topic Re: Switching CCs for better rewards? in Credit Cards

Switching CCs for better rewards?

disdreamin — Sat, 03 Jan 2015 23:03:29 GMT

The more I read through the forums, the more I think I should consider switching cards for better rewards. I have a Delta AmEx that's costing a ton (fee went up this year) and although it does get me a companion certifcate, I'm not sure it's really worth what I'm paying. Then I have an older Chase product that nets me 1% on all purchases. But all the things I am reading suggest that there are better rewards programs out there. I saw the link about fee-free rewards cards here, but can anyone suggest other sites to check, or additional places to research cards? I did some forum searches, but they were real productive. Must just not have hit the right keywords.

I don't particularly want to open new lines, but I would be adverse to changing things up if it would be worth it. I have a few cards that are essentially dead weight that I'll be closing (newer cards, for the most part) that I could swap out for better products. What are your thoughts on this?

Re: Switching CCs for better rewards?

Anonymous — Sat, 03 Jan 2015 23:05:36 GMT

What chase product would that be?

Re: Switching CCs for better rewards?

coldnmn — Sat, 03 Jan 2015 23:08:33 GMT

Listing your cards may help in case product changes are possible. If you product change HPs and possibly inquiries may not be needed.

Re: Switching CCs for better rewards?

Anonymous — Sat, 03 Jan 2015 23:11:25 GMT

@coldnmn wrote:
Listing your cards may help in case product changes are possible. If you product change HPs and possibly inquiries may not be needed.

Re: Switching CCs for better rewards?

Anonymous — Sat, 03 Jan 2015 23:12:23 GMT

If you product change, You lose the signup bonus.

Re: Switching CCs for better rewards?

coldnmn — Sat, 03 Jan 2015 23:19:12 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
If you product change, You lose the signup bonus.

That's why listing the cards would be helpful not all rewards cards give a bonus.

Re: Switching CCs for better rewards?

Anonymous — Sat, 03 Jan 2015 23:26:53 GMT

True, I guess.

Re: Switching CCs for better rewards?

disdreamin — Sat, 03 Jan 2015 23:57:28 GMT

Sorry - didn't think to list the specific cards.

My go-to cards at the moment:

AmEx Delta Skymiles Platinum (we have this for the companion certificate and free checked bags)

Chase Disney Visa Signature (we will use the rewards from this card one last time in about a year and then after that have no use for Disney-specific rewards)

Other cards:

Target Redcard Visa (use this occasionally for the 5% off)

LL Bean Visa (used to have this for the free shipping, but now Bean does free shipping without the card)

AT&T Universal MC (haven't used this in ages...just kept it because it was there, but plan to close it)

Discover (opened and never used - need to close this or switch to a product that would have good rewards, if possible)

FWIW, I'm not against a hard pull if it gets a card that will benefit me long-term. Thank you for any feedback!

Re: Switching CCs for better rewards?

coldnmn — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 00:11:45 GMT

Barclay Sallie Mae and Citi double cash seem to be popular for their rewards.

Re: Switching CCs for better rewards?

takeshi74 — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 00:44:04 GMT

@disdreamin wrote:
I saw the link about fee-free rewards cards here, but can anyone suggest other sites to check, or additional places to research cards?

You can check right here. Tell us what your major spend categories are (might as well start with where the majority of your spend is going) and what volumes you're running through them.

@disdreamin wrote:
I did some forum searches, but they were real productive. Must just not have hit the right keywords.

What were you searching for? I quite often find a site-resitrcted Google search to be helpful. For this site just add site:ficoforums.myfico.com to your keywords.

@disdreamin wrote:
Discover (opened and never used - need to close this or switch to a product that would have good rewards, if possible)

So you don't have any spend in the 5% categories that change throughout the year? You don't use any of the retailers that have bonuses in ShopDiscover or whatever its replacement is called? For other card recommendations it would help to understand why you don't considers Discover's rewards "good".

Are you averse to cards wirth rotating categories?

@disdreamin wrote:
I saw the link about fee-free rewards cards here

Always consider total cost versus benefit and not just AF. You're going to have to do some number crunching if you're looking to maximize your rewards.

