topic Re: Citi Forward or Chase Freedom in Credit Cards

Citi Forward or Chase Freedom

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 12:47:54 GMT

I had a couple questions for comparing these two cards. First, which tends to be easier to get? I have read here about people that get denied for one, but get the other, both ways. My EQ (which is the one I am counting on them pulling as my others are frozen right now) is 676. However, it should be going up in a few days once my utilization goes from 30% to 1%. The simulator says I should be at 676-716.

Anyway, I am looking to get my first prime card to use on everyday spending for the rewards. Does anyone have any preferences beteween these two cards for their rewards programs? I already posted my spending by category from last month.

Also, do INQ from a few minutes ago get counted against you? For example, if I get denied by one, is the other more likely to deny me now because of the new INQ that just appeared earlier? Thanks so much everyone for your feedback. This site has been such a tremendous resource for me!

Edit: I also purchase a lot from Amazon, which seems to be considered a book store and good for 5% rewards from Citi Forward.

Re: Citi Forward or Chase Freedom

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 13:22:06 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I had a couple questions for comparing these two cards. First, which tends to be easier to get? I have read here about people that get denied for one, but get the other, both ways. My EQ (which is the one I am counting on them pulling as my others are frozen right now) is 676. However, it should be going up in a few days once my utilization goes from 30% to 1%. The simulator says I should be at 676-716.

Anyway, I am looking to get my first prime card to use on everyday spending for the rewards. Does anyone have any preferences beteween these two cards for their rewards programs? I already posted my spending by category from last month.

Also, do INQ from a few minutes ago get counted against you? For example, if I get denied by one, is the other more likely to deny me now because of the new INQ that just appeared earlier? Thanks so much everyone for your feedback. This site has been such a tremendous resource for me!

Edit: I also purchase a lot from Amazon, which seems to be considered a book store and good for 5% rewards from Citi Forward.

I have both but if I had to choose just one it would be Chase Freedom. You have a lot of spending in the miscellaneous category which would earn 1% back on Freedom but only 0.6% back on Forward. I pretty much use Forward only for category spending, which is 5 points or about 3.3% back (note that Citi 1 point does not = 1%).

My impression is that Chase Freedom is a bit harder to get and is a slightly more "premium" card b/c it has a Visa Signature option. Although Citi Forward is not skimpy whatsoever when it comes to CL, there are a lot of approvals in the $5-10K range.

Inquiries get updated almost instantly, so yes a HP from a few minutes ago will count against you. Where I am they both pull EQ. Good luck!

Re: Citi Forward or Chase Freedom

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 13:25:51 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have both but if I had to choose just one it would be Chase Freedom. You have a lot of spending in the miscellaneous category which would earn 1% back on Freedom but only 0.6% back on Forward. I pretty much use Forward only for category spending, which is 5 points or about 3.3% back (note that Citi 1 point does not = 1%).

My impression is that Chase Freedom is a bit harder to get and is a slightly more "premium" card b/c it has a Visa Signature option. Although Citi Forward is not skimpy whatsoever when it comes to CL, there are a lot of approvals in the $5-10K range.

Inquiries get updated almost instantly, so yes a HP from a few minutes ago will count against you. Where I am they both pull EQ. Good luck!

Thanks so much for your detailed reply dyv! One quick question with regards to cash back from Citi Forward. I was trying to look on their reward site, which is limited without logging in, but I thought I saw somewhere where you could get a $25 statement credit for 1000 points, which would work out to 2.5% cash back essentially. Am I reading that wrong somehow? I saw the straight cash back option was way less, like $50 for 8000 points, which is as you pointed out only 0.6%.

Re: Citi Forward or Chase Freedom

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 13:33:45 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I have both but if I had to choose just one it would be Chase Freedom. You have a lot of spending in the miscellaneous category which would earn 1% back on Freedom but only 0.6% back on Forward. I pretty much use Forward only for category spending, which is 5 points or about 3.3% back (note that Citi 1 point does not = 1%).

