Best No-Annual Fee Amex

[hyprble]

Happy Friday!

My friend has the "problem" of having no credit (although boy would I love to have no debt!!).  It turns out he had no idea it is important to have at least a credit card or some kind of loan to get a mortgage.  Who knew that paying cash for everything only would be a problem?

Anyway, he got a local bank credit card, and I wanted to suggest an Amex card for him so somewhere down the line he can bump up his average age of accounts with another Amex.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a no-annual-fee Amex he should apply for?  He has a steady (I'd guess at least 60k) salary, single, no mortgage or car loans or cc debt.  Sometimes he travels for work, but I don't know how much he'd put on a card so I'm not sure if foreign transaction fees are that important.

[LTomBerry]

Well there are only 6 choices with no AF - Blue, Blue Cash, Blue Sky, Clear, Costco & Hilton. The Blues might be out of his range - you didn't mention a FICO score, so I think the Clear might be his best bet with limited history.

[tengtengvn]

With only one CC active, I don't think he has a change with AMEX.

AMEX Zync is the easiest AMEX card to get with $25 AF.

[Anonymous]

My first Amex (and second cc) was blue cash. Great card for someone if they're going to use it only occasionally. No points to accumulate or keep up with. Just log on every now and then an collect your statement credit.

[hyprble]

Thanks for the advice!

I passed on the info.  My friend told me he doesn't want a second credit card.  Oh well, at least I tried.  I guess he's wise to not take financial advice from someone like me who still has a ton of debt >.<

[Creditaddict]

If he thinks down the road in the next couple years he wants a mortgage, he needs 3 credit accounts (car, personal, cc, anything) but 3 is the magic number!

Better to do it now so they can age and help is score vs doing it after the mortgage company tells him to

[tntexans72]

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@LTomBerry wrote:

Well there are only 6 choices with no AF - Blue, Blue Cash, Blue Sky, Clear, Costco & Hilton. The Blues might be out of his range - you didn't mention a FICO score, so I think the Clear might be his best bet with limited history.

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Clear is a very tough card to get IMHO. To get a card that has "no-fees"..

no annual fee, no late fees, no balance transfer fees, no over-limit fees, and no cash advance fees.....your credit got to be pretty good (AAoA, no degrogs, etc....), but than again, YMMV. Personally....Amex Blue Cash Everyday is a great card with no-fees.

[wollepopolle]

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@tengtengvn wrote:

With only one CC active, I don't think he has a change with AMEX.

AMEX Zync is the easiest AMEX card to get with $25 AF.

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That's incorrect. I got an Amex Delta with a $4kCL when I only had one other $1k CC active that was barely a year old. I was a student at the time, so my income was low. Ok, the Delta has an annual fee. However, this is waived for the first year. Then you can PC to a no-fee card. That's what I did.

[Anonymous]

I have the AMEX Clear and it doesn't have an AF.  There's a thread comparing the Blue, Blue Cash, and Clear cards, but here's a quote to sum it up.  There are definitely cards with better %cash back rewards for [b]specific[/b] things (gas, groceries, travel, etc) but AMEX Clear is 1% back on [b]everything[/b] and I'm confident it is the best everyday card and card for people just starting out because they don't have to keep track of which card they are using for which purchases.  Use the Clear for everything, PIF every month, and watch the rewards come in.  

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/AMEX-Blue-vs-Blue-Cash-vs-Clear/td-p/298525

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@Anonymous wrote:

That's not quite right.

As far as rewards:

Blue earns Membership Rewards Express points.  These points are good for all the same things as regular Amex Membership Rewards except frequent flier miles, and perhaps a few other restrictions.

Blue Cash earns cash back according to the following schedule:

Annual spending up to $6500:

Everyday purchases: 1%

All other purchases: 0.5%

Annual spending $6500.01 and up:

Everyday purchases: 5%

All other purchases: 1.5%

There is also Blue Sky, which earns points that can be redeemed at a rate of 7500 points per $100 statement credit towards eligible travel-related purchases.  This represents a 1.33% rewards rate.

Clear earns a straight 1% in the form of Amex gift cards.

None of these cards has an AF.  Clear has no fees of any kind associated with it, including BT fees, OTL fees, or late payment fees (although you shouldn't be going over the limit or paying late anyway).

Clear used to be the more difficult of these cards to get, although it appears standards have loosened a bit on Clear lately.  Blue is probably slightly easier to get than Blue Cash.  Blue Sky is about on the same level as Blue.

Message Edited by cheddar on 07-23-2008 01:14 PM

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[MarineVietVet]

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@ptrutkowski wrote:

I have the AMEX Clear and it doesn't have an AF.  There's a thread comparing the Blue, Blue Cash, and Clear cards, but here's a quote to sum it up.  There are definitely cards with better %cash back rewards for [b]specific[/b] things (gas, groceries, travel, etc) but AMEX Clear is 1% back on [b]everything[/b] and I'm confident it is the best everyday card and card for people just starting out because they don't have to keep track of which card they are using for which purchases.  Use the Clear for everything, PIF every month, and watch the rewards come in.  

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/AMEX-Blue-vs-Blue-Cash-vs-Clear/td-p/298525

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@Anonymous wrote:

Message Edited by cheddar on 07-23-2008 01:14 PM

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Hi ptrutkowski ,

Please notice that the thread you linked to is over 3 years old. I would suspect that in the fast moving credit world we live in that the information in that thread may not be current and/or accurate.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".