Credit Card Discussion

Yourrid · 2019-08-08T21:17:58.000Z

Good point! I really wish the AMEX Gold card you can get when you get the Platinum had the same rewards as a regular Gold card.

What card line up are you using?

amishbill · 2019-08-08T21:25:42.000Z

I’ve stuck with a BOA VISA since most of my other accounts are there and paying it off is dirt simple.

I’ve started flying every other month or so, so I got a Delta Gold Amex. Flying from Atlanta and almost exclusively on Delta, the free checked bag and priority boarding is a nice perk. My first year is up in November, and I’m looking to see up upgrading to a Delta Platinum or Reserve would get me any real benefits after considering the fee increases. Will they give you the standard bonuses if you’re moving up their food chain?

Yourrid · 2019-08-08T21:29:14.000Z

Amishbill - I’m not sure about the Delta Amex, but all the cards I’ve been looking at only give you the bonus when you sign up for a new account/card. Unless they specifically send you an invite to upgrade with a bonus, which seems to be pretty rare.

toddcshoe · 2019-08-09T06:01:38.000Z

I don’t really travel so any kind of airline point schemes don’t help me. I have a checking, savings, and credit card account with a local bank here. Only 4 branches in the entire county. Regardless of where I get debit or credit cards, I like the option to turn off and on my cards on demand. All the cards stay turned off until I use them. I just open the app, turn one on, use it, turn it back off. I even get alerts when my card is tying to be used even when it’s turned off. Of course the purchase would never go through but it’s nice to know if someone is trying to use it so I can quickly order a new card. Never had to, so that is nice not to have to deal with that problem. I’ve heard horror stories of friends going through hell trying to get their money and their identity straightened out.

Since I have checking and savings with the same bank as my credit card and also a car loan. I don’t pay any annual fees or other charges of any sort. Straight 9.5% if I carry a balance but I rarely do. I don’t make it a habit to spend money I don’t have. So if it’s not in the bank or otherwise spoken for, I don’t buy anything.

This all coming from a guy that up until about 9 years ago still kept cash in the safe at home. Now I can’t remember the last time I saw a $100 bill. Well I am married so I highly doubt I would ever see one again anyway.

raccoon · 2019-11-23T13:48:47.000Z

I'm researching credit cards... finally!

I'm looking for a low fixed APR and no annual fee with a "Price Rewind" feature.

I don't care about any other benefits, though they might be a nice touch.

The best website I have found so far is this one:

https://data.consumerfinance.gov/Government/Survey-of-Credit-Card-Plans/gme7-gkkr/data

It requires some work to get the site to give you the info you are after, but it has info on a lot of different credit cards.

pennzy · 2019-11-23T14:05:34.000Z

Some Citi cards offer price protection. Chase use to but recently stopped. One nice Chase benefit is doubling of warranties. I use mine for electronic purchases like TVs and such. TD Bank is a good one to link to PayPal since it has no foreign transaction fees.

raccoon · 2019-11-23T14:22:16.000Z

pennzy:

Some Citi cards offer price protection.

My Citi card used to, but also recently stopped.

Because it's a MasterCard, I can supposedly do up to 4 Price Protection claims per 12 months, but I just called them and they will not be open until Monday.

jigsaw · 2019-11-23T14:22:47.000Z

Annual fee = Deal breaker! No way I pay to use their card.

Low APR only applies if you carry a balance.

If you plan to carry a balance, you should look at other borrowing options.

BruZZi · 2019-11-23T14:51:49.000Z

pennzy:

Some Citi cards offer price protection. Chase use to but recently stopped.

Citibank ended the “Price Rewind” program for all cards on September 22, 2019.

https://www.citipricerewind.com/

Too bad as I saved hundreds and hundreds of dollars buying a bunch of electronics in the last couple years.

raccoon · 2019-11-23T15:11:01.000Z

I did a Google search for credit cards that offer price protection, and I'm giving up on that feature.

I'll just consider a low fixed APR with no annual fee.

I can find some under 10%.

They have no perks, but I'm okay with that.

