topic Re: 3 Credit Cards for the rest of your life in SmorgasBoard

3 Credit Cards for the rest of your life

jetsfan2013 — Mon, 27 Jun 2022 17:32:04 GMT

If you had to choose and use only 3 credit cards you currently own for the rest of time, what 3 would you select and why?

I will kick this off:

Amex Platinum - the travel perks fit my life

Blue Cash Every Day - No AF gas and groceries

NFCU Visa - My largest limit and have had opened the longest (35K - 8 years and running)

Re: 3 Credit Cards for the rest of your life

RSX — Mon, 27 Jun 2022 17:55:07 GMT

Chase United - all food and travel on this one

Amex BCP - gas - large purchases

Apple GS - all apple purchases and ApplePay

Re: 3 Credit Cards for the rest of your life

ptatohed — Mon, 27 Jun 2022 18:34:38 GMT

If I could only have three, I'd be so discouraged, maybe I'd just drop it to one - keep 3% AOD and call it a day, lol.

Well..... I guess I'd attampt to get 5% and make the other two cards Freedom and Discover-it.

But, man, that would hurt to give up 5% Amazon, Target, Citi CC............... :cry:

Re: 3 Credit Cards for the rest of your life

PNWRambler — Mon, 27 Jun 2022 19:44:09 GMT

If I had to choose only 3 of my current cards to use forever:

AmEx BC - groceries

Discover - revolving 5% categories

CapOne Venture or Mercury World Elite - 2% on everything else

Re: 3 Credit Cards for the rest of your life

DakotaM — Tue, 28 Jun 2022 02:29:32 GMT

PayPal Mastercard - 2% on everything and 3% via PayPal. You actually can use PayPal in most stores too, though it's a bit more involved.

Elan Max Cash Preferred #1- 5% on a couple categories I choose. This one is set to utilities and internet for now.

Elan Max Cash Preferred #2- Yep, I'm boring and have a duplicate 😁. This one is set to electronics and fast food. It's interesting how many places code as fast food. From my experience, just about any restaurant you can get delivery or take-out from counts. The limit for the 5% is 2K per quarter, so not too shabby either.

Re: 3 Credit Cards for the rest of your life

MySunrise271 — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 02:20:36 GMT

Amex BCP

Elan MCP

Fidelity Rewards

this is my current setup now...with the occasional Citi Costco or rotating category card targeted spend😊

Re: 3 Credit Cards for the rest of your life

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 15:22:59 GMT

Capital one Savor-4% dining, entertainment, streaming, 3% groceries(grandfathered no af)

Wells Fargo Propel-3x-gas, transit, travel
Penfed Powercash Rewards-2% on everything

all 3-no af, no ftf, 3 different issuers, 3 different networks(Amex, Mastercard, Visa)

Re: 3 Credit Cards for the rest of your life

calisig — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 03:16:58 GMT

if from one's current collection:

- CSP: 3% dining, travel, other benfits

- Affinity Cash Rewards: bookstores, groceries, rotator+, gas

- Citi Costco: 4% gas, warranty adds 2 years, no AF

Re: 3 Credit Cards for the rest of your life

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Jul 2022 02:37:34 GMT

American Express

Nobody does it better than Amex.

Military Star

A must for military.

Upgrade

A line of credit that can be accessed anytime by using the Visa card. Or simply transfer cash into your checking account.

Re: 3 Credit Cards for the rest of your life

NoHardLimits — Sat, 02 Jul 2022 05:09:07 GMT

I'll play, even though I will probably never hold fewer than 6 cards.

For 3 payment networks, 3 financial institutions, and at least one card with no FTF:

- Amex "old" Blue Cash (5% grocery, gas, and drugstores *)

- US Bank Altitude Reserve Visa (4.5% travel, 4.5% mobile payments, and 1.5% misc spend)

- Citi Custom Cash Mastercard (5% dining)

[* The major grocery and drugstores in my area sell many types of gift cards, so that's effectively 5% at Amazon, Home Depot, etc.]

EDIT: I just realized that the OP wanted responses restricted to cards we already possessed. In that case, I will go with:

Amex "old" Blue Cash (5% gas, grocery, drugstores)

Chase Freedom Visa (5% rotating categories, 3% dining)

Capital One Quicksilver Mastercard (1.5% misc spend)

Re: 3 Credit Cards for the rest of your life

Thomas_Thumb — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 23:08:51 GMT

@jetsfan2013 wrote:
If you had to choose and use only 3 credit cards you currently own for the rest of time, what 3 would you select and why?

