Not sure what you mean by fake cards. They're all real and geared to different demographics. Find it odd that you lump cap1 in there with them as they are one of the full spectrum lenders. There are people here with $30k cap1 limits and can be very much a prime lender. My quicksilver has a better apr than my amex cards. Heck, my mission lane has a better apr.
@Brian_Earl_Spilner, agreed, CapitalOne plays in the full spectrum of credit, sub-prime (cards with say, less than $1,500 credit limit), what I call "near-prime" (cards with say, $3,000 to $6,000 credit limit), and USDA Prime with cards with limits in the tens of thousands.
I think that the most 'prime' card you can get is the one that best fits your spend and lifestyle. Whatever card gives you the best perks, or most rewards will be very unique to each person. Disco and AMEX are both good lenders, IMO so you're doing well so far. Your best course of action should be to really dig in to your spending categories and figure out where the heaviest portion lies. At that point start doing research on cards that give the highest rate of return. Once you have one targeted, read up on that particular card/lender and see what they like to see in a profile for approval and prepare yourself to app as best you can, set a timeframe for when you want to app and only pull the trigger when you feel you are primed for an approval.
@Luxeedee wrote:No, they literally sent me cards that were not functional, stuck to an offer letter.
Haha. Oh that's funny. You really do mean fake cards.
I would read through the approval sub forum here to get a idea of which cards might interest you. People ask good questions and you will learn about the particular benefits of cards.
I think there are really 3 categories:
- sub-prime predators -- charges lots of fees, starting limits in the low hundreds, low to little growth, usually no rewards
- first premier
- Surge
- milestone
- Indigo
- credit one
- rebuilders -- fees but reasonable, credit limits grow into low thousands but not much beyond that, offers some rewards
- capital one
- Discover
- Merrick Bank
- Secured cards with the big boy banks that graduate like Citi, USBank, Disco, BoA
- prime - low fee, larger rewards, SLs starting around 5k with growth up to 25-50k
- Amex
- Chase
- UsBank/Elan
- FNBO
- CUs like Navy and Penfed
This is just my personal list. Not all exhaustive by any stretch... fuzzy line between the various categories... especially Capital One.
Agreed with above that prime cards are ones that work for you.
The "sub prime" vs "prime" verbiage can be misleading, because it really, really does seem to depend on how people feel about them, just as much as the audience they serve. I think a number of people think that store cards/backed by Comenity*/Synchrony are "subprime," but if they give you a good discount and you can use it, does it matter? Are they really subprime because they cater to people who shop specific stores?
Just make sure they're not predatory (tacking on ridiculous fees), and do what works best with your spend, regardless of how people talk about them.
*I know a lot of people don't like Comenity/think of them as subprime because of their behavior, but I'm still salty about the closure of the AKC Visa with them. I have a solid, if young, credit profile, and I'd still jump into bed with Credit One if they offered a no-AF pet specific/veterinary cashback card 