EDIT:

I applied for a credit card here:

https://www.pointwestcu.com/personal/credit-cards/

pennzy · 2019-11-23T15:19:20.000Z

The CC competition is apparently fierce right know if your credit score is good. I am constantly getting offers to open accounts and receive $150 or $200 statement credit. Hard to pass on free money. These are 0 annual fee reward cards. Then they bombard you with special rewards. Right know, Shop Your Way Mastercard ( previously Sears) is offering 20% back between Oct. 1st-Dec.31st on groceries and gas. Put all your grocery and gas purchases on the card and pay it off every month. Free money. I’m still waiting for the pre recession 0 transaction fee, 0 % interest loans to come back. I took one of them out, deposited the money in a 5% Orange Savings account for 3 years, then paid back the loan at the end of 0% 3 year period. Free money.

raccoon · 2019-11-25T13:18:03.000Z

raccoon city:

Because it's a MasterCard, I can supposedly do up to 4 Price Protection claims per 12 months, but I just called them and they will not be open until Monday.

I just got off the phone with MasterCard.

It was quite an ordeal, as I could not understand the woman on the phone very well, and she could not understand me very well, and I couldn't talk to anyone else.

My credit card does not have Price Protection.

I think I'll be much happier once I have a new credit card from somewhere else.

pennzy · 2019-11-25T13:25:52.000Z

While we are on the subject of CCs, has the Equifax breach affected anyone concerning cards being hacked? Mine are being hacked regularly. Just wondering if it is just mine.

Yourrid · 2019-11-26T03:42:32.000Z

pennzy:

While we are on the subject of CCs, has the Equifax breach affected anyone concerning cards being hacked? Mine are being hacked regularly. Just wondering if it is just mine.

I’ve had it happen a couple times. Actually got a Macy’s credit card in the mail which I had no knowledge of. I did my research and found out you can indefinitely freeze all 3 of your credit reports for free. Locked mine as well as my wife’s credit reports down. Any time I want to apply for a new card, I unlock 1 of my reports 24 hours before and refreeze it immediately after.

Haven’t had an issue since.

pennzy · 2019-11-26T13:46:34.000Z

Yourrid:

pennzy:

While we are on the subject of CCs, has the Equifax breach affected anyone concerning cards being hacked? Mine are being hacked regularly. Just wondering if it is just mine.

I’ve had it happen a couple times. Actually got a Macy’s credit card in the mail which I had no knowledge of. I did my research and found out you can indefinitely freeze all 3 of your credit reports for free. Locked mine as well as my wife’s credit reports down. Any time I want to apply for a new card, I unlock 1 of my reports 24 hours before and refreeze it immediately after.

Haven’t had an issue since.

I should do the same thing but then all the offers would stop, right? Is it free to unlock/lock for 24 hours?

Freezing will stop new accounts from being opened. The trouble I’m having is that my existing accounts are being hacked one by one. Thank you Equifax.

raccoon · 2019-12-01T01:34:03.000Z

raccoon city:

I applied for a credit card here:

https://www.pointwestcu.com/personal/credit-cards/

I didn't get that credit card, so I applied for one here:

https://www.ghpfcu.org/visa-credit-cards

Yourrid · 2019-12-02T00:48:56.000Z

pennzy:

Yourrid:

pennzy:

While we are on the subject of CCs, has the Equifax breach affected anyone concerning cards being hacked? Mine are being hacked regularly. Just wondering if it is just mine.

I’ve had it happen a couple times. Actually got a Macy’s credit card in the mail which I had no knowledge of. I did my research and found out you can indefinitely freeze all 3 of your credit reports for free. Locked mine as well as my wife’s credit reports down. Any time I want to apply for a new card, I unlock 1 of my reports 24 hours before and refreeze it immediately after.

Haven’t had an issue since.

I should do the same thing but then all the offers would stop, right? Is it free to unlock/lock for 24 hours?

Freezing will stop new accounts from being opened. The trouble I’m having is that my existing accounts are being hacked one by one. Thank you Equifax.

Yea I think the offers stop coming when you have your credit frozen. Although all of my banks are still able to update my score every month.

With the massive Equifax breach last year, I will NEVER have unfrozen credit unless I’m ready to apply for a line of credit somewhere. It is 100% free and backed by laws requiring the credit companies to not allow any new lines of credit. Why anyone would pay for services like LifeLock is beyond me.

