Three card strategy -- look OK?

[notmyrealname23]

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@budugu wrote:

Why not simply get the Citi Premier ? 3x a lot of categories  + no forex and combine with double cash.  

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Doesn't transfer to Delta, no travel insurance, no baggage insurance, no rental car insurance.

Citi Premier is fine but it's missing some travel features. If you don't care though... sure.

[Anonymous]

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@staticvoidmain wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

1.Domestic everyday spending: Citi Double-Cash (23K limit, with a history to 1993 due to product changes along the way)

2.International purchases: PenFed PowerCash rewards (20K limit, no FX fees, 1.5% cashback).  I travel quite a bit, so helpful.

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If you get a 2% NO FTF card (like the PayPal or SoFi Mastercard), you can reduce your cards by one, and you get 0.5% more for international purchases. That's what I do with my PayPal.

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Bad news, I'm afraid: the PayPal Mastercard reinstated its 3% FTF effective July 25, 2021. You may want to reconsider putting foreign transactions on your PPMC as the 3% FTF outweighs the 2% cashback.

For the original poster, the SoFi Mastercard is fine, but it requires opening a SoFi Money account and redeeming cashback to that SoFi Money account in order to actually enjoy the 2% cashback rate. (Redemption as a statement credit drops the cashback rate to a measly 1%.)

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much for these additional ideas, @longtimelurker , @budugu , @staticvoidmain and others.  As I am learning, there are of course tradeoffs with each approach. 

Thanks @budugu on the Citi Premier idea: I looked at it, but since my main partner is Delta that did not seem to work so well and was willing to extend the AF up to $150 for the Green.  (I also looked at AMEX Delta Gold, but overall I liked the LoungeBuddy and some other Green benefits over the AMEX Delta family... as well as flexibility if my airline or points use preference change over time).  One other card I considered as a non-cashback card was the AMEX Hilton Surpass, given the 10 Priority Pass rewards (would be helpful for family vacations to bring everyone in the lounge) for a $95 AF and a generous SUB currently, but I just don't use Hilton enough to justify and it seemed Green was more flexible as my one AF card, with good focus on dining and travel support in terms of MR 3X and associated benefits. Not sure if others have good experience with the Hilton.

Interesting @staticvoidmain  to think about PayPal / SoFi type options, but will have to weigh tradeoffs with these approaches.  Thanks for the idea to research these!

As @longtimelurker suggested, am considering keeping $500 in a checking account at PenFed and using that as my basic 2% domestically and internationally could be good, and then "sock drawer" the Citi DC card for now (keeping my 1993 history) since it has foreign transaction fees and really no other benefits (no extended warantee, CDW, etc.).  I already have a great checking account (with worldwide ATM free access) so would not use the PenFed checking, so that $500 would just sit for the 0.5% boost... so it does seem a bit odd to do, but perhaps worth it?

Again, a great variety of ideas about a 3-or-fewer card strategy.  Thank you, and glad for any more ideas and perspectives, as I'm learning a lot from the forum in general and this discussion in particular!

[Aim_High]

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@Anonymous wrote:

As @longtimelurker suggested, am considering keeping $500 in a checking account at PenFed and using that as my basic 2% domestically and internationally could be good, and then "sock drawer" the Citi DC card for now (keeping my 1993 history) since it has foreign transaction fees and really no other benefits (no extended warantee, CDW, etc.).  I already have a great checking account (with worldwide ATM free access) so would not use the PenFed checking, so that $500 would just sit for the 0.5% boost... so it does seem a bit odd to do, but perhaps worth it?

Welcome to My Fico Forums, @Anonymous!   And yes, they can be a great source of information and a great sounding board.

I agree with the AOD FCU option for the extra 1% since your focus is a simple, few cards, cash back strategy. That would give you the highest bang-for-the-buck.   The card is a little cumbersome to apply for but worth the process, IMO.  Only real issue is whether it will stick around for the long term.  It's been on the market over a year and still seems to be doing well. 

The simple option would be to upgrade your PenFed Power Cash Rewards Visa which is also a favorite card of mine.  But instead of just parking $500 and letting it sit, I have other suggestions.  First, are you a veteran?  If so, you're eligible for the 2% version without a checking account with the Honors Advantage program.  For non-veterans, to avoid the checking account fee and get the 2% rewards, you need to (either) have a $500 daily balance (or) maintain a $500 direct deposit.   Does your employer allow you to split off a portion of your direct deposit?  If you have a $500 DD, you won't get charged a fee if you go below that amount.  You can then use the checking account to pay your credit card balance without worrying about maintaining a minimum balance.  Also, while PenFed's checking account pays a generous 0.15% which is higher than many financial institutions, they also have an "Online High Yield Savings Account" which currently pays 0.45% interest.  You could transfer money into checking and then as it accrues, transfer a portion over to the High Yield Savings for the best return.   I think this is a far better option than just parking $500.  PenFed would probably want to see some activity on the account to not charge inactivity fees, so this method helps avoid that also.  (Under Disclosures > Fees > Maintenance > there can be a $15 quarterly fee for "inactive accounts," depending on how that is defined.)   If your employer doesn't allow splitting DD or that doesn't work for you for other reasons, PenFed may allow a monthly deposit from another account to qualify as a Direct Deposit, but that depends on the financial institution's rules.  A quick call to customer service would answer the question. 

