topic Re: Benefits of QS? in Credit Cards

Benefits of QS?

irunfromcredit — Sat, 28 Jan 2017 13:37:45 GMT

Hi all:

So I'm considering closing my QS card in the next few months. I am still looking at benefits of this card, and weighing it against benfits on other cards in my deck. Anyhow, just wondering if I am missing anything. I know the card is a 1.5% cash back card, I have my NFCU cash rewards card to cover that. I also know that the card can be used for UTI padding. In the past two years of having the card, I have never had a major issue with UTI and when my UTI was high, I paid it off balances within 3 months. The only real benefit I can see for myself is the BT offers. I rec'd a BT offer for no BT fee and 0% for 18 months. I have other cards that give BT transfer promos, but all come with a fee. The QS came with no fee. I actually took advantage of the offer, but wound up paying it off in about 2-3 months. So am I missing any other benefits to this card? Oh, I should note, it is not my oldest card. It's my only capital one card and has an APR of 23%. I know I can sock drawer it, but I'd rather just close it if I'm not actually using it.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Re: Benefits of QS?

SouthJamaica — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 21:00:58 GMT

@irunfromcredit wrote:
Hi all:

So I'm considering closing my QS card in the next few months. I am still looking at benefits of this card, and weighing it against benfits on other cards in my deck. Anyhow, just wondering if I am missing anything. I know the card is a 1.5% cash back card, I have my NFCU cash rewards card to cover that. I also know that the card can be used for UTI padding. In the past two years of having the card, I have never had a major issue with UTI and when my UTI was high, I paid it off balances within 3 months. The only real benefit I can see for myself is the BT offers. I rec'd a BT offer for no BT fee and 0% for 18 months. I have other cards that give BT transfer promos, but all come with a fee. The QS came with no fee. I actually took advantage of the offer, but wound up paying it off in about 2-3 months. So am I missing any other benefits to this card? Oh, I should note, it is not my oldest card. It's my only capital one card and has an APR of 23%. I know I can sock drawer it, but I'd rather just close it if I'm not actually using it.

Thanks in advance for any input.

I personally like the card. The balance transfer offers, either no-fee, or no-interest, are one of the reasons. Others are (a) the immediacy of getting my cash rewards, (b) the absence of foreign transaction fees, (c) the absence of an annual fee, (d) the soft pull CLI's. They were a pioneer of the 1.5% cash back on everything policy, and all the others are imitators.

Intangible reasons I will never give up my QS card, which may or may not have meaning to others, are that Capital One (a) is a no-hassle lender which doesn't take adverse action against people who are paying their bills on time (i.e. it honors its agreement, period), and (b) was there for me when most other lenders would not have been.

Re: Benefits of QS?

deltatee — Sat, 28 Jan 2017 15:22:32 GMT

Though my QS doesn't get a ton of use anymore, I love it and it makes a good backup card in case one of the other cards gets compromised. It doesn't have a FTF, which is nice. It also runs super great Uber promotions, which saves me a lot of money.

Re: Benefits of QS?

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jan 2017 15:30:11 GMT

It used to be a top-notch daily driver. These days, it has been equalled or passed by a bunch of cards. Its good if it fits your use, but it is hardly unique.

Re: Benefits of QS?

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jan 2017 15:35:41 GMT

I want this card! Actually, it's going to be my next card. I can see how someone would just see it as a cash back card, or that it pales in comparison to thier other cards...but it's definitely for me. I'm not really into cash back cards, travel rewards is what I benefit much more from. But the QS has a lot going for it. Capital One for being a no hassle lender as mentioned, zero APR period + bonus offer, no FTF, ability to redeem cash back for any amount, and their partnership for Uber.

Definitely seems like the least complicated cash back card to me. And as someone who gets more from travel/points than cash back, that's what I want. Don't want to have to wait until I have $25 in cash back rewards. But only you can decide if it's worth it to have in your wallet...different people will get different things out of it.

Re: Benefits of QS?

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jan 2017 15:45:19 GMT

@irunfromcredit wrote:
Hi all:

So I'm considering closing my QS card in the next few months. I am still looking at benefits of this card, and weighing it against benfits on other cards in my deck. Anyhow, just wondering if I am missing anything. I know the card is a 1.5% cash back card, I have my NFCU cash rewards card to cover that. I also know that the card can be used for UTI padding. In the past two years of having the card, I have never had a major issue with UTI and when my UTI was high, I paid it off balances within 3 months. The only real benefit I can see for myself is the BT offers. I rec'd a BT offer for no BT fee and 0% for 18 months. I have other cards that give BT transfer promos, but all come with a fee. The QS came with no fee. I actually took advantage of the offer, but wound up paying it off in about 2-3 months. So am I missing any other benefits to this card? Oh, I should note, it is not my oldest card. It's my only capital one card and has an APR of 23%. I know I can sock drawer it, but I'd rather just close it if I'm not actually using it.

Thanks in advance for any input.

