topic Re: So in your humble opinion, what are the best Credit Cards to have as of August, 2021? in Credit Cards

So in your humble opinion, what are the best Credit Cards to have as of August, 2021?

JNesbit89 — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 23:51:23 GMT

I have a boring Citizens Bank CC, a Syncrony PayPal online credit account that doesn't do me much besides give me easy soft hit CLIs, a Best Buy CC that has it's uses in store, and the Citi Double Cash Card, which is my favorite. What would you say are the best? Including benefits, as well as cons included (like yearly fees)

Thanks friends

Re: So in your humble opinion, what are the best Credit Cards to have as of August, 2021?

SoCalGardener — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 23:59:51 GMT

This is SUCH a subjective question!

What one person considers the best card ever may be on someone else's list of worst cards ever. It really depends on what you're looking for in a card, what's important to you, what ISN'T important to you, and so on.

My personal favorite card [right now] is the Amex Blue Cash Preferred. I upgraded it from a Blue Cash Everyday and am really glad I did. It has an AF ($95) while the BCE did not, but its benefits far outweigh the AF--for me. Specifically, its 6% cash back on groceries was the clincher, and more than makes up for its fee. It has a ton of other benefits, too, but the 6% grocery thing was its biggest draw in my case.

What are you most interested in gaining? Do you travel a lot? Is cash back more important to you than miles? How do you feel about annual fees? And so on!

Re: So in your humble opinion, what are the best Credit Cards to have as of August, 2021?

JNesbit89 — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 00:27:01 GMT

@SoCalGardener wrote:
This is SUCH a subjective question!

What one person considers the best card ever may be on someone else's list of worst cards ever. It really depends on what you're looking for in a card, what's important to you, what ISN'T important to you, and so on.

My personal favorite card [right now] is the Amex Blue Cash Preferred. I upgraded it from a Blue Cash Everyday and am really glad I did. It has an AF ($95) while the BCE did not, but its benefits far outweigh the AF--for me. Specifically, its 6% cash back on groceries was the clincher, and more than makes up for its fee. It has a ton of other benefits, too, but the 6% grocery thing was its biggest draw in my case.

What are you most interested in gaining? Do you travel a lot? Is cash back more important to you than miles? How do you feel about annual fees? And so on!

Crazy because I've always had my eye on the AMEX Blue Cash Preferred, and this year they are waiving the annual fee for the first year. I wonder what stores they designate as grocery stores? What if you buy gift cards at a Wegmans or TOPs or Aldis?

I prefer cards with cash bonuses and benefits, but I suppose I have no flyer cards cause I havent ever flown in forever. But was hoping there was recommended "must have" selection of cards. Or like 1 from each major bank?

Re: So in your humble opinion, what are the best Credit Cards to have as of August, 2021?

Anonymous — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 00:35:20 GMT

@JNesbit89 wrote:

I prefer cards with cash bonuses and benefits, but I suppose I have no flyer cards cause I havent ever flown in forever. But was hoping there was recommended "must have" selection of cards. Or like 1 from each major bank?

Well, for the reasons given by @SoCalGardener there really isn't either a "must have" or best from bank X list. As a trivial example, take Chase Amazon card which I use heavily. But if you don't use Amazon or WholeFoods, there is nothing to recommend the card, and similarly with any hotel/airline card, can make a lot of sense for some, none for others.

Now while there isn't a "best" card, it is, IMO easier to come up with the opposite, i.e. pairwise "there is no point in getting card X from bank A when card Y from bank B is better in every way" (e.g. a 1% card vs a 2% card with same fees) but even then, if you have a good relationship with A and/or burned bank B, card X might still be the better choice for you

Re: So in your humble opinion, what are the best Credit Cards to have as of August, 2021?

SUPERSQUID — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 20:05:29 GMT

I have a bk7 on my reports so right now i cant get the super best cards. i like rewards, i am not so consumed by low interest rates. of the cards i have 3 give rewards, the best is discover which has 5 percent cb rolling categories, next best of my cards is the target red card which knocks 5 percent off the total at the register, but my limit is only 500. 3rd is mercury mastercard, 1 percent everywhere all the time. the kohls card isnt bad they give some generous coupons

Re: So in your humble opinion, what are the best Credit Cards to have as of August, 2021?

