What Type of Credit Card User Are You? [with apologies to frogman1]

[red259]

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@UpperNwGuy wrote:

In a thread that is now closed to new comments, frogman1 made an interesting comment:

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I think once people get their scores up on here and stay a while there are five types of people on here

1). Bonus chasers:  people who don't carry balances and go from card to card and stop using the card soon as they get the bonus.  People who like to go on big vacations

2). Coupon cutters:  they don't carry balances either. They carry 10 cards at all time trying to get the biggest cash back they can for each purchase.  They complain about sign up bonuses because they spend such a little bit of money that they can never reach the spend.  They get a new card if they can save 2 dollars a year in a category.

3) 0 interest balance transfers.  They carry balances so they always looking for no interest.

4) People who get all the cars from one company to maximize their rewards.  Either Chase or Amex.  They will have Chase Freedom.  Chase freedom Unlimited , CSP and CSR .

5). High Credit Line People:  they don't care much about benefits or interest rates other than to brag about them.  Their goal is only to get more cards to increase their limits.  They don't need the increased limit they just want to have it to have it.

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I have two questions:

1.  Is frogman1 correct?  Are these the five types of people on here?  Are there other types?

2.  Which type are you?  I tend to fall into type 2, the coupon cutters.  I almost migrated into type 4, the single bank for everything, a few months ago, with Chase, but then Chase scared me with their survey of three bad alternatives to devalue or eliminate the transfer of Ultimate Rewards points from Freedom cards to Sapphire cards.

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Umm no there are certainly not five types of credit users. I go for good bonuses but I hold all cards that have value and have spend strategies that keep some of the cards in the same rotation for years. Sometimes I use the 0% apr in a pinch but not very often, I have done one or two BTs when I was in a tight spot and needed to buy a month or two until money came in, I try to do CLI increases to help my overall util. So I am all five and then some. You can't put people in categories lhat easily. 

[Anonymous]

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@UpperNwGuy wrote:

In a thread that is now closed to new comments, frogman1 made an interesting comment:

_____________________________________________________________________________

I think once people get their scores up on here and stay a while there are five types of people on here

1). Bonus chasers:  people who don't carry balances and go from card to card and stop using the card soon as they get the bonus.  People who like to go on big vacations

2). Coupon cutters:  they don't carry balances either. They carry 10 cards at all time trying to get the biggest cash back they can for each purchase.  They complain about sign up bonuses because they spend such a little bit of money that they can never reach the spend.  They get a new card if they can save 2 dollars a year in a category.

3) 0 interest balance transfers.  They carry balances so they always looking for no interest.

4) People who get all the cars from one company to maximize their rewards.  Either Chase or Amex.  They will have Chase Freedom.  Chase freedom Unlimited , CSP and CSR .

5). High Credit Line People:  they don't care much about benefits or interest rates other than to brag about them.  Their goal is only to get more cards to increase their limits.  They don't need the increased limit they just want to have it to have it.

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i think when I started coming here I was definitely one of the HIGH CREDIT LINE PEOPLE. I was looking for ways to make my lines higher so I could bring my utilization down. But at this point I don't think I'm really any. i have some good cards, I have some BT's on one card, and my util is well below 10%. But I'm content. I'm not looking for bonuses, I'm not a coupon cutter, and I don't have all cards from one tree. At this point, after being here for over a year, I am just happy when a company gives me credit with how crappy my credit was just a few years ago!

[Gregory1776]

2. I’ve gotten a card for everywhere I shop (amazon, BCP, disco)  and one for everywhere else, PenFed 2%. Prg I should haven’t gotten... lol oops. Only carry a balance in the 0% period.  

I only want want a few cards, and I want them to age and grow old and get their limits high as hell. 

[Gregory1776]

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@Gregory1776 wrote:

2. I’ve gotten a card for everywhere I shop (amazon, BCP, disco)  and one for everywhere else, PenFed 2%. Prg I should haven’t gotten... lol oops. Only carry a balance in the 0% period.  

I only want want a few cards, and I want them to age and grow old and get their limits high as hell. 

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Also don’t have 10 cards, just like three max, and I really don’t care about saving $2. A couple hundred sounds good though.

[galahad15]

I like super-low, go-to interest rates that are 10% or lower -- the lower the better -- but I also like rewards, and may or may not opt to carry a small balance at different times. Not sure if that puts me out of the listed categories or not...

[iced]

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@UpperNwGuy wrote:

In a thread that is now closed to new comments, frogman1 made an interesting comment:

_____________________________________________________________________________

I think once people get their scores up on here and stay a while there are five types of people on here

1). Bonus chasers:  people who don't carry balances and go from card to card and stop using the card soon as they get the bonus.  People who like to go on big vacations

2). Coupon cutters:  they don't carry balances either. They carry 10 cards at all time trying to get the biggest cash back they can for each purchase.  They complain about sign up bonuses because they spend such a little bit of money that they can never reach the spend.  They get a new card if they can save 2 dollars a year in a category.

3) 0 interest balance transfers.  They carry balances so they always looking for no interest.

4) People who get all the cars from one company to maximize their rewards.  Either Chase or Amex.  They will have Chase Freedom.  Chase freedom Unlimited , CSP and CSR .

5). High Credit Line People:  they don't care much about benefits or interest rates other than to brag about them.  Their goal is only to get more cards to increase their limits.  They don't need the increased limit they just want to have it to have it.

