topic Re: Credit Card Advice in Credit Cards

Credit Card Advice

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 19:31:51 GMT

I have a few credit cards, but I am looking to maximize my cashback and was looking for advice for which ones to get/switch to.

Groceries: $400-600/month

Gas: $100/month

Restaurants & Fast food: varies ($300-400)

My current cards are:

Sallie Mae

Amex Costco

Chase Freedom

Quicksilver Capital One

After looking at the spreadsheet comparison, I was thinking to add:

Amex BCP (for groceries and gas)

Security Service Power Travel (restaurants (& fast food???)

BOA BBR (for bonus)

Keep Sallie Mae for 5% Amazon

Cancel my Amex Costco (Ending soon anyway)

Keep Chase for 5% categories

Keep Quicksilver for everything else

Please let me know if theres anything that could be improved upon

Re: Credit Card Advice

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 23:00:36 GMT

I don't see why you'd need to get rid of the Costco card; you can just SD now and see if Citi/Amex throws existing cardholders a nice offer before deciding whether or not to get rid of the account. Especially since you may be able to get a free BCE out of it, which may or may not be better than the BCP for you actually.

Overall your plan seems solid, but some additional tweaks might be possible if you're comfortable answering the below questions:

1. Do you have any other categories of spend? And how large is the "other" category?

2. How much of the grocery spend is on nontraditional grocery stores (aka Costco/BJ's/Walmart/Target/etc. things that might not code as grocery stores)?

3. Did you confirm you're in Security Service's service region? They're very region-specific if I remember correctly...

Re: Credit Card Advice

SouthJamaica — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 04:16:25 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have a few credit cards, but I am looking to maximize my cashback and was looking for advice for which ones to get/switch to.

Groceries: $400-600/month
Gas: $100/month
Restaurants & Fast food: varies ($300-400)

My current cards are:
Sallie Mae
Amex Costco
Chase Freedom
Quicksilver Capital One

After looking at the spreadsheet comparison, I was thinking to add:
Amex BCP (for groceries and gas)
Security Service Power Travel (restaurants (& fast food???)
BOA BBR (for bonus)

Keep Sallie Mae for 5% Amazon
Cancel my Amex Costco (Ending soon anyway)
Keep Chase for 5% categories
Keep Quicksilver for everything else

Please let me know if theres anything that could be improved upon

The Barclay Rewards card gives you 2% cash back on groceries, utilities, and gas.

Re: Credit Card Advice

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 23:53:16 GMT

1.My other spending really varies month to month so it's hard to say... What cards did you have in mind? I don't do much traveling though

2. Most of my grocery spending is done at grocery stores. After doing some calculation I think the BCP is what I'll go for

3. I didnt realize it was so specific and am not eligble... I was thinking of maybe the Chase AARP card with 3%

Re: Credit Card Advice

Anonymous — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 00:24:42 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
1.My other spending really varies month to month so it's hard to say... What cards did you have in mind? I don't do much traveling though

2. Most of my grocery spending is done at grocery stores. After doing some calculation I think the BCP is what I'll go for

3. I didnt realize it was so specific and am not eligble... I was thinking of maybe the Chase AARP card with 3%

1. I was trying to see if there was another big category that was worth splitting out to another card. I was also curious as to the amount; depending on how much misc spend you have, it may be worth it to get a 2% card like Citi DC, Fidelity Amex, or FNBO Visa.

2. Since your first $250 monthly will be on Sallie Mae, you'd need to spend an additional $200+ monthly (on average) in order for BCP to make more sense than BCE. If that's what it is, then definitely go for it; I would recommend seeing if you can get a better offer than the current $150 bonus though (I believe it's gone up to $250)

3. AARP is solid, nothing more to add there especially with the current $200 bonus for $500 spend!

Re: Credit Card Advice

Anonymous — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 00:52:52 GMT

I was able to use incognito mode and get a $250 offer for BCP, so I pulled the trigger on that one.

I think I'll wait until next year and get the AARP since I spend a lot more on groceries than dining.

I don't think I do enough "other" spending that the Citi DC extra 0.5% over the quicksilver would be worthwhile.

