Best Cashback Credit Card

[Harvey26]

Hey Fico Family,

As some of you may know my mother opened a Citi DC back in Feb. She recently got an email stating they were doing away with some of the travel perks that she frequently uses. She is currently purchasing her first home and is set to close on or before June 20th. With that being said she is looking to get rid of Citi and switch to another card. Her primary spending is gas groceries and wholesale clubs and also probably some heavy spending buying things for new home. Income: 100k, Score according to Loan Officer is 788. No current debt beside mortgage she will be taking on. Just throw some suggestions out there for us to look at. Does any one have any experience with State Department FCU or Langely FCU? 

[Adkins]

If she has a Costco in her area, you can PC to the Citi Costco card, so she'll keep the card history. 4% gas, 3% dining & travel, plus 2% cashback at Costco and 1% everywhere else. 

[Anonymous]

My ultimate favorite as far as cash back cards are concerned, is the AMEX BCE. Gives you 3% Back on both Groceries and 2% on Gas and selected Shopping malls and 1% on everything else. This card has no annual fee. If she wants to maximize her CB earning potential, she can also try for the BCP which gives back 6% on Groceries and 3% back on Gas and Selected Shopping malls, 1% on everthing else. The BCP has an annual fee of $95.00 but it is waived for the first year. She can always downgrade to the BCE before the year is up. If she spends a lot on both categories, then I think she'd like the earning potential for the above mentioned cards. Hope this helps. But as suggested by Adkins, if she already has an account with Citi, a PC would be a good option definitely.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My ultimate favorite as far as cash back cards are concerned, is the AMEX BCE. Gives you 3% Back on both Groceries and 2% on Gas and selected Shopping malls and 1% on everything else. This card has no annual fee. If she wants to maximize her CB earning potential, she can also try for the BCP which gives back 6% on Groceries and 3% back on Gas and Selected Shopping malls, 1% on everthing else. The BCP has an annual fee of $95.00 but it is waived for the first year. She can always downgrade to the BCE before the year is up. If she spends a lot on both categories, then I think she'd like the earning potential for the above mentioned cards. Hope this helps. But as suggested by Adkins, if she already has an account with Citi, a PC would be a good option definitely.

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There are some issues with the BCE, perhaps the most important that a number of cheaper stores may not count for Amex as supermarkets (Target and some walmarts in particular) where they will for Visa and MC, and a number of places offer some version of a 3/2/1 V/MC card.

Plus the delayed rewards.

Re BCP: the AF isn't waived the first year for the standard public offer, it is for some targetted ones.

[Kforce]

Maybe - Depending on where you live.

The Bank of the West - Cashback MC

3% cash-back for (Gas, Grocery, Restaurant, and Fast-Food)

[Harvey26]

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@Adkins wrote:

If she has a Costco in her area, you can PC to the Citi Costco card, so she'll keep the card history. 4% gas, 3% dining & travel, plus 2% cashback at Costco and 1% everywhere else. 

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She is not a fan of Costco unforunately. 

[Harvey26]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My ultimate favorite as far as cash back cards are concerned, is the AMEX BCE. Gives you 3% Back on both Groceries and 2% on Gas and selected Shopping malls and 1% on everything else. This card has no annual fee. If she wants to maximize her CB earning potential, she can also try for the BCP which gives back 6% on Groceries and 3% back on Gas and Selected Shopping malls, 1% on everthing else. The BCP has an annual fee of $95.00 but it is waived for the first year. She can always downgrade to the BCE before the year is up. If she spends a lot on both categories, then I think she'd like the earning potential for the above mentioned cards. Hope this helps. But as suggested by Adkins, if she already has an account with Citi, a PC would be a good option definitely.

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She has been looking at the Amex Everyday and the Navy Federal Amex as well. 

[Anonymous]

It really would depend on the stores she'd be going to, as longtimelurker has mentioned, certain discount stores, such as Walmart and Target would not count as Grocery spend. The CB payout does take two billing statements to reflect, but they do post eventually. It just works for me since, I try to save my CB rewards until the holidays where I usually spend the most, and I could cut on some expenses by redeeming the cash backs I have earned. I'm sure you will come to a decision that would work best for your type of spend. Good luck to mom on making that decision.

[Kforce]

As a home owner another good card worth looking at (US-Bank Cask +)

5% categories you can change every 3 months.

For a home owner "Utilities" and "Cell Phone" or "Department Stores and Furniture".

[Anonymous]

I think anyone "serious" about cash back needs to have a 2% everywhere card, so we don't need to worry about 2% or less categories on other cards.   So it then comes back to spend and where, and how much effort people want to make.   If you just want one card, a 2% everywhere is probably competitive with the BCE.   If you are willing to have more cards, if gas is significant there are still a few 5% on gas cards.   For general groceries, 3% is easy, sometimes without a cap if you live in the right area (e.g. Golden One in CA).   Then there are the special cases: if you get groceries (and other stuff) at Target, consider the Target debit card for 5% off.   If you get groceries mainly at WholeFoods, then the Amazon Prime Visa is good.

As often said: there rarely is a "best card" for anything (or we would all get it), it depends on circumstances.   You can certainly find cards that are worse than other cards, but not an overall best