topic Re: Signature cards worth it? in Credit Cards

Signature cards worth it?

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 19:38:36 GMT

Some people would rather have a signature version of the card they have over the non signature versions and vice versa. What are the pros and cons for both?

Re: Signature cards worth it?

coldnmn — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 20:32:14 GMT

Visa signature have these benefits above and beyond the regular Visa depending on credit card.

https://usa.visa.com/visasignature/benefits.jsp

Re: Signature cards worth it?

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 20:35:48 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Some people would rather have a signature version of the card they have over the non signature versions and vice versa. What are the pros and cons for both?

The only con used to be the way some signature cards reported. As they didn't have a fixed CL, they sometimes would report high balance (or nothing) hurting some util calculations. AFAIK, all (major) sig cards now report the CL, so this problem goes away.

Most people seeking signature cards want it because it appears to be higher status, and it does have features like concierge, NPSL, travel enhancements. Whether people actually use these varies a lot. Personally, I have never tried to get a Plat converted to a sig because the effort, however small, simply isn't worth it to me. (And I have other Sig cards)

Re: Signature cards worth it?

chalupaman — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 20:38:03 GMT

I have one right now and haven't really investigated the benefits yet.

Re: Signature cards worth it?

yfan — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 21:10:50 GMT

One benefit VISA signature does NOT provide is Price Protection - which is a pretty suberb service from Discover. It allows me to buy things whenever I want and if the price drops within 90 days - at ANY store, not just the one I bought something at, I will get the difference back. That is sweet.

Re: Signature cards worth it?

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 19:48:44 GMT

Oh ok. So there are pretty much nothing but benefits to the visa signature/ World elite mastercard statuses now?

Re: Signature cards worth it?

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 19:51:30 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Oh ok. So there are pretty much nothing but benefits to the visa signature/ World elite mastercard statuses now?

Yes, no downside, just, to my mind, very little upside.

The important thing to remember is that issuers can choose what benefits to provide, so a number of cards have "Sig/World" type benefits on their Platinum versions.

Re: Signature cards worth it?

Themanwhocan — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 23:05:25 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Oh ok. So there are pretty much nothing but benefits to the visa signature/ World elite mastercard statuses now?
Yes, no downside, just, to my mind, very little upside.

The important thing to remember is that issuers can choose what benefits to provide, so a number of cards have "Sig/World" type benefits on their Platinum versions.

"If winning isn't everything, then why do they keep score?" - Vince Lombardi.

Well, once you upgrade (for free, mind you) to Visa Signature or whatnot, the cards report on the credit reports as Flexible Spending Credit Card. IE, its a different type of credit card (might help credit mix) and its a higher type of card. Does that matter to every company, or every scoring system? Maybe not. But it must mean something to someone, otherwise, why keep score?

As far as I'm concerned, the same thing goes for credit cards with $10,000 limit or more. Those are considered Premium Bankcard Accounts (at least thats what Transunion calls them). So if that doesn't matter to someone, someplace, for some reason or other... Why keep score?

OK, so it matters. It probably doesn't matter very much. But then, it didn't really cost anything to convert cards to Visa Signature. Getting cards up to $10K limit didn't cost anything except a few HP's for CLI's, and we probably wanted some of that increase anyways for personal reasons. So, why not?

Some signature cards give benefits like automatic extended warranties. Now I can't recall if I've ever used a warranty in my life, though I know people do use them (especially on laptops these days). Is getting a Signature card or whatnot worth the cost just for that benefit? Well, it doesn't really cost anything, so yes something is better than nothing, otherwise, why do they keep score?

PS: Packers/Seahawks game starts in 1.5 hours to start the NFL season. Go you Packers, Go!

Re: Signature cards worth it?

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 23:11:07 GMT

@Themanwhocan wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Oh ok. So there are pretty much nothing but benefits to the visa signature/ World elite mastercard statuses now?
Yes, no downside, just, to my mind, very little upside.

The important thing to remember is that issuers can choose what benefits to provide, so a number of cards have "Sig/World" type benefits on their Platinum versions.

"If winning isn't everything, then why do they keep score?" - Vince Lombardi.

Well, once you upgrade (for free, mind you) to Visa Signature or whatnot, the cards report on the credit reports as Flexible Spending Credit Card. IE, its a different type of credit card (might help credit mix) and its a higher type of card. Does that matter to every company, or every scoring system? Maybe not. But it must mean something to someone, otherwise, why keep score?

