whats the Best of the Best

[kibarrow]

Agreed. I have that card as well,. it was my first Citi card.
Not too many of the point structures have changed. But many should be added.
Hefty $125 AF.... I like TY. It's not a favorite if too many. But it's simple. Even to an Engineer... It just makes sense. (Next easiest is the cash rewards...and why the low cap...gheez)
I heard at one time they were discontinuing the Premier. Guess that has changed... We'll leave that for another thread.
Thanks...have a great extended wkend.

[kibarrow]

Lost on mobile about who prefers Venture. But great question to whomever it was directed towards. Cap One in general I was happy with 10.01% APR. it systematically went down... From 13. Greeeeat. But when I'm traveling on business for 3 weeks at a time it was not enough. They will not raise (my limit at least) yet Citi and CSP tripled their bal.
Thread was about Points I know... So don't hammer me. Just curious about Cap One in gen. Okay back to the object...REWARDS topic. I may have missed something. It's sitting in my drawer till it closes on it's own. No AF and the Gold is disturbingly bright on that card. :-) (don't take it out sitting outside in sunlight)

[longtimelurker]

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@kibarrow wrote:
Agreed. I have that card as well,. it was my first Citi card.
Not too many of the point structures have changed. But many should be added.
Hefty $125 AF.... I like TY. It's not a favorite if too many. But it's simple. Even to an Engineer... It just makes sense. (Next easiest is the cash rewards...and why the low cap...gheez)
I heard at one time they were discontinuing the Premier. Guess that has changed... We'll leave that for another thread.
Thanks...have a great extended wkend.

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Glad you think it is simple!  I think LOTS of things are non-obvious, e.g.When do you flight points: With a) tickets you buy outright, b) tickets you buy with the 15% discount,

c) tickets you redeem with a mixture of TYP at 1.33 and cash, d) tickets you redeem just with TYP at 1.33?   And what type of points can you use to "convert" flight points into TY

I THINK I know the answers now, but there is no clear explanation (and the role of bonus points changed). 

That's why I think it is overly complex, but obviously YMMV!

[Arago]

The best card under any circumstances is the PSECU Visa. 9.9%, you can cash advance your entire credit line for no fee and same interest rate, no other fees except 1% foreign transaction fee and a $20 late fee. True, there aren't rewards but who cares with these benefits. Plus it can be combined with a PSL which reports as another trade line. Also, PSECU has the best CDs on the market. 1.5% for 60 months, and you can add $ anytime. Breaking the CD only costs last six months of interest. This is a much better deal than any online savings account now offered.

[Revelate]

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@Arago wrote:
The best card under any circumstances is the PSECU Visa. 9.9%, you can cash advance your entire credit line for no fee and same interest rate, no other fees except 1% foreign transaction fee and a $20 late fee. True, there aren't rewards but who cares with these benefits. Plus it can be combined with a PSL which reports as another trade line. Also, PSECU has the best CDs on the market. 1.5% for 60 months, and you can add $ anytime. Breaking the CD only costs last six months of interest. This is a much better deal than any online savings account now offered.

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The best card under some circumstances perhaps, but the no-rewards bit is a killer for the discussion at hand, can do better on the APR, and I'm struggling to find a reason to cash advance my entire credit line at 9.9% for any reason.   Cash downpayment on a subprime auto loan?  

Plus it's sort of limiting that you have to live in PA.... .

[ztnjpv]

longtimelurker said:

"I understand all that!   I was wondering why YOU prefer Venture over Priceline/Fid Amex.  FTF is a good answer, but wonder if there are others.  For other purposes, Venture seems to me to be an inferior card."

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I don't prefer Venture to either of those cards. The only one of the three I would ever get is the Fidelity...and I constantly wonder  whyI still haven't gotten it since I have a Fidelity account. 

[Arago]

@ Revelate

I don't think everyone has to live in PA to join. Family members out of state can join and certain other people like alumni of PA schools can join out of state.

To me, the best credit card is the one that charges the lowest fees and interest overall. Looking back at my experience with credit, PSECU is the card I would want to get my hands on. Banks like Amex seem great at first, but I quickly realized just how much their cards really cost. I'm in the process now of moving everything to credit unions and closing out accounts with the big banks. It's amazing that big banks want 20%+ interest rates and use international customer service reps which take jobs from your community.

[parakleet]

I think it's very difficult to say what's the single best card of them all for anyone since everyone's needs are different. Good thing there are so many different cards out there.  For me, I've been working the CSP+freedom combo like nobody's business. I use the UR mall to do as much of my normal online shopping as possible and try to take advantage of the categories on the freedom to the cap. If all goes well and it gets me and DH to Europe, I'd say that more than makes up for the AF, which you don't have to pay for the first year. 

[ztnjpv]

Not to give a cop-out answer to the OP's topic but there is no best card.

The best card is the one that gives the most of what you want....be it rewards, low interest or another special feature like the one mentioned above whereby you get cash advances without fee. It's what matters to YOU. 

I'm not very good in terms of knowledge with non-rewards cards. Rewards is what I know about. And even there, it depends on what you want.

Are you a frequent traveler? Flyer or just Hotels? A cash-back hourder? A high spender in certain popular bonus categories? A loyal customer to a certain hotel?

The answers vary widely depending on what you are. Moreover, "The Best" might end up being a combination of cards. It's not one-size-fits-all. 

[ztnjpv]

Conitinuing on the thought of my previous post above, in which I state the obvious: There's is no single best card for everyone, let's break down categories:

Travel. 

All-Around Utlility card for Travel Rewards...especially for the frequent traveler: I'd say either CSP or PRG. You extra points for travel spending and other categories and the points are valuable when properly redeemed. The points also transfer to many partner programs. That's where they really shine. 

If I had to pick one, it'd prolly be the CSP because of better acceptance and a lower annual fee. AND, if you don't put $30k per year, it's more forgiving considering the AF.