Top 5 cards to have?

Anonymous · ‎09-04-2019

About 2 years back my credit score was under 500.. there were few delinquencies, also a flag on Early Warning System. Fast forward to today, I have paid up all my defaulted accounts, and within 1 year my credit score shot up to close to 700 TU is up to 749

I started off with a Discover IT pre-paid card, and worked my way up. Got approved for Capital One Platinum for 3000 USD limit.

In 6 months I got approved for Amex Gold with 7000 USD limit.

Yes you do not need credit repair agencies, sign up for credit report monitoring, and start paying off your dues in full, not partial or not even settlement.. soon you will see the records fall off, and with a pre-paid card, your scores will start getting better.

Now that i have the above mentioned 3 cards, i would like to add more cards to my portfolio.. yes i am more responsible now, and wont repeate those blunders. I earn well as well.

But I do know I wont be able to secure any Chase cards, as i have a Chase flag on my Early Warning System, though the Bank Over Drafted account is fully paid and closed.

SO each time i try to check pre-qualification site for chase, they say that they cannot find a suitable card for me atm.

So other than chase what other cards do you recommend (i already have Discover IT silver, Amex Gold, and Capital One Platinum).

I was thinking of getting one PedFed CC. If you recommend this one also...so.. which one.

Anonymous · ‎09-04-2019

Without knowing your spending habits specifically, you probably would do well with a flat 2% cash back card. Since you are already considering PenFed, I would try for their Power Cash Rewards which when paired with their checking (minimum balance of $500 to avoid a monthly fee) gives 2% back on all purchases.

Otherwise the Citi Double Cash, Alliant Visa Platinum Rewards, and PayPal Cashback are all solid 2% choices that have their own quirks.

I opted not to deal with quirks and so I use my Capital One QuickSilver and NFCU cashRewards cards for 1.5% instead.

Any other recommendations, we will need to know what your spend looks like.

Anonymous · ‎09-04-2019

Thanks for your replies. Honestly speaking.. I have not thought about what kind of card i should get, wether I should pay emphasis to Cash back, or travel, etc.

Yes being a family man, we shop around a lot both at local stores and supermarkets.

We do travel as well, atleast one foreign trip one year, and probably two domestic ones.

There is no preference to which airlines we travel in, the one that provides us the lowest fares we choose.

So i guess an airline branded card will not work good for me.. i used my amex gold points to travel to Australia recently, and I paid 400 usd less. That was sweet, I dont know if there are other cards that offers better travel points.

Other than that.. as i said, i have no preference.. wiht the above spending habits, what do u think i should choose.. Please feel free to brainstorm and ask more questions if you have.

Anonymous · ‎09-04-2019

If you have military affiliation, the NFCU Flagship gives a flat 2X on all purchases which makes it a 2% cash back card if you redeem for cash, 3X on travel also but it has a $49 AF after the first year so you have to do the math to see if it works for you.

I am not very fond of PenFed, they have earned the name PenDread to some of us around here, but NFCU is amazing. I have their cashRewards card and use it more than my PayPal Cashback even though it’s only 1.5% because it’s a superior card in every other way than that .5%.

I am not great with the travel options though so someone else would have to chime in here.

Since you already have the Amex Gold, I assume you’re covered on grocery spend.

Anonymous · ‎09-04-2019

No military affliation.

2% seems normal with many cards now. I was thinking about BoA Premium Rewards?

Anonymous · ‎09-04-2019

If you have the assets in BoA, you can’t beat the 2.625% on all purchases that the Premium Rewards offers.

But you have to have $50K or more in BoA or Merrill accounts before you will beat a 2% card (2.25% for $50K+, 2.625% kicks in at $100K+). If you have that there already, it’s definitely a no-brainer.

Anonymous · ‎09-04-2019

You already have gold and IT, get a DC and call it.

Andypanda · ‎09-04-2019

If you have a Costco membership, I believe the Citi Costco Visa is worth. If yoiu do not mind getting the Cash back once a year. 2% back at costco (PP and DC are MC which Costco does not accept). 4% back on cash. 3% back on resturants and tracel. If you book travel through costco travel and have an exuctive membership, you can 3% back on the visa, and 2% back from coscto exective membership, pretty much givving you 5% back on travel.

Anonymous · ‎09-04-2019

@AndyPanda, great feedback. Costco credit card is on my list. I am a costco member. SO yes.

I just want to raise my credit worthiness and have multiple lines. Not wanting to content with one or two cards. Its not like I will be using them like cats and dogs.. but every once in a while I will log in few hundred dollars on each card for spiking up my credit scores.

Anything else you recommend? Especially for travel. I dont think Amex Gold is all that great for travel. I mentioned i travel to an international destination once a year, and about 2 times domestically. Not a fanboy of any specific airlines.

kdm31091 · ‎09-04-2019

@Anonymous wrote:

Anything else you recommend? Especially for travel. I dont think Amex Gold is all that great for travel. I mentioned i travel to an international destination once a year, and about 2 times domestically. Not a fanboy of any specific airlines.

Amex Gold earns MR points, which IMO are actually only really useful for travel. You can redeem for a limited selection of gift cards, but anything else is far below 1 cent per point, which means you're better off with cash back. If you aren't redeeming your Amex points for travel / transferring to partners, it's likely not worth the AF for the Gold.