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Best Credit Card

K

KYcrazy

Jul 17, 2004
27
21
3
Tired of my bank's basic credit card that gives virtually no rewards. It does but it is something like 1 point per dollar charged, but it takes an absurd amount of points to redeem for prizes. It'll be something like 5,000 points to get a can opener (eyeroll).

So tell me, Paddockers, what is the best credit card with rewards and a reasonable annual fee?

Rewards could be cash back, airline miles, groceries, or whatever else is out there.

TIA
 
Capital One Venture. Pay it off montly and let the points rack up. They get nothing and you get free hotels, etc. with the points. You can log into their rewards section when you log in to your account and book flights, hotels, cars, etc. You get 2 points for every dollar spent.
 
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Shutting my credit down permanently in about 6 months. No such thing as a good credit card. Should only exist for emergencies, not day to day life.
 
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AmEx Centurion Black Card. Anyone who answered anything else needs to GTFO of Le Paddocke. We don't take too kindly to the riff-raff.
 
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Am curious about this for travel as well. Have heard the capital one venture and the chase sapphire preferred are good but not sure between the two
 
Cold Stout Beer said:
Capital One Venture. Pay it off montly and let the points rack up. They get nothing and you get free hotels, etc. with the points. You can log into their rewards section when you log in to your account and book flights, hotels, cars, etc. You get 2 points for every dollar spent.
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Same here. Always pay it off every month. Good strategy to get the free points if you are disciplined enough with your money to not go into debt.
 
I'm sure there are better cards out there, but I use a no fee card and 1 point per dollar spent. I use it 99% for business and pay it off on time every time.
 
We use...

Fidelity - 2% back on all purchases.
Amex Preferred Blue - 6% back on groceries up to $6K.
Sam's Club Mastercard - 5% on gas & 3 % on restaurants
BOA (can't remember the name of the card) 3% on drug stores
Chase Amazon Visa - 5% back on all Amazon purchases.
Discover IT - 5% back on various items each quarter, including gas, restaurants, groceries, drug stores, Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.
I have a Discover Miles card that had an introductory 2X rate for the first year. I racked up nicely on that one in that year, and use it a few times a year for small purchases to keep it active.
 
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ukalumni00 said:
Same here. Always pay it off every month. Good strategy to get the free points if you are disciplined enough with your money to not go into debt.
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I mean if you travel a lot, fly a lot, rewards can add up.

I have a few friends, coworkers, and sister that have used them successfully at this. They will put all their regular monthly overhead expenses on one that's only used for that then make one monthly payment to clear it. A former manager of mine would get a car payment paid once a yr from this.

But man they hate you for this. Would jack those interest rates up waiting on you to screw up. I was never disciplined enough for these things. I don't use any other than a lowes and tractor supply card because that's what we have here in town and I keep them at zero at the end of every month.


My wife has to have her Amazon card. But that's her responsibility.
 
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Mdnerd said:
Shutting my credit down permanently in about 6 months. No such thing as a good credit card. Should only exist for emergencies, not day to day life.
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Bullshit. I hate to revive an old thread, but this is silly. 100% of your spending should be on a credit card, if you can do it. You should pay your entire statement balance in full monthly. If you’re not milking the banks for those sweet SUBs and rewards without paying a single red cent to them, you’re doing it all wrong. Additionally, credit cards have purchase protection and other benefits that debit cards don’t have (roadside assistance, cell phone protection, warranty extension, etc.)

This is just terrible advice for those that are responsible. If you’re not responsible, then yeah, keep paying like the other poors.
 
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CatsFan4Evr. said:
Bullshit. I hate to revive an old thread, but this is silly. 100% of your spending should be on a credit card, if you can do it. You should pay your entire statement balance in full monthly. If you’re not milking the banks for those sweet SUBs and rewards without paying a single red cent to them, you’re doing it all wrong. Additionally, credit cards have purchase protection and other benefits that debit cards don’t have (roadside assistance, cell phone protection, warranty extension, etc.)

This is just terrible advice for those that are responsible. If you’re not responsible, then yeah, keep paying like the other poors.
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Exactly. Every monthly expense that can be paid with a card should be. You can rack up rewards very quickly.

Of course this doesn’t apply if you’re using it to go beyond your budget. That’s a different conversation
 
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I have the following:

Bank of America- I bank with them so I get 1,2 or 3% back depending what I buy.

Citi Aadvantage card with Admiral’s Club access when I travel

Hilton Amex card with Diamond status for when I travel.

All have different benefits and pay for themselves. I run all my bills through them as well and use each one in different ways. They are paid monthly so I don’t accrue any interest.
 