JNesbit89 — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 01:35:14 GMT

Mine seems mixed at best.

Citi Double Cash is just a straight easy 2% back, there were no benefits or credits for opening it

Best Buy CC (not the Visa) just gets me 5% on purchases there or no-interest financing for 12+ months

Citizens Bank CC is 1.5% back, sucks

and PayPal Credit I believe offers no interest financing for 6 or 12 months

Re: So in your humble opinion, what are the best Credit Cards to have as of August, 2021?

Yasselife — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 05:04:27 GMT

@JNesbit89 It depends on each person, like living situation and job. Choosing which lender to deal and grow is what I would focus on first; for example I kept reading about NFCU on here so I became a member and applied for the card that best serves me.

I like all of my lenders, they've all been great, and my favorite Bank is Chase because We have a relationship of +10yrs.

Re: So in your humble opinion, what are the best Credit Cards to have as of August, 2021?

JNesbit89 — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 12:38:46 GMT

@Yasselife wrote:
@JNesbit89 It depends on each person, like living situation and job. Choosing which lender to deal and grow is what I would focus on first; for example I kept reading about NFCU on here so I became a member and applied for the card that best serves me.
I like all of my lenders, they've all been great, and my favorite Bank is Chase because We have a relationship of +10yrs.

Why is Chase good? I have citizens bank who stnks but have local stores. And I have Citi who is cool but no atms anywhere

Re: So in your humble opinion, what are the best Credit Cards to have as of August, 2021?

HowDoesThisAllWork — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 10:21:42 GMT

@JNesbit89

As others have suggested, this is such a personal and subjective topic. There are so many different "credit profiles" out there that not everyone is going to have access to the same cards.

So, I will answer that 'personal and subjective' question with a very personal and subjective answer....the one(s) that you can get at the time. :-)

I started my rebuild back in November, 2019 with the OpenSky. It was a very basic credit card with a low annual fee ($35). I likely jumped the gun there and likely should have gone with the Discover IT (hindsight is always 20/20 - but I really should have started with the Discover IT card). I have gone through several "crap cards" (no dispresct to any of them....they all filled a role at the time that I got them. Still not sure what role....ha! ha!.....but they all served a purpose. There were less than ideal 'conditions' but they all served a purpose).

I am now in the "starting to get good" range of credit cards.

Cash Back is important to me.

No Annual Fee is important to me.

Starting Credit Limit and opportunity for Credit Limit Increases are important to me.

That is pretty much it right now.

Eventually, rewards will be important (I am *really* looking forward to reaching the stage where AMEX and CHASE and CITI are viable options for me....not there just yet).

So, for me any card that has basic to cool Cash Back is on my radar. And - as a starting point - any No Annual Fee card is on my radar. A "nice" Starting balance" is important, too. I really do not want any more credit cards with a $500 - $750 credit limit (see my "crap cards" comment earlier). Well, were I looking for another credit card. I just applied for and was approved for a Credit Card from Navy Federal Credit Union so I am pretty much in the garden at this point (naturally, I was in the garden when I applied for the NFCU Credit Card! LOL! So, gardening has not worked out so well for me up to this point!).

Someone who might be earlier in their rebuild might find some of my aforementioned "crap cards" to be absolutely better than sliced bread. For them. At that moment.

But, to answer you question:

1. Discover IT

2. a NFCU card (they have several....I went 'super basic' and applied for the cashREWARDS card).

3. a Capital One card (I went 'super duper basic' and applied for the Platinum card....which is no AF but offers no cash back....and that was fine).

Maybe next year (as in "August, 2022") I am in the Chase and AMEX ecosystems and thngs look a little different for me then. Only time (and my responsible and appropriate actions) will tell.

Re: So in your humble opinion, what are the best Credit Cards to have as of August, 2021?

