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The best no AF card for you is...

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DigitalArk
Valued Contributor

The best no AF card for you is...

Which one is the best for you and why?

 

For me, it's Citi Double Cash, 2% on everything. Smiley Tongue

Message 1 of 41
40 REPLIES 40
yfan
Valued Contributor

Re: The best no AF card for you is...

If cards associated with a membership (but do not have a membership fee in and of themselves count), then the Costco True Earnings Amex. 3% cashback on Costco gas is a sweet deal, plus unlimited 2% on restaurants and travel, AND the benefits and privileges that come with being an American Express cardmember.

 

If by no AF you mean it can't even require a paid membership somewhere else, then Discover IT. The 5% categories are pretty useful, getting my FICO score is a nice bonus, and Discover has one of the best online shopping malls with ShopDiscover and Discover Deals for extra cashback. It also doesn't have a FTF, so whenever traveling outside the country, it always comes with me.

Message 2 of 41
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: The best no AF card for you is...


@DigitalArk wrote:

Which one is the best for you and why?

 

For me, it's Citi Double Cash, 2% on everything. Smiley Tongue


Well. I didn't get approved for the Citi DC.

 

So based on experience. Discover has been wonderful to us, offering 3 seperate 0% periods over the last 3 1/2yrs as well as various bonus cashback offers. We've spent $64,532 on it over this time with $2,104 cashback earned total, Which works out to just over 3.2% cashback!

Message 3 of 41
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: The best no AF card for you is...

For now its definitely Discover. Noticed most of my regular purchases qualify for cashback on the website. ShopDiscover and Discover Deals are pretty great.

Petsmart - 10%
Enterprise - 5%
Wal-Mart - 5%
Royal Caribbean - 5%, not a regular purchase but its the only cruise line I like and Im due for a vacation

This card is turning me into a cashback junkie! Smiley Very Happy
Message 4 of 41
gh17
Frequent Contributor

Re: The best no AF card for you is...

Citi Forward <3

 

and also Sallie Mae

BofA Cash Rewards 25,000 (2009) | Citi Double Cash 25,000 (2011) | Cap1 Quicksilver 10,000 (2013) | Discover It 31,000 (2014) | Chase Freedom 9000 (2014) | Barclaycard Rewards 25,000 (2014)

FICO: 840 Discover/Barclays/BofA TU, 869 Citi Equifax
Message 5 of 41
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: The best no AF card for you is...

Hard to pick. One part of me wants to say Barclay's Sallie Mae card, but the limits are low and grocery/gas is a small portion of my spend and even the 750 bookstore (i.e. Amazon) portion is not enough to make it my best no AF card. Definitely one of my favorites due to the 5% categories I spend money on each month, but not sure if best. 

 

The Citi DoubleCash is awesome as well since it covers all those pesky situations where I don't have a better rewards card. For example, I filled gas in Safeway gas station the other day. The Sallie Mae Card would have given me 1% and not 5% since Safeway is not an oil company (pretty sure anyway), but the DoubleCash gave me 2% back. Lower gas fee, 2% rewards, and a reduced gas bill due to earlier spending at Safeway made the Safeway gas beat out the nearby Chevron with 5% from Sallie Mae. Unfortunately, the DoubleCash sees limited use because I use the CSP for things like dining and travel that are fairly large spends for me (2 chase points > 2% cash back for me). If I did not have the CSP, the DoubleCash would likely be my favorite cash back card. 

 

The US Bank Cash+ is nice due to the 5% categories (don't have), but I hear it is getting nerfed (e.g. restaurant category removed). Don't have it, not sure if I want it now, but it is a card I strongly considered before for restaurant spend over the CSP. 

 

The Discover IT is a nice cashback card too. The 5% categories are nice, but the fact that it changes makes it less valuable to me. For example, Sallie Mae is a decent Amazon card and gas card. Those categories are less useful for me from the Discover IT (Amazon helps a bit). But the Shop Discover portal is nice and I like the card. 

 

The Chase Freedom (I don't have) is probably my favorite no-AF credit card. The fact that I can transfer cash back to the CSP for points makes it awesome. Plus with the CSP 25% bonus, a 5% category purchase on the CSP is like 6.25 points per dollar. I plan on getting it the moment I leave the garden to improve my Chase Ultimate Rewards points strategy. The Freedom is not much better than the Discover IT, but the Chase transfer points ability makes it the best IMO. If I did not have the CSP, the Sallie Mae card would probably be my favorite no-AF card. 

 

 

 

Message 6 of 41
gh17
Frequent Contributor

Re: The best no AF card for you is...


@Anonymous wrote:
For example, I filled gas in Safeway gas station the other day. The Sallie Mae Card would have given me 1% and not 5% since Safeway is not an oil company (pretty sure anyway).

 

 


But Safeway is a grocery store, so wouldn't you be fine?  I would try - I get 5% at Wawa which isn't really primarily a gas station (although a lot of them have gas now).

BofA Cash Rewards 25,000 (2009) | Citi Double Cash 25,000 (2011) | Cap1 Quicksilver 10,000 (2013) | Discover It 31,000 (2014) | Chase Freedom 9000 (2014) | Barclaycard Rewards 25,000 (2014)

FICO: 840 Discover/Barclays/BofA TU, 869 Citi Equifax
Message 7 of 41
DigitalArk
Valued Contributor

Re: The best no AF card for you is...

Thank you all for sharing! It's really hard to just pick one, since there are so many out there are considered very good and everyone has different needs.

 

I canceled my CSP yesterday due to lack of usage. The AF was not worth it for me. I am more into no AF cards. Maybe in the future I will pick up CSP again if my life style changes. 

 

I am a Costco shopper as well, so the Costco TE is awesome. Yet, so are Discover it, Chase Freedom, Amex ED & BCE, NFCU cashRewards and BoA Travel Rewards, etc. That's why I have them all. Smiley Tongue

 

I always want to cut it down to just 5~7 cards, but it's really not easy for me to decide which ones to drop. I might just as well to keep them all since they don't have AF. Smiley Very Happy

Message 8 of 41
-Cal-
Valued Contributor

Re: The best no AF card for you is...

I shop too much to have a single best card but here's in the order of usage.

 

* Citi Double Cash 2% (gets used the most, especially on categories not covered below)

* Sallie Mae 5% (gas, groceries, Amazon)

* Discover IT (rotating 5% -- I actually have 2 of these) 

* Chase Freedom (rotating 5%)

* BankAmericard Better Balance Rewards (pays for my CSP)

* Amazon Visa (3% Amazon backup)

* Amex ED (random spend for points, backup groceries)

 

Message 9 of 41
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: The best no AF card for you is...


@gh17 wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:
For example, I filled gas in Safeway gas station the other day. The Sallie Mae Card would have given me 1% and not 5% since Safeway is not an oil company (pretty sure anyway).

 

 


But Safeway is a grocery store, so wouldn't you be fine?  I would try - I get 5% at Wawa which isn't really primarily a gas station (although a lot of them have gas now).


 

 

Safeway gas codes as gas station. But I know my Amex cards don't give bonus gas rewards because Safeway/non-gas company gas stations are exempted. I think the Sallie Mae card has the same exemption (not 100% sure). So even though it is a grocery store, it won't trigger grocery store cash back and even though it is a gas station it won't trigger that either. 

Message 10 of 41
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