3 card No AF lineup; which bank wins

[Anonymous]

Am bored

I think realistically for most spenders 3 credit cards will suffice; especially frugal spenders.

So, which bank will win;

Chase; CFU, CFF, Amazon                groceries/gas 2%, plus CFF 1 quarter 5% groceries/gas and 1st year 5% for groceries now? Whole Foods 3 or 5%

BoA; CCR, UR, TR                               groceries 2%, can choose gas for 3%

Citi; DC, CC, Rewards+                      2TYPs for supermarkets/gas, can choose 5% for groceries or gas

WF; Active Cash, Autograph, Bilt or Reflect    3pts for gas

Amex; BCE, CM, ED                           3% groceries/gas

Disco; CB, Chrome, BT or Miles      2% gas, 1 quarter 5% groceries/gas, 1st year 10%

Cap 1; Quicksilver, Savor One, Venture One  3% groceries

USB; Go, Platinum, Cash+               2 pts groceries/gas 

Personally I like Citi and WF.

[simplynoir]

Assuming Platinum Honors comes into play BofA is what I would probably consider running if it was no AF

- CCR for 5.25% cashback on dining

- UR for 2.625% cashback on everything else

- sock drawer the TR you don't need it

Would just like the ease of earning a flat rate on everything else miscellaneous from travel to other purchases that are hard to find categories for like insurance, utilities, and other misc expenses. Dunno what the math would be but two cards sounds nice to me with no caps on UR card to worry about

[wasCB14]

If I wasn't into travel, SUB chasing, BofA Preferred Rewards, etc...

AOD would win for me.

[Aim_High]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Am bored

I think realistically for most spenders 3 credit cards will suffice; especially frugal spenders.

So, which bank will win;

Chase; CFU, CFF, Amazon                groceries/gas 2%, plus CFF 1 quarter 5% groceries and 1st year 5% now? Whole Foods 3 or 5%

BoA; CCR, UR, TR                               groceries 2%

Citi; DC, CC, Rewards+                      2TYPs for supermarkets/gas 

WF; Active Cash, Autograph, Bilt or Reflect    3pts for gas

Amex; BCE, CM, ED                           3% groceries/gas

Disco; CB, Chrome, BT or Miles      2% gas, 1 quarter 5% groceries

Cap 1; Quicksilver, Savor One, Venture One  3% groceries

USB; Go, Platinum, Cash+               2 pts groceries/gas 

Personally I like Citi and WF.

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None of the above, @Anonymous.  A couple of reasons .... 

• If I was going with a simple 3-cards, I would emphasize diversity of lenders and processing networks among other prime considerations. Putting all your eggs in one credit basket is very risky.  The processing network alone is reason I'd never just have 3x AMEX or 3x Discover. Those networks are a little less accepted than Visa- Mastercard. 
  
  
• You read about Tri-fectas (especially the Chase version) but there is not always something special about card -fecta's from the same lender. It depends on how well they play together for synergy.

I would definitely pick one flat-rate uncategorized and uncapped card that pays at least 2% cash back.  The other two would depend on highest spend categories and the diversity I mentioned above.  If I was limiting to 3 cards, I would probably avoid rotating category cards where you have no input for category. For frugal spenders, I would probably include a Citi Custom Cash for the $500 monthly spending cap in a flexible category of choice. 

If you're a frugal spender, best to stick with cash back cards. So why even mention earning Citi TY points or AMEX MRs when you included Citi Rewards + or AMEX Everyday?  Beyond the SUBs, points systems take a lot of points (spend) for meaningful redemption. You'll get as-good value with quicker redemptions on cash back cards. The higher values on points only apply if you accrue a lot of them and also transfer to partners.

[Aim_High]

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@simplynoir wrote:

Assuming Platinum Honors comes into play BofA is what I would probably consider running if it was no AF

- CCR for 5.25% cashback on dining

- UR for 2.625% cashback on everything else

- sock drawer the TR you don't need it

Would just like the ease of earning a flat rate on everything else miscellaneous from travel to other purchases that are hard to find categories for like insurance, utilities, and other misc expenses. Dunno what the math would be but two cards sounds nice to me with no caps on UR card to worry about

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I thought about this too, @simplynoir, but didn't want to make the assumption that someone would qualify for the Platinum Honors.  A very simple two or three card lineup from Bank of America with Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors is: 

• Premium Rewards card for 2.625% baseline on anything, uncapped. 
  
