@Anonymous wrote:
@ThomasJNewton wrote:
@BronzeTrader wrote:I get the US Bank Altitute Reserve. All mobile wallet is solid 3x or 4.5% if used for travel. How much does Apple card earns?
According to their website, it is now 3 points for travel unless used for pre-paid hotels and car rentals booked through their web portal.
U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite Cardmembers will earn 1 Point for every $1 in eligible Net Purchases. In addition, you will earn 4 Points (5 Points total) for every $1 in eligible Net Purchases spent on prepaid car and hotel reservations purchased in the online Altitude Rewards Center using your U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Card. Prepaid car and hotel reservations in the Rewards Center are not classified as a travel category merchant transaction and are not eligible to receive the additional points for that category. Please allow 1-2 statement billing cycles for your bonus Points to appear on your credit card statement. Refer to the Rewards Center for full details. You will earn 2 Points (3 Points total) for every $1 in eligible Net Purchases during each billing cycle for transactions made directly with merchants who classify their business as a travel category transaction (such as purchases made directly with airlines, hotels, car rentals, taxicabs, limousines, passenger trains and cruise line companies), and for transactions using a mobile wallet. “Mobile wallet” is defined as the method of paying for a transaction by use of a mobile device (in-store, in-app or online) and includes Apple Pay®, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay™. If the transaction is an eligible mobile wallet transaction and an eligible travel category transaction, additional Points will only be awarded for one of the transaction types (Points will be applied as mobile wallet, not travel ).
It EARNS 3 points per $ on travel/mobile wallet, but when redeemed for travel, either via portal or (much better) real time rewards, each point is worth 1.5, hence the 4.5% For heavy mobile wallet users, who also travel sometimes (using at least one of plane/hotel/rental car) this is really hard to beat.
It is not hard to beat ignoring the extra on travel, which not everyone can use or more likely has a better card.... at 3% vs 2% you have to spend 7500 dollars just to recover the annual fee and that assumes the other 325 dollars in statement credits are all applicable to you and you use them every single year and you value those credits the same as USB does. How many people can honestly say they have more than 7500 dollars in general spend, and that spend can happen on a digital wallet? if you do you likely are missing a key rewards card or several like grocery, gas etc.
The reserve is a great card if you travel and if you can use the credits. But if you are truly spending that much in uncategorized spend you likely have a hole or several somewhere in your rewards spending.
I would further add it is likely not an applicable card to recommend to OP who is likely not at a stage in their credit journey to even get the card when viewing the rest of their card profile
@Bill77 wrote:
If you believe that, then just get the Apple Card. We are 6 pages in and now you're an 8k Mac Studio shopper.
First, I was making a more general point, that buying smaller amounts of gift cards as part of general spend is one thing, buying thousands of dollars at once is something quite different. Second, as I noted in one of my first posts in this thread, my BF already has an Apple Card, and is quite happy with it, using it as his default in Apple Pay, and then using one of his other rewards cards for other specific items. He has always been a high end Mac Customer. He currently has a 2019 Mac Pro, an iMac Pro, several Mac minis and lots of other gear. He is an editor and content producer, so he uses this gear for work, and is either going to get a Mac Studio or an Apple Silicon Mac Pro in the next few months.
None of this is really relevant to the OP's question though. :-D
@ThomasJNewton wrote:
@Bill77 wrote:
If you believe that, then just get the Apple Card. We are 6 pages in and now you're an 8k Mac Studio shopper.
First, I was making a more general point, that buying smaller amounts of gift cards as part of general spend is one thing, buying thousands of dollars at once is something quite different. Second, as I noted in one of my first posts in this thread, my BF already has an Apple Card, and is quite happy with it, using it as his default in Apple Pay, and then using one of his other rewards cards for other specific items. He has always been a high end Mac Customer. He currently has a 2019 Mac Pro, an iMac Pro, several Mac minis and lots of other gear. He is an editor and content producer, so he uses this gear for work, and is either going to get a Mac Studio or an Apple Silicon Mac Pro in the next few months.
I spent a lot on Apple products and even inside Apple stores. But I only spent a total of $300 just to keep my Apple card alive. That card does not even have enough CL to do anything anyway. I buy Apple products and I buy other brands like Dell, HP and Lenovo too. But I do not love Apple and I do not like the Apple card becasue it is just not good.
