@Anonymous wrote:well first think i would think about it are you looking for purely cash back card or rewards or BT.
If you are going to do pure cashback Discover IT probably would be your best choice, Freedom can be an cash back or rewards if you plan on getting CSP or something down the road.
the citi Diamond Preferred and Chase Slate are Balance transfer cards so unless you need to balance transfer i would stay away from those cards.
Now amex plat and ED are cards for travel , you should look at MR partners and see if they are airlines you would actually use to fly. Also look at amex plat and its benefits to see if they fairly steep AF is worth it. Also MR redemption for gc or statement credits are horrible use of MR btw.
Thanks for the info. I don't travel too often but wondering if I should have a travel card at some point later. AMEX PLAT have such a high annual fee I am going to pass. Currently I do not need a BT so I think Disocver IT or is there is another CC (Visa) which also have good cash back? I don't see Discover as accepted card where I am located.
Double cash would be another i would be looking at for pure cash back its 2% , but its funny its 1% when you purchase and another 1% when you fully pif .
As far as travel card goes ED is an really nice one to have no AF, but it does have FTF so if you only travel domestically that could be an good card since its no AF card in existance that i know of that can transfer to airline and hotel partners.
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:1. Prefer cash back or miles?
I prefer cash back.
2. Want a BT card or rewards card (if rewards, cards like Slate you listed are useless).
At the moment I do not need a BT card. Thx I will pass on the slate.
3. Do you want 1 cashback or rewards card to use for all purposes? Do you mind 3-4? Are you willing to use more than 3-4 to optimize cashback or miles?
I would love to optimize as there are a lot of people here that use this approach. I am new to doing this and would like to build a good foundation. My only concern at the moment is Discover IT card which not a lot of stores I frequent accept it. What is the next CC that have favorable cash back other than Discover?
4. Are the only cards you are willing to consider the ones on your list?
The cards listed are the ones that have been mailed to me. I would love to know if there are others that are better!!!
5. What are your FICO scores? How many inquiries? How old are the inquiries?
Well credit karma have me at around 700. I have only 2.5 year credit history. I used to have 735 before buying a home. My currect CU is 16%.
6. What is your monthly CC spend?
$1000
Credit Karma is not a FICO score, but it is an approximation, so I will assume you have a 700 FICO score. With your score you have a good shot at most cashback cards. Some good ones are below:
1. Barclaycard Sallie Mae World MasterCard: 5% back on groceries (up to 250 per month), 5% gas (up to 250 per month), and 5% on bookstores (includes most amazon purchases) up to 750 per month. Great card for people with low grocery spend, moderate gas spend, and moderate to high bookstore/Amazon spend. If you have high gas spend, the Pentagon Federal Credit Union has an unlimited 5% gas card (very hard to get).
2. US Bank Cash+: Select two 5% categories for cashback. Great till end of this year due to restaurant and fastfood 5% categories, but those are getting removed. You can select two other 5% categories, but not as good starting next year (2,000 limit per quarter or 6k per year for the 5% categories).
3. Discover IT/Chase Freedom: Rotating 5% categories. Gas stations, restaurants, departmental stores, Amazon, and more fall within the categories. I find the restaurant rotation most helpful since Sallie Mae can cover Amazon and gas.
4. Amex Blue Cash Everyday Preferred: $75 annual fee. 6% back for up to 6k grocery spend (safeway, trader joes, etc). If you spend over 6k in groceries that is 360 cash back. Also 3% for gas. Only annual fee card on list. Regular version for 3% grocery and 2% gas has no AF.
5. Citi DoubleCash: 2% back on everything. Decent fallback card for those non category purchases.
The above is missing some potentially useful cards, but if you want a pure cashback strategy they should be useful. Barclays pulls TU. Citi pulls equifax or experian for most. Discover pulls equifax (TU for CLI). Amex pulls Experian. Don't recall what US Bank pulls (I'd probably skip the US bank card unless one of the 5% categories other than dining match your spend). If your recent HPs are low and your true FICO score is 700 or so, you should have a decent shot at most of the above cards. Personally, I'd start with the citi double cash to have a general use card and then get the 5% rewards cards that match your spend.
You pretty much just summed up what I was getting ready to type! 
