Pros and Cons of Amex Chase and Capital One

JamesB95 · ‎01-11-2015

In the future (probably a few years) I will go for a couple more cards. I do not want a TON of cards, but, a decent amount.

I already have Discover which will be upgrade to a normal It once I graduate (higher CL). I see Discover has a nice comparing of all the cards I wish to look into: https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/it-card/compare/

However, I'd like some community input.

Please list PROS and CONS based on your personal experiences and/or facts you know about the cards as follows:

Blue Cash
Everyday® Card
from American
Express®
Chase
Freedom™
Capital One®
Quicksilver®Cash
Rewards

Thanks.

Anonymous · ‎01-11-2015

@JamesB95 wrote:
In the future (probably a few years) I will go for a couple more cards. I do not want a TON of cards, but, a decent amount.

I already have Discover which will be upgrade to a normal It once I graduate (higher CL). I see Discover has a nice comparasion of all the cards I wish to look into: https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/it-card/compare/

However, I'd like some community input.

Please list PROS and CONS based on your personal experiences and/or facts you know about the cards as follows:

Blue Cash
Everyday® Card
from American
Express®
Chase
Freedom™
Capital One®
Quicksilver®Cash
Rewards

Thanks.

1. Future backdating, potential for high CL's (Will grow with you)

2. 5% Categories, CL's can vary wildly.

3. Pulls every bureau, Anemic signup bonus, Won't grow with you, Awful customer service.

kdm31091 · ‎01-11-2015

Blue Cash Everyday - AMEX is pretty good about growing with you. They give CLI's every 6 months really with a SP. Not that you will necessarily be approved every time but the potential is there and very often is granted. Also the rewards program is pretty good. Who doesn't spend on groceries and gas? I like this card a lot.

Chase Freedom - I'm against the majority with this I think this card is extremely overrated. Discover IT is a much better card (in my opinion) for the same function. Discover's categories are usually not for any specific retailer; they are usually just Home Improvement, Restaurants, etc. Chase tends to do Starbucks, or Lowe's, or what have you, restricting you to a certain store. Even December 2014 was much better with Discover -- online shopping in general, vs Freedom's Amazon and Zapps. Freedom is not a bad card by any means and it has lots of fans, I just think it's not that exciting and you're better off w Discover. Chase is a good lender for some things (they are good with moving CL's around), but growth with them is iffy. They do not give out SP CLI's from what I can tell, and if you ask for a CLI it's a HP. Auto CLI's are pretty rare.

Capital One QS - I kind of disagree and agree with Nixon. The signup bonus is not that exciting, if that's important to you, but you need to look at long term value not just the bonus. If you are someone who will maxmize bonuses, mostly with travel and such, it makes sense to worry about it more, but for everyday spenders who are not doing that kind of stuff, a bonus is a bonus. It doesn't indicate long term value of the card. Now, Capital One's normal customer service is indeed not the best, but they are pretty good with 6 month CLI's and it will grow. Some report very slow growth with Cap One but if you use the card often and responsibly you will usually be rewarded.

Honestly, QS is a great all purpose card and BCE is great for groceries/gas. I'd skip Freedom. Most of the real big Freedom fans are people who have a CSP as well and are into the whole transferring points/travel partners thing. It does provide a great value, but it also does NOT apply to everyone. If it does apply to you great. Outside of that, I wouldn't bother with Freedom, and would go for Discover instead (and Discover offers a FICO Score and is much more likely to do SP CLI"s).

EDITED - Sorry I see you have a Discover already. In that case, Freedom would be totally redundant IMO

NRB525 · ‎01-11-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
@JamesB95 wrote:
In the future (probably a few years) I will go for a couple more cards. I do not want a TON of cards, but, a decent amount.

I already have Discover which will be upgrade to a normal It once I graduate (higher CL). I see Discover has a nice comparasion of all the cards I wish to look into: https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/it-card/compare/

However, I'd like some community input.

Please list PROS and CONS based on your personal experiences and/or facts you know about the cards as follows:

Blue Cash
Everyday® Card
from American
Express®
Chase
Freedom™
Capital One®
Quicksilver®Cash
Rewards

Thanks.
1. Future backdating, potential for high CL's (Will grow with you)
2. 5% Categories, CL's can vary wildly.
3. Pulls every bureau, Anemic signup bonus, Won't grow with you, Awful customer service.

This is huge. Once you get in with AMEX with a card like this, it is only up to you to pay regularly, use the card consistently, and it WILL grow with you. AMEX Centurion cards are probably the only cards that you can feel confident in future growth.

All other CCC are varying shades of "Your Mileage Will Vary".