My impression is that Chase Freedom is a bit harder to get and is a slightly more "premium" card b/c it has a Visa Signature option. Although Citi Forward is not skimpy whatsoever when it comes to CL, there are a lot of approvals in the $5-10K range.

Inquiries get updated almost instantly, so yes a HP from a few minutes ago will count against you. Where I am they both pull EQ. Good luck!

Thanks so much for your detailed reply dyv! One quick question with regards to cash back from Citi Forward. I was trying to look on their reward site, which is limited without logging in, but I thought I saw somewhere where you could get a $25 statement credit for 1000 points, which would work out to 2.5% cash back essentially. Am I reading that wrong somehow? I saw the straight cash back option was way less, like $50 for 8000 points, which is as you pointed out only 0.6%.

No problem! Citi rewards are actually tiered, kind of like how Amex has MR Express, MR, and MR first (or whatever its called for Plat/Cent). So if you were logged in as guest you may have seen the rewards for their high end cards (TY Prestige, Premier). For Forward, its 3.1% cash back in the form of a check and 3.3% cash back as a statement credit. Then there some gift cards that pay 4-5% back but I tend to prefer cash back since that money can be reused to earn another 3.3% back and so on and so forth.

Re: Citi Forward or Chase Freedom

Cdnewmanpac — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 13:37:37 GMT

I thought I read in another thread that you are a full time student? If so, the student version of Citi Forward has more lax credit standards (though usually smaller CL as well). Just something to consider.

Re: Citi Forward or Chase Freedom

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 13:44:51 GMT

Student or not, its actually the same application. They just ask for student status on the application and if you don't qualify for the regular version they may approve you for the student version (the only difference seems to be a lower CL).

Oh and the 3.3% and 3.1% I mentioned above is cash back for category spending only. Just divide by 5 to get the % for a single thankyou point.

Re: Citi Forward or Chase Freedom

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 13:49:37 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Student or not, its actually the same application. They just ask for student status on the application and if you don't qualify for the regular version they may approve you for the student version (the only difference seems to be a lower CL).

Oh and the 3.3% and 3.1% I mentioned above is cash back for category spending only. Just divide by 5 to get the % for a single thankyou point.

That 3.3% and 3.1% is for the bonus categories, right? It is less than 1% still for all other spending? I know Chase Freedom is 1% across the board pretty much.

I am in fact a full time student, although an older one. My wife works full time, and I work in alternating semesters as part of a co-op program. As such, we have a decent income and I would like to have a decent credit limit, so we can put all our expenses on this card without getting our utilization too high. If I apply for the student card, do they consider me for the regular card first, and then the student if I don't qualify? I would rather not start with the student card and its low credit limit, but if I can essentially apply for both at once, I may in fact do that.

Re: Citi Forward or Chase Freedom

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:02:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Student or not, its actually the same application. They just ask for student status on the application and if you don't qualify for the regular version they may approve you for the student version (the only difference seems to be a lower CL).

Oh and the 3.3% and 3.1% I mentioned above is cash back for category spending only. Just divide by 5 to get the % for a single thankyou point.

That 3.3% and 3.1% is for the bonus categories, right? It is less than 1% still for all other spending? I know Chase Freedom is 1% across the board pretty much.

I am in fact a full time student, although an older one. My wife works full time, and I work in alternating semesters as part of a co-op program. As such, we have a decent income and I would like to have a decent credit limit, so we can put all our expenses on this card without getting our utilization too high. If I apply for the student card, do they consider me for the regular card first, and then the student if I don't qualify? I would rather not start with the student card and its low credit limit, but if I can essentially apply for both at once, I may in fact do that.

You're correct those percentages are only for bonus categories. Misc spending would be 0.62% and 0.66% respectively, which is not great. Keep in mind Chase Freedom rotates categories every 3 months so you'll catch a lot of your spending in the 5% bonus categories (gas for 6 months, groceries for 3 months, dining for 3 months, travel for 3 months, Amazon for 3 months, etc). With that in mind you'll likely be netting about 1.5% or so on total spending annually on Freedom, less so on Forward.

