Hi everyone,
I am ready to apply for a new credit card and really have no idea which one to get. Right now I have a Bank of America Cash Rewards Platinum Plus Visa card that gets me 1% on very thing, 2% on groceries and 3% on gas purchases. This was just recently upgraded from a Student BofA CC with a $700 limit to this Rewards Card with a CLI to $3000 beginning April 2014. Since then I've earned $40.54 cash back, not too bad for 2 months of use.
I have just recently fixed my credit (check out my other posts for details) and my Credit Score has gone up to 752 as of 4/16/14 from 651 1/16/14. I haven't applied for anything since asking to upgrade my BofA card and the cli.
I would like to do some gardening now, add another credit card... preferably a cash back rewards card. What should I get?
I'm looking at the AMEX Blue Cash Preferred card which gives you 6% cash back at US Supermarkets, 3% cash back on gas and 1% cash back on everything else. (up to $6000 a year). 0% APR the first 15 months. I'm a single mom, and I don't spend a lot of money compared to large families. Most of my spenditure goes to gas, groceries and restaurants. (besides rent, car, phone etc.) I spend on average about $200 a month on gas, $250 a month on groceries, and $150 a month eating out with my son.
The Amex card has a $75 annual fee, and a $150 cash bonus if you spend $1000 in the first 3 months, which I'm pretty sure I can do. Is this a better choice compared to the Chase Freedom card or Discover It? I got a pre-approval letter from Discover, so I'm pretty sure they pre-screened me and I'd get approved although I don't know for how much. The AMEX seems to have a better rewards program, but it also has the annual fee and I have heard they are a lot harder to get approved for.
Would I have a hard time getting approved with a 752 credit score, but have very few TL's on my history? (I only have the BofA card 7 year history and my car loan 2 year history on the credit file) I also have a USAA checking account. I'd like this next card to have at least a $3000 - $5000 credit line, so that I can up my available credit and be able to manage my credit utilization and keep it low to get into the 800 club. My BofA card I use quite regularly, so I'm not sure if it ever reports as a $0 balance, even though I make sure to pay it down every month. It never shows more than $300 used at the close of the month out of the $3000 available.
I know I rhambled on quite a bit, but I'd like to make an informed decision, and I am very new to learning and understanding everything there is to know about how this all works. So any advice is much appreciated! Thank you 
@islandgirl759 wrote:Hi everyone,
I am ready to apply for a new credit card and really have no idea which one to get. Right now I have a Bank of America Cash Rewards Platinum Plus Visa card that gets me 1% on very thing, 2% on groceries and 3% on gas purchases. This was just recently upgraded from a Student BofA CC with a $700 limit to this Rewards Card with a CLI to $3000 beginning April 2014. Since then I've earned $40.54 cash back, not too bad for 2 months of use.
I have just recently fixed my credit (check out my other posts for details) and my Credit Score has gone up to 752 as of 4/16/14 from 651 1/16/14. I haven't applied for anything since asking to upgrade my BofA card and the cli.
I would like to do some gardening now, add another credit card... preferably a cash back rewards card. What should I get?
I'm looking at the AMEX Blue Cash Preferred card which gives you 6% cash back at US Supermarkets, 3% cash back on gas and 1% cash back on everything else. (up to $6000 a year). 0% APR the first 15 months. I'm a single mom, and I don't spend a lot of money compared to large families. Most of my spenditure goes to gas, groceries and restaurants. (besides rent, car, phone etc.) I spend on average about $200 a month on gas, $250 a month on groceries, and $150 a month eating out with my son.
The Amex card has a $75 annual fee, and a $150 cash bonus if you spend $1000 in the first 3 months, which I'm pretty sure I can do. Is this a better choice compared to the Chase Freedom card or Discover It? I got a pre-approval letter from Discover, so I'm pretty sure they pre-screened me and I'd get approved although I don't know for how much. The AMEX seems to have a better rewards program, but it also has the annual fee and I have heard they are a lot harder to get approved for.
Would I have a hard time getting approved with a 752 credit score, but have very few TL's on my history? (I only have the BofA card 7 year history and my car loan 2 year history on the credit file) I also have a USAA checking account. I'd like this next card to have at least a $3000 - $5000 credit line, so that I can up my available credit and be able to manage my credit utilization and keep it low to get into the 800 club. My BofA card I use quite regularly, so I'm not sure if it ever reports as a $0 balance, even though I make sure to pay it down every month. It never shows more than $300 used at the close of the month out of the $3000 available.
I know I rhambled on quite a bit, but I'd like to make an informed decision, and I am very new to learning and understanding everything there is to know about how this all works. So any advice is much appreciated! Thank you
If you are going for an cash back card for gas groceries , i would look at sallie mae, its 5% on both with 250 dollar cap per month. I think for most people an combo of sallie mae+ fidelity amex(2% cashback) is good enough to cover most purchases. That is if you are only interested in cash back card, not an travel card like prg or csp.
