I got USAA and they are nice over there don't get me wrong but all these other ones got all these points for travel and hotels USAA don't hold a candle to any of that stuff. I'm think I'm gonna make the switch to something else. I would've built up a year's worth of hilton's and free flights all over the fucking world by now wtf am I even doing.
What are you guys using and you got any good/bad things to say? And for the record I still haven't carried a balance yet to this day I don't care really care too much about interest.
I only have 2 CCs that I've had for years - I'm not a big-traveler thus never really bothered to find the absolutely best rewards-cards although I can see their value and *have* used rewards-points in the past - I currently only have a Chase Freedom that seems alright w.r.t. rewards and also have a Discover Card - the nice thing about the Discover Card is that I think one gets a good deal on Amazon when using Discover points in particular and I do a fair-amount of Amazon shopping.
Some people that are heavy-travelers seem to pay-up for certain cards that have an annual-fee but very-good-rewards and it's worth it to them given the amount of traveling they do per year.
I have USAA, having been a member for several decades, but I don't use it. I try to keep my cards down to less than a handful because I don't need anymore and because they give me such a ridiculously huge credit line. I use the airline cards I know I'll use for travel; used to have a Chase Southwest but switched over to a Barclays JetBlue (also a Barclays Hawaiian Air because I have a reason to be traveling to Hawaii). When you sign up for a rewards card, try to coordinate it with some premium it's offering (with JetBlue and Hawaii, I got 80K miles each). Check out nerdwallet or wallethub for a comparison of offers (and this recent piece has a helpful chart towards the bottom: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/credit-ca…)
2 Weeks ago I got am email from my credit union congratulating me on being a member for 35 years. So I've had my VISA card with them that long too. I keep a zero balance and redeem my points for cash once of twice a year. I'm satisfied.
I've had a capital one card that has no fees and pays 1% back for decades. It was one of the first cards that paid back and had no fees when I got it. Since, some others that pay more have come out but I still kept this. While it's generally a good thing, capital one watches purchases like a hawk.
When capital one refused a purchase on Amazon, I gave up and got an Amazon card that also pays back a percentage.
Last year, I was offered $200 by my bank to open a card and spend about $5K. Since I paid off my house and my credit score was affected by not having enough credit any longer, I got that card as I knew I had a big plumbing expendature coming up. It was an easy way to get $200. I paid off the balance and don't really use that card.
While not really a credit card, I do have a card that is tied to a line of credit on my home as it can be used to purchase something super expensive like a new vehicle. I haven't used it much since buying a vehicle a while back and paying that off.
It seems weird that you need to have a lot of available credit to keep a very high credit score but you do. I pay off my cards monthly and just use my capital one card as my primary and the Amazon card for purchases on that site. I have a decent amount of rewards on each that I will cash in for something fun.
I travel enough for work to get airline and hotel points so I don't need those cards. Many of those cards also come with a fee.
It just depends. I’m a USAA member and their CCs are great. They have several offerings. Most have no annual fee, competitive interest based on prevailing fed rate, and the one I have has cash back. Hard to beat. But if you travel a lot on a particular airline, it might make sense to get an airline tied card, which is why I also have a Delta Skymiles AmEx card.
I've been a USAA member since the mid 80's. Car insurance, mortgages, car loans, banking, credit cards. They are the best. I have several credit cards but only use my Harley Davidson card from US Bank. I charge all expenses like gas and electric, cell phone, Amazon orders, gasoline, etc. I pay in full every month. I've got about $2,000 of points saved up so I can bring my bike in to the dealer, get fuckin ripped off, but not feel the pain that much.
USAA has really good customer service, low interest, and if you have them for everything (banking, credit, insurance) makes things really easy. Plus, they know their audience and are not go to screw over a vet.
They were really good to me on my Afghan deployment, clueing me into stuff that they did not directly benefit them, like the 10% CD.
@ MO -- I suppose so, I used to have to brief my unit NOT to use their government issued credit cards at strip clubs.
I have a hotel card and an airline card. Unfortunately, COVID put the kibosh on travel and the airline stopped a few of the routes I always took. Besides, you can't wipe your ass with airline points these days. I have some hotel loyalty, but I just fly whoever is cheapest and most direct to my location.
I'd go to a cash back card, or something for a service I use a lot (like Amazon), but the antiquated "age of accounts" factor messes with your credit score.
I haven't carried a balance in 20+ years so I can't speak to interest rates or balance transfers.
