In July, I asked Get Rich Slowly readers to share which credit cards they use and why. I promised to compile the over 200 responses to see if there are any patterns from you money-savvy folks. I still haven’t made time to do so. (Even though it stays at the top of my list every week.)
In the interim, the folks over at Card Ratings dropped a line to say they’re doing something similar. This year, they’re conducting a five-question survey to determine what consumers believe are the best credit cards of 2010:
You hear people complaining about credit cards all the time. But with more than a billion credit cards issued around the world, there must be something consumers like about them. We at CardRatings want to know which cards you like for cash-back, airline rewards, points rewards, best value and best customer service. Take this quick survey and we’ll share the results in January with the Consumer’s Choice Awards for Best Credit Cards of 2010. Don’t miss your chance to cast your vote!
I only use one personal credit card, so I can’t really say which one is best. But if you have a strong opinion on this subject, please head over and let your voice be heard. Card Ratings will publish the results of the survey in January. Maybe by the time they do, I’ll have compiled the results from our discussion here at GRS!
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Since I’m digging myself out of debt, my wife and I decided to cut up the credit cards, but when I had a few, my favorite was Capital One! It had a great money back program and I never had an incorrect charge.
The card that I did not like was the Discover Card. It promised big rewards, but often, I received very little.
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I have had the American Express Blue Cash card for a few years now. I am not someone who likes to have a lot of cards or change cards every year or so. I have found the cash back features with this card to be consistent and I like not having to worry about redeeming points- cash back is credited to my account once a year. As someone who charges almost everything on my card and then pays the balance in full at the end of month, this card is a great fit for my lifestyle.
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My favorite is the Chase Rewards Visa card. Unfortunately, they said they’d be phasing out these cards, but they gave me 5% back on gas, groceries, and pharmacy.
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I like Amex’s Blue – consistent if small rewards, although I do have to redeem points (usually around the holidays
).
My Visa from a credit union has a very low interest rate, which isn’t really relevant for me, but no points. I like it anyway
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I am a Dave Ramsey disciple. So that means I don’t use credit to buy stuff. I pay cash for every purchase that I make.
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I only use one credit card too, but it will be interesting to read what everyone has to say; might be that there’s a better one out there.
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I have an Amex BlueCash as well – put most of my spending on it, get a couple hundred back with no hoops to jump through.
Last year I calculated what the gimmicky rates (1.0/0.5% and 5.0/1.5% after $6,500) actually work out to – it was something like 1.35%, pretty much the same as any rewards card.
I also have an MC from my bank for the rare instances where I can’t use the Amex (can’t remember the last time I put anything on it, though).
Can’t wait for the “All CCs are always Evil!” brigade to show up to grace us with their wisdom!
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@eqmoreno: “So that means I don’t use credit to buy stuff. I pay cash for every purchase that I make.”
So do I. I just use a credit card to do it.
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Back when we were learning to pay our card in full, Amex Gold was best for us. Now that we’ve got some discipline, Discover is best for us. I find its non-cash rewards most generous. We’re getting another 500 in January simply for charging 2000 a month for 5 months. Most of that 2000 is monthly bills. And with 5 kids, the rest adds up quickly.
I should be able to turn that 500 into 550 or even 600 in rewards from Lands End or EBGames. I’m personally challenging myself to spend only rewards and spare change turned in for dollars next Christmas. If I don’t do it, I at least think I’ll be close.
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I use the Chase Freedom Visa for all possible purchases (save for very small purchases every now and then to keep my other lines active) and pay it off twice monthly.
The 5% cash back on rolling categories and 1% on all other purchases really adds up – I think I’m averaging around $50 in cash back per quarter. And I’m poor and don’t spend much.
@JED – Bummer to hear these are being phased out. Will that affect existing cardholders somehow or only would-be cardholders?
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@Mom – that sounds like a really interesting challenge – are you writing about it anywhere?
I use the Amex BlueSky – which requires points, but they are redeemable for anything travel related, airfare, rental cars, hotels – and they do it in a cash back fashion – so you just pay as if you would anywhere. I usually use it for flights – but I sometimes wonder how they really define travel-related – because I could go skiing here in New England tomorrow – and make that my “vacation” expense….
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I like Capital One for their straightforward rewards program. The Discover Card has decent rewards, but you have to remember to sign up for the 5% rewards for each quarter. On top of that, those rewards are usually in specific categories like restaurants, fashion, or travel.
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I pay off my credit cards religiously, so I focus on the best rewards. My top two are:
AMEX Blue Cash (5% on groceries, gas, & drug stores after $6500 spent, 1.5% on everything else)
Chase Freedom (3% on groceries, gas & restaurants, plus 5% bonuses on categories that change every 3 months)
As a bonus, Chase generally runs a promotion where you can get $100 back after the first use of the card (when I first signed up it was $250).
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I use a combination of 3 cards that I have set to autopay the full balance.
PenFed Visa – 5% back on gas 2% back on groceries
Chase Freedom – 5% rotating
American Express Blue Sky – 1.33% back on everything. Cash can only be used towards travel.
Optimally, if you have a fidelity account, the best makeup of cards would be:
PenFed Visa – 5% off gas
Fidelity Amex – 2% off everything
Chase Feedom – 5% off rotating categories
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I vote Capital One overall, but I do use the 5% rolling option whenever possible with our Chase Freedom Visa. Loving the 5% on groceries this quarter!
