What are the best credit cards out there?

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Hi all, sorry to bring up a seemingly boring subject, but would appreciate some quick advice.

I will soon be selecting a new credit card, and need some advice on which are the best companies to go with, or if it really even matters. Just a quick little summary of my situation, I actually got out of college about 3 years ago, with barely any money, missed/late credit card payments, and a decent amount of credit card debt. At that time, I actually got a letter from my credit card company (It's a Citicard) saying that they would raise my interest rate (felt like I was being kicked while I was down), and like an idiot, I opted out, which means that my account would be automatically closed at it's expiration (which is this month).

Long story short, I got a decent job, payed off my card, saved up money, and now have really excellent credit (near 800, actually, although closing my account will obviously lower it). Since my CitiCard is expiring this month, I just want to know what you all think is the best card to go with.

I'm somewhat knowledgeable on credit, but not extremely. I've heard good things about American Express, so I guess that might have to be something I look into.

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First, congrats on getting things straightened out.

Next, things to look for include the obvious:  no annual fee, and a low interest rate.  Pay attention to the way interest is compounded as well.  Most Chase cards compound interest DAILY.  They take each day's balance, and add interest, giving the next day's starting balance...so interest gets tacked on to interest faster than other methods.  I suggest avoiding Chase.

Look around for a credit union.  If you're eligible to join, they often offer credit cards, and are usually great to deal with.

[CelticsWhat35]

The American Express Blue Cash card is good.  It gives you 0.5% cash back on all purchases, and 1% back on gas, groceries, pharmacies.  After you reach a certain spending amount, those %'s get upped to 1% and 5%.

[bobdelt]

I have a charles schwab credit card, 2% cash back on all purchases, no minimums, no maximums. Simply 2% cash back.

No other card can beat that, but I know they're not always offering it. And it's a VISA so its accepted everywhere. Amex's and Discover off good cash back, but they're not 2%, they have limits/minimums,and those cards arent taken everywhere.

I have no idea what the interest rate is, as I pay it off each month.



I've had cards with every company, and I really hated Bank Of America's website, since i don't bank with them, they wont let me add my bank as a way to pay the card electronically...annoying.

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I have a charles schwab credit card, 2% cash back on all purchases, no minimums, no maximums. Simply 2% cash back.

No other card can beat that, but I know they're not always offering it. And it's a VISA so its accepted everywhere. Amex's and Discover off good cash back, but they're not 2%, they have limits/minimums,and those cards arent taken everywhere.

I have no idea what the interest rate is, as I pay it off each month.



I've had cards with every company, and I really hated Bank Of America's website, since i don't bank with them, they wont let me add my bank as a way to pay the card electronically...annoying.

That sounds like a fantastic deal, I'd go with that one and open an account myself if I didn't currently have so many!  Haha.

He is correct in that American Express and Discover offer great cash back deals, but are not accepted everywhere.  I get 1% cash back on all purchases for my Discover, then certain months I get 5%.  All summer, I get 5% cash back on gas, travel related, and hotel purchases.  June, I got 5% cash back at grocery stores and restaurants.  It adds up fast, I got over $100 in just a couple months once.  It does have a cap at how much you can get back though, I forget what.  Again, a big knock is that it's not accepted everywhere.

Chase Freedom is a new VISA I just signed up for.  0% into apr for 12 months, no annual fee.  1% cash back on all purchases.  5% cash back on special categories every month, but they aren't as good as my Discover.  I use this card to charge my celts season tickets to.  No interest AND I save 1% off of $10,000 or whatever my annual bill is!!

[prov1ml34]

I have a charles schwab credit card, 2% cash back on all purchases, no minimums, no maximums. Simply 2% cash back.

No other card can beat that, but I know they're not always offering it. And it's a VISA so its accepted everywhere. Amex's and Discover off good cash back, but they're not 2%, they have limits/minimums,and those cards arent taken everywhere.

I have no idea what the interest rate is, as I pay it off each month.



I've had cards with every company, and I really hated Bank Of America's website, since i don't bank with them, they wont let me add my bank as a way to pay the card electronically...annoying.