MrDisco99 — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 14:57:17 GMT

That's like asking what's the best car to have in 2021. There's lots of use cases and different people have different wants and needs. You wouldn't recommend a Porsche 911 to a family of 5.

We need to know more about what kind of cards you want.

Re: So in your humble opinion, what are the best Credit Cards to have as of August, 2021?

Anonymous — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 16:27:21 GMT

@JNesbit89 wrote:
Citizens Bank CC is 1.5% back, sucks

Can you PC that 1.5% card to a current Citizens Bank card? They currently offer only 2 cards, one low APR card and one cashback credit card that pays a flat-rate 1.8%. No good reason for you to continue hanging on to that legacy 1.5% back card.

Re: So in your humble opinion, what are the best Credit Cards to have as of August, 2021?

FormerCollegeDJ — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 16:59:06 GMT

Among the no annual fee credit cards, some of the widely available top cards include the following:

*American Express Blue Cash Everyday Card

*American Express Hilton Honors Card

*Bank of America Customized Cash Visa

*Bank of America Travel Rewards Visa

*Barclays Wyndham Earner Visa

*Capital One SavorOne Mastercard

*Capital One VentureOne Mastercard

*Chase Freedom Flex Mastercard

*Chase Freedom Unlimited Visa

*Citi Custom Cash Mastercard

*Citi Rewards+ Mastercard

*Discover Cash It Card

*Elan Financial Services Max Cash Preferred Visa/Mastercard

*PNC Cash Rewards Visa

*U.S. Bank Altitude Go Visa

*U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa

*Wells Fargo Active Cash Visa

Among annual fee cards, I think the American Express Gold Card is a very good card. The Chase World of Hyatt Visa Visa is a probably the best hotel rewards card available. The Bank of America Amtrak Guest Rewards World Mastercard is a very strong card if you use Amtrak a lot.

Re: So in your humble opinion, what are the best Credit Cards to have as of August, 2021?

SouthJamaica — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 17:26:47 GMT

@FormerCollegeDJ wrote:
Among the no annual fee credit cards, some of the widely available top cards include the following:

*American Express Blue Cash Everyday Card
*American Express Hilton Honors Card
*Bank of America Customized Cash Visa
*Bank of America Travel Rewards Visa
*Barclays Wyndham Earner Visa
*Capital One SavorOne Mastercard
*Capital One VentureOne Mastercard
*Chase Freedom Flex Mastercard
*Chase Freedom Unlimited Visa
*Citi Custom Cash Mastercard
*Citi Rewards+ Mastercard
*Discover Cash It Card
*Elan Financial Services Max Cash Preferred Visa/Mastercard
*PNC Cash Rewards Visa
*U.S. Bank Altitude Go Visa
*U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa
*Wells Fargo Active Cash Visa

Among annual fee cards, I think the American Express Gold Card is a very good card. The Chase World of Hyatt Visa Visa is a probably the best hotel rewards card available. The Bank of America Amtrak Guest Rewards World Mastercard is a very strong card if you use Amtrak a lot.

@FormerCollegeDJ Can you educate us on why you rate the Chase World of Hyatt Visa so highly? I have the card but don't get that much out of it. Please tell me what I'm missing, so I can perhaps start making better use of the card. The qualities I recognize in it are that the Hyatt points are worth significantly more than Marriott and Hilton points, and that it gives you 1 free night a year at a tier 1-4 hotel.

Re: So in your humble opinion, what are the best Credit Cards to have as of August, 2021?

SoCalGardener — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 17:45:23 GMT

@JNesbit89 wrote:
@SoCalGardener wrote:
This is SUCH a subjective question!

What one person considers the best card ever may be on someone else's list of worst cards ever. It really depends on what you're looking for in a card, what's important to you, what ISN'T important to you, and so on.

My personal favorite card [right now] is the Amex Blue Cash Preferred. I upgraded it from a Blue Cash Everyday and am really glad I did. It has an AF ($95) while the BCE did not, but its benefits far outweigh the AF--for me. Specifically, its 6% cash back on groceries was the clincher, and more than makes up for its fee. It has a ton of other benefits, too, but the 6% grocery thing was its biggest draw in my case.

