topic Re: Best card for me? in Credit Cards

Best card for me?

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 22:29:57 GMT

I am new to posting here, however have been reading for a couple of years. Found it to be very helpful.

I wanted to get the take of the folks here on the below:

Credit Score - 780 range

Spend - roughly 3800 month on the below categories

Groceries - $1,000

Food (fast food and restaurants) - $500

Bills/Utilities - $500

Car Payments (through Chargesmart) - $500

Car Insurance - $100

Student Loan (through Chargesmart) - $200

Rent (on card RadPad) - $740

Random Shopping (Mostly Amazon) - $200

Other random spend - $100

My current cards that I use are PRG and Plat combo for MR points

My wife and I like to travel and we live in a Delta hub city so I prefer Delta SkyMiles (plus we get to use the Delta lounge). Travel both domestic and to Europe.

I value points more than cashback.

I am not sure it has to be MR points - as long as I can transfer to Delta....

I was wondering if there was a better combo of cards out there?

Thanks for the input all!

Re: Best card for me?

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 22:36:03 GMT

Welcome to the board. Is the PRG your only card? If you have other cards, can you list them?

Re: Best card for me?

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 22:38:21 GMT

I have the below cards

Amex PRG

Amex Platinum

Thanks!

Re: Best card for me?

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 22:40:07 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have the below cards

Amex PRG
Amex Platinum

Thanks!

Ok. What are your FICOs scores for each bureau? Can you list them? Also, how old is your credit file thus, how long have you had this cards?

Re: Best card for me?

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 22:45:12 GMT

Honestly, I am not sure?

I look at what is on Amex, Capital One, and Dsicover site - not sure how accurate this is?

I have an AAoA of 4 years. Both of these are less than 1 year old.

I should have posted in there (my apologies), I have the below cards but do not use them because I get about 5,00-5,200 MR (with the double and triple point bonus categories) points a month from the above combo

SD cards:

Sapphire Pref

Citi Double Cash

Capital One Venture - they said 789 credit score

Discover It - they said 780 score

Thanks for the help!

Re: Best card for me?

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 22:57:15 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Honestly, I am not sure?

I look at what is on Amex, Capital One, and Dsicover site - not sure how accurate this is?

I have an AAoA of 4 years. Both of these are less than 1 year old.

I should have posted in there (my apologies), I have the below cards but do not use them because I get about 5,00-5,200 MR (with the double and triple point bonus categories) points a month from the above combo

SD cards:

Sapphire Pref
Citi Double Cash
Capital One Venture - they said 789 credit score
Discover It - they said 780 score

Thanks for the help!

You have some really good SD cards. You should rethink the CSP and the Discover IT. Based on your needs posted above, they work well. For groceries, I suggest you look at the Amex Blue Cash Preferred.

You get 6% back on groceries but the amount is capped at $6,000 a year. I have it and it works very well for groceries. Another option is the Amex BCE [no annual fee] also for the grocery segment.

Re: Best card for me?

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 23:02:02 GMT

Thanks!

I struggle with understanding how to make the CSP work well, since I like to fly Delta alot and although you can use the portal for cheaper tickets, I dont like that I dont get to pick a seat and have to wait till I am at the gate - unless I am misunderstanding something.

I will look into both those cards and see if they work for me.

What about the Amex EDP? the 30 swipes a month scares me a bit.....because most weekends I never leave my home, so I find it might be hard to accomplish, but the 50% is not bad, if I can make it work

Re: Best card for me?

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 23:14:12 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks!

I struggle with understanding how to make the CSP work well, since I like to fly Delta alot and although you can use the portal for cheaper tickets, I dont like that I dont get to pick a seat and have to wait till I am at the gate - unless I am misunderstanding something.

I will look into both those cards and see if they work for me.

What about the Amex EDP? the 30 swipes a month scares me a bit.....because most weekends I never leave my home, so I find it might be hard to accomplish, but the 50% is not bad, if I can make it work

The EDP is also a good card. But you have to be honest with yourself and see if you can make the swipes. Also, you have to factor into the decision the cost of the annual fee.

Based on your needs above, you probably only need 2 cards in addition to your current cards to make the categories work. I find it interesting that you fly and like Delta alot but don't have their cards but rather a preference for other Amex cards..........

Re: Best card for me?

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 23:19:50 GMT

Thats the challenge - I feel like each card I have now works fine - the Plat and the PRG adding a third would be something more to juggle, but maybe I could use the Plat for $200 back for Delta e-certs and lounge and transfer the spend to the EDP? I would really need to count and see if can come close to the 30....

I dont want to have the Delta cards because you only get one mile per dollar and I get 3x points for airline tickets on the PRG, so I just use a combo of e-certs ($300 value between PRG and Plat), point transfer, and then charge the PRG. A much better deal. Plus if I am short on my Hilton points I have the flexibility to transfer them to that if I want too. Hence the reason MR is nice, has many of the partners that I like to use.

Re: Best card for me?

red259 — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 23:21:10 GMT

It doesn't seem like you are spending money on flights. I assume you like the plat for the benefits? If you like the plat perks then I would ditch the prg. If you just want a charge card but don't use the plat perks then ditch the plat instead. Look into an Amex everyday or everyday preferred. The prior is no-af but with high enough spend in categories the preferred can be better. Both warm Amex MRs and will pair fine with a prg or plat and both will help you earn points faster.

Re: Best card for me?

red259 — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 23:24:07 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks!

I struggle with understanding how to make the CSP work well, since I like to fly Delta alot and although you can use the portal for cheaper tickets, I dont like that I dont get to pick a seat and have to wait till I am at the gate - unless I am misunderstanding something.

I will look into both those cards and see if they work for me.

What about the Amex EDP? the 30 swipes a month scares me a bit.....because most weekends I never leave my home, so I find it might be hard to accomplish, but the 50% is not bad, if I can make it work

You an use your. Chase points towards hotels like Hyatt (or Marriott to lesser extent) if you have your flights covered via Amex MRs.

Re: Best card for me?

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Mar 2016 00:08:05 GMT

Thats a good idea and the Hyatt properties have some good rates and place. I might look into that a bit more. Thank you!