topic Re: Card type vs. Income in Credit Cards

Card type vs. Income

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 01:26:53 GMT

So, I've been debating whether or not to apply for a high-end card. However, I'm not entirely sure if it's appropriate given my income.

For example, the Citi Prestige is extremely attractive. But the AF is 500 dollars, nearly!

And, I am really liking the Amex Gold card. But, again, the AF is really high...

I make about 55k. Does the card type I SHOULD get, versus want, directly correlate with how much income I have? I don't wanna get something that's more appropriate for a person who makes upwards of 100k, or so... Been curious about this for a while. I have the CSP, Marriot Rewards Premier, and the Venture, now. But, the AFs on those don't seem so unmanagable, considering the great rewards structure. And, they aren't hundreds of dollars.

What do you guys think? What's your advice or experience?

Re: Card type vs. Income

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 01:38:53 GMT

Base the card on the actual need, are you a frequent traveler?

Re: Card type vs. Income

Imperfectfuture — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 01:39:15 GMT

Using an iPad, I can't see any of the pics of cards in your sig.

When it comes to AF cards, go with what is most beneficial at the time, my income is lower, so the 10k US Airways card is overkill, IMHO. And I saw tons of folks with varying degrees of travel cards on the plane, obviously going for rewards.

Do you want free travel? Then get, earn rewards and evaluate at end of year. Some folks get the free travel to compensate for lack of income (to travel).

Re: Card type vs. Income

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 01:58:59 GMT

@Imperfectfuture wrote:
Using an iPad, I can't see any of the pics of cards in your sig.

Neither on desktop. The signature exceeds maximum height.

Re: Card type vs. Income

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 01:53:32 GMT

Sorry about that, guys. I fixed it.

P.s. **Her

Re: Card type vs. Income

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 02:00:33 GMT

Lol my bad.
If your expense can justify the AF and you are able to take advantage of the benefits to make the AF worth it, then go for it. Prestige is a good card which I'm looking to get in a few months.

Re: Card type vs. Income

kdm31091 — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 02:03:13 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
So, I've been debating whether or not to apply for a high-end card. However, I'm not entirely sure if it's appropriate given my income.

For example, the Citi Prestige is extremely attractive. But the AF is 500 dollars, nearly!
And, I am really liking the Amex Gold card. But, again, the AF is really high...

I make about 55k. Does the card type I SHOULD get, versus want, directly correlate with how much income I have? I don't wanna get something that's more appropriate for a person who makes upwards of 100k, or so... Been curious about this for a while. I have the CSP, Marriot Rewards Premier, and the Venture, now. But, the AFs on those don't seem so unmanagable, considering the great rewards structure. And, they aren't hundreds of dollars.

What do you guys think? What's your advice or experience?

To me this is completely backwards as far as a way to look at it.

Do not approach it as "what card should I get based on my income?" Who cares what card you "should" get? It's a completely arbirtrary thing. You shouldn't get any card just because someone on a forum says you should.

Start with your wants and needs. What are you lacking in your portfolio? Then analyze how much you spend and on what. Then research which cards might fit the criteria and go from there. Don't worry about "which cards you should have". Go for what you actually want. You will find that most of the time, figuring out your spend and what you spend it on will lead you the right way and you won't end up with some crazy AF card that you cannot justify.

If you do the math, and can justify $450 AF and still make a reward "profit", go for it - but keep in mind that you might have to put most of your spend on the Prestige to justify it if you are "on the border" of justifying it, thus rendering some of your other cards perhaps less useful.

Re: Card type vs. Income

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 02:09:07 GMT

Oh I get all this. It's mostly to satiate my personal curiosity. I wasn't sure if there were certain cards I should probably avoid, based on whether or not my income range is suitable or appropriate for said card. There's gotta be cards that weren't meant for people in the lower income/average income bracket, no matter how great their credit is. Right?

Re: Card type vs. Income

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 02:11:44 GMT

55K....

Do you travel much? Work? Pleasure?
To some, 55K is a lot of money. Hell, thats a lot of money to me and our HHI is more than 2x that (not by much)

Re: Card type vs. Income

jsucool76 — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 02:16:19 GMT

Income plays no role in which cards you think are best for your portfolio. As long as you're willing (and able) to pay the AF, and the benefits will work for you (and this prestige offer I think works for anyone) the signup bonus itself is worth more than the annual fee, and everything ontop of that is just free money. Same applies to most of the other cards in this price range (Ritz, Platinum and so on)

You don't need to be a frequent traveler to make these cards work for you. You use these cards to work on BECOMING a more frequent traveler.

If you think $500 cash, or up to $800 in american airlines tickets is worth $450 then this card is for you. Consider all card annual fees as an investment in future travel. A travel savings account one might say.

Re: Card type vs. Income

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 02:18:56 GMT

Funny, that last part you just said sounds just like a Timeshare pitch.

Re: Card type vs. Income

jsucool76 — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 02:20:29 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Funny, that last part you just said sounds just like a Timeshare pitch.

All the guys I work with tell me every time I explain a credit card to them it's like I'm trying to sell it, and that I should start selling cars. Lol.

I'm passionate about rewards, and card annual fees are the perfect example of "It takes money to make money."

Re: Card type vs. Income

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 02:21:09 GMT

Yeah, 55k annually. Ha. It'd be more. But, I'm not factoring in the BF's income. Together, we make 80k or so.

