favorite credit card

[LivingAlmostLarge]

which cc is your favorite and why? How many do you have? I have too many and i'll count later. My favorite? I honestly don't know and change way too much. I need to sit and think about it.

[bjl584]

I have 1. Citi Card, 2% cash back on everything.

I hardly use it, as I am more of a debit card kind of guy.
It's just easier for me to budget when I use a debit versus a credit card.

[kork13]

I have 3 that I use regularly, and I like each of them alot for frugality reasons based on their rewards structure.
1) Citi Double-Cash (2% back of everything)
2) Citi Costco card (4% back on gas, 3% on restaurants/travel/others, 2% on Costco purchases, 1% on the rest (plus zero foreign currency fees).
3) Amex Blue Cash (6% back on groceries) **$95/yr fee, though I get it waived.

Between those 3, I can get at least 2% back on all of my purchases, often well more than that.

However .... What is my favorite, the one that provides the most enjoyment/comfort/relaxation? Easy -- the Amex Platinum. The rewards are fine, but I mostly have it for the perks & benefits, especially when it comes to traveling.
- Permanent status with my favorite hotels, airlines, & rental cars.
- Free access to a litany of airport lounges around the world, providing very comfortable layovers & free snacks/meals/drinks in the airport.
- Free memberships for Clear, TSA Pre-check, and Global Entry.
- Free travel delay insurance (covers expenses incurred due to lengthy travel delays).
- Generous discounts/cash back/spending credits on a variety of services (airlines, hotels, Uber, etc).
- Free streaming & shopping services.
- No foreign currency fees.

Those are the benefits that I frequently make use of, though many others are available. I travel alot for both work & personal trips, so all of those things have made travel incredibly more enjoyable. Yes, there's a massive annual fee ($600/yr?), but gratefully, Amex waives all of their annual fees for military personnel. Whenever I get out of the military, I probably won't be able to justify keeping the card with that fee .... But it'll be sorely tempting, and actually may even be worth it even with the fee. I'd have to do the math.

[riverwed070707]

I have 2 cards. My current fav is my Capital One Venture X. It has a $395 annual fee but pays for itself many times over in perks. I initially got it because there are no foreign currency transaction fees whereas my other does, but it also has airport lounge access, reimbursement for TSA precheck/global entry, 5x points on flights, a $300/yr travel credit among some other things. I've had the card for just over a year and just booked flights to Antigua after Christmas using $1,500 in points and credits.

[disneysteve]

We have 3 cards: Marriott Visa, Chase Freedom Visa, Discover.

We use the Chase card and the Discover card for whatever the 5% cashback categories are each quarter. We use the Marriott card for everything else.

[ua_guy]

Our best card values have been through Amex. Not sure I have a favorite, they all spend the same, but some offer better perks than others.

[Drake3287]

Favorite credit cards are different for everyone and no two cards are exactly alike. I have 3 credit cards but generally only use our BofA Travel Reward Visa card simply for the cash rewards. I charge EVERYTHING and simply pay it in full each month. I average $2,500. back in cash each year, free money in my book. Haven't paid a cent in finance charges in years.

[Tabs]

Since I'm on Fidelity, it's super easy to use Fidelity's unlimited 2% cash back card as a catch-all card.

From there, I had an Amazon Prime that gave up to 5% over purchases with Amazon and Whole Foods, which turned out to be super handy over the Covid lockdown.

I had a couple more, but ever since the NPD data breach, and getting notified that I was one of the victims, I have since frozen my credit, and cancelled most of these credit cards.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I'm still figuring it out which ecosystem to go all in. I have way, way too many cards.

Amex Platinum charles schwab
Alaska (2x both of us)
Marriott Bonvoy
Chase Freedom
Chase Freedom Flex
Discover
Citi Costco (2x both of us)
Wells Fargo Active (thinking of dumping)
Capital Venture X
Amex Gold which was my Amex Plat downgrade and i might toss
Chase Ink Business preferred
Chase Sapphire Preferred

The question is what do i do? Chase is what we used to do, but Amex and Capital One are super tempting too.

Marriott - Free night for $95
Costco Citi - we shop a lot at costco
Alaska - free companion fare which this year I traded in for $1100 each pass
Venture X $395 - $300 credit
Amex CS - $675 - $200 credit from Schwab plus all perks of clear, uber, saks, digital, etc
Ink $95
Sapphire $95 - $50 hotel credit

What should I be dumping?