  
• With Premium Rewards card, 3.5% on dining-travel, uncapped. 
  
  
• Customized Cash Rewards card for 3.5% on groceries & warehouse clubs, and/or 5.25% on selectable categories up to $10K annual spend. 
  
  
• Double your $10K cap to $20K if you like with a 2nd CCR card since BofA allows you to have multiples. 😄 

$95 AF fully reimbursed by $100 annual airline fee credit and $25/year average credit for TSA Global Entry every 4 years. 

[simplynoir]

@Aim_Highthe lineup I used assumed no AF. There are other cards like the AMEX Gold as an example that make it easy to break even. The stipulation where there is no AF involved limit choices for those not about paying annual fees at all which makes it more interesting to me. Though I forgot that you could get two CCRs which makes it an easier decision at least for me. Use one for dining, other for travel and once caps are reached for both cards just use UR for everything

[Anonymous]

It's just a thought experiment, limiting to no AF cards(hence Rewards+ and ED. What I would like to actually get is 2% card, USB Cash + and CCC. In fact I won't mind Citi trifecta I've mentioned above!) and yes 2 CCR seems nice, but you can also do 2 CCC then  or 3!

[longtimelurker]

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@Aim_High wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Am bored

I think realistically for most spenders 3 credit cards will suffice; especially frugal spenders.

So, which bank will win;

Chase; CFU, CFF, Amazon                groceries/gas 2%, plus CFF 1 quarter 5% groceries and 1st year 5% now? Whole Foods 3 or 5%

BoA; CCR, UR, TR                               groceries 2%

Citi; DC, CC, Rewards+                      2TYPs for supermarkets/gas 

WF; Active Cash, Autograph, Bilt or Reflect    3pts for gas

Amex; BCE, CM, ED                           3% groceries/gas

Disco; CB, Chrome, BT or Miles      2% gas, 1 quarter 5% groceries

Cap 1; Quicksilver, Savor One, Venture One  3% groceries

USB; Go, Platinum, Cash+               2 pts groceries/gas 

Personally I like Citi and WF.

---

None of the above, @Anonymous.  A couple of reasons .... 

• If I was going with a simple 3-cards, I would emphasize diversity of lenders and processing networks among other prime considerations. Putting all your eggs in one credit basket is very risky.  The processing network alone is reason I'd never just have 3x AMEX or 3x Discover. Those networks are a little less accepted than Visa- Mastercard. 
  
  
• You read about Tri-fectas (especially the Chase version) but there is not always something special about card -fecta's from the same lender. It depends on how well they play together for synergy.

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Roughly what I was going to say!   MyFico needs to get rid of the x-fecta mania.   It's like FoTM but goes on forever.

As @Aim_High says, it depends how well the cards work together, and even the Chase trifecta won't be right for a lot of people.  And if you artificially restrict yourself to three cards, statistically it more likely the cards coming from two or three different vendors will work better for you.

Another factor against getting all cards from one issuer is that the issuer may want to limit their exposure with you.  Many frugal spenders are also low income (yes, frugal millionaires are out there but....) and so a limit could soon be reached.

[simplynoir]

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@Anonymous wrote:

It's just a thought experiment, limiting to no AF cards(hence Rewards+ and ED. What I would like to actually get is 2% card, USB Cash + and CCC. In fact I won't mind Citi trifecta I've mentioned above!) and yes 2 CCR seems nice, but you can also do 2 CCC then  or 3!

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The caps aren't big enough for me lol. Living with four others and a coupe of furbabies we use two AMEX Gold cards to get those MR points. Eating is expensive apparently 😐

[Anonymous]

Dining and groceries for big family! Then Go should be attractive I guess, also Savor One..

Doesn't Rewards+ bump the other two.