topic Looking for the right card. in Credit Cards

Looking for the right card.

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 04:48:50 GMT

Hi everyone. I am in the research phase for a new credit card, which will also be my last credit card I apply for in 12 months. The cards that intrigue me are the AMEX SPG, AMEX Delta Gold, Chase Sapphire Reserve, and Barclay Arrival Plus. Here is a bit of relevant information (sorry if you don't like reading long stuff):

I have a wife, 5 year old boy, 3 year old girl. My wife has a job that pays $40k annually and I am still in school but just got a full time job that is paying me $75k annually. I started last week. We finally broke $100k annually!!! Yay!!! Anyhow, one thing that we have decided to make an absolute priority for our family are annual vactions. We may take more than one a year but one is the minimum. We are currently saving $240 mo for a trip to disney land next year. Anyhow, we are after something that will best suit our travel needs. We spend about $2500 monthly and can put that all on one credit card. I don't/won't ever carry a balance. Since starting a family, our travelling has been limited to perhaps two trips per year (which definitely will increase). I fly maybe once per year now. The last time we flew as a family was in 2012 when we took a trip to Hawaii on my son's first birthday/our 5 year anniversary. So air travel has been very limited. However, we have been staying in hotels at least twice per year when travelling or celebrating out of town. We definitely stay at hotels far more than we fly. Essentially, everytime we fly we would book a hotel room. Everytime we book a room, we would not necessarily fly. Again, we are now prioritizing family travel and will have the means and time to travel via airplane.

With all that being said, the SPG seems lucrative because of its hotel benefits. The Delta gold may seem like a good option too if we only flew delta. There are tons of delta flights in the pacific northwest (I live in Oregon). The Chase Saffire Reserve seems the most versatile but not very specific to any one need. Barclay also seems like a good option for racking up miles.

Annual income is roughly $115,000. TU FICO 710, Experian FICO 680 (not updated since January 15th). I know the numbers are not ideal yet. I wont be applying yet either. I have recently just started having revolving credit under my name and started raising my scores once again. Average lenght of credit history is 3 years. It was 11 but because of pulling student loans quartely since 2013, the number has gone down consistently. No more loans though. I am on my last term. My TU rose from 666 to 710 in one month since opening my credit cards. In a perfect world, my FICO scores would be around 730-740 around May. If this turns out to be the case then that would be the time I would like to apply for the card.

Now that that's out of the way and I have shared some specifics with you all, what are your thoughts about which card would better suit my family needs? I would also have an additional card for my wife and that would be both of our daily users. We like to pay balances in full every 10 days. So we pay on the 10th, 20th, and 30th of every month.

Re: Looking for the right card.

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 19:10:43 GMT

I'm not much for travel cards, but since it's been awhile and nobody has chimed in yet... My opinion would be to probably go with the SPG over the Chase, if you realistically think you won't be flying too often. Since it sounds like hotels are your main "gig" so to speak. I feel like it'd be nice to have the peace of mind to be able to definitely cover your hotel room(s) on most of your trips.

But I suppose the Chase could be a good bet too, as it can be used for flights/hotels, then you could kind of pick and choose what you wanted to pay out of pocket for, and what you wanted to use your points towards.

All-around, more long term, I probably like the Chase better overall after reading your novel.

Re: Looking for the right card.

celluloid17 — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 23:07:24 GMT

I am by no means an expert or even a knowlegeable novice when it comes to travel cards, but it would seem that the Barclaycard Arrival Plus might be the most versatile of the cards you mentioned . You can redeem your miles/points towards any travel expenses and it becomes essentially a 2.05% card. The current sign-up bonus is impressive and very comfortably achievable for you and the annual fee is not going to negate much of your reward benefit like the CSR.

Or you can forgo a travel card in favor of a straightforward 2% cash back card that doesn't have an annual fee or foreign transaction fee. The new PenFed Power Cash Rewards card might be a good option if you're willing to open up a checking account with them and park $500 in it.

Re: Looking for the right card.

fltireguy — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 00:45:31 GMT

@celluloid17 wrote:
I am by no means an expert or even a knowlegeable novice when it comes to travel cards, but it would seem that the Barclaycard Arrival Plus might be the most versatile of the cards you mentioned . You can redeem your miles/points towards any travel expenses and it becomes essentially a 2.05% card. The current sign-up bonus is impressive and very comfortably achievable for you and the annual fee is not going to negate much of your reward benefit like the CSR.

Or you can forgo a travel card in favor of a straightforward 2% cash back card that doesn't have an annual fee or foreign transaction fee. The new PenFed Power Cash Rewards card might be a good option if you're willing to open up a checking account with them and park $500 in it.

But, Arrival Plus is Barclays. OP might be much better suited with a mentally stabe (not bipolar) lender, such as Chase and Amex. Plus, remember that Starpoints are worth about 2.2 cents each at the minimum, making SPG a 2.2% card.

@on the other hand, I agre with you on the PenFed Power Rewards @2%.

Chase also has more than a few good cards too. Another option is Amex Platinum, IF OP can get the 100k MR bonus somehow, since within the first calendar year, they can recoup $400 of the AF in airline giftcard.... And, the 100k MR is easily worth $600-800 minimum!

Re: Looking for the right card.

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 04:31:39 GMT

@fltireguy wrote:
@celluloid17 wrote:
I am by no means an expert or even a knowlegeable novice when it comes to travel cards, but it would seem that the Barclaycard Arrival Plus might be the most versatile of the cards you mentioned . You can redeem your miles/points towards any travel expenses and it becomes essentially a 2.05% card. The current sign-up bonus is impressive and very comfortably achievable for you and the annual fee is not going to negate much of your reward benefit like the CSR.

Or you can forgo a travel card in favor of a straightforward 2% cash back card that doesn't have an annual fee or foreign transaction fee. The new PenFed Power Cash Rewards card might be a good option if you're willing to open up a checking account with them and park $500 in it.

But, Arrival Plus is Barclays. OP might be much better suited with a mentally stabe (not bipolar) lender, such as Chase and Amex. Plus, remember that Starpoints are worth about 2.2 cents each at the minimum, making SPG a 2.2% card.

@on the other hand, I agre with you on the PenFed Power Rewards @2%.

Chase also has more than a few good cards too. Another option is Amex Platinum, IF OP can get the 100k MR bonus somehow, since within the first calendar year, they can recoup $400 of the AF in airline giftcard.... And, the 100k MR is easily worth $600-800 minimum!

And the Arrival Plus has an annual fee after the first year, and you need a very large spend, and redeeming just for travel, for the extra 0.1% to outweigh the AF compared to a free 2% card ($89K per year) Note it's roughly a 2.1% card, not 2.05% (spend $100, get 200 miles, of which you get to keep 10 when you redeem, so $100 gets you 210 miles, counting just the first redemption) Worth getting for the first year bonus, when it is free, but for most not worthwhile after.

Re: Looking for the right card.

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 04:43:34 GMT

CU credit card. You skeered of credit unions? Your situation makes no sense for a CSR.

Things change often. Use your student mentality and read, read, read before you press "submit".

Might get a $500 SL that turns into $25k by years end. Might get a $2k card that never gives you a CLI.

Read, make a life decision and report back to us.