Credit Card for my Girlfriend?

[eagles08]

Good idea on the pre qual! I did chase but no luck! Hahhaha and yeah wow she does get aggravated sometimes but it's all good!!!! Haha!

[scenery_guy]

She (you) should give it a couple more months so she has 6 months history then decide. Take the best offer out there. It might be the Freedom or it might be a different card with a shiny new bonus offer. 

[KIPPIE12]

Wait a few more months.  With her thin file, even if she did apply, and have to recon, chances are the interest rate would be at the highest tier, and CL nominally small. Getting more history under her belt, will yield better results later for an approval.

[eagles08]

Is anyone familiar with the Citi Forward card?  It seems like a super nice card for her and she is a student who eats out a ton!  The bonus points seem like a sweet deal!  Do you think this would be a good card?

[longtimelurker]

Is she a student (it's now available just for students, not clear how complete the check is).

It is a good card (I have the non-student version) that offers 5x points off a  good set of non-rotating categories, including restaurants and fast food.

Few points to be aware of:

1) For many redemptions, 1 TYP is less than 1c.   If you wait till you have 10K points, you can redeem 1:1 for a $100 gift card (the selection isn't that great but OK).  You can also redeem 1c per point for student loan/mortgage checks, you need to call in for those.  These are made out to the bank you tell them,and sent to you, so it's your job to send them to the student loan or mortgage lender.    If you make a mistake and name your own bank, and you happen to deposit it there, well, these things happen.  (This is the best way to get 1:1 for cash)

2) If you also have the TY Preferred, all points redeem at 1:1

3) It's possible/likely that the Forward will go away as its rewards are too good!  The TY and TY Preferred are due to move to 2x dining at the end of July, and some of us think this might signal the demise of the Forward in the future (Getting rid of the non-student version was a first step).   So, get it while she can!

[dddewdrop]

    I would recommend her apping for the Walmart card. The reasons I say this are:

1. She is likely to be approved

2. Free monthly FICO score to track her credit

3. She can hop onboard the GE CLI train this way

   Beyond that I would say we may need more info on her scores and what her credit reports look like to recommend more. I think Discover is  a good first one. She jumped right into a  "prime" card which is good. You mention that it "took her a while to get used to". I would sit down with her and discuss it. If getting more cards is going to become too much of a tempation for her to get into debt then maybe she should hold off. This was definately the case for me. I held off on getting credit cards for years because I had not developed the self discipline to not impulse buy stuff. Better to have the discussion with her and avoid going into debt. 

   In response to what others have said, I am not a fan of opting in. The downsides of opting in are discussed ad nauseum on other credit websites but basicallly one of the biggest ones is that it can get your name added to all kinds of lists that you may not want your name on and it can also cause your name to pop up on a bunch of people's radar that you may wish to no be on. Idk about you but I have some skeletons in my closet and I would prefer to be operating more in a stealthier, off the grid type way than broadcasting my location and specifics around the financial community. I also prefer to stay opted out as part of an anti "Big Brother" type philosophy. I wlll glady forgot the instant pop up approval from Victoria's Secret for slightly more privacy for my personal info.

[eagles08]

Yeah she is a student and will be for at least two more years. Hmmmmmm.  I think the points fit her spending habits best and she can still use the Discover IT for its categories as well.  Seems like these two cards will be good for her for now! Anyone else have any input on the Citi Forward?