WOAH!!! I turn my head away from forums for a couple of days, and look what happens... I guess that's what happens when you offer a suggestion like "keep 'em coming." 
Going through the multiple pages of responses since, I am going to try and hit all of the important points and observations raised. By all means, chime in if I missed any that are relevant...
I'm not quite what US Bank Altitude Reserve, redemptions on cancelled travel, or manufactured spending has to do exactly with whether I should apply for an Apple Card or not. To be honest, I'm still on the fence - obvious pros include getting approved for a new card that might grow faster than others in credit limit, and generally adding another card to my wallet. Biggest cons are how I'm not an Apple OR mobile-centric person (I'm typing this response on a real desktop computer, if that offers any perspective), nor have I ever attempted anything with contactless or cardless payments. Would that change anytime soon, I don't know yet. I also have no real need or interest in buying high-priced Apple hardware. By "hype" I'm talking about the style of some responses here - "snazzy offer from revolutionary Apple who always wants to try and change the ways of the world, just look at all the things it can do" etc. etc.
To be honest, HOW rewards are redeemed is not a huge concern for me. As long as I'm getting paid out, I don't care much about the method or timeframe. Yes, I always enjoy travel especially now that the world and my work situation are both far more conducive of it than in 2020-2021. In general, these sorts of rewards and loyalty programs are still a newer science to me.
I recently added card graphics to my signature in order to offer some visual and background, as to where I am at currently. Yes, Costco Anywhere Visa with a $6,800 limit and Quicksilver earning 1.5% are both very much considered "flagship" in my own eyes - and in my (genuine leather, not digital) wallet right now. I'm actually not sure what other tools (outside of Credit Karma) exist for determining what would be a best bet given credit history, limits, age, and all the other usual factors. To put it another way, I don't have a great handle on which "real 2% rewards cards" I should look at applying for - the names suggested in this thread?
Multiple elite-level offers with 5 x figure credit limits feel very out-of-reach to me at this moment, but more time past bankruptcy and ongoing responsibility in general is presumably going to help that. Yes, I have come a long way since my collapse (circa-2016) then eventual bankruptcy and will still (hopefully) go a long way. I've mentioned elsewhere that I'll be sending the check to AmEx next week, paying off a balance from years ago with high hopes of getting back in. I don't even know if anything under Chase's suite would EVER be attainable, after I got into a lot of trouble with them over a checking (not credit) account years ago. They probably remember me. Same with US Bank, in fact - I "burned" them pretty hard via charged-off credit cards and overdrafted accounts in bankruptcy.
I hope my post is a useful point for which to move this thread forward.
@SKBirdmind wrote:... I'm not quite what US Bank Altitude Reserve, redemptions on cancelled travel, or manufactured spending has to do exactly with whether I should apply for an Apple Card or not.
... Yes, Costco Anywhere Visa with a $6,800 limit and Quicksilver earning 1.5% are both very much considered "flagship" in my own eyes ...
...I don't have a great handle on which "real 2% rewards cards" I should look at applying for - the names suggested in this thread?
... I hope my post is a useful point for which to move this thread forward.
Exactly. The Altitude Reserve and other discussion was totally off topic and had nothing to do with meeting you where you are at in your rebuild and answering your questions about Apple Card. Unfortunately, sometimes our member's replies inadequately empathize and identify with the direct question and interject concepts that are unhelpful to the original posting. Whether you can earn more than x% right now isn't necessarily your top priority. We all have our methods and tolerance for pursuing card rewards, but it's inappropriate to ridicule anyone's choices about their cards or rewards. Our community should be supportive of each others' goals and circumstances.
Costco Visa is a great card! Enjoy! Yes the 4% gas and 3% dining-travel with no AF is very competitive. The 2% at Costco is also good. And Citi cards often grow every six months with a soft pull. Set your calendar reminder! The annual check is no big deal IMO.
Here are links to some 2% card Mega Threads. There really are a lot of options to choose from!
Thanks for taking the off-topic in-stride so we can focus on cards that would be helpful to you in your current situation.
