What cards would you suggest

[sambam94]

I'm a noob with acquiring CC points/rewards, ect.  I never really gave it a second thought, just used the same few cards.

I've had some free time this Winter and after applying for Barclaycards NFL card fior the free $200 statement credit, I got hooked.

I then got the Southwest plus cards(Pers and Bus) for the 50,00 bonus points each and will reach companion staus next week(1 billing cycle) I then received AMEX Blue Cash preferred and Chase sapphire preferred(40k points).

OK..so what am I missing?.Family of 4, travel some, but not a whole lot. Amex now for 6% cash back on groceries, Chase Sapphire for dining out...not sure what else I need.  Here is what I have below, any suggestins on what I should definitely cancel or pick up would be appreciated.

BOA Visa signature.- since 1996, crappy 1% cb - no use for it now except being old card no fee

USAA Visa - since 1990(never use, but like USAA- oldest card), no fee

Barclaycard LL Bean - since 2008, $35k credit, not sure how or why lol, no fee, never use

Bj's Barclaycard- 2%cb - wife does a lot of grocery shopping here, no fee

Barclaycard NFL - just received last month, $200 statement credit, no use for now, no fee

Chase Sapphire preferred - just received(40k bonus points), $10k CL -gor dining(2%),$95 fee

AMEX Blue Cash Preferred - just received, $20k CL- will use for all other groceries besides Bj's, 3% gas, 3% dep stores., $75 fee

Chase Southwest Plus Pers and bus - just opened($15k CL each), 100K bonus points, companion pass in few weeks

[flowfaster]

I would also look into the Citi forward 5 points per dollar on restaurants and Amazon. Also for all spendibg that doesn't fit a category get a 1.5-2% card. Lime the BoA travel rewards, cap one cash card, or the best option the Priceline 2% card. Good luck.

[scenery_guy]

Unless you want to start churning cards to reap rewards your best bet is to just pick a card and spend heavy on it to maximize rewards. Getting new cards for the sign up bonus is really where it's at but you have to be ready for the negatives that come with many frequent app sprees. 

I try to stay in a reward family (Chase cards that reward you with UR points across all cards - or AMEX that reward you with MR points). Of course if you are eyeing travel a couple of good hotel cards can fit in the mix as you can get a few free nights pretty quickly. AMEX SPG points transfer to airlines so that can cover a couple of bases. 

I noticed you have both personal and business versions of one card. Ever consider Chase Ink cards (if you can qualify for their business cards)? Same rewards as the CSP and they can transfer between card accounts. 

[bs6054]

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@flowfaster wrote:
I would also look into the Citi forward 5 points per dollar on restaurants and Amazon. Also for all spendibg that doesn't fit a category get a 1.5-2% card. Lime the BoA travel rewards, cap one cash card, or the best option the Priceline 2% card. Good luck.

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And if gas is a big category, PenFed Platinum Rewards (5% off gas, 3% off groceries for when Amex BCP reaches the cap)

[bs6054]

And (too many cards!) usually the Chase Freedom is used to drive points into the Sapphire Preferred.  This rotates 5% categories, so I don't beleive in it, but many others do!

[ztnjpv]

Well, depending on how much you spend on groceries, that new $6,000 grocery cap on 6% on groceries can be reached pretty quickly with a family of 4. 

Some options for when that grocery cap is reached:

1. PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa has 3 pts (3%) on groceries and that includes Walmart Supercenters, which is a nice flexible option if you grocery shop there sometimes. 25,000 point sign up bonus as well. It also gets 5% (5 pts) on gas paid at the pump. That's my gas card. The points are redeemable for merchandise, credits or prepaid Visa (no fee attached). 

2. Blue Cash Everyday. Why not? You hit the cap at 6% with the BCP? Why not just swtich to the BCE and get 3% after that.

Other areas: Chase Sapphire for dining is kinda lame IMO. Even if you use the chase points optimally, nothing beats the 5% on US Bank. And it's 5.25% if you get Gold Checking which is easy to maintain with no fee. You can pick another 5% and a 2% as well. Sure Bill Pay is going to be removed and the $2k caps are going in but there will be new 5% categories. Still a great card. I hear book stores is going to be a new 5% category. Good deal. Use it at Amazon.