Re: Switching CCs for better rewards?

kdm31091 — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 00:36:14 GMT

I think you should keep Discover. It may not be more than 1% on everyday spend, but the 5% categories are usually useful at least some of the year, and their online shopping portal is pretty much unbeatable.

For the Chase Visa Disney - unless you are spending a ton of money at Disney - consider PC'ing to maybe a Freedom or something. At least then you get versatile points that you can convert to cash (statement credit or direct deposit) and still use at Disney if you wanted, but you can also use them wherever else! To me, the Disney Visa is too limiting, but if you're a diehard Disney fan and live near the parks, it can make sense.

Re: Switching CCs for better rewards?

Anonymous — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 00:41:50 GMT

@coldnmn wrote:
Barclay Sallie Mae and Citi double cash seem to be popular for their rewards.

^This

LL Bean card is issued by Barclay's. call them up and see if you can pc to sallie mae. 5% cashback on gas and groceries (limit $250 a month each) and bookstores including amazon (limit $750 a month each). Most people would have some use of those rewards. and no AF.

AT&T card is issued by citi. call and ask if you can pc to double cash. 2% cashback on everything, no limit, no annual fee.

Re: Switching CCs for better rewards?

disdreamin — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 00:50:40 GMT

Wow, you guys are good!

First, thank you for the replies.

I tried to quote previous posts but ran into issues and didn't want to do three responses, so I'll do my best to address the questions asked..first, Discover. I have no idea what the 5% categories would even be as that information wasn't part of the mailings that were sent to me and I hadn't tried to access the account online. I suppose that is something I should do! Sadly, it had never occurred to me - and boy, do I feel stupid for that.

As far as the Disney card, we've used every last point/dollar earned on that, and we've availed ourselves of the perks at the parks as well. Long-term, though, that card won't serve us well as I anticipate one last trip to Disney and then that's it. We enjoy the parks, but definitely aren't die-hard Disney fanatics.

Thank you for the suggestions of cards to switch to - I will definitely look into them!

And lastly, amounts. I'm going with round numbers here, but we're talking perhaps $300 a month at gas stations, probably about $1400 or so at grocery stores, and running an average of about $4K per month through the cards, in total. I pay everything with them that I can - cable bill, cell phones, you name it.

Re: Switching CCs for better rewards?

chwebb1 — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 01:31:59 GMT

@disdreamin wrote:
Wow, you guys are good!

First, thank you for the replies.

I tried to quote previous posts but ran into issues and didn't want to do three responses, so I'll do my best to address the questions asked..first, Discover. I have no idea what the 5% categories would even be as that information wasn't part of the mailings that were sent to me and I hadn't tried to access the account online. I suppose that is something I should do! Sadly, it had never occurred to me - and boy, do I feel stupid for that.

As far as the Disney card, we've used every last point/dollar earned on that, and we've availed ourselves of the perks at the parks as well. Long-term, though, that card won't serve us well as I anticipate one last trip to Disney and then that's it. We enjoy the parks, but definitely aren't die-hard Disney fanatics.

Thank you for the suggestions of cards to switch to - I will definitely look into them!

And lastly, amounts. I'm going with round numbers here, but we're talking perhaps $300 a month at gas stations, probably about $1400 or so at grocery stores, and running an average of about $4K per month through the cards, in total. I pay everything with them that I can - cable bill, cell phones, you name it.

Maybe you don't have the Discover It card. If you don't (and have maybe the Discover More or an earlier card), you should call and PC to the Discover It. It's a really great card with excellent customer service. I know some will cringe when I say this, but I also use it for non-category (5%) spend and non-Shop Discover/Discover Deals spend because of the excellent customer service. I don't actually dread calling them (although to be fair, I normally don't dread calling Barclaycard Ring, AMEX, or BoA).

Re: Switching CCs for better rewards?

Anonymous — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 01:39:53 GMT

PCing to a Freedom is silly as silly gets. Wait until a $200 bonus comes up and apply for it then move your CL from the Disney to it.