Just 2: An airline mile card, which I pound each month because I get a shitload of miles, and a Walmart cc. The Walmart card is from Capital One, which is a little on the sleazier side, but I get 3% cash back on all my W+ delivery purchases. Given how much I order with my active household and busy schedule - so worth it. I just pay them off every month so I pay no finance charges, making all of the miles and cash back rewards 100% gravy.
Mostly, I just use my BOA Cash Back Card. The rewards aren't great, but I like the spending tracking shit they do. They probably get more value out of tracking my every move than I do, but its nice to see breakdowns of spending without doing any work.
I generally stick to the cash back cards, USAA has one of those that I use occasionally. I used to have a GM Card I used, but they implemented limits on redemption some time ago and I stopped using it because I racked up the max redemption amount in under a year but only bought a new truck every 5 years or so. They've allegedly fixed that, but they pissed me off when they changed the deal on me, so fuck em.
I did airline cards for a while too, but I lost interest when I started traveling for work. I had enough miles from traveling that I couldn't use either. Now its mostly the BOA or USAA card.
I don't run a balance, I mostly use it because its easier. Outside of the strip club, I almost never use cash. I love the NFC payment shit with my phone.
Reference what Rick said: it really depends on your individual circumstances and how you use a CC. But overall, if you just want to defer payment a month or two, USAA is hard to beat. Also, another plug for USAA, they are hard to beat for home, renters, or auto insurance.
The only thing missing in the above USAA ads was a hyperlink for signup.
If you want to keep it simple — simplicity is an underrated value —there are several CCs out there that are 2% back on everything with no annual fees. Choose one, enjoy. If one will give you a signup bonus? Even better.
If you don’t mind a more complex CC setup, keep multiple specific use cards. there are cards (Amex for example) that will give you 5% back on groceries up to spending of 5,000$. Use that card for the specifics like groceries, get brand specific for travel (Hiltoncard), then use your 2% card otherwise. This can easily push one toward the ideal 3% back annually. If you are going to sketchier SCs, also consider (for example) the Apple Card. There’s no number or security code on it, you can hand it out with a higher level of confidence at sketchy places. It sucks when your CC number gets taken and you have to reapply to every auto pay.
Never! carry CC balances unless it’s a no interest ir very low interest intro period. CC balances are how the financially struggling stay struggling. Seriously, this is loan shark territory. What’s even worse is the 2% to 3% annual cash back (noted above) is paid for by the financially struggling. For those who pay off monthly balances, you’re an extremely tiny if not a zero profit margin customer. But they can afford your 2+% back due to the financially struggling who are paying 10, 15 or even 20% interest on carried balances.
Before I sold my business we used a gold card from Amex, easy to track different users and even though it cost about $250 per year I averaged about 6-9 thousand dollars a year in cash back and more air miles then I was ever able to use. Since I retired I use a cash back Visa from Merrill Lynch average about 3% cash back overall and I use my Costco for in store purchases and gas that gives me back 2% in Costco and 5% on all gasoline purchases. I never carry a balance except for an occasional promotional purchase like electronics or furniture wit a zero interest option, or an automobile purchase also with a zero percent finance option.
“ Never! carry CC balances unless it’s a no interest ir very low interest intro period. CC balances are how the financially struggling stay struggling. Seriously, this is loan shark territory. What’s even worse is the 2% to 3% annual cash back (noted above) is paid for by the financially struggling. For those who pay off monthly balances, you’re an extremely tiny if not a zero profit margin customer. But they can afford your 2+% back due to the financially struggling who are paying 10, 15 or even 20% interest on carried balances.”
Aren’t they still are making money off of you from the credit card processing fees from your purchases even if you pay it off each month? The business you are making the transaction with has to usually pay somewhere between 2-4% on average for that transaction?
2 or 3 years ago I talked with USAA about auto and homeowners insurance. They were able to offer me a better price on auto but were more expensive on my home owners. So I passed and now have those polices under 2 different companies. I keep getting emails from them. So when it gets close to renewal time again, I'll give them another shot.
^ These are the figures from 2021 "Credit card companies reported $176 billion in income in 2020; interest fees accounted for $76 billion. Credit card companies hauled in $176 billion in income in 2020, according to data from industry research firm R.K. Hammer."
Keep this in perspective, this is split amongst four companies "There are four major credit card networks in the United States. These include: American Express: This credit card network offers the world's largest integrated payments platform. American Express also doubles as a card issuer.
I like cash not loyalty points. I use fidelity which puts cash back in my brokerage account and Costco Citibank which gives me about 1000 a year in literal cash in hand once a year at the store. 4% back on gas 3% on restaurant and travel.
