What Store Cards are worth getting?

[AverageJoesCredit]

To have a store card or not have one will be debated to the end of time. Everyone has different beliefs and ideas so essentially thete is no right or wrong. As has been said here before it all comes down an individuals own needs and wants. Obviously most stores accept a visa or mastercard and the benefit of having one those besides if they have specific rewards , is they can be used multiple places. I believe many people here on the forum want their rewards but im sure there are just as many in the real world who are happy to just have a credit card and probably dont realize the benfits of reward cards. Heck, in my first stage of having credit i just felt happy to get a card or be approved fast. No clue that there were ways to maximize your money lol. Just an average thought from an average joe on not an average holiday

[morgacj2004]

I have Kohls, Macy's, Cabellas,Amazon, Target and Sears. Use all of them except for Sears.

[Anonymous]

@smc..... you literally made me almost spit my coffee out with that last sentence. I so know what you mean so it made me literally LOL. Good distraction this morning.

[Anonymous]

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@thom02099 wrote:

Worth is always subjective.  What one person finds useful, another may find as useless.  If you apply for a card, it must have had a benefit that you found useful...to you.  Whether it's a store card or a general credit/charge card, this is applicable.  

Many folks find home improvement store cards as useful.  They can provide various incentives, that a general credit card may not offer.  Lowes, for example, can offer a 5% discount off a purchase price, or financing for XX number of months at 0% interest.  This is useful for big ticket purchases, say, buying all of your appliances at one place for a kitchen remodel.  This can easily run $5000-$7000 or more, and a 5% discount could be a big deal, or financing it for 24 months with 0% interest if paid off within the timeframe. 

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That is probably the best way to put it, for store cards, or ANY cards.  Best airline card is for the airline you fly, best hotel card is for the hotel you stay at.

Best store card, in addition to having some benefit (0%APR or some sort of discount, or else you should just use a Visa/MC/AMEX/Disc), is for the store you shop at. If you only shop at Walmart, a Target card isn't a good choice, even if you manage to get a decent CL.  If you have a Lowes near you, a HD card isn't much use.  If you swore to never step in Lowes, and go to HD frequently, then a Lowes card is less than worthless.

And the trap to avoid is changing up your shopping habits just for a card.  That way leads to madness

[CreditDunce]

I have a Lowes and Target card.   I could probably get a better discount with gift cards, but I don't plan ahead enough to purchase them before hand.  Nor would I want to keep up with them or deal with drained gift cards. 

An old thread with some of the bene's of the better know cards:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Store-Card-Perk-List/td-p/2459079/highlight/true

[Anonymous]

@CreditDunce-thx for the link. This is exactly what I was hoping to get. So far Amazon seems to be the only one which the benefits are equal or better than a Visa/MC/Amex/Disco -and if there is no benefit to FICO, than probably won't get any. They always were a PITA to use for me. I never carried them-no cash back or Travel points. Now some do like Amazon and there is Apple Pay so I don't need to carry them. Still not sure on adding any besides my Amazon card. Need to read through this thread you posted. Thx again.

[Anonymous]

Store cards "worth" getting are any that the card holder will use that offer a discount or reward greater than that of their other card(s).  Cards like Amazon or Lowe's for example give you 5% back year round, where as a bonus category with say Discover or Chase Freedom will perhaps provide that half the year based on quarterly categories.  I don't know much about what different store cards offer (I only have 1 myself) but if their benefit doesn't exceed what you would get using your other cards there's no point in getting one.  I'd imagine that there are store cards out there that provide even better rewards or discounts than 5% while there are likely some that provide little to no benefit at all.  Most probably land somewhere in the middle.  Unless you plan to use the card at least monthly or so, I dont really see the purpose of obtaining a store card for a couple of purchases a year unless they are significant purchases like all new appliances at Lowe's, for example.

[Anonymous]

 Everyone has already said what I was going to say. I only have one store card and I am very greatful for it because it was the only one that stuck around when I was forced to rebuild. I shop amazon daily so if I was going to get a card it would probably be that, however...I've found I don't need it. My BCP is giving me 10 percent  cashback almost instantly and  even if I didn't have that my discover is 5 percent. Id consider lowes and homedepot but my home is relatively new. On the few occasions I've had to shop at either store I had no problems finding 5 % off at discover or chase.  if I was bent on getting a store card it would be something I used and somethingt hat would grow with me. 

[Anonymous]

I don't think that most people will ever need to have more than a couple of store cards.  I feel like the majority that have a bunch of store cards end up regretting it and closing the majority of them or simply don't use half of them outside of an occasional purchase which could easily be done with any other major CC and as the person above said often can be done with equal or sometimes better rewards.  There are exceptions, no doubt, but I think people that find adequate use for more than a couple of store cards are few and far between.

[Anonymous]

Overstock offers the highest limits of most of them. They started me with 500. I simply called and asked for 3k and they gave it to me no questions asked.