What are you most interested in gaining? Do you travel a lot? Is cash back more important to you than miles? How do you feel about annual fees? And so on!
Crazy because I've always had my eye on the AMEX Blue Cash Preferred, and this year they are waiving the annual fee for the first year. I wonder what stores they designate as grocery stores? What if you buy gift cards at a Wegmans or TOPs or Aldis?

I prefer cards with cash bonuses and benefits, but I suppose I have no flyer cards cause I havent ever flown in forever. But was hoping there was recommended "must have" selection of cards. Or like 1 from each major bank?

They include a very comprehensive list of 'grocery' stores; so far I've had no issues whatsoever. I'm thinking as long as you're shopping at well-known stores, there should be no problems. A "mom and pop" corner grocer may not be included, but Sprouts, Whole Foods, Instacart (when used for groceries), Vons, Kroger, Safeway, Pavilions, Ralphs, Trader Joe's, etc., are fine. I'm sure you could ask them if a specific store is included.

Yeah, I prefer cash back, too. I have no use for miles or airline points as I haven't done any travelling in a long time. Just cold, hard cash is what I want!

The Blue Cash Everyday was a very good card, although its 3% for groceries can't compare to the BCP's 6%--but, on the other hand, the BCE doesn't have an AF. When I was pondering whether to accept the upgrade to BCP, it took like five seconds of mental math to realize the cash back on groceries alone would more than make up for its AF. See how it looks to you.

Re: So in your humble opinion, what are the best Credit Cards to have as of August, 2021?

Anonymous — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 18:02:46 GMT

@FormerCollegeDJ wrote:
Among the no annual fee credit cards, some of the widely available top cards include the following:

*American Express Blue Cash Everyday Card
*American Express Hilton Honors Card
*Bank of America Customized Cash Visa
*Bank of America Travel Rewards Visa
*Barclays Wyndham Earner Visa
*Capital One SavorOne Mastercard
*Capital One VentureOne Mastercard
*Chase Freedom Flex Mastercard
*Chase Freedom Unlimited Visa
*Citi Custom Cash Mastercard
*Citi Rewards+ Mastercard
*Discover Cash It Card
*Elan Financial Services Max Cash Preferred Visa/Mastercard
*PNC Cash Rewards Visa
*U.S. Bank Altitude Go Visa
*U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa
*Wells Fargo Active Cash Visa

Among annual fee cards, I think the American Express Gold Card is a very good card. The Chase World of Hyatt Visa Visa is a probably the best hotel rewards card available. The Bank of America Amtrak Guest Rewards World Mastercard is a very strong card if you use Amtrak a lot.

The list sort of shows the earlier points raised about the subjective nature: I certainly wouldn't consider the Hilton or Wyndham cards as a "top card" for myself, simply because I don't use those families of hotels. And I am sure thr other cards appear great or meh to others!

Re: So in your humble opinion, what are the best Credit Cards to have as of August, 2021?

AlanGJP — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 18:11:00 GMT

@SoCalGardener wrote:
They include a very comprehensive list of 'grocery' stores; so far I've had no issues whatsoever. I'm thinking as long as you're shopping at well-known stores, there should be no problems. A "mom and pop" corner grocer may not be included, but Sprouts, Whole Foods, Instacart (when used for groceries), Vons, Kroger, Safeway, Pavilions, Ralphs, Trader Joe's, etc., are fine. I'm sure you could ask them if a specific store is included.

Unfortunately for us, BCP does not code Walmart as a grocery store. (no confirmation as yet, but my Gold card does not either, so assuming it won't) Unfortunate since it's not far from us and is by-far the largest and lowest priced option for us.

Re: So in your humble opinion, what are the best Credit Cards to have as of August, 2021?