After I read about that card I went and searched for it and this is what I found.....

http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/16/charles-schwab-stops-offering-2-percent-credit-cards/

Back in December, I warned that Charles Schwab’s generous 2 percent cash rebate credit card was in jeopardy. And sure enough, the company pulled the plug two weeks ago. It’s not accepting new applications for the card, though the company isn’t currently making any changes to the rewards structure for existing cardholders.

When this card first emerged, I scrambled to get one myself. But knowing the sad history of other 2 percent Visas and MasterCards that have come and gone, I expressed my skepticism to a Schwab executive, Richard Musci. He told me in January 2009 that the company had carefully modeled its rewards program and wouldn’t have introduced it if Schwab didn’t intend to stand behind it.

But that was early in the financial crisis. Here’s what Schwab’s spokesman, Matt Hurwitz, said via e-mail when I asked him about the card this week:

“The card was designed and modeled based on a very different economic environment than what we’re experiencing now after the financial crisis, in particular a change in people’s approach to using credit,” he wrote. “The economics of the program are being reviewed based on the current environment and usage patterns. For example, the majority of cardholders are not revolving credit.”

The challenge for any generous rewards card is to get enough people to carry a balance (or “revolve credit,” in Mr. Hurwitz’s terms) to subsidize the earnings of those who don’t. The Schwab card had no annual fee, and the merchant fees that Schwab and its card-issuing partner (part of Bank of America) collect weren’t enough to pay for the 2 percent refund plus administrative costs.

So dangling a fat refund in front of customers only makes sense if lots of people are signing up for new brokerage accounts and filling them with money to qualify for the 2 percent card. (Schwab will deposit the cash rebates earned on the card only in a Schwab brokerage account.) And apparently, there wasn’t enough of that new account sign-up behavior going on.

All that said, to my mind it’s pretty obvious that when you offer a generous card, you should expect lots of people who have no intention of carrying a balance to sign up for it and charge thousands of dollars each month. Regardless of the economic environment, I would have assumed that a majority –  even a vast majority — of Schwab cardholders would not carry a balance. If you did,  the interest you would pay would cancel out the cash rebate (and then some).

Meanwhile, Fidelity, which offers credit cards that are just about as generous as Schwab’s, has no plans to make any changes to its products in the near future. Why can Fidelity make it work but Schwab can’t? (Make sure to look at Fidelity’s Visa card and its American Express cards; Fidelity’s site doesn’t seem to allow separate links to both.)

If you’re like me and are grandfathered into the current deal, you may be feeling pretty smug right now. But Mr. Hurwitz said that there “are no changes to existing clients at this time.” (Emphasis mine.)

Cardholders are welcome to post their guesses below as to how long the 2 percent good times will last.

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hess cc, gives you 10% off gas for 1st month, after that 5%
i use it for my business and it is quite a savings

[EJPLAYA]

The best advice I could give you would be to let the other expire and pay cash for everything else. Have a debit card for situations where you have to use a VISA to hold rooms, etc.

The average person spends twice as much money when they use credit cards as when they pay cash for things. Even if you pay it off at the end of each month you still tend to spend much more than you would have. That's a lot better savings than 2%.

If you have great credit and insist on a card, the Capital One venture card that pays 2 miles per dollar on all purchases is hard to beat if you want mileage. Otherwise the 2% card is great.

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Man, thanks a lot, guys. Some really great and helpful information. I'm still going to try and see if I can get in on that Charles Schwab card. Doubt it'll work, but I can try. If I can't, then I'll most likely go with an American Express, as I've heard great things about how easy it is to dispute charges with them.

The credit union is actually a really great idea, and I'm going to look into that. I already have my car loan from a credit union, and I love the interest rate (less than 4%).

EJPLAYA, I totally agree with you on that. Credit card debt is horrific and mentally draining, but I think that you need to be using credit cards on things that you're just going to buy anyway, and just be sensible about purchases, as you need to use credit and pay it off, to get a better FICO score. I just use autopay and check my statements occasionally, and don't really worry about it that much.