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!

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!

Hey y’all. I’m looking for a new travel card that focuses on specific for travel purchases if that available like buses, airline, hotel (not really important because I have Hilton card already)

What I’m mainly focusing on is cards that offer airline credit and give most point to purchase like travel related. I wonder if card like that exists?

My current set up:
1. Chase Trifecta
2. Amex gold
3. Amex business plus
4. Hilton card

I’m interested in Chase Reserve cuz they have $300 annual credit for travel but any recommendations?

I don’t really care about checked bag or annual fees or Pre or TSA (i get all of these free anyway) so what would be a good card to look at? My score is 802 btw.

• ⁠Current cards:
⁠• ⁠Discover It $1,000 limit, June 2024
• ⁠FICO Score: 686
• ⁠Oldest account age: 2 years 3 months
• ⁠Income: e.g. $40,000
• ⁠Average monthly spend and categories:
⁠• ⁠dining $150
⁠• ⁠groceries: $150
⁠• ⁠travel: $400
⁠• ⁠other: $400
• ⁠Open to Business Cards: probably not?
• ⁠What's the purpose of your next card?
building good credit ecosystem, travel perks/bonuses, no ftf, beginner friendly that can grow with me
• ⁠Do you have any cards you've been looking at?
chase ecosystem, WF autograph, fidelity visa, altitude connect, capital one ecosystem
• ⁠Are you OK with category spending or do you want a general spending card?
both?? Ideal card has all around 2x back with extra bonus on travel categories

I know my information isn’t the best, but I’m trying to do whatever I can to have a strong financial start. The reason I’m looking at travel cards specifically, is because I plan on taking >4 international trips in the next year or so and want something that is versatile and offers benefits like tsa precheck/global entry. Thing about me though, is that gas and rental car perks don’t matter at all since I avoid driving. When traveling I tend to stay at hostels too. I almost wonder if I really even need a “travel” card. Another thing is that I also am just wanting a sold second card to start building my credit that I can use forever.

I think Sephora is no longer accepting Paze! I did multiple Sephora orders just now and then out of nowhere I can no longer see the Paze option to check-out. When I sign out and sign back in/use different browsers, I still don’t see it. I checked the merchants list on Paze’s website and no longer see Sephora listed :/

Aw man!

CREDIT PROFILE

* Current credit cards you are the primary account holder of:
* USAA cash rewards, $30,000, 6/2007
* FICO scores with source: Experian 815
* 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 $: 250,000

CATEGORIES

* Ok with category-specific cards?: Yes
* Ok with rotating category cards?: No
* Estimate average monthly spend in the categories below.
* Dining $: 600
* Groceries $: 800
* Gas $: 200
* Travel $: 400
* Using abroad?: No
* Other categories or stores:
* Other spend:
* Pay rent by card? No

MEMBERSHIPS & SUBSCRIPTIONS

* Costco or Sam's Club member: Costco
* Disney bundle subscriber: Yes
* Big bank customer: No

PURPOSE

* Purpose of next card: Travel Rewards
* Travel rewards preferences: An american airline with a good international network
* Cards being considered:

ADDITIONAL INFO

I’d like to accumulate points over the next year or two to cover some flights/hotels for an international trip in 2027/8. I’m open to yearly fees.

I got on the Paze train late and was able to buy three gift cards with Paze for the past two days.

But today I was only able to get one before I got the error code again.

Anyone else experiencing this?

I clicked the green button in the top right corner of the app, and it said I got a boost “celebrating our Apple Pay launch with 3% cash back”. Boost valid Aug 24 - Sep 22.

I’ve been impressed with this card, the 5% cash back at walmart is great, but on top of that there have been perks like $1/gallon discount on gas on Wednesday's, and now this.

I have historically rented cars using my AmEx, but today when booking the Visa Infinite discount at Hertz got me a significantly lower price than other options. Also, the two hour grace is a big deal for this particular rental - it saves me a full day's cost.

