Help me pick my next new CC.

Anonymous · ‎11-06-2014

Hi,

I have been getting a lot of letters from various CC companies asking me to apply for a new CC. I currently only have Capital One and BOA CC but I have also Amazon store card and JCP store card.

I am looking for a new credit card.

Here are my options:

Discover IT

AMEX Platinum

AMEX Everyday

Chase Slate

Chase Freedom

CITI Diamond Preferred

Which do you think I should go with? I mainly use my BOA Visa but want another CC which have cash rewards or points system. My BOA gives $25 quarterly.

Thanks

Anonymous · ‎11-06-2014

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi,

I have been getting a lot of letters from various CC companies asking me to apply for a new CC. I currently only have Capital One and BOA CC but I have also Amazon store card and JCP store card.

I am looking for a new credit card.

Here are my options:

Discover IT
AMEX Platinum
AMEX Everyday
Chase Slate
Chase Freedom
CITI Diamond Preferred

Which do you think I should go with? I mainly use my BOA Visa but want another CC which have cash rewards or points system. My BOA gives $25 quarterly.

Thanks

I'd keep a close eye on the Chase Freedom.

I'd start with Discover It though.

Anonymous · ‎11-06-2014

Apply for the chase freedom when the $200 offer comes out, and amex plat there used to be a AF version;( sadly it doesnt exist anymore.

Discover it is a good option too, in case to look at ur fico score

mongstradamus · ‎11-06-2014

well first think i would think about it are you looking for purely cash back card or rewards or BT.

If you are going to do pure cashback Discover IT probably would be your best choice, Freedom can be an cash back or rewards if you plan on getting CSP or something down the road.

the citi Diamond Preferred and Chase Slate are Balance transfer cards so unless you need to balance transfer i would stay away from those cards.

Now amex plat and ED are cards for travel , you should look at MR partners and see if they are airlines you would actually use to fly. Also look at amex plat and its benefits to see if they fairly steep AF is worth it. Also MR redemption for gc or statement credits are horrible use of MR btw.

EX Fico 804 11/16/16 Fako 800 Credit.com 11/16/16
EQ SW bank enhanced 11/16/16 839 CK fako 822 11/16/16
TU Fico discover 10/19/16 814 Fako 819 Creditkarma 11/16/16

Anonymous · ‎11-06-2014

Not a question we can answer without more information.

1. Prefer cash back or miles?

2. Want a BT card or rewards card (if rewards, cards like Slate you listed are useless).

3. Do you want 1 cashback or rewards card to use for all purposes? Do you mind 3-4? Are you willing to use more than 3-4 to optimize cashback or miles?

4. Are the only cards you are willing to consider the ones on your list?

5. What are your FICO scores? How many inquiries? How old are the inquiries?

6. What is your monthly CC spend?

Big spender? Like miles? Cards with big sign up bonuses make a lot of sense. In the near term, they will beat out any rewards card.

Low spender? Want a simple 1 card strategy? A card like the Citi DoubleCash make a lot of sense.

There is no 1 size fit all strategy. I use a miles/cashback combo strategy and use cashback cards for 5%+ categories (Sallie Mae, Discover etc), my CSP for dining and travel, and the Citi DoubleCash for anything where I don't have a better card. I still have a few cards I want to optimize my spending, but my strategy might not be your best strategy.

Anonymous · ‎11-06-2014

I would get the freedom just because it is accepted at more places

NRB525 · ‎11-06-2014

@Anonymous wrote:
I would get the freedom just because it is accepted at more places

My sense is that precisely because Discover is not accepted at as many merchants, that's why they seem to work harder to give benefits back to their card users. And, from what I read, there are probably more places Discover actually works than you might think, they have other networks that they work on. "Run it through the reader and see if it works" is the recommendation.

I have my Discover on a 0% BT and then they gave a $100 cash back for spending $1,000. Mind you have to watch that you are paying that down, I have not tried yet to get a better regular interest rate, but 12-months is a lot of runway.

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

Anonymous · ‎11-06-2014

@NRB525 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I would get the freedom just because it is accepted at more places
My sense is that precisely because Discover is not accepted at as many merchants, that's why they seem to work harder to give benefits back to their card users. And, from what I read, there are probably more places Discover actually works than you might think, they have other networks that they work on. "Run it through the reader and see if it works" is the recommendation.

I have my Discover on a 0% BT and then they gave a $100 cash back for spending $1,000. Mind you have to watch that you are paying that down, I have not tried yet to get a better regular interest rate, but 12-months is a lot of runway.

I've been in very few places that didn't take Discover other than the usual suspects (Costco, Aldi). It must be a regional thing

Anonymous · ‎11-07-2014

1. Prefer cash back or miles?

I prefer cash back.

2. Want a BT card or rewards card (if rewards, cards like Slate you listed are useless).

At the moment I do not need a BT card. Thx I will pass on the slate.

3. Do you want 1 cashback or rewards card to use for all purposes? Do you mind 3-4? Are you willing to use more than 3-4 to optimize cashback or miles?

I would love to optimize as there are a lot of people here that use this approach. I am new to doing this and would like to build a good foundation. My only concern at the moment is Discover IT card which not a lot of stores I frequent accept it. What is the next CC that have favorable cash back other than Discover?

4. Are the only cards you are willing to consider the ones on your list?

The cards listed are the ones that have been mailed to me. I would love to know if there are others that are better!!!

5. What are your FICO scores? How many inquiries? How old are the inquiries?

Well credit karma have me at around 700. I have only 2.5 year credit history. I used to have 735 before buying a home. My currect CU is 16%.

6. What is your monthly CC spend?

$1000

Anonymous · ‎11-07-2014

well first think i would think about it are you looking for purely cash back card or rewards or BT.

If you are going to do pure cashback Discover IT probably would be your best choice, Freedom can be an cash back or rewards if you plan on getting CSP or something down the road.

the citi Diamond Preferred and Chase Slate are Balance transfer cards so unless you need to balance transfer i would stay away from those cards.

Now amex plat and ED are cards for travel , you should look at MR partners and see if they are airlines you would actually use to fly. Also look at amex plat and its benefits to see if they fairly steep AF is worth it. Also MR redemption for gc or statement credits are horrible use of MR btw.

Thanks for the info. I don't travel too often but wondering if I should have a travel card at some point later. AMEX PLAT have such a high annual fee I am going to pass. Currently I do not need a BT so I think Disocver IT or is there is another CC (Visa) which also have good cash back? I don't see Discover as accepted card where I am located.