[myrdale]

I currently only have two. Both store cards.

HomeDepot
Lowes

I have toyed around with the idea of picking up a Chase Sapphire after seeing some reviews in the past, but still haven't pulled the trigger (and probably won't).

My credit scores are currently

TransUnion: 794
Equifax: 808
Experian: 805

They tend to fluctuate +/-10 points of 800 depending on which way the wind is blowing and how many crows are sitting on the fence in the back yard.

I have the two cards strictly for the purpose of maintaining the credit rating. At most i might put $300 on one or the other, but typically my monthly balance is less than $50. They both are paid in full each month.

I've had my limits raised on both cards to $10,000.

The HD card is pushing +15 years. The Lowes is more recent at around 5 years probably.

I have been bit by late fees on a couple of occasions when the bills were lost in the mail. In neither case did it have any visible impact on my score, paying in full the following month.

[myrdale]

I'm still figuring it out which ecosystem to go all in. I have way, way too many cards.

The question is what do i do? Chase is what we used to do, but Amex and Capital One are super tempting too.

What should I be dumping?

Generally speaking, twelve is a lot.

Which ever is the oldest I'd say keep it. And which ever has the best rewards I'd keep it also.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

So Discover is my oldest card from 97. Then we will keep the alaska cards. i just got $1100 value out of the companion coupons. Costco self explanatory. The rest are the ones i need to look at i think more carefully.

[Tabs]

What should I be dumping?

I am no expert on these things, so I will defer the specifics to others. I just wanted to say that those who play the credit card game is generally in it for the rewards ecosystem.

I do apologize in advance if I am already preaching to the choir about the simple basics here, but the two best rewards ecosystem are Chase and Amex. You will have to decide which one you like the best, or perhaps both, or perhaps more than that, such as Capital One or Citi. From there, it depends on your spending habits, credit history, and so forth.

I know that there are better specific deals out there, such as the Capital One Venture X for travelers, but the thing is, these promotional deals change all the time. Amex used to be the best, then Chase, and now Capital One, and who knows what card will be next. They will change when specific companies decide they want to spend extra to gain a lead and traction in this otherwise highly competitive market. Rather than chasing the latest and greatest, I instead prefer to just focus on ones that I know I can really count on over the years, if not decades, and that ultimately comes down to Chase and Amex. But that's just my $0.02.

[jenn_jenn]

I have three favorites:

Delta Amex - I don’t use this one too much, I mainly have for the free checked bags. I fly somewhat frequently (probably about 10 RT flignts a year) and usually with my dog with me so he counts as my carryon so I always have to check bags.

Marriott - I also don’t use this one too much. I initially got it for an amazing opening offer and have kept it solely for the one free night a year that makes the $99 fee annual more than worth it.

Chase Saphire Reserve - This is my “daily driver”. It has a high annual fee ($550) but $300 travel credit gets you most of that back quickly. That said, they’ve taken a way a lot of the rewards that I used to use (e.g., instacart credit, priority pass restaurant credits) so I need to evaluate if this one still makes sense for me.

[MonkeyMama]

I know that there are better specific deals out there, such as the Capital One Venture X for travelers, but the thing is, these promotional deals change all the time. Amex used to be the best, then Chase, and now Capital One, and who knows what card will be next. They will change when specific companies decide they want to spend extra to gain a lead and traction in this otherwise highly competitive market. Rather than chasing the latest and greatest, I instead prefer to just focus on ones that I know I can really count on over the years, if not decades, and that ultimately comes down to Chase and Amex. But that's just my $0.02.

I am the complete opposite. I just take advantage of whatever is best in the here and now.

At the moment, that is the 2% Citi card. It's simple and the best rewards for our purposes. I personally really dislike rotating categories. I will shop around a card every few years, but I don't want to change up my whole rewards strategy every 3 months. So I avoid the rotating cards and just stick to the high cash back cards (simple).

I suppose I do also like the the AmEx Blue cash card, while feeding teen boys. 6% back on groceries. Also easy peasy. I don't expect we will keep this card once we are empty nesters.

The Capital One Venture card is also an easy peasy travel card. I have gotten this card many times to help pay for a single trip. (We just open the card for the bonus and close it before the annual fee is due). I like the big bonuses and simple cash back structure.