Hrrrrmmmmm, as far as spending goes... it's mostly on eating and enertainment, honestly. We spend way too much on restaurants. That's one of the reasons I decided to get the CSP. And, then occasionally we travel; but not too terribly much. My family is on the other side of the world. So, I want a good travel card for when I need to see them. I opted for the Venture. But, the APR they stuck me with is atrocious. 21.9% or something godawful... This got me looking into other travel cards; i.e. the Citi Pristige and the Amex Gold.

More so, I like having nice cards as a part of my portfolio. But, I want to avoid adding something that'd be excessive strain on my finances for no reason, no matter how pretty or rewarding the card. Haha. I'm not like super fancy-pants, rockefeller over here.

Re: Card type vs. Income

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 02:23:13 GMT

You might just be good at it but you will never have time for anything. Whenever you go on vacation there will always be that thought in the back of your mind...

"What if one of my clients came in today and wanted to outfit his whole family with new cars -- And I MISSED IT!"

Re: Card type vs. Income

jsucool76 — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 02:25:51 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Yeah, 55k annually. Ha. It'd be more. But, I'm not factoring in the BF's income. Together, we make 80k or so.

Hrrrrmmmmm, as far as spending goes... it's mostly on eating and enertainment, honestly. We spend way too much on restaurants. That's one of the reasons I decided to get the CSP. And, then occasionally we travel; but not too terribly much. My family is on the other side of the world. So, I want a good travel card for when I need to see them. I opted for the Venture. But, the APR they stuck me with is atrocious. 21.9% or something godawful... This got me looking into other travel cards; i.e. the Citi Pristige and the Amex Gold.

More so, I like having nice cards as a part of my portfolio. But, I want to avoid adding something that'd be excessive strain on my finances for no reason, no matter how pretty or rewarding the card. Haha. I'm not like super fancy-pants, rockefeller over here.

The amex gold card isn't a travel card. The amex premier rewards gold card is. Don't mix up the two if you decide to app. The standard gold card is just a green card with some face paint.

Re: Card type vs. Income

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 02:38:40 GMT

I think as long as you make great use of the cards'a benefit then the AF isn't bad at all. 3 rounds of golf per year makes the card worthwhile for me. Wife and I also vacation twice a year either in Europe or outside CA so the $250 flight credit is already useful. The 50k reward point pays for itself. We also fine out a lot so 2x points helps earn more rewards. 4th night hotel credit can be around $300 or $400 depending on where we stay.

In all, the prestige is well worth the AF. Also keep it he premier since it comes with 50k reward points also.

Re: Card type vs. Income

Ghoshida — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 02:41:23 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
So, I've been debating whether or not to apply for a high-end card. However, I'm not entirely sure if it's appropriate given my income.

For example, the Citi Prestige is extremely attractive. But the AF is 500 dollars, nearly!
And, I am really liking the Amex Gold card. But, again, the AF is really high...

I make about 55k. Does the card type I SHOULD get, versus want, directly correlate with how much income I have? I don't wanna get something that's more appropriate for a person who makes upwards of 100k, or so... Been curious about this for a while. I have the CSP, Marriot Rewards Premier, and the Venture, now. But, the AFs on those don't seem so unmanagable, considering the great rewards structure. And, they aren't hundreds of dollars.

What do you guys think? What's your advice or experience?

Ask this question to Warren Buffett. He's got a Green Card from AMEX

Re: Card type vs. Income

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 02:50:18 GMT

I live in a small town down south, 55k is a ton of money to a lot of people down here. People think I'm rich and I'm like whatttt?!??

Re: Card type vs. Income

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 02:55:52 GMT

If you can justify it, by all means. I'm still debating over a couple of them since the AF's are all about 500. I can't see giving someone 500 just for the card.

Re: Card type vs. Income

jsucool76 — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 03:30:39 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
If you can justify it, by all means. I'm still debating over a couple of them since the AF's are all about 500. I can't see giving someone 500 just for the card.

You're not giving them $500 for a card. You're giving them between $400-$500 for more money back

Ritz gave me what I estimate at about $1800-$2000 in value on the signup bonus alone. Breakfast at my first hotel as a gold elite (from the ritz card) was $40 per person, there was 3 of us, and we were there for breakfast 5 days. That's $600 on just ONE STAY savings in breakfast since we got free breakfast in the executive lounge. Then there was the $600 in airline gift cards I bought and was reimbursed for. All in all (not counting any points earned through spend, or the 10% bonus on points earned through spend) thats between $3000 and $3200 in value for $395 my first year (which I then got waived). Gold status alone is enough for me to keep this card. Don't forget PRIMARY rental insurance.

Prestige is $450 (a bit more expensive) but you get the $250 airline credit (twice in each cardmember year if you time it right), so $500 there. 4th night free on any hotel booking through CWT (cant even put a price on that one), 3 free rounds of golf a year (Some of the trump courses here are priced at $450 when looking at the golfswitch portal), 50,000 thank you points (worth $800 when redeemed for american airlines/us air flights), elite status with sixt, national, and avis....list goes on. Just on the airline credit and signup bonus you've got $1300

@Anonymous plat gets the signup bonus (normally 40k but if you get the 100k offer you're even better off), the $200 airline credit, amex centurion lounges ($50 a visit if you don't have a plat card), SPG gold status, some car rental elite status as well (I wanna say national, avis, and enterprise, but I could be wrong), Signup bonus conservatively valued at $400, (or $1000 @ the 100k offer), plus $400 in airline credits is $800 (or $1400 with the 100k offer). Add in the FHR program and once again, set with only a few of the benefits.

That's only a couple of benefits of each card easily giving you the value of the annual fee.