Prime/Best Cash Back Cards For Those With Good Credit

[barthooper]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have good credit with no baddies; My TU is 749. I have a BOA cash rewards visa with 9500 credit limit, a Target Red Card with 500 limit, Comenity store card with $1500 and Chase Slate 4500. I believe my BOA card is over 3 years old. 

My current BOA gives me 3% back on gas and 2% on groceries. 

I want a new cash rewards card but with better rewards but preferably from another prime lender like BOA. 

From what I researched Chase Freedom is good but they aren't considered like a "premium" card. The categories do seem to suit my spending though. 

Discover is not an option, their categories don't suit me. They have home improvement stores as a category and I have no need for that. 

Another option is US Bank Cash Plus Signature (they offer 5% categories to select from) but they don't have a category for groceries. If I picked them I would probably pick cell phones (my bill is around $100 a month)  and maybe the gym category ($45). 

Sallie Mae mastercard seems ok but there's no 5% cashback for groceries as far as I could tell. 

Ebates Visa does appeal to me as well since I do shop online a lot and always use Ebates.. They give you an extra 3% off. 

Amex Cash Preferred is no good because I only spend $200 on groceries a month and their regular Blue Cash card offers basically the same rewards as my BOA, just 1% better on groceries.. not worth it. 

I spend my money mainly on food, gas, online shopping, bills etc. Restaurants just once in a while but more of the Chipotle, Waba Grill, Poke bar kind (fancy fast food). Not the fancy real sit down restaurant kind. 

What are other premium cash back cards are out there with 5%'ish rewards? I am interested in the best card I can get including maybe Visa Signature? What other prime cash rewards cards am I missing? Thanks 

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Since no one else said it, I'll mention that the Sallie Mae Mastercard is no longer available for new signups, been nearly a year now.

In regards to Discover I echo what the others have said about how it doesn't make sense that you would favor Freedom but not be into Discover. Additionally you can't judge Discover on one of the categories for this quarter. Amazon has also been a category for this quarter and will be included in the fourth quarter as well.

Discover also has the potential to grow to quite a high line, as most of the time they will only do a soft pull for an increase via their site (if it will be a hard pull, they would warn you ahead of time). I got my Discover last October at 11K and it is already at 25K. Many others have had similar experience. It is my daily driver because it is at minimum 2% everything given the fact that they double your cashback after a year of having it, so that means the 5% categories are 10%.

[Anonymous]

You absolutely do need a Discover card.  The cashback match the first year turns it into a 10% rotating category 2% general spend monster.  All rotating cards are going to have quarters where you don't use them much.  Another nice thing about Discover is no minimum for redemption.  You can get $0.50 in rewards that month and they will deposit it right in your bank. There is no valid reason not to apply for Discover.

Get a 2% card (blispay, citi double, fidelity)

Cash+ is a pretty awesome card.  Amex BCE is good (Amex offers!). BOA BBR is abusable for $100 or $120 per year.  Freedom is a good card.  It's an awesome card if you're already into the UR points racket, but even without it's a decent cash back card.  

Start with Discover.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Based on your restaurant comment, US Bank Cash + might be good since it's got Fast Food as a 5% and other restaurants as a 2%. US Bank is sorta quirky though. 

You didn't mention if you're trying to replace your Cash Rewards or supplement. If you're wanting a good card for gas, groceries and restuarants, the Citi Anywhere Costco Visa could be good. I think it's 4/2/3, but I could have those out of order. The catch is you need a Costco membership so you can say it effectively has a $55 annual fee. Another good thing is Citi has the best purchase protection around these days, in my opinion. 

And speaking of Citi, if you were wanting an overall 2% card there's Citi Double Cash. It's 1 when you buy and 1 when you pay, which bugs some people, but it's still a 2% card. 

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I am not trying to replace my BOA as I have a long relationship with them and they have been good to me. Just looking for something with better rewards. I've been reading this forum for the past  few days and never knew about all these reward cards. 

It's hard to multi quote different people on this forum so I am just going to respond to the rest below without quoting each one. 

I didn't know Discover had double cash back after the first year. I actually do shop at Amazon a lot so that works out for me. No, I don't have a Costco membership and there's actually no Costco near by. 

I'll look more into Discover... 

Didn' t know Sallie Mae is no longer open either. Thanks for the info. 

[Absolution16]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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I am not trying to replace my BOA as I have a long relationship with them and they have been good to me. Just looking for something with better rewards. I've been reading this forum for the past  few days and never knew about all these reward cards. 

