The “All other purchases” card

[Anonymous]

I use my Quicksilver and FU to get 1.5%. They have closing dates almost exactly half a month apart from each other so I rotate them to show 0 balances. I also end up using my CCU Visa Signature Cash Rebate card on "all other" type purchases so I can hit the 1k/month spending to get 5.39% interest rate on my checking account with them. It's basically an AMEX BCE 3-2-1 card minus the department stores 2%. I've got a new DC card on the way though so my spending is going to change, but with a small SL of $1100, I imagine the old standbys will get some use. Honestly I may just have a slight problem with SUBs and shiny new cards.

[Peteyglad]

My all around purchase card is the Amex EDP. It gets 1 MR for everyday purchases. I do 30 swipes a month so that 1 MR turns into 1.5 MR. I then transfer those to Delta where I can get good value. It is easy for me to get $.02 per MR at a minimum so I like to think of my EDP as a 3% card.

[longtimelurker]

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@UpperNwGuywrote:

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@Anonymouswrote:
I'm of the mind that if you are genuinely pumping enough spend through a general purpose card that the. 05% difference between a standard 1.5% vs 2% card is significant enough to warrant the HP and AAOA hit to open a 2% card you're "doing it wrong" and should consider adopting a points ecosystem and using that card instead of a cashback. Of course that's just this bears opinion.

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The points ecosystems only yield good returns for travel redemptions.  Many people on this board don't travel, so they avoid points and miles and stick to cash back cards.

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In addition, the "cost" of HP/AAoA hit varies from person to person (and changes over time for a particular person) and an X point score drop may well have no financial impact at all (if you don't plan applying for anything soon for example).  Against that, the 33% increase in cash back from going from a 1.5% to a 2% will be worth it at any spend level.    In most cases, outside of a mortgage/loan application, a score drop/increase has no value whereas earning an extra $1 a year is an extra $1 a year!  (Cue "free money!")

[kdm31091]

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@Anonymouswrote:
Post rebuild I'm using the discover IT to kill two categories with one card - a rotating category 10% back card & a 2% on everything else card. Plus they gave me my first five digit limit card which at the time was a good 4k above the rest. All of this made the IT perfect.

For the first year anyways, once CB match ends in August the cards value to me drops significantly as it goes back to a semi-overlapping 5/1% cat card. But for year one you can't beat it. I'm Au on the wife's citi dividend, which we're PC'ing to double cash (on account of terrible categories) and will take the place of flat rate 2% card come August.

I'm of the mind that if you are genuinely pumping enough spend through a general purpose card that the. 05% difference between a standard 1.5% vs 2% card is significant enough to warrant the HP and AAOA hit to open a 2% card you're "doing it wrong" and should consider adopting a points ecosystem and using that card instead of a cashback. Of course that's just this bears opinion.

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While I don't really travel much that points make sense for me, I think you do have a good point here. It is important to not get too caught up in minor increases in cash back. Always run the numbers and convert your spend on the card you're considering into actual dollars vs your current option. An extra 1% on something you buy infrequently may not be worth an extra couple dollars a year in rewards spread out on a different account.

[Anonymous]

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@longtimelurkerwrote:

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@UpperNwGuywrote:

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@Anonymouswrote:
I'm of the mind that if you are genuinely pumping enough spend through a general purpose card that the. 05% difference between a standard 1.5% vs 2% card is significant enough to warrant the HP and AAOA hit to open a 2% card you're "doing it wrong" and should consider adopting a points ecosystem and using that card instead of a cashback. Of course that's just this bears opinion.

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The points ecosystems only yield good returns for travel redemptions.  Many people on this board don't travel, so they avoid points and miles and stick to cash back cards.

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In addition, the "cost" of HP/AAoA hit varies from person to person (and changes over time for a particular person) and an X point score drop may well have no financial impact at all (if you don't plan applying for anything soon for example).  Against that, the 33% increase in cash back from going from a 1.5% to a 2% will be worth it at any spend level.    In most cases, outside of a mortgage/loan application, a score drop/increase has no value whereas earning an extra $1 a year is an extra $1 a year!  (Cue "free money!")