As far as I'm concerned, the same thing goes for credit cards with $10,000 limit or more. Those are considered Premium Bankcard Accounts (at least thats what Transunion calls them). So if that doesn't matter to someone, someplace, for some reason or other... Why keep score?

OK, so it matters. It probably doesn't matter very much. But then, it didn't really cost anything to convert cards to Visa Signature. Getting cards up to $10K limit didn't cost anything except a few HP's for CLI's, and we probably wanted some of that increase anyways for personal reasons. So, why not?

Some signature cards give benefits like automatic extended warranties. Now I can't recall if I've ever used a warranty in my life, though I know people do use them (especially on laptops these days). Is getting a Signature card or whatnot worth the cost just for that benefit? Well, it doesn't really cost anything, so yes something is better than nothing, otherwise, why do they keep score?

PS: Packers/Seahawks game starts in 1.5 hours to start the NFL season. Go you Packers, Go!

Right, but not quite effortless in some cases. For example, my Cap One QS with 33K limit is Plat. Could I get it upgraded via the EO? Very likely. But since I see no gain and at least a tiny bit of effort, I don't bother.

Re: Signature cards worth it?

p- — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 23:37:15 GMT

subwaysandwich wrote: Some people would rather have a signature version of the card they have over the non signature versions and vice versa. What are the pros and cons for both?

No con for me, since they got over that whole pesky limit reporting issue. I guess if you had to pay a huge annual fee there would be a cost vs. reward calculation, but both my Freedom Visa Sig and World Mastercard from Cap1 are fee free.

I've used the concierge occaisonally, and the higher limit occaisonally. It's a nice option to have if you need it, and there are hotel upgrades if you travel. for something I get for free that is also a nice reminder of my "credit status," I call it worth the price.

Re: Signature cards worth it?

Open123 — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 23:48:30 GMT

Sure, it's worth it. But, I certainly wouldn't expend any effort to get it.

Re: Signature cards worth it?

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 01:32:37 GMT

To me its worth it.

Re: Signature cards worth it?

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 19:26:39 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Themanwhocan wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Oh ok. So there are pretty much nothing but benefits to the visa signature/ World elite mastercard statuses now?
Yes, no downside, just, to my mind, very little upside.

The important thing to remember is that issuers can choose what benefits to provide, so a number of cards have "Sig/World" type benefits on their Platinum versions.

"If winning isn't everything, then why do they keep score?" - Vince Lombardi.

Well, once you upgrade (for free, mind you) to Visa Signature or whatnot, the cards report on the credit reports as Flexible Spending Credit Card. IE, its a different type of credit card (might help credit mix) and its a higher type of card. Does that matter to every company, or every scoring system? Maybe not. But it must mean something to someone, otherwise, why keep score?

As far as I'm concerned, the same thing goes for credit cards with $10,000 limit or more. Those are considered Premium Bankcard Accounts (at least thats what Transunion calls them). So if that doesn't matter to someone, someplace, for some reason or other... Why keep score?

OK, so it matters. It probably doesn't matter very much. But then, it didn't really cost anything to convert cards to Visa Signature. Getting cards up to $10K limit didn't cost anything except a few HP's for CLI's, and we probably wanted some of that increase anyways for personal reasons. So, why not?

Some signature cards give benefits like automatic extended warranties. Now I can't recall if I've ever used a warranty in my life, though I know people do use them (especially on laptops these days). Is getting a Signature card or whatnot worth the cost just for that benefit? Well, it doesn't really cost anything, so yes something is better than nothing, otherwise, why do they keep score?

PS: Packers/Seahawks game starts in 1.5 hours to start the NFL season. Go you Packers, Go!
Right, but not quite effortless in some cases. For example, my Cap One QS with 33K limit is Plat. Could I get it upgraded via the EO? Very likely. But since I see no gain and at least a tiny bit of effort, I don't bother.

Really? I recently (like within the last 2 months) got my old CapOne Platinum (that I've had since '99) converted to a QS and they voluntarily gave me the Siggy, and my limit is nowhere near your monstrous limit.

Re: Signature cards worth it?

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 19:37:15 GMT

I have two cards that were old Plats (1999 and 2004). Both changed over time, becoming Quicksilvers within a few months of each other. The one with the lower limit became a Sig, the higher one didn't. No idea why.