Amex BCE v Chase Freedom (combo) v Discover IT...

[CarbonCard]

v Sallie Mae MC for "main" card?

When I first saw tatterz post, I'm like this is my dream card! or is it?

I currently have Amex BCE and Discover IT (applied simultaneously to both recently) and Chase Freedom with a checking account, which is about a year old now.

I'm a just a fulltime college student with part time job. My plan is to not to use my car to save on gas, but I will be shopping for groceries a lot.

My current main card is the Chase Freedom, but I racked up too many purchases, and I'm trying to pay it down first until it is below 10% the CL.

That said, should I apply for the Sallie Mae MC card??

[myjourney]

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@enxinas wrote:

v Sallie Mae MC for "main" card?

When I first saw tatterz post, I'm like this is my dream card! or is it?

I currently have Amex BCE and Discover IT (applied simultaneously to both recently) and Chase Freedom with a checking account, which is about a year old now.

I'm a just a fulltime college student with part time job. My plan is to not to use my car to save on gas, but I will be shopping for groceries a lot.

My current main card is the Chase Freedom, but I racked up too many purchases, and I'm trying to pay it down first until it is below 10% the CL.

That said, should I apply for the Sallie Mae MC card??

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That being said tell us more about INQ,s AAoA, Amount on cards now, Total credit limits across all cards

[b_seeker]

What does your file look like? 

Inqs?

New accounts?

Income?

Utilization?

It's a Barclays backed card so the first two are important. TBH though, I would pay down your Freedom first. Don't want to get into CC debt troubles.

[longtimelurker]

If your major spend is groceries, and is under $250 per month on that, then this card certainly makes sense.

But to my mind, "main" cards apply more when you are looking at miles-type stuff for some program such as UR/MR/TYP.   If cash-back is the major goal, then use the best card for each transaction, i.e. SallieMae for books/amazon and groceries, freedom for the 5% categories, and Discover for its categories (and ShopDiscover/UR Mall for online, whichever gives the best value).

[grubs]

People misunderstand this card. You have to spend a minimum of $250 a month to get the 5% not to mention you have to spend $750 a month minimum to get 5% on books.

[CarbonCard]

2 new accounts, which is the Amex and Discover (just opened 2 wks ago at the same time).

I have about 1.4k on Freedom, pretty much nothing on Amex ($50), and $20 on Discover.

Forgot to mention that I have a balance of $800 on my WF card.

I had 3 inqueries (1 was when I was looking for a car about 3 wks ago), TU for Discover (740) and EX for Amex (737)

Income (including fin aid, grants, etc) is about 29k/yr

As for my CL, it's on my sig.

Utilization, not so sure. If my math is right, it is about 15%

AAoA:

WF is 6 years old, CC is about 2 years old, Chase is almost a year, BestBuy, I think 3 years, BCE and IT, 2wks lol

[CarbonCard]

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@grubs wrote:
People misunderstand this card. You have to spend a minimum of $250 a month to get the 5% not to mention you have to spend $750 a month minimum to get 5% on books.

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Is it? I thought that the cap for gas and groceries is $250, and $750 for "books" and after the cap, you'll be getting less than the advertised cash back..

"5% gasoline category rewards are earned on the first $250 net purchases made per monthly billing cycle at eligible gas stations and service stations. 5% groceries category rewards are earned on the first $250 net purchases made per monthly billing cycle at eligible grocery stores and super markets. 5% books category rewards are earned on the first $750 net purchases made per monthly billing cycle at eligible book stores. After that, for net monthly purchases made in each of these categories in excess of the dollar amounts specified (gasoline, groceries, and books) you will earn the base reward amount of 1%."

source: https://www.salliemae.com/landing/WorldCreditCard/

[Tazman81]

Enxinas, your interpretation of the cash back for the SM card is correct. You get bonus cash back UP to that amount and then you get the lower cashback after that amount.

[b_seeker]

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@grubs wrote:
People misunderstand this card. You have to spend a minimum of $250 a month to get the 5% not to mention you have to spend $750 a month minimum to get 5% on books.

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Why would you think this? Nothing on the website sugguests this to me. Do you have the card? 

[enharu]

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@enxinas wrote:

2 new accounts, which is the Amex and Discover (just opened 2 wks ago at the same time).

I have about 1.4k on Freedom, pretty much nothing on Amex ($50), and $20 on Discover.

Forgot to mention that I have a balance of $800 on my WF card.

I had 3 inqueries (1 was when I was looking for a car about 3 wks ago), TU for Discover (740) and EX for Amex (737)

Income (including fin aid, grants, etc) is about 29k/yr

As for my CL, it's on my sig.

Utilization, not so sure. If my math is right, it is about 15%

AAoA:

WF is 6 years old, CC is about 2 years old, Chase is almost a year, BestBuy, I think 3 years, BCE and IT, 2wks lol

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Uh, don't think financial aid is considered as income.