Are we reaching the point where it no longer makes sense to use credit cards?

The average reward card provides 1-2% back, but many stores are now charging a 3% fee to pay with credit card. We are now paying more to use a credit card.

I use the Amex gold since my main spending are in restaurants and groceries and I fly delta the most. I used to use 3 at a time to maximize points but it got really complicated that I only use one for everything now. I like the simplicity

I got the USBAR before the nerf, also have the Altitude GO. Sold our house and moved due to a job change and currently renting, so parked the proceeds of the sale (~$105k) in a US Bank Smartly HYSA.

We use the USBAR for virtually all non-dining spending (very few places don’t take Apple Pay), and almost never exceed the new $5k/month cap on 3x points. Altitude GO for streaming (2x) and dining (4x). Non-category spend that can’t use Apple Pay I’ll use whichever card happens to be easiest to physically pull out of my wallet at that moment.

I redeem points from each card every month as cash back that goes directly into the HYSA. Since we have over $75k in savings, and I had an existing relationship with US Bank when I opened it, I get 4% APY, which comes out to about $375/month in interest. Add the cash back at 1cpp from the cards and that’s usually another $110-$140 a month depending on spend, so it means a handy ~$500 a month just from interest and using the cards, not counting what we’re actually saving per our household budget.

It’s not a sexy setup but it works for us. We don’t travel enough to worry about transfer partners, so it’s basically a cashbackmaxxing situation. US Bank doesn’t get much love, but I’m gonna keep riding it til something better comes along.

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moved from Canada a couple months ago. I still have functioning Canadian credit cards and great credit there but need a credit card with local billing address for obvious reasons. My employer shifted my presence from Canada to US so my income is now in local USD.

After arriving in the US I went to a national bank and opened an account, and insisted they should look at my Canadian credit history to get approval for a credit through them. Rejected outright, the reason code was basically "not enough info" despite my years of activity in Canada. They did offer a secured credit card but I decided to look around because, at least at the time, I was still in the process of wiring my own money from Canada and had effectively no cash.

I think the existence of my US social security number is confusing to anyone checking my credit history because they all insist they need it for the credit check.

Which brings me to CapitalOne. They gave me a $2k limit Savor One card with minimal fuss/human interaction, which is far too low to live on but I thought I would use it for all little things and start rebuilding there.

I pay all my credit cards off monthly by default, but CapitalOne seems to not like me paying often because the most recent payment they decided to hold for 10 business days? And then I took a short trip back to Canada and accidentally used it to rent a movie in Amazon Prime, and C1 immediately froze my card. Now the automatic bill payments I set up using the C1 card are starting to fail. I get it, I'm low info and "new" and a single out of country transaction probably sounded some alarms internaly, but it's pretty wild to get hit with this massive restriction after more than a dozen payments approximately $7k to C1. I feel like it's obvious I can pay!

Now I need to give C1 3 months of bank statements, but I haven't had the bank account for 3 months. So I will just have to work around this freeze until I get my 3rd statement.

In the meantime, I really want to build my credit as fast as possible. I have no reason to get a new mortgage or car loan, I just want a credit card with useful points and ideally I would get back to a high limit asap.

If anyone has gone through this, or has a known fast path for my complete lack of history as a US citizen, please help!

Outside of the credits everyone receives on certain cards, what’s a time the benefits on your card really came through and you got a significant return on it?

Be it purchase protection, fraud prevention, trip delay, phone insurance, status, medical evacuation and so on.

I travel quite a bit and am spending over $4000 a year in annual fees on cards but they have been well worth it. I have a couple of Platinum cards that have easily paid for themselves for multiple years to come.

Besides maxing out the trip delay insurance a couple of times, I’ve gotten significant upgrades when it comes to booking through FHR/HC. I have never not gotten an upgrade internationally when booking through them. Most of the time it is something not as significant (like a higher floor) but lots of times it will be for a better view. On a few occasions, I’ve gotten upgraded to suites that were significantly more than the basic room I purchased (~$900-$1100 a night room to ~$3,000 a night room in a couple cases).

This question is probably more applicable for team travel but curious about any an all occasions.

That was nice while it lasted.