AlanGJP — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 18:26:47 GMT

@JNesbit89 wrote:
What would you say are the best? Including benefits, as well as cons included (like yearly fees)
Thanks friends

So, for me I get the largest rewards from Business Gold. (I have a personal business and run five figures/mo through mine) So far, this has been the hands-down best return on spend. (4x rewards on your top two categories - for me, shipping and advertising) If you're not adverse to business cards and the annual fee doesn't scare you, it can be a great option as a personal card. (Amex has no problem appoving you without a registerred business)

My combo is:

- Amex Blue Cash Preferred (6% Groceries, 6% Entertainment - $100 AF) (DW's card)

- Amex Business Gold (4x MR on top 2 categories - $300 AF)

- Amex Blue Business Plus (2x MR on all spend - No AF)

- Amazon Prime Card (5% Amazon purchases- No AF)

- WF Active Cash (2% - No AF) (*Currently using BBVA using select categories, but I'm assuming PNC isn't going to be a good replacement now that they've taken over BBVA)

This combo covers pretty much all categories for us and offers 2% CB or 2x MR for nearly all spend. (Amex caps BBP at $50k) I'm currently racking up points to the tune of ~50k/mo, I can't imagine a better combination for my spend.

Re: So in your humble opinion, what are the best Credit Cards to have as of August, 2021?

SoCalGardener — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 18:44:21 GMT

@AlanGJP wrote:
@SoCalGardener wrote:
They include a very comprehensive list of 'grocery' stores; so far I've had no issues whatsoever. I'm thinking as long as you're shopping at well-known stores, there should be no problems. A "mom and pop" corner grocer may not be included, but Sprouts, Whole Foods, Instacart (when used for groceries), Vons, Kroger, Safeway, Pavilions, Ralphs, Trader Joe's, etc., are fine. I'm sure you could ask them if a specific store is included.
Unfortunately for us, BCP does not code Walmart as a grocery store. (no confirmation as yet, but my Gold card does not either, so assuming it won't) Unfortunate since it's not far from us and is by-far the largest and lowest priced option for us.

Hmmm... I haven't used my BCP at Walmart, but while it was still BCE I did--and got 3% cash back on groceries; here's one of its entries. Note that I only order online from Walmart Grocery (their prices can't be beat for things like Charmin, Viva, other household stuff!). You can see that's it labelled as a US supermarket. So at the very least, some clarification needs to enter this picture! I know it codes as groceries when ordered online, but I have no idea about in-store purchases.

3% Cash Back

Will appear on your Mar 23 statement as WALMART GROCERY WALMART.COM AR

Merchant Details
WALMART ONLINE GROCERY

U.S. Supermarkets

Re: So in your humble opinion, what are the best Credit Cards to have as of August, 2021?

FormerCollegeDJ — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 19:12:26 GMT

@SouthJamaica wrote:
@FormerCollegeDJ wrote:
Among the no annual fee credit cards, some of the widely available top cards include the following:

*American Express Blue Cash Everyday Card
*American Express Hilton Honors Card
*Bank of America Customized Cash Visa
*Bank of America Travel Rewards Visa
*Barclays Wyndham Earner Visa
*Capital One SavorOne Mastercard
*Capital One VentureOne Mastercard
*Chase Freedom Flex Mastercard
*Chase Freedom Unlimited Visa
*Citi Custom Cash Mastercard
*Citi Rewards+ Mastercard
*Discover Cash It Card
*Elan Financial Services Max Cash Preferred Visa/Mastercard
*PNC Cash Rewards Visa
*U.S. Bank Altitude Go Visa
*U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa
*Wells Fargo Active Cash Visa

Among annual fee cards, I think the American Express Gold Card is a very good card. The Chase World of Hyatt Visa Visa is a probably the best hotel rewards card available. The Bank of America Amtrak Guest Rewards World Mastercard is a very strong card if you use Amtrak a lot.
@FormerCollegeDJ Can you educate us on why you rate the Chase World of Hyatt Visa so highly? I have the card but don't get that much out of it. Please tell me what I'm missing, so I can perhaps start making better use of the card. The qualities I recognize in it are that the Hyatt points are worth significantly more than Marriott and Hilton points, and that it gives you 1 free night a year at a tier 1-4 hotel.

