topic Re: Best Reward Card if I put about $5k on a month and always pay it off..... in Credit Cards

Best Reward Card if I put about $5k on a month and always pay it off.....

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 15:57:30 GMT

I use my credit card for everything (food, restaurants, supplies, etc.). It's about $5k a month and I pay it off every month. Looking for a good rewards card for cashback or gift cards. I travel but don't think I want any travel points.

I saw Alliant Cashback Visa is giving 2.5% back and haven't found anything better. Any other cards I should consider? Any feedback on Alliant? I don't mind a fee if it pays itself off.

Thanks all!

Re: Best Reward Card if I put about $5k on a month and always pay it off.....

M_Smart007 — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 16:03:05 GMT

Hi @Anonymous and

You might list your "FICO" credit scores and maybe your age of accounts, how many inquiries in the last 12 months,

any new accounts and possibly your income ...what cards you currently hold "if any" ?

This way other members could better answer your question(s).

Re: Best Reward Card if I put about $5k on a month and always pay it off.....

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 16:06:35 GMT

Hi:

My Experian score is 839. Didn't check the others. I think I had one inquiry in 2020. No new accounts.

Thanks.

Re: Best Reward Card if I put about $5k on a month and always pay it off.....

M_Smart007 — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 16:11:55 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi:

My Experian score is 839. Didn't check the others. I think I had one inquiry in 2020. No new accounts.

Thanks.

Thank you! .. Great info, others will be along shortly to answer

Re: Best Reward Card if I put about $5k on a month and always pay it off.....

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 16:14:16 GMT

One popular answer here would be the AOD card (huge threads on it) which is a flat 3% card, low APR no fees. But you might do better depending on where you spend is (as an extremely unlikely example, if $4.5K of that spend was on Amazon and WholeFoods, the Chase Amazon card would be a much better choice!) But the AOD is certainly a good default card, downsides are that is a slightly involved process to get and, as with all good cards, we don't know how long it will last.

Re: Best Reward Card if I put about $5k on a month and always pay it off.....

K-in-Boston — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 16:14:25 GMT

Are you looking for one card to put all of your spending on, or do you want to maximize the amount of cash back you receive from putting particular categories on specific cards? If you want simplicity, 2.5% is great. There are also newer entries to the market like the AOD credit union card that gives 3% back across the board.

If you are open to splitting up purchases across cards, then you may want to consider cards that offer additional amounts for specific categories (like 6% for grocery on Amex Blue Cash Preferred, 4% for restaurants on US Bank Altitude Go, etc.) or cards that give 5% on rotating categories like US Bank Cash+, Discover it, and Chase Freedom Flex.

Re: Best Reward Card if I put about $5k on a month and always pay it off.....

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 16:16:16 GMT

That's a great question I hadn't thought about. I think I just want to use one card (for convenience).

I'll check into that AOD credit union card. Any downsides to credit union cards (I don't know much about them).

Thanks!

Re: Best Reward Card if I put about $5k on a month and always pay it off.....

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 16:25:07 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I use my credit card for everything (food, restaurants, supplies, etc.). It's about $5k a month and I pay it off every month. Looking for a good rewards card for cashback or gift cards. I travel but don't think I want any travel points.

I saw Alliant Cashback Visa is giving 2.5% back and haven't found anything better. Any other cards I should consider? Any feedback on Alliant? I don't mind a fee if it pays itself off.

Thanks all!

The Amex Everyday preferred gives 3x on groceries, 2x on gas, and if you accumulate 30 charges in the billing cycle, 1.5 times the total points accrued for that cycle regardless of category. $95/yr.

Re: Best Reward Card if I put about $5k on a month and always pay it off.....

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 16:28:43 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I use my credit card for everything (food, restaurants, supplies, etc.). It's about $5k a month and I pay it off every month. Looking for a good rewards card for cashback or gift cards. I travel but don't think I want any travel points.

I saw Alliant Cashback Visa is giving 2.5% back and haven't found anything better. Any other cards I should consider? Any feedback on Alliant? I don't mind a fee if it pays itself off.

Thanks all!

The Amex Everyday preferred gives 3x on groceries, 2x on gas, and if you accumulate 30 charges in the billing cycle, 1.5 times the total points accrued for that cycle regardless of category. $95/yr.

Right, but that earns MR points, which may not be so useful or valuable if travel isn't the goal. Even with 30 transactions, that's only earning 1.5 points on 'everything else'

Re: Best Reward Card if I put about $5k on a month and always pay it off.....

M_Smart007 — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 16:35:26 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
That's a great question I hadn't thought about. I think I just want to use one card (for convenience).
I'll check into that AOD credit union card. Any downsides to credit union cards (I don't know much about them).

Thanks!

@Anonymous, You have been given excellent advice from the other very experienced members.

One thing I would caution you on, since you mentioned "Gift Cards" be careful with Chase or Amex on purchasing a bunch "gift cards" on them.

It is a recipe to get shut down.

Re: Best Reward Card if I put about $5k on a month and always pay it off.....

TampaBAY86 — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 18:16:44 GMT

@M_Smart007 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
That's a great question I hadn't thought about. I think I just want to use one card (for convenience).
I'll check into that AOD credit union card. Any downsides to credit union cards (I don't know much about them).

Thanks!
@Anonymous, You have been given excellent advice from the other very experienced members.
One thing I would caution you on, since you mentioned "Gift Cards" be careful with Chase or Amex on purchasing a bunch "gift cards" on them.
It is a recipe to get shut down.

No disrespect @M_Smart007 because your information is accurate, as always (and I want to be more like you when I grow up), but I believe the OP was referring to redeeming for cash back or gift cards, not purchasing gift cards.