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I have a Wells Fargo Signature VISA that gives 1% cash back on everything. I pay it off every month, but I like that it also has low (10%) interest and a $17K credit limit–it gives me a sense of security “just in case”.
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I’ve started to use the Costco Amex card a lot.It offers:
a. 3% cash back on restaurants
b. 3% cash back on Gas
c. 2% cash back on Travel
d. 1% cash back on all Costco purchases
e. 1% cash back on all other purchases
I also use a Chase Freedom and Citi Master dividend – they both have rotating categories
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I am a big fan of my one and only credit card, the Fidelity American Express Investment Rewards card. It offers you 2% cash back on all purchases, with no limits, as long as you redeem your points into a Fidelity Investment Account. Last year I earned over $200 for investment into my Roth IRA with Fidelity simply using the points made off my everyday purchases and paying off my credit card every month. Its a great rewards system, one of the best I’ve seen and I’d reccomend it to almost anyone.
The only caveat here is that not every place you visit accepts American Express, but that drawback seems to shrink every year. Always carry my bank’s debit card as a VISA back up just in case.
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We use the Discover Escape card as our primary (2% back on everything, redeemable against travel purchases). For places that don’t take Discover, we have the UPromise MasterCard from BoA — 1% back on everything, 3+% back on purchases through the UPromise website, rewards make payments against my wife’s student loans.
Once the loan is knocked out, rewards can go into 529s for our eventual kids.
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I used Amex Blue Cash, but I found it took me too long (about 9 mos) to get my spending above the %6500 level to start getting 5% back in the specific categories. So I use a Discover card, Citibank Dividend, and Chase Freedom card in various rotating categories that get 5%. I have a slip of paper in my wallet that tracks what category gets the 5% when. I also use a Amex Costco card at Costco. The other cards tend to exclude rewards at membership clubs. I also do shopping at online retailers that offers high cashback rates through the card’s website. Although this involves having to check out the vendor at three card sites to see if they are listed and which one has the highest rebate level. I do some of my Christmas shopping online and this has helped to use the card’s rewards shopping mall to get some more cash back.
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My favorite (and one of only a few) credit card is the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature card. We use it for most purchases and bills (including our mortgage) on it and pay it in full every month. We earn enough miles to get one domestic round trip ticket each year, plus some extra. To me that’s worth the $75 annual fee.
If you track your spending and know you spend less than you earn, I think it’s crazy NOT to use credit cards for things you’re going to buy anyway. Why not get rewards?
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We also have the Alaska Airlines Visa and love it, but the fact that you earn miles doesn’t justify the annual fee. What does, however, is the inclusion of a $99 companion fare certificate every year – since we typically travel as a pair, as long as the flight is less than ~$174 round trip, we’re coming out ahead. The miles don’t hurt either. I wish we could use it for our mortgage!
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Many cards are heavily dependant on how much you spend in a year. I use Amex Blue as that provides the most return for my family. BUT there’s a $6500 you have to spend before you start getting the highest tier or cash back. For my wife and I, we hit that in the first two months of the year, and it gives us a nice return on groceries/gas the rest of the year. We tend to primarily use this card for all expenditures, and i’m looking for a good visa card for other expenditures.
For all people though, RUN THE NUMBERS, and look at your own personal situation. The Amex Blue cash card works for my family because we have a fairly high yearly spend, and we use that card exclusively. If you use multiple cards with lower limits, it would be hard to make the amex blue cost effective. Likewise when we find a good visa card it will be different from the Amex blue card. Since we don’t use visa as often, we’ll want something like airline miles that never expire. they won’t accumulate as quickly, but i won’t need them to…
(To avoid the judgement of the internet, yes we pay all cards off in full each mont; it’s so weird that I feel like I have to justify myself even though I’m essentially anonymous here…)
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Ah yes, “the more you spend, the more you save” (or get rewards). It’s the American way.
I haven’t had a credit card for several years now, and life works perfectly well without one. They (CC companies) need us; we don’t need them.
~F.
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I love my credit card, I can download the data and see exactly where our money was spent. We rarely ever use cash, its almost a joke.
We charge, they give us at least a couple free flights every year. We use them to head to Central and South America, I think those flights are the best bang for the mile.
US Bank FlexPerks is the card we use. I’ve had the most success booking rewards as they are not affliated with an airline. They use Travelocity so there are a lot of choices. Also, the annual fee is waived you spend the minimum – around $24K.
If you pay it off every month, why not get rewards?
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I use the PenFed Visa–5% off gas, 2% off supermarkets, 1% off everything else. There are no “points” to redeem, or anything else to do. The credits simply appear on each month’s statement as extra money. The more I can pay with the card, the more I save. I even managed to pay my son’s college tuition with the card, so I got an immediate $150 cash back.
I prefer the Visa (or MasterCard) because they are accepted in more places than Discover and AmEx.
One huge caveat, of course. You have to pay off the balance each month or all the advantages simply vanish under a mountain of debt interest.
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If you have a Chase checking account with the Chase Freedom, you also get an additional 10% bonus for each purchase as well as a 10 point bonus for each purchase on top of your bonus category. For me this was the real difference maker. When I did the comparison for what I would have earned on my previous 3 months of spending if I had been using the Freedom instead, I found that I had lost out on almost $100. (We use our credit card for everything!)
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