How many CC do you have and use?

[LivingAlmostLarge]

What CC do people have? Use? How much annual fee? Why? Do you arbitage every year?

I have Costco, Chase Sapphire reserve, old discover for 5% categories, alaska solely for companion and free luggage, and I'm considering the Bonvoy but I'm unsure if I should do the $95 or $450. I waited until we bought the house we're in and my DH hates arbitage. But I'm trying to be good and maximize the CC we have. The costco is solely for costco 4% gas and 2% costco purchases. We spend a lot there. And I like the chase sapphire

[disneysteve]

We have 4.

Our main card is Marriott Bonvoy Boundless. $95 fee gets us a "free" night every year which is worth well more than $95 so they essentially pay us to have the card.

Our other cards are Chase Freedom (cash back) and we each have a Discover card. We mainly use these 3 for the quarterly 5% cash back categories and use the Marriott card for everything else.

[corn18]

I think we have 40 or so. I went through a phase of hunting sign up bonuses and discounts. We only use the Fidelity 2% cash back card. We are looking at the Chase Sapphire Reserve to see if we can get more out of that as we are planning to travel a lot. We put about $120k/year on the card, so 2% of that is $2400. If we can get more than $2400 worth of travel out of the Chase card, that will be good. So far, I haven't made the switch.

[MonkeyMama]

We have 4 cards.

1 - Credit union card for 3% cash back on gas and dining (and as a general backup card. Is the only card I am particularly loyal too. & when I say that, I just mean I am not going to toss it the second a better card comes along).
2 - American Express for 6% cash back on groceries
3 - Target Card for 5% off Target purchases (we use for groceries primarily)
4 - Citi card for 2% back on everything else

The American Express is the only one with a fee, but the rewards are worth it. It comes out to about 4.5% cash back on groceries once you factor the fee.
That's it. I don't leave old cards open if I am not using them.

[Thrif-t]

We have 3 all no annual fee cards. Chase Freedom(5% cash back categories), Discover (5% cash back categories) and a Chase Disney Visa.

I don't really use the Disney Visa that much, I made my kids authorize users on that card when they all turned 16 so that was used for just their purchases. Not that they really made purchases for themselves, it was more to have my credit score become their credit score and when I wanted them to stop at the store to get us milk, I didn't have to worry about them not having money.

Our credits frozen or I'd probably add another to the mix. I'm sure I'll get some kind of no international transfer fee card in a few years when we decide to take a trip to Italy, but I have some time before that will happen.

[disneysteve]

We only use the Fidelity 2% cash back card. We are looking at the Chase Sapphire Reserve to see if we can get more out of that as we are planning to travel a lot. We put about $120k/year on the card, so 2% of that is $2400. If we can get more than $2400 worth of travel out of the Chase card, that will be good. So far, I haven't made the switch.

We use the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card. 2 points/dollar on everything and 6 points/dollar on Marriott charges. If you will be staying in hotels a lot and can focus on Marriott properties (they have 30 chains in their portfolio now), you could definitely get more than $2,400/year in rewards with that level of spending. Plus you get 100,000 points when you sign up and a "free" night every year on your account anniversary which way more than offsets the $95 fee. Oh and there's no foreign transaction fee if you'll be traveling internationally which is a nice feature. Check into it if that is something that could fit your travel habits. https://creditcards.chase.com/travel...ess?iCELL=6C1Y
If by chance that appeals to you, message me before you sign up.

[cypher1]

4: Costco annual 95 used for gas and groceries, Chase Saphire annual 450 default card for everything else, Chase Freedom just keeping since I've had that account since I was 20, and Capital One VentureOne. Those last two I hardly use, and keep due to their age and no annual fee.

[mumof2]

wow we have 1 and barely use it

[disneysteve]

wow we have 1 and barely use it

Am I correct that rewards cards aren't nearly as common in Australia?

Even without rewards, I would still use a credit card for everything simply for convenience, budgeting, and record keeping, but the rewards certainly sweeten the deal considerably.

[mumof2]

Am I correct that rewards cards aren't nearly as common in Australia?

Even without rewards, I would still use a credit card for everything simply for convenience, budgeting, and record keeping, but the rewards certainly sweeten the deal considerably.

yes not as popular here in Australia but some are starting to try and give you rewards...but not like you guys get....and a lot of them have pretty high interest rates...most just use their debit card when purchasing things or cash...we don't use checks over here either as they take 3 days to clear...but we record everything and use cash for groceries and gas..and I have a receipt book for the last 5 years that has every bill in it that we have with date, amount paid and receipt number...so all good...I know they have a costco here...never been but i won't join a store to shop there its not close so not worth the gas etc to shop there but not sure if it would have similar rewards to what you have over there

[disneysteve]

yes not as popular here in Australia but some are starting to try and give you rewards...but not like you guys get....and a lot of them have pretty high interest rates.

They have high interest rates here, too, but that's completely irrelevant if you pay your bill in full each month, which everybody should be doing. There's no value in a rewards credit card if you're going to carry a balance. The only time carrying a credit card balance makes sense is when you get a 0% deal.

[mumof2]

true but I just don't think they are as popular over here...and are harder to get you have to be on a minimum $35,000 a year to get a CC and I don't know anyone that has more than 2 here...some probably do but not many...but not everyone can afford to pay it off every month

[kork13]

I'm a bit embarrassed by this... but we've got 8 credit cards.

4 in active use:
- Costco Visa ($95/yr), for gas (4%), restaurants (3%), and Costco shopping (4% incl. membership rebate)
- Citi Double-Cash MC ($0), for 2% back on anything not covered by the other primary cards
- AmEx Blue Cash Preferred ($0 as military), for groceries (6%)
- Discover 'It' ($0), for 5% on their rotating categories
3 for occasional travel use:
- AmEx Platinum ($0 as military), mostly for airline tickets (5%) and all the travel perks they offer...lounges, Uber credits, airline credits, etc.
- AmEx Delta Platium ($0 as military), got it at one point for the bonus offer & the promise of companion fare tickets (never gotten one?), but I haven't used it much, and probably need to let it go.
- CapOne Visa ($0), for 1.5% on everything, but most importantly, no foreign transaction fees. I rarely use this card, but I do almost every time I travel overseas.
1 dust collector:
- USAA Rewards MC ($0), I think it only gets 1% back, and I don't think I've used it in almost a decade. But it's my first CC, so I keep it around to help my credit age. I keep expecting them to just close it on me someday, but they haven't gotten around to it yet.

[Petunia 100]

Am I correct that rewards cards aren't nearly as common in Australia?

Even without rewards, I would still use a credit card for everything simply for convenience, budgeting, and record keeping, but the rewards certainly sweeten the deal considerably.

For those reasons, and also because you have an extra layer of consumer protections. Buy something which doesn't work correctly or at all, and if you have paid cash, you must work it out with the merchant. If you've used a credit card, the merchant has a different attitude as the charge can be reversed.

[Petunia 100]

I have:

Chase Unlimited Freedom (rarely use)
Chase Slate (need to close)
Citi Double Cash MC (main card)
WF AmEx
WF Visa
Kohl's
Kay Jewelers (haven't closed because I suspect I get better service being a card holder. I could be wrong.)

So 7 cards, soon to be 6.