Picking non category spend cards

mkhan1093 · ‎03-21-2017

Hey guys,

Just curious to know what goes through your minds when you're about to make a noncategory purchase regarding which card to use. Many people have 3+ noncategory cards and I'm curious to know what the thought process is those few moments before a card must be swiped/entered depending on which. Obviously, if you're meeting a minimum spend, then it's almost a no-brainer which card to use. But after that? For example, I just rotate the noncategory card to use once a day.

mongstradamus · ‎03-21-2017

I just use my EDP because need to meet 30 min swipe anyways.

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 · ‎03-21-2017

I rotate on a much slower basis, or am meeting spend.

HeavenOhio · ‎03-22-2017

@mkhan1093 wrote:
Hey guys,

Just curious to know what goes through your minds when you're about to make a noncategory purchase regarding which card to use. Many people have 3+ noncategory cards and I'm curious to know what the thought process is those few moments before a card must be swiped/entered depending on which. Obviously, if you're meeting a minimum spend, then it's almost a no-brainer which card to use. But after that? For example, I just rotate the noncategory card to use once a day.

By "noncategory," I assume you mean something like Citi Double Cash of CapOne Quicksilver. I have three CapOne cards with identical rewards. I'll normally use the card with the highest limit. But if I want it to report a zero statement balance, I'll switch off to one or both of the other cards for a few days. That works out as I like to give them a couple of swipes apiece each month.

In a few months, all three of my CapOne cards will be eligible for limit increases. When that time approaches, I'll likely forgo slightly higher rewards on other cards in order to pump some spending through all three CapOne cards. Of course, I won't give up a 5% reward on another card to do that, but if it's 1.5% instead of 2%, I can live with it.

I'm currently feeding a new AMEX card to prep it for the possible 61-day CLI. That means accepting 1% on general spending rather than getting the 1.5% I normally would.

Nothing really goes through my mind in the "few moments" before the swipe, though. I generally know my plan of attack before I go out the door.

joltdude · ‎03-22-2017

I use my Blispay as long as i dont have a 0% purchase on it.....

its quick cashback at 2%

Otherwise I tend to rotate not ideal cards depending on the purchase....

Currently Ill still use disco for noncategory spend since its double cashback even though it doesnt arrive the extra cashback for a few months...

Pondering a DC at some point but not sure..

-J

minski · ‎03-22-2017

I have 4 general spend cards (Citi DC, Blispay, Fidelity, and NavyFed cash rewards), and for my purchases these days I use my Fidelity.

I am currently carrying a balance on the DC at 0% at over 30% util (was higher until I got a small CLI at 6 months and paid down the balance a bit more; will be paying it all off next week, though); currently using Blispay for promos only; and reserving NavyFed for out of country use for its no FTF benefit.

Once I pay off the balance on the Citi DC, though, I might just randomly choose to distribute my spend between Fidelity and the DC although I've been thinking lately of closing Fidelity. I prefer the Citicards website; I have a higher CL with the DC with expectation of increasing it further if needed every 6 months with SP; and it comes with certains perks that while I am not taking advantage of it; I like knowing it is available. While the Fidelity card has its own set of perks (including Visa Sig with lower APR than Citi DC), I don't care for Elan while I have at least the superficial comfort of having 10+ years of positive history with Citi.

CreditDunce · ‎03-23-2017

My default non-cat spend card is my BoA TR rewards card. If I want price protection, I go with the City DC. Price Rewind is the easiest price protection around.

Every couple of months I use my Cap1 QS for a small purchase. I want to keep it active as a backup in case I do any foreign travel. I get 10c for paying the bill via Discover, so it doesn't cost me anything to keep the card active. I will probably add my Barclay Commerce card into the same QS rotation until I decide what to do with it. Lastly, I have 2 BBR that need a tiny bit of love each month.

deltatee · ‎03-23-2017

Up until this week, I had three non-category cards: FU, Blispay, and QS. I put all of my non-category spend on FU for the 1.5x UR points and use Blispay for financing.

I found myself in a similar situation where my QS wasn't very useful to me anymore, and I value a single UR and a single Hyatt point at more than 1.5% anyway. So I actually closed the QS because I would actually use my CSR or Hyatt as a backup non-category card anway.

Anonymous · ‎03-23-2017

If you are micromanaging youd swipe the day after the statement cut. Points and cash back are games played differently, in the case above with the Quicksilver it is not hard to justify spend 1% pointer over a 1.5 cash back knowing you're going to get something on the back end later. My income does not support chasing points with two different banks, so I am a UR fan.

SunriseEarth · ‎03-23-2017

@mkhan1093 wrote:
Hey guys,

Just curious to know what goes through your minds when you're about to make a noncategory purchase regarding which card to use. Many people have 3+ noncategory cards and I'm curious to know what the thought process is those few moments before a card must be swiped/entered depending on which. Obviously, if you're meeting a minimum spend, then it's almost a no-brainer which card to use. But after that? For example, I just rotate the noncategory card to use once a day.

IMHO, I don't think you need to use anything that frequently. I only have cashback cards and I'm currently using Barclay Rewards for gen spend to meet the spend offer.

For my gen spend normally, I was using Blispay when I didn't have promo balances. My 2nd choice is Double Cash. My other gen spend cards, CashForward and QS, are SDed. I eventually plan on closing my CashForward and allocating the CL to Rewards, and I'm hoping to PC the QS to the new Dining card for Cap One, but it doesn't seem like they're offering PCs to that card yet.