@IncrsCreditScore wrote:Occasionally, someone will mention they just got their 3% cash back credit card. I don't know if I am searching incorrectly, but I have not been able to find such a card. Therefore, decided I would ask the members of this forum. TIA for any info.
There is no permanent overall 3% cash back card.
@Anonymous wrote:
@arkane wrote:
If not looking to churn, then best to stagger applications so you get a new 3% card each year. I'd probably start with CFU because 5/24, and also I'm sure the promo won't last.I doubt the promo is going anywhere. It’s cheaper for Chase to offer it than a SUB.
It's even cheaper for them to not offer anything lol 
I can't remember now but the CFU either didn't use to have a SUB, or it was something insignificant like $150 for $500 or something (might be the 5% Freedom...)
I'm just saying if one does not wish to churn and the end goal is to maximize 3%, best strategy is to stagger applications by exactly one year apart. Discover It Miles has been around long enough that I don't think it'll get nerfed anytime soon, so I'd probably save it for last. Starting with CFU also makes sense if you're under 5/24 and don't want to keep track or deal with that headache later on.
So a hypothetical app ladder could look something like:
Year 1: CFU
Year 2: HSBC Cash Rewards
Year 3: Alliant VS
Year 4: Discover IT Miles
And there you have it, 4 years of 3% cards. Still not permanent but 4 years is a long enough time to wait for banks to come out with new promos. 
Thank you to all of you. I appreciate your responses to my inquiry.
@arkane wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@arkane wrote:
If not looking to churn, then best to stagger applications so you get a new 3% card each year. I'd probably start with CFU because 5/24, and also I'm sure the promo won't last.I doubt the promo is going anywhere. It’s cheaper for Chase to offer it than a SUB.
It's even cheaper for them to not offer anything lol
I can't remember now but the CFU either didn't use to have a SUB, or it was something insignificant like $150 for $500 or something (might be the 5% Freedom...)
I'm just saying if one does not wish to churn and the end goal is to maximize 3%, best strategy is to stagger applications by exactly one year apart. Discover It Miles has been around long enough that I don't think it'll get nerfed anytime soon, so I'd probably save it for last. Starting with CFU also makes sense if you're under 5/24 and don't want to keep track or deal with that headache later on.
So a hypothetical app ladder could look something like:
Year 1: CFU
Year 2: HSBC Cash Rewards
Year 3: Alliant VS
Year 4: Discover IT Miles
And there you have it, 4 years of 3% cards. Still not permanent but 4 years is a long enough time to wait for banks to come out with new promos.
Maybe...My crystal ball is indicating, by seeing current trends, that credit card issuers will likely have less attractive rewards by then. For a while there was steadily increasing rewards. Lately the rewards have been lower and many cards are also eliminating what was once standard such as extended warranty and rental care liability insurance. Citi is also cutting out the price rewind feature on the DC card. We are likely more to blame for this trend than the general public, as many here, including myself has been making a decent profit off of cards at the issuers expense. There is a reason for many here having over 15 credit cards, me included, and it often involves the SUB on these cards. I think my annual receipt of 2 cards each year to extract these SUB's might be nearing an end. There is a point where the rewards due toSUB's will be too low to justify the effort.
@sarge12 wrote:
@arkane wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@arkane wrote:
If not looking to churn, then best to stagger applications so you get a new 3% card each year. I'd probably start with CFU because 5/24, and also I'm sure the promo won't last.I doubt the promo is going anywhere. It’s cheaper for Chase to offer it than a SUB.
It's even cheaper for them to not offer anything lol
I can't remember now but the CFU either didn't use to have a SUB, or it was something insignificant like $150 for $500 or something (might be the 5% Freedom...)
I'm just saying if one does not wish to churn and the end goal is to maximize 3%, best strategy is to stagger applications by exactly one year apart. Discover It Miles has been around long enough that I don't think it'll get nerfed anytime soon, so I'd probably save it for last. Starting with CFU also makes sense if you're under 5/24 and don't want to keep track or deal with that headache later on.
So a hypothetical app ladder could look something like:
Year 1: CFU
Year 2: HSBC Cash Rewards
Year 3: Alliant VS
Year 4: Discover IT Miles
And there you have it, 4 years of 3% cards. Still not permanent but 4 years is a long enough time to wait for banks to come out with new promos.
Maybe...My crystal ball is indicating, by seeing current trends, that credit card issuers will likely have less attractive rewards by then. For a while there was steadily increasing rewards. Lately the rewards have been lower and many cards are also eliminating what was once standard such as extended warranty and rental care liability insurance. Citi is also cutting out the price rewind feature on the DC card. We are likely more to blame for this trend than the general public, as many here, including myself has been making a decent profit off of cards at the issuers expense. There is a reason for many here having over 15 credit cards, me included, and it often involves the SUB on these cards. I think my annual receipt of 2 cards each year to extract these SUB's might be nearing an end. There is a point where the rewards due toSUB's will be too low to justify the effort.
I agree, overall, I think rewards have peaked. While I think there will always be rewards and signup offers, I think we will see a shift. Signup offers will tend to be more of "use card for a year and get x%" vs "spend x get y". Blogs and many forums like this have made it more common for people to simply split spending among cards, so not as many people are using them for 1% purchases. While I would say it's still a large chunk of the population who doesn't care about these things and is probably using one card for everything, the "maximizer" population is probably much larger than it was 5 years ago. If you're only using your card for 2 or 3 or 5% categories you aren't exactly making the banks much if any profit.
I think the benefit cuts i.e. price rewind are related, but it's also just the banks being cheaper and seeing what they can get away with cutting. Since most people in the general population aren't aware of and aren't using these benefits, the majority of ones who were heavily using most of them were unfortunately the same ones abusing them, so it goes away for everyone.
Not all that many years ago most cards were paying out a flat 1% so there wasn't much of a point in juggling several rewards cards. Now that things have changed and many people are using multiple cards, it will be interesting to see how the products shift.