Card for 0% BT, (travel) rewards, or both?

Anonymous · ‎10-12-2015

I currently only have 2 cards - Visa & Amex and am looking to diversify. The visa is my oldest open account on my CR (8+ yrs) so I am loathe to close it even though the interest rate is horrible. The cash rewards on the Amex aren't very thrilling either. I'm torn on what type of card to apply for at this time.

0% BT - need to pay down a few K that was accumulated in previous years but the balance isn't changing much even w $500-800 in monthly payments due to the rate and minimal new activity (<200/mo).

Rewards cards - I'm looking for something better than Amex currently offers. I'm leaning more towards a travel rewards card as I haven't taken a real vacation in over a decade. "Losing" money is I convert the rewards to cash could be an incentive but a nice cash reward could be used for the same purpose if I make myself stick to it.

Below are the cards I've been looking at, many of them offer 0% BT APR for 9-12 months so I wasn't going to list them twice.

Travel/Cash Options - venture; nfcu preferred; discover it; QS; cash +; Citi SP, double cash or thank uou

any feedback based on the experience people have had with the cards would be beneficial or which provided the best payback over time as many here have one or more of the cards.

im torn between applying for one or two cards as I'm looking to serve two needs but one card can't do both at one. I most likely would be able to meet the promo spend limits needed on the venture of nfcu cards if I did a balance transfer onto them. I'm also not sure what is going to happen to the Amex next year when costco starts converting everyone to visa.

OmarGB9 · ‎10-12-2015

QS or DC are excellent for cash back. Venture is 2% back redeemable only on travel though. Btw, BTs don't count towards spend requirements for the bonus.

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Anonymous · ‎10-12-2015

I understand the BTs don't count towards the purchase requirement. I just wasn't sure I could do both with one card - BT for 0% & then have enough left on the CL to be able to charge the 3-4k most expect (venture, nfcu preferred, sapphire) in the first 90 days without sending the CU through the roof.

As a random aside, has anyone been successful getting the annual fee on some cards waived after the initial "free" year; without having a grandfather clause from a previous account.

takeshi74 · ‎10-13-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
I currently only have 2 cards - Visa & Amex and am looking to diversify. The visa is my oldest open account on my CR (8+ yrs) so I am loathe to close it even though the interest rate is horrible

AAoA isn't immediately affected by account closure. See the Closing Credit Cards thread linked in the Helpful Threads sticky. However, general advice is that you want at least 2-3 cards for scoring purposes.

@Anonymous wrote:
0% BT - need to pay down a few K that was accumulated in previous years but the balance isn't changing much even w $500-800 in monthly payments due to the rate and minimal new activity (<200/mo).

If you're carrying balances then you should work on eliminating those first before worrying over rewards as any interest will more than kill rewards by a good margin.

If you're looking at BT cards you need to consider your reolving utilization. If you have high utilization then your odds of approval as well as your odds of getting a suitable limit are reduced.

@Anonymous wrote:
I understand the BTs don't count towards the purchase requirement. I just wasn't sure I could do both with one card - BT for 0% & then have enough left on the CL to be able to charge the 3-4k most expect (venture, nfcu preferred, sapphire) in the first 90 days without sending the CU through the roof.

I'd recommend avoiding charges on a card that you're using to carry a balance. You will not have a grace period on new purchases.

@Anonymous wrote:
Travel/Cash Options - venture; nfcu preferred; discover it; QS; cash +; Citi SP, double cash or thank uou

any feedback based on the experience people have had with the cards would be beneficial or which provided the best payback over time as many here have one or more of the cards.

It's not a matter of experience but your spend and how your redemptions would impact those rewards and you have to run the numbers. However, again, rewards aren't going to mean much if you're subject to interest.

Anonymous · ‎10-13-2015

If you're doing multiple cards, look into Chase Slate for the BT option. What cards you want for travel depends on whether you are travelling internationally or domestically.

dethkultur · ‎10-13-2015

Some people get annual fees waived when they ask, some don't. It takes a little research.

People could give you better advice if you share your scores and current balances. If you are paying $300 or so in interest every month on your card, I'm guessing you have a pretty high balance ($12,000? $20,000?). And your utilization is probably very high (near the max?) on at least one card. That will hurt your score badly (50+ points sometimes) until you pay it down. It will be very difficult to get a credit limit high enough to cover all of your balances if they are that high.

And of course, if you have a late payment on your reports or any other negative item that will impact your score. There are reports of big limits being given by different Banks (Venture is getting attention right now), but by and large those are going to people with manageable levels of debt. And there are some old standbys, like NFCU if you qualify.

The sure way to get new credit is pay down that mongo balance until it is manageable. Treat it like a priority and make some sacrifices until you feel like it is heading steadily downward. Be happy with a lower limit card or two and work to building a profile that new creditors will salivate over. They won't ever salivate over one with huge revolving balances.

Anonymous · ‎10-13-2015

I seem to be having phone issues- locked out from the original username and can't quote. I'll try and answer all the items brought up to date

Current cards are a Visa 7.5k utilization on 9k line (2008). Amex $0/10k (had since April 2015).

TU is 717, EQ is 740.

$5-800/month payments on the visa are my own choosing to help pay it down faster. Min payment is under $200.

Monthly reoccurring expenses (mortgage/3 utilities/phone/internet/student loans/hoa/food/insurance) are 32% of after tax wages. I'm trying to save while getting the visa to 0 at the same time.

I'm preapprved for all the cards listed per the vendors pre-qualification sites & NFCU through phone convoy w a rep.

The double cash is tempting as it has the 15 MO 0% apr on BT & new items. I wouldn't need that long but most like qs & cash+ offer 9 MO. Really looking for a card that I can get to carry the 0% for long enough to lose the 22% interest on the visa which is making everything take much longer. The discorer card is also tempting bc of the 0% intro rates on both & double points for new spend but that could get complicated doing both on one card.

Was looking for a rewards card that can be used towards a vacation through points or CB.

I'm fine with that being one card - use 0% BT option & move on to rewards once that is done - or two if I need to go that route if I can't find one card that has both. I'm even willing to wait until Dec to see if NFCU offers the 60k points reward on new cards if the travel/cash back card needs to wait.

Anonymous · ‎10-13-2015

The monthly expenses to take home pay was not always at the position it is now. I've paid off a car loan and three student loans in the past two years along with getting promotions at work to be able to get into that position. Before that I had to unfortunately sometimes rely on the CC during rough months a few years ago and making minimum payments. Trying to rectify that now and make the cc debt go away.

The Amex is only used at costco for the extended warranties and to get gas or for emergency $2k vet bills. Costco purchases paid off immediately; vet bills same month or Seco d month. So it doeant get too much usage. I tend to mostly use my debit card as the regular Amex rewards aren't worth it to medium for regular purchases.