No FTF, no AF and Capital One historically leaves people alone meaning very few AA's, CLD's or closing from inactivity. It is a good card to have around and was really the original 1.5% cash back card that everybody has copied. Just use it once or twice a year to keep it active. Maybe I am biased, but Capital One was my first credit card when I was a teenager. They have been very good to me so I keep them around.

Re: Benefits of QS?

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jan 2017 16:07:37 GMT

+1 you can park debt with Capital One all day long if you have to.
Without the military angle there are less FTF plus af free cards around

Re: Benefits of QS?

DeeBee78 — Sat, 28 Jan 2017 17:15:49 GMT

I don't see why you would close it. You yourself mentioned the BT offers and utilization padding, and that Captial One didn't freak out when you had high utilization (ahem, Barclays),

One thing worth mentioning is Capital One (for the most part) doesn't AA or close inactive accounts like other lenders do. You could leave the card in a drawer for 3-4 years, and the credit line would remain intact.

Personally, I love my QS because it's an easy card to use. I can redeem as many or as few rewards as I want to, I get discounts on Uber all the time, and the credit limit continues to grow. Hover your mouse over my card to see how it's gone from $300 to $6500. Then hover your mouse over My Barclay's card to see how they treat their customers.

Re: Benefits of QS?

AverageJoesCredit — Sat, 28 Jan 2017 19:54:34 GMT

A card that offers 0 fee for BTs and 0 for 18 months sounds fantastic to me and for that reason alone would i not mind having it in my arsenal. However your last sentence really seems to sum up how you feel so sometimes its best to go with your gut than what others will tell you( we all have different views lol). Best of luck with your decision!!

Re: Benefits of QS?

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jan 2017 20:46:11 GMT

The main reason I like this card and probably will keep it open is the no fee Bt offer. I use this a lot to consolidate cards until payday so I don't have multiple cards report balances even if they are all small. I try to only have 1-2 report balances. The CapOne Card is my only No fee BT card so without that I would not be able to do that anymore since I wouldn't if it had a fee. It's a nice benefit IMO.

That being said.... it is the ONLY reason I would keep it open. The 1.5 is norhing to me.... the other benefits are meh.... and the CLI policy is kind of weak. Small increases for me and only 2 per year sucks.

At the end of the day it is your decision. I am really on the "if you don't use it close it" bandwagon lately. I am now down to 6 cards plus 2 store cards. (And the 2 store cards will be going eventually as well)

Re: Benefits of QS?

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jan 2017 20:48:26 GMT

Like every else said, NO AF, 1st 1.5%, they have great promos, easy to work with, instant post of rewards, . My main card is Citi DC but QS is always right behind. If for monthing else for util and back up. Last night tried to buy something with Citi and their network was briefly down so paid with QS.

Re: Benefits of QS?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jan 2017 11:49:35 GMT

I don't really use my QS card, but there's no real reason for me to close it. I'm all for "close it if you don't use it" as I have closed several cards in the past few years, but the QS just makes a good backup card. I keep it in my wallet just because I can fall back on it and have pretty much no problem. It's really a "no hassle" card.

Besides, capital one was my first credit card and my ONLY credit card from Feb 2007 until Apr 2015. That makes it my oldest card too. They'll always be in my wallet

Re: Benefits of QS?

irunfromcredit — Sun, 29 Jan 2017 14:42:29 GMT

Thanks all for your input. I am stil on the fence with closing this one but probably leaning more towards closing. My aim is downsize my deck, I currently have 23 credit cards and quite honestly I don't want to manage so many cards and probably don't need this much credit. But if I were to keep this card, does anyone know if Capital One is known for closing cards for non-activity?

Re: Benefits of QS?

SouthJamaica — Sun, 29 Jan 2017 15:52:35 GMT

@irunfromcredit wrote:
Thanks all for your input. I am stil on the fence with closing this one but probably leaning more towards closing. My aim is downsize my deck, I currently have 23 credit cards and quite honestly I don't want to manage so many cards and probably don't need this much credit. But if I were to keep this card, does anyone know if Capital One is known for closing cards for non-activity?

They're the least likely bank to close for non-activity, but I wouldn't test them on it.

Re: Benefits of QS?

DeeBee78 — Sun, 29 Jan 2017 22:09:04 GMT

@irunfromcredit wrote:
Thanks all for your input. I am stil on the fence with closing this one but probably leaning more towards closing. My aim is downsize my deck, I currently have 23 credit cards and quite honestly I don't want to manage so many cards and probably don't need this much credit. But if I were to keep this card, does anyone know if Capital One is known for closing cards for non-activity?

I answered this exact question in my response to you.

Re: Benefits of QS?

noobody — Sun, 29 Jan 2017 23:17:03 GMT

One other good feature of this card is you can turn the card off when you not using it, and turn it on when you need it.

Re: Benefits of QS?

irunfromcredit — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 00:10:57 GMT

Thanks all for the input, and looks like all the considerations have been covered. I am going with my gut on this one and will close it out. My goal is to downsize and want to stick to it!