Re: Best Reward Card if I put about $5k on a month and always pay it off.....

M_Smart007 — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 18:23:51 GMT

@TampaBAY86 wrote:
@M_Smart007 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
That's a great question I hadn't thought about. I think I just want to use one card (for convenience).
I'll check into that AOD credit union card. Any downsides to credit union cards (I don't know much about them).

Thanks!
@Anonymous, You have been given excellent advice from the other very experienced members.
One thing I would caution you on, since you mentioned "Gift Cards" be careful with Chase or Amex on purchasing a bunch "gift cards" on them.
It is a recipe to get shut down.
No disrespect @M_Smart007 because your information is accurate, as always (and I want to be more like you when I grow up), but I believe the OP was referring to redeeming for cash back or gift cards, not purchasing gift cards.

In that case, i [redact] that statement. As I thought OP was referring to buying 'gift'cards"

Trust Me, I am wrong a lot more than I'd like to be

And @TampaBAY86 No disrespect at all, if when I am wrong, I need to be corrected

Re: Best Reward Card if I put about $5k on a month and always pay it off.....

Horseshoez — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 18:26:56 GMT

@M_Smart007 wrote:
In that case, i [redact] that statement. As I thought OP was referring to buying 'gift'cards"
Trust Me, I am wrong a lot more than I'd like to be

And @TampaBAY86 No disrespect at all, if when I am wrong, I need to be corrected

LOL, great response. Here is a signature disclaimer I've seen from time to time (and even used upon occasion):

"Often wrong, never uncertain"

Re: Best Reward Card if I put about $5k on a month and always pay it off.....

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 23:45:25 GMT

That is correct. Redeeming for cash back or gift cards. Thanks for all of the suggestions!

Re: Best Reward Card if I put about $5k on a month and always pay it off.....

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:20:59 GMT

To expand a little on the above, depending on your spend, Amex BCP may well be worth a look. 6% back on groceries and streaming services is excellent. It also gives 3% on transit fees like parking and others, and 1% on the rest. If you're heavy on the streaming and groceries, that might be a winner.

Re: Best Reward Card if I put about $5k on a month and always pay it off.....

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:28:09 GMT

My spending is all over the place (groceries, gas, travel, supplies, meds). Probably most of the spending is on pet-related items (dog food, medicine, acupuncture, vet). I have 3 expensive dogs - one is very old and very expensive. :-)

I think I'd like just a good all-around card because my spending will probably change over time.

Re: Best Reward Card if I put about $5k on a month and always pay it off.....

M_Smart007 — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:35:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
My spending is all over the place (groceries, gas, travel, supplies, meds). Probably most of the spending is on pet-related items (dog food, medicine, acupuncture, vet). I have 3 expensive dogs - one is very old and very expensive. :-)

I think I'd like just a good all-around card because my spending will probably change over time.

If you don't go the AOD 3% route, you might look at a good 2% on everything card. @Aim_High might chime in with his list.

Here is another;

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/2-3-Cashback-CB-Credit-Card-CC-List/m-p/6197473

Re: Best Reward Card if I put about $5k on a month and always pay it off.....

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:42:05 GMT

Thanks for that list. I see that Citi Double Cash Card recommended on a lot of sites.

Re: Best Reward Card if I put about $5k on a month and always pay it off.....

M_Smart007 — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:51:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for that list. I see that Citi Double Cash Card recommended on a lot of sites.

@Anonymous, You are Welcome.

I have (2) Citi Double Cash cards. I have had zero problems with Citi or using/redeeming cash back.

Great 2% card IMO.

Re: Best Reward Card if I put about $5k on a month and always pay it off.....

Aim_High — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 02:03:12 GMT

Thanks for the tag, @M_Smart007.

Yes, @Anonymous, I've posted a lot about the 2% cards including in that thread and others. There are actually more than two dozen cards that pay 2% or higher, uncapped and uncategorized. All of them have some sort of quirks or limitations of some sort. But they all work pretty well, as long as you understand the agreement that you're buying into. Probably the two most common and popular on My Fico are that Citi Double Cash and the PayPal Cashback Mastercard.

DC has been around a very long time and is heavily advertised. And it's the only one that doesn't require either a PayPal or banking deposit account with the lender to manage. A few downsides: it's 1% when you buy and 1% when you pay, so your rewards are always lagging at least 30 days. It's one of the cards with minimum redemption ($25.) And if you stop using it, remember that your rewards expire in 12 months, unlike some other cards where the rewards never expire as long as your account is in good standing. On the upside, there is no Citi banking account required and if you elect to transfer the cash back to a CITI travel card like Prestige or Premier, you get Thank You points potentially worth more than 2%.

PPMC is issued by Synchrony Bank and it tends to be easier approval. Our members who have it seem to really like it. However, some reviewers have complained about the ease of managing the account through PayPal since there hasn't been a dedicated PPMC account link or app. On the plus side, there is no minimum redemption but rewards are deposited to PayPal and then into your banking account, so the process can be a little cumbersome. Some of Synchrony's fees and interest rates can be quite high, even for "good to excellent" credit profiles. While that may not matter if you always PIF, I personally like to protect myself by trying to always keep potential charges low in case "life happens."

The other cards, including my personal favorite which is the PenFed Power Cash Rewards, may require some sort of banking depository account or an investment account (like the Elan Fidelity Rewards.) Some require a minimum level of average deposits or regular direct deposits to earn the full 2% back. Some of the others are also geo-fenced so not a valid option for everyone, regardless of location. Whichever ones you are considering, I'd suggest you shop around a little and read the fine print before you commit. Good luck and let us know if you have questions.