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Got the chase sapphire reserve a couple month ago and just used the points for free plane tickets for a Labor Day trip. Free travel insurance using that card too and free access to airport lounges as well as free rental car insurance. Have been pretty impressed with it.
 
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My setup (I know it's a shit-ton of cards, and I know they're all cash back, but we don't do a lot of airline travelling right now with so many damn kids):

Amex Blue Cash Preferred: 6% back groceries up to 6,000 in spend every year (and we usually exceed that, so we have to supplement with other cards)
Chase Freedom Flex: 5% back rotating quarterly categories
Chase Freedom (OG): 5% back rotating quarterly categories (generally only use when Flex caps out)
Discover IT Cash Back: 5% back rotating quarterly categories
Wells Fargo Autograph: 3% back all kinds of things the 5% quarter category cards don't catch
Citi Custom Cash: 5% back a category of my choosing (up to $500 per month)
Wells Fargo Active Cash: 2% back for all purchases not covered by the other cards

As soon as I get back under 5/24 for Chase, I'm going to churn the hell out of some Inks.
 
CatsFan4Evr. said:
Bullshit. I hate to revive an old thread, but this is silly. 100% of your spending should be on a credit card, if you can do it. You should pay your entire statement balance in full monthly. If you’re not milking the banks for those sweet SUBs and rewards without paying a single red cent to them, you’re doing it all wrong. Additionally, credit cards have purchase protection and other benefits that debit cards don’t have (roadside assistance, cell phone protection, warranty extension, etc.)

This is just terrible advice for those that are responsible. If you’re not responsible, then yeah, keep paying like the other poors.
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Cash for everything…
 
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sluggercatfan said:
Amen...threatened my wife with divorce after paying ours off and cutting them up.
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I work in the finance industry and it's amazing how many people come in, do a debt consolidation and get a mortgage on their house pay off tens of thousands of dollars of credit cards only to come back in 3-5 years and do it all again.
 
Chase Freedom Unlimited - Daily

Chase Sapphire Reserve - It's worth the $550 annual fee when considering $300 travel credit, TSA/Global Entry reimbursement. Plus, it got me in a PGA tent that included a bunch of free swag.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority - When I'm being a poor and book a SW flight.
 
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Creed Bratton said:
I work in the finance industry and it's amazing how many people come in, do a debt consolidation and get a mortgage on their house pay off tens of thousands of dollars of credit cards only to come back in 3-5 years and do it all again.
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I bet you shake your head a lot when dealing with the public and how irresponsible most are with money.
 
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ukalumni00 said:
I bet you shake your head a lot when dealing with the public and how irresponsible most are with money.
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One thing I have learned is people who act like they have a lot of money are usually just really deep in debt and 1 short term illness away from being bankrupt.

the office bankrupcy GIF
 
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Cold Stout Beer said:
Capital One Venture. Pay it off montly and let the points rack up. They get nothing and you get free hotels, etc. with the points. You can log into their rewards section when you log in to your account and book flights, hotels, cars, etc. You get 2 points for every dollar spent.
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They get the fees venders have to pay. They just don’t get anything from you, unless there is an annual fee.
 
Creed Bratton said:
I work in the finance industry and it's amazing how many people come in, do a debt consolidation and get a mortgage on their house pay off tens of thousands of dollars of credit cards only to come back in 3-5 years and do it all again.
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Yeah it's pretty nuts. I bet the majority of folks have more income than outgo than what they think. It's the little things that trip us up. Especially in this economy. If you don't make much and living like it's 2018 then you are in trouble right about now.
 
Finally took the plunge after not having one for rewards purposes. Like others have said, I use it just like I would normally use my debit card and pay it off monthly. I have a system set up where I transfer money out of my checking account into my "credit card pay off" account everyday so that the money doesn't even exist anymore in my eyes. I got the US Bank Altitude Rewards Card:

5x points when I book travel through their rewards site
3x points every time I use Apple Pay, which we use all the time and how we got a ton of our points
1x points on everything else

Been using the card since February and booked a nice hotel on the beach in Clearwater Beach for 5 days with all points from my first few months with the card. We are planning a trip to Belgium and the Netherlands next summer and will probably have all the flights and hotels paid through points. It's well worth it.
 
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LowerLevelSeatA said:
If you have money to pay off every month, no brainer. If you don’t have money to pay off every month, no brainer. No judgement either way. Make right decision for you. Math, you’re welcome.
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I’d think if you don’t have the money to pay off your expenses every month you need to change some other things…outside of getting credit cards.
 
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