No AF Credit Cards need help

[Anonymous]

Anyone have experience in PCing cards with AFs to no AF cards? All my DW’s cards have fees. Her Cap One, Barclay JetBlue, and even her BankAmericard, Not sure but they may have been sub prime. I know Jetblue was Amex until Barclaycard took it over a couple years ago. Any help would be appreciated. She’s in the mid to upper 600’s. No inquiries. Cards are all more than 5 years old.

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:
Anyone have experience in PCing cards with AFs to no AF cards? All my DW’s cards have fees. Her Cap One, Barclay JetBlue, and even her BankAmericard, Not sure but they may have been sub prime. I know Jetblue was Amex until Barclaycard took it over a couple years ago. Any help would be appreciated. She’s in the mid to upper 600’s. No inquiries. Cards are all more than 5 years old.

---

I started a list of PC options to downgrade from AF to no AF but abandoned it a few months ago.  I may get back to building that list out.

But...

Downgrading may cost you more money than save you money.  You have to do the math, do it seriously, and plan your spending based on your budget.  I wish I had more cards with annual fees because my math tells me I am leaving rewards consideration on the table.  Right now, I wish I qualified for two cards with AFs over $1000 a year -- because if I had those cards, I'd be earning around $5000/year more in cashback or rewards I actually use!  Instead, I have the no AF cards and earn way less in rewards based on my organic spend.

Are you sure you don't get value out of the AF cards?  I have the QS1 from Capital One but I subscribe to Spotify so the savings offset the annual fee and then some.  Yes, I'd prefer the no AF card but so far no upgrades available.  I will close that card if they don't upgrade me before the AF or don't waive it.

[Anonymous]

I’ll look into it. Thanks!

[MrDisco99]

I see what you mean about some AF cards having better rewards that offset the fee.  However the QS1 is not a great example.  There's really no advantage to having the QS1 over the no-AF QS.

[Anonymous]

---

@MrDisco99 wrote:

I see what you mean about some AF cards having better rewards that offset the fee.  However the QS1 is not a great example.  There's really no advantage to having the QS1 over the no-AF QS.

---

Correct, but the QS1 is a rebuilder card and when I snagged it, I wouldn't have qualified for QS.  The product for me is useless other than the Spotify deal because 1.5% is inferior to practically everything else.  It's one of the cards I wish I never apped for but I also didn't expect my FICO scores to skyrocket linearly since I started rehabbing, lol.

The only way to know if an AF makes sense is to do the math, comparing it not only to the no-AF variety, but also comparing it to OTHER credit cards that offer rewards/cashback.  

[HeavenOhio]

---

@MrDisco99 wrote:

I see what you mean about some AF cards having better rewards that offset the fee.  However the QS1 is not a great example.  There's really no advantage to having the QS1 over the no-AF QS.

---

Right. The QS1 isn't a keeper card. It eventually needs to be product-changed, combined into another Capital One card, or closed. Product changes on this card are notoriously difficult as offers are known to be infrequent. If the card contributes significantly to your account age stats, waiting out a PC offer is likely to be worthwhile. If not, combining or closing at some point would be in order.

Having said that, I was able to PC two QS1s into no-fee QSes. I used the cards each and every month, and I made payments each and every month. I didn't necessarily charge a lot on the cards. And I usually didn't let a positive balance cut on the statements. After about 12 or 13 consecutive months of usage, the PC offers popped up.

I can't guarantee that this will work as we don't have a lot of data points on it. But it does appear that people who are able to PC QS1s have been using the card each month vs. letting it gather lint in the sock drawer. I think consecutive months of payments might be the key more than consecutive months of charges. But I'd do both: charge something, and pay it off.

@Anonymous, have you been checking on PC offers for your QS1? If an offer comes up after 12 or 13 months, we may have a data point.