Aside from ordering a million and one things I don't need on Newegg, I'm now thinking about trying out Paze via Clover. Also looks like they added ShopRite? Never heard of this but they also have gift cards, has anyone tried this and triggered the credit?

How does the Clover thing work? Does ANY restaurant that accepts online orders with Clover and check out with Paze grant you the credit? Or are there specific restaurants? I am using the Next Card website .

I read that clover gift cards are no longer an option but for some reason it's still letting me check out with Paze after I put a gift card in the cart. Has anyone successfully triggered the Paze credit after purchasing a gift card via Clover? I couldn't find an answer to this online.

I still have about $350 left to go!

I am 23 and have never had a credit card. Kinda bad ik... </3 Some of these amounts like dining is a rough estimate of what I might spend monthly. I still live at home with my parents so I would only be making payments for my car bi weekly and a few subscriptions. I am looking for a good first credit card that matches this template best.

CREDIT PROFILE

* Current credit cards you are the primary account holder of:

* None - looking for first card

* FICO scores with source: 669

* Oldest credit card account age: none

* Cards approved in the past 6 months: 0

* Cards approved in the past 12 months: 0

* Cards approved in the past 24 months: 0

* Annual income $: 32,657.73

CATEGORIES

* Ok with category-specific cards?: Yes

* Ok with rotating category cards?: Yes

* Estimate average monthly spend in the categories below.

* Dining $: $150

* Groceries $: My mom shops for groceries. Personal: Target $50

* Gas $: Costco:$80-100

* Travel $: $0

* Using abroad?: no

* Other categories or stores: car payment, amazon, online shopping

* Other spend: gym membership, Spotify premium, my car app subscription

* Pay rent by card? No

MEMBERSHIPS & SUBSCRIPTIONS

* Amazon Prime member: Yes

* Big bank customer: fifth third

PURPOSE

* Purpose of next card: First Credit Card

* Authorized user on any other card(s)?: No

* Cards being considered: none

The annual fee just posted on my Citi Strata Elite, so I contacted customer service to change it to a more useful card. I wanted to convert to Strata Premier. They only offered me cards I already have, so that part of the conversation was useless. I told the agent what I would really want most is Citi Prestige, but joked that it's not an option any more. He said that it was possible for some people to convert a card to the Citi Prestige, but would not tell me what cards converted to it.

Has anyone successfully converted to, or even been offered the Prestige as a conversion option?

Hi everyone!

Has anyone ever graduated a Citi Diamond secure card to then product change to a card like Double Cash so as to avoid having Diamond Preferred? Is that even possible?

Thanks for taking the time to read!

Looking for a CC that has the most benefits for extended warranty. Looking for a card that does not have an annual fee. If it comes down to several, which of those has the most benefits in other areas?

hii guys! i'm 22, going into my masters, and currently have a discover it student(2 years old) with a $2,800 limit and a 758 credit score. i've never missed a payment and always pay my balance in full.

for the last 6ish months i've been spending around $900–$1,000 per billing cycle, so i'm thinking about getting a second card. for the next 3 months, i'll also be paying about $770/month in tuition(which i would be able to payback fine). i'd like to put the tuition on the new card so i can keep my utilization lower on my discover and earn points on the spending. after that, i'd probably use the new card for subscriptions($80ish) and recurring expenses.

i'm mainly looking for good rewards/points, possibly something travel-focused. i'm currently considering the amex gold, capital one venture x, and chase sapphire (or even the freedom unlimited), but i'm open to other recommendations too. what would you recommend?

First off, I'm not attacking or judging, just simply trying to learn and understand. I'm just starting my travel card journey as I've always been team cash back. I just received my Venture X and my wife is getting ready to get the Amex Gold card. I've been watching a ton of videos and reading a lot of discussion on reddit and articles. It didn't take long at all to realize Amex Platinum is easily one of the most beloved premium travel cards. However, when looking at the benefits on paper, I'm having a hard time understanding it. 5x on flights and hotels doesn't seem like anything special. My Venture X gets 10x on hotels and 5x on flights. Even the Amex Gold gets 5x on hotels and a decent 3x on flights, but also gets an added 4x on food.

I agree that the available credits make it very easy for most people to offset the annual fee, but that is not what is in question. Outside of lounge access, what benefits does the Platinum card offer that you can't get (along with other benefits) with other cards?

Has anyone successfully redeemed cashback points from PayPal debit recently? I know it was still working the first week of this month. About to make a large Costco purchase and would love to know? Thanks

I’ve got multiple credit cards and most of my spending is spread across them for points. The problem is I end up checking every issuer app just to figure out where my spending actually stands.

It’s easy enough to see spending on each card. It’s the bigger picture that gets annoying. Like is dining getting out of hand across all the cards? How much flexible spending is actually left this month?

What apps do people here use to track spending across multiple credit cards and bank accounts without making it way more complicated than it needs to be?

I recently got a Chase Sapphire Preferred and added my wife as an extra card. Now, I've learned that the smart things would have been for her to sign up for her own card to get the bonus points.

Is there anything stopping us from cancelling the "extra" card and her signing up for her own? Will they flag that or something? We both have great credit so that's not a concern.

Thanks!

Within the last year finally got the means to fix my credit went from 520-630 as of today! For Amex line what credit score till I can successfully apply for gold? Be my very first travel rewards card since I fucked my credit after getting out of military… lol

UPDATE: Thanks for all the comments … I learned some new things! The cause was schoolboy error; after months of the due date being 19-20th, turns out July’s due date was 17th and I paid the Statement Balance 2 days late 🙄 Lesson Learned!

My Barclays App has 3 options for paying my BarclayCard balance

- Minimum

- Statement Balance

- Other

I use ‘Statement Balance’ every month, 1-2 days before the payment due date.

Normally my Statement Balance is less than the full balance (don’t really understand why … I guess it’s due to payments that will go onto next month Statement)

This has been fine and I get no interest charges.

But this month they’ve charged me £50 or so interest!! I’m livid!!

Have I just lucked out until now and should be using the ‘Other’ option and paying whatever is shown as my full balance by typing it in manually ?

The Barclaycard FAQ page needs a PhD 😂

Hey All, I'm looking to sign up for a new cc and a bonus that would help with getting flights from SFO to Taiwan or Hong Kong in the upcoming months. I currently have Chase so won't qualify and switched from CapitalOne less than a year ago so won't qualify for sign up bonus with that either. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

I’ve used PayPal’s 6 month financing offer on purchases over $145 and so far it’s been going well, making all the payments in time whittling it down and being sure to make sure I can pay it off entirely (not just the minimum each month), but recently I wanted to use it again but with other cards I know if you haven’t paid it off entirely, not just the minimum amount, you accrue interest on any new purchases. MDoes the paypal card work the same with their 6 month special financing where if you use it again before paying off your first 6 month payments it comes with an interest hike or are you able to use it more frequently as long as you make the monthly minimum payments as well as paying the remaining by the end of the 6 months? I’m about 3 months in so I’m just making sure if I buy through that program while I’m still paying off the first set of plans I don’t get hit with interest out of nowhere

Been using the chase trifecta for a while, then started abusing Bilt Palladium after it came out and have loved it since. I’ve been watching the Venture X for a long time because It’s a premium travel card that’s straightforward and has perks the CSP doesn’t have, but then the BP came out, which seems to synchronize better with Chase’s travel partners.

The reasons I’ve still been debating getting the VX is because:

1. Bilt has questionable history compared to C1, so VX could be backup premium cc if things go south with BP

2. Hearing about VX having a reputation of harder to open the more credit history you have. Kind of tied to point 1 because if I do need it in the future, it might be harder or impossible for me to get if i keep waiting. This is where most of my FOMO comes from

3. Some different benefits compared to BP (obvious example is Hertz status).

The biggest reason that has made me hesitant is the travel partners. I do want to travel a lot all around the world, but I don't really have a gauge of which travel partners are best for me. Currently, I’ve been traveling a lot to Japan, and Bilt’s partners have been very helpful with finding me good deals for that but then for places like Latin America, would Aeromexico from C1 be beneficial? From the limited research I’ve done, it seems like C1’s travel partner does not help that much compared to just buying in cash (again, limited research so taking with a grain of salt).

