topic Re: Best Cash Rewards Card? in Credit Cards

Best Cash Rewards Card?

ubermensch — Sun, 25 May 2008 13:47:18 GMT

I am planning on going on a bit of an application spree next week, and I need some help determining the best cards to apply for.

I plan on paying in full each month, so interest rate is not an issue. I would like a card that gives me straight cash back. I spend most of my money on dining. After that is probably random electronics, and groceries. I spend no money on gas.

I need a high quality card that I can keep for the forseeable future, and can grow to a credit line of $20,000+. What are the best cash reward cards for my situation? So far I have come up with:

Chase Freedom Plus ($100 signup bonus, 1% cash back + 2% bonus on top 6 categories)
Fidelity Investment Rewards (1.5% cash back on everything)
Discover Card (I already have a Discover Card but not sure which one)

Any other suggestions?

Message Edited by ubermensch on 05-25-2008 06:46 AM

Message Edited by ubermensch on 05-25-2008 06:47 AM

Re: Best Cash Rewards Card?

Uniqua — Sun, 25 May 2008 14:04:52 GMT

What are your FICO scores? Any derogs/baddies that can affect your approval for credit?

Re: Best Cash Rewards Card?

Red1Blue — Sun, 25 May 2008 14:06:47 GMT

You might want to goto PenFed if you are looking for higher credit limit. You could also try for Citi which starts you with good limits. I got one card with 15k and second card with $17k from Citi.

Re: Best Cash Rewards Card?

Anonymous — Sun, 25 May 2008 14:11:24 GMT

Uber,

Since most of your spending is on restaurants, an important consideration with the Chase Freedom is that there is no category for Restaurants, only Fast Food and Fast Service (so like a Chipotle or McDonalds).

Of the other two, others would be more qualified to answer, though the fidelty might have better network coverage than a discover card.

Re: Best Cash Rewards Card?

Anonymous — Sun, 25 May 2008 14:16:28 GMT

yeah but penfed only offers 2percent on groceries, and 5 on gas at the pump, and if u don't pay for gas, where can I apply? lol

Re: Best Cash Rewards Card?

ubermensch — Sun, 25 May 2008 14:30:42 GMT

I have some baddies, but overall I have pretty good credit, and I don't want my credit to be a consideration when making suggestions here. I just want to know what is the best card for my purposes that I can hope for.

Since I don't buy gas (I live in a city and rarely drive), I don't think PenFed provides a benefit that makes it worth joing the CU to obtain.

Thanks for the information on the Chase Freedom. It is sad I can't get 3% on resturaunts, but between the 3% on some categories, and then 25% bonus (you get $250 cash back when you save $200), I think that it will at least be very competitive with the Fidelity card.

Does any card offer more than a 1.5% bonus on resturaunts?

Re: Best Cash Rewards Card?

ubermensch — Sun, 25 May 2008 15:46:33 GMT

I just went to look at the Citi cards, and my head is spinning. Anyone have suggestions on the the best ones to should look at?

Re: Best Cash Rewards Card?

Marvintran — Sun, 25 May 2008 15:48:05 GMT

National City is 2% cash back at Restaurant

Amex Costso is 3% cash back at Restaurant but you need a membership at Costso.

Re: Best Cash Rewards Card?

athensguy — Sun, 25 May 2008 15:57:06 GMT

Citi Professional Cash is 3% back on restaurants, and so is the Amex Costco card.

Re: Best Cash Rewards Card?

Anonymous — Sun, 25 May 2008 17:05:13 GMT

ubermensch wrote:
I have some baddies, but overall I have pretty good credit, and I don't want my credit to be a consideration when making suggestions here. I just want to know what is the best card for my purposes that I can hope for.

Since I don't buy gas (I live in a city and rarely drive), I don't think PenFed provides a benefit that makes it worth joing the CU to obtain.

Thanks for the information on the Chase Freedom. It is sad I can't get 3% on resturaunts, but between the 3% on some categories, and then 25% bonus (you get $250 cash back when you save $200), I think that it will at least be very competitive with the Fidelity card.

Does any card offer more than a 1.5% bonus on resturaunts?

Don't forget about the $30 annual fee, waived only the first year.

Re: Best Cash Rewards Card?

Anonymous — Sun, 25 May 2008 18:12:55 GMT

Looks like the CITI professional rewards, and the amex blue, it claims 5 percent, but I dont' know if that is for resturants or just certain things. Worth checking out!

