topic Your top 5 credit cards in Credit Cards

Your top 5 credit cards

Namduw — Sun, 03 May 2026 20:22:35 GMT

I would be interested in seeing a list of your favorite cards. I'm thinking about applying for a new card. I did try searching for a recent list like this prior to posting.

I am mainly interested in high credit limit and great customer service. For instance, Capital One stuck with me through a rough patch. I would never close my capital one accounts. Another company, I can't remember which, has previously closed my cards because they were not active for only a few months. I am currently only using one card for most of my purchases and that is the Chase Freedom. Btw, my credit score is about 750-777 and I don't carry much debt.

Re: Your top 5 credit cards

Varsity_Lu — Sun, 03 May 2026 20:13:05 GMT

You are going to have 10 people post and get 50 different cards. If you told us what categories you are needing to cover, it would narrow things down and you might get some better responses.

Re: Your top 5 credit cards

Namduw — Sun, 03 May 2026 20:15:06 GMT

I think I am manly interested in knowing what card companies have you had the best customer service from long term. I will edit my request.

Re: Your top 5 credit cards

Vinjints — Sun, 03 May 2026 20:33:52 GMT

Points vs cash back also matters. As well as what cards you already have.

Otherwise I think NFCU for limits + service. Fan of Chase Prime, Citi custom cash, and USB cash+/MCP for specific spend, though haven't really had to deal with customer service.

Re: Your top 5 credit cards

ElvisCaprice — Sun, 03 May 2026 22:06:04 GMT

@Namduw wrote:
I think I am manly interested in knowing what card companies have you had the best customer service from long term. I will edit my request.

Look at our signatures in the bottom. Will give you a good idea on your question. Scroll thru the threads to see various profiles. Service is not at the top of my priorities or excessive CL's, sufficient is fine, the less contact the better. Rewards, for my spend, is the number one priority.

Re: Your top 5 credit cards

Varsity_Lu — Sun, 03 May 2026 21:25:41 GMT

AmEx is great. Most people who get their cards keep them long term and even though they may start out with modest ($1k - $3k) limits, they can grow very fast. 3x every 90 days sometimes. And they are known for great customer service. Blue Cash Everyday gives 3% on gas, groceries, and online shopping. Navy Federal is known to grow to high limits and most people really like working with them. I have the More Reward card which is 3% on gas, groceries, and dining. A lot of people don't like Cap One, but I love Savor. 3% on groceries and entertainment. They have given me high limits and have been great over the 4 years I've been with them. A lot of people love Citi Custom Cash, but their customer service consistently ranks at the bottom in every list I've seen. Same with Comenity/Bread. I love their AAA card, but I've never had to deal directly with them. I've heard horror stories, though.

Re: Your top 5 credit cards

radiofrequencies — Sun, 03 May 2026 21:07:18 GMT

@Varsity_Lu wrote:
You are going to have 10 people post and get 50 different cards.

So true!

@Namduw

Amex has a reputation for allowing limits to grow pretty big with how they frequently grant 3X CLIs every 90 days. It's also commonly said that they have pretty good customer service.

I recently opened up two new cards and I picked the cards based on my spend and current rewards. I'm team cash back and the new cards get me more cash back on periodic purchases. Your Chase Freedom has good cash back with a flat 1.5% back on everything and 3% on dining and drugstore purchases, so maybe a 2% card or a card that gets 5% back on groceries will benefit you. If you know what kind of credit card you are interested in, Doctor of Credit is a good resource to browse available options, along with here on the myFICO forums. Another thing to consider is sign up bonuses if you can meet the requirements through organic spend.

Re: Your top 5 credit cards

FicoMike0 — Mon, 04 May 2026 01:27:30 GMT

I agree with @Varsity_Lu , amex and navy are good. I've found a local bank, Huntington, to have good customer service. Since I generally avoid customer service, I have no info on others. Oh, I have been to the usb lobby, they are always nice.

Re: Your top 5 credit cards

Realist — Mon, 04 May 2026 12:36:02 GMT

Highly unique on what you are trying to achieve. So many cards with so many unique purposes, but my only priority is vacation rewards and travel coverage. Vacation and travel rewards, if coupled with welcome bonuses, will always, always, always, produce a significant value well beyond any cash back card. We have a nice amount of vacation rewards, and we use two-three days at a time, each and every month, free of charge. We tend to end the year with a big vacation. Our only cost is everything that is not the room. That 2% cash back Costco card or Visa/MC, isn't giving you anything back when compared to the $1000s you leave on the table by not pursuing travel or hotel.