 _____________________________________________________________

I have two questions:

1.  Is frogman1 correct?  Are these the five types of people on here?  Are there other types?

2.  Which type are you?  I tend to fall into type 2, the coupon cutters.  I almost migrated into type 4, the single bank for everything, a few months ago, with Chase, but then Chase scared me with their survey of three bad alternatives to devalue or eliminate the transfer of Ultimate Rewards points from Freedom cards to Sapphire cards.

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None of these fit me very well, so I guess that frogman is not correct, though all 5 types he lists certainly exist on these forums. As for me:

I certainly do not bonus chase or "coupon cut". Both feel cheap to me. I do like to take vacations to distant locales and nice hotels, but I don't care if it's with points or cash. I don't carry balances. I am loyal to Chase which sort of makes me like #4 but I only have 2 Chase cards and have no desire for their other cards. In fact, I only have 4 cards in total, with 2 old cards that I just keep in a drawer as they have no AF. My total CL across those 4 cards is only $122,500 which is lower than many people on this forum.

[NRB525]

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@K-in-Boston wrote:

I'll be lazy and copy-and-paste my answer earlier.

I think once people get their scores up on here and stay a while there are five types of people on here  There are also an unusually large number of us that are outliers and fit into every one of those 5.  I will not be categorized! LOL

1). Bonus chasers:  people who don't carry balances and go from card to card and stop using the card soon as they get the bonus.  People who like to go on big vacations  I like free stuff.  I like free stuff even better when I can just consolidate the line into something that I already have and keep it useful.

2). Coupon cutters:  they don't carry balances either. They carry 10 cards at all time trying to get the biggest cash back they can for each purchase.  Not 10 but depending on the month or quarter probably 5 or 6, but most of my spend goes on one card.  I only carry Target for store cards since I mostly shop online, so maybe that does get me to about 10 if I count Lowe's, Kohl's and Amazon. They complain about sign up bonuses because they spend such a little bit of money that they can never reach the spend.  Not a problem on my end, fortunately or unfortunately - that's why Amex gives me lackluster bonus offers like spend $15,000 by the end of next month and get bonus MRs. They get a new card if they can save 2 dollars a year in a category.

3) 0 interest balance transfers.  They carry balances so they always looking for no interest.  Also acceptable would be zero balance transfer fees and very low APR.

4) People who get all the cars from one company to maximize their rewards.  Either Chase or Amex.  Why not both?  They will have Chase Freedom.  Chase freedom Unlimited , CSP and CSR .  No, the CSR is redundant (for me since I don't use the travel portal) with the CSP and Amex Platinum.

5). High Credit Line People:  they don't care much about benefits or interest rates other than to brag about them.  Their goal is only to get more cards to increase their limits.  They don't need the increased limit they just want to have it to have it.  I fit the category but not the descriptions.  I need the utilization padding while paying off mountains of debt, and it's part of my consolidation plan to end up with just a handful of obscenely high credit limit cards in a couple of years.

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^This

And adding the Travel Benefits category for some cards. This can include earning miles/points (which is not mentioned above) In fact I don't see "Travel Cards" at all in the major categories above, but those benefits and points are definitely an interest area for many.

I only close a card when it doesn't have at least one of the above 6 general benefits. The Fred Meyer card was closed due to high BT fee, low rewards, no Travel Benefits, and to make room for Altitude Plus, which is turning out to be a very nice card for earning Future Trave Spend (since it does not earn points/miles for transfer).

There may also be a subcategory, "Flavor of the month in your wallet.". My Citi AA card has had a couple of "spend $xxx and get 2,500 or 3,000 miles. Quarterly bonus cards are in this group. When the higher bonus is on, then these cards become more active.

[driftless]

I am mostly a 4, but I feed two ecosystems: Amex and Chase.  I am one of those 4's who can ramp it up, although others here dwarf me, through biz cards, etc.  My wife is entirely in the Chase system and we combine her points.  

[UncleB]

OK, I'll play...

At one time or another I've been each "type" and I'm now a combination of nearly all of them.

I have cards to maximize my rewards for the categories I usually spend in.  I have a card that is a 'catch all' for non-category spend (USAA Limitless).  I have a card with a (relatively) low APR and (relatively) high credit line if I need to carry a balance.  I have a couple of cards that are great for 0% balance transfers, which is a necessary evil for me at times.

I also have cards at both banks where I have checking, one of which is almost exclusively for overdraft protection (which knock on wood hopefully I'll never need anyway).  I also have a couple of cards for the 'perks'.  I also have a card or two I picked up primarily for the bonus, and the jury is still out if I'll keep them long-term or not.

About the only thing that does not apply to me (at least now) is having a single card that I use everywhere, but I was like that back in the mid and late 90s... back then, I used an Amex Green card for everything I could, and only pulled out another card if I had to.

I am not bothered by carrying multiple cards... to me it's trivial to keep up with what card will earn me the best rewards rate, and it doesn't slow me down at all (I can see how an uninterested partner would be confused/annoyed, though). 

About the only thing I've not done this go around is get a stack of store cards, and that's only because I don't frequent one store often enough for it to make a meaningful difference with my rewards.  I have considered getting a Macy's and Target at some point, but it will have to be once I'm sure I'm ready to slow down for a while.  The store cards I do have (Belk and Lowe's) are hold-overs from the mid-2000s, and are my two oldest accounts so they won't be going anywhere (at least if I can help it).

[Anonymous]

We try to use the card that gets the best benefit ie cash back.  We don't fly prefer the train.  and when we do son in law works for airlines and we get cheap seats on standby. 

I am planning on getting Chase Freedom if my new firewall will let the app process (it blocked it)  and next year adding a Amex   simply cash for biz do our little collection.   I need to have a talk with Citi about about DC limit. Can't get a raise til january.  Limit way to low.