Barclay's American Airlines card. While I don't check luggage often I get 1 fee bag and priority boarding. My spend easily gets me to Gold status. Throw in a few AA trips a year and I get to Platinum status.
My secondary card is a Chase IHG card. I get a free room night and Platinum status.
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Some people that are heavy-travelers seem to pay-up for certain cards that have an annual-fee but very-good-rewards and it's worth it to them given the amount of traveling they do per year.
Check out nerdwallet or wallethub for a comparison of offers (and this recent piece has a helpful chart towards the bottom: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/credit-ca…)
When capital one refused a purchase on Amazon, I gave up and got an Amazon card that also pays back a percentage.
Last year, I was offered $200 by my bank to open a card and spend about $5K. Since I paid off my house and my credit score was affected by not having enough credit any longer, I got that card as I knew I had a big plumbing expendature coming up. It was an easy way to get $200. I paid off the balance and don't really use that card.
While not really a credit card, I do have a card that is tied to a line of credit on my home as it can be used to purchase something super expensive like a new vehicle. I haven't used it much since buying a vehicle a while back and paying that off.
It seems weird that you need to have a lot of available credit to keep a very high credit score but you do. I pay off my cards monthly and just use my capital one card as my primary and the Amazon card for purchases on that site. I have a decent amount of rewards on each that I will cash in for something fun.
I travel enough for work to get airline and hotel points so I don't need those cards. Many of those cards also come with a fee.
They were really good to me on my Afghan deployment, clueing me into stuff that they did not directly benefit them, like the 10% CD.
@ MO -- I suppose so, I used to have to brief my unit NOT to use their government issued credit cards at strip clubs.
I'd go to a cash back card, or something for a service I use a lot (like Amazon), but the antiquated "age of accounts" factor messes with your credit score.
I haven't carried a balance in 20+ years so I can't speak to interest rates or balance transfers.
I generally stick to the cash back cards, USAA has one of those that I use occasionally. I used to have a GM Card I used, but they implemented limits on redemption some time ago and I stopped using it because I racked up the max redemption amount in under a year but only bought a new truck every 5 years or so. They've allegedly fixed that, but they pissed me off when they changed the deal on me, so fuck em.
I did airline cards for a while too, but I lost interest when I started traveling for work. I had enough miles from traveling that I couldn't use either. Now its mostly the BOA or USAA card.
I don't run a balance, I mostly use it because its easier. Outside of the strip club, I almost never use cash. I love the NFC payment shit with my phone.
If you want to keep it simple — simplicity is an underrated value —there are several CCs out there that are 2% back on everything with no annual fees. Choose one, enjoy. If one will give you a signup bonus? Even better.
If you don’t mind a more complex CC setup, keep multiple specific use cards. there are cards (Amex for example) that will give you 5% back on groceries up to spending of 5,000$. Use that card for the specifics like groceries, get brand specific for travel (Hiltoncard), then use your 2% card otherwise. This can easily push one toward the ideal 3% back annually. If you are going to sketchier SCs, also consider (for example) the Apple Card. There’s no number or security code on it, you can hand it out with a higher level of confidence at sketchy places. It sucks when your CC number gets taken and you have to reapply to every auto pay.
Never! carry CC balances unless it’s a no interest ir very low interest intro period. CC balances are how the financially struggling stay struggling. Seriously, this is loan shark territory. What’s even worse is the 2% to 3% annual cash back (noted above) is paid for by the financially struggling. For those who pay off monthly balances, you’re an extremely tiny if not a zero profit margin customer. But they can afford your 2+% back due to the financially struggling who are paying 10, 15 or even 20% interest on carried balances.
Since I retired I use a cash back Visa from Merrill Lynch average about 3% cash back overall and I use my Costco for in store purchases and gas that gives me back 2% in Costco and 5% on all gasoline purchases.
I never carry a balance except for an occasional promotional purchase like electronics or furniture wit a zero interest option, or an automobile purchase also with a zero percent finance option.
Aren’t they still are making money off of you from the credit card processing fees from your purchases even if you pay it off each month? The business you are making the transaction with has to usually pay somewhere between 2-4% on average for that transaction?
"Credit card companies reported $176 billion in income in 2020; interest fees accounted for $76 billion. Credit card companies hauled in $176 billion in income in 2020, according to data from industry research firm R.K. Hammer."
Keep this in perspective, this is split amongst four companies
"There are four major credit card networks in the United States. These include: American Express: This credit card network offers the world's largest integrated payments platform. American Express also doubles as a card issuer.
My secondary card is a Chase IHG card. I get a free room night and Platinum status.