Now, if you aren't doing welcome bonus, and free isn't on the table, your next best line is with the AMEX portfolio. This is the pay to play line, where free is no longer the option, you are paying for it. But, by pay, it means you can string together a portfolio that will allow you to vacation and travel, to some of the most luxurious places in the world, for cheap and affordable. It's not free. It's not easy. It requires some work, time, and effort to set up, and it's not simply available to everyone. I'm not going to say much more than that, but imagine taking a $10,000+ vacation annually, for a mere fraction of that price.

Some people chase cash back rewards. I have in-laws that love their 2% cash backs from VISA, MC, and Costco. I'd rather enjoy free, or luxury vacations on the cheap. You don't get there, until you first learn to identify it, and then work to implement the program. Most people won't, but for those who can, it's a boon.

Our daily driver is some of those from the AMEX line, along with an IHG card. Everything else is a toss away, one night stand card simply for the welcome bonus.

Re: Your top 5 credit cards

Namduw — Mon, 04 May 2026 03:36:21 GMT

Thanks for all of the replies. Maybe down the road I will start thinking about how to benefit most from a particular type of card.

Re: Your top 5 credit cards

MarkintheHV — Mon, 04 May 2026 20:21:09 GMT

The cards in my signature are my favorites. The only trouble I have is deciding which favorite to use.

Re: Your top 5 credit cards

galahad15 — Mon, 04 May 2026 11:54:24 GMT

I agree and concur with @MarkintheHV!

Re: Your top 5 credit cards

redpat — Mon, 04 May 2026 13:48:59 GMT

AA miles, Chase UR and Amex MR.

@Realist

Every month is a SUB w/ biz spend.

We can't burn them as fast as we earn them and we take many vacations and weekend getaways annually. One planned for 2026 is for three weeks, FC airfare and condo $0, just paying for $22.40 for airfare tax and resort fee.

Re: Your top 5 credit cards

ptatohed — Mon, 04 May 2026 18:51:58 GMT

@Namduw wrote:
I would be interested in seeing a list of your favorite cards. I'm thinking about applying for a new card. I did try searching for a recent list like this prior to posting.

I am mainly interested in high credit limit and great customer service. For instance, Capital One stuck with me through a rough patch. I would never close my capital one accounts. Another company, I can't remember which, has previously closed my cards because they were not active for only a few months. I am currently only using one card for most of my purchases and that is the Chase Freedom. Btw, my credit score is about 750-777 and I don't carry much debt.

Great customer service is pretty low on my list, LOL! If USB came to my house, rang the bell, and kicked me in the nards when I opened the door, I'd happily keep on using their 4% everything card! I'm easily financially 'bought'.

If you are only getting 1.5% on everyday purchases, I'd look for something 2% (with a welcome bonus) or higher.

Re: Your top 5 credit cards

Namduw — Tue, 05 May 2026 00:50:36 GMT

Great customer service is pretty low on my list, LOL! If USB came to my house, rang the bell, and kicked me in the nards when I opened the door, I'd happily keep on using their 4% everything card! I'm easily financially 'bought'.

If you are only getting 1.5% on everyday purchases, I'd look for something 2% (with a welcome bonus) or higher.

lol that's hilarious. I will give a couple of examples of what I call bad customer service. I had a Citi Double Cash card years ago. I wasn't using it much if at all. After a few months they closed the account due to inactivity without warning. I've also had another company (I can't remember which) greatly reduced my limit just because I got an auto loan. And then there's a local credit union that could not explain why several of my payments had not been applied to my account. They could see the payments but all they could do is shrug their shoulders at the problem. Escalation after escalation and those payments just went into thin air. This is the type of stuff I would like to stay away from.

My thinking was that I should probably get a few cards with high limits to keep long term. But after reading more and more, I should probably take a look at what I am missing out on in regards to higher cash back rewards on the card I use the most. I am going to look into which card gives me a decent cash back percentage. I don't do much traveling so I think cash back is the way to go for me.

Thanks again to everyone. Lots of the great info and suggestions.