My impression is that there's only 1 application for Forward and they ask about student status on it. There are different links on their website but its for different sign up bonuses and the content of the application is the same. I am a student myself but was approved for the regular version. If I didn't qualify they would probably have considered me for the student version.

Re: Citi Forward or Chase Freedom

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:05:29 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Student or not, its actually the same application. They just ask for student status on the application and if you don't qualify for the regular version they may approve you for the student version (the only difference seems to be a lower CL).

Oh and the 3.3% and 3.1% I mentioned above is cash back for category spending only. Just divide by 5 to get the % for a single thankyou point.

That 3.3% and 3.1% is for the bonus categories, right? It is less than 1% still for all other spending? I know Chase Freedom is 1% across the board pretty much.

I am in fact a full time student, although an older one. My wife works full time, and I work in alternating semesters as part of a co-op program. As such, we have a decent income and I would like to have a decent credit limit, so we can put all our expenses on this card without getting our utilization too high. If I apply for the student card, do they consider me for the regular card first, and then the student if I don't qualify? I would rather not start with the student card and its low credit limit, but if I can essentially apply for both at once, I may in fact do that.
You're correct those percentages are only for bonus categories. Misc spending would be 0.62% and 0.66% respectively, which is not great. Keep in mind Chase Freedom rotates categories every 3 months so you'll catch a lot of your spending in the 5% bonus categories (gas for 6 months, groceries for 3 months, dining for 3 months, travel for 3 months, Amazon for 3 months, etc). With that in mind you'll likely be netting about 1.5% or so on total spending annually on Freedom, less so on Forward.

My impression is that there's only 1 application for Forward and they ask about student status on it. There are different links on their website but its for different sign up bonuses and the content of the application is the same. I am a student myself but was approved for the regular version. If I didn't qualify they would probably have considered me for the student version.

Man, really wish I could just get both to use Citi Forward for bonus categories and Chase Freedom for all else. I doubt both would approve me though after seeing the other as a brand new account. I guess I can't decide. I may just go for Citi Forward because it sounds like I would have a better approval chance, even if just as a student. I maybe wouldn't get as much cash back though, but I don't know how significant the difference would end up being. It also sounds like Citi likes to give bigger limits generally. Such a tough call, ha. No right or wrong answer though I guess.

Re: Citi Forward or Chase Freedom

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:12:12 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Student or not, its actually the same application. They just ask for student status on the application and if you don't qualify for the regular version they may approve you for the student version (the only difference seems to be a lower CL).

Oh and the 3.3% and 3.1% I mentioned above is cash back for category spending only. Just divide by 5 to get the % for a single thankyou point.

That 3.3% and 3.1% is for the bonus categories, right? It is less than 1% still for all other spending? I know Chase Freedom is 1% across the board pretty much.

I am in fact a full time student, although an older one. My wife works full time, and I work in alternating semesters as part of a co-op program. As such, we have a decent income and I would like to have a decent credit limit, so we can put all our expenses on this card without getting our utilization too high. If I apply for the student card, do they consider me for the regular card first, and then the student if I don't qualify? I would rather not start with the student card and its low credit limit, but if I can essentially apply for both at once, I may in fact do that.
You're correct those percentages are only for bonus categories. Misc spending would be 0.62% and 0.66% respectively, which is not great. Keep in mind Chase Freedom rotates categories every 3 months so you'll catch a lot of your spending in the 5% bonus categories (gas for 6 months, groceries for 3 months, dining for 3 months, travel for 3 months, Amazon for 3 months, etc). With that in mind you'll likely be netting about 1.5% or so on total spending annually on Freedom, less so on Forward.

