topic Re: Everyday Rewards Card Recommendations in Credit Cards

Everyday Rewards Card Recommendations

voxombmx — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 00:59:14 GMT

Good Evening,

I am currently in the process of rebuilding my credit and have made great progress over the past year, I am not looking for any cards for myself at this time as I am "gardening" you could say.

My wife is wanting to get the best possible rewards card or cards for everyday purchases. We do not do a lot of traveling so that is not a great concern. We spend on average $100-150 on grocery and $60 on gas weekly in our household and go out to eat 2x monthly at around $70. Internet, satellite, netflix $120/month.

Her scores Fico8 Scores, obtained from myFico

EX 780 TU 789 EQ 774

Cap1 QS, Cap1 Platinum, JCPenny, Sears, TJMaxx MC and our Catholic Federal CU Visa cards = $25k total CL with 7% Utilization, 1 instalment loan, No lates ever all accounts in good standing.

We are looking for recommendations for a good card or cards to reap the most benefit from our daily/weekly/monthly spending. Our household income is $100k, we have a great savings account, all bills/expenses currently paid with our debit account. Any and all opinions are welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks

Re: Everyday Rewards Card Recommendations

northface28 — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 01:07:10 GMT

Amex Blue Cash Preferred.

Re: Everyday Rewards Card Recommendations

voxombmx — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 01:13:55 GMT

Is there any chance you can explain the difference between the Blue Cash Preferred and Blue Cash Everyday cards? I am scouring this site on multiple tabs to look for information that can help us, Im not able to decipher the meaning of the excel spreadsheets in the helpful threads.

Re: Everyday Rewards Card Recommendations

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 01:29:26 GMT

Well, it isn't too complicated. As long as you purchase groceries in supermarkets, the preffered will net you an extra 3% in groceries and 1% in gas over the BCE. So in your case, that means 125*3% + 60*1% = 4.35$ per week. This multiplied by 52 gives you 226.2$ in cashback in a year over the BCE, which means 130$ more after you consider the 95$ AF. In total, it is around 390$ in cashback per year. These cards also have 10% back on restarants for the first 6 months currently, so these would be ideal cards for you.

Re: Everyday Rewards Card Recommendations

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 01:31:23 GMT

Re: Everyday Rewards Card Recommendations

medicgrrl — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 01:35:53 GMT

Amex has a great site where you can compare their cards. I think the difference is the BCP has an AF of $95 with a 6/3/1 rewards and BCE has no AF and 3/2/1 rewards...but go to their site to confirm that.

Re: Everyday Rewards Card Recommendations

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 02:02:51 GMT

@medicgrrl wrote:
Amex has a great site where you can compare their cards. I think the difference is the BCP has an AF of $95 with a 6/3/1 rewards and BCE has no AF and 3/2/1 rewards...but go to their site to confirm that.

The annual fee & rewards percentages are correct. Check out Nerdwallet's cash back card comparison to see what you'd get from each card.

Re: Everyday Rewards Card Recommendations

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 02:18:05 GMT

yep. medicgrrl is right.

You may look at the AF, and think twice, but with your spending on groceries and gas, you will easily cover that fee.

Where the regular Blue Cash will still get you 3%, the preferred will get you 6% on up to $6000 in spending on groceries. Your estimates put you right at $5200.

That's

$156 in rewards with blue cash

$312 in rewards with preferred

For a difference of $156. It's not a staggering amount, but after AF that still puts you up by $60 per year plus the extra 1% on gas.

That's going to be the main difference as far as I could tell when I did my research before going for the BCP.

Re: Everyday Rewards Card Recommendations

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 02:29:43 GMT

If you live in California, the Golden 1 CU card may be a good fit for you. It's got no annual fee and 3% on gas, groceries, and restaurants (not including fast food.) As far as I know this card is only avaialable to those who live in Cali.

Re: Everyday Rewards Card Recommendations

voxombmx — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 12:29:07 GMT

We don't live in California, thank you for the suggestion though!

We will look in to the Amex cards and make our own spreadsheet based on our personal spending habits to see how we would fair with etither card. Are there any other good rewards cards that we should consider at this time, or is Amex really just the way to go for the gas/grocery purchases?

We appreciate the feedback, thanks!

Re: Everyday Rewards Card Recommendations

HeavenOhio — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 13:14:27 GMT

Keep in mind that if you're shopping for groceries, they have to be purchased at "supermarkets" in order to redeem the 3% or 6% reward. Grocery purchases at superstores (Target, Walmart) or wholesale clubs (Sam's, Costco) don't count.

Here's a list of examples of merchants that fit into AMEX's retail categories:

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/content/rewards-info/retail.html

Re: Everyday Rewards Card Recommendations

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 13:22:58 GMT

I have similar spending to what you listed, and I really like the Blue Cash Preferred for grocery. One other nice tidbit is that it will get you 3% back at a lot of department stores (2% for the BCE).

Other cards I looked at when facing the same question were the Discover It card and the Chase Freedom. Both have quarterly 5% categories which can include groceries, gas, dining, wholesale clubs, and loads of other things.