Re: Your top 5 credit cards

bs1234 — Tue, 05 May 2026 01:47:16 GMT

@ptatohed wrote:

Great customer service is pretty low on my list, LOL! If USB came to my house, rang the bell, and kicked me in the nards when I opened the door, I'd happily keep on using their 4% everything card! I'm easily financially 'bought'.

I would pretty much agree, except..... In particular USB! With the ALtitude Reserve, there was a period of several months where some of us weren't getting rewards on mobile payments (more or less the reason for that card). At first, lots of "reasons" why everything was right (some combination of "rewards have been calculated correctly" and "That doesn't get the bonus because [totally bogus reason]") Eventually they agreed that there was an issue and they were working on it. It took about 6+ months to get the points (and no interest given). So in the worst case your story would be after the kick you discover that you have been getting 0.5% for the current period and being told that's the promised 4%

Plus generally have to call, because email can't possibly work.

Re: Your top 5 credit cards

Gollum — Tue, 05 May 2026 14:56:27 GMT

@Namduw wrote:

Great customer service is pretty low on my list, LOL! If USB came to my house, rang the bell, and kicked me in the nards when I opened the door, I'd happily keep on using their 4% everything card! I'm easily financially 'bought'.

If you are only getting 1.5% on everyday purchases, I'd look for something 2% (with a welcome bonus) or higher.

lol that's hilarious. I will give a couple of examples of what I call bad customer service. I had a Citi Double Cash card years ago. I wasn't using it much if at all. After a few months they closed the account due to inactivity without warning. I've also had another company (I can't remember which) greatly reduced my limit just because I got an auto loan. And then there's a local credit union that could not explain why several of my payments had not been applied to my account. They could see the payments but all they could do is shrug their shoulders at the problem. Escalation after escalation and those payments just went into thin air. This is the type of stuff I would like to stay away from.

My thinking was that I should probably get a few cards with high limits to keep long term. But after reading more and more, I should probably take a look at what I am missing out on in regards to higher cash back rewards on the card I use the most. I am going to look into which card gives me a decent cash back percentage. I don't do much traveling so I think cash back is the way to go for me.

Thanks again to everyone. Lots of the great info and suggestions.

You might like Simmons Bank. It's been a while since I talked to anyone there, but I always thought they had excellent customer service. I don't think Simmons Bank would close my credit card without warning. They used to have (probably still have) a committee that met once per month to decide which credit card applications to accept. Not long ago, they gave me a credit limit increase that I didn't ask for. Also, if I call via phone, I much prefer a Simmons Bank gentle southern accent to an "overseas accent" from banks that are "too big to fail."

Regarding cash back credit cards, I suggest the US Bank Cash+ credit card for its 5% categories.

BTW, I "only" have six credit cards, so I probably shouldn't single out one as being the only one that is not in my top five. (It's Capital One!)

Re: Your top 5 credit cards

PullingMeSoftly — Tue, 05 May 2026 18:09:44 GMT

Top 5 for everyday value:

1) BCP (groceries)

2) Custom Cash 1 (dining)

3) Custom Cash 2 (gas)

4) Alt GO (wife's dining)

5) Fidelity (no FTF catch all)

Top 5 for outsized value/perks:

1) United Club (Club access departure and arrival, 5x earn rate, IHG plat, Avis President's, premier access)

2) Aspire 1 (free night cert 1 + resort credit + flight credit)

3) Aspire 2 (free night cert 1 + resort credit + flight credit)

4) Navy Flagship (3x travel multiplier, Amazon Prime annual credit)

5) USB AR (3x mobile and travel, PP restaurants)

Re: Your top 5 credit cards

iced — Wed, 06 May 2026 19:50:14 GMT

@Namduw wrote:
I think I am manly interested in knowing what card companies have you had the best customer service from long term. I will edit my request.

In this case, Chase gets my vote. They trip over themselves to help...most of the time. Their fraud detection algorithms also seem pretty good.

Honorable mention goes to American Express. They try, but sometimes it seems Amex and I have differing ideas of what the priorities in service are.

Re: Your top 5 credit cards

Namduw — Wed, 13 May 2026 01:04:58 GMT

I would like to thank everyone for all the replies and info provided. I had not thought much about rewards when considering my next card. I decided to go with the (Amazon) Prime card through Chase. I order a lot from Amazon and now I will be getting 5% back apparently.... I may go with a Citi Custom Cash next.