Citi DC or Cap QS?

[Anonymous]

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@kdm31091 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
I know I said I wasn't really a fan of rotating categories, but the Freedom after research is growing on me. even though I have the IT the 5% categories don't seem to overlap same times which can help maximize my cash back. While researching though I did come upon an article that Chase is decreasing the benefits of it starting in 2016

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On a pure cash back basis, the Discover is easily superior to the Freedom IMO. Most of the "extra benefits" of Freedom, such as the bonus for using Chase checking, have been removed over time. If you have a CSP, using it with Freedom makes sense. But if you already have a Discover, and the Freedom is for standalone purposes, IMO, it's totally superfluous with the Discover.

Discover's categories are broader -- Freedom does Lowe's and Kohl's where Discover would do Home Improvement and Online Shopping. Discover offers free FICO. While they don't overlap in each particular quarter usually, they overlap at some point considering the entire year. They offer basically the same categories except that Discover's are less rigid. Discover Deals is also generally recognized as having better offers than chase's mall but YMMV.

If you have your Discover IT with the double promo, there's even less reason to rush and get a Freedom because with 2%/10%, it would take a long time for the Freedom to even catch up reward-wise.

I can see no real compelling argument for Freedom as a cash back card being better than the Discover. But it's just my opinion.

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One reason, that is becoming less compelling in general but might still apply to individuals is acceptance, Freedom is going to be taken at more places than Discover.  If you don't shop at such places, this doesn't matter!    But yesterday I ran into my first Discover rejection for quite a while.   I tried to pay for a  auto servicing with my Discover and they said "Oh, we don't take discover"   And sure enough, on the machine, it had decals for V/MC/Amex and Discover, and the Discover had been crossed out.

Not common around here, but certainly a possibility.

[kdm31091]

Good point that Freedom is somewhat more accepted though I can't say I've ever had a problem using my Discover where I wanted to use it.

[Anonymous]

I think widely accepting is really only an issue if you only have Discover.

Freedom does see pointless with the IT, I agree, so back to DC or QS! 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I think widely accepting is really only an issue if you only have Discover.

Freedom does see pointless with the IT, I agree, so back to DC or QS! 

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No, the context is getting the 5% when the categories overlap.   If you have Discover and not the Freedom, and the bonus category store doesn't take Discover, then using another card might give 1-2%, but not the 5%.    As I said, not all that common, but can happen.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I think widely accepting is really only an issue if you only have Discover.

Freedom does see pointless with the IT, I agree, so back to DC or QS! 

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No, the context is getting the 5% when the categories overlap.   If you have Discover and not the Freedom, and the bonus category store doesn't take Discover, then using another card might give 1-2%, but not the 5%.    As I said, not all that common, but can happen.

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Ah, I see what you mean.

I'm going to go back to Chase and see what the prequalify offer was like. 

[Anonymous]

So after thinking, it seems the DC doesn't really make much sense for me because im not a huge spender, and to counter the signup of QS/Freedom, I would need to spend at least 20K in the DC which is not even close to what I would right now. Am I wrong? or convince me to apply for the DC lol

[yfan]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So after thinking, it seems the DC doesn't really make much sense for me because im not a huge spender, and to counter the signup of QS/Freedom, I would need to spend at least 20K in the DC which is not even close to what I would right now. Am I wrong? or convince me to apply for the DC lol

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You are not wrong.

[Anonymous]

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@yfan wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

So after thinking, it seems the DC doesn't really make much sense for me because im not a huge spender, and to counter the signup of QS/Freedom, I would need to spend at least 20K in the DC which is not even close to what I would right now. Am I wrong? or convince me to apply for the DC lol

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You are not wrong.

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I think now my options are apply for Freedom now or wait till next credit update next month and try for the QS.

[taxi818]

Pretty easy Choice. Get both. neither has an Af. so easy. I would actually pc the Qs1 to the Qs no Af. and not get a new TL. Imo. Of course 2% is better than 1.5% i have both. so now DC is my Top dog. I don't care how long it takes to get the cash. as long as i know i got it coming.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So after thinking, it seems the DC doesn't really make much sense for me because im not a huge spender, and to counter the signup of QS/Freedom, I would need to spend at least 20K in the DC which is not even close to what I would right now. Am I wrong? or convince me to apply for the DC lol

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As another poster suggested, you COULD also take into account the opportunity cost of the extra HPs you get with QS (which makes sense if you only feel you have a few HPs available)  2 HPs can certainly get you more than $100 bonus.

But it's not such a critical question, if your spend is small then 1, 1.5 or 2% doesn't matter that much, and at some stage you may get all three cards anyway