Re: Best Cash Rewards Card?

ubermensch — Mon, 26 May 2008 04:04:04 GMT

The Citi Professional card disclosures say:

Citi Professional Cash Card is considered a business purpose credit card and not a consumer credit card. Please note that certain consumer rights do not apply to this account.

What does this mean?

Re: Best Cash Rewards Card?

Anonymous — Mon, 26 May 2008 06:38:45 GMT

@ubermensch wrote:
The Citi Professional card disclosures say:
Citi Professional Cash Card is considered a business purpose credit card and not a consumer credit card. Please note that certain consumer rights do not apply to this account.
What does this mean?

Probably things such as chargeback, extended warranties, travel insurance, etc. I don't see those mentioned anywhere in the T&C. If you're just using it for restaurants though, who cares? I don't need an extended warranty on my steak!

You can also look at Citizens Bank CustomCash, Amex Blue Cash, and NASA FCU Cash Rewards. Keep in mind with Amex that the bonus is for supermarkets, not groceries.

Re: Best Cash Rewards Card?

athensguy — Mon, 26 May 2008 13:50:28 GMT

Yeah, if I got one of the Citi Professional cards, it would be used just for restaurants, office supplies, and car rentals. It does appear to offer primary car rental insurance.

Re: Best Cash Rewards Card?

Anonymous — Mon, 26 May 2008 16:40:57 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

The Citi Professional card disclosures Keep in mind with Amex that the bonus is for supermarkets, not groceries.

what's the difference?

Message Edited by Moobs on 05-26-2008 11:40 AM

Re: Best Cash Rewards Card?

Anonymous — Mon, 26 May 2008 16:42:13 GMT

krash wrote:
Looks like the CITI professional rewards, and the amex blue, it claims 5 percent, but I dont' know if that is for resturants or just certain things. Worth checking out!

Amex Blue does not offer cash back at all, let alone 5%.

Amex Blue Cash does offer 5% on gas, groceries, and drugstore purchases, but only on purchases in excess of $6500 in annual spending.

Re: Best Cash Rewards Card?

Anonymous — Mon, 26 May 2008 16:43:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

The Citi Professional card disclosures Keep in mind with Amex that the bonus is for supermarkets, not groceries.

what's the difference?

You can buy groceries in places other than supermarkets, like discount stores and wholesale clubs. Those don't count for the Amex bonus. Only supermarket purchases do.

Re: Best Cash Rewards Card?

Anonymous — Mon, 26 May 2008 16:48:20 GMT

erchambers wrote:
Yeah, if I got one of the Citi Professional cards, it would be used just for restaurants, office supplies, and car rentals. It does appear to offer primary car rental insurance.

I think we've discussed this before, but just for clarification: I would love to believe the card offers primary rental car insurance (because I want it), but I cannot find a confirmation of that anywhere on the website nor can I get one from anyone at Citi. (Then again, I can't even manage to get in touch with anyone at Citi who even knows the difference between primary insurance and secondary insurance without me having to explain it to them, so take that for what it's worth.)

After going through the phone tree a couple of months ago, the final answer I got from Citi (after speaking to 5 or 6 people) was that I should read the Car Rental Coverage T&C if I want to know what kind of insurance comes with the card. Nobody could answer that question for me.

Re: Best Cash Rewards Card?

athensguy — Mon, 26 May 2008 17:12:04 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
erchambers wrote: Yeah, if I got one of the Citi Professional cards, it would be used just for restaurants, office supplies, and car rentals. It does appear to offer primary car rental insurance.
I think we've discussed this before, but just for clarification: I would love to believe the card offers primary rental car insurance (because I want it), but I cannot find a confirmation of that anywhere on the website nor can I get one from anyone at Citi. (Then again, I can't even manage to get in touch with anyone at Citi who even knows the difference between primary insurance and secondary insurance without me having to explain it to them, so take that for what it's worth.)
After going through the phone tree a couple of months ago, the final answer I got from Citi (after speaking to 5 or 6 people) was that I should read the Car Rental Coverage T&C if I want to know what kind of insurance comes with the card. Nobody could answer that question for me.

Maybe if someone has the card, they can call the CS number on their card and find out. I would like to know the answer to this more solidly, as well. The professional cards do apparently have separate CSRs.

Re: Best Cash Rewards Card?

Anonymous — Mon, 26 May 2008 17:13:18 GMT

wow, ok then... OP i think u are stuck with 1.25percent then! I thought that is what it said when i did a search for the rewards cards!