The Best Credit Card for You - Rewards, IR, and More!

[Admin Greg]

What is your favorite credit card? What makes it the best? Rewards? IR? I currently have just a debit card. but I want something that gives me points or miles...

 

[heather223]

I have a debit card that give points!!! I love it. :chef:

 

[jrstephens]

I do not go for points or anything I go for low interest rate.

I have a Citi card that I love b/c the rate is low.

 

[Admin Greg]

I have a debit card that give points!!! I love it. :chef:

oh wow, with who??

 

[Admin Greg]

I do not go for points or anything I go for low interest rate.

I have a Citi card that I love b/c the rate is low.

do cards with points usually have higher rates?

 

[etteluap70PC]

we love our capital one rewards card. We use it for everyday expenses and pay it off every month. It is really easy to redeem points. I use it for airfare. It does take a bit to figure out how it all works but it has bought us at least 3 plane tickets so far.

 

[jrstephens]

do cards with points usually have higher rates?

Normally, the offers that I get in the mail have higher rates on them if they offer me points. I do not know if they all do that but I know the offers I get normally are higher. You have to read the fine print. They will get you will the 0% for so many months offers, but the key is to look at what the rate will be after the initial offer expires.

Same goes for balance tranfers. Some of them charge a transfer fee to transfer balances to them for the lower interest rate and after you pay the fee you could end up paying more than if you had of just left your balances the way they are.

Citi has also been great about waiving a late fee a few times that I completely forgot to mail my payment in time to be posted by the due date too.

 

[heather223]

oh wow, with who??

National City Bank, They are big in this area of the country :chef:

Here is the link to their website: https://www.nationalcity.com/main/pages/home.asp

 

[chefann]

DH has an Amazon-affiliated card that he loves. He earns points on all purchases, and can redeem the points for Amazon gift certificates.

 

[heather223]

National City has points credit cards as well. :chef:

 

[BethCooks4U]

I just got $58 dollars subtracted from my PC credit card because I pay for all my shows with it - that's about all I use it for so it's like an extra $58 commission! (I pay 100% every month)

 

[wadesgirl]

I love my Washington Mutual CC, used to be Providian. I got it when I was younger because they had such pretty card options and I wanted one for emergencies. You can earn points towards their rewards programs. I got a lot of gift cards from the points (resturants, stores, etc). They also have items to purchase with your points also. BUT... the best reason why I like the card is their online account management. I can make a payment, check purchases and my credit score. I will show me my last years credit score from one of the credit bureaus (I think Experian but I can check if you want me to). It shows me how many open accounts I have, closed accounts, how many times I've made payments below the minimum, the minimum and above the minimum for the last three years. You cannot actually see details information about your accounts like you can with a credit report but it helps me keep an eye out on my credit that way. And I've watched my credit score go up over the years so I know I'm doing something good.

 

[jenm42]

I use Chase for absolutely every single purchase I make (and pay it in full each month). We have the Flexible Rewards program, which gives you points based on dollars spent, sometimes with double point bonuses for spending at certain establishments, etc. I can redeem the points for airline miles, merchandise, gift cards, or cash... probably other options too, but those aer the major ones I know about. We used to always get gift cards to restaurants and toys r us, but now I just redeem the points for cash every time.

I know the Flexible Rewards program is still available, but I also know there are other progams that are newer that Chase offers. Usually, if you're looking for a credit card, you can just ask the company which ones they offer and they will tell you. Actually, when I called Chase to cancel the old PC credit card, which I wouldn't use because there was no rewards program, they offered to put a rewards program on it. I declined, because there's no sense in having two...

There's no annual fee or anything, and I don't think it's a particularly high interest rate... it's 10.9% but we never carry a balance anyway, so I don't pay attention to it too much.

I know that Citibank also has rewards, and Capital One, and a whole bunch of others. I used to use Amex but I hate the annual fee.

=) Jen

 

[sfdavis918]

I actually like to keep cash in my wallet so no credit cards! (Sorry I'm a Dave Ramsey fan and just had to comment.) Back to your discussion.

