No credit card required
Browse credit cards from a variety of issuers to see if there's a better card for you.
Hey guys! The title briefly summizes what I am looking for advice on but I'll elaborate.
I am already a CC nerd and have a bunch of cards myself and after sharing some of my successes with my GF and one of my roomates they want to conduct their first mini app sprees! (Iremember my first beer *tear*)
So I already have some targets in mind for them but I wanted to see what you guys thought would be some good cards to get. My gf has pretty good scores, low utilization, good income but a thin file. My roomate has fair-average scores, good income, medium utilization, and also a relatively thin file.
My list so far is (in no particular order)
Citi DC
AMEX BCP or BCE
CapOne QS
Discover IT
Chase Freedom
CSP
To be clear this list won't be for each of them or even necessarily app for all of these cards for either one. Just looking for cards I may have not considered. Primary interests are low or no af, good into reward, and/or cash back.
Thoughts?
Not sure what constitutes pretty good scores or fair to average scores in this scenario, but have either tried any prequals yet? Chase, Cap One and Amex in particular are pretty solid. Discover is good for thin files. Cashback cards are good from either Cap One, Chase, Amex or Discover, I'd look them all over and find the one that best suits their needs and go from there.
@creditguy wrote:Not sure what constitutes pretty good scores or fair to average scores in this scenario, but have either tried any prequals yet? Chase, Cap One and Amex in particular are pretty solid. Discover is good for thin files. Cashback cards are good from either Cap One, Chase, Amex or Discover, I'd look them all over and find the one that best suits their needs and go from there.
That is my plan for sure but I was just looking for some advice on whether I was missing any good cards. I'm not terribly worried about the ones they qualify for because I plan to do my due dilligence in researching the likelihood of getting approved for them. Basically as long as soemone isn't recoomending the Black card or cards with a multiple hundred dollar AF then that should be good.
Sorry for not being more clear initially but thanks for your input!
No problem, I forgot to add the Citi Double Cash and BofA has some good cashback cards as well. Citi prequals are generally very solid but BofA not so much. Good luck and if they do go for chase, don't forget the 5/24 rule, but with thin files that's probably not an issue.
My personal opinion is they should focus on cards that match their spend and not so much on what are "good" cards, for example:
the CSP is a great card to a lot of people but to others it is rather pointless since they wouldn't use it as a travel card, as a cash back card it might not be the best choice
Discover and freedom can be great cards if the categories are relavent to their normal spend and they are not bothered by having to activate them
Why look at getting both the DC and QS? both are general spend cards and to me it seems redundant
@dragontears wrote:My personal opinion is they should focus on cards that match their spend and not so much on what are "good" cards, for example:
the CSP is a great card to a lot of people but to others it is rather pointless since they wouldn't use it as a travel card, as a cash back card it might not be the best choice
Discover and freedom can be great cards if the categories are relavent to their normal spend and they are not bothered by having to activate them
Why look at getting both the DC and QS? both are general spend cards and to me it seems redundant
There would be two primary purposes for considering that course of action.
1. Take advantage of intro bonus for the QS but knowing the DC is overall the better card.
2. Adding more accounts to their files so future inquirs wont hit the AAoA so hard.
Additionally, more credit makes it easier to keep a low utilization and looks better overall. I do agree with you on the CSP but that intro bonus is hard to ignore, particularly when/if you combine it with the the other Chase cards that qualify for UR.
Discover is Far up there as far as I'm concerned because that first year offer turns it into a 2-10% card. That can't really be beat. Thanks for your input!
Read my thread here for lots of good cash back cards: http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Cash-Back-credit-card-charts/td-p/4004725
A few possible additions to consider depending on their spend habits, profiles, and preferences: