Yeah... man... I miss Price Rewind.
Right now it just gets my monthly power and water bills because they don't take Amex... and it's a good failsafe card in my wallet, again, for places that don't take Amex. I've been banking the cash back until I decide to either deposit it as cash or transfer as TY points on my Premier card. Still have 77K TYP waiting for a vacation.
I'll probably get the PPMC eventually as one of my end game cards.
Citi Vs Paypal ( got it from nerdwallet)
Annual fee | $0 | $0 |
Ongoing rewards | 2% cash back on everything: 1% as you buy and 1% as you pay it off | 2% cash back on everything. |
Sign-up bonus | None | None |
Redemption options | Statement credit, direct deposit or check. | Redeem to your PayPal account, or to your bank account or debit card linked to your PayPal account. |
Minimum redemption threshold | $25 | None |
APR | An intro 0% intro APR on Balance Transfers for 18 months, and then the ongoing APR of 13.99% - 23.99% Variable APR | The ongoing APR is 19.99% - 26.99% Variable APR |
Foreign transaction fee | 3% | None |
@Anonymous wrote:I would love to know what everyones "end game cards" would be. I think many of us would benefit from that sort of knowledge. Can anyone look at my siggy and see if there's something I'm missing? My wife and I don't travel much, so that eliminates a bunch of travel cards.
That is an almost impossible question to ask anyone but especially the My Fico audience, IMO! 
- Answer depends so heavily on a person's lifestyle and spending.
- Answer depends on a person's preference in the continuum between simplicity of few cards versus optimizing rewards with tons of cards.
- Answer depends on how much redundancy someone likes in their lineup. For example, do you want to play in cash back only or points only or a combination? And do you want MRs or URs or TYs or airline miles or hotel points? Or some of each? Do you like having a "backup" card paying similar rewards in case one gets closed or nerfed, for example two flat rate 2% cards that both do the same thing. Or do you prefer the simplicity of one card for each purpose?
- Answer depends on cards available to them (military affiliation, employment or geofencing restrictions, blacklisting by lenders, etc.)
- Answer will change over time! If you asked me this question five or ten years ago, my answers would have been entirely different. This is in part due to lifestyle and spending changing over time, for better or for worse, and even if you largely avoid 'lifestyle creep.'
- Card options continue to evolve. Members change their plans based on new card programs or nerfs in existing ones.
- We tend to choose cards for different attributes. I have some older cards that I don't want to close and highly value due to over 20 years of credit age anchoring my AAoA. I value some cards for the rewards. I value some cards for the low APRs if I need them for BTs or emergency purchases. I value some cards for high credit limits. I value some cards for perks and benefits. And I value some cards for the diversity of lenders. Just about every card on my list ranks in those attributes differently, but they all contribute to my total valuation. For example, some wouldn't highly value a Discover IT card over some others. But mine is my oldest card still left open from my original cards and the CL has been boosted to healthy $50K. Plus, it does still offer the 5% rewards on limited purchases, and Discover has been good to me.
It would be difficult for us to give you helpful feedback without knowing more about your typical spending and also how you choose to use the cards you have now, especially cards like your Cash+ that allow you to customize your rewards. Have you identified any areas where spending is sufficient that you'd like a card to address it?
My answer would be that my most valuable "end game" cards right now are my Chase Sapphire Reserve, Bank of America Premium Rewards(mainly since I have Platinum Honors status and get the higher 2.625% payout on uncategorized spend and 3.5% on dining/travel), and my AOD FCU Visa Signature which is multi-purpose with 7.49% fixed APR and 3% uncapped and uncategorized cash back on all purchases. If I closed everything else and consolidated all limits from Chase/BofA onto those two cards, I would have over $250K in available credit on just three cards, a fairly low 7.49% fixed APR card, two cards paying 3.5% or higher in all dining and travel, and two cards paying 2.625% or higher on all purchases, uncapped and uncategorized. Jeez, it's almost tempting to do it now it sounds so simple! Lol 
But I would lose some higher rewards, older cards, lender diversity, TCLs, and category backups. My end game is not a three-card wallet but I will probably slim back down to 10-15 cards. I'm in an evolution with my card lineup.
@Aim_High wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:I would love to know what everyones "end game cards" would be. I think many of us would benefit from that sort of knowledge. Can anyone look at my siggy and see if there's something I'm missing? My wife and I don't travel much, so that eliminates a bunch of travel cards.
That is an almost impossible question to ask anyone but especially the My Fico audience, IMO!
- Answer depends so heavily on a person's lifestyle and spending.