If any of your 3 credit scores are unfrozen, check out which credit card companies are offering you bonuses for signing up. https://www.creditcards.com/cardmatch/

klrman · 2019-12-02T03:05:28.000Z

I like Chase personally as they let you build up debt and then pay it off for you with no strings attached!

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/chase-cancelling-its-canadian-customers-credit-card-debt-n1041036

cpf_borealis · 2019-12-02T23:47:34.000Z

bushmaster:

Citibank Costco Visa card. 4% on gas, 3% travel and dining, 2% on everything at Costco, 1 % on everything else. Very good card IF you are a Costco member. Benefits come as a Costco rebate to be spent there. If you are a Costco shopper, you already know that isn’t hard to do.

You don’t have to spend the rebate at Costco, you can get cash at a register or at the service desk for high amounts.

nquinn:

The most valuable credit cards are those that issue airline points, but you have to play the game properly.

This is debatable. The most valuable part of airline credit cards is the signup bonus. After the signup bonus you can’t get much value from the points received for regular spending. For most people, especially those who don’t travel first/business class, a straight up 2% cash back credit card would work better than any airline card. Airlines have an established history of regularly devaluing points, so collecting points is also a fool’s errand.

pennzy:

…Right know, Shop Your Way Mastercard ( previously Sears) is offering 20% back between Oct. 1st-Dec.31st on groceries and gas. Put all your grocery and gas purchases on the card and pay it off every month. Free money…

That’s 20% back in SYWR points, right? It’s not a true 20% back due to limited redemption options.

cpf_borealis · 2019-12-02T23:23:02.000Z

Don’t ask financial questions on a non-finance forum and expect to receive good or complete answers. Go straight to the experts. FragileDeal is a refuge for former FatWallet Finance members (FatWallet was acquired by eBates, then Rakuten, and eventually killed off). Please note that it is mostly USA-centric. Here’s a thread about all the best credit cards for every purpose, and the wiki is more-or-less current: Best Reward / Cash Back Credit Cards

Ask all your personal finance questions on that forum (by either creating a new thread or posting here). Other reasonable places for personal finance questions like credit cards include Bogleheads and reddit/r/personalfinance. DoctorOfCredit metioned earlier by @lotrbfme is a great resource for banking promotions, rules, and benefits, but it’s a blog without a discussion forum, so don’t expect personalized answers.

But to answer Yourrid’s question “what are your preferred cards and why”, I use Citi Costco for gas (4% cash back), Chase Sapphire Reserve (a.k.a. CSR) for travel and dining (3x UR with a 1.5x multiplier = 4.5% cash back, minus the annual fee), Chase Amazon at all Amazon properties (5% cash back with Prime or 3% without Prime), Chase Ink Cash at office supply stores (5x UR, or ~7.5% cash back with CSR), and Alliant CU Visa Signature for everything else (2.5% cash back minus the annual fee). I use Citi Costco if buying appliances and electronics at Costco, because all Citi cards give 2 years of Extended Warranty. Otherwise I use Alliant at Costco (it’s a Visa). I also have Discover It and Chase Freedom for the quarterly 5%/5xUR categories, a few Amex cards for Amex Offers, and a few other random aged cards to keep my credit scores high. And if you’re wondering about credit scores, the answer is no — the number of credit cards does not negatively impact your score in the long term. It’s the opposite — the more cards you have and the older they are, the less of an impact each new card makes on the score. This is a topic for a separate discussion in an appropriate forum.

I used to be very much against annual fees, but with the cards I’m using the difference in rewards (between what I’m getting and what I could be getting from the next best card without the annual fee) exceeds the fee. For one example, I can justify the fee for CSR because I also have Ink and Freedom, I can combine points, and CSR has the 1.5x redemption multiplier. For another example, the breakeven between Citi Double Cash (2% cash back, no fee) and Alliant (2.5% cash back, $99 fee) is $99/0.005 = $19800 in annual spend. I don’t normally spend that much, but there are other tricks I can use to offset the fee. For example, I can pay property and federal and state income taxes with it. The fee for paying those with a credit card are about 2-2.3%, so I’m getting more cash back than I pay in fees. Of course this is not for everyone.