Want to move to Rewards card, but where to start ?

[Anonymous]

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@HeavenOhio wrote:

c00mtg, the OP doesn't have two cards to merge.

I agree that the OP doesn't need a second Capital One card unless one of their other products interests him. The Dining card may be a fit, for instance. But at this point, I think you're right about the three hard pulls. I'd look at cards from other banks this time around. If there's a desire for another Capital One card, it can be gotten down the road.

By the way, the Chase Amazon Prime card is a good card for anyone who's a Prime member.

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Opps, I'm sorry!! Corrected.

Thanks HeavenOhio 

[SunriseEarth]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for the replies so far:

- To answer a previous question - i'm using my current card mostly for restaurants, online and brick and mortar store purchases, and gas mostly.   occasional travel (air/hotel) as well.   

- i did quickly check (using another post i saw on CapitalOne upgrade link) and am being offered QuickSilver at 1.5% cash back keeping my card number, APR, and Credit limit all the same.  But can i do better?

-if it helps i have two differenet checking accounts with Chase as well - one with a decent balance.  Would that make me more appealing to Chase to get a rewards card with better rate (say 2 percent?  is 2 percent the best out there now ?)

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To this point, you might find a better card for your spend, but I think it's still worth upgrading to the QS.  You'll eliminate your AF, you'll start getting 1.5% cashback, and QS is a great card for international purchases (non-FTF) and for being able to redeem your rewards whenever you want.

Are you a Sam's Club member?   Their MC has 5% gas and 3% dining and travel, which seems idea for your spend.  If you're a Costco member, their card also has 3% dining and travel, but 4% gas.   If not a member of either, you might consider Chase AARP (3% gas and restaurants). And no, you don't have to be a member of AARP to apply.  

If you're interested in rotating categories, Chase Freedom and Discover It are worth checking out, as restaurants and gas do come up on some quarters.  

[kilroy8]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@dragontears wrote:
1) yes your scores are good enough to get reward cards
2) there is NO best card, there are cards that are best for your spend but without knowing what you spend the most on people can only take shots in the dark with suggestions

I would suggest you try to get your cap1 card upgraded to a QS so you can start getting rewards right away

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+1

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+2

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all great replies. I truly appreciate you taking your time to assist. On your advise I called CapitalOne and upgraded my card to the QuickSilver card and they raised my CL from 7500 to 10500 at same time. im considering a second card that would have good cash back rewards focused on dining, gas, and shopping. Capital one also has a dining specific card that seems to be a good fit but should I try to mix card vendors as best practice? If yes what's a good card with the focus I'm looking at ?

[Anonymous]

The highest cashback you can get for the anything-else category AND with no AF is 2%, no need to settle for 1.5%. There's a few options for this, from which I like Blispay and Alliant.

To get more % than that from most of your purchases you bneed CCs by categories, Chase Freedom, Sears Mastercard, BofA better bal rewards, Amazon, and store specific cards will give you 5% or more on most of your purchases, again with no AF

All this combined can give an average individual $500-$1000/year cashback aside from sign-up bonuses.

[bourgogne]

If you are never going to travel outside the US and you are interested in only max cash back you can ignore this.  If not, then nothing is easier to manage that a set of chase cards imo.  Freedom is a 5% quarterly category card, freedom unlimited is 1.5% and the sapphire premier is 2x hotel, air, and restaurants.  You can transfer the freedoms to the sapphire for points if you wish.  Because of 5/24 I recommend to always get the chase cards out of the way.  You can get a csp and an fu usually with a single pull at the same time.  if there is a local branch near you check on pre-approvals, I like getting the cards in the branch.  You can product/credit line change anytime you want.  If you have a sapphire then you can use that portal for all the other cards and experience service that imo is without peer.  With the better point cards, there are bonus spends that must be met to accrue points so examine that to make sure you are a fit.  They also have nice business products, the ink business preferred comes with a whopping 80K bonus and has great cell insurance so you can offer drop your carrier coverage.  If you fit into the 3x category $150K area you can amass up to 450K points a year.  With your scores I cannot imagine wanting to deal with cap1 moving forward, they are a great rebuilder company, probably the best of the worst but outsourced customer service.  You are not a rebuilder, not even close.  Amex is the other company that comes to mind, they have some nice products and the only cards I use beside chase.  I have nfcu for penfed for padding only, I don’t use either they just sit in drawer.  Same with cap1.  Consider chase, you might be glad you did – also the IHG is a nice little card if you hotel @ all. 

[HeavenOhio]

I'd stay away from Blispay at this point simply because so many people are denied because the company can't verify their identity. Also, they still don't offer credit limit increases. And they only report to Experian, which could be either a disadvantage or an advantage. A lot of people like the card, but it's a better fit once one has more cards in hand and can risk a denial or low limit.