Lots of good options to consider!

[northface28]

If I were running a 3 card setup, which I am. It would be the chase trifecta.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much @Aim_High for both the further nod to the interesting AOD option that would simplfy things (once work though the process of getting one) as well as to how I could best work a PenFed shift to 2%, doing a portion of my employer direct deposit to feed the checking account to pay off the credit card (rather than letting funds merely sit).  I am indeed not a veteran myself, so would need to do a route such as this.  Very helpful ideas and items I would need to think through. Thank you!

[staticvoidmain]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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Bad news, I'm afraid: the PayPal Mastercard reinstated its 3% FTF effective July 25, 2021. You may want to reconsider putting foreign transactions on your PPMC as the 3% FTF outweighs the 2% cashback.

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Guess I might apply for SoFi CC then (already use them for banking). Thanks, I did not know this. It's been a while since I traveled outside US.

(I DID contact synchrony just now, and they mentioned that the terms are incorrect and that the 3% was for the EXTRAS MC, not CASHBACK. He was pretty sure about it too, even after trying to ask him and verify several times.)

(sorry to kind of hijack the thread)

[Anonymous]

@staticvoidmain: Here's confirmation of the PPMC's 3% FTF from a recent NerdWallet review.

IMO the Synchrony rep was simply misinformed. It indeed used to be true that the PPMC did not have a 3% FTF, while the PayPal Extras card did. But, as noted, that changed very recently and now both of the PayPal/Sync cards have a 3% FTF.

[Citylights18]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi all,

I am somewhat new to the forum and would appreciate guidance on a three-card strategy I have been executing. I travel internationally about 3 times a year, dine out only sometimes during the month, not a great deal.  Average dad with kids at home.  Right now I am at the following for my three cards:

1. Domestic everyday spending: Citi Double-Cash (23K limit, with a history to 1993 due to product changes along the way)
2. International purchases: PenFed PowerCash rewards (20K limit, no FX fees, 1.5% cashback).  I travel quite a bit, so helpful.
3. Dining and travel: AMEX Green (no FX fees, small lounge and CLEAR perks, 3X MR earnings on dining and travel, $150/yr AF)

This has felt like a good balance, but you folks are the real experts.  If I like to keep to three cards, does this look OK?

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I have the AMEX Green as a back of the wallet card. There is a few areas where its a clubhouse leader.

1) Shopping points through Rakuten. Rakuten's portal has the biggest and best shopping portal cash back. These points convert over to membership rewards if you have a MR earning card like the Green.

2) Dining program through Rakuten. All of the airlines have dining clubs where by you can earn extra points in their currency. Those restaurants all normally share the same payment network. Rakuten has the same thing however instead of needing to induldge a certain number of times before you get 5x bonus for an airline currency you start with 5x and they transfer in to becoming more valuable Membership Rewards points. Then of course you use your AMEX Green and get another 3x on top of that.

3) AMEX offers. I can't count how many times on vacation that I would go to a parking garage, use my AMEX green and get 5 or 10 dollars off as its part of the shop small program. If I need to pick a restaurant for dinner I will oftern look at my AMEX offers and pick one of those first.

That said you might want to build your card offerings together some. A Citi Premier would be better for foreign travel than a 1.5% cash back card since you could maintain 3% dining, supermarkets, gas and travel. Then you could port your double cash earnings over to transfer partners.

AMEX+Citi is a good combo but you really need to have that Citi Premier to get anything out of the Citi ecosystem.

[NRB525]

I think you have a very good setup for getting good rewards with a simple combination of cards.  The tweaks to PenFed are easy. 

I will say my personal opinion is that AOD is oversold here. I know it gets 3%, but it's a small CU and this forum has a history of piling in to various Flavor of the Month cards and contributing to those card issuers removing outlier benefits.  I can't say for sure AOD will go to 2%, but it would not surprise me.  

If you fly Delta regularly, then the AMEX cards have a lot of appeal. You just started with Green, and with a modified PenFed that's a simple setup. Keep an eye out for AMEX to try to get you to add or product change to Gold and Platinum. With a family, grocery costs are likely significant, and the Gold card credits and higher earn rate may be difficult to resist