What is the ultimate trophy card for the average every-day person?

[CreditScholar]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

creditscholar is correct but probably didn't say it the right way.

For people with a solid, long, history of credit management none of the aforementioned cards are hard to get.

Even people with average credit and decent scores can get most cards.

There are hugely emotional component to spending, credit-seeking, home purchases, and other financial aspects of our lives.

Personally; getting the BCP pretty much felt like my credit repair journey was complete. That being said, I really don't want to be emotionally tied to a piece of plastic and how well a bank loves me. I learned to manage credit and finances better. Time let the past mistakes fall off.

One of the biggest changes, in me, was understanding: Banks approve behavior and credit profiles, not people.

---

Of course I was correct. However if you mean the right way as in diplomatically, then no I wasn't and it came off as I intended it to.

As another poster put it a few days ago, there is little use for beating around the bush on the internet. Get straight to the point and if people are offended, it's of little or no consequence. The truth is what it is, even if it's unpleasant to hear at times.

The average FICO nationwide is ~720, so someone with an average FICO and average income could qualify for most of these cards. Assuming a somewhat normal distributaiton of scores, people with subprime or nonprime scores (under 680 by the technical definition) would be in the bottom 30% of the American population. That also would describe many people on these forums. It may seem to many here that these cards are difficult to get, but it's really not the case. It only seems that way because the average scores here are lower than the population average.

[CreditScholar]

---

@Dustink wrote:

I think limits have a lot to do in leading to a "trophy" card.

Pretty much every card mentioned so far can be easily obtained. I am only 21 have an income around $50k and have a sort history. For a card to be a "trophy" card, it should be out of reach to me. I think @CreditScholar said it perfectly.

The cards would be a lot more of a "trophy" if they carried a harder to obtain limit like $50k. So, to me a "trophy" card would be something like a CSP or BCP with a $50k limit, not one with a 4 digit limit.

A AMEX charge card that declines a small charge of like $5k is not a "trophy" card. One that you can go out an charge a 6 figure car would be.

An average person can build relations with banks to get to these limits and NPS capabilities. It just takes time, great credit, and decent income combined with structured saving/investing. 

But then again, it comes down to who you are. If a card does what you need it to do. Be content and call it your "trophy".

---

+1. I couldn't see any card with a 5k limit as a "trophy card" as such.

In many ways it's like cars. Some look fantastic, but when you actually drive them you realize the quality is extremely poor. However you don't realize this until you drive it.

With cards: no matter how good it looks and what kind of perks it's supposed to have, if you're always bumping up against a limit, have to make multiple payments in a month or simply can't charge much through it or else it'll kill your util, that's definitely no trophy.

[CreditScholar]

---

@distantarray wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I've always got 3.5 - 4 cents per out of my skymiles, it's typicall ymmv but they can be valuable if used properly.

---

I have NO Idea how your pulling that kinda miracle off, but if you are then do this for a lot of Skymiles

@Bigcrumbs -> Amex gift cards $3,000 @1.4% cash rebate -> williamspaid to pay your rent or mortgage @ 2.9% + get 500 delta skymiles for every time you pay your mortgage with williamspaid promo is going on.

Your paying 1.5% per delta skymile + 500 bonus miles each month.

---

Use Skypesos for US to Australia on VA in J. You'll probably get a value close to that and availability is usually decent.

[CreditScholar]

---

@scenery_guy wrote:

---

@Dustink wrote:

I think limits have a lot to do in leading to a "trophy" card.

Pretty much every card mentioned so far can be easily obtained. I am only 21 have an income around $50k and have a sort history. For a card to be a "trophy" card, it should be out of reach to me. I think @CreditScholar said it perfectly.

The cards would be a lot more of a "trophy" if they carried a harder to obtain limit like $50k. So, to me a "trophy" card would be something like a CSP or BCP with a $50k limit, not one with a 4 digit limit.

A AMEX charge card that declines a small charge of like $5k is not a "trophy" card. One that you can go out an charge a 6 figure car would be.

