Best non-category cash back with no FTF?

[MrDisco99]

What's the genera;;y accepted best option these days for general cash back with no FTF?

I feel like it used to be PPMC but I heard they imposed FTF recently.

Obviously AOD is crazy good with 3% back, but looking at the impending nerf from USAlliance I'm sure the days are numbered on this one as well.

Alliant sounds like a good option... but what if you don't want to have to keep your deposits there?

What's left?  Are we back to 1.5% to avoid FTF?

[Credit12Fico]

SoFi 2%, no FTF. You need a Money or Invest account to redeem at 2%, but there is no min balance or account fees on those account so just use them to collect your points.

[creditfan]

https://www.sdfcu.org/premium-cash-back

https://www.rbfcu.org/loans/credit-cards

https://www.penfed.org/credit-cards/power-cash-rewards-visa

PS: there will be more if you look hard enough

[Anonymous]

AOD, Discover It Miles is unlimited 3% for the first year with cash back match, and there are tons of 2% cards out there. 

I personally would get the AOD card. If they nerf it, they nerf it, but it hasn't happened so far. 

Citi DC paired with Rewards+ is basically a 2.2% card and these pair well with Custom Cash for 5.5% on your largest spend category too for a cash back trifecta. 

For me, if my AOD gets nerfed, I'll probably do the DC and Rewards+ combo. 

ETA: Missed the no FTF part. In that case I would get the PenFed PCR and park $500 in their checking account to get 2%. 

[BlueSea]

My favourite is US Bank Altitude Reserve. 4.5% back , everywhere you pay in person via your phone

(if redeemed for travel).

Contactless payments are everywhere in Europe. Much more than US.

Citi Premier is great too for very popular categories. 

[coldfusion]

Honarable mention: Citizens Bank CashBack+ WMC

[digitek]

I think this topic is actually a lot more complicated that it sounds at first.

First is are you mainly travelling abroad or buying things online from international sellers? Both?

Second is do you feel you need any kind of CC benefits or protections and how much are you willing to pay for that?

I think this will kind of be a personal opinion type deal. If you don't care about CC benefits or purchase protections then AOD would probably be the one to shoot for. It has some drawbacks, though. No CC benefits or protections is the big one, that is a hard no from me. From a tiny credit union in no where Alabama, kind of pain to apply, the card is outsourced, future is uncertain because no one has made 3% uncapped on everything work for too long.

I guess what I'm getting at is that if you asked the members on the board if they had access to any card (bar Amex Black, etc...) which would they use for no FTF, you would get different answers based on what you planned on buying and what was important to you (CC benefits/max cash back opportunity, online purchases/international travel). I realized a while ago that even very small CC protection claims will offset large amount of cash back spend. I used Return Protection on my Altitude Reserve earlier this year for a little over $200. Claim was super easy. That would offset the increased 1% you get from AOD on $20k worth of spend over a normal 2% card with regular benefits. That was just one claim on one purchase that went south.

In my mind it either AOD if you don't care about normal CC benefits/protections, any of the 2% no FTF cards out there if it is mainly online stuff, Altitude Reserve if it is international travel/big purchases that you are willing to get less cashback for increased protections.

[FalconSteve]

I use the SoFi card for 2% back and no FTF. Citi charges a FTF.

[longtimelurker]

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@digitek wrote:

I think this topic is actually a lot more complicated that it sounds at first.

First is are you mainly travelling abroad or buying things online from international sellers? Both?

Second is do you feel you need any kind of CC benefits or protections and how much are you willing to pay for that?

I think this will kind of be a personal opinion type deal. If you don't care about CC benefits or purchase protections then AOD would probably be the one to shoot for. It has some drawbacks, though. No CC benefits or protections is the big one, that is a hard no from me. From a tiny credit union in no where Alabama, kind of pain to apply, the card is outsourced, future is uncertain because no one has made 3% uncapped on everything work for too long.

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Right.  One similar question, one bad situation is losing your card while abroad.   Anyone have any experience with how AOD would be at replacing it?  Some of the big issuers handle this quickly, not sure what the small CU experience would be.

(Not knocking AOD, as @digitek implies, it depends on your needs.  If most of your spend is in the US, and/or you don't need protection on international purchases, e.g. mainly groceries or dining while abroad, AOD is a great choice)

[FalconSteve]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@digitek wrote:

I think this topic is actually a lot more complicated that it sounds at first.

First is are you mainly travelling abroad or buying things online from international sellers? Both?

Second is do you feel you need any kind of CC benefits or protections and how much are you willing to pay for that?

I think this will kind of be a personal opinion type deal. If you don't care about CC benefits or purchase protections then AOD would probably be the one to shoot for. It has some drawbacks, though. No CC benefits or protections is the big one, that is a hard no from me. From a tiny credit union in no where Alabama, kind of pain to apply, the card is outsourced, future is uncertain because no one has made 3% uncapped on everything work for too long.

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Right.  One similar question, one bad situation is losing your card while abroad.   Anyone have any experience with how AOD would be at replacing it?  Some of the big issuers handle this quickly, not sure what the small CU experience would be.

(Not knocking AOD, as @digitek implies, it depends on your needs.  If most of your spend is in the US, and/or you don't need protection on international purchases, e.g. mainly groceries or dining while abroad, AOD is a great choice)

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I would think a backup card would be really important here