You might want to consider the Sallie Mae card.. your 250/month on Groceries & 200/month on gas is perfect for the Sallie Mae with 250/month on each category. (5% CB) No AF, as well.
I can see if you want to get in with Amex and I totally am in agreement with you.. the earlier you get in the better. Maybe consider the new Everyday card?
I really don't think you should have a hard time getting approved for many cards. Just have to thoughtfully put in the time and research the cards that fit your spending best. If you have a USAA account, it might be a good idea to explore there as well to see if any of the cards there might be of interest.
For restaurants -- usually you're limited to like a 2% or 3% CB card (3% CB card being the new Sam's Club MC) 2% being Chase Amazon, CSP, etc. There are rotating 5% CB on Restaurants/Fast Food with Discover/Freedom. Of course, you could always try with the Cash + card, so then you can choose fast food/restaurants for each quarter to consistently place spending there for eating out.
Hope I've been somewhat helpful!
I can see if you want to get in with Amex and I totally am in agreement with you.. the earlier you get in the better. Maybe consider the new Everyday card?
I really don't think you should have a hard time getting approved for many cards. Just have to thoughtfully put in the time and research the cards that fit your spending best. If you have a USAA account, it might be a good idea to explore there as well to see if any of the cards there might be of interest.
For restaurants -- usually you're limited to like a 2% or 3% CB card (3% CB card being the new Sam's Club MC) 2% being Chase Amazon, CSP, etc. There are rotating 5% CB on Restaurants/Fast Food with Discover/Freedom. Of course, you could always try with the Cash + card, so then you can choose fast food/restaurants for each quarter to consistently place spending there for eating out.
Hope I've been somewhat helpful!
@mongstradamus wrote:
@islandgirl759 wrote:Hi everyone,
I am ready to apply for a new credit card and really have no idea which one to get. Right now I have a Bank of America Cash Rewards Platinum Plus Visa card that gets me 1% on very thing, 2% on groceries and 3% on gas purchases. This was just recently upgraded from a Student BofA CC with a $700 limit to this Rewards Card with a CLI to $3000 beginning April 2014. Since then I've earned $40.54 cash back, not too bad for 2 months of use.
I have just recently fixed my credit (check out my other posts for details) and my Credit Score has gone up to 752 as of 4/16/14 from 651 1/16/14. I haven't applied for anything since asking to upgrade my BofA card and the cli.
I would like to do some gardening now, add another credit card... preferably a cash back rewards card. What should I get?
I'm looking at the AMEX Blue Cash Preferred card which gives you 6% cash back at US Supermarkets, 3% cash back on gas and 1% cash back on everything else. (up to $6000 a year). 0% APR the first 15 months. I'm a single mom, and I don't spend a lot of money compared to large families. Most of my spenditure goes to gas, groceries and restaurants. (besides rent, car, phone etc.) I spend on average about $200 a month on gas, $250 a month on groceries, and $150 a month eating out with my son.
The Amex card has a $75 annual fee, and a $150 cash bonus if you spend $1000 in the first 3 months, which I'm pretty sure I can do. Is this a better choice compared to the Chase Freedom card or Discover It? I got a pre-approval letter from Discover, so I'm pretty sure they pre-screened me and I'd get approved although I don't know for how much. The AMEX seems to have a better rewards program, but it also has the annual fee and I have heard they are a lot harder to get approved for.
Would I have a hard time getting approved with a 752 credit score, but have very few TL's on my history? (I only have the BofA card 7 year history and my car loan 2 year history on the credit file) I also have a USAA checking account. I'd like this next card to have at least a $3000 - $5000 credit line, so that I can up my available credit and be able to manage my credit utilization and keep it low to get into the 800 club. My BofA card I use quite regularly, so I'm not sure if it ever reports as a $0 balance, even though I make sure to pay it down every month. It never shows more than $300 used at the close of the month out of the $3000 available.
I know I rhambled on quite a bit, but I'd like to make an informed decision, and I am very new to learning and understanding everything there is to know about how this all works. So any advice is much appreciated! Thank you
If you are going for an cash back card for gas groceries , i would look at sallie mae, its 5% on both with 250 dollar cap per month. I think for most people an combo of sallie mae+ fidelity amex(2% cashback) is good enough to cover most purchases. That is if you are only interested in cash back card, not an travel card like prg or csp.
You beat me to the post! 
Good recommendation on the Fidelity! Should have thought of that.
I would go with the Blue Cash Everyday or Salliemae Mastercard depending on your spending. The BCP does not offer anything extra over the BCE and has an annual fee which generally negates whatever EP the card has wit the higher rewards %. Thats my take on it. The BCE has an advantage of the BoFA Cash Rewards card as the caps are higher. If I was you as long as you dont hit the BoFA spending caps ($1500 AFAIK) you should not app for any new card.
