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Citi Rewards or Double Cash?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Citi Rewards or Double Cash?

So I have been getting TONS of both Citi Rewards and double cash mail offers. I get them at least 2-3 times a week for awhile now. The citi rewards sent me one yesterday with 17.99% and then again today for 15.99%. Double cash is 20.99%. Which is the better card to go with? Not sure who they pull but EQ and TU are 749 and 738, EX 692. Clean report, nothing bad. 100% ontime payments. 1 inq on EQ adn EX and 3 on TU. Income 130k, Util is about 18% over like 12 cards. Ive been back and forth on which would be the better card to app for, just cannot make my decision. Anyone with any experience with either that could give me some info? I think the only citi card i have is Best Buy. Thanks for any insight!

Message 1 of 10
9 REPLIES 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Citi Rewards or Double Cash?

Which you choose to apply for should be based on your spend patterns and whether points or cash back is preferable to you. Those questions may also depend on what other cards you have and whether they are point or cash back cards.

Personally, I have the Citi DC because aside fro Chase UR points, I seek cash back cards. That works best for “me.”

As far as the Citi DC, I find it very easy to use, cash back is updated each statement, and redemption is very easy. Citi has also been good to me with a generous SL and SP CLI in the past year.

Good luck whichever way you go and please keep us posted!
Message 2 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Citi Rewards or Double Cash?

If you want an easy 1cpp valuation the easier is DC because it's a flat 2%. 

 

The TYP's range from 50% for cash value to more if you redeem them directly for travel related expenses.  

 

Remembering which to use / when you go to swipe depending on what you're buying can be a hinderance to maximizing your payback.

 

If you're looking for a CC with a high CL there probably aren't going to be at the top of the list though.

Message 3 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Citi Rewards or Double Cash?

I was thinking DC also would be the better choice. My best buy card is 12k. What i really want is the Amex everyday. Im an AU on my husbands. Started with 10k limit, after 61 days, 3x to 30k.  But with my fico ex at 692, I think I would start with a low SL. Id rather wait until I could start with a higher limit on that one.

Message 4 of 10
Andypanda
Established Contributor

Re: Citi Rewards or Double Cash?

Intrest rates only make a difference if you don’t pif, which then negates the rewards you get on the card.

Message 5 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Citi Rewards or Double Cash?


@Anonymous wrote:

 But with my fico ex at 692, I think I would start with a low SL. Id rather wait until I could start with a higher limit on that one.


AMEX if funny in that you can 3X them every 6 months.  Even if you went for it now and got 2K out of them in 61 days you could be at 6K and in 6 months 18K and 1 year ~36K depending on if you get asked for POI which is normal after 35K if you're aggressive about it.  If your scores shoot up to 750 then you just apply for a different card and get that higher CL and you can shuffle limits between the accounts to balance them out to your preferred card.

Message 6 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Citi Rewards or Double Cash?

Cash back is definitely what i seek out most. I do have discover it 13.9k, cap 1 quicksilver (was my starter card when i started rebuilding, 2k), walmart and best buy, both 12k, VS 1.5k,  and care credit (12k) Then im an AU on hubbys cards which are chase freedom(5k) unlimited (1k for some reason), his discover it (10k), amex everyday (30k) BOA cash rewards (5k). I do want my own amex but i want to start at higher SL, but even tho my eq and tu are high scored, my ex is only 692 so dont think no matter how good my CR is, i think i would still start low.

Message 7 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Citi Rewards or Double Cash?

The thing about thinking is it's not always the case until you hit submit.  I've seen some wild approvals over the years from posts here and other places.  You might even end up with 10K it just depends on how Amex views all the factors.  The pre-qual page for borderline files now displays "limit up to x,xxx" to pursuade people to go ahead an apply if they're not "ideal" at the time of the SP.  As long as you don't get the "up to" or "steps" language you're going to be fine.  Waiting of course always makes a stronger profile but, depending on your other activity it may be months or years until you feel you're ideal in their eyes. 

 

The sooner you start, the sooner it starts growing.

Message 8 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Citi Rewards or Double Cash?

On the Amex pre-qual page it says congratulations you are pre qualified for these offers. It lists the Gold Card, the BC everyday and the everyday with the cash back offers. No talk of "up to such and such amount" is listed, just the APR says "from 15.24 to 26.24".

Message 9 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Citi Rewards or Double Cash?

For a true pre-approval it should be a single digit APR listed and not the range.

 

In the past I never got a pre-approval from them and just said to hell with it and cold apped and got 10K from them and within a year bumped it to 50K w/ POI of course.  

 

Knowing what I know now from experience with them for the past several years of having them in my wallet and watching trends here I would say optomize your % before apping just to get the most out of it in term of the CL.  Amex typically only pulls EX for approvals and once you're in it's all SP's 99.9999% of the time.

 

It's not the end of the world though if it's only 5K upfront with the CLI process though.  The only pre-qual pages I would give more than a grain of sand for are BBT/Regions/BBVA based on experience.  BBT if someething pops up you're pretty much 100% approved but don't know the limit until you submit the app.  Regions/BBVA both tell you the amount of the CL and APR before submitting for a HP if you have an existing account to check them with.

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