My impression is that there's only 1 application for Forward and they ask about student status on it. There are different links on their website but its for different sign up bonuses and the content of the application is the same. I am a student myself but was approved for the regular version. If I didn't qualify they would probably have considered me for the student version.
Man, really wish I could just get both to use Citi Forward for bonus categories and Chase Freedom for all else. I doubt both would approve me though after seeing the other as a brand new account. I guess I can't decide. I may just go for Citi Forward because it sounds like I would have a better approval chance, even if just as a student. I maybe wouldn't get as much cash back though, but I don't know how significant the difference would end up being. It also sounds like Citi likes to give bigger limits generally. Such a tough call, ha. No right or wrong answer though I guess.

Maybe start with Citi now and apply for Freedom in 6 months-1 year. Citi tends to soft for CLI while its a guaranteed HP with Chase. That way you can start building a good relationship with Citi and maybe up your CL a bit. Then when you apply for Chase they will see this and also give you a good starting CL.

Like you said, no wrong answer. First step is to get yourself through the door!

Re: Citi Forward or Chase Freedom

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:16:57 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Maybe start with Citi now and apply for Freedom in 6 months-1 year. Citi tends to soft for CLI while its a guaranteed HP with Chase. That way you can start building a good relationship with Citi and maybe up your CL a bit. Then when you apply for Chase they will see this and also give you a good starting CL.

Like you said, no wrong answer. First step is to get yourself through the door!

Thanks again for all your help. I think I will do just that. I really wish I could get Amex Zync so I could later get a good backdated Amex card, but I doubt I will be approved by them at all, so I'm holding off on them for a year or so. One last question if you have any suggestions. Right now, my only two cards are my own Cap One Platinum ($500 limit, about 8 months old) and my wife's Cap One Platinum (AU, $500 limit, 22 months old). I am thinking it shouldn't hurt me at all to cancel my Cap One if/when I am approved for a decent prime card, since it isn't my oldest account. I will probably stay on my wife's card, and she is in much worse position than me, so she won't be getting a prime card any time soon, but will be listed as an AU on mine. I just want to avoid the annual fee that is coming up at 1 year, I get no rewards, and the low limit means I can barely use it without maxing it out.

Re: Citi Forward or Chase Freedom

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:21:17 GMT

Sorry, one more one last question, ha. I just thought of this. Does Citi (or anyone else) blacklist authorized users? I used to be an AU on my wife's card that went into default.

(Long story, but we were struggling, they offered us a payment plan, and when we called back to accept, they would no longer honor it because we had made a payment with the first guy, to keep it current. We were never late on this account before that, but it went into default)

Anyway, since I used to be, but no longer am an AU on that account, and got it removed from my credit, any chance they would have blacklisted me, or do they only blacklist account holders? I am assuming it is the latter.

Re: Citi Forward or Chase Freedom

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:25:07 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Maybe start with Citi now and apply for Freedom in 6 months-1 year. Citi tends to soft for CLI while its a guaranteed HP with Chase. That way you can start building a good relationship with Citi and maybe up your CL a bit. Then when you apply for Chase they will see this and also give you a good starting CL.

Like you said, no wrong answer. First step is to get yourself through the door!

Thanks again for all your help. I think I will do just that. I really wish I could get Amex Zync so I could later get a good backdated Amex card, but I doubt I will be approved by them at all, so I'm holding off on them for a year or so. One last question if you have any suggestions. Right now, my only two cards are my own Cap One Platinum ($500 limit, about 8 months old) and my wife's Cap One Platinum (AU, $500 limit, 22 months old). I am thinking it shouldn't hurt me at all to cancel my Cap One if/when I am approved for a decent prime card, since it isn't my oldest account. I will probably stay on my wife's card, and she is in much worse position than me, so she won't be getting a prime card any time soon, but will be listed as an AU on mine. I just want to avoid the annual fee that is coming up at 1 year, I get no rewards, and the low limit means I can barely use it without maxing it out.