Thank you for the great responses. This is the first I've heard of the fidelity card I'll look that one up. I looked into the travel rewards cards and it seemed like it wasn't worth it for how little I spend. Am I wrong about that? Since I do already have a cash back rewards card with BofA should I then look into travel rewards in addition? I don't really have the disposable income to travel very much so I don't really fly very often or stay in hotels much. I try not to live off credit. I use my card for my everyday purchases and pay it off from my salary every month. I have no debt besides my car loan and I'm trying to keep it that way.
How often and how much can you generally ask for a credit line increase? I just upgraded my BofA card in April. Should I just wait a couple months and ask for an increase with them to up my available credit or is it more beneficial to open another TL?
How often and how much can you generally ask for a credit line increase? I just upgraded my BofA card in April. Should I just wait a couple months and ask for an increase with them to up my available credit or is it more beneficial to open another TL?
@islandgirl759 wrote:
Thank you for the great responses. This is the first I've heard of the fidelity card I'll look that one up. I looked into the travel rewards cards and it seemed like it wasn't worth it for how little I spend. Am I wrong about that? Since I do already have a cash back rewards card with BofA should I then look into travel rewards in addition? I don't really have the disposable income to travel very much so I don't really fly very often or stay in hotels much. I try not to live off credit. I use my card for my everyday purchases and pay it off from my salary every month. I have no debt besides my car loan and I'm trying to keep it that way.
How often and how much can you generally ask for a credit line increase? I just upgraded my BofA card in April. Should I just wait a couple months and ask for an increase with them to up my available credit or is it more beneficial to open another TL?
For lower spenders - and I'm one of them - the travel cards are really only fantastic for the sign up bonuses. Of course, it's nice to have them for the first year, but then usually it needs to be closed because I just don't have the spend to justify it.
I highly recommend not apping for the BCE because it's just a useless card now. Your BoA card has good rewards, so that BCE would be superfluous. Either BCP and then keep it for first year (since you're getting a sign up bonus) and then PC the next year to something else then. Because really, BCP is for larger amounts of spending in the grocery department. (Blue Cash being the exception to really high levels of grocery spends.)
With Amex I ask each 6 months. Capital One each 6 months. BoA it's a HP so I generally don't do HP credit limit increases, unless it's absolutely necessary. Plus, the Fidelity Amex is basically a BoA card (FIA I think is what it is technically.) so you share a total limit exposure cap between all of your BoA cards, I would assume.
Sallie Mae sounds, honestly, quite perfect for you. The only other thing is to find the card to satisfy the rest of your needs such as everday spending or restaurants. If you want to app for 3 then you could pick a card for each need you have.
Thanks so much Kenny! Yes the Sallie Mae does seem like it would fit me the best. I'll just have to start tracking my spending better and if I hit the caps switch to the BofA card.
I looked at the rewards of the USAA card and didn't really understand their breakdown and what you're actually getting. $1 spend = 1 point, and you can redeem points after you have 3000 points.
One point for every dollar in purchases.1
2,500 bonus points after your first purchase.
No limits on the amount you can earn.
No blackout dates on travel or point redemption fees.
Redeem your points on usaa.com or from your mobile device.
15000 points minimum for travel points. Low apr of 9%
I'm thinking the sallie Mae card is better, yes? No?
I looked at the rewards of the USAA card and didn't really understand their breakdown and what you're actually getting. $1 spend = 1 point, and you can redeem points after you have 3000 points.
One point for every dollar in purchases.1
2,500 bonus points after your first purchase.
No limits on the amount you can earn.
No blackout dates on travel or point redemption fees.
Redeem your points on usaa.com or from your mobile device.
15000 points minimum for travel points. Low apr of 9%
I'm thinking the sallie Mae card is better, yes? No?
Hey islandgirl759!
Great job on managing your credit! Congrats! With your listed profile, I don't think you will have any problem getting approved for the cards listed as options by my fellow FICOites. . This recommendation might seem a little unorthodox but if you are not in a rush and are a member of Sam's Club, I'd wait for that new MC card to be offered and app for it. It hit's on gas spend and restaurants. Nice little perk with better then average rewards. With regards to the Amex cards- definetely go for the BCP- not the BCE if you decide this route. The rewards far outweigh the AF. With just an average spend at grocery stores of $25 a week- you will get back the AF and after that- earn much much more then you would with the no AF BCE, plus the sign bonus is on the BCP. A great combo addition with the Sam's Club MC. And as other's have stated- the Sallie Mae is a great fit. Good luck on your app what ever you decide.
http://www3.samsclub.com/newsroom/Press/1631
Plz forgive the typos- iPhone fingers
Starting Score: 642