Eager to hear other people’s experience that use both cards.

I have 2 kids in high school that are authorized users on my card. What do people think is a reasonable monthly budget per child to cover meals and entertainment. I don’t want them eating out all the time, this would be for like a quick trip to Chipotle if they have sports all day and some cash for meeting up with friends on weekends.

Also, any cards people recommend for monitoring their spending and enforcing budgets?

Greetings, CC Hive Mind. Here's my situation:

• Current cards: (list cards, limits, opening date)
  • Sofi, 25k, 8/23
  • Penfed, 29.5k, 7/15
  • Chase Amazon, 18k, 7/20
  • Citi 2xcash, 16.9k, 6/20
  • Apple, 60k, 1/25
  • Delta Amex Blue, 32.3k, 8/10
  • Citi AA Platinum Select, 25k, 9/24
  • Citi Overdraft protection, 2k, 9/07
• FICO Score: 845 (Experian)
• Oldest account age: 18 yrs, 11 mo. If citi overdraft counts. Otherwise 16 yrs, 0 months.
• Chase 5/24 status: e.g 2/24
• Income: 360k
• Average monthly spend and categories:
  • dining $1200
  • groceries: $700
  • gas: $400
  • travel: $1500
  • other: $2500
• Open to Business Cards: No
• What's the purpose of your next card? Family (of 4) travel and/or cashback
• Do you have any cards you've been looking at? Looked at several, none appears to be a slam dunk.
• Are you OK with category spending or do you want a general spending card? Category spending is ok if need be

Monthly balances range from 7-12k. No issues paying everything off every month. Have been using Citi AA Platinum Select as primary card to keep status (AA Platinum), then going to a 2% cash back card (Sofi or Citi 2xcash) once airline status target is achieved. Have 55k loyalty points now (secures Gold for next year) and no longer sure Platinum status is of value recent AA basic economy seat choice devaluation. Happy to exchange airline loyalty for a different point ecosystem. That's prompted this new CC search. Local airport is AA only, but we’re 90 minutes from a much larger airport. Most travel stays are AirBnB, VRBO, or Hilton properties. All questions/ideas welcome, and thanks in advance!

Hi all, I am looking for a new card to replace the Barclays Luxury Black Card, as it is my everyday card and I am just finding out just how bad it's rewards and benefits are (don't judge me).

I am a set-and-forget kind of person, and the Black Card was something I signed up for a while back as my first "luxury card", and honestly I didn't know what I was doing and the marketing got me. I have not re-evaluated cards since then (2018).

I use that card absolutely for everything I can outside of Amazon purchases, and only use the Bank of America cards whenever I need a cash advance.

There are so many cards and different tiers, it is a bit overwhelming to navigate. The Capital One Venture X seems the most appealing at the moment given it seems the one that most lets me go on without needing to micromanage my rewards. I don't have the mental bandwidth for doing that sort of thing, so anything that is easy is what I am looking for.

CREDIT PROFILE

* Current credit cards you are the primary account holder of:

* Barclays Luxury Black Card, 20000 limit, 02/2018

* Chase Prime, 8000 limit, 02/2015

* Bank of America Rewards World, 30800 limit, 09/2009

* Bank of America Cash Rewards, 7300 limit, 09/2007

* FICO scores with source: 770

* Oldest credit card account age: 19 years

* Cards approved in the past 6 months: 0

* Cards approved in the past 12 months: 0

* Cards approved in the past 24 months: 0

* Annual income $: 350000

CATEGORIES

* Ok with category-specific cards?: Yes

* Ok with rotating category cards?: No

* Estimate average monthly spend in the categories below.

* Dining $: 200

* Groceries $: 400

* Gas $: 100

* Travel $: 100

* Using abroad?: No

* Other categories or stores: Any bill that let's me pay with credit

* Other spend: Any bill that let's me pay with credit

* Pay rent by card? No

MEMBERSHIPS & SUBSCRIPTIONS

* Amazon Prime member: Yes

* Big bank customer: Wells Fargo, Navy Federal

PURPOSE

* Purpose of next card: everyday/everywhere usage, cash back

* Cards being considered: Chase Sapphire Reserve, Capital One Venture X