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Best New Card(s) for Temp Increase in Spend

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Best New Card(s) for Temp Increase in Spend

I am looking to spend approximately 20K in the next three months (roof and some home improvements) and was wondering if it was a good time to get some big SUBs or get into points as I've only been doing cash back cards so far. 

My current CC portfolio: Amex BCE $14,900, Disco 1 $7000, Disco 2 $5600 (should probably combine those), Citi Double Cash $6000, Barclay Carnival MC $5000, Regions Cash Rewards $5000, Care Credit $6000, Lowes $15000, Rooms to Go $5000, Kohl's $3000.

 

Credit score over 800

 

I PIF monthly and am 2/24 but those two were opened 3/26/2020 so are set to age up. 

 

I currently have an AMEX offer for the Plat with 150,000 points for $6K spend in the first six months. But that yearly fee. Yikes! Ideally I'd want something with low to no annual fee, or a card I can cancel before the first anniversary fee is due without clawback of rewards. 

 

I do NOT travel a lot, usually I will buy at most four round trip flights a year on Southwest and I stay with friends and family so I might spend five nights a year in a hotel. I feel like all points ecosystems are geared towards travel, but could be wrong. 

Should I branch into AMEX points cards? What about getting a set of Chase cards? I can break up the spend across a few cards to maximize rewards. Also, I get a 5% discount at Lowes with that card, so I can throw the extra bits on that card. All will be paid in full at statement cut so interest rates mean nothing.  

 

Thank you for any help! 

Message 1 of 6
5 REPLIES 5
iheartwings
Valued Contributor

Re: Best New Card(s) for Temp Increase in Spend

If you don't travel much, I would not venture into point cards, because they do require effort to maximize the value of those points, which is part of the game. 

 

Between AmEx MR and Chase UR, I think MR does require more effort to get value, and you can't cash out points for 1 cpp (unless you do something like buying gift cards that redeem at that rate).

 

Chase has a bit more flexibility  - you can use the Freedom family of cards as cashback (and are AF-free), and if you wanted to try points, you could consider a Sapphire card, so you can transfer to airlines (Southwest is a transfer partner, though not the best value/use of points). Alternatively, you could cash out UR at 1cpp. 

 

I am much less familiar with this, but Citi DC is moving to the Thank You point system, so you could consider getting a Double Cash and perhaps one of their cards with multipliers that fit your spending (+/- ability to transfer to airlines) so you can redeem for cash (1cpp) or transfer to an airline (if, say, that is of interest to you). 

 

Hopefully, some of that rambling was helpful. Smiley Happy 

 

 

Message 2 of 6
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Best New Card(s) for Temp Increase in Spend

That is what I suspected (points aren't a great fit for someone that doesn't travel much). 

I actually already have a Citi DC so I will look into their other cards. Thank you for the idea. 

If I stay completely away from points should I just spree whichever have the best cash back sign up bonuses and divide my spend among those? It seems most are small SUBs, like $200, unless I'm not looking correctly. 

Message 3 of 6
kilroy8
Community Leader
Super Contributor

Re: Best New Card(s) for Temp Increase in Spend

Given the type of spend, I would look into Home Depot/Lowes/Menards, etc. Only thing is you will need a big SL with a lender that is not squeamish. That pretty much eliminates Chase and AmEx.

Message 4 of 6
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Best New Card(s) for Temp Increase in Spend


@kilroy8 wrote:

Given the type of spend, I would look into Home Depot/Lowes/Menards, etc. Only thing is you will need a big SL with a lender that is not squeamish. That pretty much eliminates Chase and AmEx.


I already have a Lowes card with a $15K line, so that is more than enough for the home repairs I will be doing outside of the roof (I will pay the company directly). I get 5% off with the Lowes card, so I know I won't beat that with another cash back card unless it is one (or two) with a large SUB. I'm not finding many with decents SUBs, though. 

Message 5 of 6
iheartwings
Valued Contributor

Re: Best New Card(s) for Temp Increase in Spend

I think you're not going to find terribly high SUBs ($200-300 is great, especially on a no-AF card - AF cards may have higher SUB, but don't forget to subtract out the AF cost from them), so look for the best cards that fit your spend categories (and then come back here and research them).

 

I also agree with @kilroy8 that you should also consider home improvement store cards (Lowe's gives 5% back or free financing), but if your home improvements do not involve purchasing straight from one particular store, this may be an issue. 

 

You could also consider credit unions. Some have CB rewards cards with great rates and can have generous lines, but potentially little in the way of the SUB. 

Message 6 of 6
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