- Answer depends on a person's preference in the continuum between simplicity of few cards versus optimizing rewards with tons of cards.
- Answer depends on how much redundancy someone likes in their lineup. For example, do you want to play in cash back only or points only or a combination? And do you want MRs or URs or TYs or airline miles or hotel points? Or some of each? Do you like having a "backup" card paying similar rewards in case one gets closed or nerfed, for example two flat rate 2% cards that both do the same thing. Or do you prefer the simplicity of one card for each purpose?
- Answer depends on cards available to them (military affiliation, employment or geofencing restrictions, blacklisting by lenders, etc.)
- Answer will change over time! If you asked me this question five or ten years ago, my answers would have been entirely different. This is in part due to lifestyle and spending changing over time, for better or for worse, and even if you largely avoid 'lifestyle creep.'
- Card options continue to evolve. Members change their plans based on new card programs or nerfs in existing ones.
- We tend to choose cards for different attributes. I have some older cards that I don't want to close and highly value due to over 20 years of credit age anchoring my AAoA. I value some cards for the rewards. I value some cards for the low APRs if I need them for BTs or emergency purchases. I value some cards for high credit limits. I value some cards for perks and benefits. And I value some cards for the diversity of lenders. Just about every card on my list ranks in those attributes differently, but they all contribute to my total valuation. For example, some wouldn't highly value a Discover IT card over some others. But mine is my oldest card still left open from my original cards and the CL has been boosted to healthy $50K. Plus, it does still offer the 5% rewards on limited purchases, and Discover has been good to me.
It would be difficult for us to give you helpful feedback without knowing more about your typical spending and also how you choose to use the cards you have now, especially cards like your Cash+ that allow you to customize your rewards. Have you identified any areas where spending is sufficient that you'd like a card to address it?
My answer would be that my most valuable "end game" cards right now are my Chase Sapphire Reserve, Bank of America Premium Rewards (mainly since I have Platinum Honors status and get the higher 2.625% payout on uncategorized spend and 3.5% on dining/travel), and my AOD FCU Visa Signature which is multi-purpose with 7.49% fixed APR and 3% uncapped and uncategorized cash back on all purchases. If I closed everything else and consolidated all limits from Chase/BofA onto those two cards, I would have over $250K in available credit on just three cards, a fairly low 7.49% fixed APR card, two cards paying 3.5% or higher in all dining and travel, and two cards paying 2.625% or higher on all purchases, uncapped and uncategorized. Jeez, it's almost tempting to do it now it sounds so simple! Lol
Thank you for sharing which credit cards are most important to you and why. That alone was very valuable insight and was exactly what I was looking for.
It's funny you mention about the "three-card wallet". That pretty much sums up my overall life strategy. I really love simplicity and minimalism. In my wallet, I carry my Apple Card, PPMC, Amazon Prime Visa Sig, and a CapitalOne 360 debit MC. All 4 have no foreign transaction fees. (although I travel seldomly, when I do decide to go out of the country, I got burned before when using a CC that had foreign transaction fees on it. I learned my lesson and paid the price, lol.)
Whenever paying for things, I first try to use ApplePay from my iPhone for both the 2% cashback and the security benefits it gives. If that cannot be used, and if it's like a restaurant, I will use my Apple Card only because I want the peace of mind from the security of knowing they cannot take a picture of my card #. This may not seem ideal to most people on these forums, but I hate the hassle of having to deal with fraudalent charges and wondering who did it. The peace of mind is worth it to me. If it's at a gas station, I use my PPMC for the 2% cashback because the card never leaves my sight. I use the Amazon Prime Visa Sig as my travel card (for buying the plane tickets, rental car, etc) because of the Visa Signature benefits it gives (Travel Accident Insurance, Lost Luggage Reimbursement, Baggage Delay Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, etc). It's also my 3rd back-up card and it's nice to have a Visa when the other two are Mastercards. I love knowing that Visa and Mastercard are basically accepted worldwide rather than having a Discover or AMEX that is not accepted everywhere.
Finally, I have my CapitalOne 360 debit MC that is solely used for ATM withdraws and as an emergency 4th back-up. All other cards listed in my siggy are left at home and used for reoccurring monthly bills -- for instance, my US Bank Cash+ is used to get 5% back on my Xfinity, T-Mobile, and Netflix monthly bills. It's proven to be extremely lucrative for me where otherwise I'd only get 2% back. The Target REDcard I use is for the 5% upfront discount and free shipping from Target.com. The Amazon cards are also for the 5% back from Amazon.com. KOHL's can give up to 30% off if you have the coupon. Apple can give 3% back for their products, services, and their partners.