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You both make very good points, which is exactly why I added the coda of this being only my opinion 😀. In fact upon reading my post again in the light of day I'm almost inclined to agree with you. I suppose I still view things from the "recently completed a credit rebuild" mindset wherein I'm hyper focused on the minute details of scoring and missing the larger picture for the general credit using public. I shouldn't care about aaoa since I've got all the cards I sought after (at least for the next 2-3 years) but after years of micromanaging my credit profile I've got a hard time letting go. I did a research project after thinking to myself that the majority of my spend goes to specific use cards and not my 2% disco  and while it's true that chase leads the pack dollar for dollar with all of our travel and dining on the CSP  the second heaviest card is the disco since it catches all the utility, insurance etc bills.

That said I humbly retract my previous opinion 😁

[imaximous]

My all around card is the US Bank Altitude. I never thought a premium card would be this rewarding, but it's working out for me. I use Samsung Pay just about everywhere, and it nets me 3% on everything. If you redeem for travel, it becomes a 4.5% card, but at worst, it's a 3% cashback card with the premium benefits.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymouswrote:

I use my Quicksilver and FU to get 1.5%. They have closing dates almost exactly half a month apart from each other so I rotate them to show 0 balances. I also end up using my CCU Visa Signature Cash Rebate card on "all other" type purchases so I can hit the 1k/month spending to get 5.39% interest rate on my checking account with them. It's basically an AMEX BCE 3-2-1 card minus the department stores 2%. I've got a new DC card on the way though so my spending is going to change, but with a small SL of $1100, I imagine the old standbys will get some use. Honestly I may just have a slight problem with SUBs and shiny new cards.

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Say what? ! What are the terms of this deal? I assume there must be a balance cap to be eligible for 5.39%, otherwise I'm jumping the garden fence and snagging that card and pulling all 200k out of CDs and into checking  

[OmarR]

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@Anonymouswrote:
I'm also, later, going to apply for the PayPal CC and link it to the PayPal business debit to get 2% back on debit transactions.

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This is what I use  right now, except I have just been going for the full 3% cashback. 

Good for you that you are donating via a debit card. As for me, I haven't found the need to swipe a debit card in years.

[longtimelurker]

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@Anonymouswrote:

I use my Quicksilver and FU to get 1.5%. They have closing dates almost exactly half a month apart from each other so I rotate them to show 0 balances. I also end up using my CCU Visa Signature Cash Rebate card on "all other" type purchases so I can hit the 1k/month spending to get 5.39% interest rate on my checking account with them. It's basically an AMEX BCE 3-2-1 card minus the department stores 2%. I've got a new DC card on the way though so my spending is going to change, but with a small SL of $1100, I imagine the old standbys will get some use. Honestly I may just have a slight problem with SUBs and shiny new cards.

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5.39%?    I get 4.59% with CCU with the $1000 credit card spend (and 12 debit and 1 ACH).   Are you grandfathered at an older rate?

[longtimelurker]

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@Anonymouswrote:

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@Anonymouswrote:

I use my Quicksilver and FU to get 1.5%. They have closing dates almost exactly half a month apart from each other so I rotate them to show 0 balances. I also end up using my CCU Visa Signature Cash Rebate card on "all other" type purchases so I can hit the 1k/month spending to get 5.39% interest rate on my checking account with them. It's basically an AMEX BCE 3-2-1 card minus the department stores 2%. I've got a new DC card on the way though so my spending is going to change, but with a small SL of $1100, I imagine the old standbys will get some use. Honestly I may just have a slight problem with SUBs and shiny new cards.

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Say what? ! What are the terms of this deal? I assume there must be a balance cap to be eligible for 5.39%, otherwise I'm jumping the garden fence and snagging that card and pulling all 200k out of CDs and into checking  

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The current deal (where I get 4.59%) maxes out on balances of $20K.    So certainly worth doing (my wife and I each have one) but not a source of riches!