Looking for recommendations for a "catch-all" 1.5%+ cash rewards card. Help!

[Anonymous]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for the response.

I was looking to actively stay away from Chase for now. My 5/24 limit with Chase is up next year, so my plan is to downgrade my CSP to a CFU and pick up a CSR when I am again eligible a Chase signup bonus. 

Will have a look at the AmEx for sure.

Additional note: Not looking to add another card with an annual fee, so BoA Premium is out. Apologies for not clarifying that earlier. I'll amend my first post accordingly.

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How are you at 5/24 w/Chase while you mentioned that you applied for no new cards since the fall of 2017?

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See post 8. OP used "5/24" incorrectly. OP meant waiting to be eligible for a new Sapphire bonus.

OP, note it's 48 months between Sapphire bonuses, not 36.

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Yeah, I read further down and saw it. Usually someone catches that instantly.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I qualify for the "Gold" preferred status.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for that thread link. Will review. I didn't know there were so many additional options. 

[soxfaininfl]

There is also the PayPal MasterCard which offers a flat 2% cash back rate on all purchases. If you plan to carry a balance then you could probably get a lower interest rate with the Citi Double Cash. 

[Anonymous]

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@soxfaininfl wrote:

There is also the PayPal MasterCard which offers a flat 2% cash back rate on all purchases. 

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Yeah I brought that one up first page. 

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Looking-for-recommendations-for-a-quot-catch-all-quot-...

[longtimelurker]

For me the first question would be whether I needed a card without a FTF.    Then sort of minimum effort would be Citi DC if I didn't care, PPMC if no FTF was important, because these avoid issues of having to join a CU (joining Paypal is pretty minimal) and then a cc application.   Pros and cons of each have been discussed here several times!

[Anonymous]

Two options I'd consider based on the info:

Citi DC - 2% flat cash back. Also can convert to ThankYou Points if you get into Citi's ecosystem at some point. Some don't like Citi, but their site and app are easy to use and they've been fairly generous to me. The DC does have foreign transaction fees, but you have that covered at the moment with the CSP. 

Or, and most likely, I'd go with the Chase Freedom Unlimited. It's 1.5% as you're probably aware, but is effectively 2.25% when the points are redeemed through a Sapphire Reserve. Since you mentioned wanting the Reserve in the near future then it may be worth getting the CFU now and just stacking those points up. Then, you could downgrade the current CSP or close it before applying for the Reserve.

[NRB525]

OP what is your long term plan with CSP and Platinum? For each of those cards, transfers to airlines or Hyatt can be worth 1.5c or more, and you need a lot of UR or MRpoints to get anything. So loading those cards with "non-category" spend really makes more sense, rather than looking to another card just for 1.5c or 2c.  Dilution.  

[wasCB14]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Yes, I qualify for the "Gold" preferred status.

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Gold gives +25% in rewards, so 1.5% becomes 1.875%.

(0.01875*X)+500=.02*X

500=0.00125X

X=400,000

You'd have to spend $400,000 before a no-SUB 2% card beat a 1.875% PR with a $500 SUB (ignoring the AF, TSA/GE, and airfare extras credit).

[Anonymous]

That's a good question and I must say that I marginally embarrassed to admit that I hadn't really considered the option. As I look back, I almost always redeem my AmEx and Chase points for travel, but I can't say for sure that would be true if it wasn't incentivized by the higher redemption value. With my Discover It cash back and BoA Cash Rewards, I just take the cash and drop it back in my bank accounts. 

So I guess the answer to the question is: if all things are equal (that is, if redemption is the same value no matter what I use it for), I'd rather have the cash since it is more naturally available for every day things. But! Because I hadn't really considered getting transferring points to airlines. I know it's a thing; I just haven't taken the time to educate myself about the process to be comfortable with it. I will do that before making a decision. Thank you for the great suggestion. And thank you to everyone for the continued feedback.