Thanks for all the help! I think I should be set after that:

6% Groceries - BCP

5% Gas & Amazon - Sallie Mae

3% Restaurants/Fastfood - AARP

5% Categories - Freedom

1.5% Other - Quicksilver

Cash Bonus - BBR

Re: Credit Card Advice

Anonymous — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 01:13:25 GMT

Congrats on the approval! The only other thing I **might** recommend would be jumping on the Discover double cash back offer, as that will get you 2% minimum on everything for the next year for the short term (even better if you can take advantage of Discover Deals, quarterly 5%, and/or Apple Pay promo), and long term will net you TU FICO, Discover Deals, and quarterly 5%.

Any reason not to jump on the AARP now? Would give you an extra year of AAoA long term, but of course short term your AAoA will take a bigger hit. The $200 promo might not be around for much longer is the other reason I would think about pushing for that now.

Re: Credit Card Advice

Anonymous — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 01:33:41 GMT

The only reason I;m holding off is that I'm not too keen on how my credit score will be affected and if I will get approved or not. What do you advise I do if I want to open up the following:

BCP (accepted today)

Chase AARP

BoA BBR

Discover it

How long do I wait between applying and in what order?

I checked on my capital one credit score and have 790

Re: Credit Card Advice

Gmood1 — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 01:52:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
The only reason I;m holding off is that I'm not too keen on how my credit score will be affected and if I will get approved or not. What do you advise I do if I want to open up the following:

BCP (accepted today)
Chase AARP
BoA BBR
Discover it

How long do I wait between applying and in what order?

I checked on my capital one credit score and have 790

BOA can be a little picky. You may want to hit them first. If you app Chase..and you see another card that you could use. You can maximize the pull and do a two for one.

Discover will be a cake walk...whether you wait or not. Amex is their rival.

Right now no cards have reported. So if you're planning on getting them. Might as well knock them all out and be done with it. Have you checked your Experian and Transunion fico 8 scores?

Re: Credit Card Advice

Anonymous — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 02:30:19 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
The only reason I;m holding off is that I'm not too keen on how my credit score will be affected and if I will get approved or not. What do you advise I do if I want to open up the following:

BCP (accepted today)
Chase AARP
BoA BBR
Discover it

How long do I wait between applying and in what order?

I checked on my capital one credit score and have 790

Capital One score is a FAKO, so I would rather check SM's TU and Amex's EXP scores if I were you. In terms of order, as long as you do them all today it shouldn't matter too much (at most the other lenders will see the inquiries, if even that). With that in mind, I would apply in descending order of preference (aka apply for the one you want most, first).

If you do apply for them all now they will all age together; as long as you plan on gardening for a year or so after these apps then the temporary drop in your score from the AAoA decreasing shouldn't affect you very much (unless you're planning on buying a house/car soon, in which case don't apply for any more credit!).

Re: Credit Card Advice

Anonymous — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 02:34:28 GMT

I was going to say get Discover IT chrome (not the regular Discover IT) for 2% on gas and restaurants. I don't normally go for grocery rewards because so many grocery stores don't count because they sell other stuff. But since your already got AMEX I see little reason for Discover.

Re: Credit Card Advice

Anonymous — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 04:40:53 GMT

Update:

BCP Approved

BBR In review....

AARP Approved

I'm gonna hold off on Discover it for now. Is there a signup bonus for that card that I should look out for?

Re: Credit Card Advice

Gmood1 — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 10:16:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Update:

BCP Approved
BBR In review....
AARP Approved

I'm gonna hold off on Discover it for now. Is there a signup bonus for that card that I should look out for?

The BBR is most likely verification. Chances are you'll be approved. They may call to make sure you are you. Lol

No sign up bonus for Discover. Just good cash back depending on the quarterly category.

Re: Credit Card Advice

SouthJamaica — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 15:24:43 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Update:

BCP Approved
BBR In review....
AARP Approved

I'm gonna hold off on Discover it for now. Is there a signup bonus for that card that I should look out for?

Forget it, you already have enough great cash rewards cards.

Re: Credit Card Advice

Anonymous — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 23:39:00 GMT

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Cash-Back-credit-card-charts/td-p/4004725

This link should have been the first thing referenced.