Like you I hate the thought of paying an annual fee but in your case I think I would hold onto it at least until you get 2 prime cards. The reason I say this is b/c some creditors want you to have 2+ established tradelines in your name (not AU) otherwise they might deny your application for "too few revolving accounts." I think I have read on here Amex doing that.

Re: Citi Forward or Chase Freedom

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:26:08 GMT

Not sure about the blacklist thing, hopefully someone else can help!

Re: Citi Forward or Chase Freedom

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:27:10 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Like you I hate the thought of paying an annual fee but in your case I think I would hold onto it at least until you get 2 prime cards. The reason I say this is b/c some creditors want you to have 2+ established tradelines in your name (not AU) otherwise they might deny your application for "too few revolving accounts." I think I have read on here Amex doing that.

I guess I can do that. Fortunately I at least got the better (non Classic) Cap One card, so my AF is only $19. I will proably take it out of my wallet though and just set up an auto pay for something small so they don't cancel and otherwise never use it.

Re: Citi Forward or Chase Freedom

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 18:41:07 GMT

How about Discover More? Anyone have/had them? How does it compare to Chase and Citi as far as approval and rewards?

Re: Citi Forward or Chase Freedom

Ridbidge — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:24:51 GMT

I apped for the Forward on Tuesday night, got the 7-10 day message, called back door and approved for $7k. I apped for the Freedom on Wed night, again with the 7-10 day, called back door, also approved for $7k. Waiting on them to come in the mail.

Re: Citi Forward or Chase Freedom

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 22:13:05 GMT

@Ridbidge wrote:
I apped for the Forward on Tuesday night, got the 7-10 day message, called back door and approved for $7k. I apped for the Freedom on Wed night, again with the 7-10 day, called back door, also approved for $7k. Waiting on them to come in the mail.

Wow, nice! Did they pull EQ for you? Also, what scores if you don't mind saying?

I am a little worried I would get denied for INQ, although if so I will recon. I have a bunch from mid January when I was shopping for a car, all within 3 days of each other. I know FICO only scores them as one, but sometimes CCs will score them separately. I am impatiently waiting until my utilization posts down and will probably app for Forward right away. I may still try Freedom afterwards, and I might even try PNC Cash Builder in a month or so when my EX clears up (I know they always pull EX, I have apped 2 itmes in the past with them).

I already bank with PNC and with my account, I will get a set 1.75% cash back on every purchase, so maybe that is the best option of all for me?

Re: Citi Forward or Chase Freedom

Ridbidge — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 05:00:46 GMT

yes, EQ... I was hoping they'd pull TR... I'm at 798 on there... was 778 on EQ. I have 12 INQ on EX w/762 Faco, 6 INQ on EQ w/778 and 5 INQ on TU w/798 None have been within the last 6 months. My total CL prior to these cards was a combined 20.5k w/balance carried of 2700 on a 10000 CL. The 2700 is on my work Visa, and I'm only an AU on that account. All of my personal UTIL is 0. I paid down $6024 in personal UTIL during the month of Feb. Now that they have all updated as $0 my scores shot up avg of 100 points across the board. I'm stoked! FIgured now was a great time to app for those cards as these are the highest my scores have ever been... since my early 20s when I completely hosed my credit. I am 37 now and have been rebuiling for several years.

1.75% on everything isn't too shabby!

Re: Citi Forward or Chase Freedom

JustMe77 — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 08:51:13 GMT

I'm confused about the Citi TY Points. If you stick with gift cards for points, it's at least possible for 1 TY point to = $1 right? Sort of like Amex Zync points? The only reason I wanted Citi Forward was for the category rewards (I spend a lot at restaurants!).

To the OP, I love my Chase Freedom. It's so easy to get a statement credit with your cash back, but you can redeem for gift cards if you want (they sometimes have good deals on them, which make your points worth > $1). The 5% categories are nice, too. In my first month with Chase Freedom, I got $25 in cash back excluding my sign-up bonus.