High Bal Jan 2009 $116k on $146k limits 80% Util.
Oct 2014 $46k on $127k 36% util EQ 722 TU 727 EX 727
April 2018 $18k on $344k 5% util EQ 806 TU 810 EX 812
Jan 2019 $7.6k on $360k EQ 832 TU 839 EX 831
March 2021 $33k on $312k EQ 796 TU 798 EX 801
May 2021 Paid all Installments and Mortgages, one new Mortgage EQ 761 TY 774 EX 777
April 2022 EQ=811 TU=807 EX=805 - TU VS 3.0 765

JamesB95 · ‎01-11-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
@JamesB95 wrote:
In the future (probably a few years) I will go for a couple more cards. I do not want a TON of cards, but, a decent amount.

I already have Discover which will be upgrade to a normal It once I graduate (higher CL). I see Discover has a nice comparasion of all the cards I wish to look into: https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/it-card/compare/

However, I'd like some community input.

Please list PROS and CONS based on your personal experiences and/or facts you know about the cards as follows:

Blue Cash
Everyday® Card
from American
Express®
Chase
Freedom™
Capital One®
Quicksilver®Cash
Rewards

Thanks.
1. Future backdating, potential for high CL's (Will grow with you)
2. 5% Categories, CL's can vary wildly.
3. Pulls every bureau, Anemic signup bonus, Won't grow with you, Awful customer service.

Customer service is pretty important for me, so thank you for the input. Discover has kept me happy with their CS. They have a "Chat Now" option which I like. Also their CS Staff that I have encountered are helpful and treat me wonderfully. I will always keep my Discover, for sure.

vygotsky · ‎01-11-2015

Amex BCE: 3x CLI. I went from 5k to 14.3k, back dating will keep your AAoA up, best customer service imo. 3%,2%,1% cash back it better then their 1x MR on cards like Blue Cash or Green. My highest CL
Chase Freedom: 5% catagories
Capital 1: Dont have or want one

FICO 733 (Discover)

Anonymous · ‎01-11-2015

@JamesB95 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@JamesB95 wrote:
In the future (probably a few years) I will go for a couple more cards. I do not want a TON of cards, but, a decent amount.

I already have Discover which will be upgrade to a normal It once I graduate (higher CL). I see Discover has a nice comparasion of all the cards I wish to look into: https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/it-card/compare/

However, I'd like some community input.

Please list PROS and CONS based on your personal experiences and/or facts you know about the cards as follows:

Blue Cash
Everyday® Card
from American
Express®
Chase
Freedom™
Capital One®
Quicksilver®Cash
Rewards

Thanks.
1. Future backdating, potential for high CL's (Will grow with you)
2. 5% Categories, CL's can vary wildly.
3. Pulls every bureau, Anemic signup bonus, Won't grow with you, Awful customer service.
Customer service is pretty important for me, so thank you for the input. Discover has kept me happy with their CS. They have a "Chat Now" option which I like. Also their CS Staff that I have encountered are helpful and treat me wonderfully. I will always keep my Discover, for sure.

Definitely avoid CapitalOne at all costs in this case.

kdm31091 · ‎01-11-2015

Sorry, I just noticed you already have Discover. Definitely, you don't need a Freedom as well. Maybe you can find another Chase card that interests you?

Anonymous · ‎01-11-2015

@kdm31091 wrote:

Now, Capital One's normal customer service is indeed not the best, but they are pretty good with 6 month CLI's and it will grow. Some report very slow growth with Cap One but if you use the card often and responsibly you will usually be rewarded.

Not the best? They're amongst the worst by far, and having dealt with CreditOne before, that's saying a lot.

Will grow? YMMV very much on this.

Will usually is a little closer to the truth but still a far cry from acceptable.

Anonymous · ‎01-11-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
@JamesB95 wrote:
In the future (probably a few years) I will go for a couple more cards. I do not want a TON of cards, but, a decent amount.

I already have Discover which will be upgrade to a normal It once I graduate (higher CL). I see Discover has a nice comparasion of all the cards I wish to look into: https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/it-card/compare/

However, I'd like some community input.

Please list PROS and CONS based on your personal experiences and/or facts you know about the cards as follows:

Blue Cash
Everyday® Card
from American
Express®
Chase
Freedom™
Capital One®
Quicksilver®Cash
Rewards

Thanks.
1. Future backdating, potential for high CL's (Will grow with you)
2. 5% Categories, CL's can vary wildly.
3. Pulls every bureau, Anemic signup bonus, Won't grow with you, Awful customer service.

The current QS bonus is a $100 statement credit after spending $500 in the first 90 days. I thought that was pretty good.