Credit Card Strategy Help?

[Anonymous]

I have the Uber visa and BoA cash rewards. Both solid cards for my current spending habits- think millennial who eats out and does online/in-store shopping, avg $120/month each in gas and groceries, then spending typically falls in the everything else category. I don’t quite like the idea of annual fees or travel points/redemption sites. And don’t quite travel that much so prefer cashback.

Leaning towards Discover IT over Chase Freedom based on first year bonus 10%/2%, and then maybe a year later getting a 2% flat rate card (PayPal, Citi DC, Blispay, Alliant), and in the third year maybe Amazon Prime Visa?

Thoughts? Should I be thinking of any other cards? How long should I wait between applications? Also have a corporate Amex from work that earns some rewards points, but I have not had a personal Amex to help earn points more quickly.

[Anonymous]

FICO Scores? Any lates, charge offs, collections?

[UpperNwGuy]

You should get the Chase Freedom before the Discover IT for the simple reason that Chase has its 5/24 rule, and Discover does not.  If your scores are good enough for Chase cards, the rule around here is to always get those cards first.

If you want a flat 2% card, I would go for the Alliant as first choice, with the Citi Double Cash as second choice.  PayPal would mean dealing with Synchrony, and they can be annoying.  Blispay is not taking new applications right now.

[kdm31091]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I have the Uber visa and BoA cash rewards. Both solid cards for my current spending habits- think millennial who eats out and does online/in-store shopping, avg $120/month each in gas and groceries, then spending typically falls in the everything else category. I don’t quite like the idea of annual fees or travel points/redemption sites. And don’t quite travel that much so prefer cashback.

Leaning towards Discover IT over Chase Freedom based on first year bonus 10%/2%, and then maybe a year later getting a 2% flat rate card (PayPal, Citi DC, Blispay, Alliant), and in the third year maybe Amazon Prime Visa?

Thoughts? Should I be thinking of any other cards? How long should I wait between applications? Also have a corporate Amex from work that earns some rewards points, but I have not had a personal Amex to help earn points more quickly.

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It makes sense to get the Discover IT for a year. Then you're getting a flat 2% plus the 10% bonus categories. This also allows you to avoid additional applicatons, and avoid spreading your spend out over many cards.

After a year, your plan to get Citi or Alliant sounds good, but remember card benefits do change so planning for a few years won't always work out the way we think.

I would get the Discover for now since it covers your 2% need plus bonus categories all in one card. Revisit the situation after the year runs out with them.

[Anonymous]

I'd do this:

1. Get the Freedom, earn the $150 sign-up bonus. (Good to have a foot in the door with Chase's UR program if you should later decide to take advantage of their premium travel cards)
2. Get the Disco. It's your primary card for the first 12 months. Use it for everything except:
   1. Gasoline when it's not a bonus category under Disco or Freedom...use BoA during these times for gas
   2. Any Freedom 5X bonus category that differs from what Disco offers that quarter (sometimes they overlap and have the same categories, but often there are difference...like maybe you get gas stations and cable and phone bill being covered by Freedom's 5X category that quarterwhile Discover's only covers gas stations. In that case, you'd leave BoA in the drawer at home, use Freedom for phone/cable, and use Disco for gas and everything else. 
3. After you've finished your first year with Disco, look into a new general 2% card. 

ETA: Ack! Totally missed that you have the Uber card. Obviously use it for restaurants unless Disco or Freedom have that as a category.

[Anonymous]

Very good points about potentially pairing Chase Freedom with other Chase cards and 5/24 rule. Definitely something for me to consider.

To be honest though, I struggle to understand the hype over CSP/CSR when you compare to a no AF Uber Visa with its 4% on dining and 3% on travel. CSP/CSR earns 2x/3x points on dining and travel which translates to earnings rate of 3%, 4.5% at 1.5 cents per point. I hear you can redeem smartly and get more value, but that may end up being limited by something in reality. Most of us have jobs with only enough time off for one major trip a year or two -- so how frequent do you have to travel to make a travel card with travel perks worth it? I do see the clear benefit in getting the SUB to cover a big trip such as as honeymoon (which is my end goal for future), but imo flat cashback with no redemption hassle is worth a little more to me than the potential of traveling in first class style once or twice a year. If I don't spend enough, then the SUB only covers the AFs that kick in after the first year too.

For now, I am torn between Discover IT / Chase Freedom for 5% bonus categories and Citi Double Cash / Paypal Cashback MC for everything else. Tough to choose since they are competitive. My CS is 740-750, no late payments, always pay in full, and only 1/24 (app for Uber Visa April 2018). Thinking safer to go for the Discover / Paypal combo since those are easier to get approval for?

[kdm31091]

Discover and Chase Freedom tend to have similar categories throughout the year, so IMO it more or less comes down to which lender you want to deal with. Again, I would say Discover since it covers your 2% baseline need and rotating categories, and you only have to app for one card.

As far as Citi vs Paypal, again, they're very similar. The Paypal has no redemption threshold, which is nice if you don't think it will recieve a ton of spend, but between the two I personally would probably rather deal with Citi. YMMV of course.

As far as CSR and travel cards, they're not for everyone. There's nothing wrong with sticking to cash back if you don't think you will have the time/desire to travel and really use the benefits.

[xaximus]

Personally, I prefer the Discover/Paypal combo as Disco is a relatively easy lender to get approved for and same for Paypal (Synchrony). Citi isn't known to give high limits off the bat so they would require some nurturing to grow.