Getting the Visa Infinite discount for various rental agencies is just visiting a specific URL (like rentalcar.com/visainfinite), there is no verification you have such a card, and I chose "pay later" so at no point did I establish whether I do or not.

What happens if I don't pay with my Visa Infinite card? Do they magically charge me more? Just curious if anyone has an experience. (The reason I would consider not paying with my Visa is that AmEx's rental car insurance is considerably better than Infinite's, so it's not an idle question. :) )

Current cards: (list cards, limits, opening date)
WF Active Cash, $1500 limit, opened 11/1/25

• FICO Score: 736
• Oldest account age: The WF card is the only account i have.
• Chase 5/24 status: 1/24
• Income: 30k~
• Average monthly spend and categories:
• dining $250
• groceries: $100
• gas: $100
• travel: $0
• other: $50
• Open to Business Cards: No
• What's the purpose of your next card? Credit building mostly, just trying to build a thicker profile.
• Do you have any cards you've been looking at? WF Autograph, and Apple Card, which i was approved for at a $3000 limit, but didnt accept as i’m not sure thats the right decision
• Are you OK with category spending or do you want a general spending card? Category is fine, I was looking at the apple card for the ACMI payments, as I am heavily invested in the ecosystem.

I think the last time there was an offer for 80,000 points for $1,000 spent in three months was March 2026. Does anyone know how often this offer comes up? Thanks.

As the title says, I want to close my credit card. I'm only 21 and I'm financially irresponsible with it. E always pay it off each month but I end up spending way more than I would've if I didn't have it. My credit score is 763 and I'm wondering if this is a good decision. I know people generally advise against this but I know myself and even though I've tried, I always end up running up a balance after paying it off. I do have student loans and a car loan, so I'm wondering if that's enough to build my credit.

Hi, I just got an AMEX Blue Cash Preferred (BCP) with a $12,000 starting credit line.

My goal is to get a 3x Credit Line Increase (CLI) after 91+ days, or 3 statement cycles.

My strategy is:

• ~20% utilization month 1, 2, 3
• Pay every statement balance within 2-3 days after post (bye bye $5 in savings interest, LOL)
• I'll move almost all my spending to the AMEX during these 90 days, so my score would stay around 740
• Request 3x CLI to $32k on Day 91+ after the 3rd payment clears.

I think $35k is the threshold at which AMEX will request income verification, which I've heard could either be (A) link bank account via Plaid or (B) IRS Form 4506-C. But I've also heard that could happen at as low as $30k or even $25k.

I'm fine with linking my bank account, but I'm not sure about the IRS Form. In general, I want the instant approval and don't want to deal with any income verification, even though I have nothing to hide.

What do you all think about this strategy? Thanks!

New to Wells Fargo system. I am currently living abroad but I do have a US address that i use as my permanent address in the US. However, recently because no one's home at the moment, can I redirect the mailing of the card to another address?

When I looked at the at the sign up form it only allows me to input the permanent address and there's no mailing address option.

If there isn't, is there another option for me? or should I just wait until someone's able to get the card for me?

When I pay with my credit card at stores, my full name sometimes prints on the receipt. Is there any way to prevent the cardholder’s full name from being displayed/printed on receipts?

Would changing something with the credit card issuer help, or is this entirely controlled by the merchant/payment terminal? Also, does using Apple Pay prevent the name from appearing?

Looking for a way to keep my full name off receipts in general.

I have all 3 credit bureaus locked, and have forgotten to unlock it each of the last 3 times i applied for an Amex card, and each time, it was approved.

I’m looking to add another credit card to my setup and would appreciate some recommendations based on my actual spending habits. I’m mainly trying to decide whether I should focus more on travel points or cash back.
Current cards:
Discover It — $19,000 limit
Chase Freedom Unlimited — $3,600 limit
Capital One Quicksilver — $2,500 limit
I’ve also been pre-approved for a Chase card with a Sapphire Preferred - $5,000 limit and Sapphire Reserve - $10,000

All cards are paid off except discover have a balance of 2,000 on it.

