouldn't the score go up if the balances (credit used) were paid down as well?

[Art Vandelay]

Originally Posted by Person Man 

Wouldn't the score go up if the balances (credit used) were paid down as well?

Yes.

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay 

Yes.

I knew that. I was poking fun at the way Turtle phrased it. The score would go up if you increased your credit limit. But how does that solve anything, really?

Wow, I'm at 45% of my available credit limit. How am I going to increase my score? Reduce my debt, or increase my chances of going into further debt by getting more available credit?

[Kvasir]

Originally Posted by turtle777 

I think you misinterpreted the credit report and your score went up due to other factors.

-t

umm, no, I'm perfectly literate. My Experian score report clearly stated, under the list of things that would improve my score, that I had too many open revolving accounts. The report explicitly stated that closing unused or infrequently used accounts would improve my Experian FICO score. i closed the accounts, and my score went up. Nothing else in my report changed in that same time period (I permanently opted out of unsolicited credit inquiries years ago, and I had no transactions that had initiated a solicited inquiry).

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Kvasir 

umm, no, I'm perfectly literate. My Experian score report clearly stated, under the list of things that would improve my score, that I had too many open revolving accounts. The report explicitly stated that closing unused or infrequently used accounts would improve my Experian FICO score. i closed the accounts, and my score went up. Nothing else in my report changed in that same time period (I permanently opted out of unsolicited credit inquiries years ago, and I had no transactions that had initiated a solicited inquiry).

I guess they keep changing these kind of things...

I always heard that open (not used) credit is a good thing, because it shows that credit card issuers trust you with money.

-t

[Kvasir]

I'd love to be able to explain it, but I never got an answer from any of the agencies to my letters asking "why"?

One thing I will say, regarding the "myths" linked to in post above. Just because it's published on the net somewhere by a supposed expert, doesn't make it so. In the 30 years or so I've been managing and monitoring my credit reports and scores, I've found that things like those "myth's debunked" reports are worth about as much as the media they are printed on. For just about every myth that some expert claims as false, you can find someone with a real world experience that shows the myth played true, and it was the so-called expert(s) who got it completely wrong (and a lot of the financial "experts" I've met couldn't find their own arse with a flashlight and both hands).

If the system really worked as described, then car dealers that offer credit to anyone and everyone, regardless of financial situations, would not exist, and the sub-prime mortgage fiasco would be merely a work of bad fiction.

[l008com]

Hey hey this topic is supposed to be about credit cards with good rewards, not the moral and financial implication of having credit cards. I can sum up the question of 'Our credit cards good or bad?' in one line. If you use them right, they are great; if you use them wrong, they are horrible.

I recently closed 2 of my 3 oldest credit cards. I have no debt so my debt to credit ratio is 0. But I'm hoping that having less credit open will help me to get higher credit limits on the few cards I want to actually use. They tell me they can't extend me any more credit due to my income, but it's worth a shot. Keep in mind, like i said, i have no debt at all right now, and never had any other than car loans.

So Anyway I decided having a chase card just for restaurants is too much hassle. So I'll just use my amex business card and get one of those fidelity cards. And hopefully I can get close to a $10,000 limit on the fidelity card. I cancelled a discover and a capital one, both had at least $5000 limits themselves, probably more.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by l008com 

I recently closed 2 of my 3 oldest credit cards. I have no debt so my debt to credit ratio is 0. But I'm hoping that having less credit open will help me to get higher credit limits on the few cards I want to actually use.

Dude, you just completely screwed yourself.

Closing your oldest cards will give you a bad hit to your credit score, and therefore, make lenders less willing to grant you more.

-t

[l008com]

My oldest credit card wasn't much older than my oldest car loan. I doubt it will make a big difference that I closed it.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by l008com 

My oldest credit card wasn't much older than my oldest car loan. I doubt it will make a big difference that I closed it.

Oh yes, it will.

1) Multiple sources of old credit is better than only a few.
2) Your car loan might be valued differently (in the Credit Score) once it's paid off.

-t