 

[janetupnorth]

I have a Capital One Platinum with 7.9% interest that I'm not giving up! It is variable but has never gone above 9.9%. It is used for emergencies only because I am trying to get down to ZERO debt. See Dave Ramsey thread... Anyway, REALLY watch when you apply. Many offer 0% for x number of months and really watch. I had one that was 0% for 6 months then went to 7.9%, then all of sudden it jumped to about 18%...I THOUGHT I had read all the fine print. Dumped that one...then had one for gas only just to get the rewards and I'd pay it every month in full (this was with Chase). Well, they later ADDED caps to the rewards and also calculated them wrong. I had all the stats - only had the card for 6 months and went through every charge and could NOT see how they got their numbers. Their service sucked so I canned them.Overall, Capital One has been the best/most honest company so far. I will only keep that one and a VISA with my local bank (it is a CC but tied to my checking so if ever used I transfer and pay in full immediately).

 

[lkprescott]

I tend to stay away from the ones with heavy rewards... especially if it's higher with rates - guess they have to make up the difference some where. I have a debit card directly tied to my bank account and one other credit card - I have a recovering credit score so beggar's can't be choosers. LOL... I'm just happy to have one to work on repairing my credit. Anyway, when I had great credit and lots of cards, my favs were the ones with low rates, no annual charges and the rest was fluff. I wouldn't mind having the amazon card... but other than that... I'd look at rates more than anything else. Read everything and don't be shy about dumping a card if it turns out to be a bad deal... better yet, call them before dumping and tell them what they did wrong... sometimes, they adjust rates and take off charges.. especially if you threaten to go with another deal elsewhere.

 

[DebbieJ]

I actually like to keep cash in my wallet so no credit cards! (Sorry I'm a Dave Ramsey fan and just had to comment.) Back to your discussion.

Me too!!! No credit for me.

 

[JAE]

I like my LL Bean card. I hate shopping for clothes at the mall or wherever, and it gives me free shipping if I use the card. I get points for LL Bean coupons - $10 at a time. I buy my jeans and my kids' boots there. I get a lot of points for using it for LL Bean stuff, but I don't get very many points for anything else. I don't care because I'm not willing to apply for a new card. Since my dh started his own business, our credit score has gone way down. I always pay off the personal credit cards, but dh business loans, not so much.

 

[kam]

Not sure about interest rates since I only charge if I can pay it off that month (so no balances) - so I go by rewards. I have a Chase card that gives me Border's money to spend. DH has the Amazon one and every so often a gift slip appears for $25! I think the Amazon card is Chase also.

I think Chase offfers quite a few different rewards (Disney, Gas, Travel).

 

[reba515]

wow I am suprised not seeing the UPromise card. It helps you save $ for college for your kids.
Check it out
Money for College - Upromise

 

[kam]

I just got $58 dollars subtracted from my PC credit card because I pay for all my shows with it - that's about all I use it for so it's like an extra $58 commission! (I pay 100% every month)

Is this the new PC credit card we had to get in Jan? I didn't get it since
1) I had JUST applied for the other card in September when I signed and I didn't want my credit checked again - not sure if all that activity raises flags
2) there was so much discussion on here about the card (mostly concern)
3)I was just ticked that they made us change it

So, how do you like the card? Now taht I see what you got back, it might be worth getting. There was also discussion on the card being a secured (I think)credit card - is that true?

 

[Admin Greg]

A PC credit card is an awesome idea!

 

[luvs2sellit]

I only have a debit card and a Amex that we use very rarely. We used the Amex alot when building our home so we could get the rewards. I am a Dave ramsey fan as well so we pay the bill off monthly if there is a balance.

 

[merego]

I love our American Express card and we get Delta SkyMiles, we have traveled all over on those miles.

 

[Debala715]

Like Heather, I have a National City bank account, so I use their debit card (I rarely carry cash anymore). With their debit check card (if you use it as a credit), for every $1 you spend you get 2 points. If you use it as a debit, then you get a flat 25 points per transaction. Love it!

 

[mommyhugz1978]

I have a Wells Fargo Credit Card that gets miles and points on my debit card interest is 6.5% on the credit card.

 

[trps]

Gas card Shell offers 5% back for gas and 1% for all other purchases I have earned thousands of dollars in free gas. I use it for everything pay it off and the free gas just comes off each month so I don't have to do anything special.

 

[PampMomof3]

I actually like to keep cash in my wallet so no credit cards! (Sorry I'm a Dave Ramsey fan and just had to comment.) Back to your discussion.

Me too! No debt for me!! Although it would be easier to just book my hotel room for conference right now but I'll wait until I have the money in my checking account.:blushing:

 

[IAmChefJ]

I have a Disney card from Chase that I earn Disney Dollars on. Love it!

 

[pamperedalf]

I have a discover card that earns cash back. I love it!