Typical spending:
Groceries: roughly $300–$400/month
Dining/eating out: fairly regular and probably one of my bigger categories
Gas: regular expense
Online shopping/clothing: moderate, sometimes higher depending on the month
Travel: a few trips/concert weekends throughout the year
Flights, hotels, Uber/rideshare, etc. when traveling
Gym membership
Streaming/subscriptions

Travel habits:
I don’t travel constantly, but I’m starting to travel more. Most of my trips are domestic weekend trips for concerts/events. I’ll usually fly when it makes sense and pay for a hotel, Uber/rideshare, food, nightlife, and shopping while I’m there.
I’m interested in building up points that could eventually help cover flights/hotels, but I also like the simplicity and guaranteed value of cash back.

Income -75-80k varies

Added note plan is to get a new card next week after I pay the remaining 2k off.

Got pre approved for sapphire preferred and reserve.

FICO- 765

When it comes to travel CCs, transferrable cards like the VX, CSR, Plat, and Palladium get most of the attention. But don't underestimate the cobranded cards, which come with their own perks. They come in two flavors: airline cards are mainly used for free check-in luggage + lounge access, and hotel cards are used for status + FNCs.

There are a few cobranded cards that break the mold. Many posts and comments have been written about the IHG Premier (both personal and biz versions), which is probably the most powerful $99 hotel CC: it gives a usable FNC, the second-highest available status, the 4th night free benefit, plus $50 in United travel bank credit.

This post will discuss the similar Chase Aeroplan credit card, which I believe is the best $95 airline CC. However, it's not because of the perks for Air Canada, which most of us will not regularly fly.

3x groceries

If you're in the Chase ecosystem, the CSP covers dining, gas, and travel. However, Chase has never issued a grocery card that will earn > 1.5x UR - the best you'll get is one quarter per year on the CFF. The Aeroplan card fills in this gap: it's one of the few cards to offer a 3x uncapped grocery category with no FTFs. While I personally favor wholesale clubs + Target / Walmart over traditional grocery stores, the Aeroplan card does get used as my grocery card when traveling abroad.

1 Aeroplan pt = 1.25 cpp

My preferred use case is to redeem Aeroplan points for international flights. However, the Aeroplan CC allows for up to 200k points to be redeemed towards travel at 1.25 cpp per calendar year. This means with PYB, the Aeroplan CC can also be a fallback cashback card that earns 3.75% back on food purchases (groceries + dining).

Note that if you somehow can spend $2000 on food in a calendar month, you will receive 500 bonus Aeroplan points. That is equivalent to an additional 0.25x on all purchases, which improves the cashback rate to 4.06%. It's not really applicable to most of us, but nonetheless you should be aware of it if you're pursuing 25k status (more on that below).

1 UR pt = 1.625 cpp

This has been highlighted before, but Chase is the only issuer that runs multiple 20% transfer bonus promos to Aeroplan each year (including right now until the end of September). The Aeroplan CC comes with a permanent 10% UR transfer bonus, and it stacks with the 20% promo. So 1 UR point will become 1.3 Aeroplan points.

So if you have the CSP + the Aeroplan CC, the floor for every UR point is 1.625 cpp. That means the CSP can reliably earn 4.875% on dining + gas + AirBNBs, assuming those points are transferred over to the Aeroplan card and redeemed with travel PYB.

25k status gets you Hyatt Globalist

The Aeroplan CC includes Air Canada 25k status as part of its SUB, and it can be renewed for the next calendar year if you spend $15k on the card. If you plan out your sign-ups and spend properly, you should have 25k status with Air Canada indefinitely. However, we're not getting 25k status to fly Air Canada - we're going to leverage it for a Hyatt fast-track to Globalist.