Re: Switching CCs for better rewards?

disdreamin — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 01:45:55 GMT

@chwebb1 wrote:
Maybe you don't have the Discover It card. If you don't (and have maybe the Discover More or an earlier card), you should call and PC to the Discover It. It's a really great card with excellent customer service. I know some will cringe when I say this, but I also use it for non-category (5%) spend and non-Shop Discover/Discover Deals spend because of the excellent customer service. I don't actually dread calling them (although to be fair, I normally don't dread calling Barclaycard Ring, AMEX, or BoA).

The Discover card just says Discover Card, so I don't honestly know what it is. I'll have to do some hunting and calling to see if it has the 5% categories, and how to find out what they are. It's also nice to hear about customer service being good. Since I've never used that card, I've never dealt with them. To be honest, though, my interactions with CSR's for any of the banks I do business with is pretty minimal - and thankfully I'm pretty happy with them. Time Warner on the other hand....

And regarding "PCing to a Freedom is silly as silly gets. Wait until a $200 bonus comes up and apply for it then move your CL from the Disney to it." - I think that's how I originally got into the Disney card. But I hear you. I'd rather open a CL for a nice incentive if I need to. How much can it really hurt my score to do that once? I did apply for and open an auto loan recently, but prior to that it's been well over a year since I had an inquiry.

Re: Switching CCs for better rewards?

Anonymous — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 01:44:01 GMT

It might be a Discover More.

Re: Switching CCs for better rewards?

jsucool76 — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 01:58:48 GMT

@disdreamin wrote:
Wow, you guys are good!

First, thank you for the replies.

I tried to quote previous posts but ran into issues and didn't want to do three responses, so I'll do my best to address the questions asked..first, Discover. I have no idea what the 5% categories would even be as that information wasn't part of the mailings that were sent to me and I hadn't tried to access the account online. I suppose that is something I should do! Sadly, it had never occurred to me - and boy, do I feel stupid for that.

As far as the Disney card, we've used every last point/dollar earned on that, and we've availed ourselves of the perks at the parks as well. Long-term, though, that card won't serve us well as I anticipate one last trip to Disney and then that's it. We enjoy the parks, but definitely aren't die-hard Disney fanatics.

Thank you for the suggestions of cards to switch to - I will definitely look into them!

And lastly, amounts. I'm going with round numbers here, but we're talking perhaps $300 a month at gas stations, probably about $1400 or so at grocery stores, and running an average of about $4K per month through the cards, in total. I pay everything with them that I can - cable bill, cell phones, you name it.

If you happen to bank with chase, dump the disney credit card and get the disney debit card. Essentially changes your chase debit card out for a disney one, and you get ALL of the perks (10% off at restaurants and stores, "exclusive meet and greet" photo, and all that jazz.

Just no rewards and no special financing.

Re: Switching CCs for better rewards?

Anonymous — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 02:11:35 GMT

@disdreamin wrote:
Wow, you guys are good!

First, thank you for the replies.

I tried to quote previous posts but ran into issues and didn't want to do three responses, so I'll do my best to address the questions asked..first, Discover. I have no idea what the 5% categories would even be as that information wasn't part of the mailings that were sent to me and I hadn't tried to access the account online. I suppose that is something I should do! Sadly, it had never occurred to me - and boy, do I feel stupid for that.

As far as the Disney card, we've used every last point/dollar earned on that, and we've availed ourselves of the perks at the parks as well. Long-term, though, that card won't serve us well as I anticipate one last trip to Disney and then that's it. We enjoy the parks, but definitely aren't die-hard Disney fanatics.

Thank you for the suggestions of cards to switch to - I will definitely look into them!

And lastly, amounts. I'm going with round numbers here, but we're talking perhaps $300 a month at gas stations, probably about $1400 or so at grocery stores, and running an average of about $4K per month through the cards, in total. I pay everything with them that I can - cable bill, cell phones, you name it.

For groceries at that level you are into Amex Old Blue Cash territory (which also would handle gas) unless a lot of the grocery spend is at Target or Walmart (or similar stores)

Re: Switching CCs for better rewards?

Anonymous — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 02:43:34 GMT

What the heck are you buying for $1400 a month at grocery stores? Do you MS or just buy a ton of fancy food?