Best Credit Card

[PennyPincher]

I know there are great resources online to compare credit cards, but I thought it could be helpful if some of us share opinions on our favorite credit cards. (or even those we would suggest others stay AWAY from). I have two reward cards, and have cancelled my other credit cards. I would hightly recommend these to individuals that do not carry a balance:

(1) AT&T Universal Cash Rewards Card - This card is AWESOME.

- no annual fee
- 5% cash back at gas stations, supermarkets, and drugstores!
(The gas inclusion is HUGE here...gas priced at $2.50/gallon for example, would ultimately cost you $2.38/gallon. Still ridiculous, but better.)
- 1% cash back on all other purchases.

Other: You can only request a cash back check when your balance hits $50. But as we all know...it adds up quickly! Oh, and APR is 12.07%

www.universalcard.com


(2) Discover Card - classic

- no annual fee
- up to 1% cash back on all purchases
- periodic 'specials'. For example, for the months of Sept, Oct, and Nov - members can enjoy 5% cash back on purchases made at restaurants, movie rental stores, and movie theaters. (Some months they've had home improvement stores, theme parks, etc.) This requires a simple sign up in your account center, or call to customer service.

Other: You can request a check or gift card at participating partners once your cash back balance hits $20. Double your earning with select partners, such as Sharper Image and Blockbuster! APR is 15.99%.

www.discovercard.com


ONE CARD I'D STAY AWAY FROM ~ Orchard Bank/Household Bank. They are HORRIBLE with assessing charges and not implementing customer service requests. We had CLOSED the card and requested documentation...never received a zero balance letter, but 4 months later got an invoice with $185 in fees. UGH. It took months to fix...

[marglo]

We only use one for day to day purchases. We are going cash in Sept as an experiment but we usually use this card for things like groceries, gas...basically any purchase. It is Citibank MC and it gives the same rebates you mentioned as on your AT&T card. We have Discover too but do not use it as we have an old balance transferred onto it. So now any payments I make will go on the lowest interest balance which is this one - 0% for life of loan and everything I charge on it will just stay there adding up interest at the higher rate!

[ken1706]

I also use that Citibank Mastercard (Citi Dividend Platinum Select Card).

Like the AT&T Universal card, the Citibank card has no annual fee, 5% cashback at gas stations, supermarkets, and drugstores, and 1% on all other purchases.

One other thing to consider if you don't care about APR, is that there's a $300 cashback limit per year.

Do you know the limit on your AT&T card?

If the AT&T card has a similar limit, it may be good to get both. With gas prices going up like they are, it won't be hard to reach the $300 limit.

[34saving]

I have the Citi and the AT&T and they're functionally the same.

[jmjj215]

I have a wellsfargo that does 1% cashback (tiered) on all purchases. I like it b/c I bank w/ them already and can easily schedule an automatic transfer of the payment for the balance in full each month.

[PRICEPLUS]

I have a Capital One card. I don't think it is the best but I have a 6.9 rate on it. Are there better cards out there or do I have a fairly low rate? Mind you, I only use it for emergencies.(My personal card).

[niki_the_tiger]

What's better - to have a lower APR or cashback rewards, if you carry a balance? (if you can pay it off each money in full, the rewards would obviously be better)

[partsguy]

What works for me is the Discover (classic) card. It's rebate (1%) is simple and straightforward.
Recently, while shopping for a new credit card, I looked at the cards offering 5% for gas. All these cards offered 5% to start but quickly declined to 1%. I found all the cards offering better than 1% had a lot of stipulations and declining rebates (some going lower than 1%).

[TBH]

I got fed up with my United mileage plus card this year because it has an annual fee, so I got a free MBNA Worldpoints card that lets you choose between miles, gift certificates, and cash rewards. But flexibility come with a price--the rewards are pretty puny. I wouldn't recommend it.

Then I got a Citi Upromise card--1 percent on all purchases, 2 percent at specific gas stations, and 10 percent on specific grocery items. I'm not sure I would recommend this either though, because it's easy to fall into the psychological trap of going to a more expensive gas station because of the reward, etc. But I can't actively add to my son's college account right now so the Upromise card makes me feel better about that.

[PFJournal]

Originally Posted by niki_the_tiger

What's better - to have a lower APR or cashback rewards, if you carry a balance? (if you can pay it off each money in full, the rewards would obviously be better)

Yeah, I'd say the cash rewards. Since, you should ALWAYS pay you credit card off each month.

[dealsaver]

There's no single best card. All cards have their plusses and minuses. A multicard strategy is the best. I prefer to use the Citi Dividend card, the GM card, and the NCL mastercard. All my rewards are 3% and up. Good for $300 in cash every year, $3,500 off a GM car every 7 years, and a free cruise for my whole family every 3 years. Not too bad.