This one is probably not the best everyday use card for a lot of things, but if youhave Amazon Prime, the Amazon Prime Visa is worth a look. It will get you 2% on gas, dining out, and drug stores. It also gets 5% off at Amazon (including towards Prime membership).

Re: Everyday Rewards Card Recommendations

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 13:21:14 GMT

@northface28 wrote:
Amex Blue Cash Preferred.

Re: Everyday Rewards Card Recommendations

voxombmx — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 13:29:25 GMT

@HeavenOhio wrote:
Keep in mind that if you're shopping for groceries, they have to be purchased at "supermarkets" in order to redeem the 3% or 6% reward. Grocery purchases at superstores (Target, Walmart) or wholesale clubs (Sam's, Costco) don't count.

Here's a list of examples of merchants that fit into AMEX's retail categories:

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/content/rewards-info/retail.html

We did notice that last night when looking over the terms and conditions, all of our Grocery shopping is done at Meijer or our local grocery store which is a SpartNash affiliate, I would assume they are eligible for the cashback reward as they meet the definition outlined by Amex. Also, we primarily only use gasoline from ExxonMobil because that is the closest station to our home which is 10 miles from closest town.

We currently are using her Cap1 Quicksilver card, but really want to get the most out of our spending. It is really looking like the BCP card is the way to go at this point.

Thanks again for all of the input

Re: Everyday Rewards Card Recommendations

HeavenOhio — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 13:40:42 GMT

The department store list is a little muddy too. Bon Ton is listed, but specific stores that are part of Bon Ton (Carson's, Boston Store, Younkers, etc.) aren't. AMEX says that the department store reward is probably good at these other stores, but they can't tell me for sure.

I think you'll be fine with your favorite supermarket, though.

Re: Everyday Rewards Card Recommendations

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 13:42:45 GMT

@HeavenOhio wrote:
The department store list is a little muddy too. Bon Ton is listed, but specific stores that are part of Bon Ton (Carson's, Boston Store, Younkers, etc.) aren't. AMEX says that the department store reward is probably good at these other stores, but they can't tell me for sure.

I think you'll be fine with your favorite supermarket, though.

Amex (and all other issuers with categories) will always say that it is up to the merchant as to how the charge gets catergorized so even if you purchase from one on the list, it's not guaranteed. The only way to be sure is to charge with an Amex (or find someone who has!)

Re: Everyday Rewards Card Recommendations

voxombmx — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 14:38:58 GMT

Question in regards to the Anex BCP card whn making a purchase at a gas station:

Do you have to pay at the pump with the card or can you pay inside the station? I usually fill up in the morning and will get a cup of coffee inside, but will this change the way the points are calculated or is it just the fact that you made the purchase at gas station?

Re: Everyday Rewards Card Recommendations

nachoslibres — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 14:45:15 GMT

@voxombmx wrote:
Question in regards to the Anex BCP card whn making a purchase at a gas station:

Do you have to pay at the pump with the card or can you pay inside the station? I usually fill up in the morning and will get a cup of coffee inside, but will this change the way the points are calculated or is it just the fact that you made the purchase at gas station?

You can do either. There are some people when cards like the Chase Freedom offer 5% back at gas stations that they buy some of their groceries and/or beer there because of the extra 5% savings.

Regarding what card is best for your spending you may want to look at the Double Cash - at least for all your non-bonused spend. It gives a straight 2% back on everything and was my go to card for pretty much everything that was non-bonused spend until I recently picked up the SPG card (which you wouldn't want because you don't travel often).

Re: Everyday Rewards Card Recommendations

HeavenOhio — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 14:48:22 GMT

Your cup of coffee will likely count as a gas station purchase. According to the AMEX page linked to earlier:

A gas station is defined as a merchant that is in the primary business of selling gasoline to consumers. Gas stations may sell other convenience items, but its primary business must be selling gasoline to consumers.

Re: Everyday Rewards Card Recommendations

voxombmx — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 15:28:24 GMT

@nachoslibres wrote:
@voxombmx wrote:
Question in regards to the Anex BCP card whn making a purchase at a gas station:

Do you have to pay at the pump with the card or can you pay inside the station? I usually fill up in the morning and will get a cup of coffee inside, but will this change the way the points are calculated or is it just the fact that you made the purchase at gas station?
You can do either. There are some people when cards like the Chase Freedom offer 5% back at gas stations that they buy some of their groceries and/or beer there because of the extra 5% savings.

Regarding what card is best for your spending you may want to look at the Double Cash - at least for all your non-bonused spend. It gives a straight 2% back on everything and was my go to card for pretty much everything that was non-bonused spend until I recently picked up the SPG card (which you wouldn't want because you don't travel often).

When looking at the Citi Double Cash card and using an average of our last 3 months spending through our CU transaction log, the Double Cash card has an average of $2 less cash back rewards but no AF. It almost seems as if the best way to take advantage of our spending would be the BCP/BCE card for groceries and gas, the DC card for everything else.