An average person can build relations with banks to get to these limits and NPS capabilities. It just takes time, great credit, and decent income combined with structured saving/investing. 

But then again, it comes down to who you are. If a card does what you need it to do. Be content and call it your "trophy".

---

Ha! I guess I have a trophy card - almost. My stupid Bank of America generic Visa has a $46,000 limit. I earned it the hard way years and years ago. It was much higher at one point but the credit crunch fixed it for me. It's in my sock drawer (or someplace else but not in my wallet). For the record I can't think of a single bank I dislike more than B of A. Talk about irony. 

---

+1. I've been with BofA the longest and dislike working with them more than any other bank.

When I deal with them in person things are fine, since the people there have known my family for quite a long time. However if I ever have to call for anything or deal with another location, it can range anywhere from neutral to downright awful.

I guess it's similar to why some people keep an Orchard card (or similar) around if it's their oldest. Yes they may have better cards now, but keeping them around helps their AAoA even if the service and products they provide are lousy in comparison.

[CreditScholar]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

It's really sad what's going on with the devaluation of all rewards programs, at some point it's going to be more lucarative to just go with straight cash back cards. 

For right now I continue to believe that the points programs bring more value that straight cash back, especially if you want to travel.

For me if I go with straght cash back it's just too easy to cash out and then the money just gets lost in my normal spend and I never really notice it, on the other hand when I am able to travel on points for significantly less spend I really get a nice feeling out of that and a great experience, something cash back cards can't bring to the table.

---

Sadly I don't think this is going to change save with another downturn in the economy. There's already too many points chasing too few seats/rooms, so this is the net result.

My biggest concern is when UR partners (mostly United and Hyatt) are forced to into deval because UR is transferring more points into their programs than they can realistically support. By having relatively low approval standards for cards like the CSP, this just adds more points/transfers into the system and only serves to hasten the impending deval.

[Anonymous]

---

@CreditScholar wrote:

---

The average FICO nationwide is ~720, so someone with an average FICO and average income could qualify for most of these cards. Assuming a somewhat normal distributaiton of scores, people with subprime or nonprime scores (under 680 by the technical definition) would be in the bottom 30% of the American population. That also would describe many people on these forums. It may seem to many here that these cards are difficult to get, but it's really not the case. It only seems that way because the average scores here are lower than the population average.

---

How do you know that the average score of the forum members is less than the population average?   And if so, what the average of the forum?

[CreditScholar]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@CreditScholar wrote:

---

The average FICO nationwide is ~720, so someone with an average FICO and average income could qualify for most of these cards. Assuming a somewhat normal distributaiton of scores, people with subprime or nonprime scores (under 680 by the technical definition) would be in the bottom 30% of the American population. That also would describe many people on these forums. It may seem to many here that these cards are difficult to get, but it's really not the case. It only seems that way because the average scores here are lower than the population average.

---

How do you know that the average score of the forum members is less than the population average?   And if so, what the average of the forum?

---

Given the primary purpose of most people here is rebuilding or starting out, it's a safe assumption. To use an analogy, it's safer to assume that people in a hospital are on-average sicker (at that moment in time) than the general population. If they weren't, they wouldn't be there since it's not the kind of place you go to for fun. Instead of having ill health in a hospital, many here have ill-credit.

There are some very well established members here with high limits and scores, but they are in the minority. I'm sure there are more people on the forums with scores under 720 than over, unless you think otherwise?

[Anonymous]

---

@CreditScholar wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@CreditScholar wrote:

---

The average FICO nationwide is ~720, so someone with an average FICO and average income could qualify for most of these cards. Assuming a somewhat normal distributaiton of scores, people with subprime or nonprime scores (under 680 by the technical definition) would be in the bottom 30% of the American population. That also would describe many people on these forums. It may seem to many here that these cards are difficult to get, but it's really not the case. It only seems that way because the average scores here are lower than the population average.