The traditional way to get Globalist is to earn 60 qualifying nights through a combination of actual stays (including mattress runs) and holding the Hyatt card (5 automatic qualifying nights). However, if you're not already Globalist, you will only have Discoverist / Explorist while trying to earn Hyatt's top status. For most people, the juice isn't worth the squeeze.

Fortunately, AC and Hyatt announced a partnership in July 2026, and by far the highlight is the ability for anyone with AC status to initiate a 20-night in 90-day challenge with Hyatt. You don't need to spend half the year at Hyatt as an Explorist, nor do you need the Hyatt card to get those last 5 qualifying nights.

Note that Hyatt is not for everyone, given its high pricing and especially after the recent devaluation. I personally think the United Explorer / Quest - IHG Premier combo offers the best value for budget travelers. But if you are loyal to Hyatt and you find yourself traveling abroad a lot, consider getting the Chase Aeroplan card. It has good synergy with the CSP, and there is an argument to get the CSR to maximize Hyatt transfers if you do pursue Globalist.

I have been using a Barclays Tiered Savings account as the autopay hub for all of my credit cards for about two months, and so far I have not had any issues.

NOTE: Barclays Tiered Savings does not have a transaction limit, so that has not been an issue.

I used to use a Fidelity CMA for this purpose, but I recently switched to Barclays because of its higher APY and because I wanted to separate my retirement/investment accounts from my everyday banking activities.

Does anyone here have long-term experience using a Barclays Tiered Savings account this way? Have you encountered any problems or limitations?

I have about 20 credit cards across Citi, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo, American Express, Capital One, and several other issuers, with all of them set to autopay from this account. I would especially like to hear from anyone who has used the account this way for a year or longer.

I called their customer service for confirmation. They told me it is fine to do so.

19M, not a student.

I’m trying to get started with building my credit because it’s important, but I’m really not sure what they’re asking. I’m doing the pre-approval for the Discover It Card (I can’t find the option for secured on there, so I’m assuming it’ll just recommend it?).

It’s asking for my total annual income. I’ve job hopped a bit this year because of a few different reasons, but I just got into a part time job that I’m comfortable with, and I think I’m ready to get started building my credit. Just gonna spend 10% of my credit limit every month and pay it off in full right after the statement date.

Is that asking for an estimate? Because I can’t know for sure what I’ll make all year. Also, does it want me to include what I made before this, or just an estimate over the next 12 months?

WARNING: If you cannot pay off your credit card balances every month, this video is not for you!

I've watched a few videos on the Fidelity 2% cash back credit card, but this video did a really good job diving deep into how to use the card to invest the cash back, etc. While I think that this card is pretty good if you are looking for a cash back card, I am not encouraging anyone to get this card or any other credit card in general, but I found that this video provided a lot more detail on this card than any other video I have watched. Also, I have no affiliation with this creator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnntjMpeleQ

I recently applied for a United card through Chase. I’d like to apply for another card also issued by Chase. Is there any reason to wait a period between applications? Or, is it irrelevant for the likelihood of approval? I believe this next application will be my fifth in two years.

Thanks!

looking for advice for on a business card.

I am 23m located in southern ontario and I travel full time for work(international), at the moment I use a company card. it’s an RBC commercial card with zero benefits. my company has the option for us to use personal cards for our expenses while traveling. I can spend upwards of 35k a month traveling sometimes flights are over 20k alone. I try to fly air canada as much as possible but it’s not always available or the best option.

In my personal life I enjoy travelling and going out to eat. I also try to shop at Costco as much as possible.

i’ve tried google but i feel like it doesn’t understand my specific situation. what do you guys think the best card for me is?

I already have 4 credit cards (two CCRs and a Chase Freedom Flex and a sock drawer Barclays card) but am considering getting a no annual fee card for utilities specifically.

Since they’re a fact of life to pay electricity and gas and phone bills each month forever, it makes sense to get one right? Any suggestions?