I will kick this off:

Amex Platinum - the travel perks fit my life
Blue Cash Every Day - No AF gas and groceries
NFCU Visa - My largest limit and have had opened the longest (35K - 8 years and running)

I'll just keep my 3 oldest cards. Too much history to change now.

1) AMEX from 1984

2) Discover from 1989

3) AT&T Universal Mastercard from 1990

Other cards have come and gone.

Re: 3 Credit Cards for the rest of your life

NoHardLimits — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 01:45:56 GMT

@Thomas_Thumb wrote:
I'll just keep my 3 oldest cards. Too much history to change now.
1) AMEX from 1984
2) Discover from 1989
3) AT&T Universal Mastercard from 1990

Other cards have come and gone.

That is probably the wisest answer. I would like to change my response to reflect this strategy. Rewards and perks are nice, but nothing can replace time.

My 3 cards to keep in order of age:

- Chase Freedom Visa (5% rotator)

- Discover It (5% rotator)

- Amex Everyday Preferred (4.5 points grocery, 3 points gas, 1.5 points misc categories plus grocery beyond the $6k cap)

This is actually a pretty good outcome for rewards. It even meets my criteria for 3 financial institutions and 3 payment networks. If product changes are allowed, I would switch the Freedom to a Freedom Flex to add 3% categories for drugstore and dining.

Re: 3 Credit Cards for the rest of your life

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 02:34:34 GMT

Yes, absolutely. You can't go wrong with choosing to keep the oldest three cards. Clever.

Re: 3 Credit Cards for the rest of your life

Gunnerboy — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 03:49:05 GMT

AMEX Gold - Already EDC this. Fits my lifestyle, plus I enjoy accumulating MR points.

Citi Costco - Already EDC this. Shop here weekly.

BECU Cash Back- They're local to me. Makes the most sense.

Re: 3 Credit Cards for the rest of your life

Anonymalous — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 23:36:56 GMT

I only have 3 cards. Guess that means I might as well put some effort into getting Cap1 to increase my CL.

Re: 3 Credit Cards for the rest of your life

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 06:35:14 GMT

CFF:

Earn 5% cash back on gas station purchases on up to $6,000 spent in the first year(I'm groceries)

Earn 5% cash back in quarterly bonus categories:
Earn 5% cash back on different categories like gas stations, grocery stores (excluding Target® and Walmart®) and select online merchants on up to $1,500 in total combined purchases each quarter you activate.

Earn 5% on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Earn 3% on dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services.

Earn 3% on drugstore purchases.

Citi DC

Disco It CB

Re: 3 Credit Cards for the rest of your life

Trini88 — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 21:34:51 GMT

Amex BCP for Gas,Groceries,Subscriptions

Apple for 2% everything plus 3% bonus categories

Discover for rotating categories

Re: 3 Credit Cards for the rest of your life

cws-21 — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 20:16:10 GMT

I, also, would not be happy to cut to only three credit cards because I would be leaving money on the table. However, I would keep the following, purely based on the cash back they yield, if I had no choice.

Affinity Cash Rewards Visa Signature: 5% cash back at Amazon, Hi5 rotating categories, and no foreign transaction Visa
Citi Custom Cash Card: 5% cash back on whatever is not a Hi5 category for the quarter (groceries, dining, or gas)
AOD Visa Signature Credit Card: 3% cash back on everything else, low APR, and no foreign transaction Visa

Re: 3 Credit Cards for the rest of your life

ptatohed — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 15:48:10 GMT

@cws-21 wrote:
I, also, would not be happy to cut to only three credit cards because I would be leaving money on the table. However, I would keep the following, purely based on the cash back they yield, if I had no choice.

Affinity Cash Rewards Visa Signature: 5% cash back at Amazon, Hi5 rotating categories, and no foreign transaction Visa
Citi Custom Cash Card: 5% cash back on whatever is not a Hi5 category for the quarter (groceries, dining, or gas)
AOD Visa Signature Credit Card: 3% cash back on everything else, low APR, and no foreign transaction Visa

Excellent selection.

Re: 3 Credit Cards for the rest of your life

cws-21 — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 21:28:03 GMT

@ptatohed wrote:
@cws-21 wrote:
I, also, would not be happy to cut to only three credit cards because I would be leaving money on the table. However, I would keep the following, purely based on the cash back they yield, if I had no choice.

Affinity Cash Rewards Visa Signature: 5% cash back at Amazon, Hi5 rotating categories, and no foreign transaction Visa
Citi Custom Cash Card: 5% cash back on whatever is not a Hi5 category for the quarter (groceries, dining, or gas)
AOD Visa Signature Credit Card: 3% cash back on everything else, low APR, and no foreign transaction Visa
Excellent selection.

Thanks. I still prefer my seven card setup, but I probably could live with these three.