The big benefit of the Hyatt card, or more accurately the World of Hyatt rewards program, is that its points have a MUCH higher valuation than the rewards programs for any other hotel chain. Comparing Hyatt to other similar hotel chains on their rewards program points valuations:

*Hyatt (World of Hyatt): about 1.5 cents/point

*Hilton (Hilton Honors): about 0.4 cents/point

*IHG (IHG Rewards): about 0.5 cents/point

*Marriott (Marriott Bonvoy): about 0.65 cents/point

*Radisson (Radisson Rewards): about 0.3 cents/point

Hyatt's reward program points are worth 2x to 5x the amount of other comparable hotel rewards program points. This means that even small multipliers on the Hyatt card can be very valuable for hotel spend. With hotel spend, when you combine the Hyatt rewards program base points (5 points per dollar/spent), the increased rewards program status gained by having the card (Discoverist status, which provides a 10% point bonus, or 0.5 points per dollar spent), and points gained by using the card for hotel spend (4 points per dollar/spent), that equals 9.5 points/dollar spent, or a 14.25% rewards rate for Hyatt stays (9.5 multiplied by 1.5), a higher rewards rate on a low annual fee (<$100) card than pretty much all other hotel chains' comparable cards.

In addition to hotel spend, the Hyatt card actually provides solid rewards for some types of non-hotel spend. Card holders earn 2 rewards points (i.e. 3% rewards) on spend at restaurants, flights, transit, and gym memberships. This is competitive (though in many cases somewhat inferior) to many other general rewards annual fee cards on those spending categories. More notably, this is much better than the rewards rates on non-hotel spend that other hotel rewards credit cards offer; among low annual fee hotel-branded cards, only the Hilton Honors Surpass American Express and the Wyndham Rewards Earner Plus Visa, particularly the latter, offer solid rewards on some categories of non-hotel spend. The World of Hyatt card, because of the high value of its rewards program points, could be used by some people as a daily driver card, something that can't be said of almost all other hotel-branded, low annual fee credit cards excluding possibly the Hilton Honors Surpass Amex.

There's a reason why most credit card and/or travel-focused rewards sites speak highly of the Chase World of Hyatt Visa credit card.

Re: So in your humble opinion, what are the best Credit Cards to have as of August, 2021?

FormerCollegeDJ — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 19:17:40 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@FormerCollegeDJ wrote:
Among the no annual fee credit cards, some of the widely available top cards include the following:

*American Express Blue Cash Everyday Card
*American Express Hilton Honors Card
*Bank of America Customized Cash Visa
*Bank of America Travel Rewards Visa
*Barclays Wyndham Earner Visa
*Capital One SavorOne Mastercard
*Capital One VentureOne Mastercard
*Chase Freedom Flex Mastercard
*Chase Freedom Unlimited Visa
*Citi Custom Cash Mastercard
*Citi Rewards+ Mastercard
*Discover Cash It Card
*Elan Financial Services Max Cash Preferred Visa/Mastercard
*PNC Cash Rewards Visa
*U.S. Bank Altitude Go Visa
*U.S. Bank Cash+ Visa
*Wells Fargo Active Cash Visa

Among annual fee cards, I think the American Express Gold Card is a very good card. The Chase World of Hyatt Visa Visa is a probably the best hotel rewards card available. The Bank of America Amtrak Guest Rewards World Mastercard is a very strong card if you use Amtrak a lot.
The list sort of shows the earlier points raised about the subjective nature: I certainly wouldn't consider the Hilton or Wyndham cards as a "top card" for myself, simply because I don't use those families of hotels. And I am sure thr other cards appear great or meh to others!

I mentioned the Hilton and Wyndham no annual fee cards because they provide solid value for some types of non-hotel spend, meaning they can be used for some types of regular spend (if you like staying at either or both hotel chain). As an example, with the Wyndham Rewards Earner Visa, you earn 5 points per dollar spent at gas stations. I value Wyndham Rewards points at 0.7 cents per point, so gas spending would earn a rewards rate of 3.5%. Some websites value Wyndham Rewards points at higher values, which would mean gas spending would earn an even higher rewards rate.