It's hard to multi quote different people on this forum so I am just going to respond to the rest below without quoting each one. 

I didn't know Discover had double cash back after the first year. I actually do shop at Amazon a lot so that works out for me. No, I don't have a Costco membership and there's actually no Costco near by. 

I'll look more into Discover... 

Didn' t know Sallie Mae is no longer open either. Thanks for the info. 

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If you don't like rotating categories, Discover it Miles card may suit your bill.  It is 1.5% cashback card, but you do get 2x bonus, so it is effectively a 3% cashback card for the first year.  If you go this route, I would put EVERY spending on that card, and use another card ONLY when Discover is NOT accepted.

And like others said, Citi Double Cash card is solid 2% cashback card for non-category general spending.

[Themanwhocan]

You did check out my thread on cash back cards, I hope:  http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Cash-Back-credit-card-charts/td-p/4004725

I never completed this chart, and its outdated at that, but in case you want to see it:

[Credit_hawk]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I think you have a great chance with a decent limit with the freedom as your slate card which is notorious for being a low limit is 4500. Just do it.

The freedom earns on the same points system as a sapphire. It's "prime. " Just do it.

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[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

US Bank is certainly not more 'prime' than Chase and you need to stop focusing on that word because you're just confusing yourself and the issue.  

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Yes, "prime" is more or less a meaningless word when trying to distinguish between big banks.   There are some subprime banks that offer abusive products to subprime borrowers (look for huge fees, especially monthly ones after the first year) but US Bank and Chase aren't examples.   The OP cites one reason for considering Freedom subprime is that it can be given to people with fairly low scores.   That is true, but it doesn't really matter, unless you are looking for your credit card to give you prestige (which IMO is misguided).

WHat does matter is just the features of the card.    If CommonPeopleBank ("We give credit to anyone with a pulse, or those who recently had one") gave out a card that had uncapped 10% cashback on everything, you would be foolish not to take it, just because other people with lower scores could also get it.   Focus on "Does this make sense for me", not vague things as wondering if this card is prime.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

No, I don't have a Costco membership and there's actually no Costco near by. 

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How about the Sam's Club Mastercard? Similar rewards structure to the Costco Visa with 5% cashback on gas and 3% cashback on dining. Like with the Costco product, you have to maintain a Sam's membership ($45 annual fee) with the Sam's Mastercard though. If you have a Walmart near you, chances are good that you also have a Sam's.

As for your (utility?) bills, the best card for those is probably the Chase Ink with 5% back (UR points, which are at the very least, as good as cash) on cell, internet, and cable. These are business class cards though, but Chase's definition of "business" seems pretty loose (think ebay side gig) if you have good credit and already have a good relationship with them. Definitely a your-results-may-vary thing though. Also keep in mind that (I believe) every application for the Ink gets manually reviewed, so be prepared for that if you apply.

Having said that, the other great thing about business cards is that they don't report to the major 3 bureaus so you can take full advantage of grace periods without stressing about balances reporting. This also makes them great for parking decent sums of money with 0% balance transfers, which Chase is always spamming me with for the Ink.

[Anonymous]

If you are under 5/24 you should app for the CSR and the Freedom.  To my knowledge there's not a higher rate of return  unless you somehow got some nice amex MR targeted offers and cashed out with charles schwab or used for travel. (first year of course).

And whos to say you couldn't find a black friday deal on a vacuum or some furniture, gift cards,  or something?  Lowes/home depot have a lot more than lumber and power tools...... lamps, lawn mower, plants,

Menards, sherwin williams, empire flooring, ace hardware..... menards has great deals with rebates on tide/tp/paper products, also food.....lol

[Anonymous]

lotsof Pens

I actually only grocery shop at Trader Joes & Target (I have a red card, just got it) and nowhere else. No Ralphs or Pavilions. I don't shop at any wholesale place; it's just me and I only spend $200 on food a month. I live in the city and there are no Walmarts nearby and no wholesale places of any kind including Sam's super close by.  It's not worth it for me as I don't spend a lot on food and don't buy tons of groceries. 

Jfriend33  

I don't travel at all anywhere. I have no need for a travel card; I literally have nowhere to go and no one to go with and don't want to travel alone. I have no strong interest in travelling. These miles/travel cards are not for me.  I only like cash back. 

Quoting multiple on here is very confusing!