Looking for some cards to maximize my rewards. I realize I am missing out on travel rewards, restaurants, and cell phone/utilities. I found the following which would seem to help plug these somewhat minor holes in my current portfolio. Do you CC experts know of any cards that would encompass two or more of the above categories (travel, restaurants, cell phone/utilities)?
Citi Forward
US Bank Cash+
Penfed Amex
I currently already have 7 CCs, which is already about 1-2 more than I'd like. If I do add some more cards, I'd like to keep it at a minimum. Would you CC experts recommend I cancel a CC or two that I rarely use to keep my CC portfolio at or around 7 cards? I've kept my rarely-used cards open thusfar because I didn't want to lose the history, though I wonder if it would be a moot point in 10 years.
Starting Score: EQ 773, TU 766
CSP has a great sign up bonus - 40K UR points which is about $500 towards travel
Gotta say sign up for the US Bank Cash+ before it goes away AGAIN!!!
For travel + dining, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is a popular option, especially if you have the Freedom and/or a Chase checking account. If you are considering American Express, the Blue Sky Preferred also covers these categories.
Phone/utilities is a little dicier. The Cash+ is generally accepted to be top dog in this category. There are other cards that offer rewards for phone/internet bills, but I don't know any particular ones off the top of my head right now.
Re:AAoA, you seem pretty solid and canceling won't take effect (except for util) for another 7-10 years when the cards drop off your reports. If you're worried though and already have an Amex-issued card, the backdating will help to mitigate the eventual drop in AAoA.
Discover had 2% bonus cash back for automatic bill paid but its end in 2012 ;-( too badd
PS: Tinivuel has a thread about what card she using for whatever purpose.....couple months ago.....can't recall it thou.....but very helpful for everyone follow.....
Starting Score: 560I do have a Chase Freedom and a Chase Checking account, and while I have heard it is an awesome combo with Chase Sapphire Preferred, I'm not quite seeing it. As far as I can tell, getting the CSP would just net me 2 points per dollar spent on travel/dining, far less than the 5% or 5 points that some other cards, like the US Bank Cash+ or Citi Forward offer. Am I missing something about the rewards calculations for the Chase Freedom + checking + CSP combo?
Still open to suggestions from others on what I should do or what other cards that might be worth a peek, thanks.
@andyaycw wrote:I do have a Chase Freedom and a Chase Checking account, and while I have heard it is an awesome combo with Chase Sapphire Preferred, I'm not quite seeing it. As far as I can tell, getting the CSP would just net me 2 points per dollar spent on travel/dining, far less than the 5% or 5 points that some other cards, like the US Bank Cash+ or Citi Forward offer. Am I missing something about the rewards calculations for the Chase Freedom + checking + CSP combo?
Still open to suggestions from others on what I should do or what other cards that might be worth a peek, thanks.
CSP lets you transfer to UR partners where you can net between ~1.6x and 3x+ value (3.2% to 6%), when you redeem for travel (e.g. redeem United miles, British Airways miles on American, Korean Airways on Delta --bad choice--, Southwest --fixed value--, Marriott, Hyatt, etc.). That is, one Chase UR point (and Amex MR point; this work for PRG versus BCP/BSP as well) can be worth far more than 1 [Citi, CapOne, Discover, etc.] point. If you don't travel (or intend to redeem for travel), then no, it's not going to work out well.
Even still, it's hard to keep up with 5% cash back (the only card that offers this regularly on airfare, that I'm aware of, is the PenFed Amex), but it's easy to pool a lot of points (especially with sign-on bonuses) and take an international first class trip abroad with a miles card (which is the only value in having a CSP, IMO - not necessarily taking FC trips abroad, but redeeming miles, not cash back). Cash back people tend to say "no annual fees and too much hassle", miles people say "good redemption, reasonable annual fee". Only the cardholder can decide which is "worth" more.
Example: my holiday travel (booked a month in advance) was $600/person. If an award ticket was available (no guarantee - I didn't even bother to look) and I had the points on my Sapphire to transfer, then points from my Sapphire would have had an effective value of 5.136% (at a 25000 mile/RT redemption -- standard "Low" for domestic flights). Since fares change, it's only worth it to compare minimum reward redemption available to minimum fare for the same class - I have no idea if a 25000 mile reward would have been available on my flight (more than likely not), so you have to be vigilant to beat a 5% back card with a 2x mile card.
And if you redeem for Southwest (always $0.0166 per point for the "Low" fare), your redemption on the CSP (minimum I would accept, includes dividend) is always 1.78% on 1x categories, 3.56% on the 2x categories, and 8.33% for Freedom 5% categories (but only if you have the CSP!). The 10 point Chase checking bonus on the Freedom would have a minimum value of $0.16. etc. etc. etc.
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Figured I should add, if you do travel, Amex's version of the CSP is the BSP, which offers a fixed 2.67% cashback on dining, hotels and car rentals (all only redeemable for travel already taken as a statement credit), as well as a net $25/yr in airline incidental fees (luggage fees, change fees, in flight entertainement or food (not WiFi), etc. etc.) is a comparable option. Not as good as 5% if you spend a lot, but >5% if you spend <$1066/yr on dining and redeem the full $100 in incidental fees.
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