[bs6054]

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@ztnjpv wrote:

Well, depending on how much you spend on groceries, that new $6,000 grocery cap on 6% on groceries can be reached pretty quickly with a family of 4. 

Some options for when that grocery cap is reached:

1. PenFed Platinum Rewards Visa has 3 pts (3%) on groceries and that includes Walmart Supercenters, which is a nice flexible option if you grocery shop there sometimes. 25,000 point sign up bonus as well. It also gets 5% (5 pts) on gas paid at the pump. That's my gas card. The points are redeemable for merchandise, credits or prepaid Visa (no fee attached). 

2. Blue Cash Everyday. Why not? You hit the cap at 6% with the BCP? Why not just swtich to the BCE and get 3% after that.

Other areas: Chase Sapphire for dining is kinda lame IMO. Even if you use the chase points optimally, nothing beats the 5% on US Bank. And it's 5.25% if you get Gold Checking which is easy to maintain with no fee. You can pick another 5% and a 2% as well. Sure Bill Pay is going to be removed and the $2k caps are going in but there will be new 5% categories. Still a great card. I hear book stores is going to be a new 5% category. Good deal. Use it at Amazon.

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But Cash Plus has the nasty thing where they split "fast food" and "restaurant".   With the removal of the $100 redemption, I've switched to using Forward for this and Amazon.   (Just make sure you use one of the 1point to 1cent redemption methods)

[sambam94]

hmmm,  now why did I get the Sapphire preferred again??..besides the 40k bonus points nad the fact that it;s looks so darn nice???

[ztnjpv]

bs6054 said:

"But Cash Plus has the nasty thing where they split "fast food" and "restaurant".   With the removal of the $100 redemption, I've switched to using Forward for this and Amazon.   (Just make sure you use one of the 1point to 1cent redemption methods)"

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Well, this is my take on that:

Fast Food is cheap and, depending on your habits, can make up a very small portion of your spending. I don't spend much on fast food. The one place that falls under fast food that I frequent more often is Starbucks and I buy a gift card for that at Staples with my Ink (5%). Yes, I know many people don't have that option but it's not a lot of money in the grander scheme of things anyway. My $25 gift card lasts me months and it gets me $1.25 back at 5% with the Ink at office stores.

Regrdless, I spend a few hundred on regular restaurants every month and I get 5.25% with the Cash+ (I'll leave out the current 5.65ish when factoring the $25 gift card since it's changing soon) while I might spend a little over a $100 per year on fast food. Insignificant cash back. But again, whatever floats your boat. The larger issue I have with the Forward is the sketchy redemption values. Plus, I prefer cash and get that extra .25% with the Cash + via Gold checking.  Matter of tastes I guess. 

[bs6054]

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@ztnjpv wrote:

bs6054 said:

"But Cash Plus has the nasty thing where they split "fast food" and "restaurant".   With the removal of the $100 redemption, I've switched to using Forward for this and Amazon.   (Just make sure you use one of the 1point to 1cent redemption methods)"

------------------------------------------------

Well, this is my take on that:

Fast Food is cheap and, depending on your habits, can make up a very small portion of your spending. I don't spend much on fast food. The one place that falls under fast food that I frequent more often is Starbucks and I buy a gift card for that at Staples with my Ink (5%). Yes, I know many people don't have that option but it's not a lot of money in the grander scheme of things anyway. My $25 gift card lasts me months and it gets me $1.25 back at 5% with the Ink at office stores.

Regrdless, I spend a few hundred on regular restaurants every month and I get 5.25% with the Cash+ (I'll leave out the current 5.65ish when factoring the $25 gift card since it's changing soon) while I might spend a little over a $100 per year on fast food. Insignificant cash back. But again, whatever floats your boat. The larger issue I have with the Forward is the sketchy redemption values. Plus, I prefer cash and get that extra .25% with the Cash + via Gold checking.  Matter of tastes I guess. 

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Actually, my problem has been what counts as fast food and what doesn't.   That said, most of the surprises seem to be places I thought might be fast food as classified as restuarants.  But I still prefer the forward for not having to even consider that question.

Yes, the extra 0.25 is nice, but I didn't have a good way of avoiding fees on Gold, apart from leaving money there, and the lost relative interest, for me, outweighed the bonus.