Credit cards can be an incredible tool in managing one’s finances (if used responsibly). Ever since I’ve gotten my first credit card my senior year of college, I’ve appreciated these little slips of plastic. I get great rewards, fraud protection, and additional insurance / warranties on purchases and car rentals.
When I am in the market for a new credit card, I try to take the time to find the best credit cards for my lifestyle and spending patterns. A consultant who travels every week for business should get a frequent flier card that will provide the best perks and most upgrades. A big family may do best with a card that provides a high cash back ratio at grocery stores. Someone who keeps a balance on their card should look for one with low interest rates.
Right now, I have two credit cards that I use the most frequently – a Citi Visa that gives me great rewards (namely, Sephora gift cards), and a British Airways card that I got when a 100,000 miles sign-on bonus was promoted earlier this year. I get my year’s makeup with the Sephora gift cards, and I am looking for free airfare with the BA card.
What do you look for when getting a new credit card?
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After I ran up a pretty high credit card bill and busted my a** to pay it off, I went credit card free for a while. But frankly, using cash isn't convenient. When I felt that my mindset about credit had changed substantially enough, I went back to using my Citi Dividend card. And I freaking love that thing! Every couple months I redeem my Dividend Dollars in the form of a check. It's like free money because I'm buying stuff I would have bought anyway and paying off my balance every month.
Sorry Dave Ramsey, but if you can use credit cards responsibly it's really dumb not to.
I am all about the frequent flier miles, since I pay off my cards every month. I use the miles to travel overseas.
I am actually not looking for any new credit cards since I already have 7. But if I had 2 and was looking for another, I'd be looking for the same things: namely, ones that have great rewards/cash back. One of my favorite cards is the Amazon Chase Card because you can use the points towards purchases right on Amazon's site. The conversion is the same with 100 points = $1. Except, you don't need to have a minimum to use towards any purchase. So if you only have 100 points, you get $1 off your purchase.
Truthfully, I've never used any of the ancillary benefits of a card such as insurance/fraud protection. Not sure if I need to activate them and I don't even know if they are there.
That sounds like a pretty cool card. I've found that I get better deals when it's points => gift card vs. points => cash.
I use 2 CCs, but have an additional few in a lock box. The one CC is a 0% reward card. Gone are the days of 5% for the gas, supermarket, and pharmacy and even some of the 3% deals on the same goods with 1% on all additonal purchases.
The other one is a Chase Platnium Rewards card that I link, or at least link the bills I can, to auto pay each month. This card offered as much as 5% on certain purchases until Spring of 2011. Now it is down to 3% and 1%.
For those who pay off balance in full, rewards cards are a sweet deal! I have an Amazon rewards card – I couldn't be happier!
I've got two cards – one that is for my mom's use (she wanted to pay for part of my sister's wedding last year – like $3K) and one for mine – Citibank Dividend. I'm thinking about ditching the dividend card and getting a Southwest Airlines Visa/MC…but worried they won't give me their top tier card because I'm clearly a "deadbeat" (someone who generates almost no profit to them). Top tier card = enough miles/points for about 4 one-way tickets — but I'm worried they're dangling a carrot that very few people ever get.
I've got two main credit cards (and two others I keep open but don't use because they are my longest credit history). One (Chase Freedom) gives me points, that I can turn into dollars (via gift cards, or as dollars discounted off of a flight – I got a free flight in May from these points).
@ moneymatekate – My other card is the Southwest Airlines Visa, and I did get 4 one way flights when I signed up last winter. I redeemed them for flights for our honeymoon in June. I'm almost to enough points for a roundtrip ticket to Boston this fall. I'm not a huge profit generator for them either (I carry a balance maybe once a year, and only for 1-2 months while I wait for reimbursements from work). I think my interest paid every year totals less than $15. They earn money every time we swipe the card though (they charge fees to the merchants) so because I make a lot of small purchases, they probably do get more from me than I pay them directly.
@investing newbie and @moneycone I need to check out this Amazon card. been hearing great things about it
I got the Banana Republic card because I shop there (and at Gap/Old Navy) almost exclusively, and the rewards are good…if I remember to bring them with me to the store.
We're talking about getting a card that will earn us miles that we could use on our honeymoon…
I thought about getting a BR card, but for some reason I haven't been shopping there as often as I had in the previous couple of years. A friend of mine has a BR card and she loves it. She's always getting these $10 off coupons in the mail.
I recently got a BR card and love that you can use it at other retailers, something I wasn't aware of when I applied for it.