---

How do you know that the average score of the forum members is less than the population average?   And if so, what the average of the forum?

---

Given the primary purpose of most people here is rebuilding or starting out, it's a safe assumption. To use an analogy, it's safer to assume that people in a hospital are on-average sicker (at that moment in time) than the general population. If they weren't, they wouldn't be there since it's not the kind of place you go to for fun. Instead of having ill health in a hospital, many here have ill-credit.

There are some very well established members here with high limits and scores, but they are in the minority. I'm sure there are more people on the forums with scores under 720 than over, unless you think otherwise?

---

I will accept it as a reasonable assumption, based on your logic ( I suspect it is true).  But that it is not enough to make it a fact, which is how you stated it. .

[CreditScholar]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@CreditScholar wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@CreditScholar wrote:

---

The average FICO nationwide is ~720, so someone with an average FICO and average income could qualify for most of these cards. Assuming a somewhat normal distributaiton of scores, people with subprime or nonprime scores (under 680 by the technical definition) would be in the bottom 30% of the American population. That also would describe many people on these forums. It may seem to many here that these cards are difficult to get, but it's really not the case. It only seems that way because the average scores here are lower than the population average.

---

How do you know that the average score of the forum members is less than the population average?   And if so, what the average of the forum?

---

Given the primary purpose of most people here is rebuilding or starting out, it's a safe assumption. To use an analogy, it's safer to assume that people in a hospital are on-average sicker (at that moment in time) than the general population. If they weren't, they wouldn't be there since it's not the kind of place you go to for fun. Instead of having ill health in a hospital, many here have ill-credit.

There are some very well established members here with high limits and scores, but they are in the minority. I'm sure there are more people on the forums with scores under 720 than over, unless you think otherwise?

---

I will accept it as a reasonable assumption, based on your logic ( I suspect it is true).  But that it is not enough to make it a fact, which is how you stated it. .

---

I agree that there's no realistic way to determine what the exact FICO score is of every single member on the forums, but I'll continue to hold this assumption until someone can prove to me otherwise. Sometimes the exact details aren't available, and therefore we have to use with the best information we have.

[Open123]

---

@CreditScholar wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

It's really sad what's going on with the devaluation of all rewards programs, at some point it's going to be more lucarative to just go with straight cash back cards. 

For right now I continue to believe that the points programs bring more value that straight cash back, especially if you want to travel.

For me if I go with straght cash back it's just too easy to cash out and then the money just gets lost in my normal spend and I never really notice it, on the other hand when I am able to travel on points for significantly less spend I really get a nice feeling out of that and a great experience, something cash back cards can't bring to the table.

---

Sadly I don't think this is going to change save with another downturn in the economy. There's already too many points chasing too few seats/rooms, so this is the net result.

My biggest concern is when UR partners (mostly United and Hyatt) are forced to into deval because UR is transferring more points into their programs than they can realistically support. By having relatively low approval standards for cards like the CSP, this just adds more points/transfers into the system and only serves to hasten the impending deval.

---

The UR program's potential saving grace is the ease at redeeming .01 cent per point.  I suspect many would just assume deposit the $400 or $500 signing bonus into their account and call it a day.

In my view, the issue with the UR program is the 5X at Office Depot allowing for the potential massive points generating ability by utilizing prepaid and reloadable gift cards.  Many who make the effort to generate UR points do so not for the cash, but specifically to redeem through UA and Hyatt at the most favorable rates.  If left unabated, this can only result in devaluation of both programs.

In time, I suspect Chase will eventually scale back or outright eliminate the 5X office category.  There are signs they've begun to be a little concerned, as shown by their recent closing of CSP accounts where UR points are transferred to anyone other than one's spouse.  

Eventually, I'd imagine if Chase wants to maintain the points value of the UR program, they'd have to implement some of the earning and spending controls Amex have with the SPG card, where any kind of "manufactured" spending activity is a significant trigger for FR form Amex, especially when through the SPG card.