In saying all that, there's only 2 possible cards that *I know of* that might benefit me at this time. The Tomkins Visa Sig card I have is my oldest card, and it's just the Rewards card variety which is not that interesting with 1.5 points from every $1 spend and you need like 2500 points to get an Amazon gift card. I want to convert that to their Max Cash Preferred Card this year which gives up to 5% cash back in 2 categories I choose, which is pretty much like the US Bank Cash+ card. I was also eyeing the CapitalOne Walmart credit card... you get 5% from online purchases, but it's only a promotion of 5% for 1 year for in-store purchases? That's a shame, I wish that card was similar to how the Target REDcard works.
I do love hearing about the AOD FCU Visa Signature, but when I checked their website today, myself and my immediate family are not employed by any of the companies listed on their site, so I guess I cannot join that credit union.
@Anonymous wrote:Thank you for sharing what credit cards are most important to you and why. That alone was very valuable insight and was exactly what I was looking for ...
I do love hearing about the AOD FCU Visa Signature, but when I checked their website today, myself and my immediate family are not employed by any of the companies listed on their site, so I guess I cannot join that credit union.
You're welcome and thanks for detailing your card lineup. We can all choose to use our cards as they best work for us, whether that is how others would choose to use them or not! So glad you have a system you find useful.
It's funny you mentioned the product change on the Tompkins card because I looked it up from your lineup and discovered the Max Cash was available there now. I thought of suggesting a change!
You may not want to fool with it but opening the AOD card is not strictly geofenced. Most of us on the forum were technically out of the geofence but there are work-arounds. It's a cumbersome process to open compared to some cards (where you just fill out an online application) but it's well worth it in my opinion. You can read more about it at the original mega-thread and the approvals thread, linked below. I also included links to my own threads about the card.
https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Juicy-new-3-CB-offering-from-local-CU/m-p/5971983
https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/AOD-Visa-Siggy-Discussion-Thread/m-p/6005027
https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Approvals/AOD-FCU-Visa-Signature-25K-7-49/m-p/5986410
https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/AOD-FCU-Visa-gt-gt-gt-ROAD-TRIP/m-p/6007604
Link to AOD FCU:
@FICOlearner123 wrote:Citi Vs Paypal ( got it from nerdwallet)
Okay, sorry guys but I couldn't help myself after seeing this table. Although I haven't posted much about it lately, many here know that the PenFed Power Cash Rewards Visa card is my favorite 2% card. So I added it to the table attributes from @FICOlearner123 above along with several other line items. I think it speaks for itself. I'm not saying that either the Citi DC or PPMC is a bad card, but I do think PF PCR can be a better choice, pretty much down the line item-by-item, and that's why I chose it. But we all need to decide what works best for us. I'm just throwing this out there to add to the discussion.
By the way, the Citi card currently has a published purchase APR which is 1% below PF PCR (13.99 versus 14.99) but PenFed has lowered my APR below the published range to 9.99%. (PenFed's low end of the range previously was below Citi's.) I haven't heard of anyone getting either Citi or Synchrony to lower APRs that low. Beyond that, it pretty well competes with or beats the other two popular cards in SUBs, fees, APRs, or rewards redemption.
The biggest argument against the PenFed Power Cash Rewards is that if you're a non-veteran, the card only earns 1.5% cash back unless you maintain a checking account. And the checking account charges a $10 monthly fee unless you (either) 1- maintain a $500 daily balance or 2- maintain a $500 monthly Direct Deposit. This requirement is waived if you're a veteran and enroll in the Honors Advantage program. Note that you don't have to do both the DD and minimum balance. And once the funds are in the account, they can be used to pay your card bill or moved to other accounts, including PenFed's high yield Premium Online Savings account which currently pays a competitive 0.55% APR.
Pro's for Citi Double Cash: If you have other Citi cards, you can move cash back into TY points which may be worth much more than 2% cash back. Citi's published APR is 1% lower than PF PCR. Citi offers an 18-month 0% BT offer instead of 12-months 0% BT offer with a $100 SUB on PF PCR. You don't need to maintain any other accounts (Paypal or deposit) to use the Citi DC.
