Whats your Favorite Credit Card?

[longtimelurker]

Somewhere in the region of $15-20K.    Probably not worth it for a $6K spend, especially as you have cards that are already 2% (either arrival or 1UR on Freedom)

[nachoslibres]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

Somewhere in the region of $15-20K.    Probably not worth it for a $6K spend, especially as you have cards that are already 2% (either arrival or 1UR on Freedom)

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Geez!  You don't have a tv show with 19 kids, do you?    That definitely makes more sense to me now though.

[Fico2Go]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@Fico2Go wrote:

Yes but instead of using other visa/mastercards and earning < 5% rewards why not use the BC to buy visa debit cards and earn 5% on all spend? 

Helps keep utilizatio on other visa/mastercard cards down while you actively build momentum with AMEX and spending visa/mastercard debits?

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Well except on occassional special offers, you are getting ~ 4%, because of the purchase fee, right?   So a OV card costs $4.95, your net is $20.30 (after rewards on $504.95) which is just over 4%

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I am lucky in that the places I buy the visa cards gives me a free one on every 5th purchase.   In addtion to this, the places I buy mine offer discounts on  gas based amount  I spend.  For example for every $1000 I spent I get $20 off on gas.   I am almost free gas these days saving me about $700 a month. 

Sometimes the free  gas is better than the 4-5% cashback. 

[iDShaDoW]

Edit:  Answered my own question by checking the other forum post - http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/the-old-Blue-Cash-card-Amex-still-available/td-p/268571...

Guess for now I'll stick with the BCP.  Maybe in the future when I hopefully have more of a disposable income I'll switch over if it's still available.

Anyhow, back on topic.

Favorite cards are BCP (groceries), PenFed (Gas), Quicksilver One (everything else).

Chat support told me I can't PC my BoA Cash Rewards to a Merrill Lynch card which was disappointing; haven't gotten around to asking the EO.  They did mail me paper applications for the BoA Travel Rewards card after I told them why I was wanting to PC my card though...

[nachoslibres]

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@iDShaDoW wrote:

Long-winded post as usual, but can someone provide a bit more clarification on the AMEX Blue Cash?

It says up to 5% on groceries, gas, and drugstores (everyday purchases) and 1% back on other purchases.

After that, it says you get 1% back on everyday purchases for the first $6,500 then 5% back beyond that.

So is it a 1% card on EVERYTHING then after you hit $6,500 you start getting 5% on groceries, gas, and drugstores?

I'm just trying to compare to get a feel on whether or not my reasoning is correct.  It seems like for a person who doesn't spend a whole lot yearly (still working on my student loans) that the AMEX BCP is better since you start saving right from the beginning even though there's a cap on rewards earning.

For example, the BCP you spend $6k (@6%) and you've maxed out the grocery cash back (ie. $360).  To reach the same amount of cash back on the Blue Cash, you'd have to spend $12.2k on groceries/gift cards.  This $12.2k spend is factoring in the annual fee on the BCP.

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Now, if I'm wrong, and you earn 5% right from the 1st dollar you spend, then the Blue Cash is better so please let me know.  I've had my BCP for about 1 year now and wouldn't mind app'ing for the Blue Cash, asking them to backdate, then closing out the BCP since I assume they won't let you PC to it.

My AAoA would take a hit along with the hard inquiry but I don't feel it'd be a big deal as my current FICOs are decently high and I doubt I'll be breaking the 800 barrier until I finish paying my student loans and the car loan I co-signed on for my brother.  By then, the AAoA and inquiry will be less of a hit on my credit scores.

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From my research, BC is a 1% back on the bonus categories (gas, groceries, drug stores) and 0.5% back on every thing else until you hit $6,500 in all purchases combined then every thing after that inital $6,500 you get 5% back on the bonus categories and 1% back on every thing else.  Of course the $6,500 requirement resets annually.  I'm assuming the reason they do this is to keep people from just using this card for the 5% categories.  You have to spend at least $6,500 on the card annually to see any 5% bonus, and depending what categories those purchases fall in you will either earn between 0.5% to 1% cash back on the first $6,500.  Or you could MS the first $6,500 like Fico2Go does and get around a 4-5% return instead of the 0.5-1% return you would normally see on that initial $6,500.

[iDShaDoW]

Yup, that's what I just saw too.

Thanks for confirming.  BCP it is for now.

[longtimelurker]

Nearly right.  The reward structure is broken in to two bits:

1) Before the $6,500 is reached each year:

   1% on "everyday spend", groceries, gas and drug store

   0.5% on everything else.

2) Once the $6,500 is reached

   5% on "everyday spend"

   1% on everything else

Basically, the first $6,500 is like an annual fee.   If you do it all on "other spend", you are earning 0.5%.  If you have a 1% card you could use instead, you are losing $32.50

If you have a 2% card, you are losing $97.50.    So that is the "fee" you pay to get the 5%.

There is also another strangeness, you get 5% on gas but only up to $400 PER transaction, i.e. no cap on 5% on gas as a whole, but each gas transaction should be less than $400.  Not a problem for most real gas purchases, but for buying gift cards at a 7/11 for example, can come into play!

[nachoslibres]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

Nearly right.  The reward structure is broken in to two bits:

1) Before the $6,500 is reached each year:

   1% on "everyday spend", groceries, gas and drug store

   0.5% on everything else.

2) Once the $6,500 is reached

   5% on "everyday spend"

   1% on everything else

Basically, the first $6,500 is like an annual fee.   If you do it all on "other spend", you are earning 0.5%.  If you have a 1% card you could use instead, you are losing $32.50

If you have a 2% card, you are losing $97.50.    So that is the "fee" you pay to get the 5%.

There is also another strangeness, you get 5% on gas but only up to $400 PER transaction, i.e. no cap on 5% on gas as a whole, but each gas transaction should be less than $400.  Not a problem for most real gas purchases, but for buying gift cards at a 7/11 for example, can come into play!

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Or I guess filling up diesel trucks lol.

[longtimelurker]

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@nachoslibres wrote:

 Or you could MS the first $6,500 like Fico2Go does and get around a 4-5% return instead of the 0.5-1% return you would normally see on that initial $6,500.

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No you can't do that!  You would get 1% on those purchases not 5%

[nachoslibres]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@nachoslibres wrote:

 Or you could MS the first $6,500 like Fico2Go does and get around a 4-5% return instead of the 0.5-1% return you would normally see on that initial $6,500.

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No you can't do that!  You would get 1% on those purchases not 5%

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I thought he was ordering Visa cards through the portal which gave him an additional credit (on top of the 1%).  I probably didn't follow it well though, MS calculations hurt my head too much. EDIT:  Nevermind, I see he was talking about using the gift cards he purchased from grocery stores (or gas stations) to purchase other items that he wouldn't get 5% on.  Makes more sense now.

On another note, someone should probably PM a mod and ask them to rename the thread title to the Blue Cash Card Thread.