So a month ago I thought my card collection was complete. I was able to move from my cap 1 platinum with a 750CL last year which is now sock drawed and I will cancel before the AF is due, to getting a Discover More 5,500 CL in January and a Chase United Explorer 6,200 CL in February. I am only using my Discover more for the bonus categories and plan on redeeming my cashback for small things, like $25 dollar restaurant gift card for 20$ cashback, or maybe buy something with cashback from Amazon. Everything else I am putting on my United card and plan on using miles for upgrades or first class awards. It can take anywhere between 2 years or 8 years to earn an award with miles, depending on if I want to go for an upgrade or purchase an international first class trip with miles. A great aspirational award since I can't afford or justify purchasing upgrades or first class flights, but it would be a nice experience someday, especially with the 50k signup bonus giving me quite a start.
I have nothing for rewards in between. I also don't have a card with no foreign transaction fees. I know Discover doesnt charge a foreign transaction fee but they are not widely accepted overseas and I plan on taking a trip or two the next couple of years international to see a US Soccer game.
It looks like a capital one prime card would complete my collection and fill in the gaps missing by Discover and Chase. The blue Venture card is not an option since my United card will still be my primary option. I will probably breakup my monthly spending to have about 2/3rds of my spending on my United card to earn miles fast, and then 1/3 of my spending on the capital one card, which would be about 300 a month. Not enough to justify the annual fee on the blue Venture card.
So it comes down to the green cash card with 1.5% cashback, or the gold Venture card with 1.25% back for travel. A 0.25% difference really isn't that much with how much I am planning on spending on the card, with the green card I have to wait a full year for the bonus while the venture card you get the 1.25% back as soon as the charge hits.
Since I won't spend enough to earn a free flight or even a few nights hotel stay in a reasonable amount of time I plan on using the Venture miles for small incidentals like an in flight meal or in flight entertainment, maybe an airport parking fee, taxi, or airport shuttle.
Also do I want a World MasterCard or Visa signature? Is there any real difference? My United card is already a Visa signature. My international travel will be either to the carribean or central america, and europe. Is there any acceptance issues in those places for a Visa or Mastercard or is it all the same? In the US to this date I don't think I have ever seen a place that only accepted one or the other. For acceptance from what I have seen Visa and mastercard are the same.
Oh well at least I have awhile to think about it. I am staying in the garden until the end of the year at least to let my two new cards and inquiries age.
Reminds me of what I saw in the video game Mass Effect once when explaining the krogan rebellions how they just invaded world after world. They always said they needed "Just one more."
Well last month I thought I was permanently in the garden. Now I am feeling the itch for "Just one more" credit card. 
But in all seriousness three cards is the most I would want to ever have at one point, with only my main one having an annual fee. Anything more than that would start to be a pain to manage. Anything less and you seem to be missing out on some rewards or perks.
@Anonymous wrote:So a month ago I thought my card collection was complete. I was able to move from my cap 1 platinum with a 750CL last year which is now sock drawed and I will cancel before the AF is due, to getting a Discover More 5,500 CL in January and a Chase United Explorer 6,200 CL in February. I am only using my Discover more for the bonus categories and plan on redeeming my cashback for small things, like $25 dollar restaurant gift card for 20$ cashback, or maybe buy something with cashback from Amazon. Everything else I am putting on my United card and plan on using miles for upgrades or first class awards. It can take anywhere between 2 years or 8 years to earn an award with miles, depending on if I want to go for an upgrade or purchase an international first class trip with miles. A great aspirational award since I can't afford or justify purchasing upgrades or first class flights, but it would be a nice experience someday, especially with the 50k signup bonus giving me quite a start.
I have nothing for rewards in between. I also don't have a card with no foreign transaction fees. I know Discover doesnt charge a foreign transaction fee but they are not widely accepted overseas and I plan on taking a trip or two the next couple of years international to see a US Soccer game.
It looks like a capital one prime card would complete my collection and fill in the gaps missing by Discover and Chase. The blue Venture card is not an option since my United card will still be my primary option. I will probably breakup my monthly spending to have about 2/3rds of my spending on my United card to earn miles fast, and then 1/3 of my spending on the capital one card, which would be about 300 a month. Not enough to justify the annual fee on the blue Venture card.
So it comes down to the green cash card with 1.5% cashback, or the gold Venture card with 1.25% back for travel. A 0.25% difference really isn't that much with how much I am planning on spending on the card, with the green card I have to wait a full year for the bonus while the venture card you get the 1.25% back as soon as the charge hits.
Since I won't spend enough to earn a free flight or even a few nights hotel stay in a reasonable amount of time I plan on using the Venture miles for small incidentals like an in flight meal or in flight entertainment, maybe an airport parking fee, taxi, or airport shuttle.
Also do I want a World MasterCard or Visa signature? Is there any real difference? My United card is already a Visa signature. My international travel will be either to the carribean or central america, and europe. Is there any acceptance issues in those places for a Visa or Mastercard or is it all the same? In the US to this date I don't think I have ever seen a place that only accepted one or the other. For acceptance from what I have seen Visa and mastercard are the same.
Oh well at least I have awhile to think about it. I am staying in the garden until the end of the year at least to let my two new cards and inquiries age.
Well last month I thought I was permanently in the garden. Now I am feeling the itch for "Just one more" credit card.
But in all seriousness three cards is the most I would want to ever have at one point, with only my main one having an annual fee. Anything more than that would start to be a pain to manage. Anything less and you seem to be missing out on some rewards or perks.
I think the Gold VentureOne would be good for you!
