Sallie Mae Mastercard

[ForumPheen]

Sounds like the WEMC to go for, if looking for one.  I'll revisit in 2016; need my inquiries to fall and my score to go up some more. I initially had Barclays and Chase on my 2016 list, but I caved with the Ritz's 140k bonus offer. Good to read from you all about this card!

[Anonymous]

Barclay's doesn't like inquiries. More than 6 in a year is too many. They also, more than most CCC's, don't like credit hunters. So if you've been applying alot and you've gotten alot of new credit, don't expect to be approved. 

[Anonymous]

I was approved.

[lord_kinbote]

While the card is great for Amazon.com purchases and gas purchases, the low cap for groceries is more of an irritant than practical.  250.00 cap at 5% a statement for groceries is extremely weak.   I believe the Amex BC Preferred is much better choice for groceries, if that is a higher concern.  

[Anonymous]

The BCP also has a cap of $6,000/yr. On top of that it has an AF and doesn't code Walmart as 6%.

If the SM's cap troubles you so much, get your significant other to get one as well.

[lord_kinbote]

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@Anonymous wrote:
The BCP also has a cap of $6,000/yr. On top of that it has an AF and doesn't code Walmart as 6%.

If the SM's cap troubles you so much, get your significant other to get one as well.

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Correct, meaning that BCP has a 2x higher cap than the Sallie Mae.  With the 75 dollar AF, the BCP equates to a potential 285.00 in rewards vs 150.00 of the SM. So in short, the BCP generates a 90% higher rewards than the SM in the grocery category.  I did not know about the Wal-Mart coding issue, but good to know.  Wife has a Barclay card, so maybe I will check into a PC to the SM - once 6k has been reached.

[kdm31091]

The BCP also has an advantage in that redemption options are more varied if you don't want just a statement credit. But your spending has to be high enough to justify the AF obviously.

[barbaralee]

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@akula wrote:

While the card is great for Amazon.com purchases and gas purchases, the low cap for groceries is more of an irritant than practical.  250.00 cap at 5% a statement for groceries is extremely weak.   I believe the Amex BC Preferred is much better choice for groceries, if that is a higher concern.  

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@akula wrote:

While the card is great for Amazon.com purchases and gas purchases, the low cap for groceries is more of an irritant than practical.  250.00 cap at 5% a statement for groceries is extremely weak.   I believe the Amex BC Preferred is much better choice for groceries, if that is a higher concern.  

The SM is also geared to students, where a $250 cap on groceries is more than sufficient for a single person on a budget. If you're feeding a family of 6, it's still doable, but other cards may be better. 

For our family of 3 (with a baby on the way) the SM card works great. We are usually just hitting that cap before the statement cuts. 

[TRC_WA]

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@Dw4250 wrote:
While this card is more geared toward students, it does have one of the best reward structures out there. Consequently Barclays has it as one of the more difficult cards to get.

At minimum, I'd say you should try to be ~ 700+ scores and have not too many recent INQS. But as always YMMV as everyone's credit profile is different.

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I was just approved with a 665 TU.  It wasn't that easy though.

I started with Barclay in 9/13 with the Apple card... although I had my sights on Sallie Mae all along I wanted to get in the door with them while rebuilding my credit.  After 16 months as a cardholder and gardening for 2014 with no new accounts and INQs, I went on an app spree the other day.

I got a Discover, Nordstrom, Amex, and Sallie Mae with a $4500 limit. All instant approvals. I then closed the Apple and moved the CL over for a $6700 limit.

Mission accomplished.

[CreditMagic7]

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@TRC_WA wrote:

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@Dw4250 wrote:
While this card is more geared toward students, it does have one of the best reward structures out there. Consequently Barclays has it as one of the more difficult cards to get.

At minimum, I'd say you should try to be ~ 700+ scores and have not too many recent INQS. But as always YMMV as everyone's credit profile is different.

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I was just approved with a 665 TU.  It wasn't that easy though.

I started with Barclay in 9/13 with the Apple card... although I had my sights on Sallie Mae all along I wanted to get in the door with them while rebuilding my credit.  After 16 months as a cardholder and gardening for 2014 with no new accounts and INQs, I went on an app spree the other day.

I got a Discover, Nordstrom, Amex, and Sallie Mae with a $4500 limit. All instant approvals. I then closed the Apple and moved the CL over for a $6700 limit.

Mission accomplished.

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Same here. I only have need for Barclays Sallie Mae to complete things. If they would allow it i would PC my Barclays Rewards for it in a flash.