Pro's for PayPal Mastercard: Many of the positive qualities of PF PCR such as no minimum redemption, but you don't have to maintain a deposit account. *However, both the PPMC and PayPal accounts must be in good standing and rewards are redeemed through the PayPal account. Synchrony's underwriting for PPMC is easier to pass for many of our members than PenFed's more rigorous underwriting.
| Citi Double Cash | PayPal Mastercard | PenFed Power Cash |
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|
BONUS |
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|
|
Sign-up Bonus | None | None | $100 ($1500 Spend) |
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|
FEES |
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|
|
Annual fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Foreign transaction fee | 3% | None | None |
Balance Transfer Fee | Greater of $5 or 3% | *Unspecified | 3% (no minimum) |
Cash Advance Fee | Greater of $10 or 5% | Greater of $5 or 3% | None |
Late Payment Fee | Up to $40 | $29 or $40 Depending on recent 6 month payment history | $20 to $28 Depending on balance owed |
Returned Payment Fee | Up to $40 | *Unspecified | $25 |
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|
REWARDS |
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|
|
Ongoing rewards | 2% cash back on everything* *1% as buy; 1% as pay | 2% cash back on everything. | 2% cash back on everything. |
Lose the 1% when you pay on Statement Credits (1% when pay) | Yes | No | No |
Redemption options | Statement credit, direct deposit or check. | Redeem to PayPal account, or bank account or debit card linked to PayPal account. (No direct statement credit.) | Statement credit, direct deposit to PenFed, or transfer to another Financial Institution. |
Minimum redemption | $25 | $0.01 cent | $0.01 cent |
Minimum Notification Period of Rewards Program Changes | 30 days | None - Synchrony can change at any time without notice | 45 days |
Rewards Expiration | 12 months - if no cash back earned for purchases or payments | None specified – but program can be changed without notice and unclaimed rewards forfeited, even if account in good standing | Never as long as account in good standing. If program is terminated, you have 90 days to redeem rewards. |
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APRs and Interest |
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Purchase APR | 13.99% - 23.99% | 19.99% - 26.99% | 14.99% to 17.99% |
Temporary BT APR | 0% - 18 months | None | 0% - 12 months |
Regular BT APR | Same as Purchase APR | *Unspecified | 17.99% |
Cash Advance APR | 25.24% | 26.99% | 17.99% |
Penalty APR | 29.99% | *Unspecified? | 17.99% |
Length of Penalty APR | Can be indefinitely | *Unspecified? | Until 3 on-time payments |
Grace Period | Minimum 23 days | Minimum 23 days | Minimum 25 days |
Minimum Interest Charge | $0.50 cents | $1.50 | None |
@Aim_High wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:Thank you for sharing what credit cards are most important to you and why. That alone was very valuable insight and was exactly what I was looking for ...
I do love hearing about the AOD FCU Visa Signature, but when I checked their website today, myself and my immediate family are not employed by any of the companies listed on their site, so I guess I cannot join that credit union.
You're welcome and thanks for detailing your card lineup. We can all choose to use our cards as they best work for us, whether that is how others would choose to use them or not! So glad you have a system you find useful.
It's funny you mentioned the product change on the Tompkins card because I looked it up from your lineup and discovered the Max Cash was available there now. I thought of suggesting a change!
You may not want to fool with it but opening the AOD card is not strictly geofenced. Most of us on the forum were technically out of the geofence but there are work-arounds. It's a cumbersome process to open compared to some cards (where you just fill out an online application) but it's well worth it in my opinion. You can read more about it at the original mega-thread and the approvals thread, linked below. I also included links to my own threads about the card.
https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Juicy-new-3-CB-offering-from-local-CU/m-p/5971983
https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/AOD-Visa-Siggy-Discussion-Thread/m-p/6005027
https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Approvals/AOD-FCU-Visa-Signature-25K-7-49/m-p/5986410
https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/AOD-FCU-Visa-gt-gt-gt-ROAD-TRIP/m-p/6007604
Link to AOD FCU:
Thank you for the links! I'm currently reading through these massive threads and I noticed a comment by @hzynneb that makes me question how long this card will be around for.
And I quote, "Feasibility of a 3% cash back card with average APR of less than 10% is another question. I doubt they will tolerate any form of MS or large spending compare to your income. Alliant, a much bigger credit union, was the first one to offer a 2.5/3% card I believe. They been shutting people down, and just recently put a 10k limit on monthly spent with $99 AF. So we’ll see how long this whole thing last. I just hope I get a card out of it by now…. "
I'm still going through the threads and will determine how much effort it would take me to get this card. So, it's the effort of acquiring the card, managing another CU account, and the risk that they may change the reward structure, put in spending limits, and/or add an annual fee in the future. But, I thank you for the reading material. 